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Lax Regulatory Enforcement Leaves Thousands at Risk of Lead Poisoning in California

Daniel Ross Truthout
California's regulatory agencies have repeatedly failed in their testing, enforcement and cleanup of various lead-contaminated sites in the state, an investigation by Truthout has revealed. The investigation comprised three separate sites in and around Los Angeles: the Quemetco lead-acid battery recycling facility in the city of Industry, the Jordan Downs housing project in Watts (a toxic cleanup site), and a former police department firing range in Pasadena.

Workers Need a Better Deal on Thanksgiving Weekend

Jenny Wittner The Progressive
Thanksgiving Day sales, Black Friday, Cyber Monday prevent retail workers from enjoying family time. Employers aren’t just giving workers unstable, unpredictable shifts during the hectic holiday season — they’re doing it all year round. Nearly 40 percent of retail workers are given irregular schedules that wreak havoc on their lives.

A Thanksgiving Message

Portside moderator Portside
Just click through the link to the Portside website to explore what we've had to offer, this year and before, about Thanksgiving and lots more.

On Holiday Myths and State Violence

Kelly Hayes Lifted Voices
The myth of Thanksgiving creates a cheery, almost cartoon-like narrative of a incredibly dark and bloody period of American history. Native suffering is erased with holiday platitudes. These myths must be dismantled. It is a matter of defending the truth of our history, and the truth of our lives.

100 Years Later: 5 Timeless Lessons From Joe Hill

Nadine Bloch Waging Nonviolence
Joe Hill -- executed 100 years ago by a Utah firing squad -- knew the power of harnessing creativity. The Wobblies embraced songs, comics, soapboxing, and other creative tactics in reaching out to unorganized workers as well as in direct actions on the job site. “A pamphlet, no matter how good, is never read more than once, but a song is learned by heart and repeated over and over,” Hill wrote in a letter to the editor of Solidarity in November 1914.

State of Emergency, State of Resilience

Cookie Woolner Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership
The complex intersectional identities of transgender women of color, who are dealing with the overlapping issues of transmisogyny, racism, and classism, leave them vulnerable to multiple forms of institutionalized oppression.While much more systemic work is needed to improve the quality of life for transgender women of color, transgender activists and organizations are leading the movement to rectify these injustices.

From Mizzou to Yale: The Demands

Across the nation, students have risen up to demand an end to systemic and structural racism on campus. Here are their demands. Note: These demands were compiled from protesters across the country. These are living demands and will grow and change as the work grows and changes. If you have demands that are not listed, please send them to sam@thisisthemovement.org or @samswey. Last updated on 11/23/2015.