Portside

The shift of capital from housing, jobs, education, to profitable arenas has meant there are huge numbers of people everywhere in the world who are not able to sustain themselves. They are made surplus, and as a result they are often forced to engage in practices that are deemed criminal. And so prisons pop up all over the world, often with the assistance of private corporations who profit from these surplus populations.

“This is a history making moment,” Eric Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, tells protestors. “It’s just so overwhelming to see all who have come to stand with us. Look at the masses ­ black, white, all races, all religions … we need to stand like this at all times."

The successes of the civil rights movement were hardly based on simply revealing the racism of the United States. The Black Panthers and civil rights movements were about creating alternative bases of power, e.g. structures be they in law, mass mobilizations or community organizations that went beyond venting a narrative.

Politicians are getting fat off the destruction of the lives of young black men and women, who are the overwhelming victims of American policing and unjust practices of the judicial system. "Broken windows" policing has criminalized entire communities, leading to thousands of frivolous arrests that ruin people’s lives.

It is not permissible that the authors of devastation should also be innocent. It is the innocence which constitutes the crime.

Agustin Morales was fired from his job as a Massachusetts public school teacher after being elected president of his union and after he participated in collective protest against an element of education reform. Here is the story of how community groups, parents and other teacher union activists came together to support him and help him win his job back.

Agustin Morales was fired from his job as a Massachusetts public school teacher after being elected president of his union and after he participated in collective protest against an element of education reform. Here is the story of how community groups, parents and other teacher union activists came together to support him and help him win his job back.

Op-Ed by food journalist and columnist Mark Bittman: "What makes this an exciting time is that we are beginning to see links among issues that we have overlooked for far too long."

At America’s court of last resort, a handful of lawyers now dominates the docket.

Cotton is so ubiquitous as to be almost invisible, yet understanding its history is key to understanding the origins of modern capitalism.