Monumental Rubbish: With the Statues Torn Down, What Next for New Orleans?

Adolph Reed Jr. Common Dreams
New Orleans is better for being rid of the monuments that commemorated the mythology and actual history of slavery and segregation. But elites still govern. The politics of representation dovetails with the reigning discourse of diversity and a local political economy based on marketing "cultural authenticity. To the extent that antiracism centers of pursuit of recognition rather than altering patterns of distribution it will remain trapped in neoliberal inequakity.

'We, Too, Are Targets of Police Violence'

Maura Ewing The Atlantic
In her forthcoming book Invisible No More, author Andrea Ritchie chronicles cases of abuse and violence involving women of color and trans women, who often confront types of misconduct not typically associated with the use of force: being groped during stop-and-frisk, forced to perform sexual acts in lieu of arrest, and hit on during domestic-violence calls.

Noam Chomsky: On Trump and the State of the Union

George Yancy and Noam Chomsky The New York Times
Over the past few months, as the disturbing prospect of a Trump administration became a disturbing reality, I decided to reach out to Noam Chomsky, the philosopher whose writing, speaking and activism has for more than 50 years provided unparalleled insight and challenges to the American and global political systems. Our conversation, as it appears here, took place as a series of email exchanges over the past two months. - George Yancy

From Inside a Michigan Prison: "Being Sane In An Insane Place"

Lacino Hamilton Daily Kos
Lacino Hamilton has been locked up inside Michigan state prisons for over 23 years. He has “lived” in more than half of the state’s 40-plus prisons. Yet he has not wasted this time. He has become a powerful analyst, critical voice, an organic intellectual as some might put it. Here is one of his most profound contributions to our understanding of mass incarceration: Being Sane In An Insane Place. ~ James Kilgore

Hundreds of Thousands of Workers Could Lose Their Jobs if Senate Health Bill Passes

Alexia Fernandez Campbell Vox
"It’s unclear exactly how many jobs are on the line. But public health experts at George Washington University estimate that 912,000 health care workers in the United States could lose their jobs if Congress rolls back the Medicaid expansion and removes tax credits to help people buy private insurance."