Portside

At package-free stores you bring your own container, weigh it, and fill it with the amount of rice or walnuts or Peanut M&Ms that you want to take home. In the bigger context of the zero-waste movement, do these refilleries actually mean anything?

Taken together, the history, economy & ruling ideology of the US South make it difficult to build workers’ power. But armed with the lessons from the CIO’s Operation Dixie, & fueled by the momentum of recent victories, organizers see a way forward.

Despite decades of progress, there are some worrying signs

Colonialism Is Hard to Kill (in 1954), “It Was the Right Thing to Do” (1929), “Join, Or Die” (1754), Apartheid’s End (1994), Class War in the Midwest (1894), Unsafe at Any Speed (1969), “I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night” (1949)

Pro-Palestine student protesters are being smeared as puppets of shadowy “outside agitators.” The presence of community members and experienced activists in the protests is nothing to be ashamed of: we need outside agitators to build a better world.

Unionized employees, pro-Palestine activists demanding a cease-fire call, writers long-listed for a prestigious literary prize: no one seems particularly happy with PEN America right now.

Netflix’s A Man In Full lacks Wolf’s sardonic bite, insider knowledge of privilege, and an outsider’s disdain for American institutions and the egomaniacs who lead them

There is a coordinated, nationwide effort to roll back child labor laws, part of a broader campaign to concentrate even more power into the hands of employers.

Hartigan’s book is the first full-length examination of Wilson’s life and art since his death in 2005 from liver cancer. There is both a need and demand for the story of how he and his work came to be.

During the 20th century’s two red scares in US and Canada, Wobblies and Communist-aligned unions faced fierce repression from employers and government. They were targeted because they were seen as posing a real threat to the capitalist social order.