Same-Sex Marriage, Civil Rights, and the Legacy of Massive Resistance

Abigail Perkiss National Constitution Center
The Oklahoma legislature may consider a bill to end government licensing of marriage entirely. The bill, which is part of a broader strategy to avoid same-sex unions throughout the state, calls to mind efforts by lawmakers in the 1950s to undermine federally-mandated desegregation by shutting down public schools in the American South.

labor

Pete Seeger had profound impact on labor movement

Ross E. Weingarten The Poughkeepsie (N.Y.) Journal
Pete Seeger marched and performed at hundreds of rallies for different unions over the years. "Pete has always had an interest in the labor movement and has been associated with unions," said, Henry Foner, who had known Seeger for more than 60 years. "Whenever there was a problem that a union had, Pete was always available."

Old South vs. New South: The 3rd Reconstruction

This interview was filmed four months prior to the launch of the Moral Monday movement, on Jan 3, 2013 in Durham, NC by Annabel Park & Eric Byler of Story of America. Rev. Dr. William Barber provides a seven minute reframing of American history that is surprisingly, even shockingly timely in the context of America's present-day battle over voting rights.

Open Letter to Duck Dynasty Patriarch

Bob Zellner Civil Rights Memorial
Freedom Rider and long-time activist for justice, Bob Zellner, reaches out to one who sees the plight of African Americans during the pre-civil rights era differently.

Truth As Well As Reconciliation

Richard Rothstein Working Economics - Economic Policy Institute
If we understood the important role that our government played in segregating our nation, we would feel a greater obligation to press our government to integrate it. But if we believe that segregation was an unintended byproduct of private forces, it is too easy to say there is little now that can be done about it.

Strange Thanks

Robert Meeropol robertmeeropol.com
Although the great red scare of the 1950s almost erased the anti-lynching song Strange Fruit from the public arena, the strange fruit allusion - lynched bodies hanging from trees – was one of genius. It had gotten under our culture’s skin, and as time went on, it seeped out of its pores.

Tidbits - November 14, 2013

Portside
Reader Comments - More on the AFL-CIO; NFL Bullying; Vets and Peace; Seattle Socialists Win; Obamacare; Babies; Announcements - Organizing Walmart & Fast Food Industry - New York - Nov 19; Fighting Back Against Wall St. - NYC - Nov 25; Mark Rogovin To Be Inducted Into the Illinois Labor History Society's Labor Hall of Honor; 'Spies Of Mississippi' preview - NYC - Dec 15; Audio available -The Hidden History of Workplace Resistance: U.S. Autoworkers Speak Out;

North Carolina, Come On and Rise Up

Amy B Dean, Truthout Report Truthout
This is a movement, not a moment...Moral Mondays have really caught fire. It took several months last spring and early summer for the Moral Monday protests to reach a crescendo. While early statehouse rallies in North Carolina started by attracting about 50 protesters, by July thousands of people from around the state were swarming the state capitol. After three consecutive months of action, there had been around 920 arrests for civil disobedience at the weekly rallies.
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