Dispatches From the Culture Wars – December 17, 2024
- Assassination Uncovers Mass Rage
- The Fate of the 14th Amendment
- Lessons from Jewish Voice for Peace
- Encountering the “Enemy” in Rural America
- Immigration Activists Prepare
- They Left MAGA
- Milei’s Attack on Feminist Literature
- Armed Self-Defense for MAGA Targets
- Firing Oath Keepers from Chicago PD
- Don't Be It, Do It
Assassination Uncovers Mass Rage
With Thompson’s death, America’s health care powers feel and fear the American public’s anger now more than ever. The rest of us need to channel that anger toward ending this system that’s failed America’s health.
The Fate of the 14th Amendment
By Clarence Lusane
Salon
From the day Donald Trump took office, he had no intention to “preserve, protect, and defend,” no less “support” the Constitution. Instead, he essentially ran roughshod over much of that document. And the issue was never simply his ignorance of the Constitution (though that should be taken for granted), but his outright hostility to it.
Lessons from Jewish Voice for Peace
By Rebecca Vilkomerson and Rabbi Alissa Wise
The Forge
As staff leaders of Jewish Voice for Peace from 2009-2019, we’ve thought a lot about the ebb and flow of organizing, the importance of building durable institutions if we want to wage governing power, and the tensions and possibilities of building movement institutions within a nonprofit framework.
Encountering the “Enemy” in Rural America
By Matthew Sitman and Sam Adler-Bell
Dissent
Reclaim Idaho, a grassroots organization that, among other things, helped win a ballot referendum that expanded Medicaid in the state. Why, when an initiative like that can succeed, or voters in red states reject school vouchers or approve hikes to the minimum wage, does the party that opposes these measures tend to clean up in such places?
By Kelly Hayes
Truthout
“It’s inherently a racial justice and economic justice fight,” says Silky Shah, executive director of Detention Watch Network. She discusses the threats posed by the incoming Trump administration, how organizers are preparing to defend immigrant communities, and what actions we can take to prepare and respond.
Leaving MAGA
We founded Leaving MAGA in 2024 to be a community and safe space for those who have left the movement, or have doubts and remorse about staying in MAGA but are afraid to leave. Leaving MAGA’s impact rests in the stories of everyone who stands up and says: “I left, and it freed me to return to being the person I am.”
Milei’s Attack on Feminist Literature
By Romina Navarro and Lucía Leszinsky
Global Voices
“Cometierra,” by Dolores Reyes, is one of the feminist works that the current Argentine government is seeking to censor, alleging “sexually explicit content” that is unsuitable for adolescents. An association for the defence of the “well-being of children and adolescents” has filed a criminal complaint to oppose the “dissemination of pornographic material to minors and abuse of authority.”
Armed Self-Defense for MAGA Targets
By Manisha Krishnan
The Guardian
The misogyny and anti-trans rhetoric that were hallmarks of the 2024 election campaign have seemingly ramped up since Donald Trump’s win, prompting some women, queer and trans people to respond by buying guns – and learning how to defend themselves from potential attackers.
Firing Oath Keepers from Chicago PD
By Corli Jay
The TRiiBE
Some members of Chicago’s Black press recently sent a letter to Mayor Brandon Johnson urging him to keep his campaign promise to fire police officers associated with hate groups. Based on the Inspector General’s July advisory, Johnson did not accept recommendations nor commit to “any specific action at all” regarding how it plans to handle issues of officers in extremist groups.
By Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò
Teen Vogue
Being “the right kind” of progressive or feminist or socialist can easily become its own goal, rather than winning concrete victories that match the values and goals behind these labels. Organizers can be content to exist as a subculture — again, “the right kind” of progressive, feminist, or socialist — while being indifferent or even hostile to attempts to move beyond that.