Dispatches From the Culture Wars — June 30, 2026
- Gestapo Style Crackdown Seizes Protesters
- Democratic Socialists Make Headway
- POTUS Spills the Beans
- Organizing for Abortion Rights
- Germany’s Far Right is After... Bauhaus
- The Horizons Project
- Vance’s Chops Busted
- Anti-LGBTQ Meeting in Ghana
- Dream Defenders
- Declaration of Interdependence
Gestapo Style Crackdown Seizes Protesters
By Sarah Lazare and Amy Livingston, In These Times
Fifteen people were indicted by the federal government as part of a sweeping crackdown on organizing in opposition to the ICE and Border Patrol since December 2025. Among a slew of other allegations, the indictment cited some of the individuals’ participation in assemblies of trade unionists as evidence that the activists participated in a criminal conspiracy.
Democratic Socialists Make Headway
By George Chidi, The Guardian
The common criticism of democratic socialism is that its proponents put their ideological interests before matters of effective governance. But after a string of high-profile wins, supporters are hopeful that Mamdani and others will prove the two can go hand-in-hand. Political sands are shifting inside the Democratic party, and its strongholds.
By Greg Sargent, The New Republic
As Trump’s demands for voter suppression get so absurd that even Republicans balk, the author of a piece on his narcissism explains how he’s royally screwing them in the midterms—and himself, to boot.
Organizing for Abortion Rights
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By Marianne Dhenin, Truthout
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion. Organizers have ramped up efforts to improve access since the ruling, and thanks to that work, measures to protect and ensure reproductive freedoms are expected to be on the ballot in three states come November: Idaho, Nevada, and Virginia.
Germany’s Far Right is After... Bauhaus
By Anne-Sylvaine Chassany, Financial Times
The Bauhaus Foundation has warned that the far-right Alternative for Germany is reviving rhetoric reminiscent of the Nazi-era attacks on the art school, as it prepares for a possible legal battle if the party wins regional elections in the eastern state where the institution is based.
By sylvia murray and Julia Roig, Peace Prospects
The Chief Network Weaver of the Horizons Project and a leader in ecosystem-based organizing reflects on what it means to cultivate collective power in a time when many feel overwhelmed, fragmented, or unsure where to begin.
Vance’s Chops Busted
“Hillbilly” Myth By Chauncey DeVega, Salon
Pope Schools Veep By Ewan Palmer, The Daily Beast
By Delali Adogla-Bessa, openDemocracy
A three-day event brought together lawmakers and conservative and Christian religious leaders from across Africa, as well as members of far-right and Christian groups in the Global North. They were there to advance a new charter would encourage governments to withdraw from international treaties or funding agreements that promote “the LGBT agenda”, abortion, and sex education.
By Akin Olla and Nailah Summers-Polite, Convergence
Dream Defenders began in Florida in 2012, in response to the murder of Trayvon Martin. They are currently organizing in 10 cities across the South and East Coast, working to expand the scale of their political education while training more and more young people on how to organize.
Declaration of Interdependence
By Fabiola Cineas, The Guardian
At the Next250 All of US rally, held a week before the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding, organizers will launch their Declaration of Interdependence, an art installation featuring the collective values they believe should define the next 250 years of America’s story.