Information is power. Our mission at Portside is to seek out and to provide information that empowers you -- that empowers the left. Every day we search hundreds of sources to connect you with the most interesting, striking and useful material. Just once a year we appeal to you to contribute to make it possible to continue this work. Please help.

 

poetry

Thanksgiving Letter from Harry

Carl Dennis poets.org
The prize-winning poet Carl Dennis offers an ironic thanksgiving greeting, one that reminds us of what blessings we North Americans have as well as the abuse we have made of those very blessings.

books

America Starts Here

Dean Rader Los Angeles Review of Books
This "remarkable collection," says reviewer Rader, "is the most inclusive and the most comprehensive anthology of Native American poetry to date."

poetry

Hoax

Donna Pucciani Plainssong
Chicago poet Donna Pucciani speaks to the cruel conditions facing young refugees, the idea they are not even people.

poetry

Bedtime

Peter Neil Carroll
Fear of the dark, how people felt on the eve of the presidential election, 2020.

poetry

In Praise of Integrity

Majid Naficy
In this season of politics, the Persian exile Majid Naficy speaks on behalf of principles and integrity.

poetry

Election Day, 1884

Walt Whitman
The great American Bard Walt Whitman (1819-1892) celebrates what all citizens must do next Tuesday: VOTE!!

poetry

Ceremony

Camille T. Dungy Poetry Northwest
In the morbid world of coronavirus, Colorado-based poet Camille T. Dungy finds spontaneous happiness in a familiar song and dance.

poetry

The Five Horses of Doctor Ramón Emeterio Betances

By Martín Espada Poem-a-day
Martín Espada gives an eloquent elegy to Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances, a Puerto Rican abolitionist and revolutionary who addressed issues of pandemic and racial oppression.

poetry

Thirteen Ways of Looking at Bana al-Abed

Mary Bailey
California poet Mary Bailey captures the voice of a Syrian girl from Aleppo who, with assistance from her English-speaking mother, sent messages through Twitter documenting the siege of the city.
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