Now the largely agrarian community has found itself in the middle of a perfect storm of environmental neglect, poverty, and the coronavirus.
"Organizing in rural spaces with progressive, multiracial solidarity messaging is the future. Either we get there first or white supremacists get there first.”
There are no quick fixes to the state’s water woes – and so many impoverished residents remain exposed to unsafe water.
Rural voters hold enormous potential for progressives. When Donald Trump came in 2016, many rural voters were desperate. He promised to bring back factory jobs. He promised to bring back coal-mining jobs. Sure, these were lies. But they were lies.
What they got: $1.5B information highway to nowhere.
Sexual health is a lifetime responsibility, and we need to equip young people with the tools they need.
Focusing on places like McDowell County, West Virginia, perpetuates the image of rural America as populated primarily by people of white Western European origins, a narrative that fit the media’s interest in white rural working-class voters. But while the economic suffering in McDowell might reflect the experiences of many working-class people outside of major metropolitan areas in the Trump era, McDowell’s whiteness is less representative.
ROP organizers have shown great courage, educating about - and standing up to - right-wing militia groups in rural Oregon. This post suggests important actions that the rest of us can take.
Extremist surge got national attention during the Oregon militia standoff and has continued to rise with Trump, with his legitimization of white nationalist politics
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