Democracy
What I Learned In Kansas
In his 2004 book What’s the Matter with Kansas, Thomas Frank describes how working-class voters in his home state came to support a party that does not stand with them on policies that affect their livelihood and ability to make ends meet. Why, he asks, do they vote...
The Time Is Now For Meaningful Change On Capitol Hill
Too often, it feels like our government is run by and for the wealthy and powerful industries, like pharmaceuticals and fossil fuels, insurance and finance. They spend hundreds of millions every year to sway politicians’ votes towards their interests. They have...
First We Celebrate, Then We Fight
July 15th is a day every American should celebrate. That’s when families began to receive direct payments of as much as $300 per child, payments they’ll now get every month through the end of the year, along with a tax credit. This is a game changer for the millions...
Blessed Be The Organizers
Like all of us, I’ve sorted through many feelings this week. And, there’s been one constant. Gratitude for organizers. If you take organizers and the local institutions they’ve built off the table, Donald Trump is a two-term President. I feel certain of that. To be...
Follow John Lewis: Don't Let Trump Provoke Violence
Photo credit: Spider Martin GPA photo archive / flickr / cc John Lewis, the Georgia Congressman who led the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and was one of the "Big Six" civil rights leaders who organized the 1963 March on Washington, is being...
We Need a People's Bailout NOW
One of every five working Americans – more than 32 million people – have lost their job to COVID-19. A tsunami of evictions will come unless lawmakers take meaningful action now. Unemployment is rising - again. Hunger is rising, too. And cases of COVID are rising...
Policing Is Not A Public Good
Photo credit: Sgt. Joe Davis, Utah National Guard / cc For decades, we’ve been told that policing is a public good: available to all, for the benefit of all. But in practice, that’s never been true. One of the basic measures of a “public good” is that it’s accessible...
Georgia's Primary Election Meltdown
Photo credit: National Archives, USDA / cc The signs kept coming that Georgia’s June 9 primary would not go well. On the last day of early voting, the Friday before the election, Jon Ossoff, a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, waited for more than three hours to vote...
Freedom Is Ours To Take: Join Us On Juneteenth
Photo credit: Ted Eytan / Flickr / cc “Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man (or woman), you take it.” - Malcolm X So much has changed in our nation’s Capital since my last Letter from D.C. That time of hope...
Education Secretary DeVos Is Using COVID To Get What She Wants
Photo credit: Gage Skidmore / Flickr / cc As American deaths from COVID-19 crested 100,000, the New York Times reported U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos declared her intention to “force” public school districts to spend a large portion of federal funds they’re...
