Race
The War on Drugs Is a War on People Like Me
The War on Drugs has been with us for more than fifty years, and hasn’t been a war on drugs at all. It’s been a war on people: people like me, and my family. Black people. The part where it was supposed to decrease drug use? That part failed. I live in Prince George’s...
Neoliberal Capitalism Depends on White Supremacy
Whitehall Street, Atlanta Georgia, 1864. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons / cc Billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Jamie Dimon may personally associate with individual African Americans, Latinos and other minorities. They might even employ them. They...
Justice For George Floyd
Memorial to George Floyd in Minneapolis. Photo credit: Take Action Minnesota / cc First published by Take Action Minnesota on June 4, 2020 Today, George Floyd’s memorial was held in Minneapolis. The pain, rage, and grief across the Twin Cities is palpable. At the same...
We Can Create The World We Want To Live In
People's Action congratulates Adrienne Evans, executive director of United Vision for Idaho, on receiving a 2020 Roddenberry Fellowship. The program, whose alumni include Alicia Garza, Michael White and Judith LeBlanc, seeks to empower activists to “think, question,...
Don't Call The Police, Call Your Neighbors
Here is a hard truth: Police do not keep communities safe. This year alone has produced numerous stories of officers causing distress, damage, or death in communities they’re sworn to protect. As this epidemic worsens, communities need to find new ways to handle...
Why Justice for Botham Jean Is Impossible
Photo credit: KENS-TV screenshot / YouTube I’ve been thinking about this Amber Guyger verdict, and seeing different perspectives on the timeline. Lately, I’ve been seeking to understand more about what some call an abolitionist framework around the criminal legal...
Boise Rejects White Nationalism. Do You?
People’s Action is making waves: We’re turning back the tide of hate. In Boise, my hometown, United Vision for Idaho worked hard to unanimously pass a city ordinance denouncing white supremacy and White Nationalism, and in Des Moines, we just held candidates to...
Reparations Are A Step In The Right Direction
Today is Juneteenth, the day we celebrate - and as a nation, we must celebrate - the emancipation of African-Americans enslaved by the white colonists of North America and their descendants. I am one of those white people who know we must do better. It’s also the day...
There’s No Turning Back New York’s Wave Of Justice
A blue wave surged across New York State last November, as voters went to the ballot box to demand true progressives represent them in Albany. This unprecedented voter turnout helped create an undeniable Democratic majority in our state legislature for the first time...
Whose Lives Matter? Our Lives Matter
Twenty years ago, I was a director of youth programs for a subsidiary organization of the Chicago Housing Authority. I ran an afterschool, GED and job training programs for Black youth living in the city’s public housing. In the three years that I ran these...