"Words that make actions speak louder."
As a frequent traveler, I can understand the outrage over new TSA security procedures. A “choice” between an ultra-revealing body scan, a scandalously intrusive pat-down, or not traveling by air, ever, is no choice at all. And for those of us who travel internationally, the frustration is compounded by the knowledge that other countries use […]
Whatever the results this Election Day, it’s clear that visionary progressive ideas will be less welcome at the start of the next Congress. And that’s saying something, given their track record in this Congress. But with that reality comes a new opportunity: the chance to tell our own story as progressives, instead of having it […]
Two new government reports illustrate the complex and troubling state of opportunity in America, but also the right way forward. The first set of data, by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, found that the gender pay gap is at a historic low, with women earning almost 83¢ for every dollar earned by men—compared with 76¢ […]
Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio is known for housing inmates in tent cities in the desert and making them wear pink clothes as humiliation, but also for allegations of racial profiling and abusive treatment of Latinos, inside and outside of his jailhouse. On September 2, 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit […]
The Washington Post reported this week that a coalition of over 150 social justice and public interest groups has come together to call for job creation and investment in opportunity, including for the country’s hardest hit communities. They’ll launch their call in a march on Washington October 2, 2010. It’s the right call at the […]
By and large, mayors are pragmatists. They’ve got snow to remove and potholes to fill, schools to run and crime to fight. Literally and figuratively, they must keep the trains running on time, or hear loudly and decisively from voters and constituents. That pragmatic spirit was evident on Monday, when the U.S. Conference of Mayors […]
The conventional wisdom is that President Obama’s nominee to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens won’t change the Supreme Court much, since Justice Stevens is part of the Court’s progressive wing and President Obama’s choice is likely to be of a similar stripe. That thinking is dead wrong. The next nominee could profoundly change the […]
Mossville, Louisiana is an historic African American community in the southwest part of the state. Like too many similar communities around the country, it is surrounded by 14 industrial facilities that release millions of pounds of toxic chemicals annually. Mossville residents point to studies by governmental and private sources linking the pollution from these facilities […]
Last Sunday, as the health care bill was being debated, 200,000 Americans gathered on the National Mall to urge action on another national priority: fixing our broken immigration system. Speakers included civil rights leaders like Ben Jealous of the NAACP, faith leaders like Cardinal Roger Mahoney of Los Angeles, and labor leaders like Andy Stern […]
President Obama and the First Lady recognized International Women’s Day earlier this week with a moving and sometimes funny ceremony in the East Room. The President said that “the story of America’s women, like the story of America itself, has had its peaks and valleys. But as one of our great American educators once said, […]