Future Hindsight

Melissa Mark-Viverito is the former Speaker of the New York City Council and co-founder of the 21 in ’21 Initiative. She argues that electing women into government is critical for our society and democracy because their perspectives and experiences need to be represented in budgets, public policy, and legislation.

Trailer: Probable Futures

In this upcoming season, we examine what our probable future is going to look like and interviewed guests with expertise in a variety of fields. We discuss the economics of healthcare, the probabilities of tolerable climate futures, the enormous collateral consequences of the current cash bail system, the future of democracy, gender parity, and more.

Census data supports communities

Government and businesses rely on census data to provide the necessary services that make healthy and vibrant communities possible. The data reveals how many grocery stores, pharmacies, hospitals, or schools are needed, and even influence public transportation routes and budgets. An accurate and fair count will ensure that adequate resources are allocated.

Undercounting and the citizenship question

Asking whether the census participant is a citizen could decrease the count because people are afraid that it would undermine their safety and privacy. Undercounting hurts all communities because it will imply that they need fewer resources. The U.S. Conference of Mayors, a bipartisan body of mayors, has joined a lawsuit to take the question off the census.

The basis for political power

Political redistricting happens as a result of significant demographic shifts. After the 2010 census, 18 states changed their number of congressional seats and Electoral College votes, starting with the 2012 elections. Texas gained four seats, and Florida gained two. Another 6 states gained on seat each, while 8 states lost one seat, and New York and Ohio each lost two.

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Ashley Allison is the Executive Vice President of Campaigns and Programs at The Leadership Conference, the nation's premier civil and human rights coalition. It works on a wide range of issues, representative of the breadth of today's civil rights movement from immigration to disability rights, to the census and religious freedom. If you're interested in getting involved, email [email protected] and check out the Census Counts 2020 website.

This interview with Ashley Allison of The Leadership Conference about the important role of the census for our democracy was originally released on October 5, 2018. She speaks eloquently about why we should all participate and be counted. We are reposting it because the Supreme Court ruled against including the citizenship question in the 2020 census.

The crisis of our time

People have very little political power beyond voting on election day. Current governing structures are incapable of changing the world and solving the big problems that we face, such as the climate crisis. The solution is to form a social movement – perhaps through revolution – that can make good decisions and achieve its goals, such as win elections, take sovereignty, and maintain power. A notable example is the Five Star Movement in Italy, which directs policy and takes control away from elected representatives when they violate the core principles of the movement.

The limitations of contemporary protest

Occupy Wall Street did not achieve its goals of ending the power of money over our democracies or give more power to the 99 percent. However, it did reveal that both the strategy of street protest as well as the way of protesting are broken. In addition, current activist culture is producing consensus-driven activism that is looking for incremental change and reform within the existing system. A true activist used to be someone who stands outside of the status quo and is not afraid to go against a movement's consensus.

The nature of social change

A strong theory about how social change comes to fruition revolves around structural forces beyond human direct participation, like an economic crisis. This argues that it's the combination of the crisis and people in the streets that achieves change. Two more ways of thinking about effecting change are subjectivism and theurgism. Subjectivism believes that change is a process that happens within us. When we change the way we are, then we transform how we see the world. Theurgism believes that social change and revolution are a process of divine intervention, by forces that are completely outside of our control.

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Micah White is the lifelong activist who co-created Occupy Wall Street, a global social movement that spread to 82 countries, while he was working as an editor of Adbusters magazine. He is also the co-founder of Activist Graduate School, an online school taught by, and for, experienced activists.

His book, The End of Protest, A New Playbook for Revolution has been translated into German and Greek. His essays have been published in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Guardian, and beyond. He has been profiled by The New Yorker, Esquire, and more.

Follow Micah White on Twitter @beingMicahWhite

Micah White is the lifelong activist who co-created Occupy Wall Street and the author of The End of Protest. He is also co-founder of Activist Graduate School, which is taught by, and for, experienced activists. We discuss the limitations of contemporary protest, how protest and activism can be revitalized, and whether the time for a revolution is now.

Financial risk and social cost

Engaging in early and constructive dialogue between indigenous communities and corporations is crucial for success. Big companies involved in infrastructure projects that affect indigenous lands have the resources for careful research and negotiation to mitigate potential financial risks and social costs. Educating both indigenous people and corporations about each other's interests protects indigenous rights and values, and increases the chances of fruitful negotiations and mutually beneficial projects.

Respect the environment

The sun, earth, air, and water are essential and universal elements that make life possible. Indigenous communities have respected and honored their land and rivers for centuries as the source of life. It is necessary for all of us to recognize the importance of a healthy environment and act to protect it. If we all agree to work together, we can improve the lives of our communities and that of future generations.

Youth leadership

The community's youth took a leading role from the beginning of the protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline. They delivered letters of protest to the district office of the US Army Corps of Engineers in Omaha, Nebraska. They also took a petition with over 160,000 signatures to the Washington, D.C., office, demanding that the lands and waters of the Great Sioux Nation be respected. Finally, they took the fight to social media, which raised awareness on a national and international level about the environmental risks of the pipeline.

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Dave Archambault II is a global leader for Indigenous Peoples' rights and the former Chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota, where he led the #NoDAPL movement to prevent the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

He is now the Senior Fellow at the University of Colorado's First Peoples Investment Engagement Program (FPIEP), a project of First Peoples Worldwide that focuses on educating industry groups and stakeholders about the rights of indigenous people and fostering dialogue between them to transform business behavior. The FPIEP conducted the "Social Cost and Material Loss: The Dakota Access Pipeline" case study.

For more information to protect water for indigenous people and to defend indigenous rights, visit Water Protector Legal.

Follow Standing Rock Sioux on Twitter @StandingRockST and First Peoples Worldwide @FirstPeoplesWW.

Dave Archambault II is a global leader for Indigenous Peoples’ rights and the former Chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota, where he led the movement against the Dakota Access Pipeline. We discuss his advocacy for indigenous rights, constructive dialogue between stakeholders, and the fundamental importance of a healthy environment.

Bearing Witness