Small Black Birds

 Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, says the money she's paid to support Trump and other conservative causes doesn't influence her husband.  But a quick glance at Clarence's' voting record says otherwise.

Censorship is on the rise in America, as more states ban books and pass laws restrictng what teachers can talk about  from the country's troubled history.  This mimics the dangerous approach by the Chinese government which blocks its citizens from accessing  independent reports about current events or the country’s past.  But artists like Badiucao are challenging the regime in ways that aren't easily erased.

We are all paying more for groceries these days. But what if the food you wanted wasn’t available at any price?  As more people realize today’s food system is broken, native communities want to regain control of their own food supply.

We are so indoctrinated with the idea that policing and caging people stops crime that it's difficult to imagine anything other than the police state. But prison abolitionists like Mariame Kaba say there is a better way.  And it starts with mutual aid. 

See: Abolition is essential (Part1)

Rather than throwing more money at corrupt police departments and overcrowded prisons, prison abolitionists like Mariame Kaba say its time to make them obsolete by redirecting the billions of dollars that now go to police and prisons toward things that reduce crime -and improve peoples' lives.

See: We keep each other safe (Part 2)

Seeking to halt the fossil fuel emissions responsible for so much environmental damage, activists sprung into action across the country to protest against dangerous projects like the Dakota Access pipeline.  So, why is the government now equating protest with terrorism?

From helping Bob Dylan change the course of music at Newport to his iconic portrayal of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, Theodore Bikel's contributions to music and theatre are undeniable.  But his willingness to see the humanity in other people was his real gift. 

Photo: Theodore Bikel, Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan in Greenwood, Mississippi 1963.

The US government’s use of the 1917 Espionage Act to prosecute Julian Assange is meant to intimidate whistleblowers from leaking information the government wants to keep hidden and silence journalists from reporting the truth.    

A recent poll found nearly one out of two Americans didn't know Puerto Rico is a part of the United States.   Even fewer realize the U.S. failed to deliver promised reconstruction assistance to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria devastated the island in 2017.   Years later, Puerto Rico is still waiting. 

“Don't tell me where your priorities are. Show me where you spend your money and I'll tell you what they are.”

America spends over $700 billion every year on its military, and less than a tenth of that on education.  William Barber II and the Poor People's Campaign challenges the national myths that keep millions of Americans of all backgrounds in poverty.