Wade Rathke:

New Orleans        I won’t say this is so bizarre and unreal that “you can’t make this stuff up.”  I can’t say it, because in fact it is all totally made up. President Trump has outdone himself once again, and as always has done so at the expense of the American people.  After days of […]

New Orleans      In our new vernacular there are going to be some expressions that we won’t soon forget like social distancing and novel coronavirus.   One that I particularly like and would certainly nominate for more common usage is “work drag.” Don’t tell me that you don’t know what I’m talking about either, because I […]

Pearl River     Riots are often studied, but little understood.  They are unpredictable by definition.  Why does a riot erupt in one place, but not another when the combustible conditions for a conflagration seem to exist in both?  How does a peaceful protest one-minute cross the line into a riot the next? Importantly, what impact do […]

Pearl River     Cities throughout America are erupting once again over the extra juridical killing of a black man by the police.  Some voices are calling for calm, while President Trump calls for chaos.  The “powers that be” would have us believe that this is one rouge cop with a record of police brutality.  The protestors […]

New Orleans      Wow, there’s yet another argument from the “powers that be” to scold and admonish protestors.  Now they can say they were risking their health and the health of their community by coming together to protest.  As they used to say when there were live sports on television, “Come on, man!” My view […]

New Orleans      Speaking as an organizer, be careful what you wish for, if you’re hoping the pandemic means more online work and work from home, because it is easy to see even more obstacles ahead for work-based and union organizations. The more I read about schools and universities moving increasingly to online teaching, the […]

New Orleans   There’s a very clear lesson emerging from all the news these days:  keep your cellphone handy and learn how to press video record.  It might not save your life, but it might bring you or someone else justice, and that’s still important.  You can be a good neighbor by bringing in someone’s trash […]

New Orleans     Mutual aid or solidarity work has long been a feature of political activity in times of crisis and often at all times.  ACORN affiliates around the world have been involved at different levels in such work as we have tried to respond to the crises the pandemic has wrought on our members.  […]

Pearl River     If there were ever a time that workers needed to feel safe on the job, it’s got to be now in the middle of a pandemic.  Even with the lifting of restrictions in different states and various businesses reopening, many workers are still voting with their feet, and their feet are firmly planted […]

Pearl River     Roughly 39 million Americans have applied for unemployment, not even counting gig and self-employed workers, workers who have abandoned job search, or couldn’t access the benefits, which means real unemployment is over 50 million.  Statistical unemployment will be 17 or 18% but clearly, we’re at Great Depression levels of over 20%, and likely […]