Category: What’s Happening In the Movement

Unions as a Pillar of Democracy in 2024

ANDREW MOSS – The three co-presidents (Ada Briceno, Susan Minato, and Kurt Petersen) of UNITE Local 11 stated simply, “As we see it, a strong union does more than negotiate work contracts. It helps workers become active citizens who stand up for their democratic rights.”

The Heroes Fighting for Public Education

LAURA PAPPANO – The first thing to reflect on is this: Public schools gather everyone. All are invited. There is no test you need to pass, no amount of money or influence or fame you must possess to be allowed in. Do you know how rare that is in the United States today? This has made public schools the place where people from all backgrounds and circumstances have come together to learn. It is where parents have volunteered and, regardless of their political bent, have worked alongside other parents for a common purpose.

Why conspiracy theories are corrosive to social movements — and what to do about it

SHANE BURLEY – Opposition to the current state of the world is not synonymous with fighting for a liberatory future. And the inability to parse out this reality has revealed instability across a radical left that often clamors after any ally in the struggle against systemic injustice. Without safeguards and clarity on the mission, nearly any voice against the status quo can be mistaken for a friend — including those who want to replace it with something even more deadly or whose analysis relies on conspiracy. The left needs to return to political arguments, reading groups, liberation schools, teach-ins and serious debate hashed out in late night meetings. This is what will move the justifiable instinct that something is wrong to an accurate diagnosis that begs workable action. Without a clear picture of how our world has failed, any demagogue can capture the energy of the disaffected by offering a solution that creates even more profound problems. Our mission is not to simply destroy the old world. It’s to build a new and more just one in its place.

Senior Nonviolent Resister Celebrates Nuclear Ban Treaty the Hard Way

JOHN LAFORGE – A super-majority of UN members finally decided that the nuclear weapons powers must have lied when they promised, in 1970, in Article VI of the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) “to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date”, etc., etc. After 57 years, “at an early date” has become the laugh line of international law. The phrase was vague enough for nuclear powers to ignore it indefinitely, while asserting their lawful adherence.

Satyagraha: A Word You Should Know in 2024

ANDREW MOSS – Activists striving for equality and justice, including climate justice, may not necessarily use the word satyagraha, but they are nevertheless engaged in what Gandhi called “experiments with truth,” exploring and advancing each day understandings of the deep interrelatedness of factual and ethical truths.

What If Soldiers Refused to Fight? It Has Happened Before.

ARNOLD J. OLIVER – An iconic song back in the 1960’s addressed the causes of war, and what leads young people to fight in them. Buffy Saint Marie’s Universal Soldier advised that we could end war if soldiers refused to fight. So what if we gave her idea a test this winter? Let’s suggest to the soldiers among the various warring parties from the Middle East to Europe to Africa and beyond that they refuse to kill each other for a while. 

Parties to Nuclear Ban Treaty Agree Nuclear Deterrence is the Problem

INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS (ICAN) – The Second Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW has successfully concluded and agreed that nuclear deterrence is a significant security problem, requiring urgent attention by the international community, that more research on the impacts of nuclear weapons is needed, and that the harms caused by nuclear weapons use and testing require ongoing attention.

How the National Infrastructure Program Creates Jobs for Today and Tomorrow

DAVID MCCALL – President Joe Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) on November 15, 2021, unleashing $1.2 trillion for tens of thousands of projects nationwide. It is upgrading transportation, communications, and energy systems while building back manufacturing capacity, generating hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs, and investing in the middle class.

Over 5,000 actions were organized for Campaign Nonviolence Action Days 2023

RIVERA SUN – During the 10th annual Campaign Nonviolence Action Days from Sept. 21 to Oct. 2, hundreds of local, national and international groups organized actions and events to build a culture of peace and active nonviolence, free from war, poverty, racism and environmental destruction. In 2023, a staggering 5,057 actions were planned across the United States and 20 countries. Over 60,000 people took part in these actions and events.

One Day for Labor Is Not Enough

ANDREW MOSS – The state of labor this year is so fraught, so weighted with issues and problems, that a single day of homage and reflection doesn’t seem enough. It’s as if a year or more is needed to engage the issues, challenges, and possibilities facing American workers today.

Coast to Coast Peace Walk Being Planned

VETERANS FOR PEACE – The goal of promoting VFP or any organization is secondary. That is why we welcome anyone or any left antiwar organization of good will to get on board. The primary and basic foundation organizing will be done by VFP. However, we want your input, involvement and suggestions. If we can all come together on this walk across the heart of America, we can do anything, maybe even begin to actually stop the war machine and find peace. 

How America Undervalues Working People, and How Workers are Fighting Back

ANDREW MOSS – America is one of the wealthiest nations in the world. Yet when compared to other advanced industrialized countries, it fares dismally in national laws and policies affecting workers. This is a major claim of a recent cross-national study sponsored by the humanitarian organization Oxfam America, a report that offers a powerful lens for understanding the major strike activity now underway in the U.S.

How Daniel Ellsberg Helped End the Vietnam War

RUSSELL VANDENBROUCKE – Daniel Ellsberg, sent to Saigon in 1965 to evaluate civilian pacification programs, would spend 18 months with patrols into towns and villages. His skeptical reports about death and destruction and potential victory by North Vietnam went nowhere. Ellsberg struggled with his knowledge. He was a family man with a brilliant career, all of which would be at risk if he blew the whistle, and he knew it.

Banning Books to be Banned in Illinois

JUDD LEGUM – Across the country, right-wing activists are seeking to ban thousands of books from schools and other public libraries. Those promoting the bans often claim they are acting to protect children from pornography. But the bans frequently target books “by and about people of color and LGBTQ  individuals.” Many of the books deemed pornography by activities are actually highly acclaimed novels. Now, one state is fighting back.

Oregon Nonprofit Returns Wallowa Land to Nez Perce Tribe

LAUREN PATERSON – Kathleen Ackley is the executive director of the Wallowa Land Trust. As more Northwest lake communities are being developed with vacation homes and Airbnbs, she says her organization’s focus is protecting natural areas, open spaces and farms in Northeast Oregon. The nonprofit recently gifted 30 acres of undeveloped land near the lake to the Nez Perce Tribe.

How Workers in the South Are Defying History

TOM CONWAY – Workers at Blue Bird Corporation in Fort Valley, Georgia, launched a union drive to secure better wages, work-life balance, and a voice on the job. The company resisted them. History defied them. Geography worked against them. But they stood together, believed in themselves, and achieved a historic victory that’s reverberating throughout the South.

Dan Ellsberg – A Profound Voice Against the Doomsday Machine

DANIEL ELLSBERG – Can we simply ignore the reality of the world’s largest nuclear arsenals on hair-trigger alert — amid escalation of a new cold war with heightened nuclear dangers? We ignore this impending disaster and its impassioned opponent, Daniel Ellsberg, at our own peril.Indeed, the U.S. just enacted its biggest military budget in history, with unprecedented investment in weapons of mass destruction and their deployment.

The Nord Stream-Andromeda Cover Up

SCOTT RITTER – The German government’s crude effort to manufacture an alternative narrative regarding who attacked the Nord Stream pipeline fails the smell test — in short, it stinks. The holes in this story are such that even the most gifted screenwriters could not turn this Andromeda tale of changing history into something remotely believable. In short, Gene Roddenberry would not be impressed.