Police Violence Is Not Inevitable: Four Ways a California Police Chief Connected Cops With Communities
“A critical look at any institution with as much power and authority invested in it as the police is probably a good thing.”
YES! Article archive
Inside Palestine: 3 Families On What Life is Really Like, From Making a Living to Staying Together
Missile strikes in Gaza and home demolitions in the West Bank make headlines, but rarely are they presented in the context of everyday life. Meet three Palestinians trying to make ends meet and keep their families safe.
#Ferguson Thanksgiving: A Former Slave Proposed the Holiday 55 Years Before Lincoln. Why His Version Matters Today
“For some, racial inequality and fear are raw realities every day, and anything inspiring in American history rings false and remote. For others, the call to reflect on injustice feels like a personal accusation. But we are caught in this history together.”
Why It’s OK to Be Angry on Thanksgiving
Quite often it is our darker side that illuminates the best part of us, that brings us to where we need to be.
Undercover University: Palestinians Study Up in Israeli Prisons
More than 40 percent of Palestinian males have spent time in Israeli prisons. The schools that operate within are increasingly important.
New Film Shows How Florida Farmworkers Won Fairer Pay From America’s Biggest Food Companies
"This is not a film about oppression," said Food Chains executive producer Eva Longoria. "It's actually about transformation."
Dutch Company Powers Streetlights With Living Plants; Will Your Cell Phone Be Next?
Forget potato clocks. This promising new technology derives substantial amounts of electricity from living plants.
This Food Stand Celebrates Palestinian Culture. When It Received a Death Threat, Students Stood Up
Conflict Kitchen serves up food from countries in conflict with the United States—and its customers think it's worth defending.
An Alaska Native Myth Tells of a Never-Ending Blizzard—Now You Can Learn About It on Xbox
The first video game developed by an indigenous-owned company uses gaming’s immersive storytelling style to connect players with Alaska Native culture.
8 Main Street Job Creators Who Are Rebooting the Economy—Starting with Those Who Need It Most
From the Deep South to the West Coast, these entrepreneurs are making sure jobs and dollars grow—and stay—in places hardest hit by hurricanes, poverty, and gentrification.
The New Grassroots Heroes: They Fight Pollution—and Police Brutality—And They’re Changing How Social Movements Happen
"The global justice movement, the antiwar movement, the climate movement: We are now part of a much larger, more systemic movement that really sees the interrelationships between all these systems and climate destruction."
7 Ways to Get Happy—Without Costing the Planet
The starting point is to realize we have choices—like meaningful work, authentic relationships, and gratitude.
An Introvert Cooks Dinner for 80—and Learns Something About Community
I love my solitude. I also love my community. But my independent nature has never been unusual in this town.
How the U.S. Government Could End the Student Debt Crisis Today
Instead of loaning students money, the federal government could just pay for their tuition, without causing any significant economic problems.
These 14 Teenage Inventors Built a Glove That Translates Sign Language—and Other Tech Solutions
What these kids came up with will leave you wondering what adults are even doing anymore.
Land, Co-ops, Compost: A Local Food Economy Emerges in Boston’s Poorest Neighborhoods
From kitchens that buy and sell locally grown food, to a waste co-op that will return compost to the land, new enterprises are building an integrated food network. It's about local people keeping the wealth of their land at home.
25 Years Later: How the Fall of the Berlin Wall Inspired Global Uprisings from Occupy to Ferguson
Every so often, we witness a period of mass insurgency that seems to defy the accepted rules of politics. If ever there was a time in modern history that exemplified such a moment, it was the second half of 1989.
When My Husband Was Fired, I Felt Shame—Then Gratitude
I had grown up identifying joblessness with shame and failure. But here we were, on the other side of the employment equation, and for the first moment in my grown-up life, everything felt … right.
Empathy Heroes: 5 People Who Changed the World By Taking Compassion to the Extreme
Want to learn to change the world with empathy? Get ready to learn from the masters.
6 Ways Americans Voted Against Corporate Power in the Most Expensive Midterm Elections Ever
So the national elections didn’t go so well. But across the country—from California to North Dakota—citizens made decisions that will give you reason to hope.
Divestment Helped to End Apartheid in South Africa—Can It Work for Fossil Fuels?
When it comes to divestment, the anti-apartheid struggle is always cited as an influence. Here's how South Africans are starting to apply those same lessons to addressing climate change.
North Dakota Has a Unique Law Protecting Locally Owned Pharmacies—But This Ballot Measure Could Wipe It Out
In the far north of the Great Plains, you have to be a pharmacist to own a pharmacy. Next week, voters could overturn that rule—putting the state's thriving independent drugstores at risk.
Next Week Oregon, Alaska, and D.C. Vote on Recreational Pot—And It’s About More Than Just Getting High
If those three measures pass, more states will be added to the list of places where healing from the drug war can begin, places where people will no longer face jail time because of a little nugget in their pockets.
The Avengers Join Guardians of the Galaxy and Other Marvel Heroes to Make Bullying History
“The center of Marvel’s storytelling history is the eternal struggle between good and evil, with many of its greatest superheroes having to contend with—and rise above—bullying, in all its forms.”
To Curb Gun Violence, Chicago Residents Hit The Streets—And Really Listened to Their Neighbors
When a group of volunteers walked the streets of Chicago's east side, they learned that gun violence was not the only problem plaguing their neighborhood.
Help Fund Powerful Stories to Light the Way Forward
Donate to YES! today.