Community Altars for Día de los Muertos Symbolize Tradition, Loss, and Hope
The annual Los Angeles Noche de Ofrenda in Grand Park—where Día de los Muertos blossomed into a national and international phenomenon— returns after a one-year hiatus.
YES! Article archive
Chicano Artists Resist Commercialization of Día de los Muertos
After decades of dedicated work by Chicano artists in East L.A. to promote Día de los Muertos as a festival unique to their community, it is now a hyper-commercialized enterprise. Still, many are working to recenter the festival’s original intent of honoring the dead.
Restaurant Workers Organize for Fair Wages
Today’s subminimum wages are a legacy of racist policies that date from the Civil War.
What Are the Trees Saying About Us?
Minimum Viable Planet is a weeklyish newsletter about climateish stuff, and how to keep it together in a world gone mad. This week, we listen to what nature has to offer in the conversation around climate solutions.
Planting a Life—and a Future—After Prison
The residential and employment program on a North Carolina organic farm helps formerly incarcerated women find a new path.
Can Detroit Return its Brownfields to the Indigenous Sacred Sites They Once Were?
The destruction of burial mounds in Detroit paralleled the displacement and genocide of Indigenous peoples throughout the United States.
Baltimore’s Community Land Trusts Offer a Pathway to Housing Justice
After years of grassroots activism, the city has found success in addressing historical housing discrimination through community land trusts.
The Pursuit of Rest Under Capitalism
“Could it be that the fragmentation of our relations has been a fundamental cause of our exhaustion?”
10 Years After Occupy Wall Street, Its Legacy Remains Strong
Occupy Wall Street gave the left ideas, skills, and a base in a way no one could have imagined a decade ago. The radicalization of a generation, the ability to easily explain class, the potential for mass nonviolent direct action, and crowbarring politics to let in socialist ideas and elected officials are all invaluable legacies.
Advocates for Haitian Asylum Seekers Call for Humane Treatment
The Biden administration was supposed be different from its predecessor. So why are Haitians are being denied their due process in seeking asylum to the U.S.?
Don’t Let Youth Climate Activists Like Me Burn Out
The COP26 meeting is an opportunity for world leaders to prove me wrong, to show us that they can act boldly on climate change and do more than make empty promises.
The Climate Crisis Is Your Crisis, Too
Minimum Viable Planet is a weeklyish newsletter about climateish stuff, and how to keep it together in a world gone mad. This week, we look into sharing the climate crisis panic without having it backfire on you.
Greta Thunberg on Climate Promises Versus Actions
The climate activist doesn’t mince words in holding world leaders accountable to the urgent demands of young organizers.
What the Pandora Papers Tell Us About Ourselves
We can’t talk about corruption and tax dodging around the world when we’re encouraging it at home.
What I Learned When I Came Out to My Asian Mother
“We all have a story to share, and I believe knowing someone’s story creates connection.”
Does the Supreme Court’s Power Pose a Threat to Its Legitimacy?
A court seen as becoming increasingly politicized in ways unpopular to the majority of Americans risks decades of reputational damage.
To Resist Tyranny, Cross Social Boundaries
A graphic edition of “On Tyranny” draws democracy lessons from the 20th century.
Growing Food and Latino Culture in Tucson’s Barrio Centro
T-shirt entrepreneurs-turned-farmers are turning an abandoned elementary school into a community hub.
Do Indigenous Land Acknowledgments Do More Harm Than Good?
If done right, they should be prompting uncomfortable conversations, not self-congratulations.
Children’s Author Tells the True Story of Columbus’ Exploits
Oriel María Siu’s new children’s book explodes the myth of Christopher Columbus as a celebrated explorer and re-centers Indigenous narratives of how the Americas were colonized.
Cultivating Food Sovereignty Through Regenerative Ocean Farming
The first Native-owned and Native-led land trust is working to empower and equip young Natives to successfully farm kelp.
How Conservatorships Were Used to Exploit Native Americans
Native Americans were put into a status of guardianship due to a system of federal and local policies developed in the early 1900s. A lawyer explains this sordid history in light of the recent case of pop star Brittney Spears' conservatorship.
How to Address Mental Health Needs of Children With Chronic Illnesses
Children with chronic medical conditions often suffer multiple blows to their mental well-being. A state program in California aims to provide appropriate treatment for these children and their families.
What the Pandora Papers Reveal About the Wealth of World Leaders
And how tax havens—including in the U.S.—are used to hide money from tax authorities.
What Does Rest Look Like in a Climate Crisis?
Minimum Viable Planet is a weeklyish newsletter about climateish stuff, and how to keep it together in a world gone mad. This week, we look into the restless mind, kept awake by the climate crisis.
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