Minneapolis Activists Ask Local Leaders to Invest in Communities, Not Cops
In dramatic effect, a Minneapolis resident dumps a bag of money onto a podium during public comments at the final City Council meeting on the 2020 budget last month. The
Political Power
YES! believes in the fundamental right of people to determine their own political future, and reports on efforts to expand access to democracy and voter enfranchisement, while also acknowledging the limits of electoral politics, and “democracy” as it has been used as a bludgeon by imperial powers.
How Educators Are Rethinking The Way They Teach Immigration History
In the summer of 2017, before her senior year of high school, Isabelle Doerre-Torres met Carlos,* a Salvadoran immigrant on the verge of deportation. Doerre-Torres was an intern at a
Gabby Giffords: There is Only One Side When It Comes to Gun Violence
Former U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, a Democrat from Arizona, retired from Congress after she was shot in the head at point-blank range during a congressional event in her district in
Nurturing the Future of the Northern Triangle
Gabriela Yanes, 19, is from one of El Salvador’s most dangerous municipalities, Las Palmas. Her parents run a food store out of their home, selling rice and other basic commodities
Alicia Garza: How to Prepare for 2020
Who’s ready for 2020?! As we head into the next decade, many of us are already worn down, discouraged, and exhausted from the rapid-fire struggles of the past three years
How to Start a Union When You Don’t Have the Right
The growers have the money but . . . the farmworkers have the time. —Cesar Chavez From 1962 to 1993, more than 2,200 people—all ages, all walks of life, and
The Christian Right and Left Share the Same Faith But Couldn’t Be More Different
I didn’t know Christians could be Democrats until I got to college. Though affiliated with the relatively conservative Christian Reformed Church, my school had a small but vocal minority of
How Youth Have Changed the Climate Movement
“We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children,” affirms the Oglala-Sioux version of a belief common to several indigenous cultures. To David Brower,
A Return to Nature-Based Education
At the beginning of the 20th century, untempered industrialization and rampant deforestation prompted the conservation and preservation movements. The creation of Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks at the end of
How Drug Users Are Fighting Back Against America’s War on Drugs
Like so many activists, Jess Tilley discovered grassroots organizing through personal hardship. In 1997, she was living in Northampton, Massachusetts, regularly injecting heroin. A limited access to clean needles led
How Schools Can Sustain Students’ Cultures
High school students enter a classroom at Rainier Beach High School in Seattle on an October morning. They sit at their desks, but they’re soon asked to rearrange their chairs
Black Trans Women Are Being Killed. Could Paying Them Help Stop This?
A little more financial security could make the difference between life and death for these women, who are often relegated to the margins of society.
Drag Queen Activists
It’s about more than dancing and lip-syncing to disco hits. These drag queens are working to make the world a better place.
Ending Domestic Violence Requires Working With Those Who Harm, Too
The Alliance for Boys and Men of Color’s Healing Together Campaign aims to end intimate partner violence by advocating for policy changes—and seeking healing for both survivors and the people who harm them.
Five Ways to Empower Voters Now
From reinstating voting rights of those with felony convictions to helping people obtain IDs, grassroots and state-level efforts are making it easier to vote.
Why Aren’t Fossil Fuel Companies Held Accountable for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women?
Resource extraction takes a toll on more than just the economy and the environment.
Appalachia’s Deep History of Resistance
Protest runs through the region’s veins like coal seams through the mountains.
Four Climate Scientists on How to Take On Climate Change Today
“Every single person can make a huge difference, and when we come together to work, anything is possible.”
Why Detroit Could Be the Engine for the Green New Deal
The city exhibits all of the problems the framework is meant to heal.
Rethinking “Muffins with Moms” and “Donuts with Dads”
While student–family events are well-intentioned, they can also exclude certain students. Teachers are pushing for activities that include all the important adults in a child’s life.
Making the Gun Violence Epidemic Visible Through Art and Activism
Two art projects explore the impact of gun violence, with a focus on mass shootings and police brutality.
Rent Is Recognition and Restitution for Seattle’s Native Inhabitants
A grassroots movement encourages non-Native city dwellers to pay monthly reparations to the Duwamish, a Native American tribe that’s petitioned for federal recognition for the last 40 years.
How We Shut Down the Nation’s Largest Child Detention Center
Now the Trump Administration wants to reopen it.
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