Activism

YES! Media’s coverage of activism centers on the ways that grassroots mobilization and activism work to change the political zeitgeist around the most pressing social issues we are facing.

The Crunch illustration by Jennifer Luxton.

8 Amazing Muslim Women Who Would Be Banned From Trump’s America (and Other News to Chew On)

The inner lives of drone operators, refugee camps through the eyes of children, and women who would be denied entry to the United States under Donald Trump’s “total shutdown.”

Dec 16, 2015

Can Cities End the School-to-Prison Pipeline? Relentless Organizers Are Tallying Wins

“We have always said that this is a battle of imagination over incarceration.”

Marcus Harrison Green | Nov 13, 2015

Wealth and inequality

Meet the 1 Percenters Finding Solace in Wealth Redistribution

A growing cadre of the owning class is crafting a healthier relationship to the other 99 percent: “It is not about individual therapy or even engaging in philanthropy or charity. It’s about collective action.”

Kate Aronoff | Oct 27, 2015

Wealth and inequality

80 Percent of Us Owe Money to Institutions. Can We Leverage It to Reduce Inequality?

Three visionaries discuss how America’s debt problem has transformed the movements they work with.

Kate Aronoff | Oct 8, 2015

Remembering Grace Lee Boggs and the Revolution She Inspired in Us

YES! has put together a tribute page to honor Grace Lee Boggs and the lives she touched while she was with us. Share your own thoughts with #RememberingGrace.

Oct 8, 2015

Saying Goodbye to Grace Lee Boggs

Rest well, dear friend. Millions of us have been enlivened and empowered by your wisdom and spirit.

Sarah van Gelder | Oct 6, 2015

Women Looking at Phone App photo from Shutterstock

Do Your Local Politicians Want to Limit Access to Women’s Health Care? This New App Can Tell You

Hinder is a reproductive justice messaging hub that tells you what your representatives say about women’s bodies. Meet the cabal of comics and writers behind it.

Stacey Garratt | Oct 1, 2015

Native rights | Wealth and inequality | Citizens United | Renewable energy

“You Fly to the Edge of the Tar Sands, and … No Life”: A Montana Professor on the Issue of Our Time

University of Montana professor George Price on permaculture, race, and how he’s standing up to tar sands extraction.

Sarah van Gelder | Aug 28, 2015

Sci-Fi Fandom Declares Victory After Reactionary Nominees Lose Big at the Hugos

Despite a deck stacked against women and people of color, the voters rewarded both.

Miles Schneiderman | Aug 28, 2015

The Crunch: The Hackers Behind DIY Gynecology (And Other News to Chew On)

A Mexican artist turns guns into a force for good, Banksy turns Disneyland into something dismal, and GynePunks bring open-source gynecology to the masses.

Aug 26, 2015

A pulp science-fiction cover from 1957. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Sad Puppies, Rabid Chauvinists: Will Raging White Guys Succeed in Hijacking Sci-Fi’s Biggest Awards?

More and more women have been nominated for Hugo Awards in recent years—until this year. Here’s what’s at stake.

Miles Schneiderman | Aug 15, 2015

Cooperatives | Local economies | Citizens United | Renewable energy | Health care

After 20 Years Reporting on Solutions, I’m Going on a Journey to Find Where Hope Lies Now

YES! co-founder Sarah van Gelder sets out on a road trip to find the edge of change.

Sarah van Gelder | Aug 13, 2015

Seattle Rent Control Debate photo by Alex Garland

Local economies

Seattle Led the Country’s Minimum Wage Revolution. Can It Do the Same With Rent Control?

New York and San Francisco both suffer from soaring rents and gentrification, despite decades of regulation. How Seattle socialist Kshama Sawant plans to do affordable housing right.

Marcus Harrison Green | Jul 29, 2015

Native rights

What Native Hawaiian Culture Can Teach Us About Gender Identity

As the documentary Kumu Hina reveals, living between both genders is the more powerful “mahu" way.

Jade Snow | Jul 27, 2015

One Poem That Saved a Forest

How the friendship between a poet and a timber baron kept a grove of California redwoods from clear-cutting.

Jacqueline Suskin | Jul 21, 2015

17 Ways You Can Work For Social Justice

Be present, question assumptions, and be loud! Social transformation starts with everyday people working for change.

Nina Flores | Jul 8, 2015

How a Bronx Theater Uses Avant-Garde Theater to Teach Everyday Activism

Whether the crisis is AIDS or cyber-bullying, Pregones Theater’s empathy-based theater techniques help young people rehearse for action.

Araz Hachadourian | Jun 11, 2015

Mental health

You’ve Heard What’s Wrong in Freddie Gray’s Neighborhood. Here’s One Local’s Vision for Turning That Around

Blaize Connelly-Duggan’s vision for the neighborhood is all about community ownership and development without displacement.

Mary Hansen | May 12, 2015

After Years of Living as Squatters, These Filipino Neighbors Fought for Nice, New Homes in Their Community—And Won

When the Manila government proposed relocating squatter families out of the city, residents came together and asked for housing in their own neighborhood.

Aurora Almendral | May 7, 2015

8 Striking Portraits of People in the Path of Canada’s Mega Tar Sands Pipeline

TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline would span thousands of miles, from rural Alberta to the Atlantic coast of New Brunswick.

Kristin Moe | Apr 10, 2015

This “Raging Granny” Crashed a Wall Street Dinner to Demand Answers

“Two Raging Grannies” is a beautifully shot film that juxtaposes a journey into activism with a profound meditation on aging.

Peter D'Auria | Mar 27, 2015

Citizens United

“The Internet Is My Lifeline”: Hip-Hop Artist Jasiri X on the FCC’s Net Neutrality Vote

The political artist from Pittsburgh speaks about the importance of the Internet and social media in making the voices of low-income people of color heard.

Kayla Schultz | Mar 4, 2015

Mental health

Is the Maker Movement About Hacking Society—Or Just Hardware?

At feminist hackerspaces, members are less interested in digital trespassing than in developing a safe community for experimenting, creating, and collaborating.

Kayla Schultz | Feb 18, 2015

Musicians From Egypt to Rwanda Are Blending Musical Traditions and Building Unity to Protect the Nile River Basin

The Nile Project is made up of musicians from different countries, musical genres, and traditions. Their purpose? To promote cooperation and cultural understanding as the diverse peoples of the Nile face threats from water scarcity and climate change.

Valerie Schloredt | Feb 6, 2015