by Luke Elliott-Negri Millennials who enthusiastically engaged in Bernie Sanders’ 2016 run to be the Democratic nominee for President had a one-of-a-kind experience. But for those radicalized in the 1970s and 1980s, Bernie was round two. In 1984 and then 1988, leftists and progressives of all stripes joined the Reverend Jessie Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition as […]
by Warren Mar There was no disagreement within the new left during the 1980s about whether we should work on the Jesse Jackson campaigns of 1984 and 1988. Nor should it be a point of debate today about whether we participate in electoral politics. It was right for us to work on the Jesse […]
By Rishi Awatramani Max Elbaum’s Revolution in the Air reads like a riveting horror movie, the kind where the lonely protagonist hears a noise in the woods. You find yourself screaming at the character to defy their well-worn path to certain death when, instead of walking away, they walk towards the unidentified noise, never […]
By Bill Fletcher, Jr. Nearly 35 years ago, large numbers of revolutionaries and progressives threw themselves into Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaigns and the Rainbow Coalition, which played an anchor role in that period’s resistance to the Ronal Reagan-led turn to neo-liberalism, military aggression and intensified racism. The Rainbow also had potential to be a vehicle that could turn resistance into an eventual […]
By Rafael Diaz Less than three weeks after Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential election, over 350 people gathered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania for a mass meeting that would evolve into Lancaster Stands Up. We would go on to challenge the frameworks promoted by many Democratic strategists, showing that it is actually possible to use […]
Two recently published landscape assessments provide a lot to useful information and provocative analysis that can spur deeper strategic thinking on the left. The first – Mapping the Resistance: Insurgence and Polarization between 2016 and 2020 by Ethan Young – offers both a “political anatomy” of the large and diverse array of anti-Trump organizations […]
by Michael Collins As Pride season looms, corporations are preparing to barrage consumers with tackily branded messages of support for the LGBT community. In my hometown of Chicago corporations like Boeing, CME Group, and Northrup Grumman use the parade as an opportunity position themselves as cosmopolitan entities that cherish diversity. But the punishing reality […]
Policy think-tank Demos has just released the results of an in-depth investigation of how progressives can engage simultaneously around race and class in ways that strengthen social solidarity, reduce division and scapegoating, and create a viable foundation for policy victories. Their study contributes to the debate over an electoral strategy to defeat Trump. The study […]
Rishi Awatramani interview with Jessica Byrd, Movement for Black Lives Electoral Justice Table In 2017, the Movement for Black Lives launched its Electoral Justice Project (EJP). The EJP is building a strategic political home with organizers from more than 50 Black Organizations around the country that are winning Black civic power and seeking transformative political […]
Statement from the North Carolina Association of Educators Organize 2020 Caucus This piece was developed by Organize 2020, the social and racial justice caucus of the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE), written in advance of the massive May 16th teachers mobilizations in North Carolina. Keep an eye out for future reflection pieces from local organizers. […]