Among opinion writers, Jonathan Chait is outranked in my esteem only by Hendrik Hertzberg. This lovely takedown of Robert Johnson is a classic of the genre, one I studied incessantly when I was sharpening my own sword. The sharpening never ends. With that in mind, it is a pleasure to engage Chait in the discussion over President Obama, racism, culture, and personal responsibility. It’s good to debate a writer of such clarity—even when that clarity has failed him.
Lupita Nyong’o and Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche have me thinking about Black women, beauty, feminism, policing of bodies, etc.
Supporters of legalized marijuana light up at exactly 4:20 p.m. in Civic Center Park April 20, 2012, in Denver.
The Hon. Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and current Chairman of the Caribbean Community of Nations (CARICOM), will present the keynote address at a national/international forum entitled “Revitalizing the Reparations Movement” at Chicago State University on Saturday, April 19, 2014.
Last week, Buzzfeed published an article citing “bipartisan optimism” about prison reform. This weekend, the New York Times editorialized that out of this dysfunctional Congress “there may come one promising and unexpected achievement: the first major reforms to America’s broken criminal justice system in a generation.” On Monday, it was USA Today’s turn to deliver the ‘good news’ of reform. It appears then that folks in the Beltway and in the media are currently optimistic about criminal legal reform. The optimism has also spread to states like Louisiana, New York and Texas.
On Thursday, March 20, the Massachusetts Senate unanimously passed S2012, a bill that limits the shackling of pregnant prisoners during labor and delivery.
Thirty-nine people were arrested at the Georgia state capitol in Atlanta Tuesday as a coalition of organizations under the “Moral Mondays” banner urged state legislators to allow Gov. Nathan Deal…
WASHINGTON, Mar 13 2014 (IPS) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is wading strongly into the global debate over the impact of growing income inequality…
Bill de Blasio’s deep pass—the effort to get his UPK plan funded by a tax on the rich—appears to have been stopped short of the end zone, tackled by a governor looking to co-opt his 2014 Republican opponents and by City Hall’s limited authority over taxes. But the mayor keeps on picking up yards here and there by using one power he does have: the ability to decide when and how New York City goes to court.
Caribbean heads of government gathered in St Vincent last week to discuss reparations from Europe for the enduring legacy of slavery. Professor Hilary Beckles, a Barbadian historian who chairs a reparations taskforce for these governments, wants to open talks with former slave-trading nations including the UK, France, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands.
Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, the prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, says the promises of money by the “biggest polluters in the world” for small island developing states (SIDS) like his to adapt to climate change are a mostly a “mirage”. But as chair of the 15-member Caribbean Community