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Paul Jennings, an enslaved man who served President James Madison and his family. Sylvia Jennings Alexander Estate, The Atlantic

When Slavery Is Erased From Plantations

By Commentaries/Opinions, Reparations

Some presidential estates and other historical sites have struggled to reconcile founding-era exceptionalism with the true story of America’s original sin. By Talitha LeFlouria, The Atlantic — The story of Sally Hemings—the enslaved woman who bore six of Thomas Jefferson’s children—is told from the basement of Jefferson’s mansion at his Monticello plantation in Charlottesville, Virginia. The third American president’s legacy barely touches the brick floors and plastered walls of Hemings’s windowless…

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Criminal Justice Reform Is on the Midterm Ballot

By Commentaries/Opinions

Andrew Gillum wants to fix his state’s broken carceral system. He’s not alone among Democratic nominees for governor. By Matt Ford, The New Republic — Andrew Gillum wasn’t expected to win Tuesday night’s Democratic primary for the Florida governor’s race, even after he won Senator Bernie Sanders’s endorsement weeks ago. The 39-year-old Tallahassee mayor was outspent five-to-one by the frontrunner, and even more so by the two billionaires in the race, but…

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Race is still the central dividing line in the Democratic Party

By Commentaries/Opinions

The recent DNC vote over superdelegates revealed longstanding divisions within the party. By Seth Masket, Vox — What do Democrats fight about when they’re just fighting among themselves? The same thing the country fights about: race. I’m just back from attending the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting in Chicago, where I observed as the party passed a number of reform measures, including a controversial proposal to reduce the power of…

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A toilet roll next to 2,600,000 bolivars, its price and the equivalent of US$0.40 at a mini-market in Caracas.

Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro And The People

By Commentaries/Opinions

For the empowered Venezuelans, their socialist ideology is part of their identity. It is what and who they are, writes Les Blough. By Les Blough, teleSur — In his article, ‘Venezuela’s Monetary Revolution Vis-a-Vis Economic Sanctions,’ Nino Pagliccia reports on the new economic model based upon the petroleum-backed cryptocurrency, the Petro, introduced in March of this year. The new initiative brings a series of economic measures to begin on August…

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