THE RIVER OF NO RETURN
Among histories of the civil rights movement of the 1960's there are few personal narratives better than this one. Besides being an insider's account of the rise and fall of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
Please wait...
- Endemic Poverty, Homelessness and the Obama Administration’s Agenda for Change
This is a propitious moment to try to influence the national dialogue regarding endemic poverty and homelessness here in the United States. Three factors in particular lead me to this conclusion: the $700 billion bailout for Wall Street engineered by the U.S. Congress, the global financial crisis, and the mandate ... - Winds of Revolutionary Change
Revolutions tend to focus the mind. Anyone who has lived through one, victors and victims included, will attest to this fact. Last Tuesday’s election here in the United States was, for all practical purposes, marked the onset of a revolutionary process. As a result, most American, including those who have ... - Power to the People Indeed
In less than 48 hours, the people of these United States will pass a history-making verdict regarding the presidential campaigns being waged by Barack Obama and John McCain. One of them represents the future, and the other the past. One represents a leap of faith in the possibility of mass ... - Homelessness, the Empire and the Art of Political Denial
Everyone paying close attention to the campaigns for the presidency being waged by Barack Obama and John McCain is aware that they are studiously avoiding all references to endemic poverty and homelessness. On a daily basis, the two of them, and their legions of on-message surrogates, assail us with words ... - Obama, White Racists and the Uncertain U.S. Future
As was the case with most African Americans, I was initially ambivalent regarding Barack Obama’s campaign to become President of the United States. On the one hand, I believed he was qualified, and would probably make a good to outstanding President if he managed to get elected. On the other ... - Torture, Denial and the First Presidential Debate
John McCain’s admission during the first presidential debate that the U.S. government is engaged in torture was probably the most notable aspect of his fractious exhibition with Barack Obama. But one would not know this by the responses of the television commentators who provided instant analysis at the debate’s conclusion, ... - Legalized Criminality and Social Change
These are broadly unsettling times here in the United States. The war in Iraq is unresolved, and the one in Afghanistan is quickly and ominously going from bad to worse. Hundreds of thousands of people are losing their jobs. The national debt is growing like an untreated cancer. The economy ... - The Republican National Convention
I am watching the Republican National Convention with a sense of incredulity and dismay. Amid the military salutes, cowboy hats, imperial hubris and tributes to inequitable policies that systematically ravage the lives of average Americans, the tawdry spectacle is deeply disturbing. These are the people who enthusiastically support torture, military assaults, capital ... - Witnessing History With Tears, Fears and Unbridled Elation
An op-ed piece by Bob Herbert in a recent issue of the New York Times moved me to make the following observations about the racial dynamic in this nation, and the manner in which it is influencing dialogue pertinent to the current presidential campaign. Herbert refers to the issue at ... - San Francisco’s Proposed Homeless Court: “Rehabilitative” Justice May Be on the Way
The Homeless Court, which San Francisco’s municipal officials have recently been touting as an important, new component in their effort to eliminate chronic homelessness, provides an excellent focal point for discussing overall civic philosophy regarding endemic social problems. The Homeless Court will primarily address indigents accused of so-called “quality of life ...