Category Archives: Uncategorized

Police violence and the special prosecutor

Twenty-five thousand people marched in New York City on Saturday because they were angry that police who kill unarmed, uh, suspects, aren’t prosecuted.  But they’re angry about more than that:  differential policing based on color, particularly the treatment of young … Continue reading

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#Black Lives Matter: Does protest?

Large demonstrations yesterday in Washington, DC and New York City–and smaller ones across the United States–kept public attention on the issue of police violence. Activists–and others who just might come out next time–wonder whether anything will come of this moment … Continue reading

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Problematic allies and UC tuition

University of California students don’t want their tuition to increase.  I saw the protests outside the Board of Regents meeting and on my campus, and I heard the students in my classroom explain just what an extra 5 percent might … Continue reading

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Making the cause visible: Hollaback!

You’ve probably seen this already: That’s what going viral means (15 million views!). The video truncates a day’s worth of unwelcome comments on the street into a tight and disturbing two minutes.  Produced as a Public Service Announcement by Hollaback! … Continue reading

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Protest in America is historic….and patriotic

Not that high school students need additional reasons to be frustrated with the adults who constrain their lives, but: The elected Jefferson County School Board is considering a proposal to revamp its American history curriculum that (according to the AP) … Continue reading

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The Scottish referendum: what victory looks like.

In real life assessing social movement victories or defeats is rarely like figuring out which runner breaks the tape in a sprint.  Achievements are virtually never all that activists demand–or want–and apparent defeats are not always what they seem.  Look … Continue reading

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Scottish independence and the payoff of persistence

With global attention now turned to the referendum on Scottish independence, it’s worthwhile to recall that the cause has a much longer history, predating the 1707 Acts of Union; regardless of the outcome of the current vote, it will certainly … Continue reading

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Peace movement anyone?

Strong social movements are hard to start and end all too easily.  It’s just about exactly the opposite of wars. President Obama’s speech last night (September 10) was emphatic about a couple of things: his determination to use American military … Continue reading

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Reviving Labor from the bottom

Even organized labor mostly skipped this year’s Labor Day, which has never really been about the American worker.  Later in the week, however, activists made another play at reviving the fortunes of organized labor–and the American worker–from the bottom up. … Continue reading

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Scoring the Tea Party at the polls

Almost from the outset, the Tea Party movement committed to an electoral strategy to get what its adherents wanted–or at least some of what they wanted.  By 2010, the movement had largely moved from the town halls and streets to … Continue reading

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