Tag Archives: Bill Clinton

Happy Birthday Rosa Parks, 2022 (repost)

(In thinking about this repost, I want to encourage readers to take a look at the link to To Tell the Truth, the tv game show. The celebrities questioning three older Black women didn’t know her–except for Nipsey Russell, a Black … Continue reading

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The Senate isn’t sequestered. Note on the impeachment and protest

One hundred US senators, the sort-of jurors in the impending sort-of trial of Donald Trump, live in the world. Unlike impaneled jurors in other high profile trials, they are free to read newspapers, appear on television, consider evidence and factors … Continue reading

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Happy birthday, Rosa Parks (2019)

(In thinking about this repost, I want to encourage readers to take a look at the link to To Tell the Truth, the tv game show. These days, her face is far more familiar, but her long term efforts are … Continue reading

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#MeToo Too, and the politics of the Kavanaugh nomination

It’s almost never good news when the word, “penis,” appears in a job interview. But consideration of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination for a seat on the Supreme Court is about much more than this judge, his late adolescence, whether he … Continue reading

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Happy birthday, Rosa Parks (2017)

Happy birthday, Rosa Parks!  Born on February 4, 1913, Parks was not a tired old lady in 1955, when she refused to move to the back of the bus.  She was an experienced and committed activist, deeply tied into the … Continue reading

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When you lose at the polls…..

Donald Trump has called his campaign for the presidency the greatest movement in American history. Maybe not. But what happens to that movement if Trump doesn’t win the presidency? How the losers behave tells you a great deal about the system … Continue reading

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How the anti-gay movement faces defeat

Social movement activists lose all the time.  The stalwarts find ways to be more optimistic about the next battle (see Bill McKibben tracking the Keystone pipeline).  Occasional activists and amateurs can pick other issues and redirect themselves to more promising … Continue reading

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Remembering more of Rosa Parks

At The New York Times, columnist Charles Blow is promoting a new biography of Rosa Parks.  Jenane Theoharis’s The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks (Beacon) extends the story of the civil rights icon, undermining the myth of spontaneity surrounding … Continue reading

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Crisis and opportunities: Superstorm Sandy and climate change

Catastrophes can be opportunities for activists prepared to exploit them.  Hurricane Sandy looks like a good chance for climate change activists to put their concerns on a national political agenda that has been incredibly inhospitable.  Their challenge is to attach … Continue reading

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How movements work: David Letterman

Social movements succeed by raising issues and giving other people the opportunity to address them.  We call this agenda setting, but it’s not just the agenda in Congress or a state legislature; it’s also what people talk about. Bill Clinton … Continue reading

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