57Recent Stories
When the Blues Hit Home: Why Family Values Require Family Wages
MAGA voters and Democrats alike know workers need $25 an hour. Acting on that consensus is how we save American families.
As the cost of living continues to rise, America faces a crisis not just of wages—but of families. Former NAACP president Ben Jealous argues that rebuilding strong families starts with ensuring workers earn family-sustaining wages, not poverty pay.
We've Crossed the First Tipping Point. All of America Will Pay the Price.
Coral reefs are dying—and the consequences reach far beyond our coasts
As coral reefs collapse in what scientists call the first irreversible climate tipping point, Ben Jealous reflects on the lessons of the ocean—from his childhood at the Monterey Bay Aquarium to today’s urgent warning that humanity is running out of time to act.
Hypocrisy in Holy Robes
When Cardinal Dolan praised Charlie Kirk as a modern-day St. Paul, it sparked outrage amid grief for immigrants killed by ICE — raising urgent questions about faith, morality, and the true message of the Gospel.
When Presidents Can't Take a Joke, Democracy Suffers
Humor has long been a hallmark of American democracy, with presidents from Reagan to Obama proving they could laugh at themselves. But when leaders can’t take a joke—and instead try to silence comedians—the threat goes beyond late-night TV. It strikes at the very heart of freedom
A Forgotten Chapter of Hope: What the Readjusters Teach Us About Healing Our Divided Country
A Forgotten Chapter of Hope examines the Readjuster Party of post–Civil War Virginia, showing how Black and white working-class families once united to protect public education and opportunity for all children — a powerful lesson for bridging today’s political and racial divides.
Rising Waters Will Not Drown the American Spirit
On the Fourth of July, Donald Trump signed his “megabill.” The law boosts the dying fossil fuel industry with tens of billions of taxpayer dollars. It invites an additional 470 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year by 2035 – that’s the equivalent annual emissions of more than 100 million gas-powered cars. And it aims to stop dead in its tracks the clean energy transition and the green manufacturing jobs boom the Inflation Reduction Act was already starting to create.
This Independence Day, Remember Fighting Back is America’s Great Tradition
I told my son recently that we’re descendants of the youngest combatant in the battle of Lexington and Concord. Our ancestor’s teenage ears were among the first to hear “the shot heard ‘round the world.”
American Democracy is at a Pivotal Moment and None of Us Should be Silent
None of us should be silent about the recent use of federal agents by this administration to bully, arrest, and investigate political opponents. Just as none of us should accept as normal or okay its use of the military against Americans exercising their First Amendment rights.
In Iowa, a Pipeline Fight Shows What the People Can Do
It is easy to be cynical about politics these days. More than cynical. The rise of political violence, fueled by partisan division and anti-democracy extremism, continues to leave Americans of every race, religion, state, and political stripe horrified.
The Truth Makes Us Free
My grandmother taught me we are all born into a great, unfinished struggle. She meant the struggle for justice. For truth. For dignity.