Category: The African World

At the June 2010 convention of the United Auto Workers (UAW) it is anticipated that current Vice President Bob King will be elected president of the union. King, with the reputation in many circles of being a progressive, is confronted with some dramatic choices with a union in dire circumstances. The United Auto Workers, in…

He shrugged his shoulders and offered me one of those smiles that is really not a smile; a facial expression that suggests that life often presents you with very unexpected challenges. The “he”, in this case, is a good friend of mine who is a long-time progressive activist. He had just informed me that he…

I have become concerned that I am missing something. In light of the anti-immigrant Arizona SB 1070 legislation I find myself asking again and again —“what does an illegal alien look like?” I posed just this question in a recent letter to the editor I wrote to a mainstream publication. We will see whether they…

Each day i get angrier and angrier watching the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico worsen. As more facts emerge as to the accidents for which BP is responsible, or the manner in which oil companies have been given almost carte blanche in terms of their ability to drill off-shore, my anger and frustration heighten.…

2010 seems to be the year for anniversaries, and the killings that took place at Kent State University (Ohio) and two weeks later at Jackson State College (Mississippi) are two that will go down in infamy. It is difficult for me to forget May 1970. When word spread about the inexcusable murders of the anti-Vietnam…

Stewart Acuff and Richard A. Levins. Getting America Back to Work (Minneapolis: L&K Enterprises LLC, 2010). 89 pps. $12.95 paperback I have known Stewart Acuff for years, having met him when he was in the process of becoming the leader of the Atlanta, Georgia Central Labor Council. He rose to become the organizing director of…

The eruption of Iceland’s volcano, Eyjafjallajokull, should provide plenty of food for thought for myriad of columns. When, for example, was the last time that you considered that one volcano could completely disrupt international air transportation? And, by the way, this is taking place while we are awaiting the eruption of an even bigger volcano…

Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell just had to do it:— renewing a strange symbol entitled “Confederate History Month.”— Once again, we are reminded that the US Civil War never really ended and that certainly the Reconstruction period that followed the Civil War did not simply end, but was truly defeated. What is always amazing with Confederate…

This June 22 ” 26 in Detroit, Michigan, thousands of people are expected to attend the 2nd United States Social Forum (USSF). Inspired by the World Social Forum (WSF), an international gathering of progressive organizations and individuals operating under the banner of “Another World is Possible,” the first USSF (Atlanta 2007) brought together a very…

As someone who has been warning about the danger of right-wing populism strengthening in the USA, this column may surprise some readers. When the Tea Party crowd demonstrated its racist, right-wing and violent essence, we began to see more attention in liberal and progressive circles focused on the danger posed by neo-fascist movements in the…