Independent since 2002 Issue No. 1102 Week of November 7, 2026 Get the free email dispatch →

Guest Commentator

Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute

BlackCommentator.com Guest Commentator, Sonali Kolhatkar is the host and producer of Uprising, a popular, daily, drive-time program on KPFK, Pacifica Radio in Los Angeles and co- director of the Afghan Women's Mission, a US-based non-profit organization that works with the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA).

100 pieces

Guest Commentary

Past Time To Stop Funding Israeli Violence

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

Israel is back in the news, not so much for its achievements in combating COVID-19, but for its stunning success in increasing the mortality rate of Palestinians, especially children via sophisticated weaponry.

At the end of 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic was continuing to ravage the populations of many nations, Israel stood out as a success story, administering…

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Guest Commentary

Is the PRO Act a Game-Changer for Labor and the Economy?

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

While several unions represent Amazon’s European workers, no group of Amazon workers in the United States has thus far managed to win the right to unionize, suggesting that there is something unique about our approach to labor organizing that stands in the way.

Among the many reasons behind the recent failure of Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama, to form a union was their employer’s intimidation tactics about what…

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Guest Commentary

Was Everything Biden Said About Ending the Afghanistan War a Lie?

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

One may suppose that this “American way of war” is unlike a traditional war where troops occupy a country—a type of war that is generally deeply unpopular with the U.S. public. By publicly promising a withdrawal of troops while quietly continuing airstrikes, Biden ensures that U.S. violence against Afghanistan remains invisible to the American people.

President Joe Biden, in announcing an ostensible end to the U.S. war in Afghanistan, is continuing his streak of paying eloquent lip service to progressive causes…

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Guest Commentary

Why GOP Bets Farm on Attacking Transgender People

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

It’s no surprise that the spike in violence has coincided with legislative attempts to dehumanize the community.

The GOP’s latest culture war is focused squarely on the nation’s transgender community, specifically transgender youth. It isn’t a new war, simply a new front in…

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Guest Commentary

Police Preserve Inequality in Los Angeles—and Everywhere Else

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

Instead of dismantling encampments where unhoused people have formed their own communities, we ought to dismantle the economic system that fosters homelessness and the state power that preserves inequality.

The 1974 classic Hollywood film “Chinatown” features a scene set on a picturesque lake in Los Angeles where J.J. “Jake” Gittes, played by Jack Nicholson, spies…

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Guest Commentary

Will Biden Keep Enriching Private Insurance or ‘Go Big’?

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

Democrats are looking to distinguish themselves from Republicans in willingly spending what it takes to care for a population battered by the pandemic after years of austerity measures that have whittled away safety net programs.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc on people’s lives, President Joe Biden has been on a victory tour to promote the American Rescue Plan,…

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Guest Commentary

Surprising Guaranteed Basic Income Study Results

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

a guaranteed income can actually help struggling Americans get jobs.

An ongoing study conducted in Stockton, California, examines how the lives of low-income Americans can improve if they are simply given money - a modest, but…

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Guest Commentary

Big Pharma Shouldn’t Control Covid-19 Vaccines

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

The old adage of “no one is safe until everyone is safe” applies especially well to the pandemic.

At a recent virtual gathering of parents and faculty at my children’s school, one parent who is a teacher and therefore eligible to receive a COVID-19…

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Guest Commentary

Why Black Lives Still Don’t Matter

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

For decades, “candy-coated” reform is all that most politicians have offered Black communities in America.

There is a scene in the new film “Judas and the Black Messiah,” directed by Shaka King and produced by Ryan Coogler, in which Chairman Fred…

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