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

How California’s Fast-Food Workers Won $20 an Hour

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

The fast-food industry threatened to undo a major labor law in California. But even a compromise bill appeasing the industry is a huge step forward for low-wage workers.

More than half a million fast-food workers in California are about to get a raise—not because of the voluntary generosity of their bosses, but as a…

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Guest Commentary

Labor Education Starts in School

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

Giving K-12 students the language, information, and tools they need to protect themselves from workplace exploitation is a critical tool to reversing the nation’s capitalism-fueled inequality.

American society is steeped in narratives about economic prosperity shaped by capitalist ideas of individualism and a corporate culture of exploitation. Children are exposed to such…

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Guest Commentary

Kids Shouldn’t Have To Pay for School Lunches

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

If education is free at the point of use, why aren’t school meals?

The United States federal government in 2020 embarked on a grand and beautiful experiment: expanding the use of tax dollars to help stave off poverty. That…

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Guest Commentary

Give Way to Union Demands, the Company Reaps the Profits

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

With corporations squeezing profits, merely pointing out the mutually beneficial rewards of meeting union demands isn’t enough to sway shareholders and allies.

The United Auto Workers (UAW), a union of nearly 150,000 workers at America’s “Big Three” automakers, are on strike. On the face of it, UAW’s demands…

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Guest Commentary

Will Billionaires Build a New Utopian City—to Replace What They Ruined?

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

Silicon Valley’s wealthy elites have been secretly buying up land in one of California’s poorest counties to build a new city from the ground up. Who will stop them?

What do billionaires do with all their money? Maybe they buy off a Supreme Court justice. Maybe they get their kicks from diving to the extreme…

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Guest Commentary

Burn the Barbies, Pause the Pink

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

The highly anticipated live-action film starring Margot Robbie is an attempt to redeem the problematic toy. But it’s really just an expensive ad campaign for an outdated doll.

A few months ago, my two sons, aged 10 and 15, told me they were excited to see the new Barbie film. I was surprised. They…

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Guest Commentary

Hollywood Executives Bring Industry To Halt Rather Than Pay Workers a Fair Price

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

Refusing to negotiate better compensation and fair working conditions for actors and writers, major film and television studios are to blame for the work stoppages afflicting their industry.

Hollywood has come to a standstill this summer as actors join their writer colleagues on the picket line. The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of…

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Guest Commentary

It’s Not That Hard To Solve Homelessness

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

Our economic priorities have created a serious housing crisis and fueled homelessness. Solving the problem simply requires us to change our priorities from profits to people.

California is home to Hollywood and Disneyland, sun and sand, and… nearly one-third of all unhoused people in the entire nation. Compare this to the fact…

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Guest Commentary

Supreme Court Preserves College Preferences for Wealthy Whites

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

In its recent ruling on affirmative action in college admissions, the Supreme Court’s conservative justices squarely came down on the side of race and class-based preferences—for wealthy whites.

The United States Supreme Court’s recent ruling striking down race as a factor in college and university admissions was in response to a case brought by…

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