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

Michigan Opens the Door to Restoring Union Power

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

For the first time in nearly 60 years, a state is poised to reverse its “right to work” law and begin to undo the damage of a corporate-driven anti-union trend.

Michigan is expected very soon to reverse its so-called “right-to-work” (RTW) law. The repeal, led by Democrats and passing along strictly partisan lines, is a concrete…

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Guest Commentary

What Kevin Alexander Gray Taught Me

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

The late civil rights activist and author didn’t let elected officials off the hook, no matter how liberal. He understood the importance of intersectionality and what it takes to achieve progressive change.

In July 2015, when two Black Lives Matter activists challenged liberal candidates running for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, the late Kevin Alexander Gray told me…

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Guest Commentary

Why Student Debt Cancellation Is Reasonable, Not Radical

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

The right has narrowed the parameters of discussion on student debt forgiveness, and President Biden is not fighting back aggressively enough. We should, in fact, center the idea of fairness in this debate.

“Nobody’s telling the person who is trying to set up the lawn service business that he doesn’t have to pay his loan,” said U.S. Supreme Court…

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Guest Commentary

How Howard Schultz Made Starbucks the Poster Child of Corporate Abuse

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

The billionaire CEO returned to Starbucks to curb union activity. His union busting has been so egregious that the company’s already poor reputation is now in tatters.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, in a recent interview with CNN’s Poppy Harlow, proudly showed off his newest invention: a tablespoon of olive oil added to a…

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Guest Commentary

Embrace the Mess—In the Name of Gender Justice

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

Wealthy families simply outsource house cleaning to domestic help. The rich are so reliant on hired help that in the early months of the COVID-19 lockdowns, it was revealed just how helpless they are when forced to clean their own homes.

It’s time to take back our time and spend it on meaningful activities instead of succumbing to the futility and moral pressure of endlessly cleaning our…

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Guest Commentary

Behold, the New GOP Culture Wars

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

The Republican Party’s latest wave of attacks against anyone who threatens the white supremacist patriarchy is couched in false concern for health and well-being.

Republicans are resorting to their age-old tactic of manufactured moral outrage to distract from the fact that they have no economic agenda other than to enrich…

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Guest Commentary

Americans Want Government-Run Health Care—What’s Standing in the Way?

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

It’s true that the number of uninsured Americans has dropped to an all-time low. But that fact obscures the failures of our patchwork, profit-driven health care system.

Here’s one of many indicators about how broken the United States health care system is: Guns seem to be easier and cheaper to access than treatment…

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Guest Commentary

Google’s Stock Climbed After It Fired 12,000 Employees—But What Did They Get Out of It?

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

The tech sector is laying off tens of thousands of workers, making it clear that economic growth is currently valued above all else.

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has announced it will lay off about 6 percent of its global workforce. Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent his employees…

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Guest Commentary

Nepo Babies and the Myth of the Meritocracy

By Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute Guest Commentator

Society’s top tiers are rife with nepotism. It’s past time to expose just how much unearned wealth and power has been accrued by elites.

There is a common feeling that many of us have experienced in professional or academic environments, especially when we struggle against gender or racial bias. It’s…

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