When Witnessing Becomes Activism
Witnesses, whether by accident or vocation, help to shape how societies understand social upheaval and respond to social change.
Activism
YES! Media’s coverage of activism centers on the ways that grassroots mobilization and activism work to change the political zeitgeist around the most pressing social issues we are facing.
Reforming Laws From Behind Bars
Prison reformists—many of whom are serving long sentences—have united to change the cruel and arbitrary carceral system.
Letting Go of Myths, Embracing Truths
By first transforming and reimagining ourselves, we all have an opportunity before us to truly transform our organizations and reimagine our work.
Activists Working to Defund Baltimore’s Police Face Roadblocks
The city’s activists have seen varying levels of success in housing and food justice. But justice for police abuse remains elusive. Here’s why.
Environmental Education Is Falling Short. Activism Can Help
“We can’t afford to let our education systems get in sustainability’s way.”
How India’s Farmers Launched a Movement Against Modi’s Farm Bills—and Won
Hundreds of thousands of Indian farmers spent a year relentlessly protesting the Modi government’s push to corporatize Indian agriculture. Their fight offers a model for social movements worldwide.
MLK’s Global Vision of Justice
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s philosophy of nonviolence went beyond street protest to include abolishing what he called the triple evils: racism, poverty, and militarism.
60 Years of Intersectional Feminism: An Interview with Selma James
From anti-communist witch-hunts to independence movements to wages for housework and rights for sex workers, 91-year-old Selma James has been in the struggle for a lifetime.
Alicia Garza Talks About the Purpose of Power
By coming together and each finding our own unique way to contribute to the struggle, we can move ever closer to our collective liberation.
On Intergenerational Activism with adrienne maree brown and Fania Davis
“It feels like the universe is up to something.”
Radicals Go Caroling: The Untold Story of Progressive Choirs
If you are wondering whether a political movement is effective, follow the music.
Sustaining the Chicano Movement Across Generations
In 1970, tens of thousands of people in East Los Angeles marched for equality, identifying themselves as “Chicano.” Today, the Chicano Moratorium continues as young and old learn from one another.
At COP26, Indigenous, Black, and Brown Activists Offer Radical Solutions for Climate Change
While elites fixate on technological fixes such as “net zero” emissions, communities of color fear it will disproportionately impact them and instead demand a just phasing out of oil and gas—and a seat at the table.
Immigrants Like Me Experience Two Ends of the Climate Crisis
While my family lives under existential threat from catastrophic cyclones in Mozambique, immigrant communities in the diaspora, like mine in London, also have to face toxic air quality.
Whose Voices Are (and Aren’t) Being Heard at COP26?
“COP26 is looking like one of the most inequitable, White, and segregated COPs to ever occur.”
Every Fraction of a Degree of Global Warming Matters
“The climate crisis is here and with 1.2°C bringing so much suffering already, fighting for 1.5°C is already a compromise.”
Vanessa Nakate on What Irks and Inspires Her Climate Activism
A conversation with the Ugandan activist about her new book and how it helped her see climate change differently.
The Global South Widens the Frame on Climate
Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate on the necessity of real representation in the climate movement.
10 Years After Occupy Wall Street, Its Legacy Remains Strong
Occupy Wall Street gave the left ideas, skills, and a base in a way no one could have imagined a decade ago. The radicalization of a generation, the ability to easily explain class, the potential for mass nonviolent direct action, and crowbarring politics to let in socialist ideas and elected officials are all invaluable legacies.
Don’t Let Youth Climate Activists Like Me Burn Out
The COP26 meeting is an opportunity for world leaders to prove me wrong, to show us that they can act boldly on climate change and do more than make empty promises.
Beyond Cancel Culture: How to Hold Each Other Accountable—With Love
Loretta Ross shares her ideas on how to engage in “calling in,” instead of “calling out,” within social justice movements.
How U.S. Wars Abroad Are Intimately Tied to Police Brutality at Home
The demands to defund the police are linked to the call for ending militarism. There is a strong case to be made for these movements to join forces against both forms of violence.
How Civil Rights Leader Bob Moses Used Math Literacy to Push for Racial Equality
The Algebra Project sprang directly from Bob Moses’ civil rights work in Mississippi, which transformed the state from a segregationist stronghold into a focal point of the civil rights revolution.
How Haunani-Kay Trask Shaped Her People’s Struggle for Independence
The Hawaiian movement for self-determination was forever changed by the fierce and unapologetic leadership of the late Haunani-Kay Trask. This loving obituary written by one of Trask’s mentees explores her powerful legacy.
The Seven Deadly Sins of Politi-Speak
If we want to bridge political divides, we can start by being mindful of the words we use.
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