Archive
A Racist Wake-Up Call
I worked proudly with Muslim CIA officers in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. I used to think most Americans understood that Muslim Americans are patriots, too. Ahmed Mohamed’s recent ordeal proved how wrong I was. He’s the 14-year-old who was recently interrogated,...
Your Weed Killer Might Kill You
When I began writing about agriculture nearly a decade ago, I learned quickly that people generally believed that Roundup, the best-selling weed killer made by Monsanto, was relatively harmless. Roundup breaks down quickly, everyone said — and into non-toxic...
Fighting Inequality at the Local Level
Inequality isn’t a condition. It's a creation. Inequality is produced by thousands of decisions deliberately made by bosses, bankers, and big shots to siphon money and power from the many to the few. We see Wall Street and Washington doing this, but the deepening...
Ahmed and Dangerous
Non-Candidates for President
Once upon a time, presidential contenders and their political parties raised the funds needed to pay for the campaigns. How quaint. For the 2016 elections, thanks to the Supreme Court's malicious meddling in the democratic process, corporations and billionaires have...
In OtherWords: September 16, 2015
This week in OtherWords, Rep. Barbara Lee calls for universal access to reproductive health services and Jill Richardson shrugs off the news that McDonald's will phase in cage-free eggs. Do you want to make sure you don’t miss the latest from OtherWords?...
We Can — and Should — Do More to Help Syrian Refugees
Imagine that 58 million Americans were streaming into Canada and Mexico, many with only a small satchel and the clothes on their backs. Picture another 102 million residents of the Eastern seaboard seeking refuge with relatives in the Midwest and West. That terrifying...
Health Care Isn’t a Bargaining Chip
Conservatives and progressives don’t agree on much these days. Regardless of their party leanings, though, a clear majority of Americans believe that politicians shouldn't meddle in a woman’s personal health care decisions. Yet for too long, women’s health care has...
Urban America’s Slow-Motion Crisis
Baltimore, my hometown, is facing its highest rate of homicides in decades. Along with other cities that are reporting higher than usual violent crime rates this summer, Baltimore’s murder rate is up by 33 percent this year. It’s a terrible reminder that the violence...
The Insult Generator
It’s apology season on the campaign trail. After months of botched damage control, Hillary Clinton did what she needed to do when her bureaucratic scandal first erupted. The leading Democratic presidential candidate said she was sorry she didn’t use an official...
