In our first OtherWords package of 2017, Sarah Anderson celebrates some good news: Here in Washington, even while national leaders dug in their heels against paid sick time for families, local small business owners helped bring paid leave to the nation’s capital.
Also this week, just a few days before what’s sure to be an unusually bittersweet Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Kenneth Worles looks at one of King’s core commitments: economic empowerment for poor people, via home ownership.
But black Americans own homes at barely half the rate of white Americans. Kenneth explains why, and offers a vision for making that part of King’s dream a reality.
In other news, Jim Hightower wonders whether Donald Trump’s professed commitment to taxing companies that outsource jobs extends to his own daughter’s firm. Jill Richardson parses the GOP’s “war on regulations.” And cartoonist Khalil Bendib mocks up Trump’s habit of appointing people to lead cabinet agencies they want to disband.
Khalil Bendib / OtherWords.org
- King’s Dream Still Isn’t Reality / Kenneth Worles
Housing was a key part of King’s vision for economic justice, but most black Americans don’t own homes. - Great News for People Who Get Sick / Sarah Anderson
While official Washington digs in against paid leave, locals in the nation’s capital helped win one of the country’s most generous family and medical leave plans. - A War on Regulations / Jill Richardson
Are we going to let interest group politics undermine public safety? - Would Donald Tax a Fellow Trump? / Jim Hightower
If Trump is serious about penalizing companies that offshore jobs, he should start with his daughter’s. - A Fox in Every Chicken Coop / Khalil Bendib
