Rights and Democracy
Coming Out of the Shadows
When I worked as a community organizer in New Mexico, I once overheard several women talking about a 2012 executive action on immigration. Known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the order made young, undocumented adults eligible for work permits and...
Wooing the Latino Vote
A Window into Leelah’s World
When I decided to write a column about Leelah Alcorn, I initially tried to do it without using singular pronouns. The Cincinnati teen killed herself by jumping in front of a tractor trailer late last year. "I feel like a girl trapped in a boy’s body," she wrote in a...
Enhanced Misinformation Techniques
When the Senate released its shocking report on CIA torture late last year, it renewed a debate from the Bush years about the merits of so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques." Polls released afterward suggested that most Americans thought that torture was...
Obama Tips His Hat to FDR
Whatever happens over the next two years, you can bet that 22nd century school children will know more about President Barack Obama than kids learn today about, say, Calvin Coolidge. He made history just by being the first non-white man to occupy the White House. What...
Fighting for Europe’s Soul
In the first Crusade, armed Christians set out to "liberate" Jerusalem from Muslim rule. In addition to slaughtering thousands of Muslims between 1096 and 1099, the crusaders also launched pogroms against Jews, pagans, and even other Christians. What animated the...
Remembering the Greatest ‘Babe’ in Sports
I recently addressed a rather odd topic for an audience of political progressives: "Who was your sports hero growing up?" Of course, sports today is very political — from billionaire team owners demanding that taxpayers build sports palaces for them, to the recent...
Building a More Inclusive World
While the rest of America was preparing to bid farewell to the least productive Congress in history, people with disabilities and their loved ones celebrated a rare victory when Congress passed the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act. The ABLE Act, which...
Finally, Some Common Sense on Cannabis
Until recent years, marijuana prohibitionists have been able to intimidate most reform-minded politicians by simply threatening to brand them as "soft on drugs." But finally, thanks to determined activists and broad support from the general public, politicians are...
A Muslim Cartoonist Draws Lessons from the Charlie Hebdo Massacre
As a political cartoonist who happens to be both American and Muslim, I often find myself at the intersection of media curiosity: Muslim, with all the stereotypical notions attached to that, but also a freedom-loving artist and a humorist. I'm not just the butt of...
