Rights and Democracy

Remembering the Greatest ‘Babe’ in Sports

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...

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Building a More Inclusive World

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...

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Finally, Some Common Sense on Cannabis

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...

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Black Wealth Matters

Black Wealth Matters

As protesters march through our cities to remind us that black lives matter, grievances about our racially fractured society extend far beyond flashpoints over police violence. What is the state of the dream that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke about, particularly as...

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As 2015 Begins, Remember 2014’s Wins

As 2015 Begins, Remember 2014’s Wins

While last year's voters put a pack of reactionaries in charge of the new Congress, let's not forget that bigger majorities of the same electorate leapt at the chance to say “yes” to an array of unabashedly progressive ballot initiatives. For example, even though the...

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The Visa Curse

The Visa Curse

Many American women are still told they have to choose between love and career. But for many immigrants, that outdated dilemma is legally enforced. "I am here legally but I don’t have the right to work or even open an independent bank account," Rashi Bhatnagar, an...

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A Flat-footed Backflip for Wall Street

A Flat-footed Backflip for Wall Street

Congress, which had been so tied up in a partisan knot by right-wing extremists that it became unable to move, suddenly sprang loose at the end of the year. Before heading home for the holidays, it put on a phenomenal show of acrobatic lawmaking. In one big,...

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