National dialogue needed on our overflowing jails
In 2008 in the United States of America more than 1 out of every 100 adults is behind bars. A report by the Pew Public Safety Performance Project announced that on Jan. 1, 2008, an estimated 2,319,258 adults were in federal and state prisons and local jails. The rate of incarceration in the U.S. is the greatest in the world.
African American History Month Participants Ready to Make Change
NEW HAVEN, CT – Oakland teacher and civil rights activist Cassie Lopez brought people to their feet with her powerful message at African American History Month events in Connecticut held at the New Haven Peoples Center, and in Hartford during the last weekend of February.
Labor leaders call for action on climate change, green jobs
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The myth that labor is some type of dinosaur wedded to an extinct rust-belt economy was shattered here March 5 when the AFL-CIO executive council unanimously passed a resolution urging greening of the economy and creation of a climate change and jobs strategy that works for all Americans.
Unions tackle housing and foreclosure crisis
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – “The seeds of this crisis were sown long ago and are symptoms of a low-wage economic strategy where workers are given the power to spend and borrow instead of an increase in wages.”
Million member mobilization launched to achieve bargaining rights for workers
SAN DIEGO – Leaders of 56 national unions agreed here March 4, at an AFL-CIO executive council meeting, to collect written pledges from 10 percent of the federation’s members, one million workers, demanding an overhaul of U.S. labor law.
Cuba signs UN human rights pact
Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque announced at a Feb. 28 press conference at UN headquarters in New York that he had just signed two human rights accords originally introduced in the world body in 1976. Opponents of Cuba’s revolutionary government have long criticized Cuba’s reluctance to sign the treaties until now.
Whitewashing television news
This election season, there is a glaring — and inexcusable — paucity of Black voices on TV news programs.
A losing strategy to save auto jobs
Last month my wife and I went to the North American International Auto Show. For Detroiters, this is an annual pilgrimage. Where else can you sit behind the wheel of a $110,000 Maserati when you can’t even afford to buy a Chevy Aveo?
