‘I Mostly Feel Like My Voice Matters’: A Portland Journalist on Protests, Police Violence, and Enduring Trauma By Cheri Lucas Rowlands Highlight A reporter covering the protests in Portland reflects on fear and trauma, police violence, and her voice as a journalist.
Happily Never After By Soraya Roberts Feature By protecting ourselves and no one else, we destroy ourselves along with everyone else.
The Queering of the Baby Bells By Longreads Feature Highly public pressure campaigns against telephone companies were the crux of early LGBTQ activism.
The Story of Salvador’s Banda Didá By Tari Ngangura Feature In a country with violent history and violent politics, Brazil’s first all-female, Afro-Brazilian percussion group drums and dances and changes lives.
Carrying Histories of Protest By Longreads Feature Jaquira Díaz witnesses her father’s rebellious fight for a better life, and her homeland’s fight for its place in the world.
The Laws of the Awards Podium Protest By Soraya Roberts Feature Stars are increasingly using Hollywood awards podiums as sites of protest, but few of them are men, and even fewer are white men.
A History of American Protest Music: Which Side Are You On? By Tom Maxwell Feature Just as we were in the 1930s and ’60s, America is suffering a moral crisis. We have to decide which side we are on: hate and exclusion, or justice, inclusion, and democracy?
How the Not Knowing is the Hardest Part By Krista Stevens Highlight The last time she saw her husband, he was being interrogated by Syrian government officials.
Is Journalism a Form of Activism? By Danielle Tcholakian Feature It’s time to take another look at the definition of activism and where journalism fits in.
The NFL Has Pimped Its Players for Too Long By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight The disturbing parallels between professional football and the business of pimping
Jemele Hill Was Doing Her Job By Danielle Tcholakian Commentary ESPN Sportscenter host Jemele Hill has been suspended for two weeks for simply doing what she was hired to do: provide commentary on the news.
The Silent Prayer That Derailed Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf’s NBA Career By Matt Giles Commentary After converting to Islam in the ’90s, the point guard began to pray during the national anthem. He was soon traded.
Zadie Smith Takes on Black Pain With a Light Touch By Danielle Jackson Commentary At Harper’s, Smith doesn’t really feel like she is engaging in her subject matter with much care or heart.
Five Questions for an Actor in the Ensemble of ‘Julius Caesar’ By Michelle Legro Commentary It was job of the ensemble to be the voice of the people. Then actual protestors rushed the stage.
What if Free Outdoor Theater is the Greatest Threat to Our Democracy? By Danielle Tcholakian Commentary Fox News, Bank of America, and Delta are shocked to learn about the Public Theater’s new production of ‘Julius Caesar.’
Are Regular Russians Ready to Take On Vladimir Putin? By Erin Blakemore Commentary The Russian election is one year away, but taking on a ruthless autocrat may not be welcomed by a generation looking for stability and security.
A History of American Protest Music: How The Hutchinson Family Singers Achieved Pop Stardom with an Anti-Slavery Anthem By Tom Maxwell Feature “Get Off the Track!” borrowed the melody of a racist hit song and helped give a public voice to the abolitionist movement.
A Side Effect of Airport Design: Protests By Michelle Weber Highlight Christopher Schaberg writes about the recent travel ban protests for Real Life magazine — they didn’t gum up the works so much as take advantage of the ways airports are already designed for mass action.
In 1971, the People Didn’t Just March on Washington — They Shut It Down By Longreads Feature The most influential large-scale political action of the ’60s was actually in 1971, and you’ve never heard of it. It was called the Mayday action, and it provides invaluable lessons for today.
