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  • Op-Ed
    4 Lessons the Far Right Has Failed to Learn from Decades of Popular Culture 
    October 7, 2022 3:33 pm | By Svante Myrick

    4 Lessons the Far Right Has Failed to Learn from Decades of Popular Culture 

    From Star Trek addressing racism in 1967, to Twitter exposing the outrage of a Black "Little Mermaid” in 2022, science fiction, fantasy, and popular culture have always held a mirror up to society’s attitudes—for better or for worse. Some people…

  • Op-Ed
    Let’s Unite to Defend the Black Vote
    October 7, 2022 8:00 am | By Ben Jealous

    Let’s Unite to Defend the Black Vote

    Right before our last national elections in 2020, thousands of Black voters in Detroit got a call from someone posing as a woman named “Tamika Taylor.” She warned them that if they voted, the government would collect their personal information…

  • Op-Ed
    Black Women Holding Trump Accountable
    September 29, 2022 12:54 pm | By Ben Jealous

    Black Women Holding Trump Accountable

    Former President Donald Trump has spent a lifetime getting away with things. Rich and willing to use an army of lawyers to defend his abuses and bully people he has wronged into submission, Trump is a prime example of the…

  • News and Analysis
    Alabama’s Orwellian Attack on the Voting Rights Act at the Supreme Court
    September 29, 2022 10:39 am | By Paul Gordon

    Alabama’s Orwellian Attack on the Voting Rights Act at the Supreme Court

    How’s this for Orwellian logic: Taking the steps necessary to eliminate racial discrimination under the Voting Rights Act is itself unconstitutional racial discrimination. That’s basically the argument that Alabama Republicans are using to defend their congressional gerrymandering in a Supreme…

  • Op-Ed
    Sheriff Villanueva is a danger to the people he is sworn to serve
    September 29, 2022 9:51 am | By Ben Jealous

    Sheriff Villanueva is a danger to the people he is sworn to serve

    This article was originally published at Los Angeles Daily News. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has long been a danger to the people that he is sworn to serve. As the Los Angeles Times editorial board has noted, the…

  • People For in Action
    September 24, 2022 3:12 pm | By People For Staff

    People For Briefing Highlights Fall SCOTUS Term

    With the new Supreme Court term beginning on October 3, People For held an exclusive member briefing on the courts featuring our team of experts, including Senior Fellow and Justice Correspondent for The Nation Elie Mystal, who discussed the upcoming…

  • Op-Ed
    The Cruelty of Exploiting Vulnerable People for Political Advantage
    September 22, 2022 3:54 pm | By Ben Jealous

    The Cruelty of Exploiting Vulnerable People for Political Advantage

    There is always a new low for Trump Republicans. And that is pretty frightening. Take the latest exercise in lawlessness, dishonesty, and cruelty from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. He chartered a plane to send dozens of mostly Venezuelan asylum seekers…

  • News and Analysis
    Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read, Defending the Freedom to Learn
    September 21, 2022 9:09 am | By Peter Montgomery

    Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read, Defending the Freedom to Learn

    People For the American Way is a member of the Banned Books Week coalition, a network of authors, librarians, publishers, booksellers, and anti-censorship activists that sponsors an annual celebration of the freedom to read. This year’s Banned Books Week, which runs…

  • Op-Ed
    Banned Books Week: Book Bans Are an Attack on the Freedom to Read, Teach and Learn
    September 16, 2022 2:51 pm | By Ben Jealous

    Banned Books Week: Book Bans Are an Attack on the Freedom to Read, Teach and Learn

    Truth is a threat to authoritarianism. Reading is a path to truth. That’s why the freedom to read is essential to the freedom to learn. And that’s why the freedom to learn is often attacked by those who abuse power…

  • Op-Ed
    Accountability: An Insurrectionist Removed from Office
    September 8, 2022 4:29 pm | By Ben Jealous

    Accountability: An Insurrectionist Removed from Office

    A New Mexico judge has done the country a big favor. Judge Francis Mathew upheld a little-known provision of the U.S. Constitution and removed a public official for participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. I hope other judges have…

  • Op-Ed
    September 1, 2022 4:09 pm | By Ben Jealous

    Student Debt Relief Means Freedom for Millions

    Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” I love that sentiment. I also know that when student loan debt is tying you down, changing the world can feel out of…

  • News and Analysis
    Trump Appellate Judges Block Important Public Health Measures under Biden Administration
    September 1, 2022 8:19 am | By Elliot Mincberg

    Trump Appellate Judges Block Important Public Health Measures under Biden Administration

    In three different cases in August, Trump appeals court judges have blocked significant steps under the Biden Administration to help protect public health. These include: 1/ an order by Trump judge Grant blocking an administration requirement that federal contractors ensure that…

  • People For in Action
    August 30, 2022 2:14 pm | By People For Staff

    People For Briefing Highlights What’s at Stake in the Midterm Elections

    With the midterm elections less than 11 weeks away, the stakes continue to climb as more of the Far Right’s agenda is exposed. Attacks on our children’s education, our reproductive freedoms, our right to vote in free and fair elections…

  • News and Analysis
    New Appellate Judge Casts Deciding Vote to Block Local Prosecution of Democratic Attorney General Despite Trump Judge Dissent: Our Courts, Our Fight
    August 29, 2022 12:10 pm | By Elliot Mincberg

    New Appellate Judge Casts Deciding Vote to Block Local Prosecution of Democratic Attorney General Despite Trump Judge Dissent: Our Courts, Our Fight

    Biden-nominated Judge Toby Heytens cast the deciding vote to block a grand jury investigation concerning a negative campaign ad run by North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, who is a Democrat. Stein’s opponent claimed the ad violated state law. The…

  • Op-Ed
    August 25, 2022 1:48 pm | By Ben Jealous

    Back to School, Back to Fighting Far-Right Attacks on Education

    This op-ed was distributed by Trice Edney Newswire. Just when you thought far-right attacks on public education couldn’t get any more absurd, we hear about something new. For the first time in almost 15 years, Sarasota schools this fall are…

  • News and Analysis
    Trump Judge Blocks HHS Guidance on Emergency Abortion Care
    August 25, 2022 12:08 pm | By Elliot Mincberg

    Trump Judge Blocks HHS Guidance on Emergency Abortion Care

    Trump District judge James Hendrix issued a preliminary injunction that blocked implementation in Texas of guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on abortion care. The guidance states that all hospitals should provide emergency access to abortion…

  • Op-Ed
    August 18, 2022 1:42 pm | By Ben Jealous

    Redistricting Is Voter Suppression, Too

    This op-ed was distributed by Trice Edney Newswire. When Charles Diggs, Jr., won election to Congress in Michigan’s 13th District in 1954, he launched nearly seven decades in which the city of Detroit had at least one Black member of…

  • News and Analysis
    Civil Rights Leader Ben Jealous is on a Mission to Ensure Black Men Get Out to Vote in Midterm Elections
    August 16, 2022 9:51 am | By

    Civil Rights Leader Ben Jealous is on a Mission to Ensure Black Men Get Out to Vote in Midterm Elections

    This article is reprinted from theGrio. The People For the American Way, a progressive advocacy organization, found in 2020 that Black men are less likely to cast a ballot in the elections when compared to Black women or their white counterparts because…

  • News and Analysis
    Biden-Nominated Judge’s Ruling Ensures Full Relief against Zoo for Cruel and Illegal Animal Mistreatment Despite Trump Judge Dissent: Our Courts, Our Fight
    August 12, 2022 10:48 am | By Elliot Mincberg

    Biden-Nominated Judge’s Ruling Ensures Full Relief against Zoo for Cruel and Illegal Animal Mistreatment Despite Trump Judge Dissent: Our Courts, Our Fight

    Biden-nominated Judge Candace Jackson-Akiwumi wrote a 2-1 decision that reversed a lower court and ordered attorneys’’ fee and costs as part of the complete relief against a roadside private zoo that committed cruel mistreatment of animals in violation of federal…

  • Op-Ed
    August 10, 2022 1:30 pm | By Ben Jealous

    DC Delivers Some Good News – Yes, Really

    This op-ed was distributed by Trice Edney Newswire. We could all use some good news out of Washington. I’ve got some. The Senate’s passage of the Inflation Reduction Act this month is good news for families, the economy, the planet,…