This op-ed was distributed by Trice Edney Newswire. As Women’s History Month comes to a close, I’ve been thinking about moms and honoring motherhood. I’ve written before about how my mom instilled values in me, including respect for everyone’s rights – not just my own. Mom also worked multiple jobs… Read More
Washington D.C. – People For the American Way is proud to endorse Cook County Board Commissioner Brandon Johnson in the upcoming runoff election for Mayor of Chicago. “Commissioner Brandon Johnson is the right choice for Mayor of Chicago,” said Svante Myrick, president of People For the American Way. “Brandon has… Read More
Ah wokeness, the latest outrage from the Far Right. Joining the ranks of “political correctness,” wokeness has become the go-to hot-button buzzword the Far Right throws around whenever something ruffles its feathers. I won’t get into the long, confusing, and sometimes silly list of things the Far Right has… Read More
Washington D.C. – In observance of the 58th anniversary of Bloody Sunday (March 7, 1965) when 600 marchers were violently attacked in Selma, Alabama, as they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge during a peaceful demonstration in favor of voting rights, People For the American Way President Svante Myrick released the following… Read More
Introduction America cannot have two systems of justice. Our Constitution and civil rights laws are supposed to protect everyone. But increasingly, in red states, federal courts don’t protect people’s rights. An old Senate tradition lets senators have some influence over who is selected to be federal district court… Read More
Judge Toby Heytens, nominated by President Biden to the Fourth Circuit, wrote a 2-1 decision upholding a district court decision that stopped enforcement of vague state laws in South Carolina that criminalized “disorderly” or “disturbing” conduct in schools. Police officers had used the laws to threaten or actually prosecute at-risk… Read More
This op-ed was distributed by Trice Edney Newswire. Reviews are rolling in for President Biden’s latest State of the Union address, with many of them focusing on a highlight of the evening: the moment the President got Republicans to cheer for Social Security and Medicare. It was a neat trick. I… Read More
Back in August, I wrote that getting “back-to-school” this year would also mean getting back to fighting far-right attacks on education. The threats included a rising number of efforts to ban books, and the Right’s efforts to take over local school boards. So how did the Right do in this… Read More
People For the American Way’s recent report, All Safe: Transforming Public Safety, provides concrete policy proposals for the transformation and implementation of public safety programs specifically at the local level. Eliminating police violence and improving public safety are vital to Black communities throughout our country. To better understand where… Read More
Of all the awful acts perpetrated by the Far Right, attempting to prevent certain groups from voting might be the most insidious. Voting is power, and voter suppression is a blatant effort to remove that power from people who would use it for good. Voting affects the issues we… Read More
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 and come after them for credit card debt, outstanding warrants,… Read More
Washington, DC – As the Supreme Court begins its new term today on the traditional First Monday in October, People For the American Way President Ben Jealous released the following statement: “This is a First Monday like no other. Today we have the tremendous joy and satisfaction of seeing the first… Read More
Introduction With Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the Supreme Court begins its first term with a Black woman justice this fall. For the first time, millions of Black women and girls can look at the nation’s highest court and see someone who looks like them. Justice… Read More
Introduction The Supreme Court has just finished one of its most notable and destructive terms in history. America is a fundamentally different country than it was just a year ago. The Far Right justices have shown just how eager they are to transform our country with their ill-gained… Read More
President Biden's judicial nominees will protect the rights of all people, not just the wealthy and powerful. Read More
Over the last decade and more, Supreme Court decisions have produced important progress for LGBTQ+ rights, including on marriage equality and employment opportunity. Significant dangers lie ahead, however, thanks to the recent addition of three Trump justices. There’s one troubling LGBTQ+ case that the Court has already agreed to consider… Read More
After the new Biden nominee joins the Supreme Court, the Court will continue to hear crucial cases that affect all of us. It has already agreed to hear two cases that far-right advocates hope will result in the complete end of affirmative action. Other important controversies concerning discrimination and racial… Read More
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, voting rights groups announced a major expanded effort to drive thousands of calls daily to the White House to urge President Biden to lead on voting rights by urging the Senate to fix or nix the filibuster and pass voting rights protections immediately. Led by People For the… Read More
This op-ed was distributed by Trice Edney Newswire. Election Day in Virginia was a major defeat for the Democratic Party. It could signal a much bigger disaster in 2022 if Democratic officials do not learn the right lessons and do not deliver on the promises they have made to… Read More
Faith leaders, local and state representatives, national civil rights leaders arrested in series of actions calling on the Biden administration to protect the freedom to vote Watch the live streamed recording of the demonstration, here. Washington, DC — Voting rights activists escalated demands for the… Read More