On this date in 1965 President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act. The Act brought an end to the era of Jim Crow laws by prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Civil and human rights activists led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fought long and hard…
…emergency managers run for the hills. Or at least that’s what Kevyn Orr, Detroit’s unelected emergency manager, did yesterday when he returned control of the city’s Water and Sewage Department to Mayor Mike Duggan. Orr didn’t hand the mayor this hot mess because he was concerned about the health and well being of the thousands…
I attended my first Netroots Nation in Detroit last week and it exceeded all of my expectations. I learned about what it means to be a progressive from some of the best and brightest advocates in the country. But don’t worry, this blog won’t just be me gushing about all the great people I met…
I didn’t imagine when I started working at Progress Michigan last year that I’d be sitting down every week to write my weekly blog and end up more often than not chronicling the attacks on women’s freedom and reproductive rights that should have ended with the women’s movement in 1960s. I hope there will come…
In this country, we value religious liberty. Religious liberty means more than possessing the right to practice your beliefs as you wish, it also means having the freedom not to have religion imposed on you by others. Religious freedom has always been just that, free. But as of today, that freedom has a price tag.…
Women in Michigan just can’t get a break from the relentless conservative attacks on our reproductive rights. First, conservatives pass a law requiring us to purchase nonexistent rape insurance. Then, they introduce a package of bills that would require an external ultrasound before any abortion and could criminalize the procedure after a heartbeat is detected,…
“Traveller, there is no path. The path is made by walking.” – Antonio Machado I was lucky enough to have the chance to attend the 10th Annual RE-AMP Meeting in Chicago last week. Hundreds of advocates from across the Midwest came together to meet and talk about bold actions we can take to combat global…
Happy National Corn on the Cob Day! If you live in Michigan, or anywhere in America really, corn on the cob is probably a staple of your backyard barbecues. Living in a state where most days of the year look like a scene out of ‘Frozen,’ I relish the day when I walk into Meijer…
Seriously, thank you, President Obama. Today is a historic day for our nation. A few hours ago the Obama administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced one of the strongest actions ever to fight climate change: A proposal to cut carbon pollution from the nation’s power plants by 30 percent by 2030. This…
Conservatives claim that there isn’t a war on women but, as usual, their actions tell a different story. Over the last three weeks, conservatives in the legislature have been scrambling to push through a bill designed to silence the will of the voters and thwart a citizen-led effort to help hardworking women (and men!) get…