Progress Michigan blog posts.
Yesterday, the Republican National Committee (RNC) voted to censure Dave Agema for his numerous comments regarding race. The vote also included a demand, not likely to be heeded, for Agema to resign his post. While I’m pleased that the RNC has taken this step, I’m left with a couple of lingering questions: Why did it…
By Matthew Kovac With prison profiteers like Aramark enjoying sweetheart deals under Gov. Snyder’s administration, government accountability remains as relevant as ever. So it’s shameful that the Michigan Statewide Grassroots PowWow, billed as a training ground for Tea Party activists in the “battle for freedom,” instead spent the better part of last weekend spewing racist…
Tijuana Morris is a pensioner, a 46-year veteran of the Detroit Police Department who has to pay $3,000 per month for prescription drugs. Fokls like Morris, who deserve to be relaxing after so many years of hard work, are instead being crushed under an unjust financial burden. Morris was one of the folks who spoke…
This Week in PM Blogging: Hungry After the Holidays It doesn’t get much more cold than this. The day after Christmas, Gov. Snyder signed legislation that would take away food assistance from people if they refused to take a drug test. Programs like this have been disasters in other states. A New Year’s Resolution As…
By Brad O’Neil Over the holiday, I went to see a screening of the new film Selma. It focuses on the period between the Selma to Montgomery civil rights marches and the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. I found it both historically relevant and emotionally impactful in its effort to give life…
By Matthew Kovac With corporations rolling back the hard-won gains of past social movements and creating economic inequality, the need for independent progressive voices has never been greater. That’s where we come in. As Progress Michigan kicks off the New Year, we resolve to continue speaking truth to power and holding officials from both parties accountable…
Gov. Rick Snyder made Ebenezer Scrooge proud over the holidays. The day after Christmas, Snyder signed legislation to launch a “suspicion-based” drug-testing program targeting many of the 80,000 Michiganders who receive cash assistance. Under the legislation, three Michigan counties will be subject to a pilot program that aims to take food out of people’s mouths…
The killing of Eric Garner and the lack of accountability for Daniel Pantaleo, the officer who killed him, sparked nationwide protests and, I think it’s fair to say, those protests aimed to turn a tragic death into a positive movement for serious change. While that movement had positive results in parts of the country, there…
This year was a tough year for progressive values. The Republican-led legislature continues its attacks on workers, women’s rights, the LGBT community and Michigan’s families. Gov. Rick Snyder continues to push an agenda that caters to the wealthy and well-connected and voters reelected him after an election with historically low turnout. But, on our issues,…
2014 was the year of embracing the intersectionality of feminism. Mainstream “white feminism” is becoming a thing of the past as women and men tear down the walls that have for so long defined feminists as being white, middle class, and cis-gendered. Feminism is about equality, but it is becoming increasingly harder to put the exact definition of…