Today's Liberal News

Expect the Unexpected From the Delta Variant

This much is clear: The coronavirus is becoming more transmissible. Ever since the virus emerged in China, it has been gaining mutations that help it spread more easily among humans. The Alpha variant, first detected in the United Kingdom last year, is 50 percent more transmissible than the original version, and now the Delta variant, first detected in India, is at least 40 percent more transmissible than Alpha.

The Books Briefing: Finding Place as a Black American

As this year’s Juneteenth celebrations begin—commemorating when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, were told that the Civil War had ended and they were now technically free—thinking about place can be illuminating. America has a long history of denying and violating the basic rights of Black people, leading many of these citizens to carve out spaces that celebrate and recognize their full humanity.

“Here I Am”: Meet a Descendant of One of 272 Enslaved People Sold on June 19, 1838, by Georgetown U.

We look at another significant June 19 in the history of slavery in the United States: June 19, 1838, when Jesuit priests who ran what is now Georgetown University sold 272 enslaved people to pay off the school’s debts. In 2016, Georgetown University announced it would give preferential admissions treatment to descendants of the Africans it enslaved and sold.

Clint Smith on Juneteenth & Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

As President Biden signs legislation to make Juneteenth a federal holiday to mark the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned of their freedom more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, we speak to the writer and poet Clint Smith about Juneteenth and his new book, “How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America.

Heated NYC Mayoral Primary Race Enters Final Days; City Uses Ranked-Choice Voting for First Time

Early voting is underway in a historic New York City Democratic primary election for mayor, 35 City Council seats and several other key races. For the first time in almost a century, New Yorkers will use ranked-choice voting, which allows them to choose up to five candidates in order of preference in each race. In the mayor’s race, Brooklyn borough president and former New York police officer Eric Adams has led recent polls, while businessman Andrew Yang seems to be falling behind.

Community Spotlight: In open threads, we talk all through the day and night

One of the most important things that sets Daily Kos apart from other political news and opinion sites is the Community. We pull together to elect more and better Democrats, supporting campaigns with donations and outreach, teaching activism 101 and “how to” in the Nuts and Bolts of Democratic elections, and in general holding each other to high standards of accuracy and compassion when we set out to accomplish any goal.

Then, there’s the social part of the Community.

Connect! Unite! Act! Readers and book lovers welcome you to talk about the books you love

Connect! Unite! Act! is a weekly series that seeks to create face-to-face networks in each congressional district. Groups meet regularly to socialize, but also to get out the vote, support candidates, and engage in other local political actions that help our progressive movement grow and exert influence on the powers that be. Visit us every week to see how you can get involved!

If you’re here at Daily Kos, you likely came for the political view.

Black-owned distillery embraces its workers’ union, this week in the war on workers

When workers at Du Nord Craft Spirits decided to form a union, joining UNITE HERE Local 17, the company voluntarily recognized them without any delay and in fact publicized the occasion itself. Du Nord bills itself as the first Black-owned distillery in the United States.

“The production staff of Du Nord Craft Spirits chose to form a union because we enjoy and appreciate working here,” the workers said in a statement to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.