Today's Liberal News

“We Are the 99%”: Occupy Wall Street Activist & Author David Graeber, Dead at 59, in His Own Words

Upon the death of acclaimed anthropologist and anarchist David Graeber, we feature his 2011 interview on Democracy Now!, two days after the Occupy encampment began. Graeber helped organize the initial Occupy Wall Street protest and was credited with helping to develop the slogan, “We are the 99%.” “The idea is the system is not going to save us; we’re going to have to save ourselves,” says Graeber.

“Death Is on the Ballot”: Lessons for the US, 50 Years After Allende’s Socialist Revolution in Chile

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the election of socialist President Salvador Allende in Chile, a significant moment in the history of political revolutions. We speak with Chilean American author, human rights defender and poet Ariel Dorfman, who was cultural and press adviser to Allende’s chief of staff in the last months of his presidency, about how the revolution used peaceful means to bring about radical change in Chile and beyond.

Healing Needs to Happen: Kenosha Native Rep. Mark Pocan on Trump’s Visit & the U.S. “Policing Problem”

As Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden heads to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to meet with the family of Jacob Blake, we speak with Congressmember Mark Pocan, who was born and raised in Kenosha. “Clearly, what happened — someone shot in the back seven times, close range, in front of their children, by the police — was another example of the policing problem we have in this country,” Pocan says.

Nuts & Bolts: Inside a Democratic campaign—avoiding the jitters

It’s another Sunday, so for those who tune in, welcome to a diary discussing the Nuts & Bolts of a Democratic campaign. If you’ve missed out, you can catch up any time: Just visit our group or follow the Nuts & Bolts Guide. For years I’ve built this guide around questions that get submitted, hoping to help small candidates field questions.

‘Let’s be honest’: Harris gets real about racism, pandemic job losses, and a coronavirus vaccine

Sen. Kamala Harris sat down with CNN’s Dana Bash for an interview that was released in full on Sunday. The Democratic vice presidential nominee and Bash talked about the novel coronavirus pandemic, police brutality, systemic racism, Russian interference, and of course, Donald Trump. Let’s look at the dialogue, including lots of video clips, below.

First, some background.

Coronavirus outbreak in jail, nursing home, and church all tied to Maine wedding, 3 dead

COVID-19 cases linked to a Maine wedding that violated state gathering attendance limitations continue to increase. Last month, Daily Kos reported more than 50 cases including one death linked back to the Aug. 7 reception, which 65 people attended. Reports now indicate nearly 150 infections traced back to the Millinocket wedding reception, three of which resulted in death, health officials announced Friday.

The first death in connection to the wedding outbreak was reported on Aug.

Q&A: Nap Ministry’s Tricia Hersey talks rest and racial justice

By Patrisse Cullors and Autumn Breon Williams

What makes Tricia Hersey’s Nap Ministry so profound is that she challenges the idea of laziness. She challenges the relationship between Black people and the kind of work that we have produced and been forced to do for so long. She brings us closer to how we understand rest: how rest is revolutionary. When we think about how long Black people were enslaved and how long their freedom was contested.

Trump administration used COVID-19 to detain at least 650 children in hotels this year

Donald Trump and his administration continue to dehumanize immigrants with their abusive tactics.  Concerns have been raised throughout Trump’s four years in office in regard to how migrant children are treated including being separated from their families in addition to being kept in cages.  Following a report by The New York Times, a federal judge ruled Friday that the Trump administration stop detaining migrant children in hotels prior to deporting them.

Louisiana: Images of the Pelican State

Just over 4.6 million people live in the state of Louisiana, a state well known for its music, food, and festivals, many of which take place in its largest city, New Orleans. From the northern uplands to the Mississippi River Delta, here are a few glimpses of the landscape of Louisiana and some of the wildlife and people calling it home.This photo story is part of Fifty, a collection of images from each of the United States.

I Crossed Back Into a State of Denial

Cole Burston / Bloomberg / GettyOn the Fourth of July, I drove across the border from the United States into Canada. Two months later, I drove the other way. Both times, I crossed at the same point: just east of Lake Ontario, amid the Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence River. Both times, I was driving a rented U-Haul, carrying household effects I was swapping between city and vacation house. And there the similarities stopped.

A New Theory of Western Civilization

Tim EnthovenAround 597 a.d., Pope Gregory I dispatched an expedition to England to convert the Anglo-Saxon king of Kent and his subjects. The leader of the mission, a monk named Augustine, had orders to shoehorn the new Christians into Church-sanctioned marriages.

The Emotionally Challenging Next Phase of the Pandemic

A weary friend of mine—another working mom—recently texted to say she couldn’t decide which aspect of daily life during the coronavirus pandemic was worse: “the insanity or the monotony.” Either way, the misery will not end when 2020 does. The new year will inherit many of the same problems that have become so grindingly familiar in 2020.

Hate the Sin, Not the Book

This might seem a very strange time to publish a book recommending that we read the voices from the past. After all, isn’t the present hammering at our door rather violently? There’s a worldwide pandemic; a presidential election is about to consume the attention of America; and if all that weren’t sufficient, we are entering hurricane season. The present is keeping us plenty busy.