Today's Liberal News

Cornel West & Ben Jealous on the DNC and Whether Progressives Can Push Joe Biden Leftward

Harvard professor Cornel West and Ben Jealous, president of People for the American Way and former president of the NAACP, discuss the 2020 DNC, Joe Biden’s vow to fight systemic racism and “overcome this season of darkness in America,” the historic nomination of Kamala Harris as his partner on the ticket, and how the convention was a showcase for a broad anti-Trump coalition, including prominent Republican figures given plum speaking slots, but few voices from the party&rsq

“Light Is More Powerful Than Dark”: Biden Vows to Fight COVID, Climate, Racism & Economic Meltdown

We air highlights from Joe Biden’s highly anticipated speech on the final night of the Democratic National Convention, in which he formally accepted the Democratic presidential nomination, focused on the dangers of President Trump’s reelection and pledged to address the four simultaneous crises of systemic racism, the pandemic, the economic downturn and the climate crisis. “United, we can and will overcome this season of darkness in America,” Biden said.

Twitter immediately noticed a hidden message in Warren’s DNC video, but it’s not the only one

When Sen. Elizabeth Warren virtually addressed the 2020 Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Wednesday night, her message centered mostly on child care affordability and access. Given that she spoke to viewers from the Early Childhood Education Center in Springfield, Massachusetts (which has been closed for months during the novel coronavirus pandemic), that focus makes sense.

While the nation marches for the Postal Service, 26 Republicans break rank on House funding bill

The House of Representatives convened a special session on Saturday, specifically to address the Postal Service crisis created by the Trump administration, passing a legislative package that includes $25 billion in funding and blocks Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s recent and future attempts to foment chaos and inefficiency in this most essential and Constitutionally-protected service.

Racial inequity in schools pushes more BIPOC parents to homeschool

When Edeline Mackey’s daughter was getting ready to enter kindergarten in the late ‘90s, her mother knew the public school system might present some challenges against receiving a quality education. At the time, Mackey was a teaching assistant in Broward County, Florida, and had witnessed the ways students of color were treated differently by teachers and administrators.

Postal workers are speaking out to save our democracy, this week in the war on workers

As Postmaster General Louis DeJoy slows down mail delivery to help Donald Trump accomplish his goal of undermining mail-in voting and to continue the decades-long Republican war on the U.S. Postal Service, postal workers have sounded the alarm. “You don’t just go and tell management, ‘Hey, I saw that. That’s not allowed,’ ” Scott Adams, an American Postal Workers Union local president in Maine told the Portland Press-Herald’s Bill Nemitz.

Anatomy of a Photograph: Authoritarianism in America

“Anatomy of a Photograph” is an occasional series in which we assess visual meaning in a hyper-recorded world.“God, forgive us, but ours is a monstrous system.”  — Mary Chesnut’s Diary, on the eve of the Civil War, March 1861Pick almost any recent event. In all likelihood, an extraordinary amount of visual evidence of it will exist. Body cameras, cellphone cameras, news cameras, traffic cameras. Cameras everywhere.

Teachers Know Schools Aren’t Safe to Reopen

We are high-school teachers in Brooklyn, and we love what we do. We want nothing more than to go back into the classroom and teach our students. However, we have little confidence in New York City’s strategy for reopening during the pandemic. Officials have given families and teachers vague assurances and clichéd promises, but few concrete plans and steps. Schools are not yet safe enough for us—or the students—to return.

Trump Shows How Little He Cares for His Most Fervent Defenders

When I worked as a rural mail carrier in the hills of southeastern Kentucky in the early 2000s, my route snaked along the most mountainous parts of the county. I forded creeks and climbed steep dirt roads. Sometimes I’d have to drive for five miles to get to the next house. I delivered everything, including cages full of baby chickens and new sets of tires. I saw the joy that a parcel of books, clothing, or music brought to people.

The Pandemic Isn’t a Death Knell for Populism

In many ways, the coronavirus has been irrefutably bad for populists. It has bolstered the popularity of establishment darlings such as Germany’s Angela Merkel, New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern, and Italy’s Giuseppe Conte. It has brought once-anonymous health experts, including the United States’ Anthony Fauci and Britain’s Chris Whitty, to the fore. It has cast some of populists’ favored wedge issues, among them immigration and the European Union, to the wayside.