How Better Health Care for the Poor Makes a Stronger Economy for All
By keeping workers healthy, the Affordable Care Act will help the working poor achieve greater financial stability—and will probably boost the economy as well.
Democracy
The Supreme Court Just Gave You One More Reason to Join the Clean Elections Movement
The McCutcheon decision will boost the political power of the one percent at the expense of the rest of us. But it also adds to the urgency of the movement that's working to take back our democracy.
Edward Snowden’s TED Talk Offers Guided Tour of NSA Leaks
The former NSA contractor, who is living in asylum in Russia, spoke from the screen of a wheeled robot.
Proponent of Bush Administration’s No Child Left Behind Law: “I Was Wrong”
In her new book, Diane Ravitch—one of the leading thinkers behind the controversial Bush-era law—explores how the faulty logic of high-stakes testing, charter school expansion, and privatization hinders education.
These Seattle Teachers Boycotted Standardized Testing—and Sparked a Nationwide Movement
Parents, students, and teachers all over the country have joined the revolt to liberate our kids from a test-obsessed education system.
This Is What Happened When Scholastic Tried to Bring Pro-Coal Propaganda to School
“The United States of Energy” was a colorful series of lessons on the advantages of coal, aimed at 4th-graders—and sponsored by Big Coal. Here’s how educators and activists worked together to get it out of classrooms.
Infographic: The Math Error Behind 30 Years of Education Policy
An influential study's failure to consider factors like poverty, race, and immigration concealed the fact that scores were improving.
A Social Justice Tour of Oscar Winners Through the Decades
The upcoming Academy Awards will recognize some of 2013’s best social justice-themed films. Here are some of our favorite past winners.
Nothing to Hide? Why Facebook’s Fine Print Is Still Worth Fighting
Devices we use every day are turning our personal data over to huge corporations. But can we win our privacy back?
Why Corporations Want Our Public Schools
There are huge profits to be made in privatization, and much of it will come from teacher pay.
Meet the New Rebels Taking Back Our Public Schools
For decades the myth of failing public schools justified industrial-scale testing and a privatization agenda. Now radical educators are bursting the bubble test, getting culturally relevant, and restoring justice to the classroom.
The Myth Behind Public School Failure
In the rush to privatize the country’s schools,
corporations and politicians have decimated school budgets, replaced teaching with standardized testing, and placed
the blame on teachers and students.
A Welcome Surprise: There Are More States Working to Expand Voting Rights than to Restrict Them
In 2013, 46 states introduced 237 bills designed to make voting easier, while restrictive measures were introduced in only 33.
In Pete Seeger’s Letters, A Voice for Justice Sings On
In the midst of Seeger's countless documents was one that stood out. The editor who found it reflects on coming back to that letter today.
As Trans-Pacific Partnership Falters, Opponents Go After Fence-Sitting Pols
A trade deal likely to harm environmental and labor protections may be losing momentum. But it's not dead yet.
When Her Photo Became an Anti-Feminist Meme, This College Woman Fought Back—and Thousands Joined Her
From internet memes to campus quads, young people are reworking feminism to meet today's challenges.
Obama Calls for “Opportunity for All”: 8 Policies to Make It Happen
While the president outlined important steps forward last night, bolder steps are needed. Here are eight with the power to truly create the universal opportunity the president called for.
“So My Daughter Won’t Have To”: Why Kelly Sue DeConnick Fights to Make Women Welcome in Comics
Kelly Sue DeConnick is a woman author working in the comic book industry, who's had successful titles in both mainstream and independent forms. In this Q&A, she talks about her feminism, creativity, and her love for old-school "exploitation" movies.
Photo Essay: Pete Seeger’s Life on the Hudson
In December 2007, YES! editor-in-chief Sarah van Gelder interviewed Pete Seeger in his home in Beacon, New York. Seeger showed Sarah his family photo albums, his DIY solar-powered car, and, of course, a whole wall filled with banjos.
Video: New Hampshire’s Campaign to Make 2016 About Money in Politics
At a time when politicians spend more time fundraising than making policy, the New Hampshire Rebellion aims to make political corruption the number-one issue in the 2016 election cycle.
India’s Own “Occupy”: How a New Political Party is Battling Corruption—and Winning
A few months ago, India's Aam Aadmi Party was a curiosity; now, it’s a call for pro-democracy movements elsewhere to step up their game.
How a Great Man Put Down His Guns: Martin Luther King’s Path to Nonviolence
It took years of political evolution for King to understand nonviolence not merely as a moral force, but as an effective strategy for leveraging political change.
Video: An In-Depth Look at North Carolina’s Progressive “Moral Mondays” Movement
Alarmed by the ultraconservative policies of their state government, North Carolina residents are taking to the streets to say that social justice is the moral way to go.
Travel Companies Boycott “Human Safaris” and 13 Other Victories for Tribal People in 2013
Times have never been tougher for indigenous people living in traditional ways. Yet 2013 saw them winning land rights, fighting misrepresentation in the media, and winning solidarity from unexpected allies.
10 Clever Ideas From Around the World to Root Out Inequality (Like Fining Extreme CEO Pay)
From Switzerland to New York, it seems like people are talking more than ever about inequality—and its antidotes. Here are some of the most promising and provocative ideas from last year that could shift our course in 2014.
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