Three Projects that Block Violence Against Women By Bringing Communities Together
These projects show how everyday people can address violence in our own communities by breaking through the silence to interrupt abuse.
Democracy
7 Practical Ideas for Compassionate Communities, From Free College to Debt Relief
It's not hard to bring a little more equality into each others' lives.
Can a “Firewall Strategy” Keep Big Energy Out of Climate Talks? It Worked for Fighting Tobacco
Kicking the polluters out of the negotiations may sound like wishful thinking. But there is a precedent: the global effort to regulate the tobacco industry.
Watch Out Wall Street, Climate Marchers Are Coming For You Next
A sit-in planned for the day after the People’s Climate March will call out the role of Wall Street in climate change.
Stanford’s Coal Divestment: Meet 2 Students—And 1 President—Who Made It Happen
The movement to persuade schools to divest from fossil fuels has taken off around the country. Meet a few people who helped get Stanford’s money out of coal.
Most Social Change Groups Grapple with White Privilege—But This Book Can Help
The work of activism is full of messy contradictions. In “Towards Collective Liberation,” Chris Crass breaks down the influence of racism and patriarchy, including helpful how-tos—like “Twenty Careful Steps Toward Anti-sexist Action.”
Occupy Offshoot Cancels $4 Million in Predatory Student Loans—and Starts a Debtors Union
First, they started buying up—and canceling—individuals’ medical debt. Now the people behind Rolling Jubilee are taking on student loans from a for-profit university that exploits the poor—and the whole debt system could be next.
Why the People’s Climate March Won’t Stop Climate Change (And 5 Ways to Go Further)
An incisive critique of the People’s Climate March comes with a list of ways to step up our game.
How Residents of a Rural New Mexico County Fought the Fracking Barons and Won—For Now
In Mora County, New Mexico, corporations seeking fracking contracts came up against “querencia”—a traditional way of thinking about and defending the land.
Kentucky Town Beats High Gas Prices—By Opening a Public Gas Station
Gas stations aren’t great for the climate, but the move is a step toward local control over economic decisions—a model that holds great potential for developing renewable energy in the long term.
This Former NASA Intern Just Wrote The Best Sci-Fi Book of the Year: Monica Byrne on “The Girl in the Road”
A future where India is the major world superpower, gender is flexible, and energy comes from waves? This writer’s version of the near future feels much more real than apocalyptic nightmares we’ve come to dread.
The Senate Just Voted to Keep Big Money in Politics. Three Reasons to Celebrate Anyway
The fact that the issue reached the Senate floor is a huge victory for the American people, who overwhelmingly say they want something done about corporate influence in elections.
Migrant Farmworkers Find Paths Out of Poverty Through Incubator Farms
Incubator farms help seasonal workers start their own businesses, where they get better pay and the support of a community.
A Wealthy Capitalist on Why Money Doesn’t Trickle Down
Nick Hanauer, venture capitalist and self-described “plutocrat,” says a healthy economy and an effective democracy depend on a thriving middle class of workers.
Today’s Movement for Racial Justice Has Found Its Graphic Designer (And Her Name Is Sandra Khalifa)
In this Q and A, the talented Khalifa talks about how she became interested in issues of racial justice, her work with the Dream Defenders, and the power of social media.
Video: Inside a Miami McDonald’s on Strike
More than 400 workers and supporters were arrested on Thursday amid a nationwide wave of walkouts and demonstrations.
To Save Family Farms from Corporate Buyout, Retiring Farmers Connect with a New Generation
In the next 20 years, many American family farmers are likely to retire—putting enormous amounts of land on the market. Here's how they're connecting with young farmers to make sure the family farm survives.
Obamacare Closed a Loophole for CEO Pay—And Won Taxpayers $72M
The savings from 2013 alone could pay for dental care for 262,000 Americans for an entire year.
The Antidote to Mansplaining: Rebecca Solnit on Everyday Sexism and What We Can Do About It
Useful as it may be as journalistic shorthand, “mansplaining” is cultural bubblegum in comparison to Solnit’s actual body of work.
For Walkers and Cyclists, A Swedish Road-Planning Strategy Helps Save Lives
Utah, Minnesota, and Washington have seen traffic fatalities decline by 40 percent. Here's how they did it.
6 Ways to Bring More Empathy to the Internet
We asked psychologists, user experience designers, and writers what web users could to do to promote more empathic interaction in online places. Here's what they said.
Let’s End Poverty: We Have the Money, Do We Have the Will?
47 million Americans live beneath the official poverty line, under a daily judgment of failure. The question today is: Whose failure?
Should Your Town Have the Right to Ban Fracking? These Laws Will Have to Change First
Unless the legal foundation for local self-governance is truly built on the rights of communities, victories like the one in New York can easily be overturned.
A Bike that Stamps Your Message on the Street, and 3 Other Open-Source Tools for Activists
StreetToolbox offers new tools for the political communicator—from a remote controlled car that writes messages in colored sand to a kit that turns your bike into a mobile printing press.
Remembering Stephen Gaskin: A Conversation with the Man Behind the Original Off-the-Grid Farm
Gaskin had a talent for thinking through ways to combine simple living with social engagement. He died on July 1, 2014.
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