Advancement Project

December 20, 2011

Dreams for 2012

Recently, 450 or so young adults, most of whom are undocumented, gathered in Dallas, Texas for the third annual United We Dream conference. T-shirts designed for the event read “Dream Nation: 10 years in the struggle.” Since 2001, each year the U.S. Congress has considered but failed to pass the DREAM Act (which stands for “Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors”). The DREAM Act would give certain immigrant students who have grown up in the U.S. the chance to obtain legal status.

November 1, 2011

A Note on Solidarity

As a young movement, Occupy Wall Street is a decentralized demonstration of civil disobedience in which the social, racial and cultural diversity that embody its backdrop – New York City – is only beginning to manifest visibly in its base. So far, Occupy Wall Street has in large part estranged non-White communities from calls for collective action.   

September 30, 2011

How Conservatives Are Attacking Democracy

"Give us the ballot!"

Martin Luther King Jr.'s words still resonate with many of us today. From the marches and protests in Selma, Ala., to the hundreds of voting-rights lawsuits to the on-the-ground slogan "One Man, One Vote," the road to equal voting rights has not been easy, particularly for communities of color.

September 30, 2011

Democracy Under Attack

Today, we are witnessing the greatest assault on democracy in over a century.

September 14, 2011

Preserve Democracy: Expand the Vote, Don't Restrict It

Note: This blog was originally posted at http://blog.tides.org/2011/09/14/preserve-democracy-expand-the-vote/.

July 11, 2011

Racial Justice - A Matter of Life and Death

If you think we’re in a post-racial era, think again. Racial justice is officially a matter of life and death.

Last week, researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health published a disturbing study that found that poverty, low educational attainment, and other social factors cause as many deaths as heart attacks, strokes, and other leading causes in the United States.

June 30, 2011

Digitizing Activism

It’s true; the revolution will not be tweeted, according to Malcolm’s Gladwell’s October 2010 article “Small Change” in the New Yorker. But modern movements, especially those borne from online gatherings, will never imitate or circumvent organic, grassroots movements like the civil rights movements. However digital media, viral videos and social media serve a unique function and hold the potential to inspire virtual movements that are capable of materializing into meaningful change.

April 18, 2011

Imprisoning Our Future

Get my sister Sandy
And my little brother Ray
Buy a big old wagon
Gonna haul us all away

Livin' in the country
Where the mountain's high
Never comin' back here
'Til the day I die

Oh, Baltimore
Man, it's hard just to live
Oh, Baltimore
Man, it's hard just to live, just to live

Excerpt from “Baltimore” by Nina Simone

April 15, 2011

Obama’s Debt Speech: the Good and the Bad

Obama’s speech was encouraging to hear for progressives, as all of his major speeches tend to be. The problem is when it comes to policy-making and when the President begins to cut deals. When bargaining time comes around Obama has consistently put forward a moderate proposal to begin with, and then made concessions to the right, leaving the resulting policy far from the progressive end of the spectrum (e.g. healthcare reform, financial reform, and Bush tax cut extension).

April 12, 2011

Paul Ryan’s “Courageous” 2012 Budget Plan: Take Health Care from the Vulnerable, Give the Rich More Money

Paul Ryan, Republican chair of the House Budget Committee and author of such striking fiscal wizardry as “A Roadmap to the Future,” recently bestowed his new solution to the country’s exploding healthcare costs: stop paying for it.