Category Archives: Politics

African Liberation, Socialism, and Ghana Today

Posted on 05/27/2016 by Al Kagan

What do most Americans know or think they know about Africa? A number of stereotypes come to mind. African countries are unsafe and unhealthy, always at war, unstable, and poor. People are uneducated and lazy, and live in rural villages … Continue reading →

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The Beheading of a Saint: Junipero Serra and the California Monument Wars

Posted on 04/25/2016 by Richard Esbenshade

During his visit to Mexico in February, Pope Francis apologized for the “systematic and organized” exclusion of indigenous Americans over the centuries. This took place in San Cristobal de las Casas, the epicenter of the indigenous-identified Zapatista uprising in 1994, … Continue reading →

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Students Rally for Coal Divestment

Posted on 04/25/2016 by Richard Esbenshade

On April 4, the student group UIUC Beyond Coal rallied on the Quad to push the Academic Senate to pass a resolution urging the University divest $5.1 million held in the coal industry through stock index funds, in order to slow … Continue reading →

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“Old” Urban Renewal in Champaign-Urbana, 1960-1969

Posted on 03/11/2016 by Natalie Prochaska

Forcing people to move from their homes is one of the most intrusive exercises of state power. It is difficult to overstate the combined financial and psychological impacts that the loss of a home has on an individual. It is … Continue reading →

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Cuba Libre?

Posted on 03/11/2016 by David Prochaska

By David Prochaska President Barack Obama visited Havana March 2016. Perhaps even more important, the Rolling Stones played a free concert right after. Commercial airline flights to Cuba are likely to begin in October. Even as the US moves to … Continue reading →

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Terrorism and Endless War

Posted on 01/28/2016 by Susan Shoemaker

Terrorism is the use of violence to achieve political ends. Terrorism can be used by both non-state and state actors. Non-State Terrorism This is how non-state terrorism works: a weak group tricks a stronger adversary into defeating itself. Terrorist-provoked fear … Continue reading →

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France: The Power of Le Pens

Posted on 01/28/2016 by Belden Fields

The Left has done well in some recent elections in Southern Europe- in Greece, Portugal, and, most recently, Spain. But not in France. The Socialists, who are now in power, took a terrible beating in the December 2015 regional elections. … Continue reading →

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New Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Offers Hope to Canada’s First Nations Populations

Posted on 11/19/2015 by Public i

Outgoing Prime Minister Stephen Harper was nearly universally viewed by First Nations (known in the US as “indigenous” or “native” people), Métis and Inuit peoples as, at the least, insensitive to their concerns and, at worst, actively hostile towards Canada’s … Continue reading →

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Children With Incarcerated Parents Played Key Role in Phone Justice Victory!

Posted on 11/19/2015 by Brian Dolinar

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted recently to cap the rates of phone calls from prisons and jails after years of profiteering by telecommunications companies that have made millions off of those incarcerated and their families. In her comments before … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Community Forum, Human Rights, IMC, National, News, Policing, Politics, Prisoners, UC-IMC, Voices of Color | Comments Off on Children With Incarcerated Parents Played Key Role in Phone Justice Victory!

Whither the Refugees, W(h)ither Europe?

Posted on 10/08/2015 by Richard Esbenshade

Since I arrived in Hungary in early summer, the media, and everyday conversations, were filled with the refugee crisis. From the dangerous boat crossings from Libya to Europe’s Mediterranean island outposts such as Lampedusa, Italy, the main flow had shifted … Continue reading →

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The Greek Crisis: Beginning of the End for European Unity?

Posted on 07/08/2015 by Richard Esbenshade

Protesters burn an EU flag during an anti-austerity demonstration in Thessaloniki, Greece. Practically since the moment of its victory in the January 25 elections, Greece’s Syriza party has been locked in a struggle with the “troika,” the triumvirate of the … Continue reading →

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We Are Being Watched, So Let Us Watch Back

Posted on 07/08/2015 by Audrey Wells

I saw a dog riding a skateboard. Rather, I saw a video of a dog riding a skateboard. What’s the big difference? A few weeks ago I saw a mesmerizing movie, Monkey Kingdom, about Macaques in Sri Lanka. Shot as … Continue reading →

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“Not Anti-Union”: Shaking Up Springfield, Shaking Down the State

Posted on 05/07/2015 by Ricky Baldwin

“I’m probably .01 percent.” – Bruce Rauner, asked if he is part of the wealthiest 1% Chicago equity “salesman” Bruce Rauner succeeded in his first ever election last November with 50.3 percent of the vote, spending nearly $36 per voter … Continue reading →

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The Creation of Frankenstein in the Middle Eastern Region

Posted on 04/16/2015 by Al Kagan

The Creation of Frankenstein in the Middle Eastern Region Al Kagan Al Kagan is African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration Emeritus at the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign. Media coverage of the destruction of antiquities in northern Iraq during … Continue reading →

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Jewish Voice for Peace and the Prophetic Tradition

Posted on 03/30/2015 by David Green

The growth of the national organization Jewish Voice for Peace stems—in terms of recent history—from critical responses to Israel’s behavior during the 2nd Intifada, which began in late 2000. Among the local movements that have been incorporated into JVP is Not … Continue reading →

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Alternative to U.S.-Led War

Posted on 02/18/2015 by Sarah Lazare

Sarah Lazare is a staff writer for Common Dreams and an independent journalist whose work has been featured in The Nation, Al Jazeera, TomDispatch, Yes! Magazine, and more. She is also an anti-militarist organizer interested in building people-powered global movements … Continue reading →

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Why the Republicans Were So Successful in the Mid-Term Elections

Posted on 01/30/2015 by David Johnson

It is obvious from the recent mid-term elections that the Democratic Party nation-wide is in crisis. The corporate media states that the Democratic Party must become more “centrist,” meaning that the Democratic Party needs to be more like the Republicans. … Continue reading →

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Is a Viable Third Party Still Possible?

Posted on 01/06/2015 by Susan Shoemaker

​After the lowest midterm election turnout since World War II, it is obvious that many Americans are fed up with politics as usual and that we are facing a “crisis in democracy“. Both the Republicans and the Democrats are now … Continue reading →

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American Exceptionalism and Our Newest War

Posted on 11/13/2014 by Susan Shoemaker

Once upon a time, when I was a child growing up in 1950s America, I truly believed in American Exceptionalism, the idea that the United States is a virtuous country and unique among nations because of our revolutionary history, experimental … Continue reading →

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Political Soccer: A Global Phenomenon—Except Here

Posted on 11/13/2014 by Richard Esbenshade

This summer’s soccer World Cup—always the most-watched sporting event on the planet—in Brazil was accompanied by enormous demonstrations, at times violently repressed. Citizens protested the diversion of vast resources from urgent social needs to the building of hugely expensive stadiums, … Continue reading →

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