Category Archives: Section

Fight to Stop New Jail Coming to a Head

Posted on 05/24/2013 by James Kilgore

I’ve been involved in the No New Jails in Champaign County campaign for over a year. Likely sometime in June or July our efforts will come to a head. The County Board likely will take a vote on whether to … Continue reading →

Posted in Policing | Comments Off

A Poem by T’Aari D. Hunter, “ME”

Posted on 05/24/2013 by T'Ari D. Hunter

ME by: T’Ari D. Hunter They said I wasn’t Pretty, They Lied. To be like them, I tried. But being like them wasn’t for me. Being like them, I didn’t feel pretty. I felt ashamed, Like I was a follower. … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Arts, Voices of Color, Women | Comments Off

Newspoem by William Gillespie

Posted on 05/24/2013 by William Gillespie

Albatross: Newspoem May 2013 we don’t know how we don’t know you demapped: ignorance is scribbled across an ancient terrain by plutocrats rethinktanking ancient cartographies a two hundred year civilization rejects the sovereignty of a six thousand year one remember … Continue reading →

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Poetry by Robin Arbiter

Posted on 05/24/2013 by Robin Arbiter

Adoption Stories By Robin Arbiter One mother is still convinced, And one is still assured, And I must deal with history, The dawn of which was painful, The end of which approaches. In the face of stories More certain than … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts, Women | Comments Off

Who’s the Bigger Scapegoat in Europe, Roma or Jew?

Posted on 05/24/2013 by Richard Esbenshade

On October 24 of last year, the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma of Europe Murdered under the National Socialist Regime was unveiled and dedicated in Berlin, Germany, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Joachim Gauck in attendance. Almost … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Rights, International, Politics | Comments Off

Jason Collins

Posted on 05/24/2013 by Neil Parthun

“I’m a 34 year old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.” With these simple words, Jason Collins made history as the first actively playing out athlete in the NBA, NHL, MLB or NFL. The overwhelming reaction to Collins’ important … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, LGBTQA, Media, News, Politics | Comments Off

C-U Marches for Immigration Reform

Posted on 05/24/2013 by Richard Esbenshade

(Compiled from C-U Immigration Forum materials) On Wednesday, April 10th, over 200 students and community members braved steady rain and cold to support comprehensive immigration reform (CIR). Families, students, community and church leaders marched in solidarity from the University Y … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Rights, Immigration, Politics, Voices of Color | Comments Off

Mobilization in Al Ma’sarah: “We Will Keep Coming Back”

Posted on 05/24/2013 by Sarah Lazare

“You must refuse to be in the army. Look into my eyes, we are all human,” declared Mahmoud Zwahre, popular committee leader in the West Bank Bethlehem district village of Al Ma’sarah, addressing dozens of M4 toting Israeli soldiers. “We … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Rights, International, Politics | Comments Off

U.S. Seeks to Get Rid of Left Governments in Latin America

Posted on 05/24/2013 by Mark Weisbrot

By Mark Weisbrot This article was published in Folha de São Paulo, Brazil’s largest circulation newspaper, on April 20, 2013. Recent events indicate that the Obama administration has stepped up its strategy of “regime change” against the left-of-center governments in Latin America, … Continue reading →

Posted in International, Politics | Comments Off

Frances Friedman’s Passing; A Deep Loss to This Community

Posted on 04/03/2013 by Belden Fields

On February 28, this community lost a woman who made enormous contributions to the quality of life of so many in Champaign-Urbana. Originally from Chicago’s West Side, Frances came to Champaign-Urbana and graduated in nursing from Mercy Hospital School of … Continue reading →

Posted in Healthcare, LGBTQA, Women | Comments Off

SEIU Holds 3-Day Strike on U of I Campus

Posted on 04/03/2013 by Public i

After 9 months of negotiating at UIUC, Building Service and Food Service Workers pulled off an enormously successful strike with 97 percent of the workforce walking off the job and 2/3 picketing over the three days. Garbage overflowed, food was … Continue reading →

Posted in Labor/Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Comments Off

BTP Poetry

Posted on 04/03/2013 by Books to Prisoners

soccer mom by raisheme worlds insects curdle my hysteria except the bumble-bee. fuzzy, black and yellow skin an outfit of my intrigue. the shiny shells of 6 leg’d things may speed the heart and yield my breath— spiraling webs of … Continue reading →

Posted in Voices of Color | Comments Off

Chávez’s Death, Like His Life, Shows the World’s Divisions

Posted on 04/03/2013 by Mark Weisbrot

By Mark Weisbrot This article was published by Al Jazeera English on March 17, 2013. The unprecedented worldwide response to the death of President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, and especially in the Western Hemisphere, has brought into stark relief the … Continue reading →

Posted in International, Politics | Comments Off

Illinois goes to DC to Fight Climate Change

Posted on 04/03/2013 by Stuart Levy

B by Stuart Levy This February 17th, a coalition of groups, including 350.org, the Sierra Club, and Hip Hop Caucus, held a rally and march in Washington, DC to raise the urgent issue of climate change. The Sierra Club organized … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Politics | Comments Off

“What’s in a Name? Two C-U Buildings Named After African American Women”

Posted on 03/14/2013 by Brian Dolinar

As a new building on campus is being named after Maudelle Bousfield, the first African American woman to graduate from the University of Illinois, a public housing complex named after Joann Dorsey, black community activist in Champaign during the 1960s, … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Education, Women | Comments Off

Women Singing Not to Forget in Post-war Ivory Coast

Posted on 03/13/2013 by Carol Spindel

Defeated at the polls in November 2010, former president of Ivory Coast Laurent Gbagbo refused to step down and held onto power by force for over four months. About three thousand people died in the post-electoral violence. Gbagbo was arrested … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Rights, International, Women | Comments Off

Education Justice Project Poets (First Installment)

Posted on 03/12/2013 by EJP

The mission of the Education Justice project is to build a model college-in-prison program that demonstrates the positive impacts of higher education upon incarcerated people, their families, the communities from which they come, and society as a whole. We provide upper-division college … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts, Prisoners, Uncategorized | Comments Off

Inmate Poetry

Posted on 02/24/2013 by Books to Prisoners

These poems were written by Illinois prison inmates and collected by Urbana Champaign Books to Prisoners. The Public i thanks Books to Prisoners for making them available. We will be publishing more inmate poetry in upcoming issues. For more information, … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts, Prisoners, Section, Voices, Voices of Color | Tagged prisons | Comments Off

Service Employees Fight Back at UIUC

Posted on 02/24/2013 by Ricky Baldwin

“The … administration has followed a reverse policy of hiring incompetent leadership at the highest prices. If it were up to the university no hourly person would make much more than minimum wage. How are we going to support your … Continue reading →