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Category Archives: Section
A Time of Monsters: The New Nadir and the Crisis of the Black Worker
We currently reside in what Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci called “A Time of Monsters.” Exacerbated by the catastrophic COVID-19 pandemic, the Black working classes continue to struggle under what Black Studies scholar Sundiata Cha-Jua has dubbed “the New Nadir.” For … Continue reading
679 total views
Posted in African Americans, African Americans, Economy, labor, Labor/Economics, Politics
Tagged Black workers, economic inequality, economic racism, new nadir, underemployment
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Juneteenth Freedom Day
Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19 that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with … Continue reading
900 total views, 1 views today
Posted in African American history, African Americans, African Americans, Racism, Remembering, Voices of Color
Tagged African American traditions, holidays, Juneteenth, Memory, Slavery
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Champaign Can End its Housing Discrimination
As previously reported in the Public i, housing discrimination in Champaign is a chronic issue. Following on the “tough on crime era,” since 1994 Champaign has allowed landlords to reject tenant lease applications based on their conviction record—in excess of … Continue reading
1,144 total views
Posted in Champaign County, Housing, Politics, Politics, racial segregation in Champaign/Urbana
Tagged Champaign City Council, community activism, housing discrimination
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West Virginia v. EPA: SCOTUS Decision Not Necessarily a Blow to Climate Action
Supreme Court rulings, once announced, sometimes take on curious lives. Understood in one way when released, they can, as precedent, shape the law in other, unexpected ways. The Supreme Court’s opinion in West Virginia v. US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), … Continue reading
617 total views, 1 views today
Posted in Climate crisis, Environment, Environment, Supreme Court
Tagged climate crisis, EPA, federal government, Supreme Court
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The Future of Actual Malice
Justice Clarence Thomas poked the media industry this past June when he dissented from the Supreme Court decision not to hear an appeal of a libel case. The plaintiff, Coral Ridge Ministries, had sought a review of a lower-court decision … Continue reading
710 total views, 1 views today
Posted in Free Speech, Media, Supreme Court
Tagged libel, media, Supreme Court
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Juneteenth 2022 at Randolph Street Garden
Seitu Ken Jones, a multidisciplinary artist who believes in the power of public art to link the past and present, spent 2020–21 as a visiting artist at the UIUC Center for Advanced Study. He returned this past June to work … Continue reading
Posted in African American, African American history, African Americans, Community, Local Arts, Voices of Color, Youth
Tagged African American history, Juneteenth, local community, youth
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The Public i: Countering Hegemonic Mass Media Narratives
I have always wondered how the Public i, which operates under one of the few Independent Media Centers (IMCs) that still exist in the United States—the UCIMC—has been sustainable for two decades despite the growing dissolutions of Indymedia centers worldwide. … Continue reading
849 total views
Posted in Community, Corporate media, IMC, Media, UCIMC
Tagged alternative media, corporate media, Indymedia, Public i, UCIMC
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A Win for the Whole Community: New Funds Will Improve Immigrant Access to Mental Health Services in Champaign County
All who work with newly arrived individuals and families in the Champaign-Urbana community are aware of the challenges in trying to connect immigrants with mental health support. Teachers, school counselors, public health workers, legal aid societies, and others who are … Continue reading
1,071 total views
Posted in health, Immigrants, Immigration, Mental Health, Public Health, Section
Tagged community health care, Immigrants, mental health
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The Anti-Democratic Movement Against Public Schools
“The path to saving the nation is very simple—it’s going to go through the school boards.” – Steve Bannon The workingmen’s parties of the nineteenth century pushed hard, very hard for public schools and were key to their creation. Yes, … Continue reading
958 total views
Posted in Censorship, Democracy, Education, Education, Section
Tagged censorship, charter schools, democracy, education, privatization, public schools
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Reckless Law, Shameless Order: Behind the Scenes
One afternoon in April of 2021 Faranak Miraftab called me to ask if I was interested in holding an art workshop with formerly incarcerated artists in continuation of the “IDENSCITY,” a conceptual art space that I had been developing … Continue reading
877 total views
Posted in African Americans, African Americans, Arts, Immigrants, incarceration, Local Arts, Prison Arts, Prisoners, Voices, Voices of Color, Women
Tagged Immigrants, incarceration, local arts, Prison arts
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Feminism, the Environment and Stolen Land: Socially Conscious Music from Africa and the South Pacific
Readers may remember my two previous world music reviews, in the February 2021 and Summer 2021 issues of the Public i. All of the music described here was reviewed in the great magazine Songlines. The music is available on Apple … Continue reading
778 total views, 1 views today
Posted in Africa, Arts, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, International, Music, South Africa
Tagged Africa, International, Music, South Africa, South Pacific, West Africa
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The Value of Transaction Taxes on Financial Instruments
Financial transaction taxes (FTT) are an innovative system whose time has come again. There has been a narrow FTT in the UK since 1694, which raised $4.9 billion in 2020, and it hasn’t prevented the City of London from being … Continue reading
786 total views
Posted in Corporations, Economy, Labor/Economics, Tax policy
Tagged Corporations, economics, finance, taxes
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Biden’s Sanctions on Afghanistan Threaten to Kill More Civilians than Two Decades of War
When President Joe Biden decided to withdraw the US military from Afghanistan last year, much of America’s news media came down on him like a ton of bricks. Republicans piled on, calling the withdrawal an “unmitigated disaster.” But getting out was the right … Continue reading
689 total views
Posted in Afghanistan, Foreign Policy, Imperialism, International, International, Poverty, War
Tagged Afghanistan, foreign policy, poverty, sanctions, war
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May Issue Front Cover
The Cost of War 767 total views
767 total views
Posted in Eastern Europe, Front Cover, International, Section, Ukraine, War
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Progressive Dilemmas on Ukraine
The Left has tangled itself in knots over how to respond to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Early statements, such as by CodePink and Black Alliance for Peace, while putatively opposing war, laid emphasis on US and Western responsibility, NATO’s … Continue reading
1,128 total views, 1 views today
Posted in Eastern Europe, Foreign Policy, Imperialism, International, International, Politics, Refugees, Ukraine, War
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The Great De-Centering: The World after Ukraine
The Ukraine war is a turning point in history, but not the one you might be expecting. It won’t revive the Cold War. It won’t determine the survival of the Liberal World Order (whatever that is). And most decidedly, it … Continue reading
1,062 total views
Posted in Foreign Policy, International, International, Middle East, Politics, Racism, Ukraine, War
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Book Banning, Gag Orders, and the Organized Right Wing
Book bannings are very much in the news these days. They are happening mostly in more rural school districts and in the South, but not only in these places. The American Library Association (ALA) issued a statement in November of … Continue reading
1,163 total views
Posted in Censorship, Education, Education, Free Speech, Libraries, Literature
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Two Stories from Statesville Prison
Saving Your Mind: Mental Health in the Age of Corona “This is some next-level shit. I thought I’d seen it all in my 20 years in prison,” said Murder (no real names used), my Quarantine Sanitation Specialist co-worker, as we … Continue reading
1,267 total views
Posted in Arts, incarceration, Local Arts, Prison Arts, Prisoners
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Urbana-Champaign Books to Prisoners’ Mission to Bring Books (and Bibliophilia) Behind Bars
When it comes to helping people make a fresh start after incarceration and avoid returning to prison, few approaches are as effective and vital as education. Many people who wind up in the prison system do not have enough literacy … Continue reading
983 total views, 1 views today
Posted in Education, incarceration, Libraries, UC-IMC, UCIMC
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“It’s a Money Grab”: Billions in COVID Relief Going to Fund Police and Prisons
If you’re from inner-city Birmingham, Alabama, there’s a “99-percent chance” you have a family member or friend who has been incarcerated, according to Veronica Johnson, deputy director for the Alabama Justice Initiative, which has been fighting against a proposal to … Continue reading
780 total views
Posted in African Americans, COVID-19, incarceration, Justice, Police, police accountability, Policing
Comments Off on “It’s a Money Grab”: Billions in COVID Relief Going to Fund Police and Prisons