Category Archives: Section

Illinois Responds to “Code Red” Climate Alarm

Posted on 11/15/2021 by Amanda Pankau

  IPCC Issues a Code Red for Humanity “Code Red for Humanity” has become the new rallying cry for climate action. The phrase was coined by United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres in reference to the August climate report, released … Continue reading →

 802 total views

Posted in Climate Activism, Climate Justice, Environment, Environment | Comments Off on Illinois Responds to “Code Red” Climate Alarm

The Border We Build Every Day: Guatemala in Champaign-Urbana

Posted on 11/15/2021 by Janice Jayes

The border mechanisms that capture headlines—the roundups, the cages, and the deportations—deserve attention, but this human sorting isn’t confined to the moment or space of the frontier crossing. It is part of the food we buy, the clothes we wear, … Continue reading →

 1,217 total views

Posted in Foreign Policy, Immigrants, Immigration, Indigenous, Refugees, Violence | Comments Off on The Border We Build Every Day: Guatemala in Champaign-Urbana

A Conversation with Urbana Poet Laureate Ashanti Files

Posted on 11/12/2021 by Public i

The Public i recently talked to Urbana Poet Laureate Ashanti Files Please tell our readers a little about yourself. “I am a wife, mother, and registered nurse. I currently work in mental health and addiction services. I enjoy reading, writing … Continue reading →

 946 total views

Posted in African Americans, Arts, Community, Local Arts, Poetry, Voices of Color, Women | Comments Off on A Conversation with Urbana Poet Laureate Ashanti Files

Victory! Dynegy Will Move Its Ash

Posted on 09/23/2021 by Pam and Lan Richart

No More “Cap and Run” After a multi-year campaign calling for the clean-up of coal ash along the Middle Fork of the Vermilion, Illinois’ only National Scenic River, Dynegy Midwest Generation, owner of the coal ash, has finally agreed to … Continue reading →

 1,612 total views

Posted in Environment, Environment, IL, Politics | Comments Off on Victory! Dynegy Will Move Its Ash

How the Campus Becomes the Border

Posted on 09/22/2021 by Daniel Gonzalez and Alex Sager

In August, 2020, the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC) opted for a hybrid in-person/online semester. The decision to partially reopen was made possible by the innovative SHIELD: Target, Test, Tell initiative. A crucial part of this program was … Continue reading →

 1,530 total views

Posted in COVID-19, Immigrants, Students, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Comments Off on How the Campus Becomes the Border

The Ubuntu Project and the Need for a Progressive Shift in Policing

Posted on 09/22/2021 by Alex Horton

Ubuntu is a term that originated with the Zulu people and roughly translates to “humanity” in English. The term emerged as a political concept following apartheid’s disintegration in South Africa. Now a collective of local community members, scholars, clergy, and … Continue reading →

 1,644 total views

Posted in African Americans, Community, Justice, police accountability, Police Brutality, Policing, Voices of Color | Comments Off on The Ubuntu Project and the Need for a Progressive Shift in Policing

Police Brutality is Not Uniquely American: Try France

Posted on 09/22/2021 by Richard Esbenshade and Belden Fields

While we are rightly preoccupied with abuse by the police in the United States, almost no Americans know anything about policing and justice in other countries. France offers a particularly interesting case. In January, six nongovernmental organizations, including Amnesty International … Continue reading →

 989 total views

Posted in 1968 Revolt, France, International, Justice, Police, Police Brutality, Police brutality, Policing, Racism, Students | Comments Off on Police Brutality is Not Uniquely American: Try France

The WTO Vaccination Charade

Posted on 09/21/2021 by Paul Mueth

It’s not an accident that the World Trade Organization (WTO) is the site for the battle over the pandemic and the health of the world. Many critics of corporate control of international trade, and of most of everyday life, have … Continue reading →

 1,621 total views,  1 views today

Posted in Big Pharma, COVID-19, Foreign Policy, International, pandemic, Politics, Public Health, World-wide death and suffering | Comments Off on The WTO Vaccination Charade

Moving to End Anti-AAPI Hate

Posted on 08/04/2021 by May Kao Xiong

Despite May having been the month to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage, the preceding year saw the increase of violence and hate towards Asians and Asian Americans that ranged from attacks on Asian and Asian American elders … Continue reading →

 1,862 total views

Posted in Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, bigotry, Racism, violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Voices of Color, Women | Comments Off on Moving to End Anti-AAPI Hate

Yemen: A War of Many Fronts

Posted on 08/04/2021 by Valerie Hoffman

Journalists describe the conflict in Yemen as a sectarian proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, but that fails to capture the complexity of the war: in October, 2020, Human Rights Watch reported more than thirty battle fronts between various … Continue reading →

 833 total views

Posted in Arab Spring, Foreign Policy, International, International, Islam, Middle East, War | Comments Off on Yemen: A War of Many Fronts

Ubuntu, Hope, and Respect: Socially Conscious Music from the African Continent, the Indian Ocean, and North America

Posted on 08/03/2021 by Al Kagan

Music is often a reflection of struggles for social change, and a source for joy and hope for the future. This can be heard in the songs noted in my first music review article in the February 2021 issue of … Continue reading →

 1,188 total views

Posted in Africa, African American, African American women, Arts, International, Music | Comments Off on Ubuntu, Hope, and Respect: Socially Conscious Music from the African Continent, the Indian Ocean, and North America

Slightly Out of Focus: A Review of One Night in Miami and Judas and the Black Messiah

Posted on 08/03/2021 by Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua

For more than 70 years and over a century, respectively, television and cinema have presented demeaning images of Black people. And for equally as long, African Americans have responded with boycotts, pickets and alternative visions that “depict[ed] our men and … Continue reading →

 921 total views

Posted in 1968 Revolt, African American, African Americans, Arts, cinema, film, Politics, Racism, Voices, Voices of Color | Comments Off on Slightly Out of Focus: A Review of One Night in Miami and Judas and the Black Messiah

The Quiet Strength of Bamboo: Three Wonderful Films from the Pacific to Stream

Posted on 08/03/2021 by Audrey Wells

Add these three visually stunning and thoughtful films to your watch list. Each, to varying degrees, tells a story of indigenous culture from an insider’s point of view, and each offers the special pleasure of real people playing themselves in … Continue reading →

 890 total views

Posted in Arts, cinema, film, International, International, Pacific films | Comments Off on The Quiet Strength of Bamboo: Three Wonderful Films from the Pacific to Stream

Palestinians Aren’t Safe Anywhere, Not Even in their Classrooms

Posted on 08/03/2021 by Sireen Amra

In the past month, Palestinians have witnessed yet another escalation of Zionist violence inflicted onto our homeland without reservation. Israeli warplanes murdered over 250 Palestinians and displaced nearly 100,000 people from their homes during a two-week-long bombardment of the Gaza … Continue reading →

 1,218 total views

Posted in International, International, Israel/Palestine, Palestinians, Section, Students, Voices, Women | Comments Off on Palestinians Aren’t Safe Anywhere, Not Even in their Classrooms

Chile: The Hopes and Challenges of Drafting a New Constitution

Posted on 07/31/2021 by Gustavo Diaz

In May, Chilean citizens flocked to polling stations to participate in an election for an unprecedented four categories of office. On top of the regularly scheduled elections for mayors and city councils, citizens also elected governors for the first time … Continue reading →

 841 total views

Posted in Elections, International, International, Latin America | Comments Off on Chile: The Hopes and Challenges of Drafting a New Constitution

Anarchism and the American Labor Movement

Posted on 05/26/2021 by Jeff Stein

Anarchists, proponents of “anti-authoritarian socialism,” seek to abolish the state and capitalism. Anarchism replaces authoritarian governance and private ownership of resources with federations of self-managed industries and communities in which those affected by decisions participate in making them directly in … Continue reading →

Posted in Anarchism, Anarcho-syndicalism, Labor, Labor/Economics, union solidarity | Comments Off on Anarchism and the American Labor Movement

What Can we Learn from The Amazon Union Vote in Bessemer, Alabama?

Posted on 05/26/2021 by Stephanie Fortado

During the past year, as the pandemic reshaped our daily lives, the media has paid more attention to work and workers than it has in a long time. The pandemic has shone a spotlight on the deep inequalities that persist … Continue reading →

Posted in Labor, Labor/Economics | Comments Off on What Can we Learn from The Amazon Union Vote in Bessemer, Alabama?

$0 Campaign Against Utility Shutoffs Wins $1.48 Billion in Relief

Posted on 05/26/2021 by Allan Axelrod

While there are large movements to cancel rents and mortgages across the country, such as Rent Strike 2020 and the COVID-19 + Homes Guarantee demands, there are comparably smaller movements to protect the integrity of those demands. As The Intercept, … Continue reading →

Posted in IL, Politics, social services, State Government | Comments Off on $0 Campaign Against Utility Shutoffs Wins $1.48 Billion in Relief

Supporting Women, Girls and Families: An Interview with Stephanie Cockrell

Posted on 05/26/2021 by P. Stewart

Women are praised for being pillars of strength in their families and communities, but this same strength might lead them to be overlooked when designing services to meet the needs of a community. Women also need therapeutic activities that help … Continue reading →

Posted in African American, African American Women in Champaign-Urbana, African Americans, Community, Voices of Color, Women | Comments Off on Supporting Women, Girls and Families: An Interview with Stephanie Cockrell

Black Art Politicized: A Discussion with Leslie Smith

Posted on 05/26/2021 by Drake Materre

I had the amazing opportunity to interview Leslie Smith, a board member of the Urbana–Champaign Independent Media Center (UCIMC) and the founder of Black Voices Theater Production. As someone who grew up in a household with a father who is … Continue reading →

Posted in African American Women in CU, African Americans, African Americans, Arts, Local Arts, Voices of Color, Women | Comments Off on Black Art Politicized: A Discussion with Leslie Smith