Black Panther’s Courageous Take On Basic Truths

By Autumn Hayes

The water in my eyes didn’t rise for Erik Stevens, aka Killmonger, a fictional character played by Michael B. Jordan in director Ryan Coogler’s blockbuster superhero film, Black Panther. The water in my eyes didn’t fall for the ancestors that Erik evokes in his final speech, either. The tears on my face as—spoiler alert—the only African-American character with more than two lines of dialogue in the entire movie died were tears of relief that, finally, someone dared say it: for people like Erik and me, descendants of African slaves—people who have been longing for a place to feel safe and empowered for as long as we’ve been drawing breath—there is no Motherland, no “going home” to a continent that doesn’t necessarily want us and perhaps never did…

Trump’s Infrastructure Plan: The Wrong Road for America

By Steven Pressman

The signs of a U.S. infrastructure crisis are unmistakable—derailing trains, crumbling roadways, undrinkable tap water, and wastewater systems that endanger public health. Twenty-three U.S. bridges have collapsed since 2000.

The American Society of Civilian Engineers gave U.S. infrastructure a D+ grade in 2017, proclaiming $1.5 trillion’s worth of improvements was required over the next decade. They estimated that infrastructure deficiencies cost each U.S. household, on average, $3,400 annually.

But these costs do add up…

Counting Asians

By Setsuko Winchester

The Olympics have come to a close, and in their wake I’ve been thinking about a stubborn phenomenon that was illustrated most recently by the flak a New York Times columnist named Bari Weiss received after tweeting: “Immigrants get the job done,” together with a picture of Mirai Nagasu, the U.S. ice skater who won a gold medal. Many asked: What do you mean, immigrant? She’s an American…

In an Anti-Trump Moment, Pledge Signers Commit to a Populist Economic Agenda

By Richard Eskow

Some Democratic Party leaders are investing their hopes for 2018 on voters like Pennsylvania’s Judy Delaney. “I figured the lesser of two evils was Trump,” Delaney told The New York Times recently. “Now I’m second-guessing myself. Because he’s nuts.”

Will simply not being “nuts” be enough to ensure victory for Democratic candidates in November? The results so far are mixed…