activism

The Targeting of Bail Funds is an old Weapon in the Civil Rights Backlash

by Say Burgin and Jeanne Theoharis

Atlanta and Georgia law enforcement's arrest of the leaders of a fund dedicated to securing bail for protesters opposing "Cop City" shows that protest movements have long depended on bailing out activists, and the forces opposed to change have long known it. 

New Book Says Cure for Girls in Crisis is Revolution

Mattie Kahn's new popular history of girls' activism spans centuries and class and ethnic divides, showing the power of young women to change what they can't accept. 

"Salts" are Part of Labor's Fight to Organize. They were once Part of the Antiwar Movement

by Derek Seidman

Taking a job with the covert intention of organizing the workplace is a time-honored labor tactic that's back in the news. Some dedicated activists in the 1960s "salted" the U.S. military in the hopes of building an antiwar movement within the ranks. 

Kyrie Irving Just the Latest Outspoken Athlete to Go Rogue

by Greg Kaliss

It's entirely fair for the Nets' guard to face criticism for his boosting of an antisemitic film, but the uproar carries the risk of silencing athletes who might otherwise use their public platforms for political advocacy. 

Connections, Capacity, and Impact: Strategic Thinking About Political Action

by Lara Putnam

The work of Democratic Party strategists is aimed at winning campaigns through a "cost per vote" calculation. Citizens who want to protect democracy need to think about deeper organizing. 

Visible Activism Key to Protecting Trans People From Discriminatory Laws

by Shay Ryan Olmstead

The legal strategies that LGBT groups have used to defend their rights and dignity in society may be less effective with hard-right judges on the bench. Direct action and activism outside the courts will be needed to make sure that the right doesn't use the law to target trans people for political gain. 

Is "Regulation from Below" Possible? Historian Rebecca Marchiel on Community Housing Activism

"Marchiel’s narrative paints the picture of a remarkably powerful national reinvestment campaign against an almost unstoppable force of ever more inventive flows of capital. Perhaps the lesson should have been that capitalism refuses to work for people."

A Teenager Got More Women of Color Represented in the History Curriculum of a Large School District

"Prasidha Padmanabhan, 16, founded WEAR (Women for Education, Advocacy and Rights), a nonprofit with an executive board made up entirely of students."

Do Liberal Activists Need to Reconnect with the Religious Left?

by Julian Zelizer

The rise of conservatism in Christian political engagement and the increasing importance of Israel to many American Jewish organizations should not discourage liberal activists from reviving the legacy of Rabbi Abraham Heschel and interfaith social justice organizing. 

From the Labor Struggles of the 1930s to Today, the Highlander School has Sought to Make America More Equitable

by Jelani M. Favors

From the Great Depression through the Civil Rights era and beyond, Myles Horton's Highlander Folk School was a rare interracial space for political organizing. 

Powerline Politics in the 1970s and Today

by Tyler Priest

Environmental activists have forged anti-pipeline alliances with rural landowners using the issue of eminent domain. History shows that this might boomerang if farmers oppose the new electric transmission lines that will be needed to implement green electrification. 

In Fury We Trust (Review of Sarah Shulman)

Sarah Shulman's book seeks to recover the histories of AIDS activists beyond white gay men, using two decades of oral history work to show the breadth of a coalition including women, lesbians, people of color, drug users, and the incarcerated, who all experienced the stakes of AIDS differently. 

The Emerging Movement for Police and Prison Abolition

by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

Organizer Mariame Kaba is one of the leading public intellectuals behind the movement for the abolition of the institutions of policing and prisons and for a politics that imagines more humane alternatives. 

Remaking Radicalism with Dan Berger and Emily M. Hobson

Historians Dan Berger and Emily Hobson discuss their new primary source anthology on grassroots social movements in the last quarter of the 20th century. 

Dorothy Pitman Hughes’s Activism Offers a Solution for the Coronavirus Gender Gap

by Laura L. Lovett

Dorothy Pitman Hughes' experience running a community childcare center highlighted not just the needs of working women, but the ways that childcare challenges were connected to all the big issues of the society. If we want a more just society today, Hughes' example and the COVID crisis show us where to look. 

Fight To Vote: The Woman Who Was Key In 'Getting Us The Voting Rights Act'

Historian Carol Anderson explains the contributions of Amelia Boynton to the Selma movement and the erasure of women's organizing work from many histories of the movement. 

The Forgotten History of the Radical ‘Elders of the Tribe’

by Susan J. Douglas

The Gray Panthers fought for the civil rights, social services and respect denied to older Americans. But they did so by challenging inequality in ways that sought alliances instead of antagonism between young and old. 

Scholars on Strike

Scholars in multiple fields have taken part in a virtual teach-in, sharing expertise on racism and justice as part of the #ScholarStrike.

Why We Started the #ScholarStrike

by Anthea Butler and Kevin Gannon

As American history shows, there are times where the most powerful way that workers can force an issue or work for change is to withhold what others see as their most important feature: their labor.

The Faculty Network for Student Voting Rights Announces its Launch, September 3, 2020

A group of historians has launched a new group dedicated to making sure that college students are able to exercise their right to vote.