Barack Obama
All eyes again on the Peach State: Georgia voters asked to decide U.S. Senate control
ALBANY, Ga.— Shayla Jackson knocks three times before slipping a card with voting information under the blue-painted doors of apartments at Wild Pines, a complex tucked behind Albany State University. As a canvasser for the nonpartisan New Georgia Project, a group dedicated to registering Black, brown and young voters and getting them to the polls, she’ll spend […]
Record number of Americans sign up for ACA health insurance
By Phil Galewitz and Andy Miller, Kaiser Health News A record 13.6 million Americans have signed up for health coverage for 2022 on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, the Biden administration announced last month. President Joe Biden’s top health advisers credited the increased government subsidies, which lowered out-of-pocket costs, for the surge in enrollment. They […]
A Christmas letter to the undiscovered country
Phil, You’ve been away for a good long while so here’s a Christmas letter to catch you up on all the news you’ve missed. So much has changed. Time steals like a shadow over the living, rendering us all Henry Adams at history’s eclipse. There’s much I want to share, because you could have helped […]
As a patriot and Black man, Colin Powell embodied the two-ness of the African American experience
By Chad Williams, Brandeis University Colin Powell knew where he fit in American history. The former secretary of state – who died on Oct. 18, 2021, at 84 as a result of COVID-19 complications – was a pioneer: the first Black national security advisor in U.S. history, the first Black chairman of the joint chiefs […]
Can you identify national values that unite us as Americans?
Just two weeks ago, we paused to remember those who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001, as the unthinkable happened: America was attacked by a foreign enemy on its own soil. In the aftermath, amid the horrid loss of life, the pierced veil of safety once thought impenetrable, the fear and uncertainty about what was ahead, Americans […]
Advocates tout an “incredible opportunity” to tamp down gerrymandering
Despite all the horrors of the coronavirus pandemic, it delivered one wrinkle that some advocates believe is an unprecedented opportunity to mitigate “partisan gerrymandering.” Ever wonder why Congress or the state legislature not only refuse to do things that have support of 70% of the public, they often turn around and do the exact opposite? […]
It’s time. Put Harriet Tubman on the $20
I’ll readily admit that the face gracing the $20 bill is not our most urgent issue — not with 433,000 people needlessly dead and 45 Republican senators saying that their insurrectionist-in-exile should get a pass. So, in that sense, it surely matters whether the face on the $20 bill depicts a racist genocidal white guy […]
Sure 2016 was a big surprise, but 2020 has some stunners of its own
Driving home to Austin from San Antonio in the wee morning hours of Nov. 9, 2016, I was still unable to wrap my head around the fact that Donald Trump had just been elected president.
Southwest Ohioans unite in concern for country’s future
The 39-year-old Trotwood woman’s absentee ballot arrived a couple of days earlier, but she still hadn’t filled it out. “It’s voting time and I still don’t know where either side stands on the issues…all I’ve heard is a lot of bickering,” she told a group of fellow Southwest Ohioans during a Your Voice Ohio (YVO) […]
In richly diverse conversation, Ohioans share desire for unity
Karen Smith choked on tears when she tried to explain the year leading up to the 2020 presidential election. “My life became a train wreck, honestly,” Smith said. She lost a wedding, her job and in-person medical appointments she depends on because of the pandemic. She can’t talk to her “ultra conservative” family about anything […]
Namesakes in landmark gay marriage case oppose Barrett’s confirmation to Supreme Court
Sen. Brown on court packing: ‘All things are on the table’ The namesakes from the 2015 landmark case Obergefell v. Hodges warn that confirming Amy Coney Barrett to fill an open Supreme Court justice seat could have “drastic” implications for the LGBTQ+ community. Five years after their case led to same-sex marriages becoming legal across […]
Ohioans can’t afford to lose the Affordable Care Act
From the counselor who provides a lifeline to isolated patients struggling with substance use disorder, to the nurse who holds the phone for their COVID-19 patient while they say goodbye to loved ones, Ohio’s health care workers are Ohioans demonstrating great acts of selflessness and compassion during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), […]