Today is “off-book” day, and I still haven’t memorized my lines. And while it is way too early to panic, I do have a sense of urgency and realize I better take my director’s advice to buckle down and [...] Continue Reading
Arts & Culture
Linking Popular Democracy and Economic Development in Africa
[Richard Stone writes that Aaron Tesfaye has lived in the United States for about 30 years, including many in Fresno. He attended Fresno State and, after getting his Ph.D. at Claremont Graduate [...] Continue Reading
Citizen Action for Palestinian Human and Civil Rights: Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
The U.S. government is currently engaged in perpetuating the charade of pseudo negotiations, known by some as the “piece” process, where more and more pieces of Palestine are taken by the Israelis. [...] Continue Reading
Grassroots Profile: Jason Chang
Jason Chang is the young president of the local chapter of the Japanese-American Citizens League (JACL). And, he tells me, he is the newly elected vice president of planning and development for the [...] Continue Reading
Spoon
By Boston Woodard When people work at the same job for many years, live in the same locale, shop at the same stores, attend the same schools and churches, become friends and associates with those [...] Continue Reading
How Many Scholars Does It Take to Make an Omelet?
If it is true that one must crack some eggs to make an omelet, and I suppose it is, then the times we live in must be the egg industry’s biggest boom to date. When I look around, all I can see are [...] Continue Reading
Craig Scharton: Fresno’s Downtown Development Czar Talks to the Community Alliance
We printed an interview with three members of Southwest Fresno H.E.A.T. in last month’s issue of the Community Alliance newspaper. In that interview, the organizers raised concerns about high density [...] Continue Reading
From the Editor
I believe that media consolidation is one of the biggest threats to democracy in this country. Large corporations, which have taken over most of the media outlets in this country, do not represent the [...] Continue Reading
Progressive News Briefs
Fresno Police Violate Federal Court Order Protecting the Homeless In January of this year, the City of Fresno violated the settlement agreement protecting homeless people from having their property [...] Continue Reading
The New Jim Crow
Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow is a brilliant history and assemblage of legal decisions, statutes, rules and practices that have incrementally grown since the 1970s to form a system of mass [...] Continue Reading
The Ben Lomond Four (Muslims Targeted During Ramadan)
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) houses prisoners of every faith imaginable: Islam, Catholic, Protestant, Episcopalian, Baptist, Jewish, Mormon, Buddhism, Hinduism, [...] Continue Reading
Meeting Energizes Peace Community
On the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the New York World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the peace movement in our politically conservative San Joaquin Valley got a big boost. One hundred [...] Continue Reading