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Articles by Randy Shaw

Randy Shaw is the Director of San Francisco's Tenderloin Housing Clinic and the Editor-in-Chief of the online daily newspaper "Beyond Chron." He is the author of three books, "Beyond the Fields", "The Activist's Handbook", and "Reclaiming America".

Why Republicans Should Regret Scott Brown’s “Massachusetts Miracle”
Thursday, 18 Mar, 2010 – 6:00 | 3 Comments
Why Republicans Should Regret Scott Brown’s “Massachusetts Miracle”

Randy Shaw: Prior to Brown’s win, national Democrats were adrift, the base was deeply demoralized, and a path to finally passing health care reform was unclear. But Brown’s win changed this, providing a desperately needed wake-up call to national Democrats and the Obama Administration.

New Immigrant Rights Campaign to Mount Largest March of Obama Era
Tuesday, 16 Mar, 2010 – 6:00 | 3 Comments
New Immigrant Rights Campaign to Mount Largest March of Obama Era

Randy Shaw: Organized by the Center for Community Change (CCC), the March 21 event will be the largest protest march since President Barack Obama took office. It will include activist groups from nearly every state, and revives the labor-religious-community coalition that built the mass marches of 2006.

Political Underpinnings of Film Noir
Monday, 15 Mar, 2010 – 6:00 | No Comment
Political Underpinnings of Film Noir

Randy Shaw: Since film noir was rediscovered in the 1960’s, there have been many books analyzing the genre. One could understandably ask what Dennis Broe’s new work, Film Noir, American Workers, and Postwar Hollywood could possibly add to the subject. The answer is: quite a bit.

Oscar Ceremony Shows Hollywood’s Rightward, Militaristic Shift
Wednesday, 10 Mar, 2010 – 6:00 | No Comment
Oscar Ceremony Shows Hollywood’s Rightward, Militaristic Shift

Randy Shaw: While conservatives love bashing “Hollywood liberals,” Sunday night’s Oscar telecast showed how little this description applies. From Kathryn Bigelow’s promoting George W. Bush’s argument that the U.S. invaded Iraq to protect Americans, to the disproportionate acclaim given to films exalting the military, to the exclusion of Michael Moore’sCapitalism, A Love Story from the documentary nominees, Hollywood now largely avoids any hint of progressive social analysis.

Education Activists Need Strategy Beyond Marches
Tuesday, 9 Mar, 2010 – 6:00 | No Comment
Education Activists Need Strategy Beyond Marches

Randy Shaw: Activists can use mass action to pressure legislators and the Governor to redirect excessive spending on prisons and other wasteful programs to education, but there is no chance this year of getting enough Republicans to win the necessary two-thirds legislative votes.

Bet on Barbara Boxer in November
Saturday, 6 Mar, 2010 – 6:00 | No Comment
Bet on Barbara Boxer in November

Randy Shaw: The media always promotes Republicans like Campbell or John McCain who are reactionary and corporate-owned on most issues but have a few stands that are common to Democrats. This makes them “mavericks,” and allegedly shows they can appeal to Democrats.

On Curling, U.S.-Canada Relations, and Tiger Woods
Wednesday, 24 Feb, 2010 – 6:00 | No Comment
On Curling, U.S.-Canada Relations, and Tiger Woods

Randy Shaw: The worldwide recession deepens, the impacts of climate change worsen, and health care costs continue to skyrocket — yet people are primarily discussing other matters. Chief among them is why curling is an Olympic sport, since it is the on-ice equivalent of bocce or shuffleboard, two games that do not require much athletic talent.

Defying Progressives, Obama Revives Nuclear Power
Saturday, 20 Feb, 2010 – 6:00 | 8 Comments
Defying Progressives, Obama Revives Nuclear Power

Randy Shaw: Many progressives are so excited that Obama is not Sarah Palin that they accept any small step as a great leap forward. The irony is that many of these progressives saw a night and day difference between Obama and Clinton in the primaries, yet now accept policies from Obama that are virtually identical — if not more conservative — than those we feared from a President Hilary Clinton.

Media Ignoring Labor Union Successes
Friday, 19 Feb, 2010 – 6:00 | 3 Comments
Media Ignoring Labor Union Successes

Randy Shaw: The absence of labor reporters is a symptom of a larger media trend that now sees union activism and elections as deserved only of local coverage, while corporate news wins national attention. So the New York Times reports on Disney’s public relations event in Orlando, Florida is reported by, while UNITE HERE’s far more newsworthy event at Disneyland gets only local press.

Searching for Authenticity in Urban Neighborhoods
Saturday, 13 Feb, 2010 – 6:00 | 2 Comments
Searching for Authenticity in Urban Neighborhoods

Randy Shaw: While many talk about gentrification, few books portray it as vividly as Zukin. She makes New York City’s diverse neighborhoods truly come alive, and her book should interest all those who care about the future of urban America

Obama Era Sees Decline of Organizing
Tuesday, 9 Feb, 2010 – 6:00 | 2 Comments
Obama Era Sees Decline of Organizing

Randy Shaw: As the midterm elections approach, progressives face a critical choice: either spend resources now on funding organizers who can win real change in 2010, or invest in the November elections to set the stage for 2011. The choice should be clear.

Beyoncé’s Soulless Starbucking of Music Industry
Friday, 5 Feb, 2010 – 6:00 | 2 Comments
Beyoncé’s Soulless Starbucking of Music Industry

Randy Shaw: Beyoncé has been a great star since childhood, and has gotten to the top through hard work, dedication, good looks and a powerful singing voice. But she seems to have gone through a corporate homogenization machine that has deprived her of real passion, real soul, and of the ability to express true feelings and emotions in her songs.

Obama Revives the Dukakis Presidency
Thursday, 4 Feb, 2010 – 6:00 | One Comment
Obama Revives the Dukakis Presidency

Randy Shaw: President Obama aspires to change the way politics is played, saying he is tired of questions masquerading as talking points, and of “tactics” substituting for the best policies. Like Dukakis, he wants the two parties to engage in national policy debates, where the best ideas prevail. Unfortunately, that’s not how politics works in the United States, and Obama’s misguided idealism is costing his base dearly.

Democrats Return to Slumber after Massachusetts Wake Up Call
Tuesday, 2 Feb, 2010 – 6:00 | One Comment
Democrats Return to Slumber after Massachusetts Wake Up Call

Randy Shaw: Consider the Democrats top concerns. Health care? “We’ll get to it sometime.” Comprehensive immigration reform? “It’s still a priority.” EFCA? Off the political radar screen. Climate Change? “We don’t have the votes.” The Budget? Freeze all domestic spending but education and research but protect defense.

Americans and the European Way
Friday, 29 Jan, 2010 – 6:00 | 4 Comments
Americans and the European Way

Randy Shaw: As someone who thinks Hill’s work could convince the uncommitted and deserves the widest possible audience, I wish he had directly confronted — through interviews, for example — those who oppose the policies that work in Europe but are still not in place in the United States. For example, it would have been helpful for Republican and Democratic Party political leaders to explain why our nation follows the lead of Papua New Guinea in still not offering paid maternity leave.

Why I’m Skipping Obama’s State of the Union
Wednesday, 27 Jan, 2010 – 6:00 | 2 Comments
Why I’m Skipping Obama’s State of the Union

Randy Shaw: Speechmaker Obama’s efforts to sell that economic plan to a Democratic base reeling from rising unemployment and stretched pocketbooks may even exceed his mighty oratory skills, and could leave President Obama’s base wondering what happened to the candidate they elected.

Despite Obama, “Yes We Can” Spirit Survives
Friday, 22 Jan, 2010 – 6:00 | 4 Comments
Despite Obama, “Yes We Can” Spirit Survives

Randy Shaw: In the Beltway, the Obama Administration frustrated key constituency groups and organizations by failing to push for transformative change. In the world where most people live and work, activists were not deterred by Obama’s inaction and instead seized upon the “Si Se Puede” spirit to build successful campaigns for justice.

Tea Baggers Repackaging America’s Right Wing
Wednesday, 13 Jan, 2010 – 6:00 | One Comment
Tea Baggers Repackaging America’s Right Wing

Randy Shaw: If anyone still doubts that politics is all about branding, the rise of the “teabagger” closes the case. Here we have a group of overwhelmingly white anti-tax crusaders with a long history of political backing for right-wing causes suddenly re-branded by the media as populist crusaders for the common good.

Defining Progressive Victories in 2010
Thursday, 7 Jan, 2010 – 6:00 | One Comment
Defining Progressive Victories in 2010

To help avoid the “defining downward” of progressive goals on the key issues of 2010, I thought it would be helpful to assess what would constitute activist victories and whether progressives should cheer measures short of what they are now backing.

Holding Obama Accountable
Tuesday, 5 Jan, 2010 – 6:00 | 3 Comments
Holding Obama Accountable

Randy Shaw: pecifically, activists must employ what I describe in The Activist’s Handbook as the “fear and loathing” approach that has long proved necessary to get most politicians to do the right thing. Activists must make Obama fear the political repercussions of not backing progressive positions, even to the extent that the President comes to “loathe” those creating such pressures.

2009: Labor’s Missed Opportunity
Wednesday, 16 Dec, 2009 – 6:00 | No Comment
2009: Labor’s Missed Opportunity

With the Democratic Party needing union money and volunteers for the November 2010 elections, it will have to start delivering for labor soon. This means that Congress will enact some changes in union election rules, though expedited elections rather than card check appears to be where the debate is headed.

Obama Ignores Community Organizing Lessons
Tuesday, 15 Dec, 2009 – 6:00 | 3 Comments
Obama Ignores Community Organizing Lessons

When Barack Obama backed a Senate health reform plan that differed radically from prior proposals, he ignored the lessons he learned as a young organizer on Chicago’s South Side. Obama once knew that it’s wrong to bypass the community’s agenda to strike a backroom deal, regardless of its superior terms. Obama also understood that failing to consult with the community disempowers the base, and discourages people from participating in future organizing campaigns.

Obama’s Right Turn
Wednesday, 9 Dec, 2009 – 11:00 | No Comment
Obama’s Right Turn

When President Barack Obama took office, many activists and organizations saw their role as mobilizing the public support necessary to enable him to implement progressive change. After Obama’s September health care speech this strategy appeared to be working, but the President has since ignored the progressive base and taken a sharp turn to the right.

Activists Giving Obama a Pass
Tuesday, 8 Dec, 2009 – 9:00 | No Comment
Activists Giving Obama a Pass

Obama still has time to deliver for his base. But this will require activists and constituency groups to ramp up public demands for such a course, rather than thinking they are helping the progressive cause by making excuses for a president whose inspirational words about social transformation have not been matched by actions.

The Speech Obama Should Give Tonight
Tuesday, 1 Dec, 2009 – 15:57 | No Comment
The Speech Obama Should Give Tonight

If the health care outcome shows that the U.S. Senate will not allow progressive change even with a 60-vote Democratic caucus, then what argument can the Obama team make to infrequent voters in 2010? If electing Obama and strong Democratic congressional majorities in 2008 did not bring real Change, why even bother voting?

Giving Thanks to Activist Heroes in 2009
Thursday, 26 Nov, 2009 – 9:04 | No Comment
Giving Thanks to Activist Heroes in 2009

The week of Thanksgiving offers the perfect opportunity for us to give thanks and appreciation for those in 2009 who have worked for social and economic justice.

New York Times: “American Workers Are Overpaid”
Thursday, 19 Nov, 2009 – 8:49 | One Comment
New York Times: “American Workers Are Overpaid”

If recent resistance by IBEW and UNITE HERE members are any indication, the Times’ BreakingNews folks and corporate America have a long way to go before convincing workers that it is they, rather than their high-paid, amply-bonused bosses, whose compensation should be downsized.

SEIU Throws Eggs at NUHW Supporters in Los Angeles
Wednesday, 18 Nov, 2009 – 18:14 | One Comment
SEIU Throws Eggs at NUHW Supporters in Los Angeles

One night after withdrawing its support for the California Democratic Party and picketing progressive politicians and labor leaders in San Francisco, SEIU threw eggs at those attending an event honoring NUHW in Los Angeles.

SEIU Wages War on Progressives
Wednesday, 18 Nov, 2009 – 13:00 | One Comment
SEIU Wages War on Progressives

The increasing willingness of other unions to openly back NUHW is most ominous for SEIU. It means that SEIU’s efforts to frame NUHW as a “rogue” labor organization guilty of “raiding” other unions has failed, and that the labor movement now sees NUHW as health care workers’ leading voice for democracy.

Despise the Initiative Process? New York City Shows Why Progressives Need It
Wednesday, 28 Oct, 2009 – 6:15 | No Comment
Despise the Initiative Process? New York City Shows Why Progressives Need It

New York City provides a case study of a large, ethnically diverse, California-like entity where citizen ballot measures are not an option. The result? A profoundly undemocratic city where large real estate developers call the shots.

“Doom and Gloom” on the Left
Tuesday, 27 Oct, 2009 – 10:40 | 6 Comments
“Doom and Gloom” on the Left

Nine months into the Obama era, it’s not simply the Right that is detached from the perspectives of everyday people, and not just the Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck crowd that express an “I told you so” attitude toward the President’s actions.

Gay Activist Divisions Are Political, Not Generational
Thursday, 15 Oct, 2009 – 9:00 | One Comment
Gay Activist Divisions Are Political, Not Generational

It had to be frustrating for Sunday’s rally organizers President Obama get a standing ovation from HRC at a gala event for simply repeating his unfulfilled campaign pledges on gay rights. This smacks of the type of lack of political accountability that can kill progressive change.

ACORN’s Problems Create Void for Community Organizing
Tuesday, 6 Oct, 2009 – 14:33 | No Comment
ACORN’s Problems Create Void for Community Organizing

As ACORN cutbacks weaken one of the progressive movement’s leading organizer training vehicles, everyone from labor unions, to interfaith networks, to progressive foundations, to the Obama Administration better start thinking about how to fill this organizer gap.

Hispanic Heritage Month: Watching Latino Politics Disappear
Wednesday, 30 Sep, 2009 – 16:13 | 2 Comments
Hispanic Heritage Month: Watching Latino Politics Disappear

This exclusion of Latinos from the health debate, and from all public policy issues other than immigration, is neither coincidence nor accident. It is part of the same strategy that sees Latinos excluded from the cable political news shows, and from the Sunday interview shows on the traditional networks.

UNITE HERE Rejoins AFL-CIO
Saturday, 19 Sep, 2009 – 9:11 | One Comment
UNITE HERE Rejoins AFL-CIO

On the last day of the AFL-CIO convention, UNITE HERE President John Wilhelm announced that his union is leaving Change to Win and rejoining the AFL-CIO. The announcement, while not unexpected, will soon to followed by a similar decision by the Laborers Union, and represents a likely fatal blow to SEIU’s efforts to create a competing labor Federation.

Obama: Labor’s Agenda Is My Agenda
Friday, 18 Sep, 2009 – 17:39 | 3 Comments
Obama: Labor’s Agenda Is My Agenda

Organized labor has historically been the core of Barack Obama’s political base, and now that the President finds himself in a tough fight with corporate America, he is increasingly aligning himself with the labor movement

Michael Moore’s New Film Galvanizes AFL-CIO
Wednesday, 16 Sep, 2009 – 6:00 | One Comment
Michael Moore’s New Film Galvanizes AFL-CIO

I don’t need a phone survey or Internet poll to know that the audience was wild about Moore’s film: the audience was often so overcome with laughter, applause and sheer excitement that it often broke into massive applause, with nobody complaining about the drowning out of dialogue due to the clapping.

Obama’s Health Care Approach Risks His Base
Wednesday, 26 Aug, 2009 – 9:14 | No Comment
Obama’s Health Care Approach Risks His Base

Activists either insist that the President accept nothing less than a public option, or pave the way for Obama’s further “compromises” on the many other issues once widely thought to represent the ushering in of a new progressive era.

Progressives Mobilize to Save Obama, Democratic Party
Friday, 21 Aug, 2009 – 12:17 | One Comment
Progressives Mobilize to Save Obama, Democratic Party

Republicans thought the “just say no” strategy that killed the Clinton plan would also work in 2009. But they forgot that this strategy now lacks the element of surprise, and that the Internet now prevents the corporate media from entirely controlling the debate.

Obama Did Not “Punk” the Common Guy
Thursday, 13 Aug, 2009 – 12:55 | No Comment
Obama Did Not “Punk” the Common Guy

Obama is using every political chit to secure health coverage for 47 million “common “ Americans, strongly endorsing the public option that other Democrats and the Republican Party are seeking to kill.

“Cash for Clunkers” Exposes Media’s Anti-Government Bias
Wednesday, 5 Aug, 2009 – 7:00 | 2 Comments
“Cash for Clunkers” Exposes Media’s Anti-Government Bias

If anyone seeks further evidence of the traditional media’s profound anti-government bias, consider its response to the enormously popular “Cash for Clunkers” program.

Explaining the Media’s Anti-Obama Bias
Wednesday, 29 Jul, 2009 – 13:27 | No Comment
Explaining the Media’s Anti-Obama Bias

Fortunately, the Internet will not allow the traditional media to again derail the nation’s hopes for progressive change. No wonder the Obama Administration is openly courting bloggers to tell the truth about health care

Thousands of Unite Here Disney Workers and Clergy March on Disneyland
Monday, 20 Jul, 2009 – 15:43 | No Comment
Thousands of Unite Here Disney Workers and Clergy March on Disneyland

As Disney knows, It’s a Small World. And if the company undermines the health coverage for 2300 UNITE HERE Local 11 workers, they may find their parks resembling a modern day FrontierLand.

Texas Could Remove Cesar Chavez, Thurgood Marshall from Public School Studies
Wednesday, 15 Jul, 2009 – 11:55 | No Comment
Texas Could Remove Cesar Chavez, Thurgood Marshall from Public School Studies

The Texas State Board of Education is moving toward removing Cesar Chavez and Thurgood Marshall from the social studies curriculum taught to its 4.7 million public school students.

Activists Rallying to Ensure Obama Administration Brings Change
Thursday, 9 Jul, 2009 – 11:00 | One Comment
Activists Rallying to Ensure Obama Administration Brings Change

Why are the usual barriers to progressive change falling? Because, as in the 1930’s, we have grassroots movements who are pushing a sympathetic President to the left.

AFL-CIO Condemns SEIU Raids on UNITE HERE
Thursday, 2 Jul, 2009 – 7:52 | One Comment
AFL-CIO Condemns SEIU Raids on UNITE HERE

One day after 15 international union leaders vowed to provide “material and moral” support to UNITE HERE’s defense against SEIU raids, the AFL-CIO sent a letter to the UNITE HERE convention condemning “all raiding of …

Labor Movement Backs UNITE HERE Against SEIU Raids
Wednesday, 1 Jul, 2009 – 7:55 | One Comment
Labor Movement Backs UNITE HERE Against SEIU Raids

In a dramatic blow to SEIU’s efforts to raid UNITE HERE members and jurisdictions, 15 of the nation’s leading unions pledged Monday to provide UNITE HERE with “material and moral” support. Before a wildly cheering …

As Labor Faces Turning Point, UNITE HERE National Convention Opens
Monday, 29 Jun, 2009 – 13:00 | No Comment
As Labor Faces Turning Point, UNITE HERE National Convention Opens

UNITE HERE, best known for its Hotel Workers Rising campaign and successful organizing of the nation’s gaming industry, opens its national convention in Chicago today. When the event was scheduled, it seemed a perfect occasion …

Experts Wrong: Newsom Clear Beneficiary of Villaraigosa Non-Entry
Saturday, 27 Jun, 2009 – 14:42 | One Comment
Experts Wrong: Newsom Clear Beneficiary of Villaraigosa Non-Entry

According to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Matier & Ross, nearly all of the political experts they consulted felt that California Attorney General Jerry Brown would gain more than Gavin Newsom from the non-entry of Los …

Public Rejects Newspapers’ Survivalist Rhetoric
Wednesday, 10 Jun, 2009 – 12:07 | No Comment
Public Rejects Newspapers’ Survivalist Rhetoric

Markos Moulitsas, whose Daily Kos helped shift the nation’s politics leftward, recently noted that newspaper circulation began its steady decline in 1993, well before the rise of the Internet, and that “what the newspaper industry …

UFW Alums Battle Over Labor’s Future
Thursday, 4 Jun, 2009 – 16:22 | No Comment
UFW Alums Battle Over Labor’s Future

After electing the most pro-union President in decades, organized labor is being torn by internal fights. And at the heart of these conflicts are veterans of the United Farmworkers of America (UFW), whose strategic innovations …

Progressives Bear Blame for California’s Woes
Wednesday, 3 Jun, 2009 – 9:02 | No Comment
Progressives Bear Blame for California’s Woes

As California faces a fiscal meltdown, Democrats blame Republicans for opposing essential tax hikes. But progressives own failures should not be ignored. California Republicans have been anti-tax zealots since the mid-1990’s, yet progressives failed to …

Community Organizer Obama Asks Activists: “Where’s Your Base”?
Wednesday, 20 May, 2009 – 5:01 | One Comment
Community Organizer Obama Asks Activists: “Where’s Your Base”?

Some activists excited about Barack Obama’s community organizing background forget what this fully means – namely, that he expects groups seeking progressive measures to mobilize their base. Community organizers do not expect politicians to challenge …

Posters Show the Labor Movement At its Best
Saturday, 16 May, 2009 – 18:39 | No Comment
Posters Show the Labor Movement At its Best

When I receive a book for review, I quickly skim through it before putting it aside for future reading. But when I got Lincoln Cushing & Timothy W. Drescher’s, Agitate! Educate! Organize! American Labor Posters, …

Obama’s Surprising First 100 Days
Wednesday, 29 Apr, 2009 – 20:25 | One Comment
Obama’s Surprising First 100 Days

Barack Obama is the first candidate I have supported at any level of government whose first 100 days greatly exceeded my expectations. What has Obama done differently from the rest? First, he did not spend …

As Nation Moves Left, Media Stuck in Past
Wednesday, 15 Apr, 2009 – 16:01 | No Comment
As Nation Moves Left, Media Stuck in Past

Despite Barack Obama’s victory and polls showing strong support for a progressive agenda, the traditional media is “staying the course” in presenting the news. While the blogosphere pokes fun at the FOX News-created “tea parties” …

Key Leaders Endorse National Labor Justice Campaign
Tuesday, 14 Apr, 2009 – 7:21 | One Comment
Key Leaders Endorse National Labor Justice Campaign

Among the many labor, community, and academic leaders backing the proposal are John Wilhelm, International President of the Hospitality Division of UNITE-HERE, Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton, Archdiocese of Detroit, and the Reverend Alexia Salvatierra, Executive …

The Obama Progressive Agenda: A Progress Report
Wednesday, 8 Apr, 2009 – 10:02 | One Comment
The Obama Progressive Agenda: A Progress Report

Although progressives have already won two major victories – the stimulus package and the budget – and a reversal of a number of Bush anti-environment policies, most activists are focused on the troika of universal …

On Cesar Chavez’s Birthday, New National Farmworker Campaign Launched
Tuesday, 31 Mar, 2009 – 18:00 | One Comment
On Cesar Chavez’s Birthday, New National Farmworker Campaign Launched

When Barack Obama adopted “Yes We Can” as his campaign theme, he harkened back to the “Si Se Puede” rallying cry popularized by Cesar Chavez and the United Farmworkers of America (UFW). As we celebrate …

Media Cries “Deficit” to Defeat Progressive Agenda
Tuesday, 24 Mar, 2009 – 14:28 | No Comment
Media Cries “Deficit” to Defeat Progressive Agenda

Despite all of the economic history of the past 30 years, the traditional media is brushing off its favorite bogeyman – the budget deficit – to defeat and/or scale back President Obama’s progressive budget, education, …

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