Franky Carrillo: I was wrongfully convicted when I was 16 years old and served 20 years in prison before proving my innocence. That mistake took two decades from me; but it took Carlos De Luna’s life.
Race to the Top: Squeezing the Life Out of Children
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Mark Naison: Are parents and their children doomed to ten years of torture introduced in the name of “restoring national competitiveness,” “preparing young people for the job market” and “weeding out bad teachers?”
What’s Happening to the “Human” in Human Services?
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Vivian Rothstein: We seem to be taking the humans out of a system that I thought was organized to make life better for actual people. As the cynics say, human services would be so much easier if it weren’t for the humans.
Your Choice: The Just Life – Or Just Life
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Vivian Rothstein: All the important justice movements of our times – civil rights, women’s liberation, gay rights, environmental protection — were started and driven by volunteers whose lives were transformed by their participation.
Occupy the World…And the Values Revolution!
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Gary Corseri: There are four great reasons why the Occupy movement will not go away, why it will grow stronger as we advance into winter and next spring: It is inter-generational, international, and life-saving and essential.
You’re Not Supposed to Be Happy
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Tina Dupuy: The whole idea of a democracy is accepting you’ll never fully get your own way in government.
Saving Lives, Preserving Life
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Steve Hochstadt: Whether cities and states are ruled by Democrats or Republicans, self-identified as “pro-life” or not, too much human life is lost across America, in birthing rooms and in the years of childhood.
Manning Marable: Provocative Scholarship In Life & Death
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Anthony Samad: Manning Marable, and his provocative scholarship, will be sorely missed. We’ve lost a true radical thinker and articulator of the African American experience in America.
One More Chance for Youth
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Diane Lefer: Youth in life without parole cases are often acting under the influence of an adult. In nearly 70 percent of California LWOP cases in which the youth was not acting alone, at least one codefendant was an adult.
Author Spotlight: Georgianne Nienaber
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To kick off what we hope will be a year-long series to highlight the work our many fine writers contribute to the LA Progressive, we’d like to give you a fuller view of Georgianne Nienaber’s life and work.
I’ll Be Seeing You
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Brad Parker: I dedicate my public life to the future for all of our children but when I look around I still hear that song. In all things new I see all things that came before and seem so much dearer to me now. When you are gone I will still be seeing you in everything and everywhere.
Van Jones Affirms That Immigrants Lead a Greener Life
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Andrea Nill: Jones noted that “there is a greenwashing of hate that is going on in our country.” Anti-immigrant front groups are using “green concerns as a bludgeon against immigrants and low-income communities.”
‘Well, That Freedom Ain’t for Me’
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Berry Craig: The show featured a slave mother’s explanation of the Declaration of Independence to her young son. “…Freedom isn’t something that these men plan on giving us,” she said. “…All of this talk is about them getting their freedom, or more freedom because they’re already free….I told him, ‘Son, these are the same men that will beat Negroes nearly half to death…They call us, who God has created, their property…No, son, these men will not free you. And my son looked at me and said ‘Well, that freedom ain’t for me.’
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Charley James Returns: Now, What Was I Saying … ?
Charley James: I’d turned my back on modern health care to wait for Godot after a virulent cancer returned for the third time. Then, traditional Chinese medicine did what regular docs couldn’t. I beat the odds and was coming back – until a 1%-er caught up with me. Over the past three years, my life got turned upside down. Just like America’s.