Civil rights stalwarts, politicians and academics held a requiem for the Voting Rights Act on its 61st anniversary last week, lamenting the neutering of a law that had propelled African Americans – especially in the South – into choosing their own leaders without fear of violence, murder or lesser polling place obstacles. Activists didn’t call […]

It’s hard not to get caught up in the increasingly contentious Democratic primary battle that’s mostly being waged online this week. But outside of the social media echo chambers, people who are taking the brunt of a vicious, authoritarian regime are asking deeper questions about how to build political power.   Union and immigrant-rights organizers in […]

Almost 1 in 5 Rhode Islanders is Latino now, roughly 220,000 people by the Census Bureau’s most recent count, up from 12.4% of the state in 2010. Central Falls is 69% Latino, and about 7 in 10 people who live there speak a language other than English at home. Pawtucket is roughly a quarter Latino. […]