A Decade of Change
The mid-70s marked an end to the women’s liberation movement. Fear and resentment of the liberated woman became more prevalent. This was understandable as the traditional homemaker had always been celebrated in American society, and now the world seemed to be saying that being a housewife was not enough. Women became divided, and many questioned […]
How did the 1960s change America
The 1960s changed the future of America because the counter cultural movement of its youth showed that one can use their voice to fight for change. It was a time of protests to encourage social reform. World-changing events that occurred in the 1960s included Richard Nixon’s presidency and the Watergate scandal, the Cuban Missile Crisis, […]
The War on Poverty: Then and Now
This administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America. … It will not be a short or easy struggle, no single weapon or strategy will suffice, but we shall not rest until that war is won. The richest nation on earth can afford to win it. We cannot afford to lose […]
Voices of Change
Act now to protect people and save our planet from the worst impacts of the climate crisis. As a tribute to those who persist, the Voices of Change series looks at the determination and drive of young people mobilizing for climate justice. It brings into perspective the severity of the vast and varying impacts of […]
What are the four waves of feminism? And what comes next?
The first wave: from 1848 The first wave of feminism refers to the campaign for the vote. It began in the United States in 1848 with the Seneca Falls Convention, where 300 gathered to debate Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s Declaration of Sentiments, outlining women’s inferior status and demanding suffrage – or, the right to vote. It […]
The Free Speech Movement Won, But Free Speech Lost
We early ’60s radicals believed ourselves anointed as a new “tell-it-like-it-is” generation. We promised to transcend the “smelly old orthodoxies” (in Orwell’s phrase) of Cold War liberalism and class-based, authoritarian leftism. Leading the students into the university administration building for the first mass protest, Mario Savio, the FSM’s brilliant leader, from Queens, N.Y., famously said: […]
Fifty Years Ago Millions of Students Protested to End the War in Vietnam
In May 1970, 4 million students went on strike across the country, shutting down classes at hundreds of colleges, universities, and high schools and demanding an end to the Vietnam War. Fifty years later, their rebellion remains an inspiration, as radical student politics is back on the agenda. https://jacobin.com/2020/04/kent-state-shooting-vietnam-war-protest-student-organizing
Women’s Liberation Movements in America
During the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, feminist activism—richly diverse both in the women involved and in its aims, tone, and strategies—exploded in the United States and around the world, forever changing society by expanding the rights, opportunities, and identities available to women. And at the center of everything that the women’s liberation movement achieved was […]
Love Canal: A Brief History
Love Canal is an aborted canal project branching off of the Niagara River about four miles south of Niagara Falls. It is also the name of a fifteen-acre, working class neighborhood of around 800 single-family homes built directly adjacent to the canal. From 1942 to 1953, the Hooker Chemical Company, with government sanction, began using […]
Beyond Black and White Race, Ethnicity, and Gender
In their various chapters, the seven contributors illustrate that elites’ common (and inaccurate) use of dichotomous categories to describe social relationships not only black and white, but also male and female, slave and free, dependent \and independent—have shored up white power in both regions. Together they illustrate multilevel social diversity, and demonstrate that acceptance then […]
