• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The American Commentator

from the Americans for Democratic Action Education Fund

  • Current Issue
  • Welcome
  • Civil Rights
  • Organizing
  • Labor
  • Environment
  • Politics & Government
  • About

Editors

The Road from November 1980

Editors · July 5, 2022 ·

Portrait of Ronald Reagan

David Yamada says, “I think it is fair to claim that the social, economic, and political forces unleashed by the 1980 election led us to the Capitol steps on January 6. Those of us who came of age during the decade of Reagan have spent our entire adult lives in this civic space. To the extent that my own political journey and reflections on that era may give some perspective on our current situation, I share them here.”

Filed Under: Current Issue, July 2022, Politics & Government

ADA on the Ground: An Interview with Rebecca Griffin, Director of Field Organizing

Editors · July 5, 2022 ·

Rebecca Griffin ADA Organizer

This interview with Rebecca Griffin, Director of Field Organizing for Americans for Democratic Action, was conducted by David Jacobs in two parts, the first part in 2021 and the second just a few weeks before press time. The latter conversation includes references to ADA’s voter education and organizing plans for targeted states in the 2022 election cycle and beyond.

Filed Under: Current Issue, July 2022, Organizing, Politics & Government

Evolution Made Racism Inevitable: Here is How We Fix It

Editors · July 5, 2022 ·

Sign saying "no to racism." with Washington, DC reflecting pool in background.

Charles Hayes is an independent philosopher, former Dallas police officer, and U.S. Marine Corps veteran whose recent works have taken on difficult topics of racism, violence, and policing in American society. In this essay, he summons scientific research on brain functioning to trace the roots of racism and how we can respond to it.

Filed Under: Civil Rights, Current Issue, July 2022

Starbucks Union Workers are On Fire, and Howard Schultz is Terrified: Can Union Busting Stop an “Unstoppable” Campaign?

Editors · July 5, 2022 ·

Workers holding Starbucks union sign

Dozens of recent union victories at Starbucks stores across the U.S. prompted us to ask Dr. John Logan, a leading labor studies professor and much sought-after expert on employers’ union opposition efforts, for his insights on this resurgence of effective labor organizing.

Filed Under: Current Issue, July 2022, Labor

Welcome to Issue No. 2 of The American Commentator

Editors · July 5, 2022 ·

ADA Iowa members march for reproductive freedom

Dear ADA Members and Friends, Welcome to Issue No. 2 of The American Commentator, the membership magazine of the Americans for Democratic Action Education Fund. It has been some time since Issue No. 1, which appeared before the 2020 election. The reasons for this delay are many, but in essence, they boil down to the challenges […]

Filed Under: Current Issue, July 2022, Welcome

Welcome to The American Commentator

Editors · October 1, 2020 ·

ADA leaders marching in Washington, DC

Welcome to The American Commentator, the new membership magazine of the Americans for Democratic Action Education Fund. Through feature articles, essays, interviews, personal remembrances, and reviews, we seek to promote a stimulating dialogue about liberal ideas and ideals among ADA members and friends.

Filed Under: Issue No 1, October 2020, Welcome

From the Archives: ADA’s Founding Statement

Editors · October 1, 2020 ·

John K. Galbraith, Dolores Mitchell & Coretta Scott King in 1971.

ADA was founded in 1947 by New Deal liberals, trade unionists, business reformers, and civil rights activists who sought to work largely within the Democratic Party to promote full employment, national planning, and social justice. Among its early leaders were Eleanor Roosevelt, Walter Reuther, Reinhold Niebuhr, Hubert Humphrey, and John Kenneth Galbraith.  
“Liberalism is a Demanding Faith,” is excerpted from the Statement of General Purposes drafted by the ADA Organizing Committee.

Filed Under: Issue No 1, October 2020

Should Public Policy Center on Society’s Well-Being?

Editors · September 21, 2020 ·

low angle photography of beige building

David Yamada
Should public policy adopt core values of well-being, human dignity, and compassion? Should it embrace outcomes that are therapeutic versus those that are anti-therapeutic? Should it reject measures that are based largely on economic productivity, with little to no regard as to how wealth and resources are distributed and deployed?

Filed Under: Economics, Issue No 1, Legal, October 2020

The Biographer and the Politician: Remembering Jim Jontz

Editors · September 21, 2020 ·

JimJontz

Ray E. Boomhower
Against the backdrop of today’s divisive political atmosphere, we asked historian Ray Boomhower, author of The People’s Choice: Congressman Jim Jontz of Indiana (2012), to write a personal remembrance of the late Jim Jontz’s years as a liberal Member of Congress and state representative in conservative Indiana. Many long-time ADA members are familiar with Jim’s service as ADA President and as the founding director of ADA’s organizing project in the nation’s heartland, Working Families Win.

Filed Under: Issue No 1, October 2020, Politics & Government

The Commentator Interviews Jamie Raskin

Editors · September 19, 2020 ·

Rep. Jamie Raskin.

David Jacobs
In early June 2019, I had an opportunity to speak with ADA National Board member and Member of Congress Jamie Raskin, D-MD. Jamie is one of the most creative activists for democracy I have ever encountered. Doubtless, you have seen him arguing for the impeachment of President Trump in the House and against authoritarianism in the media.
In the following transcription of our chat, Jamie makes clear how he regards past “civilizing” movements as his inspiration.

Filed Under: Issue No 1, October 2020, Politics & Government

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Search

In This Issue

Welcome to Issue No. 2 of The American Commentator

Starbucks Union Workers are On Fire, and Howard Schultz is Terrified: Can Union Busting Stop an “Unstoppable” Campaign?

Evolution Made Racism Inevitable: Here is How We Fix It

ADA on the Ground: An Interview with Rebecca Griffin, Director of Field Organizing

The Road from November 1980

About Us

About The American Commentator

ADA on Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Visit ADA’s Main Site

ADA logo
adaction.org

Explore by Topic, Issue, or Date

Get Involved

  • Join Our Mailing List
  • Become a Member
  • Renew/Pay Dues
  • Donate: ADA Education Fund
  • Give to ADA

 

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License,
except where other restrictions are indicated.

Americans for Democratic Action Education Fund, Inc.
Site design & build by Bob • Log in

https://americancommentator.org