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.”
ADA on the Ground: An Interview with Rebecca Griffin, Director of Field Organizing
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.
Evolution Made Racism Inevitable: Here is How We Fix It
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.
Starbucks Union Workers are On Fire, and Howard Schultz is Terrified: Can Union Busting Stop an “Unstoppable” Campaign?
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.
Welcome to Issue No. 2 of The American Commentator
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 […]
Welcome to The American Commentator
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.
From the Archives: ADA’s Founding Statement
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.
Should Public Policy Center on Society’s Well-Being?
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?
The Biographer and the Politician: Remembering Jim Jontz
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.
The Commentator Interviews 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.