thenation--2020-06-22--How to Destroy a National Health Service

Soon after Covid-19 started to sweep through the United Kingdom in March , thousands of residents began appearing at their windows every Thursday to applaud the National Health Service .
While the pandemic has evidently caused a wave of renewed appreciation for the NHS , the universal health care system has been a source of immense British pride for over 70 years .
What many Britons fail to realize , however , is that some of the past and present government officials clapping alongside them , including Prime Minister Boris Johnson , have had a hand in the decades-long efforts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 1948 by the Labour Health Minister Aneurin Bevan , the NHS rose from the ashes of World War II as part of a welfare state designed to slay the “ five giant evils ” outlined by the economist William Beveridge : want , disease , ignorance , squalor , and idleness .
As Bevan envisioned the NHS , it would provide world-class medical care that was always “ free at the point of delivery ” for everyone , including nonresidents , overturning a system in which the majority , especially women and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
With these principles at its core , the 1946 National Health Service Act lay the foundation for a radical redistribution of wealth by funding the service through a progressive tax on income .
In its original iteration , the government transferred ownership of all existing hospitals in Britain to the NHS , which then employed staff , using taxpayer money , to deliver services without charging out-of-pocket fees .
Some charges were implemented soon after its founding , including fees for dentures and glasses , as well as prescription payments brought in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , including Churchill , opposed the idea of a fully public service , the story of the private sector ’ s incursion into Britain ’ s health service started on Margaret Thatcher ’ s watch .
“ The privatization of the NHS began in the 1980s , ” says Professor Allyson Pollock , author of NHS plc : the Privatisation of Our Health Care , “ and it ’ s been an incremental process over several decades where there ’ s been an ideological commitment to the private sector despite great opposition from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the NHS was “ safe with us , ” it has since been revealed that she commissioned an American right-wing think tank to draw up privatization plans , including a proposal that promised it “ would , of course , mean the end of the National Health Service.
” Thatcher , much like her American counterpart Ronald Reagan , was a staunch believer in free market principles and aimed to introduce them into everything from housing to hospitals .
While she was ultimately prevented by its immense popularity from privatizing the NHS outright @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the foundation of the public health service to create an opening for the private sector .
Low-wage services such as catering and cleaning were the first to be outsourced in 1983 .
These may seem irrelevant to health outcomes , but they serve as an example of the dangers outsourcing can represent to public health .
In 2016 , a University of Oxford study revealed that the deadly MRSA “ superbug ” was more than twice as prevalent in hospitals that had replaced in-house cleaning staff with low-cost contractors that were able @ @ @ @ @ @ @ providing worse labor conditions .
“ Our study finds that contracting out NHS services may save money , but this at the price of increasing risks to patients ’ health , ” said the study ’ s co-author David Stuckler .
“ When these full costs are taken into account , contracting may prove to be a false economy.
” Though Bevan ’ s design for universal health care began to erode under Thatcher , it was New Labour ’ s Tony Blair who swung the NHS ’ s doors wide open for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1997 , the Blair government promised to increase NHS spending to reach the EU average and initially seemed poised to reverse some of the previous governments ’ privatization attempts .
But in 2001 , with another election on the horizon , Blair decided to finish what Thatcher started and turn the UK ’ s health sector into a competitive market .
New Labour brought in lucrative contracts with independent sector treatment centers ( ISTCs ) to perform “ elective ” procedures , paid for at inflated rates with taxpayer money , while leaving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ NHS .
“ Tony Blair dictated that 1 percent of the budget must be given to private contracts to support his experiment , ” says Dr. Tony O ’ Sullivan , a retired pediatrician and cochair of the campaign group Keep Our NHS Public .
“ He used the pressure of waiting lists at the time , ” he adds .
“ Instead of investing even more in the health service , he insisted that ISTCs would be used to take people off waiting lists .
That ’ s the way he forced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ services to be provided by the private sector.
” By 2006 , Blair was openly boasting as he introduced partnerships with nearly a dozen private health care firms that 40 percent of the public health service would soon be privately run “ under the NHS banner.
” All of this was done under the guise of shorter waiting times and increased choice .
Perhaps one of New Labour ’ s worst legacies , under both Blair and his successor Gordon Brown , was the expansion of public hospitals built using £11.4 billion ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ initiatives whose fees and borrowing costs will ultimately cost taxpayers more than eight times the initial outlay—and have already bankrupted several NHS hospitals .
As the NHS was grappling with the damage inflicted by Blair and the center-left Labour party , David Cameron and his coalition government arrived on the scene to fully dismantle NHS core principles and structures .
“ Eighty-four percent of us want the NHS to be in public hands , and yet it is being privatized as quietly as possible , ” says Cat Hobbs , the founder of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ campaigns for public ownership of services .
“ That ’ s been the case for some time , but it ’ s gotten much worse since 2012 with the Health and Social Care Act , which created new markets in the NHS and really ramped up the privatization.
” The legislation Hobbs mentions relieved the head of the Department of Health and Social Care of the legal duty to provide care for UK residents within its first two pages .
The rest of the lengthy document is dedicated to creating an incredibly complex @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but allowed larger portions of taxpayer funds designated for the NHS , which annually amount to roughly £112 billion ( $ 137 billion ) , to be funneled toward the private sector .
This takes numerous forms .
One example is illustrated in John Pilger ’ s documentary The Dirty War on the NHS , which shows how private ambulances may carry the blue-and-white NHS logo , but often fail to meet the service ’ s necessarily stringent standards .
Other private companies that eat into NHS funds are consulting firms like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ newly minted Clinical Commissioning Groups that decide how much funding health care providers receive .
Providers include a slew of private hospitals and general practices run by , among others , Virgin Care , an arm of billionaire Richard Branson ’ s Virgin empire , as well as over a hundred NHS Foundation Trusts that are also able to contract services from the for-profit sector .
The Health and Social Care Act ultimately paved the way for vulnerable members of British society , such as the homeless , elderly , and undocumented migrants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health care coverage .
Dr. Bob Gill , creator of “ The Great NHS Heist , ” believes there are two motives underpinning privatization efforts .
“ There ’ s a belief amongst our ruling classes that health care should not be a right ; it should not be available to everybody , ” says Gill .
“ But there ’ s also the element of private gain.
” As the 2012 legislation was being debated in the halls of Parliament , a Mirror investigation revealed that at least 40 members of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ companies that stood to gain from the reforms .
It ’ s not just British politicians and companies that have profited from changes to the health service , however .
American think tanks , insurance companies and consulting firms , as well as pharmaceutical manufacturers , have also been present at every step Britain has taken towards privatization .
US companies such as UnitedHealth , Hospital Corporation of America , and the Acadia Group have been operating within the NHS and profiting from British taxpayers for several decades now .
But when British @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Americanization ” of the NHS , they aren ’ t just concerned about an increased presence of companies from across the Atlantic .
Many , such as Gill and Hobbs , are terrified that the UK ’ s National Health Service will be transformed into an American-style health insurance system where access to care is largely dependent on wealth .
Even a cursory comparison of the two systems reveals the very real basis for such fears .
In 2018 , the United States spent over 17 percent of its GDP—-about $ 10,000 per @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most expensive system in the world .
Yet 27.5 million Americans remained uninsured as the coronavirus pandemic hit , a number that ’ s rising alongside record unemployment .
In the same year , the UK ’ s health care costs amounted to $ 4,000 per person , and while even insured Americans still pay out-of-pocket fees , most of the British public receive care covered nearly in full by their taxes .
Although some politicians have toyed with ideas like “ top-up fees ” and monthly “ membership charges , ” none @ @ @ @ @ @ @ model .
It is this fact that likely makes the piecemeal privatization of the NHS difficult to discern on a day-to-day basis.But what hasn ’ t escaped Britons ’ notice is the underfunding that has led to hospital bed shortages and reduced staff and services , especially under post-2008 austerity measures .
While overall funding has increased every year since 1948 , the rise in spending has slowed and varied depending on the party in power .
Since the 1980s , Tories have increased annual health spending by less than the previous average @ @ @ @ @ @ @ low of less than 1 percent from 2010–15 .
Labour governments from 1997–2010 , on the other hand , raised the yearly increase to 6 percent .
The UK now spends nearly a 10th of its GDP on health care , but where that money is spent is part of the problem .
When you factor in the hundreds of non-NHS , privately run services that operate under the logo , it turns out 18 percent of the NHS budget already goes to for-profit companies every year .
There ’ s also a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to increased outsourcing , in turn creating the false economy Stuckler highlighted in his 2016 study .
Additionally , administrative costs , which originally made up about 8 percent of NHS spending , are estimated to have more than doubled since privatization efforts began .
NHS funding is so important to Britons that during the 2016 referendum on EU membership , former mayor of London Boris Johnson successfully led the “ Leave ” campaign by coasting around the UK on a red bus with a misleading slogan emblazoned on its side : “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ week .
Let ’ s fund the NHS instead.
” Johnson , who became prime minister in 2019 , seems to want to make good on his promise to increase NHS funding , pledging to raise spending by £34 billion ( $ 42 billion ) in the next four years .
However , as news emerged in recent weeks that Johnson ’ s government was fast-tracking private contracts as part of the UK ’ s Covid-19 response , including with for-profit giants like Deloitte , SERCO , and the American company Palantir , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is just as devoted to transferring public wealth to private pockets as his predecessors were .
During the December snap election that cemented Johnson ’ s rise to power , Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn presented the public with leaked documents from US-UK trade talks that implied the NHS would be “ on the table ” in post-Brexit negotiations , as President Donald Trump once let slip .
Johnson has continually declared that “ the NHS is not for sale ” and denied that American companies will be granted greater access .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ number of ties between the private health care industry and Tory officials ; meanwhile , several members of Johnson ’ s cabinet , including Secretary of State Dominic Raab , authored a manifesto that proposed increased privatization of the NHS .
US companies , who have been greedily eyeing the NHS for decades , see a US-UK trade deal as a golden opportunity .
As the coronavirus pandemic claims more lives in Britain than anywhere else in Europe , and Brexit and a US-UK trade deal loom large , Britons need to think @ @ @ @ @ @ @ NHS will protect them in a future that could be riddled with public health crises .
Dr. John Lister , cofounder of the Health Campaigns Together initiative , believes that despite private companies ’ shambolic involvement in the Covid-19 response , an opportunity is emerging amid the chaos as NHS debts are scrapped and Health and Social Care Act structures are suspended for the sake of efficiency .
“ There ’ s going to be a good case after the pandemic to say , ‘ Let ’ s not go back to December @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ ‘ Let ’ s increase funding and put in some more sensible structures that are going to make the NHS a public service that we can all be even more proud of.
’ ” At least one thing should have been made abundantly clear since March : America ’ s entirely privately run , insurance-based health system , which has led to the worst coronavirus death rates in the world , is hardly a model to aspire to .
In fact , it is Americans who should look to Bevan ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is up to the task .
“ Society becomes more wholesome , more serene , and spiritually healthier , ” the Labour health minister wrote in 1952 , “ if it knows that its citizens have at the back of their consciousness the knowledge that not only themselves , but all their fellows , have access , when ill , to the best that medical skill can provide .
”

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Soon after Covid-19 started to sweep through the United Kingdom in March, thousands of residents began appearing at their windows every Thursday to applaud the National Health Service. While the pandemic has evidently caused a wave of renewed appreciation for the NHS, the universal health care system has been a source of immense British pride for over 70 years. What many Britons fail to realize, however, is that some of the past and present government officials clapping alongside them, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have had a hand in the decades-long efforts to privatize their beloved NHS.
Founded in 1948 by the Labour Health Minister Aneurin Bevan, the NHS rose from the ashes of World War II as part of a welfare state designed to slay the “five giant evils” outlined by the economist William Beveridge: want, disease, ignorance, squalor, and idleness. As Bevan envisioned the NHS, it would provide world-class medical care that was always “free at the point of delivery” for everyone, including nonresidents, overturning a system in which the majority, especially women and children, could not afford health care. With these principles at its core, the 1946 National Health Service Act lay the foundation for a radical redistribution of wealth by funding the service through a progressive tax on income.
In its original iteration, the government transferred ownership of all existing hospitals in Britain to the NHS, which then employed staff, using taxpayer money, to deliver services without charging out-of-pocket fees. Some charges were implemented soon after its founding, including fees for dentures and glasses, as well as prescription payments brought in by Winston Churchill. Although many conservatives, including Churchill, opposed the idea of a fully public service, the story of the private sector’s incursion into Britain’s health service started on Margaret Thatcher’s watch.
“The privatization of the NHS began in the 1980s,” says Professor Allyson Pollock, author of NHS plc: the Privatisation of Our Health Care, “and it’s been an incremental process over several decades where there’s been an ideological commitment to the private sector despite great opposition from the public.”
Although Thatcher promised Britons the NHS was “safe with us,” it has since been revealed that she commissioned an American right-wing think tank to draw up privatization plans, including a proposal that promised it “would, of course, mean the end of the National Health Service.” Thatcher, much like her American counterpart Ronald Reagan, was a staunch believer in free market principles and aimed to introduce them into everything from housing to hospitals. While she was ultimately prevented by its immense popularity from privatizing the NHS outright, her government began to chip away at the foundation of the public health service to create an opening for the private sector. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann
Low-wage services such as catering and cleaning were the first to be outsourced in 1983. These may seem irrelevant to health outcomes, but they serve as an example of the dangers outsourcing can represent to public health. In 2016, a University of Oxford study revealed that the deadly MRSA “superbug” was more than twice as prevalent in hospitals that had replaced in-house cleaning staff with low-cost contractors that were able to slash prices by underpaying staff and providing worse labor conditions.
“Our study finds that contracting out NHS services may save money, but this at the price of increasing risks to patients’ health,” said the study’s co-author David Stuckler. “When these full costs are taken into account, contracting may prove to be a false economy.” Current Issue View our current issue
Though Bevan’s design for universal health care began to erode under Thatcher, it was New Labour’s Tony Blair who swung the NHS’s doors wide open for private industry. When first elected in 1997, the Blair government promised to increase NHS spending to reach the EU average and initially seemed poised to reverse some of the previous governments’ privatization attempts. But in 2001, with another election on the horizon, Blair decided to finish what Thatcher started and turn the UK’s health sector into a competitive market.
New Labour brought in lucrative contracts with independent sector treatment centers (ISTCs) to perform “elective” procedures, paid for at inflated rates with taxpayer money, while leaving more expensive, complex surgeries to the NHS.
“Tony Blair dictated that 1 percent of the budget must be given to private contracts to support his experiment,” says Dr. Tony O’Sullivan, a retired pediatrician and cochair of the campaign group Keep Our NHS Public.
“He used the pressure of waiting lists at the time,” he adds. “Instead of investing even more in the health service, he insisted that ISTCs would be used to take people off waiting lists. That’s the way he forced the door open to allow more clinical services to be provided by the private sector.” Related Articles Can Britain Survive Boris Johnson? Gary Younge How Brexit Infected Britain’s Coronavirus Response Natasha Hakimi Zapata
By 2006, Blair was openly boasting as he introduced partnerships with nearly a dozen private health care firms that 40 percent of the public health service would soon be privately run “under the NHS banner.” All of this was done under the guise of shorter waiting times and increased choice. Perhaps one of New Labour’s worst legacies, under both Blair and his successor Gordon Brown, was the expansion of public hospitals built using £11.4 billion ($14 billion) from private finance initiatives whose fees and borrowing costs will ultimately cost taxpayers more than eight times the initial outlay—and have already bankrupted several NHS hospitals.
As the NHS was grappling with the damage inflicted by Blair and the center-left Labour party, David Cameron and his coalition government arrived on the scene to fully dismantle NHS core principles and structures.
“Eighty-four percent of us want the NHS to be in public hands, and yet it is being privatized as quietly as possible,” says Cat Hobbs, the founder of We Own It, an organization that campaigns for public ownership of services. “That’s been the case for some time, but it’s gotten much worse since 2012 with the Health and Social Care Act, which created new markets in the NHS and really ramped up the privatization.”
The legislation Hobbs mentions relieved the head of the Department of Health and Social Care of the legal duty to provide care for UK residents within its first two pages. The rest of the lengthy document is dedicated to creating an incredibly complex bureaucracy that not only delocalized funding decisions, but allowed larger portions of taxpayer funds designated for the NHS, which annually amount to roughly £112 billion ($137 billion), to be funneled toward the private sector. This takes numerous forms. One example is illustrated in John Pilger’s documentary The Dirty War on the NHS, which shows how private ambulances may carry the blue-and-white NHS logo, but often fail to meet the service’s necessarily stringent standards. Related Articles The Private Equity Takeover of Hospice Care Katrina vanden Heuvel Larry Summers and the Crisis of Economic Orthodoxy Jeet Heer
Other private companies that eat into NHS funds are consulting firms like Deloitte and PWC that slithered into the newly minted Clinical Commissioning Groups that decide how much funding health care providers receive. Providers include a slew of private hospitals and general practices run by, among others, Virgin Care, an arm of billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin empire, as well as over a hundred NHS Foundation Trusts that are also able to contract services from the for-profit sector.
The Health and Social Care Act ultimately paved the way for vulnerable members of British society, such as the homeless, elderly, and undocumented migrants, to fall through the cracks of health care coverage. Dr. Bob Gill, creator of “The Great NHS Heist,” believes there are two motives underpinning privatization efforts.
“There’s a belief amongst our ruling classes that health care should not be a right; it should not be available to everybody,” says Gill. “But there’s also the element of private gain.”
As the 2012 legislation was being debated in the halls of Parliament, a Mirror investigation revealed that at least 40 members of the House of Lords had financial ties to companies that stood to gain from the reforms. It’s not just British politicians and companies that have profited from changes to the health service, however. American think tanks, insurance companies and consulting firms, as well as pharmaceutical manufacturers, have also been present at every step Britain has taken towards privatization. US companies such as UnitedHealth, Hospital Corporation of America, and the Acadia Group have been operating within the NHS and profiting from British taxpayers for several decades now. But when British health care advocates warn about the “Americanization” of the NHS, they aren’t just concerned about an increased presence of companies from across the Atlantic. Many, such as Gill and Hobbs, are terrified that the UK’s National Health Service will be transformed into an American-style health insurance system where access to care is largely dependent on wealth.
Even a cursory comparison of the two systems reveals the very real basis for such fears. In 2018, the United States spent over 17 percent of its GDP—-about $10,000 per capita—on health care, making it the most expensive system in the world. Yet 27.5 million Americans remained uninsured as the coronavirus pandemic hit, a number that’s rising alongside record unemployment. In the same year, the UK’s health care costs amounted to $4,000 per person, and while even insured Americans still pay out-of-pocket fees, most of the British public receive care covered nearly in full by their taxes. Although some politicians have toyed with ideas like “top-up fees” and monthly “membership charges,” none have succeeded in changing the basic funding model. It is this fact that likely makes the piecemeal privatization of the NHS difficult to discern on a day-to-day basis.But what hasn’t escaped Britons’ notice is the underfunding that has led to hospital bed shortages and reduced staff and services, especially under post-2008 austerity measures.
While overall funding has increased every year since 1948, the rise in spending has slowed and varied depending on the party in power. Since the 1980s, Tories have increased annual health spending by less than the previous average of 4 percent, including a shocking low of less than 1 percent from 2010–15. Labour governments from 1997–2010, on the other hand, raised the yearly increase to 6 percent. The UK now spends nearly a 10th of its GDP on health care, but where that money is spent is part of the problem. When you factor in the hundreds of non-NHS, privately run services that operate under the logo, it turns out 18 percent of the NHS budget already goes to for-profit companies every year. There’s also a vicious cycle in which funding cuts lead to increased outsourcing, in turn creating the false economy Stuckler highlighted in his 2016 study. Additionally, administrative costs, which originally made up about 8 percent of NHS spending, are estimated to have more than doubled since privatization efforts began.
NHS funding is so important to Britons that during the 2016 referendum on EU membership, former mayor of London Boris Johnson successfully led the “Leave” campaign by coasting around the UK on a red bus with a misleading slogan emblazoned on its side: “We send the EU £350 million a week. Let’s fund the NHS instead.” Johnson, who became prime minister in 2019, seems to want to make good on his promise to increase NHS funding, pledging to raise spending by £34 billion ($42 billion) in the next four years. However, as news emerged in recent weeks that Johnson’s government was fast-tracking private contracts as part of the UK’s Covid-19 response, including with for-profit giants like Deloitte, SERCO, and the American company Palantir, it became apparent the latest prime minister is just as devoted to transferring public wealth to private pockets as his predecessors were.
During the December snap election that cemented Johnson’s rise to power, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn presented the public with leaked documents from US-UK trade talks that implied the NHS would be “on the table” in post-Brexit negotiations, as President Donald Trump once let slip. Johnson has continually declared that “the NHS is not for sale” and denied that American companies will be granted greater access. But the Mirror has once again exposed a number of ties between the private health care industry and Tory officials; meanwhile, several members of Johnson’s cabinet, including Secretary of State Dominic Raab, authored a manifesto that proposed increased privatization of the NHS. US companies, who have been greedily eyeing the NHS for decades, see a US-UK trade deal as a golden opportunity.
As the coronavirus pandemic claims more lives in Britain than anywhere else in Europe, and Brexit and a US-UK trade deal loom large, Britons need to think long and hard about what kind of NHS will protect them in a future that could be riddled with public health crises. Dr. John Lister, cofounder of the Health Campaigns Together initiative, believes that despite private companies’ shambolic involvement in the Covid-19 response, an opportunity is emerging amid the chaos as NHS debts are scrapped and Health and Social Care Act structures are suspended for the sake of efficiency.
“There’s going to be a good case after the pandemic to say, ‘Let’s not go back to December 2019,’” says Lister. “‘Let’s increase funding and put in some more sensible structures that are going to make the NHS a public service that we can all be even more proud of.’”
At least one thing should have been made abundantly clear since March: America’s entirely privately run, insurance-based health system, which has led to the worst coronavirus death rates in the world, is hardly a model to aspire to. In fact, it is Americans who should look to Bevan’s vision for a health care system that is up to the task.
“Society becomes more wholesome, more serene, and spiritually healthier,” the Labour health minister wrote in 1952, “if it knows that its citizens have at the back of their consciousness the knowledge that not only themselves, but all their fellows, have access, when ill, to the best that medical skill can provide.”


thenation--2020-06-22--Do Black Lives Matter in Iowa?

Do Black Lives Matter in Iowa?

Iowa City .
A few nights ago , Mayor Bruce Teague unexpectedly hosted dozens of visitors at his house in a residential area not far from the University of Iowa ’ s football stadium .
Teague , who is black and openly gay , listened that night to mostly young people , black and white , in the driveway of his home .
The first-term mayor has been highly visible since the murder of George Floyd .
He has spoken at Black Lives Matter rallies , organized “ Speak Up , Speak Out ” events at city parks , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who have adopted the name “ Iowa Freedom Riders ” for what is sometimes several hundred marchers and chanters .
The protesters at Teague ’ s home were hard on him , insisting that he could and should do more to effect real and immediate change .
Teague kept his cool , even when protesters mocked his “ raggedy-ass house.
” Teague believes the young activists may be unaware that mayor of Iowa City is a part-time job with an annual salary of $ 14,950—somewhat short of UI football coach Kirk Ferentz ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( Teague ’ s full-time job is running a multigenerational in-home health care agency ) .
“ Despite what happened that night , ” Teague told me , “ the message I want people to walk away with is that Black Lives Matter .
Our house is on fire and we need change—now.
” The US Needs to Be Treated Like the Racist Pariah State It Is Change Comes to the Streets of Philadelphia More in this series Iowa City ’ s protesters are savvy and quick to adjust their tactics .
Less @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his home , a protest leader led off a rally with a conciliatory statement toward the mayor .
“ He ’ s a good man , ” said the speaker .
In a generational twist , some old-time protesters from the Vietnam era were bemused by the Freedom Riders ’ “ request ” that their demands be met , and that speakers have referred to the crowds at rallies as “ audiences.
” But there is no bemusement at the passion , urgency , and commitment of those who have been on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s murder .
The Freedom Riders also use every platform for education , recently highlighting the violence experienced by black trans people and recognizing their influence on the current movement .
Generational friction was most evident when some protesters spray-painted the football stadium and a statue of its namesake , Hawkeye hero Nile Kinnick .
This was a tag too far for some older folks , many of whom were moved to comment critically , although they had been largely silent about George Floyd ’ s murder until then .
Few knew @ @ @ @ @ @ @ refurbished stadium in the early seventies was Kinnick-Slater Stadium , to honor equally another Hawkeye football star , Duke Slater .
Wealthy alumni and donors objected , and a “ compromise ” was reached with the naming of Slater Hall—a dormitory .
Slater himself lived in private housing when he played for Iowa , because at that time the University did not permit black students—like Slater—to live in dorms .
Mayor Teague and city council members have pledged to consider most of the Freedom Riders ’ demands .
Those include dropping charges against @ @ @ @ @ @ @ activities , purging military equipment such as armored vehicles from local law enforcement , and publishing the city ’ s police department budget in detail .
Meanwhile , 115 miles to the west , BLM protesters achieved something unheard-of in today ’ s polarized world .
They cornered legislators , pushed to meet with Republican Governor Kim Reynolds , and simply stayed at the statehouse in Des Moines until they got what they wanted .
Thanks to their spontaneous lobbying ( another example of their ability to swiftly shift strategies ) , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nearly unanimously in both Republican-led chambers , and signed by the governor in less than 24 hours .
The new law bans police choke holds , requires yearly officer training on de-escalation and implicit bias , enables the state attorney general to investigate officer-involved deaths , and prevents officers from being hired if previously convicted of a felony or fired for misconduct .
Not bad for a day ’ s work .
Iowa has seen more change in the past two weeks than anyone saw coming .
The next few years will see @ @ @ @ @ @ @ brown population grows and the balance of political power shifts at the State Capitol .
Yes , Black Lives Matter in Iowa .

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Iowa City. A few nights ago, Mayor Bruce Teague unexpectedly hosted dozens of visitors at his house in a residential area not far from the University of Iowa’s football stadium.
Teague, who is black and openly gay, listened that night to mostly young people, black and white, in the driveway of his home. The first-term mayor has been highly visible since the murder of George Floyd. He has spoken at Black Lives Matter rallies, organized “Speak Up, Speak Out” events at city parks, and met virtually and in-person with protest leaders who have adopted the name “Iowa Freedom Riders” for what is sometimes several hundred marchers and chanters.
The protesters at Teague’s home were hard on him, insisting that he could and should do more to effect real and immediate change. Teague kept his cool, even when protesters mocked his “raggedy-ass house.” Teague believes the young activists may be unaware that mayor of Iowa City is a part-time job with an annual salary of $14,950—somewhat short of UI football coach Kirk Ferentz’s $4.5 million a year. (Teague’s full-time job is running a multigenerational in-home health care agency).
“Despite what happened that night,” Teague told me, “the message I want people to walk away with is that Black Lives Matter. Our house is on fire and we need change—now.” Black Lives Matter Sinead O'Connor Began Singing Her Black Lives Matter Anthem in 1990 John Nichols This New Magazine Aims to Be a Home for the Black Left Dani McClain It’s Time to End the Outrageous Militarization of America’s Police Force Katrina vanden Heuvel
Iowa City’s protesters are savvy and quick to adjust their tactics. Less than a day after berating him at his home, a protest leader led off a rally with a conciliatory statement toward the mayor. “He’s a good man,” said the speaker.
In a generational twist, some old-time protesters from the Vietnam era were bemused by the Freedom Riders’ “request” that their demands be met, and that speakers have referred to the crowds at rallies as “audiences.” But there is no bemusement at the passion, urgency, and commitment of those who have been on the streets night after night since George Floyd’s murder. The Freedom Riders also use every platform for education, recently highlighting the violence experienced by black trans people and recognizing their influence on the current movement.
Generational friction was most evident when some protesters spray-painted the football stadium and a statue of its namesake, Hawkeye hero Nile Kinnick. This was a tag too far for some older folks, many of whom were moved to comment critically, although they had been largely silent about George Floyd’s murder until then. Current Issue View our current issue
Few knew that the name first proposed for the refurbished stadium in the early seventies was Kinnick-Slater Stadium, to honor equally another Hawkeye football star, Duke Slater. Wealthy alumni and donors objected, and a “compromise” was reached with the naming of Slater Hall—a dormitory. Slater himself lived in private housing when he played for Iowa, because at that time the University did not permit black students—like Slater—to live in dorms.
Mayor Teague and city council members have pledged to consider most of the Freedom Riders’ demands. Those include dropping charges against anyone who has been arrested for protest-related activities, purging military equipment such as armored vehicles from local law enforcement, and publishing the city’s police department budget in detail.
Meanwhile, 115 miles to the west, BLM protesters achieved something unheard-of in today’s polarized world. They cornered legislators, pushed to meet with Republican Governor Kim Reynolds, and simply stayed at the statehouse in Des Moines until they got what they wanted. Thanks to their spontaneous lobbying (another example of their ability to swiftly shift strategies), a bill was crafted, introduced, passed nearly unanimously in both Republican-led chambers, and signed by the governor in less than 24 hours.
The new law bans police choke holds, requires yearly officer training on de-escalation and implicit bias, enables the state attorney general to investigate officer-involved deaths, and prevents officers from being hired if previously convicted of a felony or fired for misconduct. Not bad for a day’s work.
Iowa has seen more change in the past two weeks than anyone saw coming. The next few years will see even more, as the black and brown population grows and the balance of political power shifts at the State Capitol. Yes, Black Lives Matter in Iowa.


thenation--2020-06-22--When the KKK Played Against an All-Black Baseball Team

On Sunday , June 21 , 1925 , on Ackerman Island , in the part of the Arkansas River that flows through Wichita , Kansas , the unlikeliest of baseball games was played .
On that day—two decades before the color barrier was broken in Major League Baseball , three decades before Brown v. Board of Education desegregated public schools , and nearly a hundred years before a Minneapolis police officer pinned his knee on George Floyd ’ s neck for nearly nine minutes—the Ku Klux Klan swapped their white robes for baseball uniforms , took the field at Island @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the all-black Monrovians .
This was the golden age of baseball , the days of Babe Ruth , Rogers Hornsby , and Ty Cobb .
The sport , at the time , was ubiquitous .
“ I think there were probably about sixty organized teams in Wichita at that time playing in various leagues around town , ” says Wichita resident and historian Bob Rives .
“ There were a lot of church teams and civic clubs .
Just about any kind of institution with nine people had a baseball team.
” And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by Jim Crow , where blacks and whites rarely mixed , the KKK and the Monrovians faced each other in a friendly game of baseball .
The Wichita Beacon , one of the city ’ s two white-owned newspapers , ran the headline , “ Only Baseball is on Tap at Island Park : Klan and Colored Team to Mix on the Diamond Today.
” According to the Beacon , “ The colored boys are asking all their supporters to be on hand to watch the contest , which besides its peculiar attraction @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two organizations , should be a well played amateur contest.
” Tellingly , the Beacon followed its headline by warning that “ strangle holds , razors , horsewhips , and other violent implements of argument will be barred.
” Although the 5000-seat Island Park offered interracial seating for this game , the sport itself was no more integrated than the black and white pieces on a chessboard .
So why did such a game take place ?
For the Monrovians , the game was a payday .
For the Klan , the answer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Ku Klux Klan was well entrenched in American culture .
Many historians estimate that national membership , which peaked during the decade , was as high as six million .
The year before the game , Time magazine put the Klan ’ s Imperial Wizard , Hiram Wesley Evans , on its cover .
The following year , the founder of Planned Parenthood , Margaret Sanger , addressed a women ’ s auxiliary of the KKK .
The Klan ’ s platform , in the words of William Joseph Simmons , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : “ We believe in the exclusion of the yellow race and in the disfranchisement of the Negro .
It was God ’ s act to make the white race superior to all others.
” Shamefully , the federal government went along for the ride .
If anything , it worked to advance the Klan ’ s agenda .
The Immigration Act of 1924 , which was the most restrictive policy to date , went after the very people the Klan targeted .
Known as the Johnson-Reed Act , it limited the influx @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Asians , already blocked from entering the country , would continue to be excluded .
Italians , under discussion in Congress as to whether those from Italy ’ s Southern regions were “ Negroid , ” were reduced from 200,000 to fewer than 4,000 .
It should come as no surprise that the following year , 50,000 Klan members proudly paraded through the nation ’ s capital .
In a show of strength and solidarity , they marched 20 abreast along Pennsylvania Avenue for three-plus hours , the organization ’ s leaders decked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in white .
The Washington Evening Star described the scene as a pageant “ of striking beauty and compelling admiration , ” and said of the multitude of onlookers , “ Men , women and children stood five and six deep to watch .
Other thousands occupied windows of office buildings and precarious perches on lofty sills.
” Still , the Klan had an image problem in Kansas .
In 1922 , Governor Henry Justin Allen had launched a crusade to oust the organization from the state .
By early 1925 , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the grounds that it had been operating without a state charter .
While the decision was on appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court , the Klan was free to continue to operate—and to roll out a full-court press to prove it wasn ’ t the hate-mongering machine so many feared , but , rather , made up of solid citizens .
The Klan had already used its PR smoke-machine to embed itself into local communities , sponsoring parades , picnics , and beauty contests .
It donated money to churches and hospitals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ parties for orphans , wearing Santa suits and handing out gifts to children .
And it backed state and local politicians .
Now , with its case pending in the country ’ s highest court , it was looking for still more favorable ink—and got wind that the Monrovians were looking for paydays .
( In all likelihood , the Klan had been reading the Wichita Eagle , the city ’ s other white paper .
A few weeks before the game , the Eagle wrote that the Monrovians were “ open for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” ) For the white-robed , playing a black team was a gift-wrapped photo op , a chance to show that the Klan was part of the local community—and friendly toward Wichita ’ s black citizens .
For baseball fans in Kansas , it was a chance to see the Monrovians play .
The team had won the Colored Western League pennant in 1922 , the one and only year the league existed .
The following year , with no league left to champion , the Monrovians continued as an independent team , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ game that came with a paying audience .
The Klan ’ s Chapter No .
6 took the challenge—and to show the game would be an above-board contest , it hired Catholic umpires .
Bob Rives has his suspicions about the choice .
“ I think the Klan was fearful that it would lose , and if it lost , it would be considered inferior to the black team .
And so they announced in advance that the two umpires would be Irish Catholics .
The Klan in Kansas then was at least @ @ @ @ @ @ @ My opinion is that they were paving the way to be able to say , well , we really didn ’ t lose .
Look at who the umpires were.
” It turned out it didn ’ t matter .
The Eagle described the affair as the “ best attended and most interesting game in Wichita ” that day , a seesaw battle that began as a pitcher ’ s duel and ended in a flurry of runs .
Bigotry lost the game , 10-8 , and it also lost the bigger prize @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two years later , when the Supreme Court refused to hear the case .
But the battle rages on—and we see the same kind of PR stunts today .
After a number of police officers took a knee alongside recent civil rights protesters , at least one disavowed his actions by writing an apology letter to his fellow officers .
So when watching those in power appease protestors , we should remember that even the KKK played ball with an all-black team .

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On Sunday, June 21, 1925, on Ackerman Island, in the part of the Arkansas River that flows through Wichita, Kan., the unlikeliest of baseball games was played. On that day—two decades before the color barrier was broken in Major League Baseball, three decades before Brown v. Board of Education desegregated public schools, and nearly a hundred years before a Minneapolis police officer pinned his knee on George Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes—the Ku Klux Klan swapped their white robes for baseball uniforms, took the field at Island Park Stadium, and squared off against the all-black Monrovians.
This was the golden age of baseball, the days of Babe Ruth, Rogers Hornsby, and Ty Cobb. The sport, at the time, was ubiquitous. “I think there were probably about sixty organized teams in Wichita at that time playing in various leagues around town,” says Wichita resident and historian Bob Rives. “There were a lot of church teams and civic clubs. Just about any kind of institution with nine people had a baseball team.”
And so, in a city rigidly segregated by Jim Crow, where blacks and whites rarely mixed, the KKK and the Monrovians faced each other in a friendly game of baseball.
The Wichita Beacon, one of the city’s two white-owned newspapers, ran the headline, “Only Baseball is on Tap at Island Park: Klan and Colored Team to Mix on the Diamond Today.” According to the Beacon, “The colored boys are asking all their supporters to be on hand to watch the contest, which besides its peculiar attraction due to the wide differences of the two organizations, should be a well played amateur contest.” Tellingly, the Beacon followed its headline by warning that “strangle holds, razors, horsewhips, and other violent implements of argument will be barred.”
Although the 5000-seat Island Park offered interracial seating for this game, the sport itself was no more integrated than the black and white pieces on a chessboard. So why did such a game take place? For the Monrovians, the game was a payday. For the Klan, the answer is more duplicitous.
In 1925, the Ku Klux Klan was well entrenched in American culture. Many historians estimate that national membership, which peaked during the decade, was as high as six million. The year before the game, Time magazine put the Klan’s Imperial Wizard, Hiram Wesley Evans, on its cover. The following year, the founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, addressed a women’s auxiliary of the KKK.
The Klan’s platform, in the words of William Joseph Simmons, the founder of the reborn organization, was: “We believe in the exclusion of the yellow race and in the disfranchisement of the Negro. It was God’s act to make the white race superior to all others.” Current Issue View our current issue
Shamefully, the federal government went along for the ride. If anything, it worked to advance the Klan’s agenda. The Immigration Act of 1924, which was the most restrictive policy to date, went after the very people the Klan targeted. Known as the Johnson-Reed Act, it limited the influx of foreigners considered not fully white. Asians, already blocked from entering the country, would continue to be excluded. Italians, under discussion in Congress as to whether those from Italy’s Southern regions were “Negroid,” were reduced from 200,000 to fewer than 4,000. Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann
It should come as no surprise that the following year, 50,000 Klan members proudly paraded through the nation’s capital. In a show of strength and solidarity, they marched 20 abreast along Pennsylvania Avenue for three-plus hours, the organization’s leaders decked out in satin robes, the rank-and-file in white. The Washington Evening Star described the scene as a pageant “of striking beauty and compelling admiration,” and said of the multitude of onlookers, “Men, women and children stood five and six deep to watch. Other thousands occupied windows of office buildings and precarious perches on lofty sills.”
Still, the Klan had an image problem in Kansas. In 1922, Governor Henry Justin Allen had launched a crusade to oust the organization from the state. By early 1925, the State Supreme Court had banned the KKK on the grounds that it had been operating without a state charter. While the decision was on appeal before the US Supreme Court, the Klan was free to continue to operate—and to roll out a full-court press to prove it wasn’t the hate-mongering machine so many feared, but, rather, made up of solid citizens.
The Klan had already used its PR smoke-machine to embed itself into local communities, sponsoring parades, picnics, and beauty contests. It donated money to churches and hospitals. Its members showed up at Christmas parties for orphans, wearing Santa suits and handing out gifts to children. And it backed state and local politicians.
Now, with its case pending in the country’s highest court, it was looking for still more favorable ink—and got wind that the Monrovians were looking for paydays. (In all likelihood, the Klan had been reading the Wichita Eagle, the city’s other white paper. A few weeks before the game, the Eagle wrote that the Monrovians were “open for a game with any team in Kansas.”)
For the white-robed, playing a black team was a gift-wrapped photo op, a chance to show that the Klan was part of the local community—and friendly toward Wichita’s black citizens.
For baseball fans in Kansas, it was a chance to see the Monrovians play. The team had won the Colored Western League pennant in 1922, the one and only year the league existed. The following year, with no league left to champion, the Monrovians continued as an independent team, scratching together a living by playing any game that came with a paying audience.
The Klan’s Chapter No. 6 took the challenge—and to show that the game would be an above-board contest, it hired Catholic umpires. Bob Rives has his suspicions about the choice. “I think the Klan was fearful that it would lose, and if it lost, it would be considered inferior to the black team. And so they announced in advance that the two umpires would be Irish Catholics. The Klan in Kansas then was at least as anti-Catholic as it was anti-black. My opinion is that they were paving the way to be able to say, well, we really didn’t lose. Look at who the umpires were.”
It turned out it didn’t matter. The Eagle described the affair as the “best attended and most interesting game in Wichita” that day, a seesaw battle that began as a pitcher’s duel and ended in a flurry of runs. Bigotry lost the game, 10-8, and it also lost the bigger prize: The Klan was evicted from Kansas two years later, when the Supreme Court refused to hear the case.
But the battle rages on—and we see the same kind of PR stunts today. After a number of police officers took a knee alongside recent civil rights protesters, at least one disavowed his actions by writing an apology letter to his fellow officers. So when watching those in power appease protestors, we should remember that even the KKK played ball with an all-black team.


thenation--2020-06-22--Bangladesh’s Garment Workers Are Being Treated as Disposable

The Nation and Magnum Foundation are partnering on a visual chronicle of untold stories as the coronavirus continues to spread across the United States and the rest of the world—read more from The Invisible Front Line.—The Editors I still remember that colorful day , over three months ago now , when hundreds of young women and men gathered in the streets of Ashulia , an industrial zone outside the capital of Bangladesh , Dhaka , to celebrate International Women ’ s Day .
The young people marching , carrying banners , and chanting slogans were standing in solidarity with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years have been struggling to win livable wages , safe working conditions , and dignity for their hard labor .
It was in this country in 2013 that the Rana Plaza factory collapse killed more than 1,100 garment workers , and activists have been fighting for years to ensure this kind of man-made disaster never happens again .
As I made my way through the rally , photographing and taking in the enthusiasm of the crowd , it felt like the workers ’ cause was only gaining strength .
But only two days @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first case of Covid-19 was identified in Bangladesh , and everything changed .
The coronavirus crisis has sent the world economy shuddering to a halt , and Bangladesh ’ s garment workers have been left particularly vulnerable : Over $ 3.5 million worth of international orders have been lost in the country ’ s garment industry as a result of the global downturn , and more than 1 million workers are at risk of losing their jobs , a fate that has already befallen about 12 thousand workers .
When the crisis hit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Middle-class Bangladeshis stockpiled months worth of food , and immediately began avoiding crowds , with those able to work from home doing so .
But garment workers haven ’ t been able to afford this luxury : They continued to go to their factories during the lockdown , and many live in cramped housing that doesn ’ t allow for the type of social distancing health authorities recommend .
When the factories closed for a few days , many garment workers went back to their villages , but the factories are now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has banned passenger transportation , workers continue to come , by car , by foot , and other private transport means .
They continue to face the threat of layoffs , wage cuts , and outright wage theft .
I ’ m a photographer , but I ’ m also an activist—the two roles are impossible to separate for me .
So throughout this crisis , I have tried to document the workers ’ lives and their protests as part of a collective effort to bring their situation and their cause to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ve been taking photographs throughout this crisis , but I ’ ve also been continuing my work with the workers ’ rights organization Bangladesh Garment Sramik Samhati ( Bangladesh Garment Workers Solidarity ) , organizing meetings on Facebook , and holding discussions on Zoom .
We ’ ve been making images through the cameras on laptops , and workers have been using their cell phones to take their own photos .
This is a collaborative effort , and we ’ ve been adapting our activism to the constraints that the Covid-19 crisis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ changing so quickly , and the number of Covid-19 cases are increasing every day in Bangladesh .
Over 100,000 people have been infected so far , and over 1,300 have died .
Movement is largely shut down , so my work has focused on documenting the real conditions workers and their families are facing .
Despite the lockdown , protests continue : Workers are still losing their jobs ; they ’ re still struggling to be paid what they ’ re owed ; they ’ re still fighting for health care .
During @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ The government has locked down everything , but they didn ’ t lock down our stomachs .
We don ’ t have any alternative except coming into the street doing this protest .
We don ’ t even have the possibility to maintain social distancing .
We are hungry .
We don ’ t know anything about coronavirus .
We want food and wages first.
’ ’ So that ’ s what we ’ re fighting for : We have demanded 100 percent wage and health security for workers when their factory @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the international companies that buy the garments , and the government are all failing to take up the responsibility to address these issues .
Garment workers are the backbone of the Bangladeshi economy .
The garment sector accounts for 84 percent of the export income for the country , but workers are entitled to 0nly a paltry monthly minimum wage that works out to about $ 95 , with the lion ’ s share of the profits going to the international brands that buy the workers ’ output .
Garment workers are human @ @ @ @ @ @ @ families and dreams for a better life .
But these workers have been sacrificing their youth and their health for the development of the country ’ s economy , and the factory owners , international buyers , and the government treat them as disposable tools in the pursuit of profit .
Throughout this crisis I have seen anger , fear , uncertainty , and hopelessness in the eyes and faces of garment workers , but I have also witnessed the collective strength of workers fighting together for their common good , and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their cause .
It ’ s up to the government , the factory owners , but above all the international brands that profit off these workers to ensure that they can survive this crisis and can depend on a safe and dignified working environment once the crisis passes .

Taslima Akhter, The Nation, Magnum Foundation

The Nation and Magnum Foundation are partnering on a visual chronicle of untold stories as the coronavirus continues to spread across the United States and the rest of the world—read more from The Invisible Front Line.—The Editors
I still remember that colorful day, over three months ago now, when hundreds of young women and men gathered in the streets of Ashulia, an industrial zone outside the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka, to celebrate International Women’s Day. The young people marching, carrying banners, and chanting slogans were standing in solidarity with the 4 million Bangladeshi garment workers who for years have been struggling to win livable wages, safe working conditions, and dignity for their hard labor. It was in this country in 2013 that the Rana Plaza factory collapse killed more than 1,100 garment workers, and activists have been fighting for years to ensure this kind of man-made disaster never happens again. As I made my way through the rally, photographing and taking in the enthusiasm of the crowd, it felt like the workers’ cause was only gaining strength. But only two days later, on March 8, the first case of Covid-19 was identified in Bangladesh, and everything changed.
The coronavirus crisis has sent the world economy shuddering to a halt, and Bangladesh’s garment workers have been left particularly vulnerable: Over $3.5 billion worth of international orders have been lost in the country’s garment industry as a result of the global downturn, and half a million workers are at risk of losing their jobs, a fate that has already befallen more than a million workers.
When the crisis hit our country, everyone started wearing masks. Middle-class Bangladeshis stockpiled months worth of food, and immediately began avoiding crowds, with those able to work from home doing so.
But garment workers haven’t been able to afford this luxury: They continued to go to their factories during the lockdown, and many live in cramped housing that doesn’t allow for the type of social distancing health authorities recommend. When the factories closed for a few days, many garment workers went back to their villages, but the factories are now open again, and because the government has banned passenger transportation, workers continue to come, by car, by foot, and other private transport means. They continue to face the threat of layoffs, wage cuts, and outright wage theft.
I’m a photographer, but I’m also an activist—the two roles are impossible to separate for me. So throughout this crisis, I have tried to document the workers’ lives and their protests as part of a collective effort to bring their situation and their cause to the attention of the wider world. I’ve been taking photographs throughout this crisis, but I’ve also been continuing my work with the workers’ rights organization Bangladesh Garment Sramik Samhati (Bangladesh Garment Workers Solidarity), organizing meetings on Facebook, and holding discussions on Zoom. We’ve been making images through the cameras on laptops, and workers have been using their cell phones to take their own photos. This is a collaborative effort, and we’ve been adapting our activism to the constraints that the Covid-19 crisis has put in place.
Everything is changing so quickly, and the number of Covid-19 cases are increasing every day in Bangladesh. Over 100,000 people have been infected so far, and over 1,300 have died. Movement is largely shut down, so my work has focused on documenting the real conditions workers and their families are facing.
Despite the lockdown, protests continue: Workers are still losing their jobs; they’re still struggling to be paid what they’re owed; they’re still fighting for health care. During one protest, a worker said, “The government has locked down everything, but they didn’t lock down our stomachs. We don’t have any alternative except coming into the street doing this protest. We don’t even have the possibility to maintain social distancing. We are hungry. We don’t know anything about coronavirus. We want food and wages first.’’
So that’s what we’re fighting for: We have demanded 100 percent wage and health security for workers when their factory is closed. But factory owners, the international companies that buy the garments, and the government are all failing to take up the responsibility to address these issues.
Garment workers are the backbone of the Bangladeshi economy. The garment sector accounts for 84 percent of the export income for the country, but workers are entitled to only a paltry monthly minimum wage that works out to about $95, with the lion’s share of the profits going to the international brands that buy the workers’ output. Garment workers are human beings like anyone else: They have families and dreams for a better life. But these workers have been sacrificing their youth and their health for the development of the country’s economy, and the factory owners, international buyers, and the government treat them as disposable tools in the pursuit of profit.
Throughout this crisis I have seen anger, fear, uncertainty, and hopelessness in the eyes and faces of garment workers, but I have also witnessed the collective strength of workers fighting together for their common good, and the resilience of finding new ways of pushing their cause. It’s up to the government, the factory owners, but above all the international brands that profit off these workers to ensure that they can survive this crisis and can depend on a safe and dignified working environment once the crisis passes.


thenation--2020-06-22--Charles Booker Is Determined to Fight Voter Suppression in Kentucky

With the approach of Tuesday ’ s critical election to choose a Kentucky Democrat to take on Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell , the headline in the state ’ s largest newspaper announced , “ New poll shows Charles Booker surging past Amy McGrath in Kentucky ’ s US Senate primary.
” The insurgent campaign of Booker , a Louisville legislator who champions economic , social , and racial justice , has upended expectations that the more cautious candidacy of McGrath , a former Marine fighter pilot and defeated 2018 congressional candidate who was recruited by DC insiders , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Booker has collected endorsements from Kentucky ’ s largest newspapers , unions , Democratic legislators , and former statewide officials and turned what was supposed to be a sleepy contest into one of the most exciting primaries of 2020 .
But there ’ s a problem .
Voting rights experts and Kentucky lawmakers say the state is not prepared for a high-turnout primary .
“ Fewer than 200 polling places will be open for voters in Kentucky ’ s primary Tuesday , down from 3,700 in a typical election year , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Amid a huge influx in requests for mail-in ballots , some voters still had not received theirs days before they must be turned in .
And turnout is expected to be higher than in past primaries because of a suddenly competitive fight for the Democratic Senate nomination.
” In Jefferson County , home to Louisville and the largest number of African American voters in the state , all voting will take place at a single convention and visitor center .
There will be multiple spots to line up in and around the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of polling stations .
But everyone in a county with more than 600,000 eligible voters who wants to cast an in-person ballot on election day will have to make their way to this one facility .
Charles Booker Is the Democrat With the Best Chance of Beating Mitch McConnell For ‘ Police Accountability With Teeth , ’ Citizens Demand Elected and Empowered Oversight Boards The Fight to Remove Georgia ’ s Secretary of Voter Suppression Has Begun Booker , an African American legislator who has been a prominent supporter of # BlackLivesMatter protests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shot and killed by Louisville Metro Police Department officers on March 13 , is counting on a large vote from his hometown .
Frustrated by the shuttering of polling places , he says , “ When we have one polling ( location ) for the city of Louisville , that is unexcusable.
” This is not just a case of a candidate fretting about the prospect of trouble on election day .
Tricia “ CK ” Hoffler , the incoming president of the National Bar Association , the nation ’ s oldest and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attorneys and judges , called Kentucky ’ s reduction in the number of polling places “ the worst kind of voter suppression.
” “ This is horrific , ” said Hoffler .
“ It could be worse than Georgia.
” That was a reference to the Georgia primary in early June , where many African American voters had to wait as long as five hours to cast ballots in an election so mangled that it was characterized as a “ complete meltdown.
” The Georgia mess came after Wisconsin ’ s April “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who did not receive absentee ballots were forced to choose between following health warnings for preventing the spread of Covid-19 and their right to participate in a hotly contested state Supreme Court race .
Noting that Jefferson County is “ 54 miles long with poor public transit , ” Kristen Clarke , the president and executive director of the Lawyers ’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law , argues , “ It ’ s outrageous that officials are seeking to hold in-person elections in a single location .
It ’ s as if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unfolded in Wisconsin and Georgia , where officials were woefully unprepared for the turnout on Election Day.
” The Fight to Remove Georgia ’ s Secretary of Voter Suppression Has Begun Georgia Shows How Serious the Threat of Voter Suppression Will Be This November More in this series As in Wisconsin and Georgia , decisions to change traditional approaches to voting were influenced by concerns about the coronavirus pandemic .
Yet as Clarke explained , after reviewing details of Kentucky ’ s approach , “ This is POOR decision-making.
” Many Kentuckians agree @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republican from Louisville , and voters from counties across the state sued to upend the plan , arguing that it could lead to “ significant voter suppression.
” Last week , after a federal judge rejected that suit , Nemes and Louisville Metro Councilwoman Keisha Dorsey , a Democrat , said in a joint statement that “ we regret that the Court did not order more polling locations to open across the county.
” So the election is going forward , and Booker says , “ We ’ re ready to fight on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voting rights activists , his campaign is urging people to vote early where they can .
Booker says they are also providing information about where and how to vote , organizing buses to get people to the polls , and making sure that voters who are stuck in long lines have adequate food and water .
These efforts have drawn national notice .
Over the weekend , filmmaker Ava DuVernay was urging her Twitter followers to support the “ Voter Bus Fund ” with the message , “ We need to get folks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to help them stay in line.
” Despite all the challenges , Booker says he is confident that voters will do whatever they must in order to get their ballots cast and counted .
“ They ’ re trying to suppress voters , ” the candidates says , “ but they are inspiring people ” to turn out .

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With the approach of Tuesday’s critical election to choose a Kentucky Democrat to take on Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, the headline in the state’s largest newspaper announced, “New poll shows Charles Booker surging past Amy McGrath in Kentucky’s US Senate primary.”
The insurgent campaign of Booker, a Louisville legislator who champions economic, social, and racial justice, has upended expectations that the more cautious candidacy of McGrath, a former Marine fighter pilot and defeated 2018 congressional candidate who was recruited by DC insiders, would sweep the primary voting. Instead, Booker has collected endorsements from Kentucky’s largest newspapers, unions, Democratic legislators, and former statewide officials and turned what was supposed to be a sleepy contest into one of the most exciting primaries of 2020.
But there’s a problem. Voting rights experts and Kentucky lawmakers say the state is not prepared for a high-turnout primary. “Fewer than 200 polling places will be open for voters in Kentucky’s primary Tuesday, down from 3,700 in a typical election year,” The Washington Post reported last week. “Amid a huge influx in requests for mail-in ballots, some voters still had not received theirs days before they must be turned in. And turnout is expected to be higher than in past primaries because of a suddenly competitive fight for the Democratic Senate nomination.”
In Jefferson County, home to Louisville and the largest number of African American voters in the state, all voting will take place at a single convention and visitor center. There will be multiple spots to line up in and around the building to cast votes at a number of polling stations. But everyone in a county with more than 600,000 eligible voters who wants to cast an in-person ballot on election day will have to make their way to this one facility. More From John Nichols A GOP Debate Without Trump Is the Definition of Pointlessness August 11, 2023 A Win for Abortion Rights, a Win for Democracy: Ohio Voters Reject Issue 1 August 9, 2023 The Biggest Threat to Donald Trump Could Be the Constitution Itself August 4, 2023
Booker, an African American legislator who has been a prominent supporter of #BlackLivesMatter protests in the city where Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by Louisville Metro Police Department officers on March 13, is counting on a large vote from his hometown. Frustrated by the shuttering of polling places, he says, “When we have one polling (location) for the city of Louisville, that is unexcusable.”
This is not just a case of a candidate fretting about the prospect of trouble on election day.
Tricia “CK” Hoffler, the incoming president of the National Bar Association, the nation’s oldest and largest national network of predominantly African American attorneys and judges, called Kentucky’s reduction in the number of polling places “the worst kind of voter suppression.” Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann Popular "swipe left below to view more authors"Swipe → The Evisceration of a Public University The Evisceration of a Public University Lisa M. Corrigan The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks The Patronizing Moralism of David Brooks Chris Lehmann “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash “The Blind Side” Was Always Trash Dave Zirin A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life A Grim Chronicle of Trump’s Corrupt Public Life Chris Lehmann
“This is horrific,” said Hoffler. “It could be worse than Georgia.”
That was a reference to the Georgia primary in early June, where many African American voters had to wait as long as five hours to cast ballots in an election so mangled that it was characterized as a “complete meltdown.” The Georgia mess came after Wisconsin’s April “pandemic election,” in which voters who did not receive absentee ballots were forced to choose between following health warnings for preventing the spread of Covid-19 and their right to participate in a hotly contested state Supreme Court race.
Noting that Jefferson County is “54 miles long with poor public transit,” Kristen Clarke, the president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, argues, “It’s outrageous that officials are seeking to hold in-person elections in a single location. It’s as if Kentucky failed to follow the crisis that unfolded in Wisconsin and Georgia, where officials were woefully unprepared for the turnout on Election Day.” Voter Suppression Tennessee Republicans Are Showing Exactly How Deep American Racism Goes Elie Mystal It’s No Coincidence That the Midterms Turned the Blackest Parts of America Red Clarence Lusane A Georgia Republican Brags That Voter Suppression Helped Them in 2022 Joan Walsh
As in Wisconsin and Georgia, decisions to change traditional approaches to voting were influenced by concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. Yet as Clarke explained, after reviewing details of Kentucky’s approach, “This is POOR decision-making.”
Many Kentuckians agree. State Representative Jason Nemes, a Republican from Louisville, and voters from counties across the state sued to upend the plan, arguing that it could lead to “significant voter suppression.” Last week, after a federal judge rejected that suit, Nemes and Louisville Metro Councilwoman Keisha Dorsey, a Democrat, said in a joint statement that “we regret that the Court did not order more polling locations to open across the county.”
So the election is going forward, and Booker says, “We’re ready to fight on all fronts.” Echoing the message of voting rights activists, his campaign is urging people to vote early where they can. Booker says they are also providing information about where and how to vote, organizing buses to get people to the polls, and making sure that voters who are stuck in long lines have adequate food and water. These efforts have drawn national notice. Over the weekend, filmmaker Ava DuVernay was urging her Twitter followers to support the “Voter Bus Fund” with the message, “We need to get folks to these polling places and we need to help them stay in line.”
Despite all the challenges, Booker says he is confident that voters will do whatever they must in order to get their ballots cast and counted. “They’re trying to suppress voters,” the candidates says, “but they are inspiring people” to turn out.


thenation--2020-06-22--A Tale of Two Speeches

A Tale of Two Speeches

“ The silent majority is stronger than ever before , ” Donald Trump declared in his Tulsa rally , his bravado mocked by a crowd that filled only one-third of the arena for what was advertised as kick-starting his 2020 campaign .
On the same day , the Rev .
William Barber II , keynoting the digital March on Washington of the Poor People ’ s Campaign , proclaimed , “ It is time for transformation , reconstruction , and revival in America.
” The contrast between the two addresses lays bare the struggle now underway for the country ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speech was a retread of his road show—a one-hour 40-minute ramble replete with complaints , self-adulation , libels and lies , racial provocations , and partisan pap .
If his cadence seemed more desperate , his words more hysterical than normal , it was a reflection perhaps of flagging poll numbers or the rows of seats empty before him .
Much time was spent savaging “ Sleepy Joe ” Biden , attacking him both from the right , as “ a very willing Trojan horse for socialism , ” and from the left—for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in at the border , for supporting “ every globalist attack on the American worker.
” Once more .
he fixated his venom on women of color—Representatives Alexandra Ocasio Cortez and Ilhan Omar , in particular .
Most striking is the fantasy world that Trump is peddling .
In Trump ’ s world , the stark challenges that the country faces are already largely behind us .
Absent from the speech was any acknowledgment of the unprecedented , multiracial , multigenerational demonstrations across the country and the world protesting systemic racism in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Instead Trump contrasted “ thugs , ” “ maniacs , ” “ very bad people ” with supporters of law and order .
The pandemic was presented in the past tense , with Trump celebrating the “ phenomenal job ” that he had done .
The savage recession too was treated as a blip , with Trump hailing last month ’ s jobs rebound and declaring that we are “ going up , up , up ” and that “ next year will be the single greatest year economically that we ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wasn ’ t even on the radar .
Accordingly , Trump offered very little that was new for an agenda for his second term .
He ’ ll appoint more judges , end sanctuary cities , and finish the wall .
He promises once more to rebuild America , and to keep us out of foolish wars .
He ’ ll defend the Second Amendment , and stand with the “ incredible men and women of law enforcement.
” He will present himself as Horatio at the bridge , standing against the “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ radical left.
” The Rev .
Jesse Jackson : ‘ Every City Has Its George Floyd ’ In contrast , Barber , a visionary man of the cloth in the tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. , is the realist .
He depicts an America scarred by a “ long train of abuses , ” in which 140 million poor and low-income people suffer in the midst of unprecedented wealth .
This is a choice , he argues , that “ things don ’ t have to be kept the way they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ product of “ a single individual or a single political party alone.
” It comes from a “ culture cultivated since the death of Dr. King or longer.
” The Poor People ’ s Campaign released a detailed budget and platform to address “ systematic racism , poverty , ecological devastation and the false moral narrative.
” Barber takes time to detail vital reforms—from universal child care to the Green New Deal , from baby bonds to the right to health care—and sensible priorities that could free up the resources to pay for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to go “ back to normal , ” Barber argues .
“ Normal in America got George Floyd…murdered.
” It would be a mistake to “ demand too little ” at this time .
Instead of division , Barber calls for a politics of “ moral fusion , ” for people to come together in a nonviolent movement .
Poor and low-income people , he argues , can move the nation .
In 2016 , 23 million did not vote .
It is time , he argues to “ rise up.
” Yes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ long history of dividing people , but when people come together , they can change the course .
Love , he asserts , is still greater than hate .
Truth is still greater than lies .
Trump wagers he will benefit from division , that movements of change pose more a threat than a promise to most Americans , that white America will once more unite to fend off the other .
He believes he can sell the lie that we had the “ greatest economy in history ” before the pandemic and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well on the way to returning to it .
Barber ’ s vision is that poor and working people are coming to understand that it doesn ’ t have to be this way , that we have choices and have made them badly , corrupted by big money and small minds .
And that this is the time—in the midst of the cascading calamities that people are struggling with—that a movement can build , that people can come together and demand a change in course .
What seems increasingly clear is that America @ @ @ @ @ @ @

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Support Progressive Journalism The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter.
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“The silent majority is stronger than ever before,” Donald Trump declared in his Tulsa rally, his bravado mocked by a crowd that filled only one-third of the arena for what was advertised as kick-starting his 2020 campaign. On the same day, the Rev. William Barber II, keynoting the digital March on Washington of the Poor People’s Campaign, proclaimed, “It is time for transformation, reconstruction, and revival in America.” The contrast between the two addresses lays bare the struggle now underway for the country’s future.
Trump’s Tulsa speech was a retread of his road show—a one-hour 40-minute ramble replete with complaints, self-adulation, libels and lies, racial provocations, and partisan pap. If his cadence seemed more desperate, his words more hysterical than normal, it was a reflection perhaps of flagging poll numbers or the rows of seats empty before him. Much time was spent savaging “Sleepy Joe” Biden, attacking him both from the right, as “a very willing Trojan horse for socialism,” and from the left—for “building cages” to put children in at the border, for supporting “every globalist attack on the American worker.” Once more. he fixated his venom on women of color—Representatives Alexandra Ocasio Cortez and Ilhan Omar, in particular.
Most striking is the fantasy world that Trump is peddling. In Trump’s world, the stark challenges that the country faces are already largely behind us. Absent from the speech was any acknowledgment of the unprecedented, multiracial, multigenerational demonstrations across the country and the world protesting systemic racism in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. Instead Trump contrasted “thugs,” “maniacs,” “very bad people” with supporters of law and order. The pandemic was presented in the past tense, with Trump celebrating the “phenomenal job” that he had done. The savage recession too was treated as a blip, with Trump hailing last month’s jobs rebound and declaring that we are “going up, up, up” and that “next year will be the single greatest year economically that we’ve ever had.” Catastrophic climate change wasn’t even on the radar.
Accordingly, Trump offered very little that was new for an agenda for his second term. He’ll appoint more judges, end sanctuary cities, and finish the wall. He promises once more to rebuild America, and to keep us out of foolish wars. He’ll defend the Second Amendment, and stand with the “incredible men and women of law enforcement.” He will present himself as Horatio at the bridge, standing against the “extremism, destruction and violence of the radical left.” More From Robert L. Borosage Jesse Jackson Is Keeping Hope Alive July 13, 2023 The Left Should Support Ending Violence in Ukraine April 27, 2023 Biden, Go Bold in the State of the Union February 6, 2023
In contrast, Barber, a visionary man of the cloth in the tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is the realist. He depicts an America scarred by a “long train of abuses,” in which 140 million poor and low-income people suffer in the midst of unprecedented wealth. This is a choice, he argues, that “things don’t have to be kept the way they are.” This reality is not the product of “a single individual or a single political party alone.” It comes from a “culture cultivated since the death of Dr. King or longer.”
The Poor People’s Campaign released a detailed budget and platform to address “systematic racism, poverty, ecological devastation and the false moral narrative.” Barber takes time to detail vital reforms—from universal child care to the Green New Deal, from baby bonds to the right to health care—and sensible priorities that could free up the resources to pay for them. We don’t want to go “back to normal,” Barber argues. “Normal in America got George Floyd…murdered.” It would be a mistake to “demand too little” at this time. Current Issue View our current issue
Instead of division, Barber calls for a politics of “moral fusion,” for people to come together in a nonviolent movement. Poor and low-income people, he argues, can move the nation. In 2016, 23 million did not vote. It is time, he argues to “rise up.”
Yes, Barber notes, America has a long history of dividing people, but when people come together, they can change the course. Love, he asserts, is still greater than hate. Truth is still greater than lies.
Trump wagers he will benefit from division, that movements of change pose more a threat than a promise to most Americans, that white America will once more unite to fend off the other. He believes he can sell the lie that we had the “greatest economy in history” before the pandemic and economic calamity and that we are already well on the way to returning to it.
Barber’s vision is that poor and working people are coming to understand that it doesn’t have to be this way, that we have choices and have made them badly, corrupted by big money and small minds. And that this is the time—in the midst of the cascading calamities that people are struggling with—that a movement can build, that people can come together and demand a change in course. What seems increasingly clear is that America must choose between these conflicting visions.