Dear Progressive Reader, 

It has been a busy year at The Progressive. We published six powerful issues of our bi-monthly print magazine, came out with our annual Hidden History of the United States calendar, produced some great events on our YouTube channel, continued to showcase important voices on education through our Public Schools Advocate project, attended conferences, held training workshops, and distributed dozens of op-eds nationwide with our Progressive Perspectives project; plus we also continue to post important stories on our website—all of this with a tiny staff, a small budget, and an even smaller office. We can only do it because of your generous contributions and support. As our founder, Fighting Bob La Follette, said in 1910, at the beginning of this magazine’s second year, “No magazine or newspaper that sets out to speak fearlessly and truthfully about the wrongs committed in the name of Big Business and Big Politics finds the way smooth and the profits certain . . . . The generous help you have given by going among your friends and telling them about the magazine has shown the depth and sincerity of your interest . . . . This interest, this loyalty that you have manifested is the best assurance we have of success.”

In spite of the wars abroad and the looming threats to democracy at home, we are looking forward to another productive year at The Progressive. We are currently working on the next issue of the magazine that will feature a deep dive into the forces shaping the upcoming year in electoral politics; we will continue to cover efforts for peaceful alternatives to conflict, and work to build a sustainable environment; and we hope to train more young journalists through our workshops and our internship program. In April 2024, we will also be hosting a major conference looking at the 100th anniversary of Bob La Follette’s run for the presidency in 1924 and the lessons of the early twentieth century progressive movement for our movements today. Watch for more news on this and other projects in the months to come.

This week on our website, Ruth Conniff reports on the ruling by the Wisconsin Supreme Court to overturn the state’s gerrymandered voting maps—that opens the possibility for much more democratic balloting in 2024 and beyond. Also, Jeff Abbott gives an overview of the rise in authoritarianism in multiple nations in Central America, and points to the ray of hope for a democratic transition in Guatemala. And finally, a new report on the use of gold from the continent of Africa to fund Russia’s war against Ukraine has just been released. As National Public Radio noted on Wednesday, the Wagner mercenary group, operating in several African nations, “has laundered some $2.5 billion to Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine” began last year. “This is in spite of global sanctions that have shut off the Russian economy from much of the world.” The Progressive first reported on our website about the sinister role being played by the shadow mercenary organization in an article on our website last March. “In Africa, Putin’s footprint is becoming prominent as Russia continues to pull one fragile country after another into its orbit,” wrote Nigerian journalist Obiora Ikoku. “So far, Wagner contract soldiers have deployed to Libya, Sudan, Mozambique, Madagascar, the C.A.R. [Central African Republic], and Mali. Each of the countries that have fallen under the group’s radar share share a few common characteristics: They are impoverished and unstable, assailed by climate change, in the midst of armed conflict and jihadist violence but also are endowed with resources such as oil, gold, diamond, uranium, and manganese.” This will be an important story to follow in the coming year as the war in Ukraine grinds on.

Our New Year’s resolution for 2024 is to continue to work as hard as we possibly can (with the support of all of you, our readers) to build a more peaceful and just world, a sustainable environment, and an end to the looming threat of nuclear weapons. Please keep reading, and we will keep bringing you important articles on these and other issues of our time.

Wishing all of you the best in the new year,

Norman Stockwell
Publisher

P.S. - Don’t miss a minute of the “hidden history” of 2024 – You can still order The Progressive’s new Hidden History of the United States calendar for the coming year. Just go to indiepublishers.shop, and while you are there, checkout some of our other great offerings as well.

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