Dear John,
Sometimes we can feel like nothing’s getting better no matter how much people get involved. It’s important to remember that we are part of a large tradition - stretching back into history - of everyday people getting involved, and building momentum, until suddenly we look back and the world has changed. The movement against the Palestinian genocide is growing, unions are building power, and Americans are coming to an increased awareness of the ways corporations have stacked the deck against us.
Here’s what we’re reading, watching and listening to this week:
1. May Day around the world
Around the world, worker movements observed May Day the traditional way; mass protest. While International Workers’ Day is not officially recognized in America, it was May Day strikes that set the stage for the 8-hour workday. With UAW’s contract set to expire the day before May Day 2028, and the union calling for other unions to do the same, we could see a massive labor moment exercising power in four years!
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2. Pro-Palestine protests triple in previous month.
Over the past 7 months, the pro-Palestinian movement has grown rapidly, with protests across the United States and around the world. In the past month, we have seen a college protest movement grow that mirrors the historic movement against the Vietnam War. In response, there has been a significant police crackdown, and hundreds of progressive groups - including TakeAction MN - have signed a letter demanding an end to those crackdowns.
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3. Donald Trump Outlines Horrifying Agenda for Second Term
Donald Trump has a major reflection on his presidency: he was too nice. In a recent interview, he spoke about what a second presidency would look like. He would:
• Build migrant detention camps and deploy the U.S. military to carry out a deportation operation designed to remove more than 11 million people from the country
• Let red states monitor women’s pregnancies and prosecute those who violate abortion bans
• Withhold funds appropriated by Congress, at his personal discretion
• Be willing to fire a U.S. Attorney who doesn’t carry out his order to prosecute someone, breaking with a tradition of independent law enforcement that dates from America’s founding
• Consider pardons for every one of his supporters accused of attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, more than 800 of whom have pleaded guilty or been convicted by a jury
• Deploy the National Guard to American cities as he sees fit
• Close the White House pandemic-preparedness office
• And more
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4. Corporate profits drove half of all 2023 inflation
For the last 4 years, greedy corporations have driven the prices of consumer goods up, taking advantage of turmoil in the wake of COVID. We now know that over half of inflation during 2023 was caused by rising corporate profits, not labor or other inputs. Read the full Senate hearing testimony.
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5. Unions win big pay increases for workers
With union organizing on the rise in America, unions are also winning big for workers! While non-union workers saw their wages increase by barely the inflation rate in 2023, union workers saw 50 percent higher wage increases. We know the power of a strong labor movement for all workers, which is why we will always fight for the right to unionize, and stand by striking union workers in their calls for better pay and work conditions.
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6. Millennials: A Generation Left Behind
Check out this podcast with author Jill Filipovic, youth researcher Intifar Chowdhury, author Malcolm Harris, Guardian Australia editor Lenore Taylor and former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis about how millennials became the first generation to be worse off than their parents.
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7. Happy Childcare Unaffordability Day!
Parents throughout Minnesota and all across the country are struggling with the high cost of childcare, with the median family exceeding the recommended cost (7 percent of yearly income) by April 29th. What is it going to take to get our government to act?
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8. Land Back, Palestinian liberation, and the Civil Rights Movement
This week, NDN Collective released the second episode of the LANDBACK For The People podcast, Season 2, discussing the pro-Palestinian movement and featuring Macklemore.
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9. The TikTok ban is an assault on free speech
Progressive causes have found unprecedented reach on the platform, from petitions against the Willow Project Pipeline, to protests against police brutality and advocacy for Palestine. Now, Congress has passed a bill banning the platform. What part of “Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech” entails banning a platform that one third of US adults use, including over 50 percent between the ages of 18 and 35?
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10. The Importance of Friendship
What if we placed friendship at the center of our lives? That is the question author Rhiana Cohen asks in this interview, discussing the many ways friendship and community enrich our lives.
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And that’s a wrap!
Send us what you’re reading, watching and listening to.
Until next time,
Mattias Lehman (he/him)
Communications and Narrative Director
Paid for by TakeAction Minnesota
TakeAction Minnesota
705 Raymond Ave Ste 100
Saint Paul, MN 55114
United States
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