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Dear Progressive Reader,

Friday was the sixty-third anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom ([link removed]) . The march, organized in part ([link removed]) by activist Bayard Rustin ([link removed]) , was the largest gathering of its sort in U.S. history at the time, and the first-ever event broadcast live ([link removed]) on all three major television networks. Speaking from the stage to an estimated ([link removed]) 250,000 people, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. said ([link removed]) , “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration
of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men—yes, Black men as well as white men—would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked insufficient funds. But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.”

One can only imagine what King might have said today, when confronted by the “the fierce urgency of now” exemplified by the actions of the Trump Administration. For his activism, King suffered harassment ([link removed]) , surveillance ([link removed]) , and ultimately assassination. As King and the movement he served and helped lead grew and evolved, so, too, did King’s views ([link removed]) on the issues ([link removed]) that needed to be addressed ([link removed]) . In 1968 he famously pointed out
([link removed]) , “What good is it to be allowed to eat in a restaurant if you can’t afford a hamburger?” His focus on economic inequality and the scourge of militarism on our society have become even more critical in this era of kleptocracy ([link removed]) and military adventurism spearheaded by President Donald Trump. In April 1967, a year before his murder, King proclaimed ([link removed]) at the Riverside Church in New
York City, “We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”

The attacks on the Voting Rights Act of 1965 ([link removed]) by Trump and the current U.S. Supreme Court under John Roberts ([link removed]) are the most recent attempts to take from us ([link removed]) the constitutionally mandated tools to try and right ([link removed]) the ship of state. Voting rights for all persons in the United States were the result of decades of hard fought battles. Women were granted ([link removed]) the right to vote in 1920, although voting for Black women remained restricted ([link removed]) in the South until 1965. The protests ([link removed]) in Washington, D.C., on Friday, bring
awareness ([link removed]) of the threats ([link removed]) our voting system faces today. The struggle for voting rights was also a key goal of the 1963 gathering, today, more than six decades later, that struggle continues ([link removed]) . As King noted ([link removed]) from the stage that day, “We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.” Today, as the 2026 midterm elections approach, we must safeguard the hard-won right to vote, and exercise that right ([link removed]) to our full ability.

This week on our website, Ashana Bigard remembers ([link removed]) New Orleans, Louisiana, civil rights activist Jerome Smith; Leslie Williams looks at ([link removed]) the grassroots climate lawyers challenging the Environmental Protection Agency; Zoe Lago tells the history ([link removed]) of freeway murals in Los Angeles and their uncertain future; and Paul Buhle reviews ([link removed]) a new history of the Anti-Defamation League. Plus, Hassan Herzallah reports ([link removed]) from Gaza of the crisis of eye care due to shortages of medical treatment; Enas Abu Ghayad chronicles
([link removed]) the abusive detention of Palestinian journalist Mahajed Bani Mfleh; Sara Gabler reports ([link removed]) on the Trump Administration’s attacks on “DEI” on college campuses; and Hannah Wallace and Sarah Weiner pen an op-ed ([link removed]) on the importance of eating produce from local farmers to avoid cyclospora and other pathogens.

Please keep reading, and we will keep bringing you important articles on these and other issues of our time.

Sincerely,
Norman Stockwell
Publisher

P.S. – If you live in or near Madison, Wisconsin, we are pleased to announce that The Progressive, together with WORT-FM Community Radio, are welcoming Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! ([link removed]) , together with award-winning filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal for a live event at the Barrymore Theatre on Saturday, September 5 at 7:30 pm. The event will include a screening of the new documentary film Steal This Story, Please! ([link removed]) , followed by an onstage conversation with Goodman and the filmmakers. For tickets and more information, please visit barrymorelive.com ([link removed]) . Hope to see you there.

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P.P.P.S. – The NEW August/September 2026 issue is out and should be in the mail soon. If you don’t already subscribe to The Progressive in print or digital form, please consider doing so today ([link removed]) . Also, if you have a friend or relative who you feel should hear from the many voices for progressive change within our pages, please consider giving a gift subscription ([link removed]) .

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