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Dr. James Peter Warbasse wrote in the journal Co-operation, “Once the people of New York City lived in their own houses, but those days have gone. … The houses are owned by landlords who conduct them, not for the purpose of domiciling the people in health and comfort, but for the…
Whether a renter or a homeowner, we can all celebrate the increased tenant protections Washington residents gained this legislative session. Now, the people who have been most affected by weak tenant protections—people of color, women, seniors, people with disabilities, LGBTQ, veterans, low-wage workers and families—will have additional protections to remain…
When I was in elementary school, my parents had a list of tasks and bills to pay on the refrigerator (sometimes they argued about it). One day, looking at the checkmarks, I was hit with amazement that it took so much to run a house. I had a nervous thought…
Covenants preventing African-Americans, Native Americans, Filipinos and other “colored” persons from buying a home in certain areas existed in Olympia deeds until at least 1947. In the SW neighborhood, there were deeds that specified that no colored person could live in the property—with an exception for domestic servants...
In 1947 my grandmother, Mamo, was 14 years old. She was in high school, in Whittier, California. 85,331 people lived in Whittier. Mamo had slumber parties with her best friends and rode her bike everywhere. She went to parties on the beach and rode horses in the hills. She worked…
Joining others of like mind and working on a shared goal is a hallmark of what it means to be human. In many of our pursuits, there are ready-made organizations: from Tai Chi to Rotary, we seek out others who seem to be pursuing important work, and we join in.…
For much of my life I thought that home would be found in the right place, with the right people, the right work, the right politics, the right spiritual practice, the right relationship, at the right time. From an early age, after growing up in Los Angeles, I took to…
Civilizations degrade ecological systems. Ours is no different (see the essay on restoration for a summary). Empowered by fossil fuels, our destructive power outpaces any potential for natural recovery. We are the global keystone species, and it isn’t pretty. Our current condition is ironically both revealed and obscured by professional science and…
“Non-native” remarks the milky, blue-eyed lawyer whose name I don’t know but who’s joined our table at the pizzeria on Capitol Way, and he’s sharing a story of a criminal convicted for swerving and killing a Possum. Marsupials, the unspoken word sings round in my mouth Possums carry babies in…
It was 7 a.m. April 30th in Caracas when I awoke to hear gunshots outside my hotel. Our group, seven US citizens and one Canadian, were attending a housing conference and looked forward to the next day’s May Day celebration. The coup attempt I feared the worst. For several weeks,…
I have always had a roof over my head; it has only been a matter of finding one after moving to a new place. I have moved around quite a bit – different countries, different cities within those countries, different places within the cities in those countries. Sometimes by necessity,…
May 21, 2019 marked the four year anniversary of the police shooting of two Black brothers, André Thompson and Bryson Chaplin. Officer Ryan Donald is the white police officer who shot André and Bryson multiple times each. They both survived. Anniversaries of police terror incidents are always difficult for the…
The June 2019 interview on “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” series (see below for info about watching it through your computer or TCTV channel 22) explores the many benefits of having the public own our electric utilities instead of letting big business own them. People typically think about “democracy” in terms of…
Approximately thirty nuclear disarmament activists took part in a spirited rally at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor on Saturday, May 11 honoring the original antiwar message of Mothers Day, which called for the abolition of war and militarism.. Activists blocked the entrance to the Trident Submarine Base Main Gate while holding up…
Ante el retiro del asilo político y posterior detención del periodista Julián Assange en Londres-Reino Unido....
The Socialist Youth of Ecuador expresses its total rejection of the measure taken by Lenin Moreno in the withdrawal of political asylum from the journalist Julian Assange leading to his subsequent arrest in London....
President Trump’s veto of a bill directing him to withdraw support for the war on Yemeni people confirms the President’s willingness to make the American people accomplices in delivering death and destruction to people in a land no American gives a damn about. The phrase “worst humanitarian crisis in the…
Celebrate workers!... NW Green Home Tour... Working People’s Summit... Rally for Missing or Murdered Indigenous Women... “Thurston for Bernie” Action Team Kick-off... Jacobin Reading Group... Women of Color in Leadership... Justice in Crisis... More....
The people who peer into computers on the third floor of the Mottman Building in downtown Olympia are about to embark on a new stage in their working lives. Working Systems started out as an idea to offer tech services during the slack season at Cascadia Research, morphed into an…
The easiest way to think about how a cooperative differs from a typical business is that in a cooperative, people own it in common and make decisions in common. There’s not an outside investor who has ultimate control over the life and work of the business. The other big reason…
When the $15 minimum wage was signed into law in Saint Paul City Hall in November, I burst into tears. I spent three years working on the campaigns for $15 in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, including 18 months as the co-director of 15 Now Minnesota, where I coordinated the coalition…
Olympia’s own cherished Food Co-op has returned to its practice of being open every day of the year —except for one single, significant day: it is closed on May 1, International Workers’ Day. The Co-op has posted on its website this explanation of why.
Holly Lindsey, has been a licensed home child-care provider for 22 years and a union member for 12. She joined SEIU 925 when the local formed in 2006....
The coordinated effort by wealthy financiers to eliminate unions has elements in addition to the “opt out” campaign. As the State Policy Network (SPN) and its right-wing allies secure Republican domination of more state governments, they will turn also to laws requiring union recertification elections. Regulating unions, not corporations In…
Extinction Rebellion is an international movement that uses non-violent civil disobedience to achieve radical change in order to minimise the risk of human extinction and ecological collapse....