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Alison Gardner

  •   Michael Brown and his family have finally put a face on police brutality, sparking a robust national conversation that must take place. Freedom and human rights are just words, words this country peddles abroad but does little for at home. We can honor this family’s awful sacrifice by doing more each day to end…

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  • “Every once in a while, a dramatic news story can actually produce real reform. More often the momentum peters out once the story disappears from the news (remember how Sandy Hook meant we were going to get real gun control?), but it can happen. And now, after the aftermath of the killing of Michael Brown…

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  • No doubt I will have more to say about the events still unfolding in Ferguson, Missouri, because the underlying factors are key issues for VenusPlusX. For now, we’re are pointing you to Mass Incarceration: Follow The Money (Part 1 and Part 2), a 2012 analysis and op-ed we produced following the publication of Michelle Alexander’s…

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  • “Freedom of communication with any application to any party is the fundamental social basis of the Internet, and now is the basis of the society we’ve built on the Internet.” — Tim Berners-Lee Thanks to Stephanie Crets and the folks at singlehop.com, we are happy to add the following material to our conversation about the…

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  • Some recent memes have left me wondering: Are certain leaders consciously uncoupling from some of our core beliefs that motivate our activism in the first place? For example, it seems to me that it would be much better if the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans (LGBT) community fights for all of the objectives of the…

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  • (También en Español) [pexyoutube pex_attr_src=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfIahKk0Vgk” pex_attr_width=”500″][/pexyoutube] What issues in your own family that are “off limits” in terms of discussion due to past or present circumstances? Does your family make you live in a glass closet, where everyone knows about your sexual orientation and/or gender identity but just are unwilling to talk about it?  Do…

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  • Inequality-Related Organizations and Institutions We’ve spent the last few days tweeting and writing on this website to draw more people’s attention to the scourge of income inequality. There’s really no time to spare. Rectifying income inequality is the one and only solution to rescuing our failing economy, but it is also a matter of life and death.…

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  • 10 Business Leaders that Just Say No to Income Equality A recent report from Standard & Poor’s (S&P) led us to examine more closely how income inequality dampens growth for rich in poor alike. Conservatives, as well as progressives, are beginning to better understand some of the underlying causes, and what can be done. Safety net programs such as…

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  • Obama Contradicts FCC Chief on Fast Lanes, Net Neutrality Backers Say Net neutrality is the idea that the Internet should be an open platform, and broadband companies shouldn’t be able to interfere with your right to access content and services on line. — Sam Gustin for motherboard.vice.com President Obama made a strong and clear declaration supporting net…

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  • Barney Frank Sharply Criticizes Gay Rights Groups’ Flip on ENDA by Amanda Terkel for The Huffington Post A handful of groups said last month that they no longer back the Senate-passed version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act because of its sweeping religious exemption, which would allow religiously affiliated businesses to fire someone for being lesbian, gay,…

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