Trump's pardon of Arpaio may not get as much attention as Russian influence or Trump's apparent obstruction of justice in the Mueller investigation. But to me, as a woman of color, it is a clear abuse of power for the U.S. president to pardon a sheriff who targeted people for arrest because of their ethnicity.
I don't care if it's Saudi Arabia or if it's Israel or any other country. I can't imagine our members of Congress or even the residents back in the day that pushed back against apartheid in Africa not to be able to boycott.
When we are asked to bail out corporations and banks, or pass tax bills that shift billions in public dollars out of government, we must ask ourselves, who were we truly sent here to advocate for?
Limiting the ability of the people to peacefully organize and partake in direct action to fight against persecution and discrimination is not only barred by the U.S. Constitution but is fundamentally un-American.
I went to Detroit Public Schools: Harms Elementary, Bennett, which is now called Phoenix Academy. This is all in Southwest Detroit. I graduated from Southwestern High School, so I'm a 'Prospector,' which is what we used to call each other.
We continue to see our elected officials working extra hard to create a 'good climate for business' that leads to disinvestment in public infrastructure and tax incentives to the detriment of cities, while enriching private business and further entrenching poverty. And our cities are told by legislators to use their bootstraps to survive.
Mayors, city council members, and legislators come and go, but neighborhoods don't go anywhere.
To me, I know that if we could pass the Civil Rights Act of '64 over 50 years ago, then we can pass Justice for All Civil Rights Act. We can pass Medicare for All.
The emoluments clause is in the Constitution for a reason: We, as Americans, need to know that the president acts in our best interests, not his own self-interest.
Historically marginalized populations have already had less access to wealth and credit building opportunities, and the continued use of credit histories to set auto insurance pricing compounds racial discrimination and exacerbates wealth inequality.
Confrontational or not, my approach to public service has always been fighting for my families.
We cannot afford to deliberately cripple our cities by transferring public tax dollars to private entities for benefits that are unclear at best.
No matter how much the private sector crows that corporate tax breaks will lead to more jobs or robust economic activity, such benefits rarely materialize.
We must stop tax giveaways to rich corporations and developers while our schools are crumbling and people are losing their homes.
Lost in the often-vitriolic national quarrel over immigration reform is any examination of proposed measures that would result in excessive punishment, such as detention and deportation, for the most minor offenses.
I take a very different approach to public service. I'm a person that always takes it out in the streets and in the courts... the tool box that is attached to me is very diverse.
As a young girl, I watched my mother hand-stitch thobes while sitting on the floor with a lamp at her side. She would make the small designs of flowers and different shapes. Just thinking about it brings up so many memories of my mother and how proud she was of being Palestinian.
We should be encouraging moms to breastfeed their infants, not discouraging it by unfairly judging and discriminating against nursing mothers.
There's no doubt that corporations have been getting away with dumping their pollution into our environment for decades and that they're especially emboldened to pollute in low-income communities and, typically, low-income communities of color.
Old models of development simply seek to lure business with substantial tax breaks and then hope (and pray) that economic benefits will trickle down to residents. It has not worked for our city in the past, and it will not work for the future city that we all hope want to see.
