Happy May Day, the international labor day. Today, this union retiree is remembering Josef Simon, an anti-Nazi German trade union hero all but unknown on this side of the Atlantic. Germany’s powerful unions fiercely opposed the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazism. When he assumed dictatorial powers in March,
Last year, people all across Kentucky and the nation watched in awe as protestors crowded downtown Louisville for over three months. We knew that the spark which set off these mass protests was an appalling act of police violence. But, the more we watched the more we came to realize
The “canary in the coal mine” refers to something acting as an early warning of danger – the former practice of taking caged canaries into coal mines. The birds would die if methane gas became present and alerted miners of the danger. – Free Dictionary Robert Pape and Keven Ruby, senior researchers
From the Letters from an American newsletter. You can subscribe here. The 1918 influenza pandemic killed at least 50 million people across the world, including about 675,000 people in the United States. And yet, until recently, it has been elusive in our popular memory. America’s curious amnesia about
In 2020, Charles Booker made history when he challenged incumbent Mitch McConnell for his seat in the U.S. Senate. Despite a loss, his campaign reached hundreds of thousands of people across the nation and once again brought a spotlight to Kentucky politics, but Booker didn’t stop there. Following
President Joe Biden’s proposed $2 trillion infrastructure bill “brings us one step closer to repairing, rebuilding and restoring our country,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a statement. “Repairing, rebuilding, and restoring” reminded me of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “three Rs” of the New Deal: “relief, reform, and
If you are a regular visitor to this site, you have no doubt noticed some changes. And you may have wondered, Just what is going on with Forward Kentucky? The simplest answer is: We are refocusing our work. For almost six years, we have worked to grow into the go-to
The following is from the newsletter Letters from an American by Heather Cox Richardson. You can sign up for the free version here. Since the Civil War, voter suppression in America has had a unique cast. The Civil War brought two great innovations to the United States that would mix
Some well-intentioned liberals are praising Kentucky Republican lawmakers for making it easier to vote in the Bluegrass State instead of passing laws aimed at suppressing minority votes, most of which go to Democrats. They’d never admit it, of course. But the Republicans approved voting “reform” legislation because it helps
“The more I hear Rand Paul talk about the coronavirus, the more I’m convinced his medical degree is written in crayon,” the Louisville Courier-Journal’s Joseph Gerth wrote of Kentucky’s junior U.S. senator. The columnist added: “He went head to head with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading
“He’s got more nerve than Dick Tracy,” my grandmother would say of a particularly shameless soul. (Okay, young folks, Tracy was a famous funny pages cop.) Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell keeps reminding me of my grandmother’s observation. But the minority leader’s calculated Road to Damascus conversion
My entire life, I have heard that the free market and business competition work efficiently, foster creativity, lower costs through competition, can solve many of our problems – and that government just gets in the way of the market working its magic. Some of this may be true, at least in
On the show Morning Joe, economist Steven Rattner showed in one dramatic chart the difference between Donald Trump’s “rescue plan,” which was really a giant tax scam for the wealthy, and the Biden American Rescue Plan, which actually helps everyday people. As was pointed out over and over, the
Not everyone gets the chance to look death in the face and come out on the other side with an opportunity to make an impact and save lives. But on September 6, 2018, the opportunity found me when twelve bullets ripped through my body. Thanks to the bravery of the
No sooner did President Franklin D. Roosevelt sign the historic National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 than United Mine Workers of America President John L. Lewis flashed the word to the coalfields: “The President wants you to join the union!” This week, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka lost no time in
The Senate’s decision to acquit former President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial may have been a victory for Trump, but it is a clear sign that democracy in the U.S. is in poor health. As a constitutional scholar, I believe the United States – the world’s
