Paul Prescod

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Articles

Going Beyond the Politics of Institutional Racism

Oct 1, 2024 | damagemag.com | Paul Prescod

“Institutional racism” is now mainstream. Or at least talking about it is. What was once a term heard mostly in academic lecture halls is now commonly uttered by anyone with a daytime talk show or social media account. While the phrase seems to add intellectual heft to an argument, in reality it usually acts as a placeholder for a variety of interpretations that obfuscate the root causes of contemporary racial inequality, while also lending credibility to neoliberal policy agendas.
Ernest Calloway Fused Civil Rights and Class Struggle

Sep 4, 2024 | jacobin.com | Paul Prescod

On August 6, 1957, St Louis mayor Raymond R. Tucker, the quintessential technocrat, sourly watched the votes get tallied. His initiative, backed by the city’s business elite, to amend the city charter in order to blunt the power of local aldermen and unions went down in defeat. An unlikely coalition of forces including the NAACP, the Teamsters, black ward leaders, and small business interests voted down the measure by a three-to-two margin.
CEOs Inflated Their Paychecks - and Our Prices

Aug 16, 2024 | jacobin.com | Paul Prescod

Stunning political events have taken place over the past month. A major presidential candidate who seemed poised to win survived an attempted assassination, after which the other major candidate dropped out, and his replacement precipitated a wild swing in momentum — all in only a few weeks’ time. These events have accented an election that already involved important issues framed in existential terms, from the future of reproductive rights to the very continuation of our democracy.
How Union Reformers Passed the PRO Act in Vermont

May 19, 2024 | znetwork.org | Paul Prescod

If you’re a fan of unions, there’s been a lot to get excited about lately. and militancy are up, public support for labor is peaking, and the prospects for new organizing are better than they’ve been in decades. Unfortunately, even with all this good news, labor’s legislative fortunes remain dim. If passed, the Protect the Right to Organize (PRO) Act would arguably represent the most comprehensive labor law reform since the 1940s.
How Union Reformers Passed the PRO Act in Vermont

May 18, 2024 | jacobin.com | Paul Prescod

If you’re a fan of unions, there’s been a lot to get excited about lately. Strikes and militancy are up, public support for labor is peaking, and the prospects for new organizing are better than they’ve been in decades. Unfortunately, even with all this good news, labor’s legislative fortunes remain dim. If passed, the Protect the Right to Organize (PRO) Act would arguably represent the most comprehensive labor law reform since the 1940s.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Workers Want a Raise

Apr 9, 2024 | jacobin.com | Paul Prescod

When building trades workers take action against anti-union contractors, the labor mascot Scabby the Rat often makes an appearance on their picket lines. But for the last week, Scabby has accompanied workers wielding ballpoint pens, not wrenches, as federal employees picket outside the office of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) director Rohit Chopra.
Wall Street’s War on Workers Can Be Stopped

Apr 8, 2024 | rsn.org | Paul Prescod

Democratic Party elites have accepted the loss of vital working-class jobs and written off white workers as bigots. But a new book by Les Leopold shows how we can build a broad working-class movement to fight for the right to a good job. Across the political spectrum, it seems as if the right to decent employment has disappeared from the agenda. Wars, natural disasters, and Donald Trump’s antics grab headlines while the closing of a major factory doesn’t register a blip.
Wall Street’s War on Workers Can Be Stopped

Apr 4, 2024 | jacobin.com | Paul Prescod

Across the political spectrum, it seems as if the right to decent employment has disappeared from the agenda. Wars, natural disasters, and Donald Trump’s antics grab headlines while the closing of a major factory doesn’t register a blip. Even on the Left, a fatalistic acceptance of layoffs has numbed us to the human misery caused by contemporary capitalism’s widespread job insecurity.
The Gary Convention Elided Black America’s Internal Disunity

Mar 10, 2024 | jacobin.com | Paul Prescod

Between March 10th and 12th of 1972, the West Side High School auditorium was buzzing with excitement and hope. The room was filled with a tour de force of black political activists, politicians, and cultural figures. Comedian Dick Gregory delivered his usual mix of jokes and political commentary, while Muhammad Ali served as sergeant at arms.
Labor and Climate Must Unite. That’s Easier Said Than Done.

Mar 1, 2024 | jacobin.com | Paul Prescod

A lot can happen in five years. In November 2018, newly elected congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) joined youth activists from the Sunrise Movement in a dramatic sit-in at Nancy Pelosi’s office to call for ambitious action on climate change. AOC followed this up in February 7, 2019, when she and Representative Ed Markey introduced legislation for a Green New Deal.