1836 Project: Patriotic education law is latest conservative tool to whitewash history
Progressives responded with disgust on June 7 after Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a law establishing the so-called “1836 Project,” which the Republican official said “promotes patriotic education and ensures future generations understand Texas...
A White Messiah: The history of how Europeans fashioned the Son of God into their own image
By Anna Swartwood House, Assistant Professor of Art History, University of South Carolina The portrayal of Jesus as a white, European man has come under renewed scrutiny during this period of introspection over the legacy of racism in society. As protesters called for...
Preventable Deaths: Unvaccinated people now account for nearly all COVID fatalities in America
Nearly all COVID-19 deaths in the United States now are in people who were not vaccinated, a staggering demonstration of how effective the shots have been and an indication that deaths per day, now down to under 300, could be practically zero if everyone eligible got...
Cost of the Unknown: Why there will never be agreement on if the COVID lockdowns were worth it
By James D. Long, Associate Professor of Political Science, Co-founder of the Political Economy Forum, Host of “Neither Free Nor Fair?” podcast, University of Washington; Mark A. Smith, Professor of Political Science, University of Washington; Victor...
Eugene Manzanet: Cultivating a social responsibility that seeks to improve the quality of life in Milwaukee
With a steadfast focus on community outreach, Eugene Manzanet has leveraged his life lessons, educational credentials, and feet-on-the-ground career experiences to address the wide ranging issue of generational trauma in Milwaukee. After serving several years in the...
Unequal Hardships: Pandemic Misery Index reveals that few Americans have survived COVID-19 unscathed
By Kyla Thomas, Sociologist, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences With more than 30 million people infected and 550,000 dead, the U.S. is among the nations hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. From job loss to housing insecurity to mental distress, the...
Storytelling, community, and grief: How theater can help people heal from the trauma of the pandemic
By Joel Christensen, Professor of Classical Studies, Brandeis University President Joe Biden began his presidency by memorializing the 400,000 American lives that had been lost up to that point to COVID-19. The ceremony, held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, was...
From Prison to Apprenticeship: Joshua Johnson’s journey to reenter the Wisconsin workforce
Joshua Johnson had used the same deodorant for 10 years. In fact, he pretty much used the same everything for 10 years, like clothes, toothpaste, snack food, and a prison bunk. Which is why, when he was released from Winnebago Correctional Center in 2005, after...
A Lingering Stigma: Wisconsinites face struggles to find meaningful employment after a conviction
People of color in Wisconsin have higher incarceration rates than whites, which means many jobs and opportunities remain out of reach for them. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Janie Ocejo put her social work education and bilingual,...
Formerly incarcerated people are twice as likely to suffer food insecurity as the general population
By Margaret Lombe, Associate Professor of Social Work, Boston College; and Von Nebbitt, Associate Professor of Social Work, Washington University in St Louis Around 600,000 people are released annually from the United States‘s sprawling prisons network. Many face...
Bouncing Back: Wisconsin sees economic recovery from pandemic while lawmakers undermine progress
Governor Tony Evers celebrated Wisconsin’s continued economic recovery and bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic on June 8 as the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau released projections underscoring the state’s economic success. The revenue projections...
Wisconsin’s labor market: The many problems with hiring people to fill jobs existed long before COVID-19
More than a year ago, Wonderstate Coffee was developing its third Wisconsin café, a location on the Capitol square in Madison. And T.J. Semanchin, the owner of the Viroqua-based coffee roaster and purveyor, was contemplating how to improve the workplace for employees....
