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idealist.org – Get paid to fight the good fight.
Idealist.org is a nonprofit job listings site. Whether
you’ve just started or finished college, or you’re
thinking about making a career change, go here to
catch a glimpse of the kinds of things you could
actually get paid to do.
1. Daily/Monthly News
Democracynow.org – featuring host Amy Goodman,
one
of our nation’s best independent reporters.
Truthout.org – forget TV news and hourly updates on
the radio; subscribe to Truthout.org and you’ll get
all the daily news you need, without the corporate
media bias.
TowardFreedom.com – we all need to know something
about the world. Here my friend Benjamin Dangl, editor, keeps us up-to-date on what’s really happening
in Latin America and around the world. This is truly a unique news source. (Did I mention I write for them
every now and again?).
Z Magazine – The
things no one else has the honesty to say or print.
Within the pages of this daring monthly journal you’ll
frequently find works by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn,
among others. Pick it up at your local bookstore or
check ’em out online.
The Humanist – with a
big emphasis on maintaining the separation of church
and state, The Humanist brings together reflections on
the philosophy of life, the way in which we live, and
important social justice issues.
Humanist Network News – Complete with secular/Humanist/atheist parenting and personal columns, HNN is a unique source of news and information for those of us who aren’t religious.
Dads and Daughters – An organization for the dads out there who are sick of seeing women degraded and who want to ensure that their daughters grow up in a healthy, sexist-free environment. The only organization of its kind, Dads and Daughters helps us be better dads for the girls whose lives we so greatly impact.
Democracy in Americas – For the real scoop on what’s happening in Cuba and Venezuela check out this organization’s objective work and research. The organization is working to move the U.S. away from its historically imperialist policies.
2. Required Reading
Nonfiction
- Cost of Freedom: Anthology of Activism & Peace (2008)
- William Blum, Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA
Interventions Since World War II (2004)
- Noam Chomsky, Hegemony or Survival (2003)
- Paul Farmer, Pathologies of Power: Health, Human
Rights, and the New War on the Poor (2004)
- Charles Johnson, The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism,
Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (2005)
- Martin Luther King, A Testament of Hope: The
Essential Writings and Speeches
of Martin Luther King,
Jr. (2003)
- Jeff Nall, Perpetual Revolt (2008)
- Greg Palast, Armed Madhouse (2006)
- Edward W. Said, Representations of the Intellectual (1996)
- Joseph E. Stiglitz, Globalization and its
Discontents (2003)
- A Soviet Heretic: Essays by Yevgeny Zamyatin
- Georgi Markov, The Truth That Killed
- Mark Weisbrot and Luis Sandoval, “The Venezuelan
Economy in the Chávez Years,”
Center for Economic and
Policy Research (Washington, July 2007) : 1-22
Fiction
- Upton Sinclair, The Jungle
- Zamyatin, We (before Orwell wrote 1984, Zamyatin
wrote We)
- A. Calmus, The Plague
3. Required Watching
- The Revolution Will Not Be Televised Two independent filmmakers were presentt on April 11, 2002, when Hugo chavez was forcibly removed from office; and also 48 hours later when, remarkably, he returned to power amid cheering aides.
- The Battle of Algiers (a fictional account that
carries a great deal of truth)
- Sophie Scholl (based on the real life of Sophie
Scholl, one of the members
of the anti-Nazi resistance
group, the White Rose)
- Sicko
- V for Vendetta
- Fast Food Nation
- Iron Jawed Angels
- The Grapes of Wrath
- The Corporation
- Outfoxed
- Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price
- The Fog of War - Eleven Lessons from the Life of
Robert S. McNamara
MoveOn.org – it’s hard to find a more savvy or
active group. MoveOn works hard to stick to its
grassroots approach by listening to what its members
have to say about what they should take on and how
they should do it. Sign up for the organization’s
regular emails. They won’t swamp you; but they’ll
definitely give you plenty of actions to consider.
Code Pink – Let Code Pink
give meaning to your life. Like the idea of bringing
art and compassion together, sign up and be a part of
the groundswell. Code Pink is dedicated to
ending war; if you are, this is the group for you.
ANSWER – I’ll give it
to you straight: ANSWER ain’t your gentle “please
stop bombing other countries” approach to
peacemaking kind of organization. ANSWER is comprised
of many groups including the Party for Socialism and
Liberation, the Muslim Student Association, and the
Free Palestine Alliance. You want something a little
less PR and a little more radical? ANSWER gives it to
you. While they are off-putting to some, once you’ve
done your homework (Required Reading), you understand
that our nation has so much blood on its hands that
nothing short of major changes in (foreign) policy are
needed.
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State – Thank God for Thomas Jefferson and James
Madison. They made it crystal clear, despite the
screams from the religious right, that this country
would not allow religion and government to merge. And
Americans United work day and night to preserve the
First Amendment’s separation of church and state.
National Organization for Women – Man or
woman, if you care about gender equality, and you
should, NOW is an organization that both deserves your
support and makes it easy for you to get involved.
American Humanist Association – For those of us who
aren’t religious or God-fearing at all, this is a
group with the secular soul to ground our godless
worldview.
ACLU – Did you say Close Guantanamo, Stop
Torture, Protect Civil Liberties? If you did, thank
God the ACLU's got your back. Give ’em some money if you
got it. And get on their email list. When they send an
alert, you know its important and something you should
act on.
Amnesty International – simply one of the most important organizations on the planet.
Space Coast Progressive Alliance – If you’re ever in
Brevard County Florida (Cocoa Beach, Melbourne, Cape
Canaveral), be sure to hit up
SpaceCoastProgressiveAlliance.org. There’s always
some kick-ass progressive soiree happening in this
neck of the woods. Legend has it that before the Iraq
war this county was home to the Christian Coalition
and a congressman who not only opposed abortion
rights, but contraception, too. Well, those days are
over. And I’m proud to say I helped found this group a
few years ago. These days it’s run by the most
amazing, compassionate progressives you’ve ever met.
Check’em out.
Progressive Democrats of America – Help make the Democratic Party a party that truly represents the People. PDA aims to empower everyday Democrats to make sure the party fights the good fight and adopts a progressive vision of the world.
Secular Student Alliance – Looking for an organization that is doing its best to stand up to religious fundamentalism and make room for those of us who aren’t religious? This is the organization for you.
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