Dear Progressive Reader,

A few weeks ago, a list emerged that contained words that staffers at the Food and Drug Administration were no longer allowed to use. The list included words like “woman” and “disabled.” The White House now says the list may have resulted from a misunderstanding of President Donald Trump’s Executive Order on gender. But similar lists have been circulated at the National Science Foundation and elsewhere. The list also includes terms like “hate speech” and “victim.”

A word not on the list is “woke” which Trump has specifically called out as one of his targets numerous times—most recently in last Tuesday’s long speech in front of Congress. The word “woke” has been in usage since at least the early 1900s. Folksinger Huddie Ledbetter (Lead Belly) sang in 1938 “Stay woke. Keep your eyes open.” And, as actor and activist Jane Fonda recently told Screen Actor’s Guild Awards attendees, “woke just means you give a damn about other people.” What is the opposite of woke? “Somnambulant,” which the dictionary defines as “having the habit of walking while asleep.” Perhaps this is an apt phrase for those opposing wokeness?

This week on our website, Stephen Zunes writes about the double standards and hypocrisy when the United States condemns an occupation; Hank Kennedy assesses the history of U.S. designs on our neighbor to the north as a potential “fifty-first state;” Mike Ervin warns of threats to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act; and Harry Clark examines the effects that cuts to USAID programs will have, and are having, on people in Africa. Plus, Kerem Gençer tells the story of a Black community that stood up to a neo-Nazi rally; Nyki Duda reflects on the history of pro-Palestinian student protests; and Akilah Monifa celebrates boycotts in an op-ed for our Progressive Perspectives project. Also, Corey Devon Arthur reports from inside a prison in New York State on the conditions there affecting both prisoners and guards; for our Public Schools Advocate project, Maurice Cunningham continues his investigations into the school privatization movement and it’s funders; Attorney Alys Cohen opines on the importance of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, now under attack by the Trump Administration; and J.P. O’Malley speaks with author Colm Tóibín about the life and legacy of James Baldwin who first wrote for The Progressive in 1962.

Today is International Women’s Day. Marches are taking place across the United States and in other places around the globe. This year the themes and ideas behind this day could not be more important. Stand up and be counted!

Please keep reading, and we will keep bringing you important articles on these and other issues of our time.

Sincerely,

Norman Stockwell
Publisher

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