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“People Have Just Had Enough”: West Virginia Teachers Continue Historic Strike into Eighth Day
Schools across West Virginia are closed for an eighth day, as more than 20,000 teachers and 13,000 school staffers remain on strike demanding higher wages and better healthcare. The strike, which began on February 22, has shut down every public school in the state. Teachers are demanding a 5 percent raise and a cap on spiraling healthcare costs.

U.K. University Workers Enter Week 3 of Strike Against Pension Cuts & “Marketization” of Higher Ed
In Britain, tens of thousands of lecturers, librarians, researchers and other university workers are on strike to protest attacks on their pensions, as well as soaring school fees for students.

From Coal Miners to Teachers: West Virginia Continues to Lead Radical Labor Struggle in the U.S.
For decades, West Virginia has been at the forefront of labor activism in the United States. As the state’s teachers continue their historic strike, which has shut down every single West Virginia school, looking at the history of the labor activism in the Mountain State is Jay O’Neal, a middle school teacher and a union activist in Charleston, West Virginia.

“The Oscars Are Still So White”: While Awards Project Diversity, Most Winners Remain White Men
The 90th Academy Awards were held Sunday night, where the vast majority of the awards went to white men, despite years of activism demanding increased racial and gender diversity in Hollywood. The awards show came on the heels of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, which rocked Hollywood after dozens of actresses came forward to accuse Hollywood’s most powerful producer, Harvey Weinstein, of rape, sexual assault and harassment that stretched back decades. April Reign is creator of the viral hashtag #OscarsSoWhite and senior director of marketing for Fractured Atlas, a nonprofit arts service organization. Soraya Chemaly is a journalist who covers the intersection of gender and politics. She is the director of the Women’s Media Center Speech Project.

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Mother of Accused NSA Leaker Reality Winner: My Daughter Wasn’t Read Her Miranda Rights
On Tuesday, former U.S. intelligence contractor Reality Leigh Winner appeared in court in Augusta, Georgia, where her lawyers asked the judge to exclude her statements to FBI agents on the day she was arrested, arguing she was denied her Miranda rights. Winner is a former National Security Agency contractor who has pleaded not guilty to charges she leaked a top-secret document to The Intercept about Russian interference in the 2016 election. She is facing up to 10 years in prison on charges she violated the Espionage Act. Kevin Gosztola is a journalist and managing editor of Shadowproof Press. He was in the courtroom in Augusta on Tuesday, and his recent article is titled “In Reality Winner’s Case, Defense Seizes Upon FBI Testimony to Bolster Motion to Suppress Statements.” And in Augusta, Georgia, Reality Winner’s mother, Billie Winner-Davis, speaks from her daughter’s house, where Reality Winner was questioned and arrested by FBI agents on June 3.

Civil Rights Leader Who Desegregated U. of Georgia on Student-Led Movements of 1960s and Today
As a student-led movement for gun control sweeps the country, we look back at a key moment in another historic student movement: desegregation. On January 9, 1961, African-American students Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes walked onto the campus of the University of Georgia to register for classes, as a howling mob of white students screamed racial epithets at them. It was a pivotal moment in the African-American student-led movement to desegregate America’s public high schools and universities. Charlayne Hunter graduated in 1963 and went on to have an award-winning career in journalism, working for PBS, NPR and CNN.

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A Message to Trump: Fund Background Checks and Public Health Research on Guns—Don’t Arm Teachers
Two weeks after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, left 17 people dead, President Trump appears to have broken with the NRA and his Republican colleagues. At a televised White House meeting with lawmakers on Wednesday, Trump urged Republican and Democratic lawmakers to pass comprehensive gun control measures. At one point he accused Republican Senator Pat Toomey of being “afraid of the NRA.” After the meeting, NRA spokesperson Jennifer Baker said, “While today’s meeting made for great TV, the gun control proposals discussed would make for bad policy that would not keep our children safe. Instead of punishing law-abiding gun owners for the acts of a deranged lunatic, our leaders should pass meaningful reforms that would actually prevent future tragedies.” Speaking from Washington is Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. She wrote an open letter to Trump on Wednesday explaining her opposition to his push to arm teachers. Also in Washington is Kris Brown, co-president at the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. And here in New York is Andy Pelosi, executive director of the Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus.

West Virginia Teachers Win Promise of Pay Raise, But Continue Strike over Soaring Healthcare Costs
In West Virginia, public schools remain closed today, after the state’s teachers’ unions remained on strike over the high cost of health insurance. On Tuesday, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice agreed to boost teacher salaries by 5 percent in the first year of a new contract, but the teachers say the deal isn’t enough to offset skyrocketing premiums in the Public Employees Insurance Agency. Some 20,000 teachers and 13,000 school staffers say they’ll remain on strike until they win a better agreement on healthcare.

“Freakishly Warm” Arctic Weather Has Scientists Reconsidering Worst-Case Scenarios on Climate Change
Scientists are expressing dismay over unprecedented warm temperatures in the Arctic. In recent days, temperatures at the North Pole have surged above freezing—even though the sun set last October and won’t rise again until later this month. On the northern tip of Greenland, a meteorological site has logged an unprecedented 61 hours of temperatures above freezing so far in 2018. The record-breaking temperatures are connected to an unusual retreat of sea ice in the sunless Arctic winter. Scientists suggest warming temperatures are eroding the polar vortex, the powerful winds that once cushioned the frozen north. The alarming heat wave is causing scientists to reconsider even their bleakest forecasts of climate change. According to a leaked draft of a scientific report by a United Nations panel of scientists, “The risk of an ice-free Arctic in summer is about 50 per cent or higher,” with warming of between 1.5 and 2.0 degrees Celsius.

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Cruel & Unconstitutional: ACLU Denounces SCOTUS Ruling Approving Indefinite Immigrant Detention
The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that federal authorities can continue to indefinitely detain some immigrants and asylum seekers without a bond hearing. The 5-3 ruling overturned the rulings of two lower courts that found immigrants facing prolonged detention must be given a custody hearing. But Tuesday’s Supreme Court decision does not end the battle over indefinite detention. The justices sent the case back to the federal appeals court to evaluate the constitutionality of the practice. Tuesday’s decision came a day after the Supreme Court dealt a blow to President Trump’s efforts to rescind DACA, the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which gives at least 700,000 young immigrants permission to live and work in the United States. The court refused to hear a White House appeal of lower court rulings saying Trump’s move to cancel the program was unconstitutional.

How the “Black Panther” Film Is “A Defining Moment for Black America”
As Black History Month wraps up, we look at the record-breaking movie “Black Panther.” Since the release of “Black Panther” earlier this month, fans have crowdfunded campaigns to ensure children can see the film in theaters, teachers have incorporated the movie’s core themes of anti-colonialism and cultural representation into their curriculum, and activists have used film screenings to hold mass voter registration drives. The movie has also renewed calls for the release of more than a dozen imprisoned members of the real Black Panther Party. “Black Panther” has also ignited a firestorm of impassioned social commentary online among fans and detractors alike.

Afrofuturism, Liberation & Representation in “Black Panther”: A Roundtable Discussion
While “Black Panther” has broken box office records, it has also generated an intense debate. This segment features a roundtable with three guests: Christopher Lebron, a professor at Johns Hopkins University who recently wrote “Black Panther Is Not the Film We Deserve”; Robyn C. Spencer, a professor at Lehman College, who wrote “Black Feminist Meditations on the Women of Wakanda”; and Carvell Wallace, author of The New York Times Magazine story “Why Black Panther Is a Defining Moment for Black America.”

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Modern-Day Redlining: Banks Face Probes for Refusing Home Loans for People of Color
A shocking new investigation by Reveal and the Center for Investigative Reporting has uncovered evidence that African Americans and Latinos continue to be routinely denied conventional mortgage loans, even at rates far higher than their white counterparts, across the country. According to the piece, the homeownership gap between whites and African Americans is now wider than it was during the Jim Crow era. Reveal based its report on a review of 31 million mortgage records filed with the federal government in 2015 and 2016. The investigation found the redlining occurring across the country, including in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Detroit, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and San Antonio, Texas. Since its publication earlier this month, the report has sparked national outrage and, in some states, unusually swift political action. Pennsylvania’s attorney general and state treasurer have both launched investigations into redlining in Philadelphia.

Let’s Move Our Money: Penn. Lawmaker Demands Action Against Banks Practicing Racist Redlining
As the state of Pennsylvania and the city of Philadelphia begin probes into racist lending practices, Pennsylvania state Senator Vincent Hughes urges constituents to pull their money from banks denying home loans to people of color. This comes after a recent investigation by Reveal found African-American mortgage applicants in Philly are almost three times as likely to be denied a conventional mortgage as white applicants.

Janus v. AFSCME: Will Supreme Court Side with Koch Brothers in Their War Against Organized Labor?
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a key case that could deal a massive blow to public unions nationwide. The case, Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, deals with whether workers who benefit from union-negotiated contracts can avoid paying union dues if they opt not to join the union. The lead plaintiff, Mark Janus, is a child support specialist who argues that a state law in Illinois allowing the union to charge a fee for collective bargaining activities violates his First Amendment rights. Numerous right-wing groups have trumpeted his claim in their latest attempt to weaken the political power of public unions. The groups include the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity, the State Policy Network, ALEC—American Legislative Exchange Council—and the Bradley Foundation.

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As Students Demand Gun Control, Arms Manufacturers Continue Targeting “Next Generation of Shooters”
In Parkland, Florida, students returned to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Sunday afternoon for the first time inside their school since February 14, when a 19-year-old former student named Nikolas Cruz walked into the school and opened fire with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, killing 17 people. This comes as lawmakers return to Capitol Hill today after a one-week vacation. Congress is facing massive pressure to pass gun control measures amid the rise of an unprecedented youth movement, led by Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students who survived the mass shooting. President Trump has reiterated his calls to arm teachers with concealed weapons.

Lee Fang: Billionaire Koch Brothers Have Extracted “Laundry List” of Victories from Trump Admin
The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments today in a key case that could deal a massive blow to unions nationwide. The case, Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, deals with whether workers who are covered by union-negotiated contracts are required to pay a portion of union dues even if they are not members of the union. This case is among a slew of conservative causes that right-wing donors have poured money into in recent years—among them, the Koch brothers, who recently boasted they’ve won a “laundry list” of victories from the Trump administration.

Six Months After Harvey, Environmental Justice & Climate Change Absent from Houston’s Recovery Plans
This week marks six months since Hurricane Harvey caused historic flooding in Houston, Texas, the most diverse city in the nation and one of its largest. Houston is also home to the largest refining and petrochemical complex in the country. As federal money for rebuilding trickles in, Houston’s chief “recovery czar” is the former president of Shell Oil, Marvin Odum, whose past experience includes rebuilding Shell’s oil and gas facilities after Hurricane Katrina. Meanwhile, immigrants and fenceline communities who suffer from pollution along Houston’s industrial corridor are still largely absent from much of the discussion about how the city plans to recover.

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Masha Gessen: Did a Russian Troll Farm’s Inflammatory Posts Really Sway the 2016 Election for Trump?
The Justice Department recently indicted 13 Russians and three companies in connection with efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election. The indicted are accused of orchestrating an online propaganda effort to undermine the U.S. election system. The indictment claims the Russians spread negative information online about Hillary Clinton and supportive information about Donald Trump, as well as Bernie Sanders—but some are warning against overstating what Russia accomplished. Award-winning Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen is a longtime critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Her recent piece for The New Yorker is titled “The Fundamental Uncertainty of Mueller’s Russia Indictments.”

Masha Gessen: Russiagate Has Become a Conspiracy Trap Obscuring How Trump Is Damaging Nation
Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen talks about how President Trump has benefited from what she calls the “conspiracy trap” around Russia’s role in the 2016 election. She wrote last year, “Russiagate is helping him—both by distracting from real, documentable, and documented issues, and by promoting a xenophobic conspiracy theory in the cause of removing a xenophobic conspiracy theorist from office.”

“The Young Karl Marx”: Raoul Peck on New Film Examining How Marx Developed Critique of Capitalism
World-famous filmmaker Raoul Peck is releasing a film today in Los Angeles and New York on the life and times of Karl Marx. It’s called “The Young Karl Marx.” The film’s release comes as the head of the National Rifle Association, Wayne LaPierre, broke his silence after last week’s Florida school shooting that left 17 dead, attacking gun control advocates as communists in an address to the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC. Peck speaks about his new film and the role of Marxism in organizing for gun reform.

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“The Time to Act Is Now”: Florida School Shooting Survivors Confront Trump, Rubio on Gun Control
“The time to act is now.” That’s the message of survivors of last week’s school shooting in Florida. On Wednesday, the nation witnessed grieving students, parents and teachers powerfully confront the president and lawmakers over gun control in pointed—and often tense—televised exchanges. The day began with students across the United States—from Minnesota to Colorado to Arizona—walking out of class to demand stricter gun laws. Meanwhile, survivors of the shooting descended on the Florida state Capitol in Tallahassee to demand lawmakers pass legislation addressing gun violence before the legislative session ends. In the afternoon, President Trump—along with Vice President Mike Pence and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos—hosted a listening session with survivors of recent shootings, including students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Wednesday evening, survivors of the massacre at Stoneman Douglas High School sparred with politicians during a town hall hosted by CNN.

Former Parkland Student: I Interned for Senator Rubio. Now I’m Begging Him to Act on Guns
As students’ protests grow in Florida, a former intern for Senator Rubio who is also a graduate from Stoneman Douglas High School, Shana Rosenthal, wrote a piece for The New York Times titled “I Interned for Senator Rubio. Now I’m Begging Him to Act on Guns.” In the piece, the 21-year-old reveals she has already been near four mass shootings: at Florida State University, Fort Lauderdale airport and the massacres at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando and at Stoneman Douglas High School last week. She attended the CNN town hall last night.

“A Monstrous Campaign of Annihilation”: Death Toll in Eastern Ghouta Tops 300 from Syrian Assault
The United Nations has condemned the Syrian government’s recent deadly barrage of airstrikes and artillery fire against the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta, outside the capital of Damascus. Aid workers report at least 300 people have been killed over the past three days. Many of the victims are women and children. Targets have included hospitals and residential apartment buildings.

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