Posted in Columns Wade Rathke

Apps for the poor

by Wade Rathke February 3, 2022 New Orleans    Decades ago, ACORN embarked on a pilot to increase the enrollment for families in San Antonio, New Orleans, and Miami in the Earned Tax Credit and Child…

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Posted in Columns SCOTUS Wade Rathke

The pro-choice paths not taken

by Wade Rathke December 6, 2021 New Orleans    There was a depressing op-ed in the New York Times entitled “Losing the Fight Over Abortion” by Amy Littlefield, a correspondent for The Nation. Sadly, this may…

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Posted in Columns Housing Wade Rathke

Homeownership gap widens

by Wade Rathke September 28, 2021 New Orleans      When I wrote Citizen Wealth, published in 2009, I proudly recorded the role that ACORN played in increasing the homeownership rate of Black and Hispanic Americans…

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Posted in Columns Rent Control Wade Rathke

The fight for rent control is global

by Wade Rathke September 25, 2021 Pearl River    Talking to Sydnee Blum, ACORN’s head organizer in eastern Canada on Wade’s World, she told a shocking story of a member in one of the neighborhoods who…

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Posted in Columns Community organizing Wade Rathke

Remembering fresh eyes to horrible situations

by Wade Rathke April 30, 2021 New Orleans –  We were lucky on our work to launch the ACORN Tenants Union in Atlanta to have a bunch of serious and committed young apprentice organizers with us…

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Posted in Columns Republicans Voter suppression Wade Rathke

Republican resistance, state by state

by Wade Rathke February 26, 2021 Little Rock    After four years of Twitter torture, I understand how people seem to be following every little cough and sneeze in Washington these days, crossing their fingers for…

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Posted in Columns Wade Rathke

Wilbur Mills sunk in the Tidal Basin

by Wade Rathke February 25, 2021 Little Rock.    Wilbur Mills moved me to Arkansas in 1970. He didn’t reach out and offer me a job to work for him or anything like that. Quite the opposite….

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Posted in Columns Politics Wade Rathke

Climate, obits, and frozen pipes

by Wade Rathke February 17, 2021 New Orleans    I called a friend in Houston to see how bad the snow and ice had hit them. He said they were among the lucky ones and didn’t…

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Activists belonging to various human rights organizations hold placards as they stage a demonstration against the arrest of the activist Disha Ravi by Delhi Police for her alleged involvement in the instigation of violence during the farmers' protest in Bangalore, India on February 15, 2021. (Photo: Manjunath Kiran/AFP via Getty Images)
Posted in Climate change Environment News

Global outrage after India arrests climate activist over farmer protest toolkit shared by Greta Thunberg

#ReleaseDishaRavi Ravi’s arrest “is an unprecedented attack on democracy,” said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. “Supporting our farmers is not a crime.” by Jessica Corbett, staff writer Public figures within and beyond India are demanding the…

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Posted in Columns Wade Rathke

No veritas in O’Keefe’s Project Veritas

New Orleans    The scurrilous, criminal provocateur, James O’Keefe, and his have finally been reined in after a dozen years of mayhem and damage. Ironically, they are being hobbled by a new sheriff in the public…

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Posted in Columns Community organizing Service Wade Rathke

Anne Fenney

by Wade Rathke February 8, 2021 Pearl River I didn’t know Anne Fenney, but I stayed in her house. I’m not sure how that counts in degrees of separation, but I would mark it as pretty…

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Posted in Columns Community organizing Wade Rathke

Organizing in the Year of the Plague

by Wade Rathke January 28, 2021 New Orleans    The Year End / Year Begin meeting is a tradition and vital piece of planning, reflection, and celebration with our ACORN family of organizations. This one was…

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Posted in Columns Politics Wade Rathke

The roots of “Stop the Steal” in the attack on ACORN

by Wade Rathke Sunday, January 24, 2021 New Orleans   The arc of justice is long, but when people see it coming, they don’t stay silent. First, a text from the most devoted Times’ reader and…

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Posted in Accountability Columns Wade Rathke

Capitol Police asleep at the switch

by Wade Rathke Friday, January 8, 2021 New Orleans    One of the late-night comedians noted that these early resignations from White House staff and cabinet officers with less than two weeks before Biden’s inauguration are…

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Posted in Columns Community organizing Politics Wade Rathke

Celebrate, but keep it real, here come the Congressional Mod Squad

by Wade Rathke Wednesday, January 6, 2021 New Orleans   Victories have a thousand fathers and defeats are orphan children, or something like that. ACORN, the Voter Purge Project, and Labor Neighbor are glad to count…

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Posted in Columns Politics Wade Rathke

Doing our part in Georgia, ground game pays off

by Wade Rathke January 5, 2021 New Orleans   The double-barreled Senate runoff in Georgia has been something to watch, and even more interesting on the ground, as our team found doing our part to assure…

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Posted in Columns

Hey, Congress, lay off ACORN already

by Wade Rathke December 29, 2020 Pearl River   Good news! The still President, or as some call him the President-Unelect Donald Trump, went to sign his golf card in Florida and toady South Carolina Senator…

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Posted in Columns Racism Wade Rathke

Urban highway dividers

by Wade Rathke December 20, 2020 Pearl River   Remember way back when, back in 2018-19 in the “before” times, when Amazon was jacking up cities, large and small, to compete for their headquarters location? New…

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Posted in Columns Wade Rathke

Renters’ choice, landlords’ scam

by Wade Rathke December 17, 2020 Atlanta   Hitting the doors in various neighborhoods and apartment complexes in Atlanta, while talking to people about the runoff election, has been an education. Everyone knows about the upcoming…

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Posted in Columns Elections Wade Rathke

On the Doors in Atlanta

by Wade Rathke December 15, 2020 Atlanta   The Electoral College licked the envelope and sealed the deal on Joe Biden’s victory for Donald Trump to become the next President of the United States with 306 votes…

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Posted in Columns Wade Rathke

ACORN Memories from Dallas

December 13, 2020 Pearl River   It was interesting reminiscing with Johnny Clark, ACORN’s former national treasurer, from Dallas, Texas. As part of the 50th Anniversary commemoration of ACORN, Johnny was part of the monthly Wade’s World…

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Posted in Columns Wade Rathke

Passage of Corporate Transparency Act is Huge!

by Wade Rathke December 12, 2020 Pearl River   Big props to Congresswoman Carolyn Mahoney (D-NY) who has been resubmitting the Corporate Transparency Act every session of Congress since 2009 for staying on the case until…

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Posted in Columns Energy Sustainability Wade Rathke

Biodiesel, before and after

by Wade Rathke December 7, 2020 New Orleans   Over a decade ago, ACORN stumbled into an offer that seemed exciting as a progressive experiment. Friends and relatives of friends and comrades had been bitten by…

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Posted in Columns Wade Rathke

A radio lesson from the ACLU in NOLa DA’s race

by Wade Rathke December 6, 2020 Pearl River   The 2020 election season isn’t quite over, as the Senate runoff in Georgia proves, but that’s not the only place where there are key runoffs. In New Orleans,…

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