Poverty

Why Forest Whitaker Is Making the UN Goals Famous

HUFFINGTON POST 04/22/16 By Michael Shank This was a big week for the United Nations, which came out strong on climate and the sustainable development goals and witnessed major milestones in recent months. First, on climate, post-Paris, there were over 160 countries signing the deal at UN headquarters on Earth […]

What the Flint Crisis Reveals About Inequality in the U.S.

TIME MAGAZINE 02/09/15 By Michael Shank and Justin Talbot-Zorn It isn’t just how much money people are making—it’s also what people are breathing, drinking and eating On Sunday, Hillary Clinton took leave from the New Hampshire campaign trail to address to a local church in Flint, Mich. Just a few […]

Congress Better Listen to the Pope on Climate Change

DAILY BEAST 09/21/15 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Lloyd Doggett Pope Francis is not just pontificating. His urgent message is about preserving human life. One might imagine, or hope, that Congress would experience the historic address of Pope Francis to a joint session later this week as something beyond […]

Death to America in Yemen? No.

HUFFINGTON POST  03/03/15 By Michael Shank With Yemen politics in perpetual disarray – as President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi escapes house arrest, rescinds his resignation, seeks refuge in the south, and a transitional council commences in the capital – the country’s economy and currency remain on the brink of collapse, water […]

Community Activists Question Timing Of Grand Jury Announcement

NPR 11/25/14 By Laura Sullivan For weeks, Ferguson police and local leaders met with community groups and activists to work out a plan for the aftermath of the grand jury’s decision whether to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown. But any results of that […]

Detroit’s Death Knell? Austerity, Structural Racism, Water Wars

HUFFINGTON POST 11/18/14 By Michael Shank and Peter J. Hammer The post-industrial dystopia emerging on the streets of Detroit may be shocking, but it is not surprising. The crisis results from the convergent forces of fiscal austerity and structural racism in a region defined by its extreme segregation of race, […]

Yemen’s a Model All Right—For Disaster

DAILY BEAST 11/13/14 By Michael Shank and Casey Harrity Guns, drones, and special forces were not enough to stabilize Yemen, and they won’t be enough to stop ISIS. Remember the so-called “Yemen model,” the seeming success story for a U.S. policy targeting terrorists that President Barack Obama pointed to a […]

DC’s Attorney General Race: A Serious Impact on District Youth

HUFFINGTON POST 11/03/14 By Michael Shank and Erica Marshall On November 4 the voters in the District will turn out to choose our City’s next mayor. On the same ballot, after casting a vote for David Catania, Muriel Bowser or Carol Schwartz, voters will be asked to choose between five […]