Featured – Going Native: Reasons to Be Thankful. Every year at this time I wonder why we, as American Indians, bother to celebrate Thanksgiving. Despite all our social ills and battles with state and the federal government, we always manage to find reasons for gratitude. For Indians, there have been the expected highs and lows. For the first time, two Native women were elected to the U.S. Congress. Democrat Sharice Davids, a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, will represent New Mexico and Democrat Deb Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna Tribe, will represent Kansas. Our voices are finally being heard in Washington, D.C. Sadly, in North Dakota, Republican leaders tried their darndest to suppress the native vote. Mark Anthony Rolo / The Progressive Read more  

Latinos help turn Southwest, West a deeper purple and blue. “I’ve been doing this for 12 years; it’s been red, red, red,” said longtime activist and newly elected state legislator, Raquel Teran. “Now we are purple.” Shown are people lining up to vote during the midterm elections in Tempe, Arizona, on Nov. 6, 2018. Stephen A. Nuno / NBC News Read more

Former President Barack Obama says “racism” and “mommy issues” stunt progress in the US. Former President Barack Obama addressed some of America’s most-pressing problems, education and climate change among them, during the Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago on Monday night. What prevents us from solving them? According to 44, it is “not the absence of technical solutions” but rather deep-seated hate that has not been disinfected from our country’s DNA. Rachel Leah / Salon Read more

Why bigotry is a public health problem. This means that some of the approaches we take toward controlling the spread of disease may be applicable to pathological bigotry: for example, by promoting self-awareness of bigotry and its adverse health consequences. Ronald W. Pies / The Conversation Read more Also see, America Needs A National Campaign Against Racism – Ronald J Sheehy 

2020 Democrats are dramatically changing the way they talk about race. White and nonwhite Democratic hopefuls are talking more explicitly about race than the party’s White House aspirants ever have — and shrugging off warnings that embracing so-called identity politics could distract from the party’s economic message and push white voters further into Donald Trump’s arms. Alex Thompson / Politico Read more

Can a Republican Lose in Mississippi? When the Republican in question is Cindy “Public Hanging” Hyde-Smith, the answer is : maybe? Espy has an uphill climb. According to Vox, Democratic strategists have a clear goal for turnout: “Thirty-five percent of Mississippi’s population is black, and Democrats need them to make up at least that much of the electorate—preferably more, of course—to have a chance.” Alex Shephard / The New Republic Read more  

Donald Trump ‘ill-informed’ about land issue, says South African President. In an exclusive interview with CNN, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa criticized Donald Trump’s views on South Africa’s land debate and blamed — in part — “fringe groups” lobbying in the US. David McKenzie and Brent Swails / CNN Read more

How America’s Perpetual Warfare Abroad Is Fueling an Increase in White Supremacist Violence in U.S. That’s one of the key findings in Frontline PBS and ProPublica reporter A.C. Thompson’s new investigation, “Documenting Hate: New American Nazis,” which premieres Tuesday evening on PBS. The documentary reveals the deep ties between the military and white supremacy, as Thompson examines the Pittsburgh shooting and the rise of violent hate groups such as Atomwaffen. Amy Goodwin and Juan Gonzalez / Democracy Now Watch here

Viola Desmond, black woman who spurred end of segregation in Nova Scotia, now appears on Canada’s $10 bill. Nine years before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a white passenger on a city bus in Montgomery, Ala., Canada’s Viola Desmond, a black businesswoman, defied an order to leave a whites-only section of a Nova Scotia movie theater, spurring a broader fight for racial equality that helped end segregation in the province. Amanda Coletta / Wash Post Read more

‘What to Send Up When It Goes Down’ Reveals the Reality of Racism in America. Part play, part group therapy, Obie-winner Harris’ piece immediately begins with a point of clarity. The work, directed by Whitney White, is primarily intended for a black audience, noting that it “is not often that black people have a safe, public space for expressing their unfiltered feelings about anti-blackness.” Tamara Best / The Daily Beast Read more

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