Equality and Opportunity

This month marks the 207th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Douglass, one of the greatest Americans ever to live. After he escaped from slavery in Talbot County, Maryland, Douglass eventually settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts, an anti-slavery stronghold, and got his first job as a dockworker. His enthusiasm for being able to work as a free ...

The Return of California Reparations Legislation  After falling short in the last legislative session, California reparations advocates have returned with new legislation benefitting descendants of enslaved persons. During the special legislative session on December 2, state lawmakers introduced three reparations bills:   AB 7 – Admission Pre ...

Happy New Year!  A lot has happened in the first couple weeks of 2025. In fact, a massive social media company has already managed to argue before the Court, get an adverse decision, shut down for a day, and be promptly revived! Let's get to it.  The so-called "conservative" Supreme Court justices split in a ruling against Trump, blowing critic ...

The Jones Act is a demonstrably bad policy, strangling the economy, driving up costs for ordinary citizens and crippling local businesses in Alaska and Hawaii. Why, then, does it continue to exist? Because protecting a few powerful players from competition moves legislators more than economic freedom. And because lawsuits challenging the Act hav ...

Health care shortages are a nationwide problem, but they are particularly concerning in Oregon – the state with the second fewest hospital beds and second fewest rehabilitation beds per capita. This problem didn't pop up overnight. Instead, Oregon's "certificate of need" laws have been restricting growth for decades, leaving Oregonians without acce ...

For many, going to college is a rite of passage—a step toward opportunity and realizing the American dream. College is where students meet like-minded peers, experience life away from home, and begin to find their place and purpose in the world. But if sky-high tuition and housing costs weren't already significant barriers for many prospective stud ...

Thanksgiving is a time when many feel compelled to help those less fortunate. As temperatures drop and families gather for bountiful meals, the contrast with people lacking housing, blankets, warm clothing, and food becomes stark. Yet, in some localities, sharing food or clothing with the homeless without government permission is a punishable offen ...

The holiday season is a time for nostalgia, joy, and reflection, and few things capture the spirit of the season like the classic children's holiday specials that have graced television screens for decades. These beloved tales are more than just seasonal entertainment—believe it or not, they offer timeless lessons about the foundations of a free an ...

Holiday season is upon us once again, which means it's the time of year when the world is collectively attuned to the importance of family, gratitude, and generosity to those in need. While the holiday spirit lasts only a couple of months, for the Ohio-based nonprofit organization Nourish our Neighbors (NON), helping the less fortunate is a year-ro ...