Issue 54: Dossier
The language of land management.
20401 Article(s) by: Opal Lee
Opal Lee is a writer.
Issue 54: Letters
Send your crop report to [email protected].
The Black Belt Communists
During the Great Depression, black sharecroppers and the Communist Party waged war against tenant farming in the South.
When Bernie Went Back to the Land
While free love, weed, and tie-dye might not have been his bag, even the young Bernard Sanders of Brooklyn, NY, tried a life of living off the land. It didn’t work out.
Provincial Pretenders
The only thing more American than living and working on a farm is pretending you do.
Can Policies Make Rural Politics?
The rural divide is deep and, in many cases, based on real abandonment by liberal technocrats. More than just new policies, Democrats need a new approach to rural voters.
A Twenty-First-Century Horse Opera
Yellowstone sells a fantasy of rural America — and conservatism — no different from any other prime-time soap opera.
Tall Tails
Some of the most frightening beasts of American folklore may be hiding out in your neck of the woods.
The Old World’s New Agriculture
In today’s Europe, the exploitation of migrant workers puts food on the table.
Apartheid’s Green Thumb
Since the 1960s, Israel has planted millions of trees across the Naqab desert and the West Bank. The afforestation effort greenwashes ethnic cleansing — and literally covers up the evidence.
Favela Archipelago
Brazil’s impoverished, informal urban neighborhoods are the result of long-term rural neglect.
Outside the Green Line
Israel has laid waste to Palestinian agriculture for decades. It’s only gotten worse since the war started.
Sacrificial Lambs
The success of the “nuclear sponge” strategy means the destruction of the Great Plains.
Rural Voter Blues
Contrary to what you’ve heard, progressives actually can reach rural voters.
Jane McAlevey Knew We Could Win
Among Jane McAlevey’s many audacious projects in the labor movement, her organizer training program, Organizing for Power, is one of her most innovative. Reaching tens of thousands of workers worldwide, her ideas and commitment will live on through it.
Old Man Zuck’s Family Farm
Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t work the land on his Hawaii ranch, but he and other wealthy landowners still benefit from huge agricultural tax breaks.
Landsharks
Since 2008, Wall Street has made a pretty penny exacerbating the housing crisis.