theLeftAhead

The first single from the band James.

In an effort to add some context to a troubling day, theLeftAhead turns our thoughts to the incomparable Carl Sagan. In a public lecture at Cornell University in 1994, Sagan presented a photograph of planet Earth titled “Pale Blue Dot” that was taken on Valentine’s Day 1990 by the Voyager 1 space probe. He then delivered a brilliant, poetic speech about the photograph’s deeper meaning. For those of us who…

On Thursday, December 17th, my union, the Communications Workers of America, endorsed Bernie Sanders for President of the United States. As a public supporter of Bernie 2016, needless to say, I could not have been more thrilled with my union’s endorsement. In fact, ever since the endorsement was announced two weeks ago, I’ve been bursting with so much excitement about the political statement my union delivered by supporting Bernie that…

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington, it should be on everyone’s to-do list to take a few moments and sit with Dr. King’s empowering and illuminating words today. To that end, we’re sharing the full video and text of the speech here at theLeftAhead to do our small part towards nurturing collective reflection. The march towards justice continues….

My dad had dual American and British citizenship. He was born in Detroit, Michigan to working class British parents but then moved back to England when he was five years old. When he turned 18, he was enlisted in the British Royal Navy where he served on the British Destroyer Virago during World War II and his ship was part of the fleet flanking the coast of Normandy Beach during…

On June 21, 2012, Texas A&M University announced a plan to privatize a range of campus services that are currently performed by university employees. Included in the privatization plan are dining, landscaping, building maintenance and cleaning services. According to the Texas Tribune Data Library, 1270 workers were employed in the affected departments as of fiscal year 2011. To date, Texas A&M has not released the exact number of jobs that…

As of February 2012, TSEU has collected over 2,000 signatures for the FUND OUR FUTURE petition drive. We are circulating these petitions on the campuses of all of our public institutions to demonstrate that employees, students, parents, alumni, and citizens are serious about Texas fulfilling its obligation to provide quality, affordable public higher education. These petitions will be delivered to candidates and legislators during the 2012 general election cycle. At…

For Charlotte, and all who have worked or taught at The Learning Tree Time passes in on the cool autumn breeze The wise, old tree contently chuckles, it has long since made its peace with time Like clockwork, the children run up to pick the fruit and play in the shade Such joy the young faces bring the old tree, so filled with enthusiasm and wonderment The tree nurtures the…

The Justice League of America – Superman Needed His Union Too Evaluating “Waiting for Superman” from a union organizer’s perspective I guess every story about Superman needs villains and some of the most prominent villains in “Waiting for Superman” are the teachers’ unions. Let me begin by saying that I have no interest in discrediting this documentary as a whole. My father was an educator. My mother is an educator…