On November 4, Americans have 53,000 chances to tell extremists that we don’t want them in power. That’s how many open seats are on ballots nationwide in our upcoming local elections. But municipal elections generally have low voter turnout, especially in years like...
Rebecca
Do This: Help Your Friends Make Their 2025 Voting Plan
Did you know that Americans get their local news from friends, family, and neighbors more than any other source of information? That means it’s on us to make sure that the people we know are informed about upcoming local elections and have a plan in place to vote. You...
Do This: Make Your 2025 Voting Plan
Election Day – November 4 – is right around the corner, and it’s never too early to make your 2025 voting plan! Use vote.org or your state’s board of elections website to complete this step-by-step checklist: Check your voter registration status. Make sure that your...
Watch This: Why We’re Going Local in 2025
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the chaotic, 24-hour national news cycle and our emotionally charged social media feeds. Everything can feel so big; so distant; so daunting. So isn’t it comforting to know that the best way out of the chaos is to keep our focus close...
Read This: Five Reasons Why We “Go Local”
Lately, you may have seen Red Wine & Blue say, “When they go low, we go local!” What do we mean by that? Almost a decade ago, Michelle Obama made famous the phrase, “When they go low, we go high.” This was the Obama family motto for responding to cruel, hateful...
Okay, But Why is Gay Marriage at Risk?
The U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015, but recent events have people wondering, is gay marriage at risk? The laws of the United States are supposed to protect and lift up all of us. For hundreds of thousands of gay couples across America, the right to get married isn’t abstract – it affects their daily lives, their finances, their health, and their family. Why would we turn back the clock on the social progress we’ve made? And why is banning gay marriage a priority for some people when there are so many real issues affecting Americans?
Okay, But Why is AI a concern?
Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is everywhere these days. Some people think it’s the solution to all of humanity’s problems. Others think it’s going to bring about the end of life as we know it. The truth, as usual, is somewhere in between. But with so many different opinions and so many ways that AI can be used, it’s hard to know exactly what to believe. So let’s look at the facts and figure out, why is AI a concern?
Okay, But Why Are Romance Novels Political?
When people think of romance novels, the first thing that comes to mind is shirtless men with windswept hair on the covers of mass-market paperbacks, or maybe the “damsel in distress” main character who is waiting for a love interest to come and save her from the clutches of evil. They’re often not thought of as ‘real’ reading, because they are stories typically written by women, for women, and starring women. But what if the truth is that even the most “raunchy” novels of the genre are deeply political?
Okay, But Why Is Autism in the Headlines?
Millions of Americans are pushing back against claims made by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and President Donald Trump about finding the cause of autism and their promises to find treatments for the disorder. Trump has called the rise in diagnoses of autism “a tremendous horror show.” Many autism advocates – and people with autism themselves – say Kennedy’s and Trump’s statements are misinformed and even dangerous. So what’s the truth? Are autism rates rising? Do we know why? Is it even something that needs to be “cured”?
Do This: Unite Against Soft Censorship
The only way to end censorship, whether it’s the quiet removal of books from library collections or in-your-face book bans, is to fight it head on. We saw a huge example of this – and a big win for free speech – this week when ABC and Disney returned Jimmy Kimmel and...
Recent Posts
Do This: Tell Congress to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act
Last month, we completed our Easy A series on gerrymandering, but we’re returning to the topic one more time with breaking news! On April 29, the U.S. Supreme Court issued their decision in Louisiana v. Callais, a racial gerrymandering case we previously told you...
Read This: How Local Government Shapes our Daily Lives
When we talk about politics, we might immediately think about the President or Congress. They certainly give us a lot to talk about! But many of the decisions that impact our daily lives, like roads, schools, and public safety, are actually made at the local level. So...
Do This: See your state’s gerrymandering report card
Gerrymandering is when during the routine process of redistricting, politicians create voting districts that favor their own party in elections. Politicians shouldn’t pick their own voters! This is unfair to all voters and often leads to the underrepresentation of...
Watch This: How the Supreme Court Could Roll Back Voting Rights
Last week’s Easy A provided an easy explainer on gerrymandering, which is the purposeful drawing of voting districts to unfairly favor a certain group or political party. We learned that while gerrymandering is not necessarily illegal, Section 2 of the Voting Rights...
Read This: An easy explainer on gerrymandering
If you’ve been following politics lately, you’ve probably heard the term “gerrymandering” and like most people, you may have wondered, what the heck is that? What is gerrymandering? Gerrymandering is when the maps for voting districts are purposefully drawn unfairly...