Protests were out in full force against a far right-wing advocacy group holding their national summit in Philadelphia June 29-July 2. Self-proclaimed parental-rights group Moms for Liberty (M4L) held their “Joyful Warriors” summit at the Philadelphia Marriott...
Book Bans
Battle for the 2024 mom vote comes to Philadelphia
People for the American Way, a progressive advocacy group, is organizing demonstrations outside the Moms for Liberty conference with help from allied groups including the Campaign for Our Shared Future, MomsRising, and Red, Wine & Blue. A “Drag Queen Story Hour”...
The Book-Bans Debate Has Finally Reached a Turning Point
Across multiple fronts, Democrats and their allies are stiffening their resistance to a surge of Republican-led book bans. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the past month have conspicuously escalated their denunciations of the book bans...
Op-Ed: Lessons for Becoming a Public Scholar
Academics at many colleges and universities today face an uncertain future. Rising tuition and falling enrollments, the lack of tenure-track positions, the dwindling student interest in the humanities in favor of business and STEM degrees, and growing questions about...
Students, authors fight censorship in PA schools
About four hours before the Central Bucks School District passed a new library policy in July, local high school junior Lily Freeman warned a crowd of about 100 what would follow. The policy, passed by a 6-3 vote, targeted books with explicit or implied depictions of...
The day the book banners lost in Pennsylvania’s culture wars
If you ban it, they will come. For the better part of an hour Saturday, dozens of teenagers and their parents snaked around the towering stacks of tomes inside Kutztown’s Firefly Books and sometimes spilled onto the sidewalks of this quaint Berks County college town —...
Commentary: Banning books is a futile practice serving no deed
Last March, I was invited by Christine Pearl ’11 to facilitate a book club session on my second favorite Toni Morrison novel, “Beloved.” The session was an extension of the efforts of the nonprofit organization Red Wine & Blue, whose mission is to empower and...
‘Too Hyperbolic’? School Board Parental Rights Push Falters
State teachers unions have increased spending on their candidates, and grassroots groups including Red Wine and Blue have rallied liberal suburban parents.
PRESS RELEASE: On Day Education Board Meets to Enact DeSantis’ Extreme Agenda, FL Moms Release Six-Figure Ad Buy to Stand Up and Fight Back – Especially With Suburban Women
“We may just be moms, but come November, you’ll be just a former governor.” Suburbs across Florida, October 19, 2022 - Today, Red Wine & Blue released “Just Moms,” a new ad featuring Florida moms fighting back against Ron DeSantis’ education extremism. The ad,...
How to protect schools from right-wing extremists
Reader Commentary in the Balitmore Sun. My thanks to Dhruvak Mirani for his clear and extensive commentary on the current right-wing attacks on public education (“Don’t get distracted by Dan Cox; Maryland boards of education are under threat from right-wing...
Recent Posts
Do This: Share November 4 Elections Information
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...
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...