Resistance was the watchword this year. These honorees not only refused to go backward; they challenged old orthodoxies.

Excerpts

Most Valuable Union
AMERICAN POSTAL WORKERS UNION

If you want to see solidarity in action, consider the response of the union that represents more than 200,000 US Postal Service employees and retirees to last summer’s Nazi violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. APWU president Mark Dimondstein explained to his members that rallying “for equality and against the hate-mongers” is essential union work. “What does all this have to do with the APWU? Everything!” argued Dimondstein. “Fascists are bitter enemies of workers and our unions. Their race and religious bigotry, intimidation, and violence are a direct threat to our unity and ability to stand up and fight back to save the public Postal Service, win good contracts, gain better working conditions, enjoy a better life, and live in a more just society.”

Most Valuable Modern Pamphleteer  BILL MOYERS

When no one else seemed to get it, Moyers embraced and amplified the work that Bob McChesney and I have done on media issues; his support for reform was a huge boost to groups like Free Press. Countless other movements could say the same. Moyers, 83, announced in December that the last of his many media platforms, BillMoyers.com, would “go into archive mode.” It’s a good bet he’ll keep speaking out, but his decision inspired an outpouring of appreciation, reminding us that, as his pamphleteering hero Tom Paine did in the 18th century, Moyers has popularized revolutionary ideas, radical proposals, and transformational movements that will come to be seen as the common sense of the 21st century.

Most Valuable Reading of the Constitution
KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND

Gillibrand started 2017 by opposing 20 of Trump’s 22 major cabinet and White House picks—more than any other Democrat. In a year that saw the New Yorker take more than her share of courageous stands—as scrutiny of sexual harassment mounted, she was well ahead of the curve in calling for the resignations of both Democratic Senator Al Franken and President Trump—Gillibrand bravely cast the sole vote against confirming James Mattis as defense secretary. Objecting to easing the ban on recently retired generals taking charge at the Pentagon, she declared: “I still believe that civilian control of our military is fundamental to the American democracy.” That dissent may have been lonely, but it was based on a proper reading of the Constitution that too many of her fellow senators neglect when issues of war and peace arise.

Most Valuable House Progressive
JAN SCHAKOWSKY

The Illinois Democrat finished 2017 by ripping GOP tax policies with seasonally appropriate verse (“’Twas the Night Before Tax Scam”) that concluded by warning Paul Ryan, “There’s nowhere to hide, / There’s no ‘cover your ass,’ / When you choose to take sides / Against the middle class.” A product of the Prairie State’s rough-and-tumble politics, Schakowsky knows how to fight—but she does so with a humor and humanity that’s often missing from congressional clashes. This has made her a leading figure in both the House Democratic Caucus and the Congressional Progressive Caucus. She kept her party united on votes to preserve the Affordable Care Act and to protect Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. But Schakowsky didn’t stop there; she waded into every debate, leading the charge to protect the Children’s Health Insurance Program, cut prescription-drug prices, preserve net neutrality, defend immigrants, and expand protections for women in the workplace.

Media for the people!  Learn more about Rise Up Times and how to sustain
People Supported News.
Follow RiseUpTimes on Twitter RiseUpTimes @touchpeace

Most Valuable House Newcomer  RO KHANNA

Capitol Hill’s steadiest champion of congressional oversight on war-making, Representative Barbara Lee always needs allies. She got a great one when Khanna arrived in January. Lee’s fellow California Democrat jumped into a leadership post with the Congressional Progressive Caucus (as did two other outstanding newcomers, Washington’s Pramila Jayapal and Maryland’s Jamie Raskin) and emerged as a savvy champion of net neutrality. But the law-school instructor made his boldest mark as an advocate for the restoration of constitutional checks and balances. Khanna decried the use of tax dollars to “bomb and starve civilians” in Yemen and—working with CPC co-chair Mark Pocan and libertarian-leaning Republicans—drafted legislation to block US support for Saudi Arabia’s brutal assault on that country. In November, Khanna and his allies forced a debate on the issue, getting the chamber to vote 366–30 for a nonbinding resolution stating that US military assistance for the Saudi war was not authorized by Congress. That was a small step. But with support growing for Lee’s effort to overturn the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, which has served as an excuse for military adventurism, Khanna says the Yemen vote signals that the project of “re-orienting our foreign policy away from our Saudi alliance and away from neocon/neoliberal interventionism” is finally beginning.

Most Valuable Legislators
GILDA COBB-HUNTER AND OTHER WOMEN
WHO SAY “WE, TOO…”

“It’s apparent that leadership to address sexual violence and harassment will not come from the federal level under the current administration,” read an October 31 letter by South Carolina state legislator Gilda Cobb-Hunter, along with Colorado’s Daneya Esgar, California’s Cristina Garcia, Oregon’s Sara Gelser, Georgia’s Renitta Shannon, Rhode Island’s Teresa Tanzi, and Illinois’s Litesa Wallace. “But in the states, there are concrete steps we can take to support survivors, hold offenders accountable, and prevent this behavior in the first place.”

The legislators explained that “we, too, have experienced harassment or assault. And we are saying enough. We, too, want to see change. And we are taking action to transform #MeToo from a social media movement into real change.” They proposed specific legislative initiatives, but they also suggested an electoral response: “Today, women make up just 24.8 percent of all state legislators in the nation, but after the 2016 election, more than 20,000 women are considering running for office. We have faith that these women can win and will join those of us who are working every day to demand solutions.”

Most Valuable Mayor  CARMEN YULÍN CRUZ

Puerto Rico is not allowed to send voting representatives to the US Congress. But after Hurricanes Irma and Maria swept through the Caribbean, San Juan’s mayor refused to allow the federal government to neglect the people of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Her objection to claims that bumbling recovery efforts were somehow going smoothly drew the ire of President Trump, but Cruz did not back down. “The Trump administration can’t handle the truth,” she declared. Addressing the president directly, Cruz said: “Mr. Trump, do your job. Lives are at stake. This is not about politics. This is not about your ego. This is about the people of Puerto Rico and the [Virgin Islands].” Her advocacy got national attention and helped secure vital aid, as officials recognized the truth of Cruz’s assertion that “survival cannot be our new way of life.”

Most Valuable Protest (Local)
MAYOR CHOKWE ANTAR LUMUMBA

After his landslide election in June as mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, Lumumba announced that he planned to make his hometown “the most radical city on the planet.” He has kept that promise with an ambitious agenda that includes cooperative development, citizen budgeting, and social and economic policies inspired by the activist movements of the 1960s and ’70s. So when Trump arrived in Jackson in December to attend opening ceremonies for the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, Lumumba was not on the dais but outside with NAACP leaders. “It is my appreciation for the Mississippi martyrs not here—the names both known and unknown—that will not allow me, that will not allow many of us standing here today, to share a stage with a president who has not demonstrated a continuing commitment to civil rights, a continuing commitment to human rights, a continuing commitment to women’s rights,” explained Lumumba, who spoke of his desire to “write a new narrative” for Mississippi, America, and the world. By refusing to appear with a president who keeps reading from the old script, Lumumba did just that.

Most Valuable Grassroots Activism
ADAPT AND DISABILITY ACTION FOR AMERICA

The greatest credit for blocking repeated attempts by congressional Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act and cut Medicaid goes to disability-rights activists, who rely on the ACA and Medicaid for their survival and for that of their families. They traveled to Washington at great physical and economic expense to save the ACA—and to argue for a health-care system that provides all Americans with the care and dignity they deserve. Called to action by ADAPT, a grassroots disability-rights organization with chapters in more than 20 states, as well as Disability Action for America and other groups, and supported by passionate allies such as Ben Wikler, Washington director of MoveOn.org, they took the lead. “While it’s important to work with our allies fighting against [ACA repeal], the importance of disability-led efforts cannot be overstated,” ADAPT said. “We are the ones who will be harmed first, and most, by this bill. We are responsible for getting our message through. Nothing about us without us!” These activists were everywhere in Washington, and they never backed down. In saving the ACA, they taught us all a lesson in resistance.

Most Valuable Media Intervention  PUBLIC NEWS SERVICE

When journalist Dan Heyman was arrested at the West Virginia State Capitol in May after he questioned visiting Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price on whether victims of domestic violence would be protected under one of the GOP’s “repeal and replace” health-care schemes, we were all reminded of the essential role of statehouse reporters. Heyman was able to fight back against the charge of “willful disruption of governmental processes”—which was eventually dropped—because he is part of a network of state-based reporters organized by the Public News Service. Developed to fill the void created by declining newspaper, radio, and television coverage of public-policy issues, PNS gets coalitions of organizations to fund journalism that covers neglected state issues. The reports are aired by commercial and community radio stations and often end up in print and online. PNS manages news services in 37 states, including West Virginia—where Heyman is still on the beat.

Most Valuable Protest (National)
WOMEN’S MARCH ON WASHINGTON

January 20 was the most dispiriting day of 2017. Donald Trump didn’t just assume the presidency; he did so with an ominous rumination on “American carnage” that confirmed the worst fears about him. But within hours of his swearing-in, Trump was checked and balanced. The Women’s March—brilliantly organized and promoted by a network of activists that included co-chairs Linda Sarsour, Tamika Mallory, Carmen Perez, and Bob Bland—filled the capital’s streets with crowds dramatically larger than those drawn by the new president. Sister marches stepped off from Maine to California and from Florida to Alaska, as millions joined what political scientists called the largest single-day protest in US history. The massive, multicity uprising so unsettled Trump that he is still sputtering about crowd sizes. Marchers maintained momentum by pulling together more than 5,000 huddles to advance their “10 Actions for the First 100 Days” agenda—putting women at the center of a nationwide resistance.

Click The 2017 Progressive Honor Roll to read the full honor roll.

No Peace! No Justice!  Please share this post.

The contents of Rise Up Times do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor.

Support independent media. Give today.