Author Archive for contributor

Unacknowledged at home — here hang the names of lynching victims from Lacon to Decatur to Lewistown

Illinois column

BY PAM ADAMS He was George Stewart or S.W. Stewart or another variation. The name changed from newspaper to newspaper. He may have been part Indian, according to the newspaper in Toluca where his alleged crime occurred. Several points are…

Lynching victims in Central Illinois

BY PAM ADAMS The Equal Justice Initiative documented 56 racial terror lynchings in Illinois, the third highest number among states outside the South. Listed here are some of the lynchings in Central Illinois. Andrew Richards, 9/11/1877, Winchester, Scott County Nelson…

“You all are my therapists.” People who care.

Pam Adams

BY PAM ADAMS “At the site where you are standing, enslaved people were imprisoned with livestock, horses, pigs and cattle.” This is the Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration. The museum site shares a trendy, brick-paved alleyway of bars…

Letter to the Editor | Call Congress to voice support

A vital piece of federal legislation, the permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, awaits final Congressional approval before legislators adjourn in December. It would authorize the full, permanent, dedicated funding of America’s most important conservation and recreation…

Letter to the Editor | Take a second look at Kavanaugh

The current administration is establishing itself in history for using the power of the executive branch to reverse progress made over the past 50 years toward implementing the values of equality and wisdom. Instead, we see threats to better U.S.…

Op-Ed | Blackmail by plea bargain

BY ELIIDA LAKOTA Chase Iron Eyes is a member of the Standing Rock Nation in North Dakota. He is an attorney, an Indian activist and a member of the Lakota People’s Law Project. He was a Democratic candidate who ran…

Labor Roundup | December 2018

The U.S. Agriculture Department planned to speed up poultry plant production four years ago after lobbying by big poultry processors, endangering 250,000 workers and potentially putting sick chickens on consumers’ plates. But labor protested, and the USDA backed down. In…

Letter to the Editor | Senior Republicans should be speaking out

Issues that should disturb us include Russian interference in our sacred elections, Putin’s admission of support for Trump as President and the Russian spy Maria Butina’s work with the NRA. I long for presidents who governed our foreign policies when…

Letter to the Editor | Supreme Court tilts from justice

The Senate’s recent confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court likely means curtains for reproductive rights, environmental protection, union membership, voting rights, public education, medical coverage, even LGBTQ rights, as cases involving these issues work their way through…