Equality

Despite its birth as a nation conceived in principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the struggle for equality in America has remained a disturbing constant in our history. Bill Moyers’ body of work addresses the fights for equality in race, gender and sexual orientation, and against the economic injustice that finds half of our citizens living at poverty level or worse. With the shows, specials, essays and talks below, see how far we’ve come and how far we still need to go.

EXPLORE Equality

FILE - In this Sept. 18, 2008 file photo, a mountaintop removal mining site at Kayford Mountain, W.Va. with Coal River Mountain, left, in the background. Environmental activists gained more momentum this year than in the past decade against the destructive, uniquely Appalachian form of strip mining known as mountaintop removal. But they have yet to mobilize the millions of supporters they want. (AP Photo/Jeff Gentner, File)
Rise Up or Die
May 20, 2013 | Perspectives
Chris Hedges writes that we must either defy the corporate state or accept our extinction as a species. He believes rebellion is the only way to remain fully human.
A sign for Wall Street is displayed on the side of building near the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, March 4, 2013. Uncertainty over the outcome of a budget battle in Washington pushed world stock markets lower on Monday. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Fighting Poverty Through Wall Street Accountability
May 19, 2013 | Perspectives
Greg Kaufmann speaks with labor union organizer Stephen Lerner about the intersection between poverty and Wall Street accountability.
Poll worker Eric Carr, background center, watches a technician for the New York City Board of Elections clear a paper jam in a ballot scanner as voters wait to scan their ballots, at a school in New York's Harlem neighborhood, Nov. 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
The Link Between Mass Incarceration and Voter Turnout
May 15, 2013 | Smart Charts

A new study contends that the percentage of black males who voted is even higher than the Census reported. Voter turnout figures look a lot different when you take felony convictions into account. Continue reading

OEDC income inequality
Poverty and Inequality in Some of the World’s Richest Countries
May 15, 2013 | Smart Charts

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OEDC, has released its latest data. The United States has one of the highest rates of inequality, topped only by three countries in a select group of developed market economies. Continue reading

In this March 29, 2013 photo, women walk past blighted row houses in Baltimore. Baltimore is far from the worst American city for poverty, but it faces all the problems of cities where vast numbers of the poor now live. The U.S. Census Bureau puts the number of Americans in poverty at levels not seen since the mid-1960s, while $85 billion in federal government spending cuts that began last month are expected to begin squeezing services for the poor nationwide. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
12 Things You Can Do To Fight Poverty Right Now
May 12, 2013 | Take Action
Activists on the front lines of the fight against poverty tell you what needs to be done and how you can help.
President Barack Obama fist-bumps AbilityOne custodian, Lawrence Lipscomb, in a federal office building following the opening session of the White House Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth. Credit: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza. (PRNewsFoto/AbilityOne, Pete Souza)
The Biggest Creator of Low-Wage Jobs? Uncle Sam
May 9, 2013 | News & Notes

A new Demos study estimates that American taxpayers fund nearly 2 million private-sector jobs that pay workers less than $24,000 a year ($12 an hour or less). That’s more low-wage jobs than Walmart and McDonald’s combined. Continue reading

(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
America’s Corporate Inequality Problem
May 7, 2013 | Smart Charts

Bloomberg News ranks the companies with the highest CEO-to-worker pay disparities for 2012. One CEO made approximately 1,795 times what his average worker does. Continue reading

A China Southern Cargo jet takes off at LAX International airport in Los Angeles Monday, April 22, 2013. Some fliers headed to Los Angeles International Airport were met with delays on the first day of staffing cuts for air traffic controllers because of budget cuts that kicked in last month forced the FAA to give controllers extra days off. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
I’m Sequestration — Fly Me
April 29, 2013 | Connecting the Dots

Congress is okay with cutting federal services — but their planes better be on time. Continue reading

Kevin Smith, 36, left, and Chimera Tucker, 22, coo at their baby Jazzmine Smith, 7 months, inside of the DC Village shelter in Washington on Wednesday Jan. 17, 2007. The couple are homeless and have been staying in DC Village for the past six months. They have recently been approved for transitional housing through the Coalition for the Homeless. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
America is Ignoring Homeless Families
April 21, 2013 | News & Notes
The number of homeless families has increased by more than 13 percent since 2007.
BROCKOVICH
Slideshow: Mothers-Turned-Activists
April 19, 2013

Learn about American moms who, inspired by their children, took matters into their own hands to build a safer, healthier and more just world. Continue reading

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