At 22, working for the non-profit organization Demos in New York, Heather McGhee plunged into the fight for debt reform, then tackled Wall Street corruption and consumer protection, and wound up president of Demos, leading its campaign against political and economic inequality. Heather McGhee decided to change the world, or at least try. Her new book is THE SUM OF US.

The summer of unrest sharpens the nation’s attention to issues of racial justice.

This isn’t who we are? What if it is? Let us not underestimate for even a moment the impact of Joe Biden’s victory. This, we were told, has been the most important American election since 1864, and that was no hyperbole. So why did this still feel like a loss for so many, at least initially.

When climate catastrophes strike in the United States, it is the nation’s Black people that are hit the hardest – while lacking the resources and social mobility to confront them.

Trump is clearly trying to change the national narrative from his disastrous response to the coronavirus and the economic crash to the idea that he alone can protect white Americans from their dangerous Black neighbors.

As Iowans we are privileged in so many ways – with our land, our people and our history, but we should be willing to show some humility in recognizing how these privileges came to be. How different would life be today if freedmen and women had been allowed to take their rightful place as land owning, independent farm families – like so many of our ancestors here in Iowa?

In January 2018, I spoke with the Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Nicks about The Force, his feature documentary about Oakland’s deeply troubled police department and its history of violence. This is a new interview with Pete, discussing those issues in the post-George Floyd world.

As the Democratic Joe Biden-Kamala Harris team began to campaign together to win the 2020 election, the contours of the upcoming political contest became clearer.