The 2023 Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike started on May 2nd, 2023 and lasted until just recently, when the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) agreed to negotiate with union leaders’ and workers’ demands, on September 27th, 2023.
United States
Barrier Breakers – Mercile Lee
One of the most impactful methods of nonviolent activism at UW-Madison can be found in scholarships, the Chancellor Scholarship and Powers-Knapp Scholarship, now known as the Mercile Lee Scholars Program. This program, named after Mercile Lee, a lifelong advocate for Civil Rights and racial equality, aims “to attract, support and develop the abilities and potential of academically talented and outstanding individuals from underrepresented groups.”
Barrier Breakers – Remembering Ada Deer
Earlier this month, on August 15th, the esteemed Menominee leader Ada Deer passed away. Her impact on Native communities across the nation, as well as her influence at UW-Madison, was enormous and serves as inspiration to all who hear her story.
America Bracho – Sharing Our Fire
This oral history interview was conducted by Gabe Sanders with America Bracho, a lifelong community organizer and has founded several health programs for Latinos across the country.
The Gay Purges – A Brief History of Exclusion and Resilience
The term Gay Purge is in reference to when UW-Madison “actively purged students identified as homosexuals” in 1962. However, the persecution of LGBTQ+ students at UW-Madison predated the 1960s.
University Failure and Student Response – Linking Today to the 1960s
Earlier this month, a horrific, hate-filled video of a UW-Madison student spouting racist slurs, threats, and a desire to own enslaved people began circulating around the UW-Madison community. It didn’t take long for the video and responses to it to go viral online, resulting in a petition for the expulsion of the students involved with the video amassing tens of thousands of signatures.
A Look at Nonviolent Protests by Indigenous People Throughout History
Throughout history, indigenous people have been using forms of nonviolent resistance to protest the atrocities and illegal acts done by the respective federal governments.
Always Been Here – Wisconsin’s History of LGBTQ+ Presence and Activism
In October of 2022, a well-known transphobic political commentator was invited to UW-Madison by a conservative student group and allowed to speak. What followed was an outraged student body, a clash of protestors and insults publicly thrown at university officials who spoke out for trans acceptance. The intensity of the event was felt throughout campus and sparked a discussion about LGBTQ+ presence and resistance throughout Wisconsin history, which this article explores.
Evaluating the Ethical Dimensions of Indigenous Civil Resistance
This essay was written for a class that Gabe took called Ethical Leadership at his UW in London Study Abroad Program. Disclaimer: The following blog post is not a reflection of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s …
Let My People Go: How an American Student Movement Helped Free Over a Million Soviet Jews
Emboldened by the various other grassroots civil rights movements of the 1960’s, young Jews in America banded together to demand the liberation of Soviet Jews. Their platform called for an end to government persecution of Jews, the right to emigrate from the Soviet Union, freedoms of cultural and religious expression, and other human rights.