Activism

Two weeks ago I was in my hometown of Hoboken, New Jersey, wading waist deep in a murky combination of floodwater, oil and sewage. More than a week later, after finally getting unstuck from New Jersey (even the deepest Jersey pride has its limits…), I found myself in a van full of Occupy Sandy activists delivering hot meals to housing-project high rises in Coney Island during a Nor’easter.

While all eyes and ears are trained on the elections, Woody Guthrie, whose 100th birthday we celebrate this year, offers up another perspective on politics.

The acclaimed novelist on why a life worth living is a life worth fighting for.

Sister Simone Campbell leads Nuns on the Bus, who lobby for social and economic justice (and plague Paul Ryan).

In Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt, two veteran war correspondents -- Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco -- tour the most desperate, impoverished, physically and socially devastated areas in the United States.

“Occupy the Democratic National Convention” was marked by frustration — an understandable feeling from the small and wearied band, protesting under conditions in which dissent was highly susceptible to ridicule.