What James Earl Jones can teach us about the activism of art in times of crisis

  The death of James Earl Jones has forced me to consider the end of an era.

  Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier, and Jones were giants in my industry. They were Black performers whose ascents to stardom occurred in the tumultuous 1960s, when I was an infant. All three were politically active, although each operated in a significantly different way.

Five times LGBTQ activism relied on First Amendment freedoms to create change

  For generations, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Americans lived in secrecy and fear. Politicians, the media, popular culture, and religious figures labeled them depraved or criminal. Though LGBTQ activism wasn’t new, it took a six-day uprising in 1969 at the Stonewall Inn, an illegal gay bar in New York, to propel the grassroots movement to a new era. The Stonewall uprising inspired a new generation of activists to use their First Amendment freedoms to challenge stereotypes, work for justice and pave the way for equality.

A UN treaty guarantees youth rights everywhere on Earth – except the United States

  Fifteen kids from a dozen countries, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, recently brought a formal complaint to the United Nations. They’re arguing that climate change violates children’s rights as guaranteed by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a global agreement.

  By petitioning the U.N. on behalf of the world’s children, their action made history. But it’s not the first time that kids have turned to this international accord in pursuit of social change.