Most of the rights that we take for granted—such as the right of children to not work in coal mines, workers to a 40-hour work week, women to open a bank account without permission from a man, to sit where we want on the bus, to love who we want, and even of non-property owning white men to vote—were won through organizing, campaigns, and direct action. 

This truth is exactly why Freedom, Inc. engages in cutting-edge and hard-driven campaigns that center direct action as a means of expanding rights for everyone, thereby making the world a better place. For example, we receive all sorts of negative attention for our campaigns and actions designed to bring about a world in which Black people are not murdered by the state and children are able to learn in a healthy environment without armed police. Much of that negative attention comes from right-wing media, including a prominent right-wing website’s recent attack on Freedom Inc. and other Madison organizations advocating for abortion rights.

We engage in these campaigns because we know the world will be better when we win and that this is the only way to win.

You’re welcome. 

By Jessica Williams & Ananda Deacon

Madison, Wisconsin, was recently ranked in one online list as “the best place to live in America.” This kind of accolade begs the question: How are such rankings decided? Who is it the best place for? Everyone? Or just some?

To those of us who look at metrics like diversity, safety and justice, this is a confounding ranking given the rise in violence against Black people in the city, and the fact that in 2020, the state of Wisconsin was rated last in the country for racial equality. Of course, many factors go into studies like these, and such rankings can be easily disputed, but one thing has become clear: Our city and state are not a place where Black people feel safe.

In our city, a queer Black woman survivor is currently being criminalized for an act of self-defense after a group of men stalked and attacked her. Is this “the best place to live in America”?

The Madison Common Council is considering spending $83,000 from this year’s capital budget to buy 48 body cameras for a pilot program in the city’s North Police District next year, with the police department covering the approximately $55,000 needed for staff time to process camera footage. This move comes after the city approved an $84 million dollar operating budget for the Madison Police Department in 2022.

Bad cops remind me of phoenixes. Not because they’re beautiful, mysterious, or powerful, but because they never really die and whenever they do temporarily implode on themselves they are merely reborn in another police department somewhere else all while leaving trails of flames in their wake. These paths of destruction are often what their careers are built off...