The Progressive Marks 100 Years

May 01, 2009

The Progressive Marks 100 Years

The Progressive magazine, based in Madison, Wisconsin, is celebrating its 100th birthday this May Day.

The current 132-page collector's issue culls the best from each year of its publication, including writing by Sinclair Lewis, Theodore Dreiser, Upton Sinclair, George Orwell, Jane Addams, Helen Keller, James Baldwin, Martin Luther King, Jr., Gloria Steinem, Molly Ivins, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Adlai Stevenson, Huey Long, John F. Kennedy, Jr., June Jordan, and many more.

A bit about the magazine that's embraced "peace and social justice since 1909" ... alongside some terrific poets:

The Progressive, a monthly since 1948, has steadfastly stood against militarism, the concentration of power in corporate hands, and the disenfranchisement of the citizenry. It has continued to champion peace, social and economic justice, civil rights, civil liberties, human rights, a preserved environment, and a reinvigorated democracy. Its bedrock values remain nonviolence and freedom of speech.

One of the first voices to speak out against McCarthyism in the 1950s, The Progressive continues to be among the staunchest defenders of the First Amendment, publishing regular McCarthyism Watch updates by Progressive editor, Matthew Rothschild. Now it is one of the few independent voices in the media reporting on Bush’s imperial designs, environmental degradation, and the resurgence in racism, particularly against Muslims and Arab-Americans.

Barbara Ehrenreich and Howard Zinn write regularly for The Progressive. And some of America’s leading poets—Adrienne Rich, Martín Espada, C.K. Williams, Wendell Berry, and Rita Dove—publish original work with us.

We interview the likes of Seymour Hersh, Maxine Hong Kingston, Kurt Vonnegut, Alice Walker, Barack Obama, Howard Dean, Helen Thomas, Ani DiFranco, Steve Earle, Margaret Cho, Janeane Garofalo, George Carlin, Studs Terkel, Sam Hamill, Danny Glover, Roger Ebert, Martin Sheen, and Terry Tempest Williams. ...

Today is the opening day of the magazine's 100th anniversary conference in Madison: "The Progressive Movement, Then and Now." Featured guests include Robert Redford, Naomi Klein, Barbara Ehrenreich, Amy Goodman, Dolores Huerta, Katha Pollitt, and Martín Espada.

As well, The Progressive Media Project publishes more than 200 op-eds around the country that run, on average, in 4-5 newspapers apiece. The Progressive also has entered the world of audio with daily radio commentary.

Cheers to their good work, and many more years.

Posted at 12:50 PM in Creative Nonviolence, Media, Poetry, Politics | Permalink

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