February 2015 Volume 39, Issue 02
![](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/ihs0aj2OAnbdE1h5d4Zr86lBBOBpoG82N2FIaksyCqk/w:600/h:784/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:82/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9pdHQtaW1hZ2VzL2NvdmVyMzkwMmJpZy5qcGc.jpg)
February 2015
Viewpoint
The Barriers to Black-Brown Unity
Salim Muwakkil
The New Cuba: Capitalism with a Socialist Face?
Joel Bleifuss
Why Cuba, Why Now?
Achy Obejas
Feature
How To Sell Off a City
Rick Perlstein
Phillip Agnew, Dream Defender
Michelle Chen
Why Eric Garner Couldn’t Breathe
Terry J. Allen
The Upside of a Republican Congress
Cole Stangler
Dispatch
The Women Behind Black Lives Matter
Kendra Pierre-Louis
Community College in the Crosshairs
Rebecca Burns
Police Body Cams: Solution or Scam?
Osita Nwanevu
Culture
Labour Pains
Jane Miller
Cuba’s Performance Problem
Coco Fusco
The War on Billie Holiday
Johann Hari
Portrait of the Artist as a Dying Class
Joanna Scutts
American Sniper: Guns, God and Gallons of Testo’
Michael Atkinson
Land of the Free and Home of the Enhanced Interrogators
Chris Lehmann
![](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/ywmSTat7nYgY-V7tckLA540Xjze8WM2pe01QskHRrWE/w:256/h:205/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:70/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9pdHQtaW1hZ2VzL21pbGxlcl8yNjcyNjc1LndlYi5qcGc.jpg)
Culture
Labour Pains
There’s a U.K. General Election in May and I don’t know how to vote.
Jane Miller
![](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/t8tCLn9BWIP48LxsX-b0S0Apn7kJ67rSBMEnjbLN7kE/w:256/h:205/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:70/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9pdHQtaW1hZ2VzL3NhbGltXzE0OTI1MjlfMTUwOTUyNzIzMjY1MjA4MV85MTY1ODcwMzA5MTA1NjExNzVfd2ViLmpwZw.jpg)
Viewpoint
The Barriers to Black-Brown Unity
Can Chicago's black and brown communities come together to elect a new mayor?
Salim Muwakkil
![](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/qnn9XCeBtkNSeX-QKVFhm-SxoFEsD2iaA0S_QK3M9Rg/w:256/h:205/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:70/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9pdHQtaW1hZ2VzL2NvY29fNDYwOTM3Mjc4XzEwLndlYi5qcGc.jpg)
Culture
Cuba’s Performance Problem
Havana closes down an open mic.
Coco Fusco
![](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/CCvQATfnRZErTAUrYMJtAd7JAoFUbOdaIaH5P-FN8-o/w:256/h:205/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:70/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9pdHQtaW1hZ2VzL3BpZXJyZV80NjA0MjAzMzBfMTAud2ViLmpwZw.jpg)
Dispatch
The Women Behind Black Lives Matter
The 'leaderless' movement is being propelled by the efforts of women of color.
Kendra Pierre-Louis
![](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/a4wC4vrPDOQGZUlBu6fzzaumvD0j3irrGQ6xCKepjn4/w:256/h:205/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:70/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9pdHQtaW1hZ2VzLzkyNTQwNDg1OThfZmFhYmYxZjFjN19vLmpwZw.jpg)
Dispatch
Community College in the Crosshairs
Even as Obama is calling for free community college, California's landmark system is under attack by accreditors allied with ALEC and for-profit schools.
Rebecca Burns
![](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/VBy2lwvc66uz2w9IsDQph1tFod8n8lV2nAbEOvgG2gY/w:256/h:205/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:70/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9pdHQtaW1hZ2VzL3JvdW5kXzQ1OTg4NTg5MF8xMC53ZWIuanBn.jpg)
Dispatch
Police Body Cams: Solution or Scam?
Debating the technophiles’ favorite fix for police violence
Osita Nwanevu
![](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/tEsP3TGWn6EPUngh9-MsbBeeyYXC6aUHbvwoBU0w_Lc/w:256/h:205/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:70/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9pdHQtaW1hZ2VzL2JhY2twZ18wMzMtYmlsbGllLWhvbGlkYXktdGhlcmVkbGlzdC53ZWIuanBn.jpg)
Culture
The War on Billie Holiday
The Bureau of Narcotics' strange obsession
Johann Hari
![](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/Zfi1k9fXMPOT4z7CtwmYEU63tQaLEbq69n2ZGLMWkQI/w:256/h:205/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:70/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9pdHQtaW1hZ2VzL2hpZ2hmaWRlbGl0eS53ZWIuanBn.jpg)
Culture
Portrait of the Artist as a Dying Class
Scott Timberg argues that we've lost the scaffolding of middle-class jobs—record-store clerk, critic, roadie—that made creative scenes thrive.
Joanna Scutts
![](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/23lvu_bCp8lkrUQlc-oa6FmmS8vLStPEglNmDMBCBqg/w:256/h:205/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:70/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9pdHQtaW1hZ2VzL1NjcmVlbl9TaG90XzIwMTUtMDEtMTRfYXRfMTEuMjQuNTBfQU0ucG5n.png)
Viewpoint
The New Cuba: Capitalism with a Socialist Face?
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is delighted that Obama normalized relations with Cuba.
Joel Bleifuss
![](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/dW55NVv5aZrFELQKrRwAcDEDVf0c42mWUN8gUDcyZRw/w:256/h:205/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:70/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9pdHQtaW1hZ2VzL2F0a2luX0FTLVRSTC04Njc5Ny53ZWIyLmpwZw.jpg)
Culture
American Sniper: Guns, God and Gallons of Testo’
Clint Eastwood treats Iraq like Iwo Jima. Will Americans really go for this horseshit?
Michael Atkinson
![](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/kqf5YOCllO_nM7bbKR2IiqodKIgKoqyMU-C2_pLIDuw/w:256/h:205/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:70/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9pdHQtaW1hZ2VzL09iZWphc19DdWJhX09iYW1hX1Jlc3RvcmVkX1JlbGF0aW9ucy5qcGc.jpg)
Viewpoint
Why Cuba, Why Now?
The 5 likeliest reasons behind Obama's surprise move to reverse a 53-year-old policy.
Achy Obejas
![](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/bSsOdss38zghsTemaznQEOjHB-T2R7EJQn1wo4t_HUU/w:256/h:205/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:70/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9pdHQtaW1hZ2VzL0xlaG1hbl90b3J0dXJlX2NpYV9zZW5hdGUuanBn.jpg)
Culture
Land of the Free and Home of the Enhanced Interrogators
We need a truth and reconciliation commission to deal with our torture problem.
Chris Lehmann