News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Monday December 22nd 2025
“Power is Ever Stealing From the Many to the Few!”
Following is a segment of Chapter 12 of a book entitled: Wendell Phillips, Social Justice, and the Power of the PastÂ
Edited by A. J. Aiséirthe and Donald Yacovone, Louisiana State University Press, 2016Â
This book is the 20th book of the Series:Â ANTISLAVERY, ABOLITION, AND THEÂ ATLANTIC WORLD,Â
R. J. M. Blackett and James Brewer Stewart,Â
Series EditorsÂ
EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 12:
“The Phillips Community of Minneapolis: Historical Memory and the Quest for Social Justice”:
Pages 339-344
By David Moore, Harvey M. Winje, and Susan Gust
in consultation with James Brewer StewartÂ
For close to two decades, from 1987 through 2005, our community followed this Wendell Phillips exhortation when uniting in unprecedented solidarity to address the mounting injustices posed by those who tried to dictate the terms of our physical environment. Throughout these particular struggles, we surely did “Call Things by Their Right Names”. The descriptor that best captured what we were up against was “environmental racism.” Thanks to twelve years of uninterrupted protest, conducting our own research and garnering the attention of the media because of our creative techniques, we finally achieved a clear-cut environmental victory, not only for the neighborhood, but for the entire city.
The Wisdom of Powerlessness
Peace House Community”“A Place to Belong
By MARTI MALTBYÂ
I”™ve had a horrible time coming up with an idea for this month”™s column. I suppose that if that”™s the worst thing to happen to me, I must be having a good week, but it”™s still frustrating.
As I”™ve watched the Coronavirus pandemic unfold, I”™ve been struck by how hard it is for us to grasp the scope of what we are facing. This is, after all, a global pandemic on a scale we haven”™t seen in over a century. And yet, all over the world, everything from sports leagues to local schools are trying to keep to their normal schedules. Even at Peace House Community, I get asked every week when we will fully reopen. I answer that we don”™t know yet but are working on a plan, while inside I am thinking, “Are you insane?! Everyone on staff and all my volunteers are over 50 and most are in high risk categories. Can”™t you accept that Coronavirus is going to disrupt things for a long time?”
Part of the problem, I think, is that we”™ve become so used to controlling our surroundings through technology and innovation that we forget what we are dealing with.… Read the rest “The Wisdom of Powerlessness”
Keep citizen journalism alive!
