Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Dick Price
All Men Are Created Equal: A Dream Denied?
The American struggle has always revolved around who possesses it, who is denied it, and whether the country is capable of widening its definition of “we.” Currently, America is floundering in ways I have never seen in my nearly eight decades observing it. We spend enormous energy blaming the would-be strongman now reshaping the capital around himself. But millions of Americans continue to support him and his increasingly reckless behavior, year after year.
Red Harlem: Repression and Romance
When the Soviets tried to shame America with a film about Black life. In the depths of the Great Depression, thousands of Black Americans joined the Communist Party USA. Not because they had memorized Marx. Not because Moscow beckoned. But because the Party was one of the only political organizations in the country confronting racial terror and economic exploitation at the same time. Much like today, neither major political party was doing it.
Dick Price, Author at ZNetwork
Dick Price Dick Price is Editor of the LA Progressive. With his wife Sharon, he publishes several other print and online newsletters on political and social justice issues. He has worked in publishing as a writer, editor, and publisher for a quarter century. In earlier releases, he was a cab driver, bartender, construction worker, soldier, and farmhand, and for many years helped operate a nonprofit halfway house for homeless alcoholics and addicts.
Radical Democracy Requires More Than Just Resisting Fascism, It Needs Infrastructure
Henry Giroux joins Dick Price and Sharon Kyle of the LA Progressive to discuss the need for a radical democracy. He brings up important questions followed by even more important answers. Giroux says, “Disposable populations are no longer hidden in the shadows or relegated to the margins. They have been thrust into the harsh spotlight of a militarized spectacle, orchestrated by Trump’s Christian white supremacist nationalist regime.
Understanding Critical Race Theory: Key Components and Why They Matter
This essay includes answers to questions about CRT posed to Dick and Sharon of LA Progressive by Jim Lafferty and Maria Hall of the Law and Disorder Radio Show The Debate Around Black History Month: Inclusion or Division? Dick Price: The argument that observances like Black History Month or Women’s History Month are divisive is fundamentally flawed. These months aim to be inclusive, not divisive.
Was Biden’s Debate Fiasco a Gift?
Should Biden persist, the remaining four months of the campaign will be consumed by questions of his ability to govern to the end of this term. Over the weekend, LA Progressive took the quick pulse of its readers about the controversy around President Joe Biden’s terribly weak debate performance and how people opposed to another Donald Trump election think we should move forward.
David Kim: Third Time the Charm?
Will shoe leather and hard work pay off in race for California’s 34th Congressional District? Children’s court attorney David Kim is nothing if not persistent. In 2020, having never run for elective office and with little previous name recognition in Northeast Los Angeles, the Arizona native mounted a remarkable grassroots campaign that nearly unseated now three-term incumbent Congressman, Jimmy Gomez (D-L.A.).
Eunisses Hernandez, One Year In
After completing her first year on the Los Angeles City Council, Eunissess Hernandez has become a stalwart member of the Council’s growing progressive caucus. Like fellow activists-turned-councilmembers Nithya Raman and Hugo Soto-Martinez, Eunisses has focused especially on the critical issues of housing and homelessness that are particularly acute in Northeast Los Angeles.
Jody Armour Looks at USC’s Campus Uprising
Whenever Jody tells his father’s story, he points to the old manual Royal typewriter prominently displayed in his meeting room. No surprise, Jody Armour is playing a key role in the conflagration on the University of Southern California campus—visiting the student encampment, talking with the anti-genocide protesters, acting as their liaison with the school’s leaders, and speaking with the press.
Franky Carrillo Can Run At Last
Now, Franky is running to represent California’s 52nd Assembly District, which includes a dozen neighborhoods in Northeast Los Angeles. As a rather bookish 16-year-old, Franky Carrillo was identified–mistakenly, it turned out–as the gunman in a drive-by shooting that killed a 41-year-old father in front of his son in the hardscrabble Linwood neighborhood they shared. Quickly tried and convicted of first-degree murder, a stunned Carrillo was sentenced to life in prison.
L.A. District Attorney George Gascón Addresses Right-Wing Gaslighting
As Gascón prepares for a March 5th primary on the road to reelection as L.A.’s 43rd District Attorney, his campaign faces challenging political headwinds. In 2020, George Gascón led the restorative justice wave that washed across the country calling for a more just approach to criminal justice and greater accountability for law enforcement officers.
What Happened to George Wallace’s “Line in the Dust?”
In an especially ugly episode in America’s history, Alabama Governor George Wallace included these vicious words in his 1963 inaugural address: “I draw the line in the dust…and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” A charismatic demagogue, Wallace went on to run for President four times between 1964 and 1973, fomenting hateful opposition to racial integration of the nation’s schools, not just in the former Confederate states in the South but in northern states...
An Anti-Racist Cinematic Masterpiece: Stamped from the Beginning
The screen adaptation of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s 2016 book Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America directed by Roger Ross Williams, the first African American director to win an Academy Award, is a cinematic masterpiece.
Blood at the Root: Strange Fruit Indeed
On December 4, 2006, six African-American teenagers beat up a fellow white football player at their high school in Jena, Louisiana. Quickly tagged the Jena Six case, the incident dominated headlines from coast to coast for weeks.
“Aurora’s Sunrise” Illuminates the Armenian Genocide
“Aurora’s Sunrise” Illuminates the Armenian Genocide Published August 29, 2023 This past week we were blessed to view an early release of “Aurora’s Sunrise” and meet its writer, producer, and director, Inna Sahakyan.
Sharon Uncovers the Skeletons in Dick’s Closet
Recently, the two of us travelled to Oakland to attend a deeply impactful conference for the members of an organization called Coming To The Table. We’ve been attending monthly CTTT meetings—mostly on zoom—since before the pandemic began.
Ari Honarvar: Morality Police from Iran to U.S.
As a youngster growing up in Iran, Ari Honarvar witnessed the wave of repression brought on by the fundamentalist Islamic revolution in 1979. Women’s rights were crushed. Marginal groups were demonized. Morality police were imposed on the people. A darkness descended that, even 24 years later, has hardly lifted. “Suddenly, I couldn’t ride my bicycle in public,” she says.
No, I Won't Be Playing Golf in Oman
I had blurry vision for a couple years and found it hard to read the newspaper and then an ophthalmologist at Mayo did a three-minute painless laser procedure and a few days later I could read the paper, no problem, clear as day, and also watch a ball game on TV and keep track of the triple as it caromed off the right field wall. Literacy does have its drawbacks, of course. You get more tangled up in the details of malfeasance and depravity than you would like to be.
Pastor Eddie Anderson Running for LA City Council
Long-time reverend, community builder, and dedicated community activist Eddie Anderson recently threw his collar in the ring to represent Los Angeles City Council District 10—a diverse mid-city district running from Leimert Park to Koreatown to Wilshire Center.
“Can I Touch It?” What Black Women Face
We’ve all heard too many stories of Black women blocked from meaningful entry into a white-dominated world. Denied jobs for refusing to cut off their locs, ridiculed for their natural hair and African bodies, asked to touch their dreads: Starting at a young age Black girls and women have to decide to stand tall for who they are or slip on a wig that makes them look more like a white woman.
George Gascón Delivers Despite Strong Headwinds
When George Gascón unseated Jackie Lacey in 2020 to become Los Angeles County’s 43rd District Attorney, L.A.’s progressive community cheered, cheers that echoed among progressives around the country. Gascón was part of a wave of progressive district attorneys—including Philadephia’s Larry Krasner, San Francisco’s Chesa Boudin, and Chicago’s Kim Fox—that won over voters on restorative justice campaigns.
Aimee Allison: Empowering Women of Color
We met Aimee Allison a dozen years ago when she moderated a panel session for the California Democratic Party’s Progressive Caucus. That lively presentation brought together representatives from a half dozen Occupy encampments from around California to discuss what Occupy 2.0 might look like. Passion overflowed the raucous meeting as many of the Occupiers present dreamed that their movement might bend the Democratic Party to its will—or at least budge it a tiny bit.
"Occupy" Occupies California's Democratic Party
If a meeting this past weekend between representatives from a half dozen Occupy encampments in California and perhaps 200 members of the California Progressive Caucus is any guide, the Occupy Movement has already tapped into older generations of progressive activists who are eager to support, leverage, and amplify the Occupyers' ground-breaking work.
Richard Wolff: Getting Crushed in the Business Cycle Shock Absorber
Capitalists—not your neighbors who own the local pizza parlor, but real ones with houses on both coasts, another in the Bahamas, and a pied-à-terre in Paris—have long faced a frightening prospect. Every four to seven years, despite their best efforts to devise countermeasures, the economy suffers a drastic downturn. Businesses die, tax revenues evaporate, production shrinks—and, most importantly, many hundreds of thousands, even millions of workers, lose their jobs.
Jeff Mackler on Progressive Organizing
Our regular LA Progressive author Jeff Mackler sat down with us to share his thoughts on effective progressive organizing. As the National Secretary of Socialist Action and twice its U.S. presidential candidate, Jeff has been fighting for civil rights reform, social justice, and stopping America’s endless series of wars since the early 1960s.
“Ithaka:” The Battle to Save Julian Assange
Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder who revealed evidence of US war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq—including the horrific 2007 “collateral murder” video that shows an American Apache helicopter machine-gunning a dozen civilian Iraqis—still sits isolated in London’s ghoulish Belmarsh Prison.
Kevin Showed Up
We were all set to talk this morning about the recently passed Respect for Marriage Act—which doesn’t do as much as you might expect to protect same-sex and interracial marriages—when all hell broke loose at the Los Angeles City Council. After a nearly two-month absence, disgraced City Councilmember Kevin De León showed his face in the City Council chambers, prompting a great hue and cry among community members who have been demanding that he step down.
How Attorney Robert McKenna Makes Hybrid Office Models Work
The recent COVID-19 pandemic forced companies globally to transition to remote working. Now, while certain firms are welcoming employees back into their offices, many have adopted hybrid or remote working arrangements permanently. Such flexible arrangements can offer myriad benefits, but they can also bring with them new challenges.
"Free Julian Assange"–Defender of a Free Press
In Honor of International Human Rights Day Assange Defense Committee, CODEPINK, National Lawyers Guild, Pasadena-Foothill Chapter ACLU, ICUJP Present "Free Julian Assange"–Defender of a Free Press Sat., Dec. 10, 3 PM All Power Books, 4874 W Adams Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90016 Scroll to Continue Actors (to be determined) will read selected excerpts from Wikileaks' Afghan and Iraq War Logs.
What Gaslighting Actually Means
In recent years, the term “gaslighting” has suddenly come out of nowhere to populate our everyday discourse—even though many of don’t even know what a gaslight might be, much less what the word actually means. And it turns out that we’re often using the term wrong, throwing it around whenever we think someone might be less than truthful with us—when the term has a more precise meaning, one that has evolved over time.
7 Strategies to Make Your Business More Energy Efficient
Utilizing technology that uses less energy while performing the same job is known as energy efficiency. It can also be described as saving energy by using technology. In other words, it is the application of methods for improving the efficiency of an energy conversion process. This should be a priority for any business owner, no matter the size or type of company.
How LA Progressive Started
Early on in our 20-year relationship, we produced “The Northeast Democrat,” an award-winning monthly newsletter for the Northeast Democratic Club that served our community in Los Angeles. Initially, it was a standard publication like ones both of us had produced earlier in our lives, which we printed, folded, and mailed out to several hundred fellow club members.
What If the U.S. and China Actually Cooperated on Climate Change?
As President Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping arrived on the resort island of Bali, Indonesia, for their November 14th “summit,” relations between their two countries were on a hair-raising downward spiral, with tensions over Taiwan nearing the boiling point. Diplomats hoped, at best, for a modest reduction in tensions, which, to the relief of many, did occur. No policy breakthroughs were expected, however, and none were achieved.
Biden Should Demand That Al-Sisi Release Alaa Abd El-Fattah
There are dictators in the world who wield absolute power, and then there are U.S. Senators. Very few understand the power these 100 individuals hold in the world's most powerful country. A single senator can effectively block any legislation. They don't need to give a reason, and often do it entirely in secret.
Gabriela Vázquez Advances Intersectional, Abolitionist Feminist Organizing
In spite of the world wide media coverage of the three LA City Council members leaked tape smearing L.A.'s image and the all too often LA County Sheriff abuses in the LA County Jail and LAPD shootings and the treatment of the unhoused in the southland, the list could go on -- in spite of all of this there is a growing sense of hope. Perhaps because of these growing social ills, progressives in Los Angeles are organizing in meaningful ways.
Election Deniers Still Don’t Know How Elections Work
The 2022 general election has many takeaways. But apart from the winners and losers from political and policy perspectives, one obvious, lingering, and disturbing result is that election-denying partisans still do not know how elections work. Across the country, activists – mostly Trump Republicans whose candidates lost – are claiming the results are inaccurate and illegitimate.
How to Increase Engagement on Instagram
Today's businesses have an array of marketing options at their disposal. As the online world took hold, it gave companies numerous ways to reach out to customers and prospects. Every year, new ideas and strategies come into play to further reinforce businesses' online marketing efforts and take them to the next level. When the world of social media came into play, companies found even more possibilities for making themselves visible to their target audiences.
What Chorus Girls Do Backstage
This past weekend, the three of us attended a matinee performance of According to the Chorus at North Hollywood’s Road Theatre, prompted by Eric A. Gordon’s detailed and fascinating review, “According to the Chorus—A Slice of Broadway Working Life.” In brief, the fast-paced, one-act play features a half dozen chorus girls jammed together in a basement “fast change” room to strip out of one costume and slip into a new ones so they can race back upstairs to the stage again.
They Say Don’t Be Gay
At a moment when gay hatred is once again raising its ugly head—witness Gov. Ron DeSantis’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill prohibiting Florida school teachers addressing gender identity or sexual orientation in their classrooms—“The Great Wilderness” has arrived just in time at L.A.’s Rogue Machine Theatre. The three of us–Dick, Sharon, and Dick’s daughter Linnea–attended the play “The Great Wilderness” several weeks ago, which recently ended its run at LA’s Rogue Theater.
Kanye Meets Kevin
In this week’s installment of “Coffee with Dick and Sharon,” we compare and contrast the way Kanye West (aka “Ye”) got so swiftly booted from big buck contracts for his antisemitic ugliness while LA City Councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin De Leon are still refusing to resign after their racist tape spread far and wide.
William Siveter & Why He’s The Official Apple iPod Billy GOAT
William Siveter was the same as many men as a youth. He rolled the dice on buying every release of a product, thinking one day he would have the greatest collection on earth. Like other men, he had a dream of living out his adult life more like the C.KHiD rap video ‘Rich Life Forever,’ more than the philosophy of Bob Marley; Simply from selling that collection. And while most of these hopium addictions don’t pan out, Siveter’s did.
Congressional Progressives Blinked on Ukraine
Progressives made a mealy mouthed appeal to Biden to engage in talks regarding Ukraine. He slapped them down and they in turn slapped themselves.
Election Deniers 2022
There is little doubt that pro-Trump Republicans are going to challenge voters and contest results that they do not like in 2022’s general election. And should they lose those challenges and contests, they are not likely to accept the results. The Warning Signs are Everywhere There are recruitment drives to challenge voters and voter registrations. There are instructions to disrupt the process and counting of votes. There are assertions not to trust any vote-counting computer.
Mario Solis-Marich on LA City Council Woes
Our colleague Mario Solis-Marich has been deeply embedded in LA's political scene for decades, working as a campaign consultant in local, state, and national politics and advocacy efforts since 1987.
Coffee With Dick & Sharon: Weak Tea with Student Loan Forgiveness
This week, as we enjoyed our first morning cup of joe, we thought we’d take a look at President Joe Biden’s just-announced student loan forgiveness plan: Forgive $10,000 for former students making less than $125,000, with an additional $10,000 for those who took Pell Grants, which go to lower income families, and extend the repayment pause until next year. Not nothing—and Democrats will surely line up to run on it this fall—but as Sonali Kolhatkar observed on our pages, it’s pretty weak tea.
Will the Clock Ever Run Out on Trump?
Isn’t it rich that the man who abused presidential power more than any other, and tried to stage a coup d’etat against the U.S. Government, is now crying about “abuse of power?” And the phony news network that aided and abetted his rise to power and abuses, is stirring up Fascist anti-government forces in his defense? Donald Trump has always seen himself as above the law and accountable to no one, unlike the “the losers and suckers” he ridicules for their quaint law-abiding devotion.
J Edgar Hoover’s Evil Brainchild
COINTELPRO, an abbreviation for Counter-Intelligence Program, was the illegal brainchild of the F.B.I.’s first and longest-serving director, J. Edgar Hoover, whose obsession with communism and “subversion” allowed him to justify violating the civil rights and civil liberties of millions of Americans.
The Inflation Reduction Act: A Victory of Pragmatism Over Ideology
The recent congressional passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) once again proves the wisdom of favoring pragmatism over ideology. As The New York Times opined on 7 August after the Senate had passed the legislation, it reflected “the most significant federal investment in history to counter climate change and lower the cost of prescription drugs.” Often I have written on LA Progressive about the dangers of being too ideological and of the need for pragmatic compromises.
LA Times: Wrong on CARE Court, Wrong Again on ACLU
Earlier in August, the Los Angeles Times published a wrong-headed column titled “These families are flaming the ACLU as California debates mental health care.” To buttress that sweeping indictment, the Times shows five senior women and one younger fellow—all White—holding signs such as “ACLU, What’s “Civil” About Dying on the Street?” That’s certainly a legitimate question—but one that’s clearly misdirected when aimed at the ACLU and one that obscures the damage Gov.
Groups Pressure Lawmakers for Stricter Sentencing for Drug Dealers After Counterfeit Pill Deaths
Counterfeit pills have been on the rise as drug dealers find easier - and cheaper methods - of creating addictive drugs. Instead of using substances from plants, the majority of counterfeit drugs are made with synthetic substances - substances that often alter the reaction that a drug produces and its level of intensity. This heightens the addictive potential of the substances, leaving the users seeking substance abuse treatment after fewer doses.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Dick
Contact Dick, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack