Feed items

State and local officials have been ahead of their Beltway counterparts in anticipating their constituents' opposition to cooperating with Trump.

Frederick Douglass — the black 19th century journalist, dedicated feminist, and radical activist — might not be the most obvious cultural touchstone for President Donald Trump.
And yet the president made the civil rights icon uniquely relevant again this past week by name-checking him — in present-tense terminology — during a sit down with African-American supporters at the White House on the first day of Black History Month.

I spent 36 years working at the Bridgestone Tire plant in Oklahoma City. The work was hard but rewarding. It afforded me the opportunity to provide for my family, always ensure there was enough food at the table and that my kids were afforded every modest opportunity to grow up in a household that was stable, secure and free from worry. That all changed suddenly in 2006, five years after Oklahoma passed a "right to work" law that was billed by politicians as a job creator. For the 1,400 men and women who worked at the plant, right to work didn’t work as advertised. Not only did the plant close, but the effects of the closing and the chilling effect that right to work has on a state’s economy were felt by everyone.

In honor of what would be Rosa Parks' 104th birthday, here are some lesser known facts about her life before the Montgomery Bus Boycott.