Opinion
Editorial pieces from contributors and staff
The many ways uncontested elections harm democracy in Rhode Island
"Challenging candidates, even those with lots of power and money, can be a time consuming and heartbreaking process, but it also holds incumbent's feet to the fire, forcing them to spend some of their money on voter engagement, and forci...
Marijuana cultivators in RI facing extinction under proposed legislation
"Whose interests is this bill serving?" asks cultivator Domenic Passarella. "The Cultivators certainly would not benefit, we won’t have a market to sell to. Who is benefiting? Ask yourself who is pushing for this and why." Currently, the...
Governor's grade on transportation-environment policies: "D" for Disappointment
Governor Gina Raimondo sometimes says good things about transportation policy, and she is clearly aware of transportation's role in the "climate emergency," yet her actual policies seem to do everything to accommodate the drive-everywher...
Democratic candidates can no longer ignore the demands of Palestinians
Last weekend, at a town hall event in Newton, Iowa, I stood face to face with Bernie Sanders to ask how students can push his colleagues in Congress to hold Israel accountable for its injustices against Palestinians. The crowd of Sanders...
ECRI deeply disappointed by Speaker Mattiello’s inaccurate remarks about the climate crisis
“For the Speaker to claim that nothing can be done by state government to reduce the risks to Rhode Islanders is inaccurate,” said Priscilla De La Cruz, the president of the Environment Council of Rhode Island. “Most of all, we dispute h...
RI Senate District 6 Candidate Tiara Mack’s statement on affordable housing
"This ordinance needs to pass, we need to pass a statewide bill banning discrimination of housing based on source of income and more importantly we need to work fast to fix the lack of affordable housing problem across the State." On Mon...
The Uprising! January 10, 2019
The General Assembly began its 2020 session this week, and will conclude business in time for the election season. It's going to be a big year, and Uprise RI will be covering as much as possible, from our unique perspective. Let's break...
Resistance during war time: A photo essay by Selene Means
It’s 2020 and no one expected it to start this way. Feeling scared, powerless and angry. Time is a construct and it is useful to see a new year as a mental refresh. However, there is no such thing as a blank slate or a fresh start. Every...
Reversing course, Senator Whitehouse now believes it is proper to involve himself in rule of law proceedings
"I have a very strong belief that when something is subject to a rule of law proceeding like a trial, in which you have lawyers and evidence and appeal to courts, that that’s not a really good place for political pressure to be brought t...
Nuclear power plants on federally subsidized life support
"New nuclear technologies offer the potential to phase out polluting forms of energy like coal and natural gas. That would mean a big boost for our energy industry, and a drop in the carbon pollution driving climate change," said United...