Sharon Kyle

Americans rejected monarchy 250 years ago. So why do we now defend an economic system that allows a microscopic fraction of humanity to have undue political power?

Derrick Z. Jackson, a former Union of Concerned Scientists fellow and Boston Globe columnist, is a regular contributor to Money Trail.

From fighting for justice after the death of his son Andrew Joseph III to becoming a national voice against police violence, Andrew Joseph Jr. leaves behind a legacy of activism, healing, and unwavering love for his community.

Jeremy Rifkin is an economic and social theorist, author, and political advisor.

As the nation approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Sharon Kyle examines how slavery, racial hierarchy, and elite power were woven into America’s founding — and why the promise of equality still remains unfinished.

Jasper Craven, an investigative journalist covering the military and veterans’ issues, is the author of the new book God Forgives, Brothers Don't: The Long March of Military Education and the Making of American Manhood. His writing has appeared in Harper’s, Politico, The Intercept, the Boston Globe, and the New York Times. He is also a fellow at the Veterans Healthcare Policy Institute.

Rev. Kelvin Sauls is a South African-born transnational faith-rooted community organizer whose work is grounded in Los Angeles and extends across global Black liberation struggles. A Senior Fellow with the Atlantic Institute, his areas of specialization include racial justice, equitable belonging, migration, and liberative Pan-African theological frameworks. He is the Co-Founder of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) in the United States and the Co-Founder of the Beloved Community Coalition (BECOCO) in South Africa.

Despite what the Gilens-Page study revealed about concentrated wealth and political power, abandoning the electoral process can accelerate authoritarianism and deepens harm for the most vulnerable among us.

Furonda Brasfield is the Director of Leadership Development for the U.S. Campaign to End The Death Penalty and also leads the campaign’s Noose to Needle. She previously served as the Executive Director of the Arkansas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

Josh Fisher is a writer and educational theorist whose work explores how human understanding emerges through shared practices and social coordination. Drawing on philosophy, psychology, cultural evolution theory, and the history of education, he examines a transmission-centered view of knowledge grounded in culture and collective meaning. He has more than three decades of experience developing curricula and has held senior roles in education publishing, where he helped design curriculum-integrated learning tools, including an AI tutor that improved student outcomes. He is a contributor to the Observatory.