The Real Rosa Parks

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Today at Mother Jones:

Paul Rogat Loeb separates the myths about Rosa Parks’ life from the much more inspiring realities. (LINK) In a separate piece, Loeb argues that citizen activists can work to make the New Orleans disaster one of those key turning points with the potential to transform American politics. (LINK)

Tom Engelhardt reflects that what remains with us, after the indictment of Lewis Libby, is “the ongoing, devolving catastrophe in Iraq where, in just the last three days, 8 more American soldiers have died during a month, not yet at an end, in which 79 American servicemen and countless Iraqis were killed.” (LINK)

Finally, on Sunday, Mother Jones Radio talked with Sam Butler, the Bishop of New Orleans, and asked whether the federal government actually wants lower-class black residents back in New Orleans. (To go by recent actions, the answer would appear to be no.) (LINK)

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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