The 2017 Honor Roll

“The earth is but one great ball. The borders, the barriers, the cages, the cells, the prisons of our lives, all originate in the false imagination of the minds of men.” Mumia Abu-Jamal

This has been a bastard of a year for people of goodwill and common decency, for people who believe in truth, in fairness, in equality of opportunity, and in compassion for the less fortunate. Americans are well into a period of orchestrated cruelty, shocking malfeasance on the part of our political class, and body blows to the tattered remains of our democracy.

Still, we have to live and work, study, take care of our families, and do what we can to resist Trump and his mafia; it’s a hard slog up a muddy hill, and at times it appears our efforts are futile, that the game is lost and that the power of the forces opposing our dreams and aspirations for a better country and world are unstoppable. The good news is that these forces aren’t unstoppable -- or inevitable.

What follows is my Honor Roll of people who fight the brave fight and show no signs of throwing in the towel. This isn’t a definitive list by any means, it’s my list, shaped by what and who I read and listen to. If you take time to make your own list you will undoubtedly recognize different people, and that’s good. The point is that there are many millions of people who know damn well that a better, more just world is possible. Keep battling in 2018. We’re better than Trump and his gang of kleptocrats.

Bill Moyers

Amy Goodman

William Rivers Pitt

Chris Hedges

Cornel West

Sonali Kolhatkar

Arundhati Roy

Matt Taibbi

Dean Baker

Rebecca Solnit

Jeremy Scahill

Sally Yates

Colin Kaepernick

Ralph Nader

Jeffrey St. Clair

Ian Masters

Kshama Sawant

Junot Diaz

Carmen Yulin Cruz

Peter Joseph

Paul Jay

William Barber II

Alicia Garza

Women all over the world

Standing Rock Water Defenders

Climate scientists

All the firefighters and emergency responders who worked on the Thomas Fire in Southern California