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As a primary care doctor in Harlem, I see the impact of social conditions such as poverty, lead paint poisoning, and asthma-causing mold in public housing, as well as the emotional trauma that accompanies financial barriers such as not having the right medical coverage to gain timely and effective treatment. As a community organizer and political independent, I see the barriers that block poor and ordinary people from full and equal participation in our democracy. These are literally matters of

On Tuesday, the Democratic and Republican Parties of Pennsylvania nominated candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, and the commonwealth's congressional delegation to Washington. Yet 1.1 million independent voters were disenfranchised by closed primaries, which are only open to partisan voters. Nearly half of U.S. states have an open primary in which any registered voter is allowed to participate, and several have closed primaries like Pennsylvania. A couple states like California have

Update 5/9/18: Issue 1 -- Ohio redistricting reform -- passed with three-fourths voter support, 74.9% voting "Yes." Update 5/8/18, 8:57 PM ET: Election results in Ohio point to overwhelming victory for Issue 1, with no active opposition opposing the measure. Ohio voters will go to the polls Tuesday for the state's primary elections. On top of voting for their preferred nominees for local, state, and federal elected offices, they will also have a chance to pass major redistricting reform. It i

Another election season, another increasingly bizarre redrawing of the electoral map. In states across the U.S., voting districts are elongated and chopped, stretched like taffy to cover certain state regions and amputated to avoid others. All these calculations and measurements work to ensure that our democratic system of government doesn’t function the way it is intended. The process of redrawing favorable district lines — affectionately termed “gerrymandering” — is an unfortunate outgrowth o

Did you participate in the National Week of Conversation? The Bridge Alliance, along with 100 sponsoring organizations, community organizers, elected officials, and more, held hundreds of events -- public, online, and private -- in cities across the country from April 20-28 with one goal in mind: Put partisan bickering aside, mend divides, and have meaningful conversations about the biggest issues facing the country. It was a historic event that followed a tumultuous year of political and soci

"Hollywood for ugly people." It is not a phrase coined by Michigan independent congressional candidate Cooper Nye. However, Nye says he can see why some people have come to view Washington, DC this way after working in the nation's capital. And the phrase -- from Nye's point of view -- is not a personal attack against individual policymakers on Capitol Hill, but rather a statement on how DC is run and the ugly, partisan, sometimes corrupt culture that has taken hold in Washington. Cooper Nye

If 2016 taught me anything, it is how disastrous political polls have become. And as we head into the 2018 midterms, we should take a hard look how we are conducting them, crunching the numbers and using the results. Voters deserve it. On November 2nd, 2016 Marquette University Law School in Wisconsin issued it’s highly regarded presidential polling results. It was memorable for two reasons. The first reason is that it was conducted between October 26th through the 31st, the time frame in which

It's no secret the State of California is tearing at its political seams, careening towards a tipping point with the Sanctuary City battle leading the way. TWO of the states THREE largest counties, both in Southern California, have now voted to oppose SB-54, the bill that limits law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities. San Diego and Orange counties represent more than 6 million people. Los Angeles County, which hasn't weighed in on the subject, represents some 9 millio

Every parent wants a healthy child, right? Too often, though, people neglect to consider just how much the events of childhood can leave a lasting impact on a child. For example, we have only very recently started to understand just how much mental illness is impacting the current younger generations, and recent conversations in the gun control debates have drawn new attention to the high number of young people living with mental health issues. New laws are being designed to give young people

A bill in the Pennsylvania House to create an independent citizens' redistricting commission was rewritten to give the legislature even more control over the legislative redistricting process. Don't worry. I did a double take the first time I heard about this story too. According to Republican State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, Pennsylvanians should trust that he and his colleagues are the most accountable to voters to redraw districts in a way that provides the best and most accurate representation.