The New Civil Rights Movement Starts Now
Find ways to stand up for democracy in our Contrarian Calls to Action.
Democracy is not a spectator sport. Whether you want to exercise your right to vote, join a protest, call your elected officials, run for office, or keep tabs on the week’s hottest issues and protests, The Contrarian has you covered.
Here are our top suggestions for getting involved in the days ahead. These are heated times; we encourage non-violent and lawful activism.
The New Civil Rights Movement Starts Now
Republicans across the South are using the cover of the Supreme Court’s execrable Callais decision to dilute the power of Black and Brown voters. In response, voting rights advocates are organizing an All Roads Lead to the South day of protest and action on Saturday, May 16.
The day’s key demonstrations will take place in Selma and Montgomery, Alabama, two hallowed grounds from the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s. Organizers are framing the action as a continuation of that struggle: “Our parents and grandparents marched, organized, bled, and won,” they write. “The Voting Rights Act was theirs. The fight to keep it is ours.”
The day will begin in Selma, scene of the Bloody Sunday march in 1965, with a “Moral Moment for Faith Leaders” at 9 a.m. local time, with a crossing the famed Edmund Pettus Bridge. The culmination of the day of action will be in Montgomery, home of the bus boycott led by Rosa Parks, with a rally at the state capitol beginning at 1 p.m. The Contrarian will be reporting on the scene all day. Contrarian publisher Norm Eisen, April Ryan, and others will come to you live from Montgomery on Saturday evening with a recap of the day’s events.
Supporting actions are planned in cities from Austin to St. Louis, Trenton to Tallahassee. Find the event nearest you on this interactive map or organize one of your own.
The most important step you can take in the face of the Republican assault on representative democracy is ensuring that you, your friends, and your family members are registered to vote and have a plan to vote in November. The All Roads page has a “Stop the Voting Purge” tool to help you check your registration and polling place, register to vote if necessary, and sign up for election reminders.
A Day Against Data Centers
A recent Gallup poll found that 70 percent of Americans do not want AI data centers in their communities, and for good reason — the centers increase air-, water-, light-, and noise pollution; and drive up energy prices. Americans across the country are fighting to keep these emissions-producing, water-hogging facilities out of their communities. This Saturday, Say No To Data Centers is leading the charge for nonpartisan, localized protests to block the approval and construction of new data centers. Say No has published a list of protest and educational resources, alongside a list of participating opposition groups near you.
Prepare for “Seven Days In June”
Leading unions and health care groups have launched a campaign called Seven Days in June. The campaign aims to elevate a national conversation about America’s healthcare crisis and the need for consistent non-partisan public health investment. Read the group’s call to action and plan to participate in a candlelight vigil on June 5.
Meanwhile, sign a Stop Taking Our Health Care petition from Social Security Works to speak out against rising healthcare costs and demand that Congress not cut healthcare programs.
No Blank Check for War
Donald Trump’s war on Iran has been a moral and strategic disaster. Lawmakers hold the power to block funding for Trump’s devastating war, which already has cost at least $29 billion, while disrupting global commerce. You can also let your lawmakers know how you feel about Trump’s call for a 40 percent increase in Pentagon spending. Indivisible has a form to send messages to your members of Congress.
Click here to find The Contrarian’s standing resources for empowering yourself in American civic life — from contacting your elected officials, to ensuring your right to vote, to supporting public-interest journalism.
A data center in Texas has meaning for locals:
1. Water availability goes down (you need deeper wells and salt removal)
2. Electricity rates go up (good luck installing solar panels or windmills)
3. Nose generation - can be heard for miles. Ask those in Glen Rose.
Value to the neighbors - all negative.
NIMBY unite!
MY UKRAINE NEWS STATION
“Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. America, and all the ships at sea.” I am probably one of the few who still remember Walter Winchell’s radio broadcasts during the Second World War and how my parents waited and listened for them. I think the news media in our country have stopped mentioning Ukraine. It is almost as if there is no war in that country.
I am grateful for what the people of Ukraine are doing for the world, so I will try to keep Ukraine in the news. I will be copying and pasting comments from several live reporters living in Ukraine who publish articles on the Medium Daily Digest, an online web page newspaper.
Everything included in my news station will be quoted for their reporting.
Ukraine has begun to reveal the STASH air defense system. It is smaller, more modular, and far less resource-intensive than conventional systems such as the MIM-104 Patriot, which are designed for completely different targets.
Ukraine strikes on May 7th and before on the refinery in Perm have worked, and Reuters reports it is completely out of operation. Last night, Ukraine hit the pumping station.
Ukraine attacked the pumping station in Ufa again yesterday. Smoke was seen rising from the facility. The attacks in Perm and Ufa are critical nodes in Russia’s oil infrastructure, and they are nodes that Ukraine could have hit a long time ago, except that they didn’t at the request of the West. These cut off not just refining, but the supply of crude oil itself.
Kyiv Post reported that Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces carried out precision strikes in occupied Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk regions in early May, including attacks on Russian air-defense systems and radar stations such as Pantsir and Tor complexes.
Ukraine launched about 200 drones into Russia at about 1600 in broad daylight.
The Krishi oil refinery in the Leningrad district is on fire, as confirmed by local videos, the regional governor's announcement, and NASA FIRMS satellite imagery.
Ukrainian drones also hit the VNIIR-Progress factory in Cheboksary, which makes electrical components for the military.
As a result of the attacks on the Russian port of Primorsk, the missile carrier Karakurt, a patrol boat, and a tanker from the shadow fleet were hit, according to a report by Ukrainian Major General Kumara.
For years, Russia treated its Kinzhal missile like one of the crown jewels of its arsenal. Fast, hypersonic, expensive, and marketed as something built to punch through Western air defenses. According to the Kyiv Independent, Ukrainian electronic warfare specialists say Lima stations have helped suppress or divert 58 of 59 Kinzhal missiles launched at protected targets. Cascade Systems, the developer behind Lima, says the system stopped 26 Kinzhal missiles in the first three months of 2026 alone.
The biggest trick the Nordic states ever played was to make the world believe that they were just helpers of Ukraine. They are, in fact, the architects of a new form of sovereignty. A drone that requires a six-month build in Sweden and costs $50,000 can be made in a week in Ukraine for $2,000. That is not merely efficiency — it is change. This isn’t just cost efficiency. It’s evolutionary acceleration.
So that's my Ukraine news for today.