Portside

Featuring the work of Northeastern University School of Law's Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project (CRRJ), "The Trouble I've Seen" follows the investigations of three harrowing civil rights cold cases. Founded by Professor Margaret Burnham, CRRJ takes on cases that both horrify us and beg us to correct the record, to search for reconciliation and remediation for families and communities that even decades later shudder in the shadows of bigotry and injustice. "The Trouble I've Seen" is narrated by Julian Bond, former chairman of the NAACP. (Thanks to Linda Burnham for this link -- video moderator.)

Now is the time for an Arms Trade Treaty. A massive and poorly regulated global trade in weapons feeds armed conflict that threatens the security and rights of people around the world on a daily basis. Get the facts. And tell President Obama to support a strong international Arms Trade Treaty. Take action: http://www.oxfamamerica.org/ATTaction

As the Supreme Court prepares to address marriage equality, one 12-year-old asked the chief judge to consider his own family when making the final decision. Daniel Martinez-Leffew, the adopted son of two gay dads, wrote to a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts–himself the father of two adopted kids — urging him to embrace marriage equality by striking down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California’s Proposition 8.

This satirical song by Maine artist Alan Magee comments on the escalation of mass gun violence in the United States. Its message is that the proliferation of guns will only increase the number of shooting victims. [Thanks to Natasha Mayers for submitting this -- video moderator.]

Wow, it’s like being back in 2008 again. Or at least back in 2012, watching that scene from Game Change when Julianne Moore does an impression of Sarah Palin watching Tina Fey also do an impression of Sarah Palin. (The Observer.)

For the first time, the man who shot the 47% video -- Scott Prouty -- reveals who he is, why he did it, and his plans for the future in an interview with Ed Shultz.

Rachel Maddow reports on a mass civil disobedience campaign by people in Michigan to protest the elimination of political rights of Detroit residents.

Three powerful reasons why we should raise the minimum wage, and a quick debunking of arguments against it.

Pink Smoke Over the Vatican is a documentary film about the controversial movement of women seeking to be ordained as priests in the Roman Catholic Church.

Informative, beautifully filmed and edited by film maker Jules Hart. To order dvd, go here or Amazon.com.

Thanks to Alabama, the law that banned the silencing of African Americans is finally coming before the Supreme Court.