Columnist, Global Justice
New York, NY
Michelle Chen is Colorlines' Global Justice columnist. She is a regular contributor on labor issues at In These Times, as well as a member of the magazine's Board of Editors. Michelle's reporting has appeared in Ms. Magazine, AirAmerica, Alternet, Newsday, the Progressive Media Project, and her old zine, cain. Prior to joining Colorlines, she wrote for the independent news collective The NewStandard. A native New Yorker, she has also conducted ethnographic research as a Fulbright fellow in Shanghai and checked coats at a West Village jazz club. She is currently pursuing doctoral studies at the City University of New York and co-producing the community radio program Asia Pacific Forum on Pacifica's WBAI.
Follow Michelle at @meeshellchen.
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Videoby Michelle Chen on May 22 2009, 10:12PM
It’s not every day that the police admit that they don’t want to do their work, or that they’re bad at it. So it’s worth noting that the Police Foundation, a think tank focused “innovation and improvement in policing,”…
Topics: Immigration
SCOTUS and identity politics: Newyorkricans vs. wise white men
by Michelle Chen on May 22 2009, 9:02PM
The crusade for colorblindness has gained momentum in the media scrutiny of Sonia Sotomayor, a reported front-runner for the Supreme Court, and a self-proclaimed Newyorkrican. Amidst tense disputes over Sotomayor’s qualifications and ideological leanings, Stuart Taylor’s latest National Journal…
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by Michelle Chen on May 22 2009, 5:03PM
Immigration court often involves lengthy legal disputes and tedious bureaucracy. At one downtown Los Angeles courthouse, however, officials have found an efficient way to cut through the red tape: kicking people out of the country without waiting for a…
Topics: Immigration
Preventive Detention: The Usual Suspects
by Michelle Chen on May 21 2009, 4:49PM
President Obama’s speech at the National Archives today resonated with comforting rhetoric about constitutional principles and the careful balance between national security and transparency. But for human rights activists, Obama’s words contained troubling echoes of the last administration. He…
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by Michelle Chen on May 20 2009, 8:54PM
The federal economic stimulus will pump millions of dollars into “innovation in education.” If that sounds vague, that’s kind of the point. The money will be targeted to nonprofit-led school reform initiatives that aim broadly to raise student achievement….
Topics: Schools & Youth
by Michelle Chen on May 20 2009, 4:30PM
What’s the right political moment to address immigration reform? Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano expressed reluctance to tackle immigration reform in the midst of an economic downturn—citing typical, and typically dubious, arguments about immigrants and jobs. She told reporters…
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by Michelle Chen on May 19 2009, 9:10PM
Underneath the headlines trumpeting signs of “recovery” are sobering figures on the bottom rungs of the economy. The Economic Policy Institute projects calculates that high rates of joblessness have resulted in a 7.8 million deficit in payroll employment. Between…
Topics: Economy, Environment
by Michelle Chen on May 19 2009, 5:11PM
Our schools go to great lengths to teach kids a lesson. Cedric Napoleon, a 14 year-old with behavioral problems at a Killeen, Texas public school, wouldn’t stay put in his seat. So his teacher restrained him by pinning him…
Topics: Schools & Youth
by Michelle Chen on May 18 2009, 7:15PM
What happened to Javaid Iqbal in some of the most shadowy corners of post-9/11 American law enforcement was not the responsibility of top White House officials, according to the Supreme Court. The case, Iqbal v. Ashcroft, involved the question of…
Topics: Immigration
by Michelle Chen on May 18 2009, 3:37PM
When prosecutors are hell bent on scoring a conviction, some will go to any length to make their case. In an article profiling two men with convictions who believe DNA evidence will exonerate them, the New York Times reports…
Topics: Criminal Justice
by Michelle Chen on May 15 2009, 9:20PM
Do we care more about the chemicals on the tomatoes in the produce aisle than the people who pick them? Sarah Newman at Alternet writes that the green veneer of organic food often masks exploitative labor conditions, as major…
Topics: Environment
by Michelle Chen on May 15 2009, 4:37PM
In the wake of the new Social Security and Medicare trustee reports, the media and doomsaying politicians are drumming up panic about the pending implosion of America’s nest egg. Critics say this is a perrennial campaign of nonsense, and…
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Ag Jobs: pragmatism and justice
by Michelle Chen on May 14 2009, 6:27PM
Today, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) reintroduced the Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act (Ag Jobs) bill. Though the concept of farm guestworkers, and their rampant exploitation, has historically been one of the thorniest immigration labor issues, Ag Jobs…
Topics: Immigration
by Michelle Chen on May 14 2009, 3:29PM
Homeownership has long been touted as the cornerstone of the American dream and a tool for narrowing the racial wealth gap. Has the foreclosure crisis extinguished that hope, or exposed the myths that drive it? The Pew Hispanic Center…
Topics: Economy, Immigration
by Michelle Chen on May 14 2009, 2:51AM
America is experiencing a single-mom boom. Federal health authorities report that about 40 percent of births in 2007 were to unmarried women, up from 34 percent in 2002. Keeping with previous patterns, the highest rates and largest increases were…
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Black, indigenous, and reclaiming history
by Michelle Chen on May 13 2009, 9:11PM
Blacks and American Indians have been bonded by hardship and social upheaval since the dawn of the country, and now the government that has historically oppressed both communities is mediating the crossroads between them. Lawmakers and activists are pressing…
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Profits and equity in health reform
by Michelle Chen on May 12 2009, 10:02PM
The healthcare industry brought us some good news this week: after years of astronomical spending growth and tens of millions left with no coverage, lobbyists have purportedly gotten religion on health care reform. Advocates for private insurers and other industry…
Topics: Health
Just words?: Human rights and the White House
by Michelle Chen on May 12 2009, 5:24PM
The United States took a seat today in the the U.N. Human Rights Council, thawing the chill set by the Bush administration between Washington and the world’s highest human rights body. Yet membership on the Council hardly guarantees progress…
Topics: Global Affairs
by Michelle Chen on May 11 2009, 10:22PM
Many imprisoned women spent this past Sunday alone, cut off from their communities, maybe wondering anxiously about children left in the care of relatives or a stranger’s foster home. But some passed a more conventional version of Mother’s Day…
Topics: Criminal Justice
by Michelle Chen on May 11 2009, 7:49PM
The nation’s housing crisis is now following thousands of New Yorkers all the way to the shelter doors. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg plans to effectively force working homeless people in shelters to pay a portion of their…
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