Janie Ekere passed away suddenly in mid-December. It was a shock to all of us at the Prospect who got to know her. She only got to spend about half a year with the organization. But in that time, she was able to contribute work that showed her core interests of uplifting people on the outskirts of society and giving them a voice.
“The Hardships of a Working-Class Candidate”
Congressional leaders prefer a candidate who can fund themselves or have a fat Rolodex of friends who can do so. Working-class candidates face an uphill battle to get legitimized by the establishment. We saw in the election how that strips authenticity from the party that sees itself as working for the people.
“A Continuing Struggle to Reform Payday Lending”
Rhode Island has tried for 15 years to lower the interest rate on payday loans, without success. Janie covered yet another failed attempt in this deep-blue state this year.
“Mark Robinson: A Product of the Republican Controversy Pipeline”
As the overlapping controversies of North Carolina’s losing gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson consumed him, Janie looked at how this person rose to prominence in the first place: by delivering a viral comment at a local city council meeting in her hometown of Greensboro. This lack of friction for rising through the ranks of the Republican Party puts people like Robinson in positions of power.
“Rural America’s Project 2025 Problem”
There weren’t many stories about the stakes of the 2024 election that laid out the challenges for rural America. Janie had the foresight to recognize that rural does not equal agriculture, writing here about climate impacts, food and medical deserts, and more.
“SEIU Works the South”
Organizing for the election in North Carolina dovetailed with organizing workplaces to finally make inroads in the South, particularly at retail businesses. That work will need to go on in the coming years if unions are to return to relevance.
“Student Debtors Could See Hopes Vanish Under Trump”
Discussions of student debt in the last four years often focused on the mass debt relief that Joe Biden attempted to provide. But it ignores how Biden fixed long-standing programs, where borrowers were promised debt relief if they opted for public service or were defrauded by their colleges. That’s the bigger risk from a Trump administration, that he will renege on those promises.
“Making Room Under the Bus”
Janie worked with another writing fellow, Emma Janssen, on this piece about transgender issues and the post-election period. As Emma explains, “Janie and I knew that we wanted to add our voices to the conversation about queer rights that had emerged in noxious ways after Harris lost the election, and this is how we did it. Like so many of the pieces Janie wrote, this story takes a stance on the side of the most marginalized, even when mainstream voices villainize and ignore them.”
