This reality should be sobering for US presidents who, whether Democrats or Republicans, have consistently given both countries full support: India, as a bulwark against China, and Israel, as a deterrent against Iran. But the challenge comes when democracy is receding in India and Israel, and human rights are under attack. The US has failed to meet the challenge, instead finding ways to justify what cannot be justified.
Browsing: Opinions
But universities are mostly wasting opportunities to fulfill that part of their mission centered upon dispassionate inquiry. Those Jewish and Palestinian college students shouting slogans that some of them might not even understand generate plenty of heat, but as to light—not so much.
One of the biggest challenges in communities of color are higher rates of asthma and respiratory related illnesses. I know this firsthand from growing up in the inner city of Buffalo. My family lived near NYS Route 33, the Kensington Expressway and so did my grandma, one of my uncles and at least one aunt. As a kid I snored really bad and at times, I experienced labored breathing. Of course, my physician said I had a mild case of asthma.
This week is World Asthma Day. As we look at Kyla’s story, it is worth remembering her story is all too familiar among the 27 million people living with asthma in the US (about one in 12 Americans) – especially those living in cities like Chicago, where Kyla is from.
A lesser degree of denial encompasses almost all the rest of us. We see the obvious indicators of climate and nuclear dysfunctionality but feel helpless. At the other extreme are the Bill Mckibbens and Greta Thunbergs and their millions of followers who have given their utmost to waking the rest of us up to the urgency, including the doctors in groups like International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, or the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017) who are doing the same for nukes.
Yes, the peaceful protesters are interrupting the status quo – setting up encampments, even occupying university buildings. For instance, at Columbia University, students actually renamed the occupied Hamilton Hall, declaring its new name to be Hind’s Hall, after Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old Palestinian girl killed by Israeli armed forces, along with the rest of her family (and several aid workers), as they were fleeing their home in Gaza. The point of the protests is, indeed, to change the world: to stop U.S., including university, support of the devastating “war” (i.e., carnage). They’re not trying to eliminate an enemy but, rather, illuminate the situation – putting themselves on the line to do so.
One thing the show gets right is in having some characters criticize the fact that so many high ranking officials from Western governments, especially the United States, are not skilled diplomats with expertise regarding their posts but political appointees, who are rewarded with their positions for being major donors to one of the country’s two major political parties.
Some Black people all over the world are afraid to stand up, afraid to speak out, afraid to fight for freedom, afraid to fight for righteousness, and afraid to fight the fights that need to be fought.
Unremarkably, though the Founding Fathers were reflective about democracy’s fate, they chose not to identify the conspirators. But as it would be, America as well as the entire world is witnessing the dismantling of democracy. Sadly, the prevailing conspirators are former president Trump, Republican Congresspersons, and SCOTUS’ six conspirators.
Way Outside the Confines of the Box