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  • Global Witness: 2020 the worst year on record for environmental human rights defenders

    Since 2012, Global Witness has been gathering data on killings of land and environmental defenders. In that time, a grim picture has come into focus – with the evidence suggesting that as the climate crisis intensifies, violence against those protecting their land and our planet also increases. It has become clear that the unaccountable exploitation and greed driving the climate crisis is also driving violence against land and environmental defenders.

    In 2020, we recorded 227 lethal attacks – an average of more than four people a week – making it once again the most dangerous year on record for people defending their homes, land and livelihoods, and ecosystems vital for biodiversity and the climate. [CF: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2020/07/29/global-witness-2019-worst-year-ever-for-land-rights-and-environmental-defenders/]

    As ever, these lethal attacks are taking place in the context of a wider range of threats against defenders including intimidation, surveillance, sexual violence, and criminalisation. Our figures are almost certainly an underestimate, with many attacks against defenders going unreported. You can find more information on our verification criteria and methodology in the full report. Downloads

    In 2020, over half of attacks took place in just three countries: Colombia, Mexico and the Philippines.

    For the second year in a row, Colombia saw the highest number of killings in 2020, with 65 land and environmental defenders murdered. These took place in the context of widespread attacks on human rights defenders and community leaders across the country, despite the hopes of the 2016 peace agreement. Indigenous peoples were particularly impacted, and the COVID pandemic only served to worsen the situation. Official lockdowns led to defenders being targeted in their homes, and government protection measures were cut.

    In Mexico, we documented 30 lethal attacks against land and environmental defenders in 2020, a 67% increase from 2019. Logging was linked to almost a third of these attacks, and half of all the attacks in the country were directed against Indigenous communities. Impunity for crimes against defenders remains shockingly high – up to 95% of murders do not result in prosecution.

    In the Philippines, the deteriorating human rights situation has received increasing international condemnation. Opposition to damaging industries is often met with violent crackdowns from the police and military. In our data, over half of the lethal attacks were directly linked to defenders’ opposition to mining, logging, and dam projects.

    President Duterte’s years in office have been marked by a dramatic increase in violence against defenders. From his election in 2016 until the end of 2020, 166 land and environment defenders have been killed – a shocking increase for a country which was already a dangerous place to stand up for the environment.

    Forest defenders under threat

    In instances where defenders were attacked for protecting particular ecosystems, 70% were working to defend the world’s forests from deforestation and industrial development. In Brazil and Peru, nearly three quarters of recorded attacks took place in the Amazon region of each country.

    Almost 30% of the attacks were reportedly linked to resource exploitation (logging, mining and large-scale agribusiness), and hydroelectric dams and other infrastructure. Of these, logging was the sector linked to the most murders, accounting for 23 cases. Mexico saw a large rise in logging- and deforestation-related killings, with 9 in 2020.

    An unequal impact

    Much like the impacts of the climate crisis itself, the impacts of violence against land and environmental defenders are not felt evenly across the world. The Global South is suffering the most immediate consequences of global warming on all fronts, and in 2020 all but one of the 227 recorded killings of defenders took place in the countries of the Global South.

    The disproportionate number of attacks against Indigenous peoples continued, with over a third of all fatal attacks targeting Indigenous people – even though Indigenous communities make up only 5% of the world’s population. Indigenous peoples were also the target of 5 out of the 7 mass killings recorded in 2020.

    As has been the case in previous years, in 2020 almost 9 in 10 of the victims of lethal attacks were men. At the same time, women who act and speak out also face gender-specific forms of violence, including sexual violence. Women often have a twin challenge: the public struggle to protect their land, and the less-visible struggle to defend their right to speak within their communities and families.

    [Defenders are] at risk because they find themselves living on or near something that some corporation is demanding. That demand – the demand for the highest possible profit, the quickest possible timeline, the cheapest possible operation – seems to translate eventually into the understanding, somewhere, that the troublemaker must go. – Bill McKibben

    Business is responsible

    Many companies engage in an extractive economic model that overwhelmingly prioritises profit over human rights and the environment. This unaccountable corporate power is the underlying force that has not only driven the climate crisis to the brink, but which has continued to perpetuate the killing of defenders.

    In too many countries, rich in natural resources and climate critical biodiversity, corporations are operating with almost complete impunity. Because the balance of power is stacked in the favour of corporations, it’s rare that anyone is arrested or brought to court for killing defenders. When they are it’s usually the trigger-men – the ones holding the guns, not those who might be otherwise implicated, directly or indirectly, in the crime.

    Governments must stop the violence

    Governments have been all too willing to turn a blind eye and fail in providing their core mandate of upholding and protecting human rights. They are failing to protect land and environmental defenders, in many cases directly perpetrating violence against them, and in others complicit with business.

    Even worse, states around the world – from the US to Brazil, Colombia and the Philippines – used the COVID pandemic to strengthen draconian measures to control citizens and close civic space.

    There is a clear link between the availability of civic space and attacks against defenders – the most open and tolerant societies see very few attacks, whereas in restricted societies, attacks are much more frequent.

    The majority of killings took place in states with limited civic freedoms

    Data on civic freedoms via CIVICUS Monitor Open Narrowed Obstructed Repressed Closed 0 50 100 150 killings Killings in closed civic spaces are likely to be underreported about:blank

    Recommendations

    As the climate crisis intensifies, so too does its impact on people, including on land and environmental defenders. Meaningful climate action requires protecting defenders, and vice versa. Without significant change this situation is only likely to get worse – as more land is grabbed, and more forests are felled in the interest of short-term profits, both the climate crisis and attacks against defenders will continue to worsen.

    Governments can turn the tide on the climate crisis and protect human rights by protecting civil society, and through passing legislation to hold corporations accountable for their actions and profits. Lawmakers have relied too much on corporate self-reporting and voluntary corporate mechanisms. As a result, companies continue to cause, contribute to, and benefit from human rights abuses and environmental harms, particularly across borders.

    The United Nations, through its member states, must formally recognise the human right to a safe, healthy, and sustainable environment, ensure that commitments to meet the Paris Agreement integrate human rights protections, and implement the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders and the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights.

    Statesmust ensure national policies protect land and environmental defenders and scrap legislation used to criminalise them, require companies to conduct human rights and environment due diligence in their global operations, and investigate and prosecute all actors involved in violence and other threats against defenders.

    The European Commission is currently preparing to publish binding due diligence legislation, including an initiative on Sustainable Corporate Governance. They must ensure this initiative requires all companies doing business in the EU, including financial institutions, to identify and address human rights and environmental harms along their value chains. This legislation must include robust liability regimes and penalties to hold companies accountable for failing to do so.

    Finally, companies and investors must publish and implement effective due diligence systems to identify and prevent human rights and environmental harms throughout their supply chains and operations, adopt and implement a zero-tolerance stance on reprisals and attacks on land and environmental defenders, and provide effective remedy when adverse human rights and environmental impacts and harms occur.

    People sometimes ask me what I’m going to do, whether I’m going to stay here and keep my mother’s fight alive. I’m too proud of her to let it die. I know the dangers – we all know the dangers. But I’ve decided to stay. I’m going to join the fight. – Malungelo Xhakaza, daughter of murdered South African activist Fikile Ntshangase

    Defenders are our last line of defence against climate breakdown. We can take heart from the fact that, even after decades of violence, people continue to stand up for their land and for our planet. In every story of defiance against corporate theft and land grabbing, against deadly pollution and against environmental disaster, is hope that we can turn the tide on this crisis and learn to live in harmony with the natural world. Until we do, the violence will continue.

    Those murdered included South African Fikile Ntshangase, 65, who was involved in a legal dispute over the extension of an opencast mine operated by Tendele Coal near Somkhele in KwaZulu-Natal province. She was shot dead in her own living room. See also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/tag/fikile-ntshangase/

    https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-58508001

    Download the full report : Last line of defence (low resolution) (2.3 MB), pdf

    Download the full report : Last line of defence (high resolution) (18.1 MB), pdf

    This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.

  • 8 Must-Read Books by Wrongly Convicted Writers

    Writing is a powerful tool of expression and reflection for many incarcerated and wrongly convicted people. These eight exonerees and wrongfully convicted people took their passion for writing a step further, penning these compelling memoirs that not only paint haunting portraits of what it’s like to be innocent and incarcerated, but also shine a spotlight on the greater inequities and systemic flaws ingrained in criminal legal systems.

    These first-hand accounts of surviving and overcoming wrongful conviction are must-reads for anyone interested in criminal justice reform.

    1. Redeeming Justice by Jarrett Adams

    (Image: Courtesy of Penguin Random House)

    At 17, Jarrett Adams was arrested for a crime he didn’t commit in Wisconsin. Mr. Adams spent eight years wrongly convicted before being exonerated with the help of the Wisconsin Innocence Project. While incarcerated, Mr. Adams focused on learning all the ins and outs of criminal legal systems, both to understand how such an injustice had occurred and how he could change it. After his exoneration, Mr. Adams earned his law degree and worked at the Innocence Project, where he argued before the same court that had convicted him a decade before and won. In this engaging memoir, Mr. Adams shares his experience and his clients’ stories, painting a stark portrait of deeply flawed legal systems.

    Available for pre-order here (will be released on Sept. 14). 

    2. Solitary by Albert Woodfox

    Albert Woodfox spent 44 years and 10 months in Angola prison — often called America’s bloodiest prison — while insisting on his innocence. He spent most of that time in solitary confinement and is widely reported to have spent the longest time in solitary confinement of any person in the United States. During his wrongful incarceration, Mr. Woodfox dreamed of writing a memoir. Upon his release, he penned Solitary, an incredible and profound book that traces his fight for justice. The book was a Pulitzer Prize winner and American Book Award finalist.

    Solitary is available to purchase here.

    3. Better, Not Bitter by Yusef Salaam

    In this moving memoir, Dr. Yusef Salaam tells his story of survival as a wrongly convicted teenager. He details how his family and his faith powered him through seven years of wrongful incarceration and supported him as he returned to his community. This is a must-read for those who watched Netflix’s When They See Us and want to hear directly from one of the Exonerated Five. Dr. Salaam, an Innocence Project board member, is also the author of Punching the Air, a young adult novel written in prose, and Words of a Man, a selection of his poetry.

    Better, Not Bitter is available to purchase here. 

    4. Picking Cotton by Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton with Erin Torneo

    In 1984, an intruder broke into Jennifer Thompson-Cannino’s home while she was asleep and raped her at knifepoint. After viewing a photographic lineup that used flawed eyewitness practices, Ms. Thompson-Cannino mistakenly picked out Ronald Cotton as the person who had attacked her. Mr. Cotton spent 10 years wrongly imprisoned before DNA evidence proved his innocence and exonerated him. After his exoneration, Mr. Cotton and Ms. Thompson-Cannino developed an unlikely friendship and have teamed up to shed light on how wrongful convictions occur. Picking Cotton is their story.

    Picking Cotton is available to purchase here.

    5. Live to Tell by Anthony Wright with Rob G. Kelly

    Anthony Wright was a 20-year-old with NFL dreams when he was wrongly arrested for rape, robbery, and murder in Philadelphia. He spent 25 years in prison before DNA exonerated him in 2016, with the help of the Innocence Project. In this compelling memoir, Mr. Wright takes readers through his long, difficult journey — from the interrogations that paint a picture of how innocent people can be pressured into false confessions to rejected appeals to his first moments of freedom.

    Live to Tell is available to purchase here.

    6. The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton with Lara Love Hardin

    Embed from Getty Images

    Anthony Ray Hinton spent 30 years on death row in Alabama for murders he did not commit. As a Black man in the South experiencing poverty, Mr. Hinton faced an uphill battle to prove his innocence, but he did not give up. In 2015, he was freed with the help of Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative. During his decades of wrongful conviction, Mr. Hinton remained strong and was a beacon of hope for those around him. The Sun Does Shine recounts his story of survival.

    Available to purchase here.

    7. Getting Life by Michael Morton

    The day after Michael Morton’s 32nd birthday, he returned home from a full day at work to discover that his wife had been murdered in their home. Though no physical evidence connected him to the crime, Mr. Morton became the main suspect. In 1987, he was convicted and sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison in Texas. He spent 24 years in prison before being exonerated by DNA, with the help of the Innocence Project and law firm Raley & Bowick. Drawing on Mr. Morton’s personal reflections, journal entries written during his wrongful incarceration, court documents, and more, Getting Life guides readers through the missteps that led to Mr. Morton’s wrongful conviction and how regained his freedom.

    Getting Life is available to purchase here.

    8. Infinite Hope by Anthony Graves

    In 1992, Anthony Graves was wrongly arrested for murder. Though he had no motive to commit the crime and no physical evidence connected him to the murders, he was convicted and sentenced to death in Texas. Mr. Graves spent 16 years wrongly convicted — most of them in solitary confinement and on death row. He came close to being executed twice and was finally exonerated in 2010, after a re-investigation of his case found that the prosecutor in his case had concealed exculpatory evidence, presented false testimony, and lied. This powerful memoir recounts Mr. Graves’ relentless fight to live and be free.

    Infinite Hope is available to purchase here.

    The post 8 Must-Read Books by Wrongly Convicted Writers appeared first on Innocence Project.

    This post was originally published on Innocence Project.

  • ‘I’m not afraid of terrorism. I’m afraid of being accused of being a terrorist’ – growing up Muslim after 9/11

    ANALYSIS: By Randa Abdel Fattah, Macquarie University

    Those born after 2001 have only known a world “at war on terror”.

    This means a generation growing up under under fears and moral panics about Muslims and unparalleled security measures around their bodies and lives.

    In my new book, Coming of Age in the War on Terror, I look at what this has meant for young Muslims in Australia as they navigate their political identities at school.

    In 2018 and 2019, I interviewed and held writing workshops with more than 60 Muslim and non-Muslim high school students across Sydney who were born around the time of the September 11 terror attacks.

    We explored their fears, their levels of trust with peers and teachers and political expression in a post 9/11 world.

    No matter how many Muslim students spoke to me about their typically adolescent hobbies and interests, almost every student spoke about the impact of political and media discourse in their everyday lives.

    Abdul-Rahman, a 17-year-old Muslim boy at an Islamic school in western Sydney, put it this way:

    I’m not afraid of terrorism. I’m afraid of being accused of being a terrorist.

    Another student, Laila, told me:

    I’ve always had this almost preconceived guilt attached to me […] [It’s] the million messages in the media, politicians, popular culture, all these little things that add up and add up.

    ‘Countering violent extremism’
    For teenagers to talk about themselves as potentially “accused” is devastating, but not particularly surprising.

    Cover image of 'Coming of Age in the War on Terror' by Randa Abdel-Fattah
    Graphic: New South Books

    For two decades, millions of federal and state dollars have been poured into “countering violent extremism” programmes targeting Muslim youth. There has been no subtlety here.

    Counter-terrorism policies have been announced by politicians on the steps of mosques, with a focus on geographic and demographic populations deemed “at risk” (in other words, suburbs with large Muslim populations).

    Consultations and round tables with government over “national security” have been highly publicised. Meanwhile, Islamophobic attacks have been condemned by politicians and the police because of how they might “undermine” relationships of cooperation between intelligence and law enforcement and the Muslim community.

    The public has been routinely reassured the government is tackling the “problem” of young Muslim Australians, “with strong, deradicalisation programmes, working with Muslim communities”.

    The figure of the vulnerable but also dangerous Muslim youth pops up time and time again, from moral panics around young “homegrown” terrorists, to attempts to introduce “jihadi watch” schemes in schools.

    The pressure to self-censor
    This landscape trickles down into young people’s everyday lives, including their schools.

    The pressure to self-censor and manage your political and religious expression at school was a common theme among many students, resonating with what academics in the United Kingdom describe in their research.

    Students in classroom.
    Young Muslims spoke about how they had to ‘manage’ what they said in class. Image: www.shutterstock.com

    Anticipating how their tone, words and emotion would be interpreted by teachers and peers restricted students’ political expression.

    This included a young Palestinian girl who had to push back against teachers, who reprimanded her for wearing a “Free Palestine” t-shirt at school, to students who refrained from writing about Iraq or Afghanistan as part of assignments because they had been cautioned not to “bring overseas conflicts into the classroom”.

    Other students talked of staying quiet if controversial topics came up in class, such as news of a terrorist attack involving Muslims, or media headlines about Islam.

    I also met students who tried to appear as “good” or “moderate” Muslims (which inevitably meant apolitical) and erased all traces of their Muslimness to “fit in”.

    Feeling targeted, isolated
    In 2015, there was a media frenzy about youth radicalisation in prayer rooms in Sydney’s state schools. I interviewed students at a school in north-west Sydney three years later and they spoke about how that controversy had been felt in their school life.

    Most of the students from suburbs and schools who came under media and political scrutiny as “problematic” had felt targeted and isolated. One student withdrew from his Muslim peers, abandoned his prayers at school, took different routes to school to avoid being hassled by the media, and “shut down” in class.

    I got dragged into an argument with other kids in class about me following the same religion as these terrorists […] but my tone […] I came off very aggressive […] then I was scared, because that’s what people think of as radical extremists […] I felt like I’d be taken straight to the principal and you would have to deal with that. So I shut up.

    We need a new approach
    After two decades of seeing young Muslims as “problems” to be contained and managed, it is time we approached them in a different way.

    Adolescence is a time to encourage critical thinking and support young people navigating their political identities and agency. Young people need to be empowered to work through their political and religious ideas and identities in safe, supportive environments. They need to be seen as individuals in their own right, not members of a demonised, racialised collective.

    The vast majority of the young Muslims I spoke to were matter-of-fact about the global rise of Islamophobia and racism. They knew about certain jokes and assumptions in the popular vernacular (for example, “Allahu Akbar and bomb jokes” or “terrorist” equals “Muslim”).

    Many were concerned about what this meant as they grew up and left school. They worried about facing discrimination at work and being able to practise their faith openly. They also knew how this suspicion and dehumanisation had been triggered by wider discourses and policies over which they had no power.

    It is not up to the 9/11 generation to change this. We need teachers, politicians and the media to create a culture where young Muslims feel accepted and secure in their right to express their religious and political identities.

    • This article was produced as part of Social Sciences Week, running 6-12 September. A full list of 70 events can be found here. Randa Abdel-Fattah will appear in a webinar on the “Implications of 9/11: 20 years” at 6pm on Thursday September 9.The Conversation

    Dr Randa Abdel Fattah is a DECRA research fellow, Macquarie University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Sex workers fighting for human rights among world’s most at risk activists

    On 12 August 2021 Front Line Defenders came out with an unique report saying rights defenders working in sex industry face ‘targeted attacks’ around the world. The same day Sarah Johnson devoted a piece to it in the Guardian:

    Sex worker rights defenders from Yosoa in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Yosoa conduct health outreach and provide support after police, client or family violence.

    Sex worker rights defenders from Yosoa in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Yosoa do health outreach work and provide support after police, client or family violence. Photograph: Erin Kilbride/Front Line DefendersRights and freedom is supported by

    Humanity United

    Sex worker activists are among the most at risk defenders of human rights in the world, facing multiple threats and violent attacks, an extensive investigation has found.

    The research, published today by human rights organisation Front Line Defenders, found that their visibility as sex workers who are advocates for their communities’ rights makes them more vulnerable to the violations routinely suffered by sex workers. In addition, they face unique, targeted abuse for their human rights work.

    Drawing on the experience of 300 individuals in Tanzania, Kyrgyzstan, El Salvador and Myanmar, the report focuses oncases of sexual assault, threats from managers and clients, raids on homes and offices, physical attacks and police surveillance endured by sex workers undertaking human rights work.

    The services the activists provide to fellow sex workers include: negotiating access to brothels, conducting gender rights training, offering legal and health counselling, reporting experiences of violence, and campaigning for freedom of movement and free choice of employment for those seeking to leave sex work.

    Erin Kilbride, research and visibility coordinator at Front Line Defenders and lead author of the report, said: “Sex worker rights defenders take extreme personal risks to protect their communities’ rights to access justice, healthcare, housing and food, while responding to the immediate threats of police and domestic violence, discrimination, criminalisation and structural poverty.”

    Often these activists were the only people able and willing to provide health education in locations in which sex was sold, the report found. They ensured treatment for sex workers who would otherwise be left with crippling injuries and life-threatening illnesses.

    Activists’ role in creating community networks and defending sex workers’ right to assemble were also highlighted in the repot. “Coming together, even in private, is a radical, resistant, and dangerous act for defenders whose very identities are criminalised,” it said.

    Defenders interviewed said they had been subjected to violations above and beyond what are typical for sex workers in their area. These included torture in prison, threats by name on the street, targeted abuse on social media and demands for sex in exchange for an advocacy meeting with a police commissioner. They also faced attacks from clients….

    In Tanzania, sexual assaults in detention by the police have become a common occurrence for sex workers. They are often forced to perform sex acts in exchange for release. But human rights defenders have also been forced to perform sexual acts in order to secure other sex workers’ release. If they refuse, they are often tortured. One woman was given electric shocks after she refused to perform sex acts during a one-week detention related to her human rights work.

    In El Salvador and other countries, physical attacks by clients and managers began after they learned about a sex worker’s activism, said the report.

    In Myanmar, police followed activists to brothels to conduct raids duringhuman rights trainings. Some activists had been forced to change where they sell sex because police surveillance increased after they became known for their human rights work.Advertisement

    Activists were often belittled at police stations in front of the sex workers they had tried to help. Htut, an outreach worker for Aye Myanmar Association, a network of sex workers, said: “[The police] let us in to the stations but then use rude words, take money from us, insult us, embarrass us, and made me feel bad about myself. It feels like they want to prove to the other sex workers that being an advocate is a humiliating thing.”

    In Kyrgyzstan, sex workers have been paid or threatened by the police to help entrap rights defenders when they go to an area to distribute health supplies.

    Despite the overwhelming evidence that sex worker activists have been under threat for their human rights work, much of it is dismissed by people ranging from the police to their own families, who assume such attacks are a result of being a sex worker.

    Kilbride said: “Human rights defenders who are sex workers themselves are the best, and sometimes the only, activists and communities workers qualified and capable of accessing the most dangerous locations in which people sell sex.

    “The targeted attacks they experience – ranging from sexual assault in detention to raids on their homes and offices – are indicators of how powerful their human rights work is.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/aug/12/sex-workers-fighting-for-human-rights-among-worlds-most-at-risk-activists

    https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/statement-report/first-global-report-sex-worker-rights-defenders-risk

    This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.

  • Former USP academic and author of Fiji coup books Robbie Robertson dies

    Pacific Media Watch newsdesk

    Retired politics professor and historian Robert “Robbie” Robertson, co-author of the book Shattered Coups about the 1987 coups led by then Lieutenant-Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka, has died in Melbourne, his family has confirmed.

    Dr Robertson wrote the book with his partner Akosita Tamanisau, then a Fiji journalist. It was published in January 1988 and he also wrote other books and papers on Fiji and globalisation.

    He and William Sutherland co-authored the fast moving and readable Government by the Gun: The unfinished business of Fiji’s 2000 coup.

    Shattered Coups cover
    The cover of Shattered Coups … co-author Dr Robertson expelled by Fiji’s coup leader Sitiveni Rabuka.

    His last book on Fiji in 2017 was The General’s Goose: Fiji’s contemporary tale of misadventure.

    Dr Robertson was the second person at the University of the South Pacific to have his work permit rescinded and he was deported to New Zealand by Rabuka.

    Attempts to have him relocated to Port Vila were sabotaged by the then Vanuatu government.

    Moved to Australia
    He moved to Australia and joined La Trobe University and became associate professor of history and development studies in Bendigo.

    Dr Robertson returned to USP from 2004 to 2006 as professor and director of development studies.

    Subsequently, he served as professor and head of school of arts and social sciences at James Cook University (2010-2014) and as professor and dean of arts, social sciences and humanities at Swinburne University of Technology from July 2014 until he retired.

    Retired professor of development studies at USP Dr Vijay Naidu and New Zealand researcher Dr Jackie Leckie recalled his contribution as a progressive and inspirational academic, and his sense of humour, Dr Leckie saying “Robbie was one of the good guys. I am so sorry that he had suffered in health recently.”

    Dr Robertson is survived by his wife Akosita and sons Nemani and Julian.

     

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Book review of “The Water Defenders” tells the story of environmental defenders in El Salvador

    In Toward Freedom of 31 May 2021 Charlotte Dennett reviews the book “The Water Defenders: How Ordinary People Saved a Country from Corporate Greed“. It is a very uplifting story that teaches a lot about how to continue a sometimes hopeless-looking case

    The Water Defenders

    At a time when all caring people are seeking a new way forward out of a year of unimaginable death, destruction and rampant inequality, along comes a book that gives us hope that a better world may be possible. The book, recently published, is based on a struggle in a small section of a small country—El Salvador—beginning in 2002, when a group of “white men in suits” entered the province of Cabañas and tried to convince poor farmers that gold mining would be good for them. Their resistance, done at great peril and resulting in the assassinations of some of their leaders, ended up years later in a landmark case against corporate greed, garnering support from around the world. The basis of their success lies in the most fundamental of human needs: Water, for which left-right antagonisms fall apart once the deadly consequences of mining’s misuse of it—including causing cyanide poisoning—become patently clear.

    Authors Robin Broad and John Cavanagh have brought us this amazing David versus Goliath story in their new book, The Water Defenders: How Ordinary People Saved A Country from Corporate Greed. Their first-hand accounts of working with front-line communities, both in El Salvador and in the United States. provide lessons along the way about how to fight an immensely powerful entity and win, whether the enemy be Big Gold, Big Oil or Big Pharma (to name a few). As they write in their introduction, “You may find yourselves surprised to find the relevance of the strategies of the water defenders in El Salvador, whether your focus is on a Walmart in Washington DC; a fracking company trying to expand in Texas or Pennsylvania, or petrochemical companies outside New Orleans.” By the end of the book, they added relevant struggles in countries like Bolivia, Venezuela, and Ecuador, as well as in South Africa, South Korea, and India.

    In an interview with John Cavanagh, I asked if he and Robin had an inkling of the huge ramifications of their story right from the beginning, and his answer was decidedly no. In fact, when they first got involved, back in 2009, they never expected to win. They knew what they were up against and had no illusions. As they wrote about the ensuing years of twist-and-turn battles lost and won, the authors described a combination of events that made the water defenders’ decades-long struggle unusual… Yet now, with lessons learned, replicable.

    Their involvement with the water defenders began in October 2009. That month, the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), a progressive organization “dedicated to building a more equitable, ecologically sustainable, and peaceful society,” invited a group of Salvadorian water defenders to accept IPS’s annual Letelier Human Rights Award for their struggle against Pacific Rim (PacRim), a huge Canadian gold-mining company that sought permits in El Salvador. [See: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/06351cb8-8cc0-4bdd-ac3a-2f7ee5a0b553]That year’s award was particularly poignant because one of the awardees, Marcelo Rivera, had been assassinated the month before. Five people still came to Washington, with Marcelo’s brother, Miguel, traveling in his place. Leading the delegation was a small-statured, seemingly nervous Vidalina Morales. But when she stepped up to the podium at the National Press Club and began her acceptance speech, her voice filled the room with a sense of urgency. She described the dangers of gold mining—for drinking water, for fishing and for agriculture. By the time she got to explaining the use of toxic cyanide in separating the gold from the rock, she had the audience—including the authors—mesmerized.

    Miguel Rivera in front of anti-mining mural in his town in northern El Salvador
    Miguel Rivera in front of anti-mining mural in his town in northern El Salvador / credit: John Cavanagh

    Another factor made this occasion different. Cavanagh, who is the director of IPS, explained that usually the awardees arrive in Washington to accept their awards and return home. But on this occasion, “They asked for our help. El Salvador had just been sued by PacRim in an international tribunal that argued that El Salvador had to allow it to mine gold or pay over $300 million in costs and ‘foregone profits.’ They also asked if we could help them with research on companies involved in gold mining.”

    John had previously engaged with IPS in fighting against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and had become familiar with the tribunal and the rules set by the World Bank involved in regulating a global economy. Robin Broad, for her part, had written her doctoral dissertation and first book on the World Bank, and she had worked on the bank at her job with the U.S. Treasury Department in the mid-1980s. But she was less familiar with the workings of the tribunal the World Bank had set up in 1964, “The International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).” Its mission was to hear cases brought by foreign investors demanding compensation for lost profits from countries that tried to limit or regulate their activities. The couple figured they could be helpful.

    “That’s how we were drawn in,” John explained, while emphasizing the extraordinary role local Salvadorans played in educating local communities about the dangers of landfills and then the dangers of gold mining. It was their groundbreaking work, often under dangerous conditions, that had earned them the Letelier award.

    What happened next is a remarkable story of a growing North-South alliance that eventually went global, succeeding in two monumental victories: 1) a decision by ICSID in October 2016 that rejected PacRim’s claims for damages, while ordering the corporation to pay El Salvador $8 million in costs, and 2) the world’s first-ever comprehensive metals mining ban, brought by the El Salvador legislature in March 2019.

    The Challenge

    Up until 2016, Cavanagh explained, “we never thought we would win.” But that did not stop the momentum of coalition building, which had begun as early as 2005 by local village defenders, human rights advocates, farmers, lawyers, Catholic organizations and Oxfam America. They united to call themselves the National Roundtable on Metallic Mining, or La Mesa Frente a la Mineria Metálica—La Mesa for short. Their ultimate goal, beyond building resistance at the local level, “seemed like a pipe dream,” the authors wrote. That goal? “Getting the Salvadoran Congress to pass a new national law banning metal mining.”

    Over the years, spurred on by their quest to find out who was responsible for Marcelo’s murder, the water defenders and their international allies yielded a treasure trove of insights on how to fight the Men in Suits, regardless of the outcome. Here are just a few lessons learned from their struggles described in the book:

    • Listen to the horror stories coming from refugees, in this case, those fleeing Honduras. Marcelo; his brother, Miguel; and Vidalina made several trips to Honduras to learn more about the gold mines there. (Honduras had become a haven for Big Gold after the 2009 coup). They returned with “shocking stories of rivers poisoned by cyanide, of dying fish and skin disease, of displaced communities, denuded forests, and corruption and conflict catalyzed by mining company payoffs.” Those trips, the authors write, made a huge impression on the water defenders and “crystallized their thinking… They were vigilant researchers, thirsty to know more.”
    • Seek out unexpected allies. One was Luis Parada, a Salvadoran government lawyer with a military background. As it turned out, he was a disciple of Sun Tsu, a Chinese military strategist from 2,500 years ago, who had written The Art of War. Among the lessons Parada (and Sun Tsu) imparted: “Know thy adversaries”—be one step ahead of them, and also know your possible allies. “Befriend a distant state while attacking a neighbor.” Luis also offered valuable practical advice, including the fact that the Sheraton Hotel in the capital, with its bar and pool, “offered some of the best intelligence in El Salvador.” Another unexpected ally was the ultra-conservative Archbishop Saenz Lacalle, a member of the right wing Opus Dei. “All it had taken was the word cyanide,” the authors explain, to cause him to oppose mining. His replacement in 2008, Archbishop Escobar, followed suit. He was “hardly an activist cleric,” but he “had long-held unexpected and firm views on mining,” and in his inaugural messages called on the government to reject mining operations in El Salvador. Getting the Catholic Church behind the water defenders was crucial. The martyrdom of Archbishop Oscar Romero, “whose photo is omnipresent throughout the country,” was no doubt a factor for widespread community support behind the water defenders, as was the encyclical put out by Pope Francis urging priests to take to the streets to defend the environment. Yet another surprise endorsement came from a member of one of El Salvador’s richest families and a leader of the right-wing ARENA party, which dominated the legislature. It turned out that John Wright Sol had a passion for the environment. Also noteworthy: His family’s vast sugar plantations consumed a lot of water. As he studied the impact of mining on water, he reached out to fellow members of ARENA. “I didn’t want to turn this into mining companies are the devil,” he advised. Instead, he chose to emphasize that “every citizen in the country must have access to clear water.”
    • Be wary of corporate PR campaigns. PacRim put out a report emphasizing that a whopping 36,000 jobs would be created from its mining operations, a vastly inflated claim. In radio interviews, PacRim aimed separate messages to the ARENA party and to the left-wing FMLN party, in which it claimed revenues would fund social agendas. Trips abroad arranged by PacRim often resulted in swaying politicians, whether on the left or right, to support their corporate agenda.
    • No matter how big, corporations can make mistakes. OceanaGold, a Canadian-Australian mining company which took over PacRim in 2014, had put on a brave face after the ICSID ruled against PacRim, acting as though it had won, and refusing to cough up the $8 million the company owed El Salvador. Yet it made a fatal error by choosing its mining operations in The Philippines as an example of its environmentally pristine practices. Robin Broad knew otherwise, and along with other international allies had cultivated a professional relationship with the governor of the Philippine province where OceanaGold had its mine. Governor Carlos Padilla arrived in El Salvador on the eve of the crucial legislative vote on the mining bill and presented a “before and after” slideshow to the Environmental Committee. He pictured a lush landscape before the mining, contrasted with images of waste-filled “tailings ponds,” dead trees, dried-up springs and rivers, dead fish on river banks, and, as he explained, “No access to water for drinking or for irrigation.” He ended with an appeal to future generations. “Grandpa,” he imagined them asking. “Why did you allow mining?” 

    His presentation was “sort of a clincher,” Cavanagh told me. “It raised the level of indignation.” The legislative vote followed soon afterwards, on March 29, 2019. The results were stunning, with 69 votes tallied against OceanaGold, zero nays and zero abstentions. Shouts of Sí, Se Puede!—“Yes we can!”—erupted from the floor, as members of La Mesa waved banners that read, “No a la Minería, Sí a la Vida”—No to Mining. Yes to Life!

    Children performing on the 10th anniversary of Marcelo Rivera’s assassination
    Children performing on the 10th anniversary of El Salvadorean water defender Marcelo Rivera’s assassination / credit: John Cavanagh

    Today, the water defenders remain cautiously optimistic, though constantly on guard. In the past, mining corporations have been able to convince even leftist governments that mining is good for the economy. Cavanagh speculates mayors of small towns, pressured to provide jobs, may have been behind the assassination of Marcelo Rivera and other water defenders.

    But to date, Marcelo’s killers have never been identified. On an equally sobering note, he and Board remind us in the book that “over 1,700 environmental defenders had been killed across 50 countries between 2002 and 2018.”

    I asked John for an update since finishing his book in mid-2020. Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s “new Trump-like president,” he wrote, “hasn’t raised mining, and it doesn’t look like he is personally interested. He knows the public opinion polls that showed that the overwhelming majority of Salvadorans are opposed to mining.”

    However, he added, “We remain worried. El Salvador, like all developing countries, is suffering economically after the pandemic, and other countries have increased mining to get more revenues. So, La Mesa remains vigilant against any actions that could indicate that the government wants to mine.”

    We can only hope that water defenders around the world will strengthen their alliances. Fortunately, they now have a handbook that will help them in their journey of resistance.

    Charlotte Dennett is the co-author with Gerard Colby of Thy Will be Done. The Conquest of the Amazon: Nelson Rockefeller and Evangelism in the Age of Oil. Her new book is The Crash of Flight 3804: A Lost Spy, A Daughter’s Quest, and the Deadly Politics of the Great Game for Oil.

    The Water Defenders: How Ordinary People Saved a Country from Corporate Greed by Robin Broad and John Cavanagh. Boston: Beacon Press; 2nd edition. March 23, 2021.

    For a bit more critical review see: https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/el-salvador-s-water-defenders-and-fight-against-toxic-mining

    Book Review: “The Water Defenders: How Ordinary People Saved a Country from Corporate Greed”

    This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.

  • 10th edition of CIVICUS’s State of Civil Society Report (2021)

    Protests prove the power of collective action as states fail pandemic test, says new report

    As COVID-19 swept the globe, deepening existing fault-lines in societies and generating fear and uncertainty, many governments used the pandemic as a pretext to clamp down on civic freedoms, sparking protests in many countries. The annual State of Civil Society Report 2021, by global civil society alliance CIVICUS, shows that despite the odds, millions of people around the world mobilised to demand more just, equal and sustainable societies during the pandemic.

    Mobilising against the odds

    Globally, the mass mobilisation that made headlines and changed the conversation was the resurgence of demands for racial justice under the Black Lives Matter banner in the USA and beyond following the police killing of George Floyd in May 2020. People from all walks of life came to the streets to demand an end to systemic racism and police brutality.

    The scourge of racism was highlighted in places as diverse as Colombia, the Netherlands and South Africa. The determination to end police brutality resonated widely, encouraging uprisings against police violence, notably in Nigeria.

    Even in highly repressive countries, people bravely put their bodies on the line to oppose abusive power and demand democratic freedoms.

    India witnessed the largest coordinated strike in world history as farmers defied brutal tactics to protest against corporate capture and elite collusion. Exposure of grand corruption in authoritarian Russia brought people to the streets, where they were met with more repression.

    Bold civil disobedience against military might was offered in Myanmar. Dreams of democracy were deferred in Algeria, Belarus and Hong Kong, among others, but people showed extraordinary courage, taking to the streets in the face of great odds, keeping alive hopes for change.

    Proving the power of collective action

    The success of collective action led to breakthroughs in democracy and human rights across the globe.

    In Chile, concerted street protests led to a commitment to develop a new constitution through democratic processes, with gender parity and Indigenous representation guaranteed. Sustained mobilisations in Argentina resulted in abortion being legalised, while in several countries young environmental activists took action to keep climate change in the spotlight.

    Civil society’s collective action forced an election re-run in Malawi, and overcame systematic voter suppression in the USA. In Thailand, tens of thousands of protesters called for democratic reforms, including, for the first time, demanding a curb on the powers of the monarchy; activists used many creative forms of protest, including using giant inflatable ducks during mobilisations and holding ‘Runs Against Dictatorship’.

    Following civic actions, same-sex relations were decriminalised in Bhutan and Gabon and same-sex marriage legalised in Costa Rica.

    Many states failed the pandemic test

    The pandemic offered a stress test for political institutions, and most were found wanting. The inadequacy of healthcare and social support systems was revealed. International cooperation was lacking as governments asserted narrow self-interest, birthing the dismal practice of vaccine nationalism by wealthy industrialised countries.

    Many governments poured out official propaganda and sought to control the flow of information, ramping up censorship and criminalising legitimate inquiry and commentary. China was in the front rank of states that expanded surveillance practices and trampled on the right to privacy.

    During the pandemic, several states increased their coercive power. In the Philippines, people were put in dog cages for breaking pandemic regulations, while in several Middle Eastern and North African states, including Bahrain, Egypt and Iran, human rights defenders remained in crowded jails, at risk of contracting COVID-19.

    Some countries – notably New Zealand, South Korea and Taiwan – got the virus under control, won public trust and communicated pandemic response measures clearly, while largely respecting rights and democratic freedoms. This shows that the path of repression taken by many was not a necessity but a choice.

    Pandemic proves the need for civil society

    When states failed to respond effectively to the pandemic, civil society stepped up, providing help to people most in need and defending rights. Civil society organisations responded swiftly with vital support, distributing cash, food, medicines and sanitary supplies, sharing accurate information on the virus and providing healthcare and psychological services.

    Looking forward

    CIVICUS’s report calls on states to reverse rights restrictions imposed under the pandemic at the earliest opportunity. It urges them to respect human rights and democratic freedoms, and listen to the voices of protesters. It asks the international community to do more to uphold norms on civic freedoms and support peaceful assembly.

    The great current wave of protests is sure to continue. People are brave to protest, but they should not have to do so at the risk of being thrown behind bars, or facing brutal, even lethal, violence.

    https://reliefweb.int/report/world/state-civil-society-report-2021-enarpt

    https://civicus.org

    This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.

  • Israeli government-sponsored app goes after HRW for Apartheid categorisation

    Alan Macleod in Mint-press News of 7 May 2021 studies in quite some detail the way in which the recently released Human Rights Watch (HRW) report has made waves around the world and the organised backlash that followed.

    For the first time, the New York-based non-governmental organization has categorized Israel as an apartheid state guilty of “crimes against humanity.” [see also`: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2021/01/18/israel-and-apartheid-israeli-human-rights-group-stirs-debate/]

    The 213-page study goes into detail about a range of racist laws and policies carried out by successive administrations, concluding that there is an “overarching Israeli government policy to maintain the domination by Jewish Israelis over Palestinians and grave abuses committed against Palestinians living in the occupied territory, including East Jerusalem.” The report accuses the state of Israel of widespread “institutional discrimination” and of “denying millions of Palestinians their fundamental rights…solely because they are Palestinian and not Jewish.” It further notes that, across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, it has “sought to maximize the land available for Jewish communities and to concentrate most Palestinians in dense population centers.”

    “Prominent voices have warned for years that apartheid lurks just around the corner if the trajectory of Israel’s rule over Palestinians does not change,” said the organization’s executive director, Kenneth Roth. “This detailed study shows that Israeli authorities have already turned that corner and today are committing the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution.

    Perhaps most importantly, Human Rights Watch is now openly calling for global action to end the repression. The report asks the International Criminal Court to investigate and prosecute those involved in Palestinian persecution. While not explicitly endorsing the Boycott, Divestment and Sactions (BDS) movement, Human Rights Watch directly advocates that “[s]tates should impose individual sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, against officials and individuals responsible for the continued commission of these serious crimes,” and for businesses to “cease business activities that directly contribute to the crimes of apartheid and persecution.”

    A big splash

    The report was widely covered across the world and has been heralded by Palestine solidarity activists, with experts seeing it as a potential turning point in the struggle for Palestinian sovereignty. “It was inevitable that Human Rights Watch would have to declare Israel an Apartheid state and, from what I hear, Amnesty International is going to be next to say it,” Asa Winstanley of the Electronic Intifada told MintPress. “It puts Israel’s backers in a difficult spot because Human Rights Watch is really part of the establishment so they cannot just dismiss it and it makes it impossible to ignore… It is harder for them to say Human Rights Watch is anti-Semitic, but they’re trying it anyway,” he added.

    Trying indeed. Michigan Congresswoman Lisa McClain tweeted that “Human Rights Watch has shown again how they have an anti-Israel agenda,” suggesting they instead focus their attention on China or Iran’s repressive governments. “Hostility and hypocrisy are HRW’s hallmarks when it comes to Israel,” wrote the American Jewish Committee. The Jerusalem Post’s editorial board was equally condemnatory, denouncing what they saw as the “cynical appropriation of the suffering of the victims of the actual apartheid regime.” Other Israeli journalists described the report as “a disgrace to the memory of the millions who suffered under that policy [apartheid] in South Africa.” The news even made enough waves to force a response from the White House. Press Secretary Jen Psaki replied that “[a]s to the question of whether Israel’s actions constitute apartheid, that is not the view of this administration.”

    Organized spontaneity

    Yet much of the online anger at the report was actually manufactured by an Israeli government-sponsored app, Act.IL, which organized supporters of the Jewish state to act in sync to create an artificial groundswell of opposition to it. The app, which reportedly has a budget of over $1 million per year, instructed users to leave combative comments on Facebook, Twitter, and popular news outlets, and to like and promote others who did the same.

    Human Rights Watch’s Facebook post announcing the report’s release has received over 1,400 comments, hundreds of them written in a similar, scathingly negative tone. One that the app directly told users to signal boost, for instance, described Palestinians as a people “indoctrinated with hate for Israel and Jews for over 100 years,” and claimed they were paid salaries to murder Israelis. It also presented the 1967 war and occupation as a humanitarian effort to bring electricity and other infrastructure to Arabs.

    Another “mission” Act.IL gave its users was to promote a Facebook comment attacking the report as “nothing more than hate speech” and calling its lead author a “rabid anti-Zionist and Israel hater.”Omar Shakir HRW

    One of the many images provided to Act.IL users for their astroturfing campaign against HRW

    Act.IL is one of the chief tools in Israel’s online public relations enterprise. The app debuted in 2017 and is part of what Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan called an “Iron Dome of Truth.” “Our cell phones are the number one weapon against us,” he explained, noting that public opinion in the U.S. was beginning to turn against them. While most of the app’s nearly 20,000 users are volunteers, a core of them are paid operatives, with many students receiving scholarships as a reward for their work.

    The app has been designed to feel like a game, with points assigned for completing “missions” such as sharing pro-Israel videos, reporting anti-Israel content, signing petitions, or attending online seminars. Users can track their progress on leaderboards, earn badges and prizes, and chat with other members of the community. While it might feel like Animal Crossing or World of Warcraft for some, its creators see this very much as a new front in the war against Palestine. Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked categorizes BDS as “another branch of terrorism in the modern age,” and has been an important voice in taking the fight to a new front.

    An Act.IL mission encouraging astroturfing of online discussions. Source |
    @AntiBDSApp

    There is also an online toolkit full of folders of responses to typical questions and issues that arise. Users can, for instance, go to the BDS folder to find stock replies to their arguments. Or they can go to a specific folder to find articles, images and videos they can use to demonize Hamas.

    The missions are organized by outlet, so users can, for instance, target only Facebook, Telegram, or other platforms they are most familiar with. At the time of writing, there are 10 missions each to complete on Facebook and YouTube, 30 on Instagram, 25 on Twitter.

    One current challenge is to upvote an answer to a question on Quora that asks about the validity and purpose of checkpoints in the West Bank. The answer claims they are purely about protection from terror attacks, and claims that Red Crescent ambulances are used to ferry bombs around the area. Other missions include pressuring an online store to remove a bag with a message stating “Make Israel Palestine Again.”Act.IL

    An Act.IL “mission” encouraging users to demand the removal of products with pro-Palestinian messaging

    “It is quite astounding how openly they do it. But, of course, when you see a comment online, you wouldn’t necessarily think that it was coming from the Israeli government, but this is essentially what is happening,” Winstanley said. “Israel is not the only state to do this, but they do it fairly successfully.”

    For all this, however, it is clear that Act.IL has a serious problem with user retention and lacks the volunteer numbers for it to be truly game changing.

    Controlling the message

    In a time of heightened awareness about foreign government interference online, it is particularly surprising that these operations can be openly carried out across virtually every major platform. Big tech companies like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook are constantly deleting tens of thousands of Russian, Chinese, Iranian and Cuban accounts belonging to what they claim are organized, state-sponsored disinformation campaigns.

    In an effort to gauge the legality of its operations, MintPress reached out to Facebook, YouTube, Quora, and other big platforms used by Act.IL. We received no response from any of them. While this is particularly noteworthy — as these companies have teams of public relations representatives and are extremely forthright and timely with responses on other issues — it is perhaps not surprising. Facebook especially has long been working closely with the Israeli government in deciding which voices to censor. As far back as 2016, Ayelet Shaked boasted that Facebook removed 95% of the posts her office asked them to. Yet when Shaked herself called for a genocidal war against Palestine and its women, who give birth to “little snakes,” not only did the post remain online, it received thousands of likes and was widely circulated.

    “The concern is that Facebook is adopting Israeli policy and terminology when it comes to defining what incitement is,” said Nadim Nashif, co-founder of 7amleh, the Arab Centre for the Advancement of Social Media. 7amleh was therefore dismayed when last year, Facebook appointed former Israeli Minister of Justice Emi Palmor to its Oversight Board, the council having the final say in the moderation of content on the platform used by 2.6 billion people worldwide. In her role as justice minister, Palmor was directly implicated in the persecution and subjugation of Palestinians.

    Earlier this year, an Israeli Defense Forces soldier attempted to sue a Palestinian-American activist living in California over an allegedly slanderous Facebook post condemning her for participating in ethnic cleansing. Remarkably, the plaintiff attempted to convince a California judge to apply Israeli law to the incident, despite the fact that both she and the defendant are American citizens. https://cdn.iframe.ly/r7H7ueP?iframe=card-small&v=1&app=1

    Inside the world of academia, professors critical of Israel have found themselves pushed out of the profession. In 2007, prominent critic of Israel Norman Finkelstein was denied tenure at DePaul University for political reasons. Seven years later, the University of Illinois “unhired” Steven Sailata for his comments denouncing Operation Protective Edge, the 2014 Israeli attack on Gaza. Emails showed that wealthy donors put significant pressure on the university to pull the plug on him. More recently, Cornel West was blocked from a tenured job at Harvard this year, despite having previously held tenure at Harvard, Princeton, and Yale. “Being the faculty advisor for the Palestinian student group was the one that probably went outside of the line for many Harvard staff,” West told Krystal Ball and Kyle Kulinski. “It’s a joke. It’s ridiculous. It’s ludicrous. It’s preposterous that it wouldn’t have something to do with politics.”

    Top media figures have also paid the price for their support of BDS. CNN fired commentator Marc Lamont Hill after he made a speech at the United Nations calling for a free Palestine. Meanwhile, journalist Abby Martin was blocked from speaking at a conference at Georgia Southern University last year after she refused to sign a contract promising to renounce BDS. Georgia is one of dozens of U.S. states to have anti-BDS legislation, essentially forcing any would-be recipient of public contracts or funds, including government employees, to sign a pledge not to boycott Israel. Martin is currently suing the state of Georgia. MintCast Interviews Abby Martin About Her Anti-BDS Lawsuit & The Israel Lobby…

    While Human Rights Watch’s report is new, the charge of apartheid is not. In 2017, a United Nations report “clearly and frankly concludes” that Israel is “a racist state that has established an apartheid system that persecutes the Palestinian people.” Earlier this year, Israeli human rights organization B’TSelem also used the word “apartheid,” claiming that Israel had established “a regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.”…

    Advocates for Palestine hailed Human Rights Watch’s study. Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies wrote:

    There can be little doubt that much of HRW’s decision to issue this report now was based on the recognition that not only is it no longer political suicide to call Israeli apartheid what it is, but that we are now at a tipping point whereby failing to call out apartheid risks losing credibility for a human rights organization. It’s a huge victory for our movement.”

    The battle, however, is far from won, and it is clear that the Israel lobby will continue to fight to hold back the tide until it is insurmountable.

    Alan MacLeod is Senior Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent, as well as a number of academic articles. He has also contributed to FAIR.org, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, and Common Dreams.

    https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/04/27/abusive-israeli-policies-constitute-crimes-apartheid-persecution

    https://www.mintpressnews.com/human-rights-watch-apartheid-report-act-il-israel-propoganda/277026/

    This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.

  • EVERALD’s TRIO OF BOOKS

    In my twilight years, I enjoy writing books and have published three over the past five years, with another five in the planning stages. I reach 90 years of age in October this year and I will have those five finished by the time I am 95. Then, I plan to write a few more …

    Continue reading EVERALD’s TRIO OF BOOKS

    This post was originally published on My Articles – Everald Compton.

  • EVERALD’s TRIO OF BOOKS

    In my twilight years, I enjoy writing books and have published three over the past five years, with another five in the planning stages. I reach 90 years of age in October this year and I will have those five finished by the time I am 95. Then, I plan to write a few more …

    Continue reading EVERALD’s TRIO OF BOOKS

    This post was originally published on My Articles – Everald Compton.

  • Annual State Department report 2020: complete change of tone

    On Tuesday, March 30, 2021, the 2020 edition of the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices was released by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. The Secretary of State is required by law to submit an annual report to the U.S. Congress on “the status of internationally recognized human rights” in all countries that are members of the United Nations. This annual report, called the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices but commonly known as the Human Rights Report (HRR), provides information that is used by Congress, the Executive Branch, and courts in making policies and/or decisions; thus accurate information on human rights conditions is critical. The HRR also informs the work at home and abroad of civil society, human rights defenders, lawmakers, scholars, immigration judges and asylum officers, multilateral institutions, and other governments.

    The country reports are prepared by U.S. diplomatic missions around the world, which collect, analyze, and synthesize information from a variety of sources, including government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and the media. The reports do not attempt to catalogue every human rights-related incident, nor are they an effort by the U.S. government to judge others. Instead, they claim to be factual in nature and focus on a one-year period, but they may include illustrative cases from previous reporting years.

    Conor Finnegan for ABC News on 30 March 2021 compared the report with those of the Trump administration:

    Blinken launched the department’s 45th annual human rights report Tuesday which The report covers 2020 and found a further deterioration for human rights in many countries, particularly as governments used the coronavirus pandemic to curb their citizens’ rights.

    The first report under the Biden administration also included changes that eliminated the conservative take of the Trump years, like ending former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s “hierarchy” of rights and re-introducing a section on women’s reproductive rights that will be published later this year.

    When human rights defenders “come under attack, they often look to the United States to speak up on their behalf. Too often in recent years, these defenders heard only silence from us,” Blinken said. “We are back for those brave advocates as well. We will not be silent.“

    In particular, Blinken “decisively” repudiated Pompeo’s “Unalienable Rights Commission,” a panel of academics that said in a report last July that freedom of religion and right to property were the most important human rights. While Pompeo touted the report and said it would lay a foundation for future administrations, critics accused it of minimizing minority rights. Blinken essentially jettisoned the report, saying Tuesday, “There is no hierarchy that makes some rights more important than others. Past unbalanced statements that suggest such a hierarchy, including those offered by a recently disbanded State Department advisory committee, do not represent a guiding document for this administration.” [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2019/07/11/trump-marches-on-with-commission-on-unalienable-rights/]

    Human rights are increasingly under threat around the world, Blinken said, saying the trend lines “are in the wrong direction.”

    In particular, he highlighted what he called the Chinese government’s genocide of Uighurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities in Xinjiang province, attacks on civil society and political opposition in Russia, Uganda and Venezuela and on pro-democracy protesters in Belarus, war crimes in Yemen, atrocities “credibly reported” in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, and abuses by the Syria’s Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

    While the report doesn’t touch on Myanmar’s coup and the military’s bloody crackdown on protests, because they happened in 2021, Blinken took time to again condemn the events. But after weeks of steadily increasing U.S. sanctions that have not deterred the ruling junta, he had no specific answer on what else the U.S. could do to change the darkening trajectory there.

    PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during the release of the "2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices" at the State Department in Washington on March 30, 2021.
    Mandel Ngan/Pool/ReutersMandel Ngan/Pool/ReutersU.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during the release of the “2020 Country…

    Chinese officials and state-run outlets have increasingly raised U.S. race relations to say American officials are in no position to criticize Beijing — comparing Uighur slave labor in Xinjiang to Black slaves in the U.S. South.

    “We know we have work to do at home. That includes addressing profound inequities, including systemic racism. We don’t pretend these problems don’t exist. … We deal with them in the daylight with full transparency, and in fact, that’s exactly what separates our democracy and autocracies,” he said, adding that open reckoning gives the U.S. “greater legitimacy” to address other countries’ records, too.

    The Biden administration will use all tools available to impose consequences on human rights abusers and encourage better behavior, Blinken said, including the new Khashoggi policy that imposes visa restrictions on officials that target or harass their countries’ dissidents.

    “Standing up for human rights everywhere is in America’s interests, and the Biden-Harris administration will stand against human rights abuses wherever they occur, regardless of whether the perpetrators are adversaries or partners,” he said.

    https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/blinken-swipes-trump-administration-unveiling-human-rights-report/story?id=76770342

    2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices

    This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.

  • What can human rights defenders expect from diplomatic support? – the case of the UK

    On Wednesday 24 February 2021 Megan Thornberry writes about a report by the University of York and others concluding that human rights defenders have been at increased risk during pandemic, and calls for UK government to provide better protection.

    There is a dearth of serious and quantitative research into how human rights defenders experience diplomatic support and interest in their work. So, this report – published by Amnesty International UK and the Center for Applied Human Rights, in collaboration with the Law Society of England and Wales, Peace Brigades International UK, Bond and other NGOs – is most welcome.

    Research by the University’s Centre for Applied Human Rights (CAHR) and Amnesty International UK shows that during the COVID-19 pandemic, 94 per cent of human rights defenders interviewed reported face threats, death threats, abuse, and harassment.

    It is reported that only 6 per cent of these activists, including lawyers, journalists, women’s rights defenders, and LGBTQ+ activists, received support from the UK government.

    Researchers interviewed 82 human rights defenders from seven countries about their experiences with UK government support:

    • 40% had contacted the UK government embassy as part of their work in the last two years, where as 70% had contacted other embassies
    • 75% could not recall a time in which their resident country’s UK embassy had spoken out in support of specific at-risk human rights defenders
    • 31% had been in contacted by their UK embassy seeking to further its knowledge about the struggles for human rights

    The report highlights the increased threats to LGBTQ+ rights during the pandemic, as poor job security has driven many to return to unsafe and unaccepting hometowns in order to live with family. Particularly in countries such as Russia and the Philippines, this has placed LGBTQ+ activists at a higher risk of abuse. LGBTQ+ activists have also reported an increase in discrimination towards LGBTQ+ groups due to their being blamed for the pandemic.

    Dr Piergiuseppe Parisi, a research associate at the Human Rights Defender Hub at CAHR and direct contributor to the report, said: “Human rights defenders are active agents of positive change. The UK should make sure that they are recognised as such, that they have the means to carry on with their crucial work and that they have access to rapid response protection mechanisms when they are in danger.”

    Kate Allen, Director of Amnesty International UK, said: “The UK government has pledged to stand up for human rights defenders around the world. We now need to see words turned into action. The UK’s voice has power. It’s time to use it and to be a world leader.”

    https://nouse.co.uk/2021/02/24/human-rights-defenders-have-been-silenced-during-the-pandemic-says-york-report

    This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.

  • 14 Books to Read During Black History Month and Beyond

    February is Black History Month, and so we asked the Innocence Project’s staff to share books that have inspired them to reflect on Black history. The powerful books they selected below touch on everything from how the legacy of slavery in the U.S. has contributed to mass incarceration to exploring what it means to be a young Black person in America today — plus some interesting reads by talented Black authors touching on other forms of injustice.

    Throughout this month, we’ll be highlighting the disproportionate impact of mass incarceration on Black people, including on death row, and honoring icons of the civil rights movement and pioneers of change. These essential reads get to the heart of many of these issues, so if you’re looking for a way to learn more this month check our recommendations. And tell us what you’re adding to your reading list in the comments below. 

    1.  The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X by Les Payne and Tamara Payne

    Over 30 years, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Les Payne spoke to anyone he could find who knew Malcolm X. What resulted is this incredible biography of the civil rights leader, which paints a portrait of Malcolm X unlike any other. The winner of the 2020 National Book Award for Non-Fiction, this biography is a must-read. Get it here or at your local bookstore.

    2. Heavy by Kiese Laymon

    In this memoir, Mr. Laymon writes about growing up in Jackson, Mississippi. He poignantly discusses his struggles with his weight, abuse and family, and contemplates the dynamics of race and America’s fraught racial history on his life and the lives of those around him. Get it here or at your local bookstore.

    3. Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and activist Yusef Salaam

    Co-authored by Yusef Salaam, a member of the Exonerated Five and the Innocence Project’s board of directors, this moving young adult novel tells the story of a wrongly convicted boy. Ms. Zoboi told NPR that the main character is inspired by Mr. Salaam because, “I write books for children, and I wanted the world to remember that Yusef was a child when this happened to him and I was a child as well.”

    Innocence Project supporters will receive a free shipping discount when they purchase Punching the Air with this link.

    4. Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools by Dr. Monique Morris

    While arrests of girls between the ages of 13 and 17 have declined overall, Black girls are coming into contact with the juvenile justice system at disproportionately high rates. That has to do with the way society treats young Black girls, Dr. Morris argues. In this work of nonfiction, she examines the unique experiences of young Black girls in school, interrogating the ways in which today’s schools and systems dehumanize and criminalize Black girls from an early age, leaving life-long impacts. Get it here or at your local bookstore.

    5. All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks

    Celebrated Black feminist writer and professor bell hooks frequently writes on the intersection of race, gender and society. But in All About Love: New Visions, hooks examines the foundation of love and the ways in which cultural norms have shaped how we love one another. In less than 200 pages, hooks lays out her framework for understanding love and becoming more open to giving and receiving love, and in doing so advancing justice and humanity. Get it here or at your local bookstore.

    6. Another Country by James Baldwin

    No list of great Black literature would be complete without Mr. Baldwin’s work. In this 1962 novel, Mr. Baldwin paints a portrait of New York City’s Greenwich Village and Harlem neighborhoods as he saw them. He challenges the characterization of New York City as a harmonious “melting pot,” and instead highlights the ways in which continued racism can become internalized and affect interpersonal relationships. Another Country was criticized by many and banned in some places, including New Orleans and Australia, at the time of publishing. But, today, is considered an important and influential writing. Get it here or at your local bookstore.

    7. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

    In her first novel, Ghanaian-American writer Yaa Gyasi traces the details the slave trade’s impact on two continents over eight generations. Focusing on two half sisters and their descendants, Homegoing highlights the ways in which the legacy of slavery has shaped race dynamics and changed lives over hundreds of years, and still does to this day. Get it here or at your local bookstore.

    8. Those Who Know Don’t Say: The Nation of Islam, the Black Freedom Movement, and the Carceral State by Garrett Felber

    Garrett Felber examines the history of the Nation of Islam, a Black political and religious movement, and its struggle against policing and prisons as part of the Black Freedom Movement. The book also looks at the ways in which the Muslim community’s organizing during the civil rights era paved the way for the modern-day prison abolition movement. Get it here or at your local bookstore.

    9. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

    “I am invisible because people refuse to see me … When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination — indeed, everything and anything except me,” Mr. Ellison wrote in Invisible Man. 

    The novel follows the life of an unnamed narrator, a Black man who grows up in a small Southern town, attends a Black college, and moves to New York where his life takes a turn. The celebrated work of fiction considers issues of race and social structures still relevant today. Get it here or at your local bookstore.

    10. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

    Ms. Wilkerson’s book draws its title from a poem by celebrated author Richard Wright, in which he wrote that he had left the South and moved to Chicago in the hopes of feeling “the warmth of other suns.”

    In Ms. Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns, she tells the powerful, true stories of three Black Americans who, like Mr. Wright and millions of others, left the South between 1915 and 1970 to seek opportunity and freedom from Jim Crow rule elsewhere in the U.S. Get it here or at your local bookstore.

    11–13. The Broken Earth Trilogy: The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate and The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin

    In the first installment of Jemisin’s sci-fi trilogy, Essun, the protagonist, must hide her supernatural abilities as she searches for her kidnapped daughter in an apocalyptic world where natural disasters occur regularly and without warning. If her abilities are discovered, she risks discrimination and even death. The three books in the series deal with themes of oppression, power and revolution. Ms. Jemisin became the first Black woman to win the Hugo Award, the most prestigious award for science fiction and fantasy writing, in 2016. She went on to win the prize the following two years for the subsequent installments of the trilogy. Get it here or at your local bookstore.

    14. Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

    Ms. Ward’s novel is set in a fictional town in Mississippi, but much of it takes place in the very real Mississippi State Penitentiary, modeled after a slavery era plantation, and tells the story of a family impacted by mass incarceration, racism, drugs and poverty. Ms. Ward won the National Book Award for her moving book. Get it here or at your local bookstore.

    What’s on your reading list? Let us know in the comments below. 

    The post 14 Books to Read During Black History Month and Beyond appeared first on Innocence Project.

    This post was originally published on Innocence Project.

  • It’s time to reimagine our future. Here are 3 ways to begin.

    We live in a time of great turmoil, one marked by a pandemic, deepening economic inequality, and a rapidly changing climate. Yet these challenges provide an opportunity to create a more equitable, open, and sustainable society, one focused on community, cooperation, and respecting the natural world. In The New Possible: Visions of Our World Beyond Crisis, 28 activists and intellectuals provide a glimpse of what this might look like — and how we can get there. These three excerpts, which have been lightly edited for clarity, provide three calls to action.

    Create a new community

    New Possible community illustration
    Grace Abe

    “Ubuntu: The Dream of a Planetary Community”
    By Mamphela Ramphele

    Moments of existential crisis bear within them the ability to dream and imagine new possibilities. They contain the opportunity to see beyond the self-imposed bounds of what is possible and embrace a new horizon. COVID-19 has revealed a space where the human community can go beyond our comfort zones and reduce the risks we face together. The impact of behavioral change on the scale we have seen the last few months is shocking to many, but this shift reflects the untapped capacity of human beings to change in response to an existential threat.

    The extensive behavioral changes have been about more than personal survival, such as wearing protective masks and gloves. They have unleashed a reservoir of compassion and reaching out to those around us in distress, those who are in need of food, care, and protection. The “we are in this together” sentiment has been widely shared, especially in the early days and weeks of the pandemic. We showed up with the best face of humanity: generosity and solidarity.

    I suggest that as we draw from the well of generosity and solidarity within us, we accept an invitation to reclaim the essence of our “humanness.” This essence lies deep in the souls of each living human being. Kofi Opoku, an African scholar and elder descendant of the Akan people of Ghana, expresses this more eloquently:

    “The concept of human beingness, or the essence of being human, termed Ubuntu in the Bantu languages of Africa, is central to African cultures and religious traditions. It is the capacity in African culture to express compassion, reciprocity, dignity, harmony, and humanity in the interests of building and maintaining community.”

    Mutombo Nkulu-N’Sengha, another African scholar of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, elaborates further to show how this concept finds resonance in the wisdom of other cultures across the globe:

    “Bumuntu is the African vision of a refined gentle person, a holy person, a saint, a shun-tzu, a person of ado, a person of Buddha nature, an embodiment of Brahman, a genuine human being. The man or woman of Bumuntu is characterized by self-respect and respect for other human beings. Moreover, he/she respects all life in the universe. He/she sees his/her dignity as inscribed in a triple relationship: with the transcendent beings (God, ancestors, spirits), with all other human beings, and with the natural world (flora and fauna). Bumuntu is the embodiment of all virtues, especially the virtues of hospitality and solidarity.”

    The core of the African concept of Ubuntu is that one cannot be a complete human being without the reciprocal affirmation of other human beings — umntu ngumtu ngabantu. The Akan of Ghana would say Onipa na oma onipa ye onipa: It is a human being who makes another person a human being.

    The often quoted “I am because you are” is pregnant with the profound meaning of the generative essence of being human:

    • We are endowed with a divine spark that never dies because it is connected to the source of all life. “The dead are never dead.” Our ancestors are forever part of us.
    • Humans are social beings. We are wired to be with others, to nurture and shape who we are, and to make sense of our world with one another.
    • Our personalities are shaped by what those close to us affirm or sanction. We are whole and endowed with the potential for right and wrong. We are choice-making beings who are socialized to seek what is right.

    We have the capacity to express compassion, reciprocity, dignity, self-respect, and respect for others. These qualities are inherent in us and define our human beingness.

    Harmonious relations within family, community, and society are expressions of character beyond an individual person. The individual is both shaped by and shapes relationships with others to sustain life beyond the self. This is the expansive aspect of the “I am because you are.”

    Our human connectedness goes beyond present relationships. We are inextricably related to our ancestors, who continue to live in present generations as guiding spirits. We stand as bridges to future generations who may still be carried as seeds in our bodies and who arrive as children born into this unending web of intergenerational connectedness.

    The multiple planetary emergencies facing us today are reflections of our deviant behaviors as a human community. We have strayed from Ubuntu/Suban/Iwa. We have fallen short of the expectations of the Ubuntu values in our management and use of nature’s resources — hence the planetary emergencies that are upon us. Our conflict-ridden social relationships and exploitative approaches diverge from the values that embody self-respect and respect for all life in the universe. We have severed the inextricable links and interdependence between ourselves, others in the human community, and the whole of nature.

    The question we face now is: Having glimpsed the greatness of our inner capability to return to the source of our being, are we ready to reimagine our relationships as humans with all life on Mother Earth? Could we dare to dream ourselves into a planetary community that can live in harmony as interconnected and interdependent beings?

    Our COVID moment offers us an opportunity to rediscover who we are as a human community. The slowing down of our frenetic, consumption-driven lifestyles has enabled us to look deep into ourselves as a human race. It is a moment that may well go down in history as a turning point for us to come to grips with who we really are as human beings in the larger scheme of our world. This is a necessary process for reclaiming our human beingness.

    The resurgence of racism across the globe is an indictment against us as a global community. The science we have accumulated and practice affirms the Ubuntu notion that there is only one race: the human race. Racism is perpetuated by our willful ignorance and is used to justify a system of color-coded marginalization of those we “other” to promote avarice and inequity. COVID as an equal opportunity invader has challenged us into understanding that we are part of a single human community that has the capacity to work together for the common good of all people and our planet.

    Ubuntu, the recognition that “I am because you are,” is the horizon of possibility before us. We need to continue this journey and travel deep into our beings, where we are connected to one another and to those who have gone before. We need to pay due reverence to the spark of life inside each of us, and continually raise our consciousness to the sacred light of life within us. This sacred light calls us to reflect deeply on our collective responsibility to shape a future worthy of those yet to be born.

    Mamphela Ramphele is a South African human rights activist, physician, social anthropologist, and businesswoman. She leads transformative initiatives as a cofounder of ReimagineSA and co-president of the Club of Rome.

    Create a new economy

    New Possible economy illustration
    Grace Abe

    “Building an Economy of Well-being and Indigenomics”
    By Mark Anielski

    “Indigenomics” is a word recently coined by Carol Anne Hilton, a Canadian Indigenous economist and business leader. Carol Anne is restoring an ancient understanding of economies unique to Indigenous cultures around the world. Indigenomics sees all things as interrelated: plants, animals, people, and ecosystems.

    Each person and the community as a whole are seen as sacred circles (a “medicine wheel”). Indigenomics sees all assets as shared amongst the members of a community. The vision of the potlatch — an annual ceremony of sharing in the abundance of individual family or clan material wealth with other families — reflects the abundance witnessed in nature. The potlatch is a kind of break on the incipient threat and anxiety of scarcity and a potential threat of greed. Contrast these images with that of the linear models of debt and GDP.

    Indigenous laws — similar to natural laws defined in Western economies — guide decision-making and determine what assets are vital to a good life (well-being). Natural laws, including the laws of water, were mostly upheld by the women of Indigenous communities. In addition to natural laws, spiritual laws formed the values and virtue foundations of these communities — though they were never codified.

    Working with Indigenous communities in Canada, I envision restoring the original elaborate systems of economic exchange and governance that allowed the millions of Indigenous cultures on Turtle Island (North America) to thrive and flourish for 10,000 years. A remnant of these wisdom traditions still exists despite efforts to extinguish the “Indian” spirit and people. Building accounting and governance systems on a solid foundation of Indigenous values, principles, and laws is fundamental to good governance. It is congruent with the notion of a well-being–based economy and an ecological civilization.

    New Possible book cover
    Courtesy of Cascade Books

    Wealth (defined as well-being) is consistent with an Indigenomics view of economies. From an Indigenous perspective well-being considers the mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of individuals, families, and the community as a whole. From an Indigenomics perspective, all wealth or well-being is considered to have originated from the Creator or God. In every ceremony and meeting an elder acknowledges that life is a gift of the Creator. Ownership or property rights by individuals is incompatible with the Indigenous view of shared responsibility. The Indigenous view emphasizes the stewardship of the total or genuine wealth of a nation or community, in harmony with Mother Earth or nature.

    All conditions of well-being and assets are seen as an integrated whole requiring a holistic framework for measuring progress. Measures of wealth from an Indigenomics perspective includes a balance of quantitative and qualitative (or subjective) measures of well-being. Again, this points to the importance of accounting for wealth according to the original definition, namely measuring the well-being conditions of the assets that contribute to the long-term well-being of an enterprise, a community, or a nation. Ironically, virtually every government at any level (federal, provincial, or municipal), including First Nations, fails to produce a comprehensive asset balance sheet that would report the well-being conditions of genuine wealth of the community.

    This more comprehensive definition of wealth and wise stewardship requires an integral/holistic framework that recognizes the relationality of all assets. All assets are interconnected, in relationship, and work together to cultivate a condition of flourishing. New visual images and presentations of well-being (data using circle graphs or diagrams) provide a useful way to represent these indicators and data. It helps showcase the interconnectivity and mutuality of a nation’s assets and the relationship between indicators of well-being.

    An economy of well-being is within our grasp. COVID-19 and its economic repercussions represent open space to explore a better global economic system of Indigenomics based on our yearning for a full and happy life. We must leave our debt straight-jacket behind. This requires a global dialogue about alternative money systems without debt, founded on the pragmatic ideas of an ecological civilization modeled after natural ecosystems. Natural ecosystems epitomize resilience, homeostasis, restoration, mutuality, and harmony. They repel monocultures and egoism, and embrace diversity.

    COVID-19 gives us an unfiltered look at our current economics and calls us to come up with a new system of values. We must realize that we are connected to each other and unite our powers and enliven new movements.

    I would like to propose an even grander aspiration. I sense a deeper yearning for what I envision as a civilization of love. The word “love” is as complex as well-being, but I believe the fundamental principle of love is “caring for the well-being of another” (including the environment). A civilization of love is founded on a common human characteristic of compassion, empathy, and altruism. Of course, this runs counter to the neoliberal values of capitalism that see humans as egocentric, hedonistic, and materialistic. The ultimate building block of any economy and civilization is love.

    Mark Anielski is a Canadian economist, author, and expert in measuring the happiness and well-being of communities and businesses. He is the author of The Economics of Happiness: Building Genuine Wealth and An Economy of Well-being: Practical Tools for Building Genuine Wealth and Happiness.

    Create a new story

    New Possible story illustration
    Grace Abe

    “Telling a New Story”
    By David C. Korten

    Humans are distinctive among Earth’s species. We organize around shared cultural stories of our origin, nature, and purpose. These stories become the lens through which we see our world. They help us define the values and institutions that mold our relationships with one another and the Earth. The societies we have imagined, dreamed, and built range from being characterized by loving cooperation to ones characterized by violent competition. These diverse results reveal the power of story. They explore the extraordinary range of human possibility and plumb our potential to choose our future.

    Get our story right, and we flourish together in the service of life. Get it wrong, and we become an existential threat to ourselves and to the Earth that graciously birthed and nurtures us. At present we live in the grip of a deeply flawed story. To change the situation, we must find our way to an authentic narrative. We need a story informed by traditional wisdom, the world’s great religious traditions, and the leading edge of science.

    Humans have long dreamed of a thriving world filled with communities that offer ecologically balanced and spiritually fulfilling lives. Africans move within a spiritual heritage of Ubuntu, often translated as “I am because you are.” The Quechua peoples of the Andes talk about it as sumac asway. It translates into Spanish as vivir bien and into English as “good living.” Bolivia and Ecuador have etched this concept into their constitutions. China has written it into its constitution as a commitment to an ecological civilization. In 2015, the Parliament of the World’s Religions issued a Declaration on Climate Change that closed with these words: “The future we embrace will be a new ecological civilization and a world of peace, justice, and sustainability, with the flourishing of the diversity of life. We will build this future as one human family within the greater Earth community.”

    Far from being a call to sacrifice, these challenging times call us to actualize the potential of our human nature and our deep inclination to love and to care for one another and the Earth.

    Together we can embrace the requirement to significantly reduce total human consumption. We

    can choose our current moment as an opportunity to relieve ourselves and the Earth from the enormous environmental and social burdens imposed by war, obsessive materialism, planned obsolescence, and auto dependent infrastructure that separates us from one another and nature.

    Even if GDP and corporate profits decline, this need not be our primary concern as long as we correct the institutional flaws. In a system designed to crash if money does not continuously flow from the poor to the rich, we must see our situation for what it is. We can refuse this hostage situation in which no one ultimately wins, where all remain captive to GDP. We can say no to these mechanisms of manipulation.

    Humanity’s existential crisis traces — at least in part — to mainstream economics: a political ideology posing as an objective science, with generous financial support from the powerful institutions since the mid-20th century.

    Because this ideology has been presented in most of the world’s universities as uncontested truth, generations of leaders have been taught to believe that financial assets are the measure of a society’s worth. Therefore, supporting growth of these assets has become accepted as a defining responsibility of leaders of society’s most powerful institutions. In the United States, we assess the health of the economy by how fast GDP and the Dow Jones Industrial Average are growing. We rarely ask how people or the Earth are doing.

    We are assured there is no need for concern about the resulting inequality because the invisible hand of the market will distribute benefits according to merit, and all will eventually enjoy limitless material abundance — if they have earned it. It is shocking that a story so obviously flawed could be allowed to harm so many for so long without having sparked rebellion and corrective action. It is all too rare, however, that we educate our young to question the stories that define our lives and our communities in this way. Such challenges only arise if people venture outside of their communities and engage with those who view the world through different stories.

    Successfully transforming our relationships with one another and the Earth requires a new economics grounded in an accurate and compelling story. That story must be one that focuses our attention on securing the well-being of all people and Earth, treats money as a tool rather than a purpose, and reminds us that most of the real wealth of the living Earth is the product of all of life’s labor. Once we get our story right, we have a chance to get our future right.

    David C. Korten is a political activist, author, and former professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Business and the Harvard Graduate School of Public Health. He also is the founder and president of the Living Economics Forum. His books include Change the Story, Change the Future: A Living Economy for a Living Earth and When Corporations Rule the World.

    This story was originally published by Grist with the headline It’s time to reimagine our future. Here are 3 ways to begin. on Jan 29, 2021.

    This post was originally published on Grist.

  • CONTINUING THE WORK OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS

    HELP SEND THREE PETITIONS TO THE AUSTRALIAN PARLIAMENT Many of my Facebook friends have read my book DINNER WITH THE FOUNDING FATHERS and have expressed interest in helping to upgrade the work of the Founders of our nation by advocating constitutional changes that modern Australia needs 120 years later. If you have not yet read …

    Continue reading CONTINUING THE WORK OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS

    This post was originally published on My Articles – Everald Compton.

  • The International Service for Human Rights publishes its Strategic Framework for Human Rights Defenders 2021 – 2025

    HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS are people who promote and protect the human rights of others, whether individually or in association with others. They are people who act with humanity, serve humanity and bring out the best in humanity. For all of these defenders, international and regional human rights mechanisms can protect and amplify their work and impact on the ground. This strategy has been developed in a context characterised by uncertainty and change, including a worsening climate emergency, a global pandemic and associated financial crisis, deepening inequalities, worsening authoritarianism and populism, as well as the erosion of multilateralism, and the rule of law. It is also a context characterised by increased awareness and action at the local, national, regional and international levels. Human rights defenders are mobilising around issues such as environmental justice, racial justice, gender equality, freedom of For many defenders working in restrictive national contexts, regional and international mechanisms may be the only platforms available. For these mechanisms to be effective, however, they need to be credible, accessible and responsive to defenders, providing them with a safe and influential platform from which to demand justice, push for accountability, and contribute to positive change. freedom of expression and association, access to information, democratic representation and participation, the redistribution of economic and political power, and state and corporate accountability for intersecting human rights violations and abuses.

    On many of these issues, we are at an inflection point; a point at which the work of human rights defenders is perhaps more imperilled but more important than ever. For example:

    ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISTS AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, whose knowledge is vital to live more responsibly and sustainably, are being killed and displaced for their work to prevent exploitation and to protect precious forests and oceans.

    STUDENTS AND WORKERS mobilising online and offline to call for democratic freedoms and protest against authoritarianism are being surveilled, harassed and criminalised under abusive counter- terrorism laws.

    SOCIAL MOVEMENTS taking to the streets to demand racial justice are being met with disproportionate force from police and security forces.

    WOMEN’S RIGHTS ACTIVISTS are being detained and tortured in retaliation for their work to challenge patriarchy and demand an end to discrimination and violence.

    AT-RISK MIGRANT ACTIVISTS AND HUMANITARIAN WORKERS who support migrant rights are being criminalised and prosecuted as threats to national security.

    The freedom, safety and work of these and many other human rights defenders is vital to build a better future for all. The purpose of this Strategic Framework is to guide the effective pursuit of ISHR’s Vision, Mission and Values, and the achievement of ISHR’s Overall Goals. It articulates Strategic Goals and a framework for identifying priorities, and maps an organisational structure and working methods that will ensure agility and sustainability in a fast changing world. The strategy was developed through a highly consultative process over a 10 month period with extensive and invaluable inputs from human rights defenders, NGOs working at the national, regional and inter-national levels, human rights experts, and diplomatic and financial partners, as well as ISHR Board and staff. It is complemented with a results framework, and implemented through an annual activity plan and budget, and reviewed and updated on a biennial basis to ensure it remains relevant, responsive, ambitious and agenda setting. The framework provides the structure for our planning, monitoring, evaluation and learning process.

    Click to access 20210108_ishr_strategicframework.pdf

    This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders.

  • Pioneering saga of early Otago horse whisperer author’s dream come true

    Author Margaret Mills … “characterises in real life some of the grit and joyous energy displayed by Kitty.” Image: David Robie /APR

    Asia Pacific Report

    For Margaret Mills, adventurer, environmental campaigner, activist poet and Greenpeace stalwart, it was a lifetime dream coming true at 91.

    When she opened her parcel from the mail at her hilltop Waiheke island home just over a week ago, out popped advance copies of her maiden book, The Nine Lives of Kitty K. – the saga of a horse whisperer and her happiness and tragedies in the early settler days of outback Otago.

    This was a wonderful Christmas present after a five-year labour of love. Writing the book took 14 months and then a further four years to get it published.

    But she really dreamed about writing the book many years ago and when she finally had a chance to write it, she did so with tremendous enthusiasm and persistence.

    “An extraordinary New Zealand debut historical novel … celebrating an unsung heroine of the Goldfields,” says her publicist Karen McKenzie.

    In fact, most of the book is a true story, with only the early parts in Ireland being a reconstruction.

    “Set in a turbulent period of goldfields’ history, The Nine Lives of Kitty K. paints a vivid picture of pioneer life as told by the sons and daughters of those who lived it and survived the terrible Depression of the 1890s,” says McKenzie.

    ‘Toughest woman in Otago history’
    “Kitty Kirk (1855–1930), arguably the toughest woman in Otago history, endured those times, supporting herself as a woman alone.”

    Former Pacific Media Centre director David Robie says the book tells a story of Kitty’s life at the tail end of the goldrush that “provides a glimpse of the harshness of life in early settler times – especially for women”.

    He adds: “The author, Margaret Mills, herself an outback adventurer with a green heart, characterises in real life some of the grit and joyous energy displayed by Kitty.”

    Mills is a much liked character on Waiheke island who had a role on the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior when it was bombed in Auckland on 10 July 1985 with the death of photographer Fernando Pereira.

    She asked to be relief cook for a month when the campaign vessel arrived in New Zealand after a humanitarian voyage rescuing Rongelap islanders from the ravages of a US nuclear testing legacy in the Marshall Islands.

    Mills had only been on board three days when French secret agents bombed the ship.

    “I heard the captain say, ‘Oh Margaret, are you still here? We’ve been bombed!’ and I laughed. Well I mean, would you think of being bombed here? No,” she told Newshub in 2015.

    After the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior Mills continued to work on Greenpeace ships.

    Her friendships with crew members changed her life.

    Her Kitty K. book will go on sale in mid-February and she hopes to have two launches – one on Waiheke and the other in Queenstown where “people will really care about this story of early hardships”.

    • The Nine Lives of Kitty K.: The Unsung Heroine of the Goldfields, by Margaret Mills (Mary Egan Publishing, February, NZ$34.95)
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    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • The Innocence Project’s 11 Best Reads of 2020

    “Reading is freedom,” says Ron Jacobsen. Mr. Jacobsen was recently released on bond after 30 years, but during his decades of wrongful incarceration he said reading provided an escape from the four walls of his prison cell.

    “I started working in the library and this opened a whole new world to me — one of education through reading,” he said. Reading became his obsession. He began reading a novel a day, while also reading about the law to try to fight against his wrongful conviction. If he hadn’t become such an avid reader and found “Actual Innocence” by Innocence Project Co-founders Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, Mr. Jacobsen said, “I would probably still be inside those prison walls.”

    Now home with his sister Gladys, Mr. Jacobsen is still awaiting justice as the district attorney in his case intends to retry him. While he continues this fight, he is enjoying spending time with his sister and the freedom to read whatever he wants, whenever he wants. And he encourages others to pick up a good book, too.

    If you’re looking for somewhere to start — or a last minute gift — these are our recommended reads for the year and some staff favorites.

    New Releases

    Several books written by wrongly convicted people and people working the justice reform space were published this year, including one co-authored by Yusef Salaam, a member of the Exonerated Five and the Innocence Project’s board of directors. These are some of our top picks from this year’s new releases.

    1. “Punching the Air” by Ibi Zoboi and activist Yusef Salaam

    (Image: Courtesy of Harper Collins)

    This powerful young adult novel, written in verse, tells the story of a wrongly convicted boy. Ms. Zoboi told NPR, “I write books for children, and I wanted the world to remember that Yusef was a child when this happened to him and I was a child as well.” So she knew the main character in “Punching the Air” “had to be inspired by Yusef and this story had to instill a sense of hope in the reader.”

    Innocence Project supporters will receive a free shipping discount when they purchase “Punching the Air” with this link.

    2. “When Truth Is All You Have: A Memoir of Faith, Justice, and Freedom for the Wrongly Convicted” by Jim McCloskey and Philip Lerman

    In this riveting book, Jim McCloskey, tells the story of how he founded Centurion — formerly Centurion Ministries — an organization committed to investigating incarcerated people’s claims of innocence. Available to purchase here.

    3. “Justice for Sale: A Wrongful Conviction, a Broken System, and One Lawyer’s Fight for the Truth” by Jarrett Adams

    Jarrett Adams was convicted of a crime he didn’t commit at age 17. He spent eight years wrongly incarcerated and began learning about the legal system. After his exoneration, he attended law school and is now a defense attorney, fighting for justice. In this memoir, expected to be released in April 2021, he shares his inspiring journey. Available to pre-order here.

    Send a message of holiday cheer to our recently freed clients
    4. “Caste” by Isabel Wilkerson

    In this non-fiction work, Isabel Wilkerson, a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and author, examines systemic inequality in the United States. Called an “instant American classic” by the New York Times, the book takes a hard look at the use of violence and oppression throughout history and how that has impacted America as it stands today. Available to purchase here.

    5. “Black Futures” by Jenna Wortham and Kimberly Drew

    “Hands down, ‘Black Futures’ is the coffee table book of the year,” says Alicia Maule, Innocence Project’s director of digital engagement. The book, a 500-page multimedia anthology is a work of art that brought together hundreds of Black creators, activists, chefs and more to answer the question: ‘What does it mean to be Black and alive right now?’ “This is a book you’ll be proud to hold and showcase,” says Mx. Maule. Available to purchase here.

    Must Reads

    If you’re interested in justice reform and wrongful conviction, these are just a few more must-reads our staff recommends.

    6. “Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America” by Gilbert King

    This Pulitzer Prize winner is a “must-read” recommendation from our new executive director, Christina Swarn. “Devil in the Grove” tells the story of Thurgood Marshall’s defense of four innocent Black teenagers who were tried, convicted, and sentenced to death for the rape of a white woman in Florida in 1949. Available to purchase here.

    7. “The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America” by Khalil Gibran Muhammad

    Recommended by our Sarah Chu, our senior advisor on forensic science policy, “The Condemnation of Blackness,” sheds light on how crime statistics and research have been used to create the myth of Black criminality. “This book is important for understanding how deeply the architecture of our criminal legal system is tied to painting Black people as inferior or criminal and shows us how well meaning people were complicit in advancing those false ideas,” Ms. Chu says. Available to purchase here.

    8. “Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair” by Danielle Sered

    Innocence Project Executive Director Christina Swarns recommends “Until We Reckon,” which she calls an “important and fascinating read.” The book considers how draconian sentences often fail to address the needs of survivors of violent crime, and takes a look at approaches to ending mass incarceration that will also increase public safety. Available to purchase here.

    9. “Solitary” by Albert Woodfox

    Publishing this memoir has been at the top of Albert Woodfox’s list of dreams for many years. But Innocence Project Chief Program Strategy Officer Carine Williams, who represented Mr. Woodfox for eight years, said he was adamant that he would not write while incarcerated.

    “He believed the grief and grime of lockdown would corrupt his storytelling. He said, ‘I don’t know how but it’ll get into my words,’” she recalled. Mr. Woodfox was finally freed in 2016, and three years later, he published his memoir. “All I can now say is: It was worth the wait. If Louisiana tried to bury Albert — and they did — this book is a gorgeous bouquet of blooms from the man no one knew was a seed,” Ms. Williams said.

    “Solitary” is available to purchase here.

    10. “Alizah’s Story: I Stutter” by Shoshanah K. Hobson

    Written by Shoshanah Hobson, the Innocence Project’s very own Events and Special Projects Manager, “Alizah’s Story” is an inspiring children’s book about a third grader who starts to stutter and learns that what makes her different also makes her powerful. Available to purchase here.

    11. “Never Silent” by Valencia Daniels

    Poetry lovers must check out “Never Silent,” written by Innocence Project case management database administrator Valencia Craig. This stunning e-book of poetry touches on themes of race and inequality and is available to purchase here.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Refusenik, Nine Poems by Paul Richards

    Refusenik Front coverRefusenik is available as a paperback and an ebook from Amazon.com. From the end of the war in Vietnam, through the end of the Soviet Union and the Cold War, the world transformed many times over and carried me with it. As I went through those decades, these poems rose to the top and I wrote […]

    This post was originally published on Estuary Press.

  • World Out of Order

    World Out of Order front cover with frameSelected Cartoons by Joe Serrano Sixty cartoons because we need a good laugh. World Out of Order is now Available in Paperback and Ebook from Amazon and kobo (ebook only) Estuary Press is proud to announce the publication of World Out of Order by Joe Serrano with an Preface by his daughter, Nina Serrano. The […]

    This post was originally published on Estuary Press.

  • Critical Focus, Photo Book by Paul Richards, Ph.D.

    CRITICAL FOCUS: THE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS OF HARVEY WILSON RICHARDSwritten and compiled by Paul Richards, Ph.D.104 pages, 123 photosISBN 0-9618725-0-0LC 87-817201987, Estuary Press Harvey Richards’ black and white images are available in this photo book written and edited by Paul Richards, Ph.D. While producing 22 documentary films about protest movements of the 1960s, Harvey Richards shot still […]

    This post was originally published on Estuary Press.

  • World Out of Order

    Selected Cartoons by Joe Serrano

    World Out of Order is now Available in Paperback and Ebook from Amazon and kobo (ebook only)

    Sixty cartoons because we need a good laugh.

    I am excited to announce that my father’s book of cartoons “World Out of Order” by Joe Serrano is now published and available in ebook and paperback from Estuary Press.

    My father, Joe Serrano, was born in Columbia in 1912 and emigrated to the United States at age 9. He quit school in the eighth grade to go to work to help support his widowed mother and little sister. Even as a very young school boy, he drew cartoons, letting his classmates see them for a penny a peak. Always thinking about metaphysics, the meaning of life, and the nature of God, he drew the humors of everyday living into cartoons. Now over a hundred years since his birth, his cartoons resonate with the new realities of the 21st Century as if they were created just yesterday.

    Long Journey

    Joe Serrano, Cartoonist

    It was a long journey to the publication of World Out of Order. As a child, I was always aware of my father’s cartoons, even before I could read. He sat with pen and ink in hand drawing on a board.

    In 1945, when my brother, Philip Serrano, was born after WWII, my father left his wartime draftsman job and declared himself a full time free lance cartoonist. The drawing board became a drawing table in a dedicated corner of my parents’ bedroom. It was equipped with drawing pens, pencils, brushes, a big stack of white paper, India ink and a stash of erasers. A guillotine paper trimmer (still in use in my home today) and a large powerful magnifying glass completed his drawing studio space.

    Over the years he expanded to a whole room for his work where he conceived and drew 22 rough drafts a week to send out to magazines and trade journals. He would check his mailbox daily for acceptances and rejections then draw up the final drafts. He did this in New York, Massachusetts, and California for 47 years. When he died in 1987, the following day, in the mail came an acceptance of one of his rough drafts from a magazine he’d submitted to earlier. My life long friend, the artist Beryl Landau, kindly drew the finished version for him. He was able to end his career on a triumphant note with its publication. My brother and I and our spouses, Elizabeth Hickey Serrano and Paul Richards, gathered up all his files and stored them in Phil and Liz’s garage.

    After my mother died in 1989, the four of us went through my dad’s cartoons and sorted them with hopes of making a book. That was already 30 years ago and then we forgot.

    When my brother died, three years ago in 2017, the forgetting got worse. But the subject of my father’s legacy reawakened this year when I wrote a Father’s Day poem titled “Poem for My Father with Love From Your Daughter” which is in the preface of the book. I read the poem on the radio. Paul realized it was time to publish the book. We looked in our computers and everywhere for the cartoons, and not surprisingly could not find them. Fortunately, my sister law, Liz remembered and brought them over in a blue plastic covered bin filled with cartoons drawn on paper.

    I could hear Paul laughing out loud as he was scanning, sorting, and editing hundreds of brilliantly drawn pictures with short humurous captions. Using just a few flowing black and white lines, my father captured settings, personalities, relationships and complex situations.

    Although these cartoons were created long ago from 1945 to 1987, they still tickle our funny bones. Joe was a very modest and shy man. He would be so surprised and pleased that 33 years after his passing his works are now collected to be enjoyed at a time when the world needs to laugh more than ever.

    The post World Out of Order appeared first on .

    This post was originally published on ninaserrano.com.

  • World Out of Order

    World Out of Order front cover with frameSelected Cartoons by Joe Serrano World Out of Order is now Available in Paperback and Ebook from Amazon and kobo (ebook only) Sixty cartoons because we need a good laugh. I am excited to announce that my father’s book of cartoons “World Out of Order” by Joe Serrano is now published and available in ebook and paperback from Estuary Press. […]

    This post was originally published on Estuary Press.

  • Back to School: 7 Resources for Parents, Teachers, and School Administrators

    This list of our best resources on censorship and the First Amendment in schools will help you get ready for the school year.

    The post Back to School: 7 Resources for Parents, Teachers, and School Administrators appeared first on National Coalition Against Censorship.

    This post was originally published on Blog – National Coalition Against Censorship.

  • Back to School: 9 Resources for Students

    This school year we want you to be prepared to defend your right to speak, think and create.

    The post Back to School: 9 Resources for Students appeared first on National Coalition Against Censorship.

    This post was originally published on Blog – National Coalition Against Censorship.

  • Remembering Toni Morrison

    Joan Bertin (former executive director, NCAC), Toni Morrison, Fran Lebowitz “The thought that leads me to contemplate with dread the erasure of other voices, of unwritten novels, poems whispered or swallowed for fear of being overheard by the wrong people, outlawed languages flourishing underground, essayists’ questions challenging authority never being posed, unstaged plays, canceled films—that […]

    The post Remembering Toni Morrison appeared first on National Coalition Against Censorship.

    This post was originally published on Blog – National Coalition Against Censorship.

  • Books Behind Bars: The Right to Read in Prison

    Federal courts have repeatedly affirmed that prisoners have a First Amendment right to read, and publishers and others have a right to send them reading materials. And state departments of corrections have repeatedly instituted broad book bans.

    The post Books Behind Bars: The Right to Read in Prison appeared first on National Coalition Against Censorship.

    This post was originally published on Blog – National Coalition Against Censorship.

  • TRUMPED BY TRUMP

    Donald Trump is the worst American President in my 86 years on Planet Earth. In all likelihood, he is the worst since George Washington kicked out the British. But, let me stop beating around the bush and admit that I utterly and thoroughly despise him. Having said this, I must confess that there are times when …

    Continue reading TRUMPED BY TRUMP

    This post was originally published on My Articles – Everald Compton.

  • Read with Pride: 10 Great LGBTQ YA Books for Summer

    Kick off summer with NCAC’s recommendations for books that amplify LGBTQ stories and voices, and that are frequently banned in schools!

    The post Read with Pride: 10 Great LGBTQ YA Books for Summer appeared first on National Coalition Against Censorship.

    This post was originally published on Blog – National Coalition Against Censorship.

  • Fun Home Under Fire in New Jersey

    Fun Home is under attack again, this time in a New Jersey High School.

    The post Fun Home Under Fire in New Jersey appeared first on National Coalition Against Censorship.

    This post was originally published on Blog – National Coalition Against Censorship.