Archive for February, 2019
Raise Your Voice: Blessed community
Peter Molenaar By PETER MOLENAAR Feb. 11, 2019”¦ I would brave the slippery streets, with the ongoing sixth mass species extinction in mind, in order to participate in the public visioning phase of the HOTB Mayday Parade. This was to be the last opportunity to make a modest appearance. The chairs of the Avalon meeting room were well occupied to receive Sandy Spieler”'s guidance. As it turned out, Sandy had been entitled to choose this year”'s theme, and rightfully so. In keeping with Martin Luther King”'s intent, she chose: “Blessed Community.” To develop this theme, the gathering was tasked to a rotating series of workshops, set in the auditorium. My first stop was captioned: “Barriers to a Blessed community.” The tally of square sticker tag commentary was to reveal an old question of causality: Is the human condition a consequence of “human nature,” or is human nature a reflection of social systems? An [...]
Letter to the Editor: Stop demonizing Ilhan and let it be a lesson learned
by Dean Zimmerman South Africa had a policy of Apartheid. Lots of people boycotted, marched and protested what was going on in South Africa. South African Officials were chosen in a democracy ”“ well, a democracy for whites, not Colored, Blacks or Indians. Nobody ever said you are anti-South African for protesting this. Mississippi had a policy of Jim Crow. Lots of people boycotted, marched and protested what was going on in Mississippi. Mississippi officials were chosen in a democracy ”“ well a democracy for whites, not Blacks. Nobody ever said you are anti-Mississippian for protesting this.  Israel is a country which embraces, for lack of a better word, apartheid; it is even complete with a wall. But to point this out, to boycott or protest is somehow anti-Semitic. America is so racist that to protest racism, such as not standing for the National Anthem, is equated with protesting against America itself. And it seems, that to protest against [...]
Letter to the Editor: Frank reflections
by Frank Erickson The Letter to the Editor, “Omissions and distortions abound in libraries, too,” by Berman Sanford in The Alley Newspaper February 2019 is an admirable undertaking; to have things listed at libraries under a heading that truly represents what they were. Berman, who is a member of the American Library Association, uses the example of trying to search any library catalog under the subject of “Native American Genocide” and you will be unsuccessful. Yet, he falls into his own trap when he brings up “World War II” and he does not use quotation marks when referencing the “war.” Just as Berman states, “history is euphemistically masked, hidden, under subjects like Choctaw Indians””Relocation,” but so is the case with “war.” Murder is masked and hidden under the title of “war.” Now in libraries and schools all over the Western world, people are reading about the 2003 attack on [...]
