‘Commentary’ Archives
Letter to the Editor Separating children from parents? “This is exactly who we are!”
BY DONNA NESTE I have been glued to MSNBC, writing letters, and emails to the Justice Dept., Homeland Security, the White House, and calling lawmakers in Washington; since the horrendous, immoral and, frankly, evil Trump policy was put in place; of separating children from their parents at the southern border. While watching this unbelievable darkness descend upon our nation (again) and unfold on cable television, I heard the talking heads say time and time again, “This is not who we are.” Really? This is exactly who we are. We have a history of separating children from their parents. We did it during our nation”'s “original sin,” slavery. We separated Native American children from their parents and put them in boarding schools. Stealing their land was not enough, we also had to steal their children. We imprisoned Japanese American families during World War II and we turned away a cruise ship, the St. Louis, with hundreds of Jewish people from our [...]
Raise Your Voice – Soil & water & spirit
BY PETER MOLENAAR From time to time, some of us venture south of Lake Street to visit the Powderhorn people. Should you turn west from Bloomington Avenue onto 35th Street, look to the right to view their lovely park. Glance left, as you approach Chicago Avenue and you will spot the old fire station which houses their neighborhood association. But, how many know that this old station houses another splendid organization? Via a side entrance, offices of the Land Stewardship Project (LSP) can be found on the second floor. These dedicated folks believe that, in conjunction with family farmers, culturally and racially diverse rural and urban people can promote responsible stewardship of agricultural land, along with healthy food for all. To take one example, as Congress attempted to pass the 2018 farm bill, LSP was tuned in to defend the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Of course, issues regarding land stewardship have been with us for some time. It was in the mid-19th Century [...]
