Research & Rescue

The Girl That Changed the World

Everyone should watch this video of Severn Suzuki, speaking at the Rio Summit in 1992.

There are times when I am fed up with the banalities of the world. We lose focus on what's important. Much of the time we don't even spend the time figuring out what really does matter to us, so how could we focus on goals we haven't even discovered? It's easier just to get up in the morning, get our Starbucks, and get through our to do lists. When I saw this video, I had to pause it to stop crying. I wish her speech had changed the world but we don't learn. 2.5 MILLION GALLONS of oil every day into the Gulf and we aren't going to stop drilling. As Severn said, "If you don't know how to fix it, PLEASE stop breaking it!"

Thankfully, the idealism of her youth was not lost as she grew up and Severn Cullis-Suzuki is a renowned environmental activist still today. There's a nice page about her on squidoo where you can read more about her work: Severn Suzuki - a famous environmental video: where is she now?

Hat tip for video link: Nurul54

Multi-racials and politics

There's an interesting piece over at the website of Institute for Southern Studies today about the rise of multi-racials in Census data. When we got our form, I was fine with putting in a couple of different races but from a data perspective, I knew immediately that I wouldn't want to have to parse those data. From a personal and social justice perspective, I've told friends for a long time that I believe racism usually involves hatred of one particular group of people. I wonder if the rise of multi-racial Americans makes the problem of racism better or worse? Can you hate 30% of someone who isn't the same race as you? Or does this rise just lead racist people to insist on some purity test, as in all white or all black? It's going to be interesting to see how this all plays out as politicians seek to draw in racial/ethnic voting blacs.

By Marisa Trevino LatinaLista The U.S. Census released a report last week that showed something that everyone has known to be on the horizon for a while now -- the growth in numbers of people of color.

According to the U.S. Census' figures, which are still based on the 2000 Census and updated by Census staff using a variety of resources, the minority population now makes up 35 percent of the nation's population.

When the groups are looked at separately, it's no big surprise that the group seen with the biggest gain is Latinos, who now comprise 16 percent of the population versus the black population that only comprises 12 percent of the population.

However, what is a surprise for many is the rise of a new demographic -- multiracials.

via www.southernstudies.org

Colombia: Uribe Lashes Out at Sentence for Senior Officer

BOGOTA, Jun 11, 2010 (IPS) - Surrounded by a protective phalanx of stern generals and police chiefs, Colombian President Álvaro Uribe assailed a court ruling that sentenced a senior army officer for human rights crimes committed nearly 25 years ago.

In his Thursday night televised message, the right-wing president also announced "new legislation," among other measures, to provide the military with legal protection. Earlier, he had stated that "human rights cannot be invoked to commit abuses against the security forces."

On Wednesday, retired colonel Alfonso Plazas was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the disappearance of 11 people in November 1985, when he led a military assault on the Palace of Justice after it was occupied by the leftist April 19 Movement (M-19) guerrilla group.

Retired military officers slammed the conviction of Plazas as "legal and political warfare" driven by "national and international terrorism."

They also demanded that all cases in which members of the military are implicated fall under the jurisdiction of the military courts.

In 1997, the Constitutional Court ruled that cases involving members of the security forces accused of human rights abuses were to be investigated by the civilian justice system.

Read the rest at www.ipsnews.net

Haitian Farmers Burning Monsanto RoundUp Ready Seed on World Environment Day

"A new earthquake" is what peasant farmer leader Chavannes Jean-Baptiste of the Peasant Movement of Papay (MPP) called the news that Monsanto will be donating 60,000 seed sacks (475 tons) of hybrid corn seeds and vegetable seeds, some of them treated with highly toxic pesticides. The MPP has committed to burning Monsanto's seeds, and has called for a march to protest the corporation's presence in Haiti on June 4, for World Environment Day.

In an open letter sent May 14, Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, the executive director of MPP and the spokesperson for the National Peasant Movement of the Congress of Papay (MPNKP), called the entry of Monsanto seeds into Haiti "a very strong attack on small agriculture, on farmers, on biodiversity, on Creole seeds ... and on what is left our environment in Haiti."(1) Haitian social movements have been vocal in their opposition to agribusiness imports of seeds and food, which undermines local production with local seed stocks. They have expressed special concern about the import of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Read the rest at www.truthout.org

What does Malcolm X have to do with Canada?

Fascinating article from The Mark (a highly recommended addition to your newsfeed, by the way). Even having grown up just north (yes, north) of the Canadian border, I never would have made any connection.

The third Sunday in May is Malcolm X Day. In the 1960s, Malcolm X was one of the most candid and admired leaders of the black nationalist movement, whose philosophy was racial separation and self-determination that rejected Martin Luther King Jr.’s nonviolent, integrationist approach to civil rights. Malcolm X was sharply critical of civil rights leaders who advocated black integration into white society as a substitute for building strong black institutions and defending themselves against racist violence. He was an internationally known political leader, whose philosophy can be summed up in his own words: “It is not integration that Negros in America want, it is human dignity.”

Malcolm X Day is celebrated in most major American cities, but what does it have to do with Canada? What impact, if any, did the philosophies of Malcolm X have on black Canadian consciousness and politics?

To answer this question, we must first understand not only the original militant philosophy expounded by Malcolm X and its influence in Canada at the time, but also the ongoing impact of Malcolm X’s transformative philosophy, which moved beyond civil rights to human rights developed shortly after his resignation from the Nation of Islam and just prior to his assassination at the Audubon Ballroom in New York on Feb. 21, 1965. That year, just before his death, he founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity as a non-religious medium to draw attention to the common cause of human dignity and human rights for all people of African descent in the world. On only one occasion did he visit Canada, where he did an interview with the CBC and visited the home of the well-known Canadian author Austin Clarke. However, his influence on black Canadians was significant.

Read the rest at www.themarknews.com

Congressmen to read apology to American Indians

Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas and Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington state are joining Representatives from the Cherokee, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek), Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, and Pawnee nations in the ceremony Wednesday at the Congressional Cemetery.

via www.timesrecordnews.com (hat tip Barb Wold)

AZ students protest ethnic studies ban

I'm neither Native American nor Hispanic and I don't live in Arizona - but I was fortunate enough to take at least a few different ethnic studies courses when I was still in Michigan. I firmly believe that understanding different cultures makes us a better society. Furthermore, I don't believe that you can just one multicultural course and be done with it, as some proponents of the AZ ban suggest. There is a wealth of wonderful literature from many ethnic communities from which students could benefit and there is absolutely no reason for this ban except to deny students information from those diverse perspectives. What a shame to perpetuate ignorance out of fear of the different.

8 Websites You Need to Stop Building - The Oatmeal

I have been telling Will that I would sit down and write a blog entry about my perceptions of social media for weeks now and have STILL yet to get to it. I will, Will. In the meantime, this Oatmeal graphic says a lot on my behalf. :-)

Read the other 7 of them at theoatmeal.com

Not All States Target Immigrants

A bit of positive trending for immigrants:

Despite the commotion around Arizona’s SB 1070, a recent report shows that more laws expanding immigrants’ rights are being enacted than those contracting them. The Wilson Center’s study, Context Matters: Latino Immigrant Civic Engagement in Nine U.S. Cities, found that in 2007, 19 percent of 313 bills expanding immigrant rights were enacted and only 11 percent of 263 bills contracting rights were enacted by state legislatures. Washington, for example, passed SB 6403, which seeks to improve high school graduation rates by serving vulnerable youth, including recent immigrants. Andrew Selee

via immigrationimpact.com

How to tell people they sound racist

Shared by my friend, Brad Rourke, whose consulting firm helps large civic organizations work smarter in the public sphere.

I like this idea very much. It's always more productive to tell someone what they did to upset you, rather than call them names. It's also much easier to change a behaviour than to change who or what a person is.