Augury Of Truth
No one knows
Or can guess
What decisions
We make
For things to come
May bring.
All we can do
Is trust
That when truth
Reveals itself
We’ll be able to stand
On the same two feet
That brought us here. Read more
Giving Thanks in a Foreign Land
I spent this Thanksgiving, as the past four, with my neighbors. As I frantically cleaned my house and helped in food preparations, I could not avoid remembering my first introduction to one of the biggest annual events in America. In 1995 after escaping Sarajevo and living in a refugee camp for seven months, I was finally reunited with my husband in Chicago. It was the summer of 1995 and I was beginning to recreate my life in a new country, with language and customs other than those of my birth place. Read more
Americans, Europeans, and Immigration
Americans aren’t the only ones dealing with immigration. The United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, France, Germany and the Netherlands have also found themselves contradicting their values when in comes to immigration. Read more
Audio: November 2008 Blogcast!
This month we are on the streets in San Francisco, California as we join a rally of over seventy-five hundred people who have come to show their support of same-sex marriage rights. This historic rally is part of a large network of rallies taking place on the same day all across the United States. We are joined by Stuart Gaffney, who, with his husband John, are speakers at the rally read more
Sustainability: Thinking Beyond Borders Part Two
When Americans import goods from foreign regions they are often exporting environmental degradation. In the U.S. we import all of our coffee, mostly from Colombia, Brazil and Guatemala. And we import a lot of it. After oil, coffee is the second largest import in the United States.
Luckily, about two thirds of the world’s coffee beans are still classified as arabica. Arabica beans are grown at higher altitudes, require less watering, and need cooler climates. Which means that almost all arabica beans are shade grown, greatly reducing the number of trees being cut down. Shade-grown coffee also grows slower than other varieties, producing a more flavorful, higher quality product. Read more
2016: Chicago’s Olympic Dream, Do They Deserve It?
In June of 2008, the International Olympic Committee (ICO) announced that Chicago was one of its 4 finalists to host the 2016 games. The US has not hosted an Olympics since 1996 in Atlanta and many are hoping for a return in 2016.
Chicago’s bid was thought to be behind in the running, trailing Madrid and Tokyo, but Obama’s victory could swing the tide in Chicago’s favor. The big question is does Chicago deserve to host the games? Read more
Nebraska Laws Undermine Families in Crisis
The debacle surrounding the Nebraska Safe Haven law highlights a hidden crisis within American families.
Last week Nebraska amended its Safe Haven law and social workers and hospital employees across the state breathed an uneasy sigh of relief. Now, only infants 30 days or younger may be dropped off at hospitals and firehouses with no fear of prosecution for the parents. For the last two and a half months, parents have been able to drop off kids as old at 17, and many have done so. Read more
Brooklyn Still Haven for New Immigrants
Brooklyn continues its long tradition as a comfortable haven for new immigrants. A resurgence of western European immigrants are reshaping Williamsburg, which has been better known for its hipsters and indie music scene the last several years. But in changing, Williamsburg and other New York neighborhoods are merely remaining true to the best versions of themselves. Read more
Philanthropists Fuel Anti-Immigrant Bigotry
When well-known philanthropists give money to national anti-immigrant groups it gives a new twist to the axiom “throwing good money after bad.” The result is increased discrimination and violence against immigrants and their families.
Controversial anti-immigrant leader John Tanton used to brag that from 1983 until 1986 famed financial leader and philanthropist Warren Buffet made yearly gifts of $90,000 to his organization, U.S. Inc. While Buffet is thought of as a man who donates selflessly to the public good he is also remembered as supporting bigotry. Read more
Scar Tissue
It’s a part of me.
Though I don’t like to think it.
Would rather disassociate
The entire thing
From my entire being.
Would rather go on like nothing happened
Like it wasn’t happening all the time.
The events so small
They hardly effected me
In such small doses
The ones I forgot I took.
Yet when the big one happened
The small ones became much more
Vivid in my memory.
Read more
Hate and Death: The Federation for American Immigration Reform Harvest in Suffolk County
When I first journeyed to Suffolk Country eight years ago to work with religious, civic, and immigrant rights groups facing growing anti-immigrant activity stoked by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, I was stunned to witness the depth of anger and hostility that the group’s organizer had helped unleash. It all started “respectably” enough. But the attempt in 2000 by neo-Nazis to kill two Mexican workers was a harbinger of where growing, unchecked anti-immigrant fever and fervor could go; other violence followed. Now, an Ecuadoran immigrant, is dead at the hands of area youth who reportedly set out to beat up “some Mexicans,” bringing the tragedy of Suffolk County to its inevitable end. Read more
Sustainability: Thinking Beyond Borders Part 1
I saw an article last week titled “Why Environmentalists Support Immigration Reform” on the Federation for American Immigration Reform’s (FAIR) website. Considering myself an environmentalist, I read the passage to better my understanding of exactly why “I” support immigration reform.
Now of course, as some of you may have already guessed, I was a bit skeptical of the entire notion, but I tried to keep an open mind. When doing a “preliminary skim” of the article, I noticed a rather interesting statement: “But however one may try to abdicate responsibility for it, the connection between immigration, population, and the environment remains.’ I was rather confused, thinking, ‘Well, I can see a connection between immigration and national population, and I can see a link between global population and environmental issues…” But I somehow couldn’t link those two thoughts. How are they connected? Read more
Neighbor Turns Ugly When American Dream Disappears
Buying a home can be a ticket out of poverty. It can symbolize a shift from the poor camp to the middle class. Owning a house can represent a sense of financial security and mobility for many families and their children.
A few days ago, Kate Brumback from the Associated Press reported that Lorenzo Jimenez finally found his ticket about four years ago to buy his first home in a suburb outside Atlanta. But Mr. Jimenez had one problem that many working fathers don’t have to consider when buying a house for their family. Read more
Lewis Hamilton: Victory in the Face of Racism
In June 2007, Lewis Hamilton made history by becoming the first black driver to win a Formula 1 race. A little more than a year later Hamilton drove his way into the history books again in dramatic style. Hamilton’s last gasp win in the final race of the season in Brazil won him his first Formula 1 Driver’s Championship. Hamilton’s win shocked the F1 world and delighted fans in his home country of England.
But for some fans Hamilton’s victory was not met with joy. Fans in Spain were especially bitter with Hamilton’s victory because of his feud with Spanish driver and former McLaren teammate, Fernando Alonso. Read more
Gulf War Illness Proven But Not Cured
In this country when soldiers enlist, they know wars are possible, even likely. They accept the sacrifice of precious moments with their wives, children, and friends, and most acknowledge the possibility of the ultimate sacrifice, their lives. This dutifulness is what makes them admirable in the eyes of America; we afford them a special brand of dignity through our heart-wrenching movies and romanticized media coverage. What most wartime soldiers are not prepared for and never warned of, and what we civilians routinely ignore is that there is a good chance they will be stripped of that dignity when they come home. Read more
Who Has Blood on Their Hands in Anti-Immigrant Murder?
It’s been a little over a week since a group of youth in Suffolk County took the life of Ecuadorian immigrant Marcelo Lucero, stabbing him to death in what law enforcement officers called “a hunt to beat up some Mexicans.” Seventeen-year old Jeffrey Conroy has been charged with a hate crime for his alleged role in the taking of Lucero’s life. Read more
It’s That Time Again: The Holidays
Ah the holidays. I can’t believe they’re almost here. No really…I can’t believe it! I don’t know if it’s that “the older you get the faster time flies” or if it has something to do with being so busy with the kids and jobs. This year instead of joy and excitement I feel a sense of dread.
I want to be able to give my children everything they ask for, for them to be content and stuffed full of food and happy with the Christmas booty they’ve received, but what am I teaching them? That Christmas is that terrible monster of greed that leaves one worked up and always unsatisfied? Read more
Lessons from Liberia: Pray the Devil Back to Hell
Not unlike other international news lost in the maelstrom of the last eight years, the plunge of Liberia into utter, horrific chaos didn’t warrant significant U.S. news coverage or response. Not surprising. After all, Liberia is in Africa (country or a continent?) and even though it was born of former slaves from these shores it—like most African nations and peoples—seldom grabs U.S. attention. Read more
Bendita Esperanza
Autor: Fortino Vargas
Destellante luz para mi obscuridad,
inigualable calma, en angustiosa soledad.
Escencia de vida que aun la respiro,
como grato recuerdo, que evoca el suspiro.
Te busco; en la triste y amarga soledad,
en mi tiempo perdido, en mi vida inconclusa.
Fragil, por torrentes de gran tempestad,
que desvastaron una juventud…ya muy difusa.
Eres tu, escape de una vaga mirada,
imposibilitada, perdida en la distancia.
Solo en los crystales de mi fe reflejada,
ventana de males, habitados en mi consiencia.
Mi paz moribunda, mas no perdida,
aun percibo la llama, del fuego de ilusion.
Mi alma habatida, la razon casi vencida.
No estoy muerto, por ti; vive este corazon.
For English Read more
The Miracle of Thunder: Turning Water into Oil
Thunder Boone Pickens Jr. may have been the greenmailing poster boy for the oil industry in the 1980’s, but so what? It’s 2008 America! The man did a little research…and bam pow! an alternative energy activist is born. If you’re like most Americans and spend more time than you should starring at a screen (computer or TV), you’ve most likely seen his commercials. They feature the self-proclaimed “man with a plan” preaching the urgency of our environmental and economic crises, and offering a solution: The Pickens Plan.
Mr. Pickens’ layout calls for building new wind generation facilities and switching (firstly commercial) vehicles to run on natural gas instead of refined oil. Then, he will harness the power of the wind turbines, creating energy to replace the electricity that was previously supplied by natural gas. While reading his scheme, I couldn’t help but notice that he never mentions anything about Americans slowing down the pace of our energy usage. Perhaps we’d like to believe that we don’t need to change our lifestyles, but there simply aren’t enough resources for us to be consuming at the rate that we do. Although Mr. Pickens would disagree with me. Read more
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