MATTAPOISETT — For those with a need to keep an eye on the oxygen levels in their blood — a need that could stem from long-term medical issues or having an infection such as COVID — a pulse oximeter can be a vital piece of equipment. However, those with darker skin who depend on this device are inherently at a disadvantage, says Mattapoisett resident Frances Feliz Kearns.
“That product does not work as accurately on people of color due to the melanin and the way it works with infrared technology,” Kearns said.
Advocating to have problems such as this one addressed is one way Kearns says her life experiences as a woman of color and daughter of an immigrant come through in her work as a director of engineering at Cambridge-based Takeda Pharmaceuticals. “I try to bring my lens of diversity, equity and inclusion into that role, identifying people from my social circles who I think might be a good fit at the organization, potentially looking at how the products we design impact people of different groups.”
But before earning her degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, followed by a Master’s from the National Graduate School of Quality Management, and making her career in the biomedical engineering field, the New Bedford High class of ’98 alum says she was a curious kid with a thing for sci-fi.
Beaming up to high aspirations
“I was always interested in sci-fi shows and ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ was one of them,” she said, adding she especially took note of character Geordi La Forge — chief engineer of the iconic Starship Enterprise — played by African-American actor LeVar Burton, sporting the unmistakable high-tech eye visor that became synonymous with the role. “The visor was a biomedical tool! … So, I kind of got the bug for biomedical engineering starting from the representation I saw on TV.”
Perhaps Star Trek was an appropriate segue into her field, as ultimately, Kearns says to enter it at the time that she did was to explore a strange, new frontier. “Biomedical engineering was a new field and it wasn’t very well-defined,” she said, also noting she’d often find herself the only Black woman in the room. “Engineering is a predominantly male field so having to explain to my male counterparts that I’m capable of conducting experiments or using tools to the same level that they can do was also one of those challenges.”
But sci-fi TV wasn’t the only thing Kearns had going for her in her early development as a science wiz, as both of her parents had strong backgrounds in STEM — or science, technology, engineering, mathematics — her father, Dr. Thomas Patrick Zgambo, being an engineer for Polaroid in New Bedford, and mother, Dr. Anita Zgambo, a doctorate in the field of instructional technology.
“My father immigrated to the U.S. in the ’70s from Malawi (in Central Africa) and moved throughout the U.S. but settled in New Bedford when he worked for Polaroid,” Kearns said. “I would go to family events of the employees and he exposed me to his co-workers who were fellow engineers.
“It wasn’t just my parents — I was fortunate to also have a lot of other support in the community — but they were a huge influence.”
But growing up, even in a city as diverse as New Bedford, her parents’ impressive resumes were not enough to shield the family from racism, whether intentionally inflicted or out of ignorance.
“My hair was kind of a big thing that followed me all the way from elementary school to high school,” Kearns said. “It wasn’t the direct type of racial comments you might expect; it’s more like, ‘What’s wrong with your hair? Why can’t you style it properly? Why can’t you just put it up?’ — that type of thing. Sometimes people would just touch it without asking.
“Plus, I had a last name that was extremely different from people in the community.”
In a Standard-Times article from February 1996, Kearns’ father shared his experiences with disapproving stares, harassing phone calls that prompted multiple number changes, and dealing with reactions to his marriage to Kearns’ mother, who the article notes as having been perceived as Caucasian due to a fair complexion, but is in fact of Mexican-American and Native American background, Kearns said.
Fortunately for her, Kearns says the support of family, friends and educators were enough to keep her interested in education and her spark for STEM alive. “I was very lucky that I had a good group of friends who rallied around me and supported me, and I also had some great teachers … who made sure I understood that I belonged in the school system and were presenting STEM opportunities that were interesting to me and it kept me motivated to keep going through school,” she said, also noting some anticipatory discussions her parents had with her on the type of treatment she’d come to experience.
New generation, same issues
Nowadays, Kearns’ life mirrors her parents’ in a few aspects: Not only is Kearns working in a STEM field, but she, too, is married to someone of another race, and has found it necessary to discuss many of the same issues around racism with her children.
“My husband is Irish-American, and my son’s skin tone is actually close to mine, and then my daughter’s is very fair, but she’s got my hair … so a lot of what I experienced, she’s working through that now,” Kearns said, noting her son TJ, 11, is a sixth grader at Old Hammondtown Elementary School and daughter Jazmin, 12, is in seventh grade at ORR Junior High.
Earlier this school year, an incident TJ experienced at school went beyond the usual ignorant question or remark and into the realm of blatant racial attack. “In a quiet moment when we were alone, in a very quiet, very small voice he told me ‘a kid called me the N-word and said I was a burnt chicken nugget,'” Kearns said. “It actually took some work to get people to understand that this was happening in the school and in the district.
“I’ve had talks with them kind of prepping them for stuff like this but … it was disappointing for me that it happened.”
Despite this incident and other, more subtle ones, Kearns says her family’s experience since moving to Mattapoisett in 2018 has been mostly positive. “I’ve met some wonderful people here who made me feel very welcome,” she said, noting that joining the School Committee in 2020 helped her form many relationships in the community. “But like any community there are people who don’t want certain groups of people in the town and may not be as welcoming to people coming in.
“I don’t think it’s the majority — there’s just a lack of diversity here, and that can make it challenging for people to see things from other people’s perspective. … We definitely have a lot of work to do.”
Data from the 2020 U.S. Census indicates those who identify as “white alone” made up 96.1% of Mattapoisett’s population.
Committee work
When it comes to her work on the ORR School Committee, as well as wanting to join in the first place, Kearns says her experiences growing up and in STEM have been big motivators. Kearns is also on the district’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Subcommittee first formed in 2020. “I wanted to make sure there was somebody on the committee who would advocate for folks from different groups,” she said.
Aside from building more acceptance of diversity in the school community, Kearns said another thing she emphasizes is the importance of presenting STEM opportunities to students of all backgrounds. “I know in the past sometimes students of color may not have been presented with the same opportunities as other students in the STEM field based on potential biases so I think that it’s important that we provide everybody those opportunities early on and continue to foster them as they grow so they can see themselves in it,” she said.
Kearns said she also keeps an eye out for ways the district can benefit from her field connections. Last year, Kearns said she was able to connect ORR with Worcester Polytechnic Institute to bring grant funding to the district that purchased around $6,000 worth of new robots and training.
“My son is in the robotics club. He loves it,” she said.
Another motivator behind her involvement with the school district, Kearns says, has been to pay tribute to the diverse system of community support that benefitted her development. And therein lies what Kearns says will be crucial in evening the playing field for marginalized groups both within her local community and in society at large.
“For me it feels great to be able to honor all the groups that helped me get where I am today and motivated me to want to take this on,” Kearns said, noting having received recognitions and support from New Bedford City Council members, the NAACP, Jewish War Veterans of the USA, and Congressman Barney Frank, among others. “If you look at my background, I was supported by people of many different groups … and I think we need to have those discussions: how can we support each other?”
Nigeria’s health sector is one that has suffered all forms of neglect as other key sectors, such as education. At 62 years (by October 1), and blessed with enough resources, both human and capital, Nigeria by all standard, should have been more developed to the point of contending for a World Power status. But this is obviously not the case.Historically, though, Nigeria has undergone various forms of developments: from the days of colonial rule, through self-rule characterized by years of military dictatorship with intermittent civilian rule, to the present day democracy, the country could easily be said to have seen the good the bad and the ugly. Unfortunately, however, this has not reflected in what the country has become today by global consideration, compared to even some countries that have far less resources to boast of, and hence considered poorer. Consequently, its history, particularly the nasty side, keeps repeating itself, and this manifests in virtually all sectors of the country’s being, one of which is the health sector.Like all sectors of Nigeria’s economy, the health sector has not been given the attention it deserves, resulting in not just those who have the wherewithal to seek effective and reliable health care outside the shore of the land, but also brain drain of the country’s finest health care providers to other countries. Nigeria, no doubt, currently faces tremendous health challenges.Experts have at various points sought to identify these challenges from different perspectives. In spite of the diverse reasons they arrived at, all agreed on three: corruption, lack of proper funding, and Bad (or poor) management of resources. Available statistics on Nigeria’s health sector paint a grim picture: an average of 20,000 Nigerians travel to India each year for medical assistance due to the absence of a solid healthcare system at home; and Nigeria is responsible for a high amount of under-five child death. In a recent report, the United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) said “preventable or treatable infectious diseases such as malaria, pneumonia, diarrhea, measles and HIV/AIDS account for more than 70% of an estimated one million under-five deaths in Nigeria”. The World Health Organization (WHO) also stated in another report that nearly ten percent of newborn deaths in the world last year occurred in Nigeria, and that five countries accounted for half of all newborn deaths, with Nigeria third on the list. These countries are India (24%), Pakistan (10%), Nigeria (9%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (4%) and Ethiopia (3%). Most newborn deaths occurred in two regions: Southern Asia (39%) and sub-Saharan Africa (38%). Although some other studies, like the Global Burden of disease, show steady improvements in child survival rates, the persistent rate of avoidable deaths in Nigeria truly calls for concern. The question that readily comes to mind is why Nigeria’s health sector is in such precarious state, given its human and capital resources, which are globally acclaimed as the best? Is it the result of lack of personnel? This is not likely, considering that about 77% of African American doctors in the United States (US) are Nigerians. In fact, Nigerians have achieved notable feats in American medicine to the point that there is now a popular joke that if all Nigerians withdrew their services from the health sector in the US, the sector would collapse. In this wise, the story of the Nigerian doctor, Oluyinka Olutoye, based in Houston, is still very fresh: he made history not long ago by bringing out a fetus from a mother’s womb, removed a tumor, and then successfully restored the unborn baby in the womb. there’s hardly any top medical institution in the US or Europe where you won’t find Nigerians managing at the top echelon. Universities, both in Nigeria and abroad, annually churn out hundreds of qualified medical doctors that could compete favourably with their peers in the globe to a reasonable extent, even with the disadvantage of a beleaguered educational system suffering from the same plague as its health counterpart. This brings one to the issue of corruption in Nigeria’s health sector, which, not surprisingly, is only a manifestation of what all other sectors of the economy is, and which ultimately points to the fact that those who are in governance have not deemed it necessary to improve the sector, knowing that they could afford the best treatment in the world. Government’s performance in the health sector in terms of creating the enabling environment for the development of the health sector at best has been abysmal. Investment in infrastructure has been poor and meager remuneration for health workers has resulted in a massive brain drain to the US and Europe, where they are highly taken care of. According to the President of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), Dr. Victor Makanjuola, more than 100 of its members left the country in the past 24 months. As at 2020, Nigeria had a doctor-patient ratio of 1:2,753, in sharp contrast to the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s minimum recommended ratio of 1:400 or 600. AIn his words, “the mass exodus of medical and dental consultants to more developed countries has brought significant disruptions to Nigeria’s health care ecosystem”. Meanwhile, the annual budget of the government for the health sector is 4.17% of the total national budget, which is the equivalent to only $5 per person per year. Hardly does a year pass without a major national strike by nurses, doctors, or health consultants. The major reasons for these strikes are poor salaries and lack of government investment in the health sector. Unfortunately, many Nigerians cannot afford private hospitals because they are simply too expensive. Finance is obviously a major problem for patients. Consequently, it wouldn’t be out of place for one to think that management of the National Health Scheme (NHS) through the Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) would help people secure better quality health care. But, here, again, corruption has crushed this opportunity and made quality medical care inaccessible for people who contributed to the system, because they do not get the value of their contribution. In terms of funding, despite the myriads of healthcare issues experienced by Nigeria, the Federal Government has continued to pay lip service to funding the health sector. While each subsequent Minister of Health in Nigeria the country’s return to democratic rule in 1999 assumes office with high hopes of transforming the health sector, majority of them left the position with little or no positive effect to the sector, and, by extension, not making any significant impact on the health of Nigerians. Some even left the sector worse off. This is partly due to their poor policy formulations, leadership styles, or insurmountable challenges they met on ground, which also include the unwillingness of relevant authorities, such as the Presidency and National Assembly, to do the needful. Global economic and development experts have often said for any nation to be considered strong economically, and on human capital development, it must have given priority to the education, and health of its citizenry. This seem to be why in April 2001, members of the African Union (AU), including Nigeria, met in Abuja and agreed to allocate 15 per cent of their national budgets to the sector with the belief that if this was done, the poor health indices across the continent would be resolved in five years. Unfortunately, Nigeria could not use the same clout it exhibited in bringing these countries together to make that “Abuja Declaration” come alive: Nigeria had since then refused to honour an agreement it played host to 21 years ago, resulting in the poor health indices, high mortality rate and reduced life expectancy rate currently experienced in the country. Since the declaration, the highest health allocation for Nigeria was in 2012 where 5.95 per cent was allotted to the health sector. In 2014, it allocated N216.40 billion (4.4%) , in 2015, it was N237 billion (5.5%), while in 2016 and 2017 it was 4.23% and 4.16% respectively. 2018 followed the same trend, with further reduction of the proposed health sector allocation from 4.16 per cent in 2017 to 3.9 per cent, even with the ever growing health sector concerns. Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says for Nigeria to be seen to prioritise healthcare, it must at least spend a minimum of N6, 908 per Nigerian in a year. When multiplied by 200 million people will amount to N1.4 trillion. WHO, also recommended a minimum of 13 per cent of annual budget for health. Notably, the Nigerian Government has not tilted towards the WHO’s 13 per cent, not to talk about the AU’s 15 per cent, even as some countries have started raising their health budgetary allocation towards fully keying into the WHO recommendation of 13 per cent or the Abuja Declaration by the African Union of 15 per cent. Rwanda, for instance, reportedly devoted 18 per cent of its total 2016 budget to healthcare; Botswana budgeted 17.8 per cent; Malawi, 17.1 per cent; Zambia, 16.4 per cent; and Burkina Faso, 15.8 per cent. Nigeria, on the other hand, still lags behind in this regard, a situation that has had direct consequences on the funding capacity of the Health Ministry and its affiliated agencies and parastatals, thereby making the fight against poor healthcare very unrealistic. For instance, while N340 billion was allocated to the health sector in the 2018 national budget, how much was indeed released by the Federal Government to the health sector at the end of the day, and how much was actually spent could not be ascertained. This brings to the fore the challenge of “bad management of resources”, which are even in adequate at the point of allocation, and possible release, which cannot be ascertained. This scenario vividly captures the situation at the lower two tiers of the health sector – State and Local Government – which even spend far less in percentage. Here, however, Rivers State stands out, as the incumbent Governor, Barr. Nyesom Wike, made the health sector part of his priority. Since he assumed office in 2015, he has touched virtually all facets of the health sector from infrastructural development, through provision of equipment, and manpower development for the sector. It started with the workforce in the primary healthcare sector which was on strike, and the secondary health care sector, which was either shut down or facilities dilapidated when he assumed office. Governor Wike quickly swung into action with what later became his characteristic energy and proactive leadership style by first recalling the striking Primary Health workers to work, and also paid House Officers at the then Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital (BMSH) their outstanding dues and allowances, inherited from the previous administration. The question likely to be playing in the minds of keen observers of the health sector in the State may not be far from whether his successor can continue from where he will stop at the end of his tenure. At the Federal level, there have been calls for a way forward. Most of such calls harp on the need for policy makers in the country and health professionals in Nigeria and the Diaspora to come together and come up with a blueprint for the sector. Such blueprint should have a time lag for each stage, and be genuinely followed to the letter. They also propose a genuine and deliberate effort by the Federal Government to meet either the WHO’s 13 percent or AU’s 15 percent of total budget to the development of the health sector in terms of infrastructural and human capacity development, and equipment, as well as ensure that such monies are put into the use they are meant for.
Mon, 10/31, 11 am — Taking Power: Reading Blanqui after Lenin and Martov — The Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice (CSSGJ) is very pleased to be welcoming Professor Peter Hallward from Kingston University — Professor Hallward’s online talk will be given in English and is titled “Taking Power: Reading Blanqui after Lenin and Martov” — This online talk will be held live on Zoom and all who register to attend the event in advance will be able to access the talk using Zoom through your eventbrite ticket registration. Zoom details will be sent to your email two hours prior to the event itself starting — The event will consist of an approximately 40-minute talk, followed by a 40-minute Q&A: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/taking-power-reading-blanqui-after-lenin-and-martov-tickets-413384733867?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
Mon, 10/31, 1 pm — Understanding Marxism with Richard Wolff — This 4-Week seminar led by Richard Wolff, meeting on Mondays, will begin with a brief introduction and history of Marxism from Karl Marx through today. We will cover major events such as the Paris Commune of 1870, the Russian, Chinese, and Cuban revolutions and the post-1989 evolution of Marxism. We will discuss major contributions to Marxism from activist writers after Marx: Luxemburg, Lenin, Trotsky, Lukcas, Gramsci, Frankfurt School, Althusser, Mao. Marx’s labor theory of value, theory of surplus value, and theory of crisis-ridden capitalist development will be covered. Finally, we will explore what Marxism has to offer to understand capitalism today and to go beyond it to a different, better system: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/understanding-marxism-with-richard-wolff-tickets-413391373727?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
Tue, 11/1, 10 am — Debate: Is America a Force for Good in the World? — Join us on Tuesday November 1 as Shadi Hamid and Samuel Moyn go head to head on whether American power is a force for good — The United States of America has been the world’s foremost economic and military power, in the aftermath of World War II President Truman set out his Four Point Plan which stated that the U.S must uphold its unique responsibility to promote democracy and economic development around the world — Many in the world see the influence of the United States as a force for good. It applies pressure on authoritarian regimes such as Iran to abide by human rights, and it supports nations such as Ukraine defending themselves against imperial aggression. But others argue that the Afghanistan and Iraq interventions show that American exceptionalism and the attempt to play the world’s policeman have wreaked irrevocable havoc which the rest of the world is still paying a price for today. So who’s right? Join us on Tuesday November 1 as foreign policy experts Shadi Hamid and Samuel Moyn go head to head on whether American power is a force for good: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/debate-is-america-a-force-for-good-in-the-world-registration-431536566487?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
Tue, 11/1, 11 am — TEDxGlasgow Virtual Gathering: The Future We Choose — As we approach COP27 join us for a Virtual Gathering as we explore ‘The Future We Choose’, looking at future climate action opportunities — It’s almost 12 months since COP26, when the world’s leaders pledged to limit global warming to 1.5C — As we approach COP27, join us for our Virtual Gathering as we explore ‘The Future We Choose’, supported by Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022, a year in which stories inspired by and created in Scotland are showcased and celebrated — Together our experts shown below and our global digital audience, will look at the climate opportunities that are required, in order to shape the future of our society. We want to address climate change and actions, the energy crisis, striking a health and well-being balance, and responsible consumption / production practices throughout the year of ‘The Future We Choose’ — Our event will be live digitally and broadcast globally from 6pm-7.30pm on the 1st of November. Secure your spot now by grabbing your free ticket and we’ll see you there! — With Jo Chidley, a circular economy expert; Professor George Crooks, the Chief Executive of the Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre; Prof. Kimberly Nicholas, a sustainability scientist at Lund University in Sweden; and Susie Cormack Bruce, one of Scotland’s most trusted commentators and hosts — For more biographical info on the presenters, please see: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tedxglasgow-virtual-gatheringthe-future-we-choose-tickets-439224390977?aff=erellivmlt
Tue, 11/1, 11:30 am — Positive Tipping Points in Practice: Social Movements What are the positive tipping points for social movements in response to the climate crisis? How can we create and trigger them? — Social movements are a vital part of a fair and regenerative response to the climate crisis, but they can be hard to measure, understand and replicate — The Transition movement has been growing since 2005, and is a fascinating example of a successful social movement. It has spread to thousands of groups in towns, villages, cities, universities, and schools in over 48 countries around the world — But why has this social movement worked? What can others learn from the Transition movement? How can we better understand the potential for social movements to tip us into new systems?- – Join this free workshop to find out, and hear the latest research into Positive Tipping Points, from world-leading experts. We will collectively practice using the Positive Tipping Points framework – creating the right conditions for change, finding reinforcing feedback loops, and triggering a shift into a new system – before identifying key next steps for anyone involved in social movements — The Positive Tipping Points framework is a way to re-think our understanding of how change happens. We’re familiar with negative tipping points that can accelerate the crisis, such as glacier melt or biodiversity loss, but we are also able to predict and encourage positive shifts which will help us avoid the worst impacts — Organized by the Green Futures Network of the University of Exeter: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/positive-tipping-points-in-practice-social-movements-tickets-407961432627?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
Tue, 11/1, 5 pm — Solidarity with Railroad Workers — Join a panel of rank-and-file railroad workers for a discussion of one of the most important struggles in recent labor history — With the world in disarray after the COVID-19 Pandemic, in the midst of the growing threat of world war, climate disaster, and a global cost-of-living crisis, railroad workers in the United States are currently engaged in one of the most important struggles in recent labor history, in an industry that is at the heart of the functioning of the country — The rail industry has seen massive deregulation, lean production, and persistent undermining of working conditions that have made the work all but intolerable — Despite enormous political pressure, railroad workers are fed up, evidenced by the sections of workers who are voting NO on a Tentative Agreement that they feel doesn’t address the base safety and quality of life issues they are willing to strike over. Railroad Workers United (RWU), a cross-union democratic organization of working railroaders, has launched a Vote No Campaign, insisting that this Tentative Agreement offers very little given the conditions they face and the role they play in the economy. RWU will also discuss their statement for the International Public Ownership of the Railroads — If the railroad workers lead a strike, it will have immediate implications – economically and politically – for every sector of US society. Most importantly for the labor movement, and for the working people within it — Come hear Railroad Workers United members speak about their struggle, the situation on the rails, and how you can get involved in efforts to support them. In our world of incredible violence and oppression, the struggles of railroad workers must be connected to the struggles of teachers, nurses, service workers, climate and anti-war activists, and all working people in a general fight for peace, freedom, and dignity for all! — Featuring: Engineers and conductors from Railroad Workers United, facilitated by Maximillian Alvarez from The Real News who has covered this struggle extensively: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/solidarity-with-railroad-workers-tickets-441935620337?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
Thu, 11/3, 9 am — The New Pink Tide in Latin America? — Since 2018, leftist presidents have won or retaken office in Mexico, Bolivia, Peru, Honduras, Chile, Argentina, and Colombia. What’s behind Latin America’s new Pink Tide? What can we learn from this? — With Edwin F Ackerman, Marilene Felinto, Ana Grondona, Camila Osorio and Rene Rojas — Discussant: Michael A Cohen — Chaired by: Sean Jacobs — • Edwin F. Ackerman is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the Maxwell School in Syracuse University. He is the author of Origins of the Mass Party: Dispossession and the Party-form in Mexico and Bolivia (Oxford Press, 2022) — • Marilene Felinto is a Brazilian writer, journaslist and translator. She is the author of the laureated novel The Women of Tijucopapo (University of Nebraska Press) among other books. She works as a columnist on political, social and literary issues for Folha de S. Paulo, a daily newspaper in the City of São Paulo in Brazil — • Ana Grondona works as a researcher at the National Council of Scientific and Technological Research (CONICET) in Argentina. Also, she teaches social theory at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). Her current interests include theoretical questions around the production and circulation of expert knowledge and discourse in the peripheries and the intellectual history of “modernization” and “development” in Latin America — • Camila Osorio is a journalist at EL PAÍS América. She previously worked at The New Yorker and La Silla Vacía, a digital communication medium that explores how power is exercised in Colombia.– • Rene Rojas is is on the faculty of Binghamton University’s College of Community and Public Affairs and is an editorial board member of Catalyst Journal. He spent years as a political organizer in Latin America — • Michael A Cohen is Co-Director of the Observatory on Latin America at The New School. He is also Director of the PhD in Public and Urban Policy program at the Milano School of Policy, Management, and Environment, and professor of international affairs at The New School.– • Sean Jacobs is an Associate Professor of International Affairs of The New School: https://event.newschool.edu/thenewpinktideinlatinamerica
Thu, 11/3, 10 am — The Final Question?: Global Realignments & Prospects for a Livable World — A lecture by Noam Chomsky — Noam Chomsky was born in 1928, in Philadelphia Pa. He attended the U. of Pennsylvania, where he received his BA, MA, and Phd degrees. From 1951-55 he was a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. In I955, he joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he taught for 60 years, retiring as Institute Professor. In 2017 he was appointed Laureate Professor at the U of Arizona. He is a member of many professional societies and has received many awards and honorary degrees. He has written and lectured widely on linguistics, philosophy, current affairs and US foreign policy: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-final-question-global-realignments-prospects-for-a-livable-world-tickets-403025448967?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
Thu, 11/3, 11:30 am and 6 pm — A Participatory Economy – Online Book Launch — Join economist Robin Hahnel for a live presentation and Q&A on his new book on a post-capitalist economy: A Participatory Economy — About this event: In this live webinar, economist and political activist, professor Robin Hahnel will give a presentation on his new book A Participatory Economy, highlighting the latest features of his vision for a post-capitalist economy, known as a Participatory Economy. There will be an opportunity for participants to ask questions and join in the discussion. The event is hosted by the Participatory Economy Project and AK Press — About the Book: A Participatory Economy presents a fascinating alternative to capitalism. It proposes and defends concrete answers to how all society’s economic decisions can be made without resort to unaccountable and inhumane markets (capitalism) or central planning authorities (state communism). It explains the viability of early socialism’s vision of an economy in which the workers come together to decide among themselves what to produce and consume — At the same time, Hahnel proposes new features to this economic model including proposing how “reproductive labor” might be socially organized, how to plan investment and long-term development to maximize popular participation and efficiency, and finally, how a participatory economy might engage in international trade and investment without violating its fundamental principles in a world where economic development among nations has been historically unfair and unequal — About Robin Hahnel: Robin Hahnel is a life-long radical activist and economist whose work emphasizes environmental sustainability and is best known for his work on alternatives to capitalism. His books include Democratic Economic Planning, The ABCs of Political Economy, and Economic Justice and Democracy — European launch, 11:30 am: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-participatory-economy-online-book-launch-europe-tickets-445102131457?aff=ebdsoporgprofile U.S. launch, 6 pm: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-participatory-economy-online-book-launch-us-tickets-446560754237?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
Thu, 11/3, 12 Noon — James Cone, An Appreciation: With Anthony Reddie and Nontando Hadebe — Prof Anthony Reddie in conversation with Prof Nontando Hadebe on the theology and legacy of James Cone — It is rarely the case that an intellectual movement can point to an individual figure as its founder. Yet James Cone has been heralded as the acknowledged genius and the creator of black theology. In nearly 50 years of published work, James Cone redefined the intent of academic theology and defined a whole new movement in intellectual thought. In Introducing James H. Cone Anthony Reddie offers us an accessible and engaging assessment of Cone’s legacy, from his first book Black Theology and Black Power in 1969 through to his final intellectual autobiography I Said I wasn’t Gonna Tell Nobody in 2018. It is an indispensable field guide to perhaps the greatest black theologian of recent times. Professor Reddie (Director of the Oxford Centre for Religion and Culture) will present his book to us and Professor Nontando Hadebe (International Coordinator of Side by Side) will provide a reflective response: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/james-cone-an-appreciation-with-anthony-reddie-and-nontando-hadebe-tickets-431575202047?aff=erellivmlt&keep_tld=1
Thu, 11/3, 3 pm — TNR Live: Court is in Session. What to expect from Scotus this term — Join The New Republic for a livestream of TNR Live: Court is in Session, a look at pending Scotus cases, nationwide sentiment for the court, and how to reform the institution to better reflect public opinion. The evening’s conversation will be moderated by TNR staff writer, Matt Ford — With: Leah Litman, Professor of Law, University of Michigan; Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel Emeritus, LDF; and Wendy Weiser, Vice President for Democracy, Brennan Center for Justice — Sherrilyn Ifill is a civil rights lawyer and scholar. She most recently stepped down after 10 years in leadership as the President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), the nation’s premier civil rights law organization fighting for racial justice and equality. She currently serves as a Senior Fellow at the Ford Foundation — Ifill began her career as a Fellow at the American Civil Liberties Union, before joining the staff of the LDF as an Assistant Counsel in 1988, where she litigated voting rights cases for five years. In 1993 Ifill left LDF to join the faculty at University of Maryland School of Law in Baltimore. Over twenty years, Ifill taught civil procedure and constitutional law to thousands of law students, and pioneered a series of law clinics, including one of the earliest law clinics in the country focused on challenging legal barriers to the reentry of ex-offenders. Ifill is also a prolific scholar who has published academic articles in leading law journals, and op-eds and commentaries in leading newspapers. Her 2008 book “On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the 21st Century,” was highly acclaimed, and is credited with laying the foundation for contemporary conversations about lynching and reconciliation. A 10th anniversary edition of the book was recently released with a Foreword by Bryan Stevenson, the acclaimed lawyer and founder of the national lynching memorial in Montgomery, AL. She is currently writing a book to be published by Penguin Press in 2023 entitled “Is This America?” — Ifill graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in English and earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law. She is the recipient of numerous honorary doctorates and was named by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the world in 2021. She is a recipient of the Radcliffe Medal, and the American Bar Association’s Thurgood Marshall Award. Next year Ifill will receive the Brandeis Medal named for Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis. Ifill serves on the board of the Mellon Foundation, and on the Board of Trustees of New York University School of Law — Leah Litman is a Professor of Law at the University of Michigan where she teaches constitutional law and federal courts. She is also a co-host and co-creator of Crooked Media’s Strict Scrutiny podcast, a podcast about the Supreme Court and legal culture that surrounds it. Leah’s writing for popular audiences has appeared in many different outlets; she also continues to practice law, though she now tries to avoid the U.S. Supreme Court. Previously, she worked on Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, the successful 2016 challenge to several Texas abortion restrictions, and Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of University of California, the successful challenge to Pres. Trump’s rescission of the Deferred Action for childhood arrivals — Wendy Weiser directs the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, a nonpartisan think tank and public interest law center that works to revitalize, reform, and defend systems of democracy and justice. Her program focuses on voting rights and elections, money in politics and ethics, redistricting and representation, government dysfunction, rule of law, and fair courts. She founded and directed the program’s Voting Rights and Elections Project, directing litigation, research, and advocacy efforts to enhance political participation and prevent voter disenfranchisement across the country — She has authored a number of nationally recognized publications and articles on voting rights and election reform, litigated groundbreaking lawsuits on democracy issues, testified before both houses of Congress and in a variety of state legislatures, and provided legislative and policy drafting assistance to federal and state legislators and administrators across the country — She is a frequent public speaker and media commentator on democracy issues. She has appeared on CBS News, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, PBS, ABC News, and NPR, among others; her commentary has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, and elsewhere; and she is frequently quoted by the New York Times, the Washington Post, National Journal, Politico, and other news outlets across the country. She has also served as an adjunct professor at NYU School of Law — Prior to joining the Brennan Center, Weiser was a senior attorney at NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, where she worked on issues of access to the courts and domestic violence; a litigation associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; and a law clerk to Judge Eugene H. Nickerson in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. She received her BA from Yale College and her JD from Yale Law School — Matt Ford is a staff writer at The New Republic. His work focuses on law, the courts, and democracy. Originally from Nevada, Matt previously wrote for The Atlantic: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tnr-live-court-is-in-session-what-to-expect-from-scotus-this-term-tickets-432971919667?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
Thu, 11/3, 3:30 pm — League Lit: Humankind by Ruter Bregman –The 4th book in the League of Women Voters of Indianapolis Book Club for 2022 — The League is proud to be nonpartisan, neither supporting nor opposing candidates or political parties at any level of government, but always working on vital issues of concern to members and the public: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/league-lit-humankind-by-ruter-bregman-tickets-210786828077?aff=ebdssbonlinesearch
Thu, 11/3, 4 pm — Subcultures & Antifascism — A panel discussion featuring contributors to the new book, ¡No Pasarán! Antifascist Dispatches from a World in Crisis — Join for this virtual event to celebrate the release of ¡No Pasarán! Antifascist Dispatches from a World in Crisis. Editor Shane Burley will moderate a discussion with contributors Hilary Moore and Ryan Smith — ¡No Pasarán! is an anthology of antifascist writing that takes up the fight against white supremacy and the far-right from multiple angles. From the history of antifascism to today’s movement to identify, deplatform, and confront the right, and the ways an insurgent fascism is growing within capitalist democracies, a myriad of voices come together to shape the new face of antifascism in a moment of social and political flux — Shane Burley is an author based in Portland, Oregon. He is the author of Why We Fight: Essays on Fascism, Resistance, and Surviving the Apocalypse (AK Press, 2021) and Fascism Today: What It Is and How to End It (AK Press, 2017), and has appeared in a number of other anthologies and journals. His work has been featured in places such as NBC News, Al Jazeera, The Baffler, The Independent, Jacobin, The Daily Beast, Bandcamp Daily, Jewish Currents, Haaretz, and Full Stop — Hilary Moore is a political educator, writer, and organizer. She co-authored No Fascist USA: The John Brown Anti-Klan Committee and Lessons for Today’s Movements (City Lights) with James Tracy. Hilary lives in Louisville, Kentucky — Ryan Smith is an anti-fascist Heathen organizer, teacher, and writer. He is the author of The Way of Fire & Ice: The Living Tradition of Norse Paganism. He lives in San Francisco, California: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/subcultures-antifascism-tickets-427403223547?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
Thu, 11/3, 7 pm — Roe v. Wade 2022 and Beyond — The Alameda County Council of League of Women Voters invites you to a panel discussion on the impact of the recent Supreme Court decision. Panelists include Stacy Cross, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, and Nakia Woods, Project Director California Coalition for Reproductive Freedom: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_xZ0VJRT_QmqRIYRVFoJ2Vg
Fri, 11/4, 9 am — Recovering Social Catholicism (Arizmendi, La Pira, McKnight) — A panel discussion about three key figures of the social Catholicism of the 20th century–and what their legacy can and should mean today — Fr. Josemaria Arizmendi (founder of the Mondragon cooperatives), Giorgio La Pira (antiwar mayor of Florence Italy in the 1960s and an architect of Italy’s social democracy, and Fr. Albert McKnight (organizer of the Southern Cooperative Development Fund in the Jim Crow South of the 1960s): three figures in a style of Catholic engagement with our socioeconomic world sorely lacking today — This panel, moderated by M.T. Davila (Merrimack College), includes: Elias Crim, publisher at Solidarity Hall, speaking about Arizmendi; Matthew Shadle, Professor of Theology (Marymount University) on La Pira; and Nate Tinner-Williams, founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger, on Fr. Albert McKnight — The event is also a dual book launch (from Solidarity Hall), with these titles being released together: Reflections, by Fr. Josemaria Arizmendi, with an Introduction by Nathan Schneider and an Afterword by Jessica Gordon Nembhard, and — Power of Hope, by Riccardo Clementi (a new biography of Giorgio La Pira) — This event is co-sponsored by Solidarity Hall, Black Catholic Messenger, and the Fondazione La Pira (Florence): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/recovering-social-catholicism-arizmendi-la-pira-mcknight-tickets-439025405807?aff=erelexpmlt
Fri, 11/4, 1 pm — The Future of Reproductive Justice with Loretta Ross and Park Cannon — Join us for a dynamic intergenerational conversation with renowned author, educator and 2022 MacArthur Fellow, Loretta Ross and Park Cannon, one of two openly queer lawmakers in the Georgia General Assembly and its youngest. They will discuss the tenets of reproductive justice, what’s at stake, and what people who care about racial justice, human rights and democracy can do to show up in this moment — The 2022 mid-term elections this November are in fact a national referendum on reproductive rights, voting rights, and democracy. There are seven states where the results of the midterms could decide whether abortion is protected or banned. And with the recent announcement of a national abortion ban if the House and Senate is won in November, the stakes in these elections couldn’t be higher — Loretta Ross is an award-winning expert on racism and racial justice, reproductive justice, women’s rights, and human rights. She is a 2022 MacArthur “Genius” Grant Recipient and a co-author of three books on reproductive justice. Her forthcoming book is Calling In the Calling Out Culture, a topic she addresses through her writings and lectures nationwide. Loretta is also a professor at Smith College — Park Cannon champions a range of social justice causes and her legislative efforts in Georgia focus on education, jobs, and health care. Upon becoming the youngest member of the Georgia House of Representatives in 2016, Park ushered reproductive justice to the forefront. She also made national headlines in 2021 when she was unlawfully arrested and removed from the Georgia Capitol after she knocked on the door of the Republican governor’s office during his signing of SB 202, a restrictive law that limits voting rights in the state: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-future-of-reproductive-justice-with-loretta-ross-and-park-cannon-tickets-445359882397?aff=erellivmlt
Fri, 11/4, 4:30 pm — Virtual Film Screening on Climate Justice: The Ants and The Grasshopper — DIRECTED BY RAJ PATEL AND ZAK PIPER — NARRATED BY ANITA CHITAYA with PETER MAZUNDA — Synopsis: Anita Chitaya has a gift; she can help bring abundant food from dead soil, she can make men fight for gender equality, and she can end child hunger in her village. Now, to save her home from extreme weather, she faces her greatest challenge: persuading Americans that climate change is real. Traveling from Malawi to California to the White House, she meets climate skeptics and despairing farmers. Her journey takes her across all the divisions shaping the US, from the rural-urban divide, to schisms of race, class and gender, to the thinking that allows Americans to believe we live on a different planet from everyone else. It will take all her skill and experience to persuade us that we’re all in this together. This documentary, ten years in the making, weaves together the most urgent themes of our times: climate change, gender and racial inequality, the gaps between the rich and the poor, and the ideas that groups around the world have generated in order to save the planet: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-film-screening-on-climate-justice-the-ants-and-the-grasshopper-tickets-446210927897?aff=erellivmlt
Sat, 11/5, 2:30 pm — U.S. Versus China: The New Cold War — The Biden Administration has now launched a full-blown economic war on China. The U.S. hegemon sees a rising China as its main rival and wants to stop China’s rise. For its part, China is expanding its political and economic influence worldwide. Both countries put economic growth ahead of environmental concerns. The conflict may soon come to a head over Taiwan’s future. Is this the making of a catastrophic world war? Is environmental degradation the greater danger? — Speakers include: Richard Smith – A founding member of System Change Not Climate Change; author of Green Capitalism: the God that Failed, and China’s Engine of Ecological Collapse — Laurence Shoup – Author of Wall Street’s Think Tank: The Council on Foreign Relations and the Empire of Neoliberal Geopolitics — Richard Tan – A criminal defense and civil rights attorney; his offices are in Oakland — *Organizations listed for identification purposes only — This event is sponsored by the Oakland Greens, Bay Area System Change Not Climate Change, and the Alameda County Peace and Freedom Party: https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2022/10/28/18852803.php
Sun, 11/6, 11 am — Is the IPCC Exacerbating Climate Change? Since 1988 the IPCC has been the world’s leading resource on climate change science and policy recommendations – but is this working? — Since 1988 the IPCC has been the world’s leading resource on climate change science and policy recommendations. What if they were working not for the planet but against it? Kyle Kimball’s research elucidates how the core function of the IPCC is not to highlight the velocity of climate change but to validate the erroneous conclusions of neoclassical economics: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/is-the-ipcc-exacerbating-climate-change-tickets-440910032777?aff=erellivmlt&keep_tld=1
Sun, 11/6, 11 am — Climate Justice and Socialist Strategy with Jason W. Moore — King’s Triple Evils, Modern Environmentalism, and the ‘World Revolution’ of 1968 — On April 4, 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr., came out publicly against the Vietnam War in a speech entitled “Beyond Vietnam.” Beyond, in that title, meant everything. King not only broke with the liberal establishment, which viewed the war as a separate issue from racism and as an aberration in American foreign policy. King simultaneously presented a radical critique that linked racism and exploitation at home and abroad and began to elaborate a vision of an American socialism animated by a searing indictment of capitalism’s “triple evils” (racism, militarism, and class exploitation). Such a socialism would be grounded in a triple alliance encompassing the antiwar, civil rights, and labor movements. In this talk, Jason W. Moore addresses the missed opportunity for a program of planetary justice as the “Environmentalism of the Rich” came to the fore after 1968 and overshadowed King’s appeal for a radical turn. As King underscored in his final months, justice cannot be effectively pursued piece by piece. The “whole society” with and within the web of life must be reinvented, inasmuch as we are “all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny.” At the end of the Capitalocene and the beginning of the planetary inferno, climate justice – and socialist strategy – must proceed as if “all life were interrelated.” — Jason W. Moore is an environmental historian and historical geographer at Binghamton University, where he is Professor of Sociology. His books include Capitalism in the Web of Life (2015), Anthropocene or Capitalocene? (2016), and (with Raj Patel), A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things (2017). Moore’s books and essays on environmental history, capitalism, and social theory – translated into over 20 languages – have been recognized with numerous academic awards. He co-coordinates the World-Ecology Research Network: https://marxedproject.org/event/moore-climate-justice/
Sun, 11/6, 4 pm — A Time of Reckoning & Repair: Realizing our Dreams of Reparations — “We must think about reparations and decolonization together.” -Robin D.G. Kelley — “We are the dreaming. We are the freeing.” -Aja Monet — Join us on Sunday, Nov 6th for A Time of Reckoning & Repair: Realizing our Dreams of Reparations with beloved public intellectual, historian and professor Robin D.G. Kelley (author of Freedom Dreams) and spoken word poet & climate justice activist Aniya Butler (organizer with Youth Vs. Apocalypse) — We are a generation building on the movements of so many, future ancestors committed to the radical healing of our world. What is required for us to transform 500+ years of history and how can we engage in reparations and decolonization together? What dreams of reparations and freedom can carry us forward today and help us fundamentally remake our society? Join us for this timely gathering as we explore the intersections of healing, repair, radical imagination and our movements for collective liberation — “We have a unique chance in history to rebuild a world where every living thing thrives.” -Aniya Butler — This event is part of the launch for the Beloved Community Journey, a series of learning, practice and taking action to create a world where we all belong and thrive. If you haven’t already signed up for the Journey, you can learn more and sign up to participate in the full series of events at: https://thrivenetwork.org/journey If you are only wanting to participate in this specific event, you can purchase an individual ticket here on Eventbrite — Guest Speaker: Robin D.G. Kelley is the Distinguished Professor of History and Gary B. Nash Endowed Chair in U.S. History at UCLA. His extensive work has covered many topics including the history of social movements in the U.S., the African Diaspora, and Africa; black intellectuals; music and visual culture; Marxism and Surrealism. His books include Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original; Race Rebels: Culture, Politics, and the Black Working Class; Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression, and The Fighting Spirit of Labor’s Last Century, written collaboratively with Dana Frank and Howard Zinn. Kelley’s essays have appeared in numerous anthologies and publications among them the Nation, the New York Times, Counterpunch, Black Renaissance/Renaissance Noir, Signs, American Quarterly, Re-Thinking Marxism, and Jacobin. His bestselling book Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination has recently been republished with updated content to celebrate its 20 year anniversary — Guest Poet & Activist: Aniya Butler is a 16 year old spoken word poet, published author, and organizer from Oakland, CA. She works with the youth-led climate justice group Youth Vs. Apocalypse (YVA) where she directs the Hip Hop & Climate Justice Initiative and coordinates the No One Is Disposable campaign. Using poetry and organizing, Aniya emphasizes the importance of acknowledging that climate change is a direct result from the same oppressive systems responsible for the social injustices frontline people experience every day. Aniya wants to rebuild a world with the foundations of equity, sustainability, and love so that every living thing can truly thrive: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-time-of-reckoning-repair-realizing-our-dreams-of-reparations-tickets-445464605627?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
Mon, 11/7, 10 am — Half-Earth Socialism: Ambitious speculation on possible futures — Join a lively discussion with authors of the thrilling and provocative book, Half-Earth Socialism, as well as the designers who created a video game based on the book. The event will feature discussions and Q&A with the authors and designers, as well as a chance to explore the game! — Half-Earth Socialism makes clear that while we must humbly accept that humanity cannot fully understand or control the earth, we can plan new energy systems, large-scale rewilding, and food production for the common good. Over the next generation, humanity will confront a dystopian future of climate disaster and mass extinction. Yet the only ‘solutions’ on offer are toothless cap-and-trade programmes, catastrophic geoengineering schemes, and privatized conservation, which will do nothing to reverse the damage suffered by the biosphere. Indeed, these mainstream approaches assume that hyper-consumerism in the Global North can continue unabated. It can’t — What we can do, environmental scholars Troy Vettese and Drew Pendergrass argue, is strive for a society able to ensure high living standards while stabilizing the environment — This means: Rewilding half the earth to absorb carbon emissions and restore biodiversity — A rapid transition to renewable energy, paired with drastic cuts in consumption by the world’s wealthiest — Global veganism to cut down on energy and land use — Worldwide socialist planning to efficiently and equitably manage production — The involvement of everyone—even you! — Speaker Biographies: Troy Vettese is an environmental historian and a Max Weber fellow at the European University Institute, where he is affiliated with the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. He studies the history of environmental economics, energy, and animal life under capitalism. His writing has appeared in Bookforum, New Left Review, The Guardian, n+1 and many more publications — Francis Tseng is a software engineer and lead independent researcher at the Jain Family Institute. He primarily builds modeling tools, simulations, and procedural systems. In the past he taught at the New School, was co-publisher of The New Inquiry, and was a fellow at The New York Times — Son La Pham lives in Berlin and works as a graphic designer focusing on new forms for technology and the web. His digital work has been published in It’s Nice That, Hoverstates, Loadmore and Fonts In Use — Chaired by Heather Parry — Heather Parry is a fiction writer and editor originally from Rotherham, South Yorkshire. She is the co-founder and Editorial Director of Extra Teeth magazine, co-host of the Teenage Scream podcast and the Scottish Senior Policy & Liaison Manager for the Society of Authors, a trade union for writers. In 2021 she created the free-access Illustrated Freelancer’s Guide with artist Maria Stoian: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/half-earth-socialism-ambitious-speculation-on-possible-futures-tickets-408797713967?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
Mon, 11/7, 11 am — Are we living in the Anthropocene? — Online lecture by Prof. Mark Williams — A free online talk with Prof. Mark Williams (University of Leicester) on the geology of human impact on the Earth and the far reaching markers of climate change on our planet — This talk is part of the annual Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies Samhain agus Science public lecture series: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/are-we-living-in-the-anthropocene-tickets-440876512517?aff=erellivmlt&keep_tld=1
Mon, 11/7, 6 pm — Becca Andrews in conversation with Nina Liss-Schultz — Becca Andrews (of Mother Jones) discusses her new book No Choice: The Destruction of Roe v. Wade and the Fight to Protect a Fundamental American Right published by Public Affairs — An in-depth look at the legacy of Roe v. Wade, and on-the-ground reporting from the front lines of the battle to protect the right to choose — The pieces started to fall In 2019 when a wave of anti-abortion laws went into effect. Georgia, Ohio, Mississippi, Louisiana and Kentucky banned abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, while Missouri banned the procedure at eight weeks. Alabama banned all abortions. The die was cast. And on June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and, abortion immediately became illegal in 22 states — No Choice begins by shining a light on the eerie ways in which life before Roe will be mirrored in life after. The wealthy and privileged will still have access, low-income people will suffer disproportionately, and pregnancy will be heavily policed. Then, Andrews takes us to the states and communities that have been hardest-hit by the erosion of abortion rights in this country, and tells the stories of those who are most at risk from this devastating reversal of settled law. There is a glimmer of faint hope, though — As the battle moves to state legislatures around the country, the book profiles the people who are doing groundbreaking, inspiring work to ensure safe, legal access to this fundamental part of health care — Becca Andrews is an investigatove reporter. A Southerner, she most often writes about the Southeast, gender, and culture. She has written for newspapers in Tennessee. Her work has also appeared in Mother Jones, Slate, The New Republic, Wired, and Jezebel, among others. No Choice The Destruction of Roe v. Wade and the Fight to Protect a Fundamental American Right is her first book — Nina Liss-Schultz is a journalist and editor. She reports on reproductive health, gender, and sexuality issues from San Francisco. She has served as a senior managing editor at Mother Jones magazine. Her work has appeared in Mother Jones, Think Progress, Bitch magazine, among other journals: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/becca-andrews-in-conversation-with-nina-liss-schultz-tickets-389779520037?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
Fri, 11/11, 4 pm — U.S. Fascism: Origins, Patterns, and Continuities — A Virtual Discussion Featuring Gerald Horne, Cynthia Miller-Idriss, and Jason Stanley. Moderated by Ashleigh Lawrence-Sanders — Public narratives about the history of fascism and antifascism in the United States are sporadic, uneven, and often distorted. This is due in part to the failure of state institutions to educate the public about past and present fascist movements, and in part to the successful campaigns of far-right groups to intentionally misrepresent those movements and their opponents. The result is that public understanding of contemporary fascist tendencies lacks the context of their deep historical roots, and those engaged in resistance are deprived of the insights gained by a long and successful antifascist tradition — Gerald Horne holds the John J. and Rebecca Moores Chair of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston. He received his Ph.D. in history from Columbia University and his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Horne has authored dozens of books, including The Color of Fascism: Lawrence Dennis, Racial Passing the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism in the U.S. (NYU, 2006) and The Counter-Revolution of 1836: Texas Slavery & Jim Crow and the Roots of U.S. Fascism (International Publishers, 2022). His book Fire This Time: The Watts Uprising and the 1960s (Da Capo Press,1995) was a finalist for the Robert Park Award from the American Sociological Association, and Black and Brown: African-Americans and the Mexican Revolution (NYU, 2005) earned a Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award honorable mention. In 2021, Horne was the recipient of the American Book Award. In addition to his scholarship, he has worked for the National Lawyers Guild, served as executive director of the National Conference of Black Lawyers, and as Special Counsel for Local 1199, the Drug Hospital, and Health Care Employees Union — Dr. Cynthia Miller-Idriss is a Professor in the School of Public Affairs and in the School of Education at the American University in Washington, DC, where she is also the founding director of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL). In 2022, she is serving as the inaugural creative lead for the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’s residency program on social cohesion in Berlin, Germany. Dr. Miller-Idriss regularly testifies before the U.S. Congress and briefs policy, security, education and intelligence agencies in the U.S., the United Nations, and other countries on trends in domestic violent extremism and strategies for prevention and disengagement. She is the author, co-author, or co-editor of six books, including her most recent book, Hate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Right (Princeton University Press). Dr. Miller — Jason Stanley is the Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale University. Before coming to Yale in 2013, he was Distinguished Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Rutgers University. Among his books are Knowledge and Practical Interests (Oxford University Press, 2005), which won the American Philosophical Association book prize, How Propaganda Works (Princeton University Press, 2016), and How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them (Penguin Random House, 2018), which won the PROSE Award for Philosophy from the Association of American Publishers. His current project is a book on non-ideal philosophy of language, The Politics of Language, co-authored with David Beaver, forthcoming with Princeton University Press in 2022. He writes about authoritarianism, propaganda, free speech, mass incarceration, and other topics for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Review, The Guardian, Project Syndicate and The Chronicle of Higher Education, among other publications — Moderator: Ashleigh Lawrence-Sanders is an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Colorado Boulder: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/us-fascism-origins-patterns-and-continuities-tickets-415978501897?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
“The Quilt in the Making”. Credit: Claudia Steinau
GENEVA, Oct 28 2022 (IPS) – The organisational is personal. Every day since the two of us were asked back in 2020 to co-lead the process of culture transformation at UNAIDS, the United Nations organisation which drives global efforts to end AIDS, we have both felt at our very core how crucial it has been to get it right.
The mission of UNAIDS is vital to ensuring the health and human rights of every person. Staff and partners need to be confident of a supportive and empowering culture that will enable their work.
A 2018 Report by an Independent Expert Panel had shone a light on what were important organisational shortcomings, leading to a comprehensive set of changes in leadership, systems and crucially, culture.
As the Culture Transformation process has got underway, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented shifts in work, and a resurgence of global protests, including from the Black Lives Matter movement and for women’s rights, have a generated an inspirational momentum for action to tackle intersectional injustice.
Reflecting almost three years of UNAIDS culture transformation work, what stands out in particular for the two of us is how the “outer work” has required so much “inner work”. We have needed to be, and to help others be, our full selves, and to acknowledge what we don’t yet know of each other’s experiences.
The process has deepened our appreciation of how our differences, both personally and professionally, are a key strength, enabling each situation, each process, to be seen from a combination of unique angles, and how equality is crucial in enabling all these to be brought forth.
Creating safe spaces for our colleagues to speak about their lived experiences was transformative. We asked ourselves and those around us tough and tender questions. We had colleagues tell us they felt heard for the first time. Brave conversations helped colleagues to connect and to advance the tangible changes that matter most to them.
We understood the need for a common reference framework for all of us at UNAIDS. This has led to a first set of feminist principles that guide our way forward.
Through the process, it became ever more clear to both of us that culture transformation begins at the personal level. As a Malawian woman of African-Asian heritage, living and working in Latin America at this time, intersecting identities and multiple cultural heritage became for Mumtaz the centre of personal reflections.
In leading conversations on decolonizing the HIV Response, Mumtaz’s own colonization was calling for attention. For Juliane, too, this has been powerful journey: as someone who has experienced sexual assault in the workplace, this work is deeply personal, driven by a determination to build safe workplaces for everyone, including by addressing inequalities and unhealthy power balances. Our intersectional feminist approach has brought our experiences to our work.
But this work has also highlighted that whilst the organisational is personal, so too the personal is often dependent on the organisational. Engaging with intersectional feminist principles at the personal level was not enough.
That is why we were proud to help UNAIDS become the UN entity to put intersectional feminist principles at the core of its being. It is why vital work continues to integrate those principles into policies and practices to advance a workplace culture in which every individual can flourish.
As we have helped build a movement for change across six regions, engaged in conversation with more than 500 colleagues, and supported some 25 diverse teams in their own journey, we have recognised the centrality of the institutional level.
Cultural transformation is a long and challenging process that requires the tenacity and creativity of many. To weave the stories and aspirations of so many of the champions for change together while preserving their uniqueness, we have borrowed the quilt symbol that is iconic in the AIDS response.
As the change process evolves, new tiles will be added, others might fade or need repairing. But the work is not done. It is a ‘quilt in the making’ – individual and collective work, one tile at a time.
Mumtaz Mia and Juliane Drews have led UNAIDS Culture Transformation since May 2020.
Mumtaz is a Public Health expert with two decades of experience working to end AIDS. Juliane is a change management expert with 15 years of experience in developing inclusive and just organizations in which staff in all their diversity thrive.
Civil society organisations at the Finance in Common Summit. Credit: Noel Emmanuel Zako
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast , Oct 21 2022 (IPS) – A coalition of civil society organisations is demanding public development banks (PDBs) to take radical and innovative steps to tackle human rights violations and environmental destruction. No project funded by PDBs should come at the expenses of vulnerable groups, the environment and collective liberties, but should instead embody the voices of communities, democratic values and environmental justice.
The demands, part of a collective statement signed by more than 50 civil society organisations, come as over 450 PDBs gather in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, from October 19th, for a third international summit, dubbed Finance in Common.
The COVID-19 pandemic and climate emergency, coupled with human rights violations and increasing risks for activists worldwide, is bringing the need to change current practices into even sharper focus. While public development banks may drag their feet on addressing intersecting and structural inequalities, civil society organisations are taking actions aimed at creating dignified livelihoods by embedding development with concrete affirmative measures towards climate, social, gender, and racial justice.
PDBs cannot be reluctant to act. They need to hit the target when it comes to supporting the transformation of economies and financial systems towards sustainability and addressing the most pressing needs of citizens worldwide – from food systems to increasing support for a just transition towards truly sustainable energy sources. PDBs must recognise that public services are the foundation of fair and just societies, rather than encouraging their privatisation and keep austerity narratives alive.
9 out of 10 people live in countries where civic freedoms are severely restricted, and with an environmental activist killed every two days on average over the past decade, development banks have an obligation to recognize and incorporate human rights in their plans and actions, following a “do not harm” duty.
Civil society organisations at the Finance in Common Summit. Credit: Noel Emmanuel Zako
Communities cannot be left out of the door. They need to be given the space to play the rightful role of driving forces in the answers to today’s global challenges, without them PDBs will move backwards rather than forward – and this means more environmental degradation, less democratic participation, and to put it bluntly an even greater crisis than the one we are facing today. And nobody needs that.
The recommendations in the collective civil society statement emerge from a three-year process of engagement and exchange, involving civil society networks in an effort to shape PDBs policies and projects. You can find some of their words and messages below.
As the call for accountability grows, the Finance in Common summits are an opportunity for PDBs to show moral leadership and help remedy the lack of long-term collaborations with civil society, communities and indigenous groups, threatening to curtail development narratives and practices.
Here’s the messages from civil society organisations from around the globe directed at public development banks.
Oluseyi Oyebisi, Executive Director of Nigeria Network of NGOs (NNNGO) the Nigerian national network of 3,700 NGOs said: “The Sahara and Sahel countries especially have been facing the most serious security crisis in their history linked with climate change, social justice and inequalities in the region. Marked by strong economic (lack of opportunities especially for young people), social (limitation of equitable access to basic social services) and climatic vulnerabilities, the region has some of the lowest human development indicators in the world – even before the covid pandemic. Access to affected populations is limited in some localities due to three main factors: the security situation, the poor state of infrastructures and difficult geographic conditions. PDBs must prioritise civil society organisations and Communities initiatives supporting state programs of decentralization, security sector reforms and reconciliation. This will help reduce the vulnerability of populations and prevent violent extremism.”
Mavalow Christelle Kalhoule, Forus Chair and President of Spong, the NGO network of Burkina Faso said: “Development projects shape our world; from the ways we navigate our cities to how rural landscapes are being transformed. Ultimately, they impact the ways we interact with one another, with plants and animals, with other countries and with the food on our plates. The decisions taken by public development banks are therefore existential. Such responsibility comes with an even greater one to include communities directly concerned by development projects, those whose air, water and everyday lives are affected for generations to come. For this to happen, public development banks must reinforce their long-term efforts to create dialogue with civil society organisations, social movements and indigenous communities in order to fortify the democratic principles of their work. We encourage them to listen, to ask and to cooperate in innovative ways so that development stays true to its original definition of progress and positive change; a collective, participative and fair process and a word which has a meaning not for a few, but for all.”
Tity Agbahey, Africa Regional Coordinator, Coalition for human rights in development said: “Many in civil society have expressed concerns about Finance in Common as a space run by elites, that fails to be truly inclusive. It is a space where the mainstream top-down approach to development, instead of being challenged, is further reinforced. Once again, the leaders of the public development banks gathered at this Summit will be taking decisions on key issues without listening to those most affected by their projects and the real development experts: local communities, human rights defenders, Indigenous Peoples, feminist groups, civil society. They will speak about “sustainability”, while ignoring the protests against austerity policies and rising debt. They will speak about “human rights”, while ignoring those denouncing human rights violations in the context of their projects. They will speak about “green and just transition”, while continuing to support projects that contribute to climate change.”
Comlan Julien AGBESSI, Regional Coordinator of the Network of National NGO Platforms of West Africa (REPAOC), a regional coalition of 15 national civil society platforms said: “Regardless of how they are perceived by the public authorities in the various countries, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) contribute to covering the aspects and spaces not reached or insufficiently reached by national development programmes. Despite the undeniable impact of their actions on the living conditions of populations, NGOs remain the poor cousins of donor funding, apart from the support of certain philanthropic or charitable organisations. In such a context of scarce funding opportunities, aggravated by the health crisis due to COVID-19 and the subsequent economic crisis, Pooled Finance, which is in fact a paradigm shift, appears to be a lifeline for CSOs. This is why REPAOC welcomes the commitments made by both the Public Development Banks and the Multilateral Development Banks to directly support CSO projects and programmes in the same way as they usually do with governments and the private sector. Through the partnership agreements that we hope and pray for between CSOs and banks, the latter can be assured that the actions that will be envisaged for the benefit of rural and urban communities will certainly reach them with the guarantees of accountability that their new CSO partners offer”.
Frank Vanaerschot, Director of Counter Balance, said: “As one of this year’s organisers of the Finance in Common Summit, the EIB will brag about the billions it invests in development. The truth is the bank will be pushing the EU’s own commercial interests and promoting the use of public money for development in the Global South to guarantee profits for private investors. Reducing inequalities will be second-place at best. The EIB is also co-hosting the summit despite systemic human rights violations in projects it finances from Nepal to Kenya. Instead, the EIB and other public banks should work to empower local communities by investing in the public services needed for human rights to be respected, such as publicly owned and governed healthcare and education – not on putting corporate profits above all else.”
Stephanie Amoako, Senior Policy Associate at Accountability Counsel said: “PDBs must be accountable to the communities impacted by their projects. All PDBs need to have an effective accountability mechanism to address concerns with projects and should commit to preventing and fully remediating any harm to communities”.
Jyotsna Mohan Singh, Regional Coordinator, Asia Development Alliance said: “PDBs should have a normative core; they should start with the rights framework. This means grounding all safeguards into all the various rights frameworks that already exist. There are rights instruments for indigenous people, the elderly, women, youth, and people living with disability. They are part and parcel of a whole host of both global conventions and regional conventions. Their approach should be grounded in those rights, then it will be on a very firm footing.
Asian governments need to support, implement, and apply strict environmental laws and regulations for all PDBs projects. The first step is to disseminate public information and conduct open and effective environmental impact assessments for all these projects, as well as strategic environmental assessments for infrastructure and cross-border projects.”
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
LOS ANGELES / WASHINGTON DC, Oct 21 2022 (IPS) – Eleven out of 57 members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) still sanction the death penalty for blasphemy and apostasy, silencing their citizens and emboldening violence by non-state actors.
For the past 70 years, Article 18 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights has condemned capital punishment for religious offenses, a global standard shared during our recent visit to the UN headquarters in New York.
As a prelude to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) high-level meetings in mid-September, we led the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Roundtable Campaign to Eliminate Blasphemy and Apostasy Laws, urging UN members to stand in strong support during two paramount resolutions calling for an end to the death penalty and extrajudicial killings.
We urge the insertion of language codifying the death penalty never being imposed as a sanction for non-violent conduct such as blasphemy and apostasy. The effort produced an encouraging response by Nigerian third committee officials who renewed their commitment to freedom of religion or belief by supporting embedded language in both the moratorium on the death penalty and a resolution on renouncing the death penalty for extrajudicial killings.
In the days that followed our visit, the world has witnessed the outrage of human rights activists and concerned global citizens with the death of Masha Amini, an Iranian Muslim woman who was arrested and subsequently died in the custody of Iranian morality police for a violation of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s compulsory hijab mandate.
Brutal cases like these will only cease when government officials in Iran, and other egregious human rights violators, listen to the cries of their people and uphold globally recognized human rights declarations. These include statutes supporting international religious freedom or belief, and the repeal of apostasy and blasphemy laws.
When most countries around the world and the majority of Muslim nations are taking concrete steps to abolish capital punishment for perceived religious offenses such as blasphemy and apostasy, some refuse to modernize their legislation, thus branding themselves as the worst violators of internationally recognized basic human rights.
This staunch obsession with upholding persecutory laws and implementing the harshest of punishments, violates religious freedoms – the right to life and the right to freedom of religion or belief. This misinterpretation of scripture is an abuse of Islam, tarnishing the image of Muslims around the world and a disregard to Gods mercy, a belief that transcends faith orientation.
The multidisciplinary and multifaith delegation from the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Campaign urged UN members, including: Luxemburg, Canada, and Sri Lanka, to raise their voices loudly in favor of embedded international religious freedom language in two resolutions which will come up for a vote during the UNGA in November.
Penholders Australia and Costa Rica are calling for a moratorium on the death penalty which is only supported by the IRF Campaign with the addition of specific language ensuring the death penalty never be imposed for non-violent conduct such as apostasy or blasphemy.
Likewise, Finland, as penholder for the UNGA resolution on extrajudicial executions, is being asked by global advocates to add language on freedom of religion or belief, emphasizing the necessity for States to take effective measures to repeal laws currently allowing the death penalty for religious offences, such as criminalization of conversion and expression of religion or belief as a preventative measure.
Article 18 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights is clear – everyone has the right to freedom of religion or belief. Yet, 11 States today maintain the death penalty for apostasy and blasphemy. We raise the voices of the voiceless, such as Pakistani woman Aneeqa Ateeq who was sentenced to death for blasphemy in January 2022 after being manipulated into a religious debate online by a man who she romantically refused.
Also, an 83-year-old Somali man, Hassan Tohow Fidow, who was sentenced to death for blasphemy by an al-Shabaab militant court and subsequently horrifically executed by firing squad; and a 22-year-old Nigerian Islamic gospel singer Yahaya Sharif-Aminu who was sentenced to death for blasphemy because one of his songs allegedly praised an Imam higher than the Prophet.
As an outcome of our UN advocacy, we pray that the 11 Muslim member states—Afghanistan, Brunei, Iran, Maldives, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and Yemen– join in the common-sense repeal of the death penalty for blasphemy and apostasy as a great step toward becoming civilized nations.
The majority of OIC member nations who do not sanction the death penalty for religious offenses should be regarded as examples of modernity and humanity and their path to restore and uphold basic human rights should be replicated.
The Qur’an says, “There shall be no compulsion in religion; the right way has become distinct from the wrong way.” (Qur’an 2:256). Likewise, we read passages like 18:26:, “And say, ‘The truth is from your Lord. Whoever wills – let him believe. And whoever wills – let him disbelieve,” and “whoever among you renounces their own faith and dies a disbeliever, their deeds will become void in this life and in the Hereafter (Qur’an 2:217).”
The holy book, which serves as a moral compass for the laws in OIC member nations, upholds the right to freedom of religion or belief which has been recognized by the OIC majority.
As has been recently witnessed in Iran, when civil society activates around globally recognized human rights, the world takes note. The OIC asserts its purpose “to preserve and promote the foundational Islamic values of peace, compassion, tolerance, equality, justice and human dignity” and “to promote human rights and fundamental freedoms, good governance, rule of law, democracy, and accountability”.
To that end, with the passage of both critical UN resolutions, OIC members will face the controversial and politically sensitive task of calling out other OIC colleagues who continue to violate human rights by imposing the death sentence upon individuals for exercising their right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.
We assert that it is a societal problem as much as it is a reflection of the deficiency of democratic values and principles.
Embedding international religious freedom language in both resolutions calling for the repeal of the death penalty will be strengthened with the strong support of the 46 OIC nations and other human rights champion nations in the days ahead.
We are encouraged by Saudi Arabian scholar, Dr. Mohammad Al-Issa of the Muslim World Alliance, who travels the world sharing the unanimously approved Charter of Makkah – a document affirming differences among people and beliefs as part of God’s will and wisdom.
Our collective voice must be unwavering in its call and commitment to repeal the death penalty for blasphemy and apostasy as a primary step towards upholding theologies of love and compassion, building toward human flourishing.
Dr. Christine M. Sequenzia, MDiv is co-chair IRF Campaign to Eliminate Blasphemy and Apostasy Laws; Soraya M. Deen, Esq. is lawyer, community organizer, founder, Muslim Women Speakers, and co-chair International Religious Freedom (IRF) Women’s Working Group
