Drug Topics: Hi, my name is Gabrielle Ientile with Drug Topics and today we're talking to Dr Devin English, [PhD], assistant professor at Rutgers School of Public Health. Dr Englishs research is focused on how forms of oppression lead to health inequalities in the United States, and today we're talking about how COVID-19 pandemic is affecting minorities. Dr English, thanks so much for joining us today.

English: Thank you so much for having me. And thank you for focusing on this this important topic.

Drug Topics: So before we get started, I'd love for you to provide a little bit of your professional background and your day-to-day during quarantine.

English: Absolutely. So as you mentioned, I'm assistant professor at Rutgers School of Public Health. My training is in clinical community psychology. And as you mentioned, my research focuses on how forms of prayer can lead to some of the health inequities that we see across race and sexual orientation such as those in major depression and HIV. During the pandemic, I've been teaching remotely, mentoring remotely, and trying to continue to shine the light on the ways in which structural oppression is playing out in the [United States]. But me being able to stay at home and do these things, I think is something tied into this as it's a privilege. Its something that I'm able to do that many of our neighbors are not able to do in New York and New Jersey.

Drug Topics: Thanks for shedding light on that. And this is kind of a complex topic, can you break down a little bit the issues that inform minority health and why we might be seeing disproportionately higher coronavirus cases in minority populations?

English: So bear with me a little bit because I'm going to get into a little bit of history. Because I believe to understand the inequities in COVID-19 that we're seeing, we must understand the history of the United States. In the example of racial inequities that we're seeing in COVID-19, we must see how the [United States] has become extremely racially and economically segregated. Because what we're seeing with COVID-19 is completely predictable, policies like redlining and systematic disinvestment have led to racial segregation that we see in black and Latinx communities today. Now, this matters because we know that your zip code often determines whether you have high levels of pollution and overcrowding and whether you have access to quality health care and economic opportunity. Right now, black and Latinx communities, where there are additional disproportionately high levels of pollution and overcrowding and low levels of access to health care and economic opportunity; there are also high levels of COVID-19 related risk factors: these include conditions like asthma, the inability to socially isolate or socially distance because there are lots of low paying yet essential jobs. And there's lower quality health care in overcrowded and under resourced local hospitals. Because of this, we are seeing that black and Latinx communities make up huge percentages of COVID-19 related deaths.

Drug Topics: And the New York Times reported that most cities and states aren't reporting race where they're confirmed cases and fatalities. Why do you think this might be?

English: That's a good question, and I understand that not all places and not all states and cities are race and ethnicity recorded at time of death. However, that is the failure at multiple levels of government, because this information should be required of hospitals and health care facilities. And this is a decision that governors and mayors can make today, so that we are collecting this information. And this information is essential because we know that one of the most profound forms of oppression is the erasure. It is saying that the experience is not happening that is actually there. If we're not collecting this data, then the federal government, state governments and city governments can say that it's not happening. So it is an absolute imperative that we are collecting race ethnicity data - that we're collecting data on sexual and gender identity, in addition to what many places already collecting around age, and other demographic factors.

Drug Topics: Dr English, thank you so much for shedding light on this super important topic today. And stay safe out there.

English: Thank you so much for having me.

Editors note: This interview transcription has been lightly edited for style and clarity.

Check back to drugtopics.com for part 2 of this interview and more expert interviews on COVID-19.

Continued here:

A Spotlight on Health Care Disparity During COVID-19 - Drug Topics

Do you believe coronavirus is caused by 5G? Are you afraid that Bill Gates wants to control your mind remotely using a 5G nano chip? Do you find yourself wanting to say wake up sheeple, to those claiming the coronavirus is dangerous?

If so, you may be experiencing symptoms of covidspiracy, a highly infectious outbreak of misinformation which has spread to thousands of internet users in recent weeks. Fear and uncertainty caused by coronavirus and compounded by social isolation has proved the ideal breeding ground for outlandish conspiracy theories implicating Covid-19 and 5G in a nefarious plot.

Even in an era defined by fake news, 5G conspiracy theories stand out for their ability to capture peoples imagination despite a lack of credible evidence. In June, opposition MPs held a debate on the adverse health effects of 5G in Parliament. Celebrities including Amanda Holden, Eamonn Holmes and Amir Khan have endorsed the idea that 5G is dangerous; and just last week more than 50 network masts were damaged in a spate of arson attacks across the UK.

Neither the fact that 5G radio waves are unable to penetrate cells, nor affect the spread of coronavirus to countries lacking 5G infrastructure, has been able to deter conspiracists. From the claim that 5G radio waves suppress the immune system, aiding the transmission of coronavirus, to the belief that Covid-19 is a media hoax designed to distract the public while the government rolls out dangerous 5G technology, its clear that public mistrust runs deep.

But who does the twitterati hold responsible? Well, by far the most popular theory online exposes a plan by Bill Gates to develop a coronavirus vaccine which will implant microchips into unsuspecting sheeple allowing him to turn humanity into a remote-controlled toy colony with the help of 5G command signals. To give a sense of the scale and tone of this particular theory, a recent YouTube video labelling Bill Gates the anti-Christ quickly racked up 1.8 million views before being taken down.

Pinpointing the origin and development of a conspiracy theory is a murky business. Nonetheless, it is likely that the present hysteria over 5G has its roots in older and more credible geopolitical concerns. Just to be clear: this is not to say that there is any basis to the belief that 5G technology is inherently dangerous. Rather, the current explosion of conspiracy theories is linked to longstanding government concerns that 5G infrastructure provided by Huawei, a Chinese telecommunications company, threatens UK security.

In 2019 British Telecoms removed infrastructure provided by Huawei from its 4G network over concerns that the company could pose a threat to UK cybersecurity. In January 2020, the government debated the role Huawei should play in the UKs 5G network deciding that Huaweis market share will be capped at 35 per cent and its equipment should not be used in sensitive parts of the UKs communications networks, including on nuclear and military sites.

While MI5 has determined that the threat to UK security remains low, ministers in the UK have been heavily lobbied by Washington to prohibit Huaweis involvement altogether, with one US official comparing Huawei to the mafia. President Trump, already a hero in alt-right internet circles where 5G conspiracies are now flourishing, has been the most forthright opponent of Chinese involvement in 5G and it doesnt take a genius to guess why. Trump has repeatedly stated that the US need to win the race to become the worlds leading provider of 5G infrastructure, even going so far as to blacklist Huawei in America late last year.

There are strong parallels between the high-level government concerns over 5G and the more speculative concerns to be found in shady internet forums. They both have a deep mistrust of a powerful institution at their core. Both recognise the potential of technology to facilitate intrusion and assert authoritarian control. Both channel their anxieties into aggressive mistrust, and seek to re-assert control over inalienable rights. The language of suspicion used by politicians regarding 5G lends credibility to the more fanciful theories circulating online.

The recent surge in covidspiracy theories is likely a reaction against the seizure of unprecedented powers by governments worldwide in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Civil liberties, so often taken for granted, have been called into question by the lockdown of some 3.9 billion people. Meanwhile, the growth in surveillance technologies used to trace the virus are a demonstration in government power casting doubt on whether former freedoms will be returned.

Anxiety over the rollout of 5G has the potential to separate itself from a troubling association with alt-right ideologies and become a signifier for concerns about government surveillance, monitoring and oppression. Setting network masts alight is misguided to say the least, but healthier forms of suspicion about the technology that will be introduced as we combat this crisis, alongside greater public scrutiny of government decision-making and increased vigilance in safeguarding civil liberties, may prove to be a vital check on power in the months ahead.

The rest is here:

Covidspiracy Uncovered: The truth about 5G - Shout Out UK

The following is an audio story featuring voices from the Madison and Milwaukee community discussing the racial inequities in recent COVID-19 data.

Transcript of the story

A rapidly growing body of coronavirus data is highlighting racial inequities across the nation. In Wisconsin, as of April 27, Department of Health Services data show that 27% of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and 44% of people who have died from it are black. These numbers are troubling, given that black people here make up only 6.7% of the population.

The most significant disparities are occurring in Milwaukee County, home to Wisconsins largest black population. While only one of every four people is black, they make up one out of every two people that die of the coronavirus.

In the words of Sabrina Madison, the founder of the Progress Center for Black Womens Wellness in Madison, which serves as a hub of community and opportunities for black women to transform their lives and families, were at the bottom of the mountain youre trying to climb the worlds craziest and most dangerous mountain. We are so ill-equipped to get to the peak. If all it took to get to the peak was healthier food, healthcare access, not a hoard of damn liquor stores up the street from you, better education, better housing and an overall healthier environment, we would hit the peak, just like everybody else is. But were at the bottom of the mountain. Period. If youre a black person and youre trying to climb out of poverty or low education or low whatever, racism begins to choke you on the way up.

Madison is only one of the members of Wisconsins black population who is feeling the disproportionately negative impacts of the coronavirus on minorities.

Community leaders, social justice advocates, and health experts alike are not shocked by the new data. According to Norman Davis, the City of Madisons Civil Rights Director, the effects that COVID-19 is having on black people is just one more chapter in this book of the legacy of oppression.

Throughout history, the government has either actively or passively participated in discrimination and helped to create the disparities that we see, whether that is related to transportation, related to access to health care or even personal networks and income. Those historic systemic disparities are driving the disparities that were seeing in COVID-19, said Davis.

Milwaukee has consistently topped lists of the most segregated cities in America. This did not occur naturally and for no reason and it is the root of many of the inequities that the marginalized populations in this area face today, said Maddie Johnson. Johnson is a UW Population Health Service Fellow. She is located in Milwaukee, and her work focuses on health equity and policymaking.

The idea of structural racism, that purposeful government policies prevented African American communities from accessing opportunity, we can see that specifically in Milwaukee, said Johnson.

In the 1930s, redlining or calculated maps that were put out by the government highlighted that some neighborhoods in the city were more valuable than others, often based on race. In the 1960s and 70s, banks turned down loans to black families, often forcing them into neighborhoods with more substandard housing, said Johnson.

If someone lives in substandard housing, and likely theyre a renter because theyre denied a loan to buy a house, theyre going to face more environmental health risks, such as higher rates of asthma and higher rates of lead poisoning, then you have less upward mobility in society, said Johnson. Not only do you probably live in a neighborhood where you have less access to educational opportunities and health care, you also might be dealing with more health issues.

Amongthose at highest riskof getting severely ill with COVID-19 are patients with other serious health problems, such as hypertension, diabetes andheart disease. Over 40% of black people have high blood pressure, among the highest rates in the world,according to the American Heart Association. To compare,about a third of white Americanshave high blood pressure. Similarly,African-Americans tend to have higher rates of diabetes.

The higher risks black people are facing have nothing to do with biology, and cant be blamed on cultural differences, said Amelia Harju, who also works as a UW Population Health Service Fellow.

COVID-19 disparities are examples of racial inequities because theyre unjust, unfair and preventable. The underlying reasons for why they exist are rooted in racist histories, structural racism, differential access to opportunity, discrimination and things like that, Harju said. Theyre not due to biology or cultural differences.

Another factor putting black people more at risk of the coronavirus is the disproportionate rates of incarceration. Similar to the coronavirus outbreaks seen in nursing homes and cruise ships, individuals who are incarcerated are at higher risk of getting COVID-19 and spreading it. Prisons in Wisconsin are extremely overcrowded, and black people are more likely to be incarcerated than white people.

Of the 41,000 people incarcerated in Wisconsin, 38% are black, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. Inside Milwaukee is one of the most incarcerated zip codes in the nation a heavily African American neighborhood north of downtown.

Tyler, the Creator calls Grammy win backhanded compliment, local artist weighs inThe 2020 Grammy Awards saw lots of first-time winners taking the stage, a clean sweep from Billie Eilish and fan Read

As of April 30, 18 inmates across the state have tested positive for COVID-19. Nationwide, there have been 1,313 incarcerated people who have tested positive and 30 who have died from coronavirus, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Health officers can make sure that justice-involved populations are protected. Basically, they have the ability if they want to take over the COVID-19 response within jails and prisons to ensure safety, said Harju. Health departments can take over that response instead of the sheriffs office. They have that option, but a lot of people arent aware of that. Coronavirus has left really high death tolls in other types of congregate living facilities, and its extremely likely that were going to see the same thing happening in Wisconsin state prisons if we dont act now.

Harju, a public health professional in rural Wood County, emphasized that racial inequities are not just an urban issue.

I really cant count how many times Ive heard people say race isnt a problem here. But when you do look at the data in cases where it is actually available, the racial inequities are pretty much everywhere, just like they are in urban areas Harju said.

In places like Dane County, where the COVID-19 data isnt currently showing the same significant disparities as Milwaukee, vulnerable populations are still experiencing inequities in other ways.

Even if were not seeing obvious racial inequities in COVID-19 cases in Madison or other places right now, it is still exacerbating a lot of other serious health and social issues like food insecurity, housing instability and unemployment, said Harju. And all of these factors tend to impact people of color more than white people.

Reverend Marcus Allen, who leads Mt. Zion Baptist Church on Fisher Street in Madison, serves not only as a listener and resource for his congregation, but is also a social justice advocate and community organizer.Mt. Zion has the largest black congregation in Madison with 500 members. In his leadership position, members of the community have come to him expressing their challenges making ends meet during this time.

As they say, when the white man gets the cold, black people get the flu, said Allen.

Allens mother was diagnosed with COVID-19 and recovered, but not without hassle. She went to the doctor on three separate occasions beginning March 19, and was never tested for COVID-19 until April 10, according to Allen.

UW researchers spearhead coalition to collect essential data on COVID-19A data science coalition of University of Wisconsin researchers began analyzing COVID-19 data in the Midwest to help lessen the Read

Whereas, I was on a zoom call with a white lady who said she called her doctor, and within thirty minutes to an hour, he had her in the doctors office being tested to see if she had COVID-19, thank God it came back negative, but within an hour or two she was being tested, said Allen. Those are disparities that I see, that people are getting different treatment. I dont know if its based off the doctor and based on zip code, whatever it may be, but thats what Ive seen happening and experienced myself.

Sabrina Madison, founder of the Progress Center for Black Women, has also felt she wasnt treated fairly by the healthcare system.

Madison said she often feels disregarded and not believed by medical professionals. Whenever she visits the doctor, she prepares to advocate for herself by researching what she thinks may be wrong and knowing what tests to ask for beforehand.

I remember having one of my white friends I used to work with in Milwaukee go with me and literally speak what I was going to say, and I feel like the experience was so different, said Madison. Now Im having [friends] who are losing their parents or an uncle or grandmother because they either couldnt get tested, or by the time they got tested, it was so bad that they couldnt recover, said Madison.

One common theme among the black community in Madison is the unity and support they are showing one another during this crisis.

Inherently violent: The problem with the prison system is its very existenceWisconsin has inexcusable racial disparities in its prison system and more prisoners than it knows what to do with. For Read

For example, Madison came across a mother with a high-risk pregnancy asking where she could get her clothes washed on Facebook. When Madison began to talk with her, she learned that the woman didnt have access to WiFi or phone service, and had to stand outside her leasing office to use a texting app on her phone. Madison organized her a ride to a doctor appointment.

The Progress Center for Black Women has also been working with families and Charter to set up internet payment plans so that families can get their internet restored to do work and online schooling.

In collaboration with Pastor Marcio from Lighthouse Church, Pastor Allen developed the Psalm 46 Relief Fund, which has raised $110,000 to date to help people in need pay their bills, and in addition, Mt. Zion is planning to implement mental health resources and money management classes. They also continue to provide food to the community with their food pantry. Their church services have increased their reach from 500 people to 6,000 or more each week since transitioning to Facebook.

Civil Rights Commission Director Davis said that they are actively developing solutions with the marginalized populations in mind.

Madisons Equal Opportunities Commission, which has some of the oldest civil rights legislation in the nation, provides a complaint process for the community. Individuals that feel that they have witnessed discrimination or are being discriminated against because of their identity for example, if an individual felt that they were not getting adequate treatments for their health condition because of their race or income level they can bring that concern to the city of Madison and we will follow up with them, said Davis.

In the past, the commission has dug into discrimination in housing, employment, policing, traffic stops, alcohol licensing, loitering and arrest and conviction records.

The effects of institutional and structural racism that African Americans experience today is still being felt, said Davis. He said that even though harassing and discriminatory behavior is legislatively banned, those attitudes and behavior still exist.

Its really holding individuals accountable, working together and keeping our eye on this issue. We cant get distracted by the next popular issue or concern that comes along. You have to be focused on moving the needle on these issues, said Davis. Its really focusing on the underlying factors.

Davis grew up in Flint, Michigan and moved to Madison in 1989 to study engineering at UW-Madison. In a Q&A with the Wisconsin State Journal, Davis said that living in several neighborhoods in Madison, he felt disconnected but holds on to that feeling to drive his work.

Experts present data on coronavirus pandemic, social distancingUniversity of Wisconsin experts discussed various aspects of the coronavirus pandemic Thursday evening to inform the public of the importance Read

In a 2019 interview with the Nation, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said that while Madisons reputation for being left-leaning and progressive might be true, it is only to an extent, stating that, Whitepeople feel that we live in a very progressive city that is really good for people, and that is really not true for people of color and particularly for African Americans.

Echoing Mayor Conways sentiment, Davis said that there are two sides to Madison there is what is said and what is done.

A community that is in all facets a great place for everyone to live is a vision that Davis hopes to see come to life.

The effects that COVID-19 is having on people of color is unfortunate doesnt really get at it as an adjective, said Davis. Theres a saying that if people knew better, they would do better and thats false. In the last 50 years, we have known that the data is there. We know that the oppression problems are there. But that doesnt prompt a wave of change. Its only those that truly care that are willing to make the sacrifices for change that are actually going to make change.

Continue reading here:

Crisis Within Crisis: racial inequities in COVID-19 are devastating black people in Wisconsin - The Badger Herald

The economic effects of the global pandemic has been profound and forced people to work from home triggering hue and cry about how individuals and entities both will suffer in this epidemic. However, even in an epidemic of this scale, gender inequalities of the past have come to the fore and women are bearing the brunt of the problems

Amid the threat to our white-collar jobs, we completely forget about the domestic help whose labor most of us choose to ignore. As per the Ministry of Labor and Employment records, there are more than 30 lakh women working as domestic workers which makes it an industry carried on the shoulders of women. The Corona crisis has impacted this particular section of people most.

Most of the domestic workers including maids, cleaners, cooks, and nannies, are out of work and not getting paid. National Committee for Domestic Workers, SEWA Union reported that most domestic workers have been refused payment by their employers. Reema Nanawaty, director of the Self-Employed Womens Association (SEWA) in India said, Some industries, such as construction and waste recycling, have completely come to a halt. Thousands of women workers engaged in these trades have lost employment.

Not only is the pandemic hitting womens current economic avenues, but also hurting their chances of having a meaningful future. Longstanding patriarchal values and the social hierarchy in India dictate that a boys education is more important than a girls. As it is, the average time that a girl spends in school is around 4 years, which is half of what boys spend in school, i.e., around 8 years. In India, according to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), women perform nearly 6 hours of unpaid work each day, while men spend a paltry 52 minutes.

With the epidemic unfolding, girl students will be the first ones to withdraw from formal education because they will be required to help at home, while the boys will continue get education.

Not only sociological but there seems to be an institutionalized economic oppression of women at play. The ASHA initiative, or the Accredited Social Health Activists is a women-based medical force which gets paid on the basis of incentives. Since their jobs are not salary based, their contribution to healthcare is often minimized. A magazine reported, ASHA workers often work long hours, sometimes seven days a week, at par with (or exceeding) workers in other sectors who not only receive salaries in line with minimum wage requirements but are also eligible for various other statutory benefits.

The Guidelines on Accredited Social Health Activists in clause 9 talks about the compensation that ASHA workers should be given. It says that these workers are honorary volunteers and hence, will not be paid any salaries. It has been held that ASHA worker scheme, a key component of the NRHM, perpetuates, legitimises and normalises gender-based occupational segregation and systemic pay inequity. This suggests of an institutional economic oppression these women go through at the hands of the government.

This is just another instance of treating womens labor as sub-par by the government. Not only this, it has been reported that these ASHA workers do not even have access to proper protective equipment. They are forced to buy masks and sanitizers for themselves, in a situation where the country can depend only on the services of healthcare officials. This despite government itself acknowledging how important protective equipment is to prevent Corona and the Supreme Court issued interim orders to the government for protection of healthcare workers.The entire country came out on 22nd March to clap and rejoice to celebrate the contributions of healthcare workers but sadly, paeans dont buy food, money does.

The gender work load is an issue that irks women even when the situation is normal. Now, with Covid-19 threatening the world into isolation, most workers are required to work from home. When this happens, even in the most modern households, the burden of housework remains on the woman. Anita Bhatia, assistant Secretary General and deputy executive director of the United Nations' women's agency expressed her fear and said, The gap could increase this year as women are likely to be disproportionately affected by home responsibilities in quarantine. A U.S. based think tank has also pointed out that there is a huge possibility of Coronavirus reversing most of the progress made towards achieving gender pay parity.

It is also a well-known trend that when companies downsize, women and minorities are the worst hit. There is a general perspective of seeing the work done by women as expendable.The looming threat of recession due to Covid-19 will almost certainly result in downsizing and this will hurt the economic prospects of all women in the Corporate Sector.

Its not a surprise that the lockdown has resulted in disproportionate gender impact with women bearing the brunt of it. The present gender-blind policies have further aggravated the already existing inequalities making women more endangered than ever.

The amalgamation of economic shock, unemployment, lack of access to education and the possibility of recession has widened gender disparities more than ever. Its high time the government firstly recognises these problems and then takes required measures to improve them. This lockdown provides an excellent opportunity to propose gender-sensitive, systemic and structural changes that could protect vulnerable women and to build gender-equal systems.

(The writers are 1st year students of LL.B at NLU, Jodhpur)

See the rest here:

Economic effects of Covid-19 on Women - Daily Pioneer

A man wearing a face mask walks through Kibera, an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. (Donwilson Odhiambo / SOPA Images via AP Images)

EDITORS NOTE: The Nation believes that helping readers stay informed about the impact of the coronavirus crisis is a form of public service. For that reason, this article, and all of our coronavirus coverage, is now free. Please subscribe to support our writers and staff, and stay healthy.

As Covid-19 races its way across Africa, there are two stories happening at once. The first is of governments using their armies and militarized police to beat, threaten, and shoot their way to public health. This is the story of the Kenyan police killing more people than the disease in the week after its first recorded case and of a pregnant woman dying on the street because the Ugandan police would not let her motorcycle taxi take her to a hospital after curfew. It is the story of governments closing their borders too late, diverting money to security instead of hospitals, and waiting for someone from somewhere else to save them.Ad Policy

The second is of communities knitting together their meager resources to fill the gap of failed services and absent states. It is the story of tailors across informal settlements in Nairobi and Mombasa sewing face masks out of scrap fabric and handing them out for free after price gouging by commercial suppliers. It is a young man renting speakers, tying them to his motorcycle, and riding through his neighborhood to let people know about a new disease. It is translators offering their services without charge to put together public awareness campaigns in Somali, Maa, Zulu, Lingala, Fan Oromo, or any of the thousands of languages spoken on the continent. It is markets and small businesses making water jerricans available for mandatory hand-washing long before governments required it.

Both of these stories are true, but only the first one is on track to enter the archives of how Africa navigated the pandemic. Journalism, in general, is attuned to picking up failures and lapses: Even the best-intentioned media, premised on demanding accountability, can produce a bias for failures rather than successes. When confronted by a new situation, the punditry and analysis is inclined to pay attention to what is likely to go wrong rather than what might go right. Phil Graham, former publisher and president of The Washington Post once said, Journalism is the first draft of history. Whatever journalists commit to print and broadcast during this period will be among the primary pieces of information that future scholars will analyze to try to understand what we were all doing as the world fell apart. But so far, when it comes to Africa, the first draft is an incomplete and inaccurate story of a continent waiting to be saved. If only the first story enters the archive, the creativity and agency of swaths of humanity will be lost, which will have consequences beyond the pandemic.

An archival record doesnt pick up everything, usually just what garners the most attention or is considered the most important. An archive, much like museums and other institutions that lay claim to being custodians of history, reflects the interests and predilections of those in power. Museums outside Africa are filled with masks and pots from Africa, not necessarily because Africans themselves thought these masks and pots were interesting, but because colonizing armies and governments thought they were. A colonial archive would likely contain exhaustive records about a white district commissioner, down to the color of his socks, but not the black woman who worked in his home. Its not because the latter is uninteresting or even unavailable for documentation: It is because those in power set the tone and the context for what goes into the archive, and subsequently, the stories that history will tell.

This makes the work that journalists are doing to tell the story of Covid-19 even more important. When it comes to Africa, we who do journalism about the continent and especially from the continent know how hard it is to achieve an accurate representation of the state of society on platforms that have in-built tropes on deck and ready to launch. Africa is spoken for and spoken about, but so rarely allowed to speak, and this allows only a handful of narratives to survive. We get PR-like tales of singular figures triumphant against all odds, the white savior who braves malaria to deliver unprecedented interventions, or the flailing state teetering on the edge of collapse. The relative weakness of African media outlets means that the complexities and nuances of what is happening away from power is rarely described, let alone analyzed. The digital has gone some way toward opening up room for other narratives. Al Jazeera English has carved a global niche for deepening reporting from places outside centers of power, and Africa Is a Country publishes critical takes on key issues. But digital archives are notoriously transient and even the most visible websites can disappear with the flick of a switch.

The archival record of the impact of the 1918 flu in Africa is an excellent example of how partial change how people understand agency and creativity within communities with constrained political power. Its not just about telling an accurate story. Its about how silences affect what people imagine is possible. When the official record of a communitys history tells them that their ancestors did nothing when faced with near certain death, they tend to believe it and act like its true.

In 1918, a strain of influenza that would come to be known as the Spanish flu ravaged the world. Infected people lost significant lung function as the virus paved the way for bacterial pneumonia. Fluid and detritus accumulated in their lungs, and within days their skin turned blue and they died. By some estimates, the outbreak infected 500 million peopleabout one-third of the worlds population at the timeand killed between 20 and 50 million people, making it the second deadliest pandemic in recorded history after the Black Death in the 14th century. Extreme estimates suggest that around 3 percent of the worlds population died, and the knock-on effects included significant political changes around the world. Coming at the end of World War I, the 1918 flu outbreak made that second decade of the 20th century one of the deadliest in history.Current Issue

Subscribe today and Save up to $129.

The East Africa Protectorate, the British colony that would become the independent nation of Kenya, was not spared. After fighting for various European forces in World War I, African soldiers came home, bringing the disease into the territory. Many traveled inward along the Lunatic Expressthe railway line that provided a route to the sea for Uganda, one of Britains most profitable colonies of the time. A 2019 article estimated that at the Kenyan Coastthe most urbanized and settled region of the fledgling countrythe Spanish flu killed 25.3 of every 1,000 people, less than the international average but one of the most deadly recorded outbreaks in the territory.

Accurate information about the 1918 flu is difficult enough to come by in most countries, but in colonies like Kenya, the archival record is especially complicated. Much of what exists is the perspective of colonial officers constructing a racist political state. So the archives talk about how black people resisted many of the efforts at quarantine, portraying them as irrational when in fact barring movement was one way the British created pools of forced labor.

In 1897, Queen Victoria declared the protectorate part of the British Empire, but until 1920, many ethnic groups fought back against the violence of colonization with highly organized military campaigns. Between 1893 and 1911, the colonial administration was forced to launch 28 major military operations in the territory, often aimed at suppressing communities that refused to collaborate with the colonizers. The official narrative on colonization in Kenya tends to gloss over the depth and breadth of African resistance to the colonial project, but the fact is that much of the African population did not accept or even tolerate British imperialism. MORE FROM Nanjala Nyabola

Yet by 1915, the frequency of these operations had reduced, and the colonial government had began putting in place the racist legislative structure for domination. Ethnic cantonment was the cornerstone of colonial oppression in Kenya, and severe punishments for leaving designated ethnic areas were a crucial part of turning free black men and women into prison labor. The Native Passes regulation of 1900 and the Native Passes Ordinance of 1903 required Africans to have a pass to leave the district where they lived. The 1906 Master and Servant ordinance contained criminal penalties for black Africans in urban areas who left their work posts without authorization.

In fact, six vagrancy ordinances were passed between 1898 and 1930, each designed to punish black people for their freedom of movementand none applied to the white or Asian populations. In 1915 the Native Registration Ordinance set in motion the kipande system, involving cruel and inhumane punishment for black men over the age of 16 who did not carry a cumbersome document with their biometric details.

Why did the frequency and intensity of political resistance suddenly wane? On one hand, Africans were dealing with unprecedented violence from the colonial administration. But they were also dealing with outbreaks of diseases that had never been seen in the region before. European colonizers brought with them rinderpest, commonly known as cattle plague, which destroyed much of the indigenous cattle population, and jiggers, a small flea-like pest that burrows into feet, crippling the infected person and sometimes leading to gangrene. Bruce Berman and John Lonsdale, two historians specializing in Kenyas colonial era, estimate that the Maasai community, one of the most militant groups resisting the British in East Africa, may have lost up to 40 percent of its population. The pandemics and outbreaks in that first decade of the 20th century decimated populations and made it impossible to mount any coordinated military resistance.

This is the context in which the quarantines and public health interventions to deal with the 1918 flu were deployed, but the archival record doesnt reflect this. Instead, the record describes ignorant Africans disregarding the interventions of noble Europeans. Resistance to quarantine and enforced cantonment is framed as a rejection of public health initiatives, not part of a broader resistance to the restrictions on freedom of movement placed on the African population. It certainly doesnt portray a process in which scared and confused urban populations naturally sought the comfort of their extended families back in their ethnic cantons rather than face the full violence of the racist colonial state in urban centers. The official story of how Africans behaved during the pandemic lacks empathy and nuance, because those in power did not see Africans with empathy and nuance.

The archival record of Africas experience with the 1918 flu is incomplete, because it is written from the perspective of colonizers who sought to present themselves as a benign force in an otherwise chaotic territory. Colonization was a racist and violent enterprise couched in the language of a civilizing mission, and colonial archives of public health interventionsparticularly those affecting freedom of movementmust be read against that reality.

The consequences of these incomplete archives still reverberate anywhere governments are drawing lessons from colonial public health practices. The violence in countries like India, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, and other settler colonies echoes the violence of the colonial state in part because the successor independence governments read the violent colonial interventions as logical and necessary. The archive presents violent policing response as a natural and necessary part of a public health crisis response, and the successor governments dont question that.

The archive does not record the violence of the kipande system that humiliated and assaulted Kenyas black population as a factor in why Africans may have resisted quarantine measures. As a result, the modern state may not realize that using police to enforce quarantine in informal settlements with a long history of police brutality may be opposed. The archive registers the problem not as a violent state clamping down on a society that they had been brutalizing, but as the irrational resistance of natives against the well-meaning efforts of a righteous colonial state. The illusion that some violence is necessary to achieve public health goals because the native is inherently resistant to logic is inherited from colonizers and sustained because the archive is rarely critically interrogated.

Archives are not neutral; theyre sites for contestation and projections of power. This is why historians from the global south, like Brenda Sanya, a Kenyan feminist scholar, argue that questioning a nations history as represented by the archive is absolutely necessary. An archive is a living thing in which what is explicit and what is silent are equally important. And critically for today, these records are silent on what Kenyas African population did to save themselves during the 1918 flu. Certainly the traditional medical interventions that had been refined over centuries of community health practice must have struggled to respond to a novel virus.

But faced with widespread death and devastation, I dont believe that African communities did nothing other than wait for their oppressor to tap into their benevolent side. African traditional medicine had well-established practices for dealing with outbreaks of familiar diseases. For example, variolation, a precursor to modern-day vaccination in which healthy people were exposed to the blood of infected people to develop resistance to it, was recorded in Kenya, South Sudan, Nigeria, and other parts of the continent. Community health systems existed and were often strong, but the colonizing forces had no interest in them, as they were keen to promote the idea of superior European health systems.

The risk of diminishing the agency of African communities in this way persists. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has killed an estimated 35 million people globally, and Africa is one of the worst-affected regions. Much like rinderpest and jiggers, this was a virus that was imported to the continent, where it insinuated itself into existing social practices. In Western Kenya, for example, the practice of wife inheritance, which leaders in some communities argue provided a social safety net for widows and orphans, created specific vulnerabilities where women whose partners died of HIV/AIDS transmitted the disease to their new partners, and their families, or contracted it from their new partners. In Kenya, HIV/AIDS hit communities that practiced wife inheritance through the 1990s hard. As long as African communities didnt understand the risk of HIV/AIDS, behavior didnt change and the virus trounced societies. But communities learned, conduct changed, and Western Kenyans now have robust nonmedical responses to HIV/AIDS.

Get unlimited access: $9.50 for six months.

The same can be said of the Ebola outbreak of 2015. Projections that the outbreak would devastate the populations of the Mano River basinLiberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Guinea Bissauwere confounded, not because a vaccine was developed or because the historically underfunded and ignored health systems magically transformed overnight. Community behavior shifted the trajectory of the outbreak. People developed vocabularies for communicating the threat and the response to it, and funding and other forms of support went to frontline health workers who guided communities through the threat. Faced with novel and complex diseases, African communities did not sit back and wait for the disaster to destroy them. They rallied the best they could with whatever was available.

This pandemic is calling for tools that the media is not accustomed to using, one of which is thinking beyond the news cycle to what the story of this moment will look like 50 or 100 years from now.

Which brings us back to the original challenge: What will the archives say that Africans did during the Covid-19 pandemic? Will the archives tell the story of foreigners coming into help people who were already helping themselves? Or will they tell of a wave of saviors from abroad, framing Africans as passive recipients of foreign aid? How can we capture the complexity and agency of African communities in the face of this pandemic, without pandering to simplistic developmental narratives or diminishing the threat of the coronavirus?

This is the task for journalists covering Africa and Covid-19: Hold space for communities that those in power would rather not hear. It is a tremendous challenge. Very few African countries have media markets that can pay for quality, independent investigative and documentary journalism. Many are dependent on Western donor governments to sustain their public health coverage, and this tips the scale in favor of stories that make those organizations look good. Other outlets operate as PR vehicles for their home governments and by extension for the countries that are their strong allies. Few foreign outlets are interested in true partnership with African journalists, and for the few critical journalists the erosion of press freedom across the continent is devouring whatever space they have to work.

But the archives of the 20th century pandemics, including HIV/AIDS, underscore how important it is for the first draft of history to rise to the challenge. Flawed and partial accounts of pandemics that understate the agency of affected communities and overstate the contribution of foreign interventions can have consequences long after the emergency period. People who dont see their agency and creativity valued in the official history of how they survived may give that agency awaymaking room for new eras of colonization.

See the original post here:

Africa Is Not Waiting to Be Saved From the Coronavirus - The Nation

Two police officers from the mounted unit of NYPD are seen near the Emergency Service at NYU Langone Health-Tisch Hospital during the coronavirus pandemic, on April 23, 2020. (Photo by Selcuk Acar / NurPhoto via Getty Images)

EDITORS NOTE: The Nation believes that helping readers stay informed about the impact of the coronavirus crisis is a form of public service. For that reason, this article, and all of our coronavirus coverage, is now free. Please subscribe to support our writers and staff, and stay healthy.

Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month!

A fringe benefit of the coronavirus lockdown is that this is the longest Ive gone as an adult without being harassed by, or fearing harassment from, the police. My home might as well be Wakanda during this crisis: a safe haven, with lots of toilet paper and no colonizers, from which I can watch, but am not directly subjected to, the oppression of white society.Ad Policy

The good times cannot last forever. I suppose Im lucky to have had any good times at all. Essential workers already have to leave their private sanctuaries and contend with oppression. So has everybody without the financial means to pay grossly inflated prices for groceries and other essentials via delivery services. Black people who just want to catch a bit of fresh air have already caught hell from the police. Im safe from the cops right now only because I can afford to be.

Eventually, the country will force all of us to reopen and, as it does, police will be more empowered than ever to stop and brutalize black and brown people. Thats because the cops will useare already usingsocial distancing enforcement as an excuse for more racially biased harassment. Reopening will force African Americans back into the crosshairs of two predators. On the one side, Covid-19 will be waiting to kill us in even greater disproportion to white folks than it is now. On the other? Our alpha predator, the American police officer.

Just this past weekend, as spring finally hit the East Coast, New York City was not a tale of two cities so much as a tale of two races. In the West Village, predominately white crowds gathered in blatant violation of social distancing rules. Friendly neighborhood police officers could be spotted handing out masks. Meanwhile, in the East Village, a black man was brutally beaten and arrested for allegedly not keeping social distance from a woman companion as they left a deli. After the beating, one of the plainclothes officers was photographed casually sitting on the mans head as he lay prone on the pavement.

This is the kind of unequal and brutal treatment African Americans can expect from police as were all forced to resume normal routines. Normal for black people is being in potentially mortal danger every time we are within six feet of a police officer, whether or not the cop has Covid-19.

The new normal for black people will include all of the old reasons cops use to harass us, plus new excuses that will be used to justify brutality in the name of public health, of all things.Current Issue

Subscribe today and Save up to $129.

Every time we give cops power to interdict citizens, they use that power in a racially biased way. Black people are 20 percent more likely to be pulled over while driving. Black people are more likely to be prosecuted for drug possession or use. Black people are more likely to be stopped for walking down the damn street.

A society committed to racial and social equality would be looking for ways to strip power from police forces that have so completely shown they are unable or unwilling to wield it fairly. Instead, the coronavirus has made this society eager to give even more power to law enforcement.

Consider New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. He is one of the leaders in the response to the pandemic, but he has also been one of the leaders in talking tough about the need for penalties for people who violate social distancing guidelines. He wants large gatherings broken up. He wants people to wear masks. He said, at his daily press conference on Monday, that he wants to empower local governments to impose fines and penalties to help enforce social distancing rules in their community.

Well, who enforces those rules and guidelines? Who imposes the penalty for violating orders? In most situations, it will be a cop on the street who is empowered to determine who is violating social distancing, and what to do about them. Maybe Cuomo trusts the cops to use their newfound power reasonably and responsibly. Maybe Cuomo thinks were living in a post-racial utopia where the cops can be trusted to serve and protect all people equallybut Ive got 41 years of lived black experience to tell him hes wrong.

What is particularly maddening is that black and brown communities havent been the biggest violators of social distancing rules. Its been the Covid-loving Trump people. White MAGA confederates are the ones menacing state governments with guns. White MAGA confederates are the ones who have decided that wearing a mask is just like slavery and that being told to shelter-in-place is like being put in a concentration camp. White MAGA confederates have turned public health rules into grounds for a culture war. But when it comes time for cops to crack some skulls, you best believe that the police brutality well see will be visited upon black and brown communities.

We know whats going to happen, yet no government officials, be they in red states or blue, seem willing to do anything to stop the impending over-policing of places that black people occupy. We know white people will congregate at beaches without keeping appropriate distance from each other, while black people will be chased off courts and playgrounds by police zealously enforcing new rules. We know that white bars will exceed occupancy guidelines with impunity, while black clubs will be fined for packing too many people inside. We know white people who violently threaten police officers trying to enforce social distancing will get off with a warning, while black people who so much as talk back to a cop will get the snot beat out of them, or worse.

We know whats going to happen, because its already happening. Yet many white politicians will end up defending the police for the brutal measures they take to enforce new public health guidelines. And even the best white leaders will only manage to be performatively shocked and appalled when the thing they allowed to happen inevitably continues to happen.

Whenever the discussion of racially biased police brutality comes up, theres always a chorus of people who claim that cops wouldnt harass black people if black people followed the rules. Thats always a ridiculous argument, but the coronavirus is going to expose the weakness of that logic even more than usual. Thats because black people will be harassed for not following social distancing rules, but well also be harassed if we do. Earlier in the crisis, a video went viral of a black man being kicked out of a Walmart for, apparently, wearing a mask in the store.

I cannot emphasize this point enough: Every piece of advice Ive had scolded into me by my parents tells me to never, ever wear a mask or a scarf or any kind of face covering around white folks, even when its freezing. Ive owned maybe three hooded sweatshirts in my entire life, all of them emblazoned with my university insignia, which in my mind reads, Dont Shoot: I went to Harvard. And I still only wear one on the very coldest days. My 4-year-old son loves his little dinosaur hoodie, and I dread the day when I have to explain to him why he cant wear it anymore; I know that day is coming when he gets, not older, but merely taller.

I ordered N95 masks for my family back in February, long before the general public was properly concerned about the virus. I think the reason I was so quick off the mark with those was because I knew that wed need something with the prominent little air filter thingies to keep us safe, not from Covid-19 but from white store owners. Maybe this coronavirus changes white peoples reactions to black people wearing masks, but Im not willing to bet my life on it.

This is the reality I have waiting for me when the government forces me out of my cop-free quarantine. I will become vulnerable again. One cop could see me as a menace if I walk around with a mask. Another cop could see me as a lawbreaker if I stand too close to my wife. One neighbor might call the cops on me if I invite friends over for a barbeque. Another might call the cops on me if they see a masked black man taking a solitary walk near their home. No matter what I do, it will be my fault for inviting whatever harassment I get.

Its been wonderful to spend a few weeks worrying about how to survive a virus, instead of how to survive an encounter with police. Quarantine is probably as close as Ill ever come to living like a white person. I could get used to all this freedom and liberty the coronavirus has provided.

But it wont last. Our society wont open up without giving law enforcement additional excuses to put black people back in a choke hold.

Read the original here:

Covid Is About to Become the Newest Excuse for Police Brutality - The Nation

Paramount is set to go to the future with2084, a sci-fi film fromThe Batman writerMattson Tomlin. The project is being described as a spiritual sister to George Orwells classic1984, whichreally just sounds like theyre adapting1984 but changing the year so its no longer dated. The script is also described as having a tone similar to bothThe Matrix andInception.

THR has the scoop on2084, which was just snapped up by Paramount.Lorenzo di Bonaventura will produce. And just what is this movie about? Dont ask, because no one is saying. Instead, the quality of Mattson Tomlins script is being played up, with THR reporting that 2084 generated interest from filmmakers and talent who were eager to get involved before its pick-up, a testament to Tomlins writing prowess.

Beyond that, all we know is that the movie will be similar in tone toThe Matrix andInception, and that its a spiritual sister to1984.1984 is, of course, George Orwells classic about government oppression, totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and a bunch of other stuff that all feels uncomfortably familiar to us saps here in the 21st century.1984 was previously adapted into a 1984 film starringJohn Hurt and Richard Burton. Its also served as partial inspiration for plenty of other films, includingEquilibriumand Equals. More often than not, the themes of1984 tend to get blended into movies along with books likeBrave New World andFahrenheit 451, which also deal withtotalitarian future societies. Its almost as if the writers of the past were all warning us that the future our present was going to be a constant waking nightmare.

Giving the film the title2084 and connecting it to1984 really makes me think this is going to end up being an updated, more futuristic take on Orwells tale, but well have to wait and see how that shakes out. Comparing the tone toThe Matrix andInception suggests there will be plenty of mind-bending elements at play, though.Tomlin has directed several short films and penned multiple scripts, but hes likely to become a big up-and-comer based on having worked onThe Batman with Matt Reeves. Tomlin is also responsible for a currently unproduced script based on the video gameMega Man.

Go here to read the rest:

'2084': Paramount Making '1984'-Inspired Sci-Fi Film From 'The Batman' Writer - /FILM

Today marks the 39th anniversary of the death of Bobby Sands inside the H-blocks of Long Kesh internment camp. On 5 May 1981, Sands laid down his life for his and his comrades right for recognition as political prisoners. On this day, we should remember the sacrifice he made for the cause of Irish freedom. But his struggle does not just provide an example that all anti-imperialists should follow. It also serves as an important reminder of the ruthless brutality of the British government in Ireland under the leadership of then-prime minister Margaret Thatcher. And that is equally something that we should never forget.

On 1 March, 1976, the British government announced an end to Special Category status for members of paramilitary organisations imprisoned for offences related to the conflict in Ireland. This formed part of a multi-pronged propaganda strategy to falsely portray the republican insurrection against British rule as some kind of aggravated crime wave.

In response, republican prisoners began a series of protests to regain the lost privileges, as well as the symbolic importance of prisoner of war status. This included the right to wear ones own clothes, free association and exemption from prison work. IRA volunteer Kieran Nugent began the blanket protest when he refused to wear a prison uniform. Thrown into his cell naked, he draped himself in the only thing available a grey, prison-issue blanket.

After suffering beatings from prison officers on their way to the shower areas, republican prisoners began the no wash protest, in which they refused to bathe, cut their hair or shave. When prison officers refused to empty their chamber pots, republican prisoners were forced to smear their own excrement on the walls, which marked the beginning of the dirty protest.

In 1979, their prospects became even bleaker with the election of the right-wing government of Margaret Thatcher in Britain. When it became clear that Thatcher wouldnt grant even the most modest of concessions, republican prisoners began a hunger strike in 1980. It ended without any deaths when her government appeared to concede some of the strikers demands. But the document containing the terms of the agreement turned out to be vague and open to interpretation, and the prison regime was quickly returned to a situation little better than how it was before.

Determined not to be double-crossed again, the new Officer Commanding (OC) of the republican prisoners, 27-year-old Bobby Sands, launched a second hunger strike with a crucial difference from the last. The strikers would stagger their joining of the fast one-by-one and two weeks apart so that each would near death one at a time. As OC, Sands volunteered to go first, making him the most likely to die. On 1 March, 1981, Sands refused his prison food, beginning the second hunger strike in Long Kesh just over two months after the end of the first.

On 5 March, less than a week into Sands fast, Frank Maguire, the independent nationalist member of parliament for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, died suddenly and unexpectedly, leaving his seat in Westminster vacant. The republican leadership on the outside hatched a plan. They were forever getting dismissed by political opponents for not having a mandate, but if they stood Sands as a candidate in the resultant by-election and won, they could demonstrate to the British government and the wider world that the hunger strikers demands had popular support in the community.

On 9 April 1981, Bobby Sands won the election with over 30,000 votes almost 10,000 more than Thatcher had won in her home constituency of Finchley in the 1979 UK general election. The victory provided the republican movement with a powerful morale boost and demolished the British governments argument that they had no support.

But in spite of Sands victory, along with international pressure from the Irish diaspora abroad and others around the world, Thatcher refused to budge. On May 5, 1981, Bobby Sands died of starvation 66 days into his fast at 27 years of age. Over 100,000 mourners lined his cortege in one of the largest political funerals in Irish history.

Sands death led to international outcry at the treatment of the prisoners and Thatchers intransigence in meeting their demands. Critics pointed out that as members of a guerrilla army operating in contested territory, republican prisoners were entitled under the Geneva Convention to be recognised as prisoners of war. One letter, sent from one Bernard Sanders (then-mayor of Burlington, Vermont in the US), stated:

We are deeply disturbed by your governments unwillingness to stop the abuse, humiliation and degrading treatment of the Irish prisoners now on strike in Northern Ireland

We ask you to end your intransigent policy towards the prisoners before the reputation of the English people for fair play and simple decency is further damaged in the eyes of the people of Vermont and the United States.

In October 1981, the British government eventually conceded most of the prisoners demands; but not before nine more republican hunger strikers had followed Sands to the grave.

This episode perhaps shows more than any other the utter depravity, brutality, ruthlessness and lack of humanity that lurked within the twisted soul of Margaret Thatcher. All but one of the men were under 30 years old and left behind grieving mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and, in some cases, children all for the crime of fighting back against foreign oppression and discrimination in their own country.

Sands brave sacrifice stands as an example that all anti-imperialists and advocates of justice can aspire to. But it also serves as a reminder of Thatchers sordid legacy of death and destruction in Ireland.

Featured image via Wikimedia /Flickr Levi Ramishvili

Continued here:

We should never forget Bobby Sands, nor the brutality of the Thatcher government in Ireland - The Canary

On 10 November 2019, sections of the Bolivian military and police launched a successful coup against socialist president Evo Morales. The coup was followed by a proliferation of violence steeped in Christian fundamentalism and Morales, Bolivias first Indigenous president, was forced to flee. New elections did not follow and the new administration, with the backing of the US government, looks unlikely to relinquish power any time soon.

The Canary spoke with journalist Ollie Vargas, who has been reporting from Bolivia since shortly after the coup. He recently launched Kawsachun News, an English-language news outlet which promises to be the authority on Bolivia.

There were different stages to the coup. The Bolivian right realised that they were on course for their fourth electoral defeat and they became desperate.

The first phase was creating destabilisation through waves and waves of fake news. A large number of people were getting their news and information through WhatsApp groups and Facebook meme pages, which were pumping out vast amounts of fake news inciting people to take to the streets against a supposedly socialist dictator. Thats how the idea of electoral fraud was built up before any election even took place.

The next step was the OAS [Organisation of American States] report which alleged that there was electoral fraud in the October election. That has now been debunked, but at the time those who were on the streets were more than happy to use it as evidence to step the campaign up from a street protest to a much more violent, terrorist movement.

Thats when you saw people burning down the houses of senior figures of the MAS [Movement for Socialism party] to pressure them to resign. We then finally saw the police mutiny and the military ordering Evo Morales to step down.

It was quite a coordinated affair starting with destabilisation, stepping up to a more terrorist form of violence which, in turn, provided the fertile ground for a coup.

The Bolivian government was woefully unprepared in that it failed to truly capture the institutions of the state such as the military and the police. This opened the door for the US to be able to funnel money through various political groups and various family interests, which is how the police were bought off with wage rises and bonuses negotiated by the now-Minister of Defence and the family of Fernando Camacho.

Absolutely. I think the Bolivian government more than any other government in the world has taken advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to extend its own power and to further persecute leftists and critics.

What weve seen is, on one hand, a very poor response in terms of public health. Bolivia is in last place for Covid-19 testing in South America, and health workers are woefully unprepared.

And in Bolivia, people have been abandoned in that rents have not been suspended and theres been no income support for the vast majority of people. I think that the Bolivian people who have lost their income due to quarantine have been abandoned to a much greater extent than other countries in Latin America.

At the same time, weve seen a huge ramping of oppression and persecution. The quarantine has been used to justify a large number of arrests anyone accused of breaking quarantine can be jailed for up to 10 years. And the quarantine itself has been extremely politicised. Time and again the regime has accused the MAS of inciting people to break the quarantine despite there being no evidence of this.

And now the most important issue is that the regime is using the lock-down and the quarantine to suspend democratic elections indefinitely, and therefore clinging onto power indefinitely. So Bolivia is going to be in the ridiculous position in which many elements of the lock-down will be lifted. However, the regime will maintain the excuse that, due to coronavirus, people cant go to the polls.

The quarantine and lock-down obviously present difficulties for the MAS, in that its strength was in being able to mobilise huge amounts of people to the streets.

The MAS is demanding that the crisis not be taken advantage of by the regime by clinging onto power indefinitely. And the MAS is using its majority in the legislature (the only elected body of government) to force through elections within 3 months but whether this will be respected by the regime is yet to be seen.

The message of the MAS is that elections and public health are not separate they have to be done together. Only through having a democratic government can the state respond to peoples needs. The main demand of the MAS at the moment is on the need for democratic elections.

Its an incredibly difficult situation for journalists in Bolivia. First of all, it should be said that during the 14 years that Morales was in power, the majority of print and TV media opposed his government.

However, throughout that time, there was never a single journalist jailed or persecuted in the way that it is happening now. Since the coup, weve seen alternative media outlets either shut down or heavily threatened. Immediately after the coup, 52 community radio stations (operating mostly in rural, indigenous areas) were shut down by the Ministry of Communications. One of the only ones that remained was Radio Kawsachun Coca, the one Im currently working for.

But attempts have been made to close down this media outlet. Just before the coup, far-right groups burned down the offices of Kawsachun Coca in the city of Cochabamba, but they couldnt get to the offices here in the Chapare region.

Journalist Ren Huarachi was filming police repression in El Alto, and he was arrested and beaten. So thats the fate that awaits a lot of journalists who report critically on the coup they face threats, repression and harassment. Its an incredibly difficult situation.

However, the majority of journalists do not face any kind of threats, because the entirety of the print media and the vast majority of TV media now has an editorial line that is supportive of the coup government.

Environmentalists in the global north have always rejected the environmental politics of Evo Morales. But it must be said that he has led the way for many years in developing environmental ideas for the Global South, and his key proposal was the idea of climate debt.

The idea is that industrialised countries of the global north owe debt to the countries they colonised, because those countries in the global north were able to industrialise off the looted resources of the global south and, as a result, they contaminated the world.

I think this is an incredibly important demand, and one thats been ignored by many environmentalists in the global north. And of course, this tension came to a head just before the coup, when groups like Extinction Rebellion began portraying Evo Morales government as anti-environmental.

So a discourse was built up that Morales is anti-environmental and now as a result of the coup the new government has announced post-coronavirus economic plans, and a central plank of that is to introduce the use of GMOs into Bolivian agriculture. That was something banned within the constitution of Morales, and now they say that will become a central component of Bolivian food production.

This is an absolutely anti-environmental government. And I think environmental activists in the global north should reflect on what they contributed to creating.

Following whats going on in Bolivia is to understand how the US dominates Latin America and the Global South. As coup attempts rumble on in Venezuela, its important to look at the kind of racism, persecution and neoliberalism that has flourished with the victory of the coup in Bolivia. Bolivia under this government should stand as an example of what the US-backed forces in Latin America represent.

But Bolivia also stands as an example of how people can organise. Bolivia still has some of the best organised social movements, so activists around the world can learn from how Bolivias social movements are organised, the democratic grass-roots participation that characterises the MAS. For those reasons, people shouldnt forget about Bolivia.

Featured image via Sebastian Baryli

See the article here:

Six months after the coup, journalist Ollie Vargas says the Bolivian people have been abandoned - The Canary

There is disquiet in some sections in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), among other Islamic countries, that parts of Indian society and polity are exhibiting signs of Islamophobia, especially manifest after the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to counter this sentiment. In a tweet on April 19, Modi emphasised the need for unity and brotherhood in combating the virus for it targets all. He was conveying that it was wrong to hold all Muslims responsible for the actions of the Tablighi Jamaat. The same view was expressed more directly by a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office-bearer in these pages.

As in the past, this year too, Modi extended Ramzan greetings. He tweeted, May this Holy Month bring with it abundance of kindness, harmony and compassion. Two years ago, Modi recalled Prophet Mohammads message of equality, brotherhood and the value of charity. And in an address to the World Sufi Forum in 2016, Modi spoke of the rich diversity of the Islamic civilisation that stands on the solid bedrock of a great religion. In the same speech, he said, It is this spirit of Sufism, the love for their country and the pride in their nation that define the Muslims in India. They reflect the timeless culture of peace, diversity and equality of faith of our land These stirring words reflect neither Islamophobia nor a bias against Muslims.

Why is it then that sections of the Islamic ummah are troubled by Indias emerging orientations? This was not witnessed during Modis first term when, building on past policies, he strengthened relations with mutually-antagonistic West Asian nations. Hence, the Modi 2.0 governments policies and actions that impact or are perceived to impact on Indias Muslims have to be examined. It must also be examined how Pakistan has sought to exploit these issues.

Four developments stand out: The constitutional changes in Jammu and Kashmir, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA and fear of Muslims that it would be the precursor to the National Register of Citizens (NRC), the Delhi riots, and the reaction to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation.

The constitutional changes in Jammu and Kashmir were looked upon in the peninsular Arab countries as political and within Indias domestic jurisdiction. Pakistans accusations of India violating international law, United Nations resolutions, seeking to change the demographic structure of the Valley and disregarding human rights found no traction. Its diatribe against the Modi government and its ideological Hindutva roots was also ignored.

The exclusion of Muslims from CAA was premised on the consideration that the Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Afghan polities being theocratic are inherently discriminatory and sometimes persecutorial. The Modi government correctly asserted that the CAA did not impact Indian Muslims. However, large numbers of Muslims were alarmed because they felt that it was the precursor of NRC, which could make many of them stateless.

The long agitations which followed were noticed in the Muslim world, including the Gulf countries. While international liberal opinion was further alienated because of religion becoming a factor in granting nationality, despite Pakistans best efforts, the Gulf countries did not become hostile. However, Malaysia and Turkey did.

The Delhi riots and, in some cases, the inflammatory reactions to the Tablighi Jamaats actions which contributed to the spread of Covid-19 soured sections of Gulf opinion. This was on account of reports in the international media that Muslims were particularly and violently targeted.

Some reprehensible comments made against Muslims in general in the wake of the Tablighi Jamaats conduct, and some irresponsible demands that Muslims be boycotted, caused dismay and anger among some in the Gulf. This was heightened by the objectionable social media comments of a few Indian expatriates living in Gulf countries. This somewhat fertile setting has given Pakistan the opportunity to fan anti-Indian flames through bogus social media accounts and also by dredging up its entire litany of charges against the Modi government. Its current specific endeavour is to make the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) pass strictures, at a high level, against India for officially encouraging Islamophobia.

A few days ago, in a four-page note to OIC countries, it stressed that the BJP rose to power on the central plank of hatred for Muslims and has fostered it thereafter.

Clearly, these charges of Islamophobia have to be challenged and combatted. It is true that Islamic countries as theological polities are basically discriminatory. They are also not condemning Chinas oppression of its Uighur Muslims. Making these points may work in a school debate but not in the world of diplomacy, which, in any event, is not about scoring points but securing national interest.

What is necessary, without being on the defensive, is to assure Islamic nations that India is not moving away from its constitutional moorings by ensuring harmony and effective action against those who disturb it irrespective of their party affiliations. It is also necessary not to show disdain for global liberal opinion, but to engage with it.

Vivek Katju is a former diplomat

The views expressed are personal

Follow this link:

India will have to contest charges of religious bias - Hindustan Times

Samit Basus new novel, Chosen Spirits, is a work of speculative fiction set in the near future which is to say, even the things that feel radically different at first glance are, upon reflection, not so distant from us after all. The world of the novel, New New Delhi, runs on nearly untrammeled surveillance (enforced via next-generation tattoos called Smartatts), absolute compliance with government values (read Hindutva) and an unhealthy obsession with social media influencers, called Flowstars here. Dissent and your rights will evaporate, ask too many questions and even your own family might unperson you, a la Orwell.

Chosen Spirits follows the lives of Joey and Rudra, whove known each other since they were children but whose paths diverged a long time ago. Joey is a Reality Controller for Flowstar Indi, curating his life for a legion of fans, worrying about her stubborn parents who are in denial of this new world and all that it entails. Rudra, the estranged younger son of a super-rich, unscrupulous businessman, is drifting through life until a tragedy forces him to come back to the fold. Meanwhile, a group of rogue Flowstars and rebels is pushing back against the draconian State inquilaabs in the air (this is still Delhi, after all) and its only a matter of time before Joey and Rudras lives change forever.

Excerpts from an interview with Samit Basu.

The world of Samit Basu's novel 'Chosen Spirits' runs on nearly untrammeled surveillance.

Most of the future technology in the novel, like the Smartatt, is couched in the vocabulary of wellnessbut in practice, they are advanced surveillance tools (like filtering potential romantic partners on the basis of sexualhistory, class, caste and so on). At a time when we have widespread privacy concerns around the Aarogya Setu app, this feels particularly appropriate. When did you first think about this connection between these two worlds and do you feel that people (especially the demographic most likely to consume wellness products) are waking up to this phenomenon, generally speaking?

Surveillance and data grabs have both been escalating crises for most of the last decade all over the world, whether its authoritarian states grabbing your data or neoliberal ones tricking you into giving it up. In India we have both, with a rapid slide towards very blatant data grabs and when you add centuries worth of local oppression and surveillance, from families and local authorities, enabled with new tech; its going to be quite terrible. But on the other hand, there will also be climate change, vast unemployment and inequality, water shortage, pollution, pandemics and political turmoil to distract people from how bad they feel about surveillance.

I started writing this book four years ago, so it was not about the latest version of this surveillance escalation, but there will be many more down the years.

We are on a very clear journey towards extreme privacy loss, data-tracker bands, and then on-body tracking.

Even in the world of this book, this doesnt play out equally; the privileged get to have the next generation of smart trackers with AI assistants, but the poor have their crude data grabbers/trackers embedded into their bodies. Ithink the degree of concern about any of this is very directly related to the degree of your personal access to the surveillance authority: above a level of privilege, the rules dont apply, and people will be able to do whatever they like. Which is why the lead characters in Chosen Spirits are privileged and young, both people who have the opportunity to live safely, and succeed tremendously, if they choose to conform to ever-shifting rules.

Joeys job as a Reality Controller is, in many ways, the heart of the novel. She exerts totalitarian control over her client Indi's Flow. Ironically, all those clips of his that she chops and changes seem to have taken their toll on her life the novel begins with a passage that describes her ennui and general sense of withdrawal from the world. Did you see this as a side-effect of her hyper-specific job or did you think of it more as a generalised result of our dependence on onscreen images, our transformation into an overwhelmingly visual culture?

I dont think Joey exerts totalitarian control over her clients streaming Flow. I see her more as a very good magazine editor/YouTube channel producer of the future, who cannot help obsessively improve the product and care about it, even despite the people who benefit most from its success. Or like a showrunner, where she neither owns the show nor is the star of it, but is responsible for its excellence and growth and the overall welfare of the people working in it, a heavy burden for a 25-year-old.

I also dont think shes withdrawn from the world that would apply much more to Rudra, the other main character, and his attempts to escape his shady-rich family and find a whole other life in some very compromised form of escape. But yes, Joeys initial sense of ennui does exist, though, but I saw it as a natural consequence of both living your life under constant surveillance and the wariness that results from being a gatekeeper and a potential conduit to the things a lot of other people want. Because this is also a world where everyone wants to be a star, and wants her to discover them and manage their careers, which naturally affects all her personal relationships and makes it difficult for her to trust anyone. She also knows what happens behind the scenes, so has been disillusioned long ago. Its also generational: I think people who are in their mid-teens now are going to grow up to be a lot cleverer, a lot less naive, and much more simultaneously calm and anxious than anyone in my generation.

'We are on a very clear journey towards extreme privacy loss, data-tracker bands, and then on-body tracking,' says Samit Basu. Image via Facebook/@bysamitbasu

At one point in the book, you mention that everybody but the oligarchs were bankrupt, referring to businesses that did not declare their complete subservience to the government, to the normalised Hindutva politics that now marked both sides of the aisle, so to speak.

A different section of the book talks about the Russia model, wherein the State funds and monitors mini-uprisings against itself (similar to Chomsky's concept of the limits of dissent/debate) do you feel that India has reached that critical point in its trajectory where the Government and the Opposition are now increasingly difficult to distinguish (like America, where theres a large-scale #DemExit on the cards, because of disillusioned voters who resent what they see as the corporate wing of the Democratic Party)?

I dont know, and I dont think people at my level of access to inside information (which is to say I have zero access) will ever know.This is, after all, speculative fiction about a wholly imaginary future (though the attempt of course is, through research, to have the imaginary world be as close to the real one as possible) that is far more optimistic and positive than anything we will encounter in reality. My theory on this front is that a decade from now, in the world of Chosen Spirits, it will be impossible to tell who is actually running the country: collusion will be common practice, and well see politics as largely empty theatre for those still entertained by it. I think the means of both propaganda and distraction will be more sophisticated, and access to any sort of truth will be very clearly determined by privilege, in a far more organised way than it is today. How much of this is already true now? No way for a person like me to even guess, and frankly I dont even want to know; like Joey and Rudra, I just want to lead a normal, peaceful real life, and have no desire to save a world whose deeper machinations I have no knowledge of.

Editor's pick Reading dystopian fiction during the coronavirus pandemic: Genre's prescience helps imagine a better future

I loved all of the little Kalkaji jokes throughout the novel, and Kalkaji/CR Park's reincarnation as Little Bengal. My favourite was the scene describing a march of young, would-be fascists with Netaji on their lips but advertisements for Pure Veg restaurants (and their Paneer Specials) on the backs of their t-shirts. Could you talk me through this scene, why you chose to include this and so on?

Im glad you like the way Ive imagined Little Bengals future, it was great fun imagining this part of Delhi redone because it is an awkward clash of cultural stereotypes even today. The sponsored Netaji marchers are just supposed to be entertaining background detail: the intersection of different kinds of propaganda resulting in combinations one would not expect, like vegetarian Bengali authoritarians claiming Netaji for a set of values he opposed. But these strange creatures already exist, and there will only be more a decade from now. Theyre also supposed to be a teaser/signal for some of Rudras familys values.

At one point, Joey seemed to be slightly jealous of the fact that her parents led analog childhoods, so to speak their lives from the pre-digital times could not be processed and used against them (as their current lives/opinions have been, and ruthlessly so). This fact is described with a slightly wonder-struck, mystical undertone, as though it were a superpower of sorts did I read that vibe wrong, or do you, the author, feel wistful about this phenomenon?

Its a combination of nostalgia as I personally grow ancient, and something that actually works for the book, which is that each generation has a false nostalgia about the past, and cannot imagine how people lived in such supposedly pure and simple times. Whereas people who lived through those times, like Joeys parents, know that most of the injustices and inequalities that exist today have always existed, though possibly further away and less visually spectacularly for each era of the world.

Find latest and upcoming tech gadgets online on Tech2 Gadgets. Get technology news, gadgets reviews & ratings. Popular gadgets including laptop, tablet and mobile specifications, features, prices, comparison.

More:

Dystopia is here: The world of Samit Basu's new speculative fiction book, Chosen Spirits, feels all too... - Firstpost

The corona virus pandemic have no doubt changed the way we lived and has affected all and sundry in no small measures. In order to curb its spread, governments all over the world have introduced measures to contain the spread of the dreaded corona virus. Rivers State is no exception to this. In fact, for the past three weeks, the state Governor has been consistent in dishing out orders and directives like a steward in a banquet ceremony.

Sometimes last week, the state governor in one of its orders, threatened to demolish hotels that goes contrary to his directives and to auctioned cars that violated the restrictions of vehicular movements in the state. True to his words, on Sunday the 10th day of May, 2020 two hotels cum Guest Houses were demolished for allegedly violating the orders of the governor.

The legal framework put in place in course of this corona virus pandemic by the state government are:

a. Rivers State Government Executive Order 001 of 2020

b. The Quarantine (Corona Virus and other Infectious Disease) Regulations

2020

c. Several (unwritten) directives cum orders shutting down markets, motor

parks, churches, beer palours etc.

It is interesting to note that theses Executive Orders and Regulations were made pursuant to the Quarantine Act, Cap. Q2 LFN 2004.

The questions begging for answers are these:

1. Can the property of a land owner be demolished for disobeying an executive

order of a State Government?

2. Does the governor of Rivers State have the locus to auction cars seized for

violating the lockdown orders of the State Government?

In answering the first question, it is important to note that the right to acquire and own immoveable property is not just a human right but also a constitutional right that is jealously guided and protected by the grund norm, the kabiyi esi, the Igwe and Emir of all laws, the 1999 Constitution itself. In determining the nature of fundamental rights, the Supreme Court in the case of Chief (Dr.) Mrs. Olufumilayo Ransome & Ors v. AGF (1985) 3 NWLR (Pt. 6) 211 per Eso JSC (as he then was) stated the law as follows:

Human rights is a right which stand above the ordinary laws of the land and which is antecedent to the political society itself. It is a primary condition for a civilized existence and what has been done by our constitution since independence ... is to have these rights enshrined in the constitution so that the rights could be immutable to the extent of the non-immutability of the constitution itself

Flowing from the above, section 43 of the constitution provides as follows:

S. 43 subject to the provision of this constitution, every citizen of Nigeria shall have the right to acquire and own immoveable property anywhere in Nigeria.

Section 44(1) went further to forbid the arbitrary seizure and confiscation of immoveable property. The section provides as follows:

S. 44(1) No immoveable property or any interest in an immoveable property shall be taken possession of compulsorily and no right over or interest in any such property shall be acquired compulsorily in any part of Nigeria except in the manner and for the purpose prescribed by a law that, among other things,...

The import of the above provision is that for a property to be validly acquired albeit compulsorily, is via overriding public interest. See sections 28 and 29 of the Land Use Act Cap. L5 LFN 2004. See also Lawal v. NEPA (1979) 2 SC 109 at 130 134; Akere v. Governor of Oyo State & Ors. (2002) LPELR 12291.

It is my candid view that it was unconstitutional and a flagrant abuse of the executive powers entrusted on the Governor of Rivers State to demolish two hotels under the guise of disobeying executive orders. I have argued elsewhere that the violation of executive orders or directive of governors (howsoever called) is not an offence known to law upon which a conviction can be based. See https:/ http://www.barristerNG.com/conviction-of-funke-akindele-a-litany-of-unforced-errors-by-prince-azubuike-esq-p/

In a similar vein, the Court of Appeal in the case of Okafor v. Governor of Lagos State (2016) LPELR 41066 (CA) per B. A. Georgewill held that no person can be arrested or prosecuted for circumventing or violating an Executive Order.

Assuming but not conceding that a valid law was violated by the operators of the hotels that were demolished, common sense at least dictates that the owners of the hotels should have been tried in a competent court, the Governor shouldnt have been a judge in his own cause, the principle of natural justice forbids that. We saw a situation where the Governor was both the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary. This is what the principle of separation of powers tries to prevent because putting so much powers in the hands of one man is an invitation to oppression. See Obeya Memorial Specialist Hospital v. AGF (1987) 3 NWLR (Pt. 60) 325.

On the second issue whether the Governor of Rivers State have the locus to auction cars seized in contravention of the lockdown directives? The answer is an emphatic NO.

As stated earlier, the various Executive Orders, Regulations and Directives of the Governor was made pursuant to the Quarantine Act. In section 5 of the Quarantine

Act, punishment has already been provided for the violations of the provisions of the Act which are a fine of #200, or six months imprisonment or both. It is humbly submitted that any fine or punishment that goes contrary to that provided by the principal legislation is void and cannot stand.

It is therefore unconscionable for the Governor to call for auctioning of vehicles seized for violating the lockdown order of the State Government. It follows therefore that any person who makes the mistake of buying such vehicles buys litigation for himself.

FINAL THOUGHTS

No law in Nigeria empowers anyone, not even the Governor of a State to take laws into his hands as Wike has done in this case. The Executive Powers vested on him in section 5(2) CFRN 1999 does not extends the Governor committing illegality.

The use of fear, intimidation and psychological trauma as a tool in governance are only employed by weak leaders that have ran out of solutions to the challenges facing the masses. Rivers people will not be cowered or intimidated by such antics. Corona virus should not make us loose our sanity.

I therefore call on the owners of the demolished hotels to remain law abiding and seek legal redress. The wheels of justice grinds slowly but surely. Ubi remedium ibi jus (To every injury there is a remedy).

Prince Azubuike Esq.

Port Harcourt

Originally posted here:

COVID-19: Wike And The Hordes Of Mordor By Prince Azubuike Esq. - SaharaReporters.com

(submitted/ NEVR Facebook Page)

Many may recognize Dr. Balbir Gurm as an accomplished and driven instructor in Kwantlen Polytechnic Universitys faculty of health program. When Gurm isnt educating the nursing students at KPU, shes fighting for justice for people experiencing violence at the hands of those close to them.

One of the many ways she does that is through her committee with the Network To Eliminate Violence in Relationships.

Violence in relationships is an ongoing issue, and according to CBC, thousands of Canadians are harassed, assaulted, or murdered by their intimate partners every year.

However, violence in relationships is not specific to just intimate relationships. It can also be present in a relationship between a parent and child, and seniors and their caregivers, and so on.

You want to identify that its power in oppression between any people that know each other, says Gurm. There are overlapping signs and symptoms, but the major theory that fits all of them is power and privilege.

The network was created in 2011 with the goal of combating violence in relationships. It emerged from Gurms first community action research project.

Her idea for the organization went beyond holding meetings, and her goal was to reach out to the community and educate the public on countering violence in relationships.

She has always been one to fight for progress. During her undergraduate studies, Gurm was a student politician, lobbyist, and president of the nursing undergraduate society. Her work has always involved shedding light on issues affecting women and assisting various types of womens organizations. She was, for example, president of the Canadian Womens Organization.

Today, she strives to make her advocacy louder through her work with NEVR.

The committee grew and expanded its focus when the service provider community which includes other post-secondaries, police services, lawyers and other groups wanted to do more to help.

They wanted to do more than conferences. They wanted an organization that would advocate for them, where they could come together and look at what was happening in the system and what they wanted to change, says Gurm.

What we try to do now is engage and support all our service providers through education, awareness, advocacy and collaboration.

NEVR is also working to advocate for the provincial and municipal governments to provide more resources.

Weve asked government to do it. I havent really seen any action, she says. KPU has granted me an educational leave this year where Im trying to get a lot of resources together that service providers could use, academia can use for classes, community members could just go online and look at.

She says violence in relationships is an international epidemic which receives little attention in comparison to others.

To me, thats got a lot to do with the severe physical abuse being against women, and men being raised to believe that they can just take and that its their right to take, she says. And until we start changing our social structure and the way we treat each other, this is an issue thats not going to go away.

She continues to look for different ways to educate the masses on spotting violence in relationships and helping the people who need it.

She and some of her students from the health program have worked on a report called the Prevention Toolkit for Bartenders and Salon Workers. The report was created to educate hairdressers and salon workers on providing assistance to victims.

Melissa Granum, a Delta corporate planning manager who works with the Delta Police, offered assistance with the production of the toolkit.

A toolkit like this is helpful as it informs and educates people, she wrote. If one hairdresser helps empower just one person, then it was worth all of the effort.

View original post here:

How Dr. Balbir Gurm's Fight For Social Justice Fueled the Creation of NEVR - The Runner

By Reggie Connell / Special to The Apopka Voice

I dont like face masks.

Theyre uncomfortable, hard to breathe through, annoying, and I am continually making re-adjustments because Im not used to having a string tied to my head or fabric over my mouth. If it were up to me, if my actions did not affect anyone, I wouldnt wear a mask.

I would also drive my car as fast as I wanted, and park it anywhere I pleased. I would talk in theatres, play my music louder, grill steaks from my apartments second-story patio, and let the smoke go where it may.

But because I live in a society where my actions could adversely affect others, I follow the rules and laws. I am considerate of others. I do unto others as I would want them to do to me.

I dont like face masks, but I will wear one at the appropriate times and places. Why? Because it is a small enough annoyance to manage when you consider we are dealing with an airborne virus that has no known cure, has infected over 1.25 million Americans and killed over 75,000.

I know, deep down, I will never get COVID-19. I have an awesome immune system, and I rarely get a cold or miss a day of work. I calculate my odds at less than 1% of catching the coronavirus.

But, if I were wrong, and the 100:1 shot came in if my awesome immune system failed me, and I caught the coronavirus and transmitted it to someone in our community that had a lesser immune system than me and died, I couldnt live with myself.

It is for that primary reason we wear a face mask to protect each other, not ourselves.

There is a time when the individualist spirit in all of us goes out into the world to stake our claim, work hard, and make our dreams come true. Its us against everyone. At certain times, that is the American way.

However, fighting COVID-19 isnt one of those times.

In times of pandemic, we stand together as a neighborhood, community, city, state, or nation, and persevere together.

There has been a lot of debate about face masks on popular social media sites in Apopka, Orange County, and throughout the country. Residents, probably frustrated from weeks of stay at home orders, are expressing their views about more limitations set in response to the coronavirus. They have thrown around phrases like socialism, civil rights violations, oppression, and overreaching elected officials in describing face masks.

I certainly understand the desire to push back on government restrictions, but perhaps your protests are the overreach in this instance. Is it possible that the minor and temporary restrictions imposed to improve public safety are just that?

Minor.

Temporary.

Improve public safety.

However, if you think wearing a mask is akin to socialism or communism, I would refer you to oppressive regimes like China where residents lived under quarantine for months under the watchful eye of the government. I would also refer you to Russia, where three frontline health care workers mysteriously fell out of hospital windows over the past two weeks.

If you sincerely believe that your civil rights are being trampled upon because you have to wear a mask during a public health crisis, I would refer you to slavery, womens suffrage, workers conditions at the turn of the century, World War II restrictions on American citizens, the holocaust, Jim Crow laws, and countless other atrocities where people actually suffered.

Is wearing a face mask truly where you want to stand your ground?

Is this your Patrick Henry moment?

Is this the place where you cross the Rubicon?

Is this the bus seat you will not give up?

Is this the lunch counter you refuse to leave?

And what about these elected officials imposing the face mask mandate on Orange County residents just as we were heading into a phase one re-opening of the state?

The coronavirus is perhaps the most significant challenge many leaders will face in their careers. It is fair to assess their performances and vote accordingly. Judge all of them from the president to senators, congress, legislature, governor, county chair, county commissioners, mayors, and city commissioners in this time of crisis. However, also understand the difference between judging their job performance and being political during an emergency.

Voters can surely bring a range of ideologies with them to the ballot box. And how to balance the economy with public safety during a crisis should be one of them. This coronavirus has been a stress test for our leaders, and in many ways, shows their priorities in stark terms. Surely some approaches deserve spirited debate.

When should we reopen the economy, and how?

Should restaurants be allowed to open their indoor dining areas?

How many customers should be allowed in a retail store?

Which businesses should be allowed to open?

Can we go to the beach?

When should we reopen schools?

After eight weeks in lockdown, it is a blessing to go back into the world with just a little more flexibility than we had. We are still not out of the woods, but it appears things are better than they were enough to start phase one of re-opening Orange County and Florida.

It seems a small enough price to wear a face mask during this period. There is little downside, and a great deal of potential upside primarily the safety of our community.

A friend of mine emailed a quote to me from the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, who lived in Paris during the Nazi occupation, one of the worst times and places in history. His words are appropriate for this time in history as well:

Look back, look forth, look close, there may be more prosperous times, more intelligent times, more spiritual times, more magical times, and more happy times, but this one, this small moment in the history of the universe, this is ours. And lets do everything with it. Everything.

These may well be the worst of times and the worst of conditions we will ever experience in our lives, but lets experience them, lets learn from them, and lets grow as a community and a nation in this time of crisis. Lets come out on the other side of this pandemic as better people.

But most of all, lets not unravel and fight over petty annoyances. Not now.

And for those of you poised to run these incumbents out of office, fear not. November is right around the corner. Theres plenty of time to swing that political hammer with abandon.

In the meantime, lets summon our better angels and survive COVID-19 with dignity, grace, charity, and goodwill for all.

Were going to win this thing. Its only a matter of time.

See original here:

Are face masks really where you want to stand your ground? - The Apopka Voice

Every once in a while, you come across a book so powerful that reading it feels like deep cleansing your soul. Sometimes this takes you by surprise because its not something you expect in that genre. As a rather eclectic reader, Ive always thought that academics, literary critics and the makers of public opinion in general did a bit of disservice to humanity by disregarding the artistic value of the so-called pulp fiction genres, be it comics, detective fiction, science fiction or fantasy. Faced with works of undeniable philosophical or aesthetic depth, revisionism and denial kicked in.

Thus, purists insisted that Watchmen (Alan Moore; art by Dave Gibbons; colourist John Higgins) was a graphic novel even though Moore himself frequently rejected the term. Somewhere after leaving university, Ive learned to ignore genre debates.

Which is a good thing in the context of Samit Basus recently published Chosen Spirits (available on Kindle right away and in hardback somewhere in the indefinite future), because here is a book that could be called genre-bending if one didnt suspect the author doesnt approve of labels. Instead of genre gimmicks, this book demands attention and intelligence from its reader, right from the opening line:

Sometimes Joey feels like her whole life is a montage of randomly selected, algorithm-controlled surveillance-cam clips, mostly of her looking at screens or sitting glazed-eyed at meetings.

Joey, the protagonist (insofar as a book this radical can be said to have such a glibly defined role), who we discover a few pages later is actually Bijoyini Roy (why did I not see that coming?), is a Reality Controller whose parents call themselves reality deniers (or perhaps, reality facers). In reality, Joey in her late twenties doesnt control reality, nor do her parents in their fifties face reality enough to deny it.

In the grim prescience of Chosen Spirits, neither act seems possible. Not when reality is reshaped every second by Flows (curated video content shared by Flowstars with a hierarchy of Influencers, Trailblazers, and Icons; imitated by Flowjackers) that are run by Flowfunders, and nobody has an attention span longer than cute cat videos. Sounds familiar?

So many things sound familiar in this book which is pitch-perfect in throwing sci-fi ideas at the same speed as 64-colour screenshirts that scroll through personal moodboards and sponsor logos. (Do these exist? Can I get one?) From virtual conferencing with instant rotoscoping of avatars (no worries about colleagues finding out your blazer-and-tie ensemble features boxer shorts or less) to drone-painted vandalism on the giant bottom of a Chinese-manufactured Indian pride icon that towers over the Delhi end of the Yamuna bridge defying mobs from the wildlands, every once in a while you have to stop reading to take deep breaths and wonder whether this has already happened or is still near-future.

When it comes to organ-farming, lynching and policemen on patrol among mobs, armed and ready to do absolutely nothing should violence erupt, you dont even need to Google. So much so that when the author writes in the Acknowledgements that this book is not set in a dystopia, but in a best-case scenario, youre not quite terrified. You, who are living in what might soon become the Years Not to Be Discussed, saw this coming.

What you may not have seen coming is the fiery spirit of DesiBryde and a certain E-klav. To say anything else here would be a spoiler so Ill leave you with a nostalgic reflection and a grievance.

Nostalgia, first. There are two books and one series that I swore to never ever read a second time. The books were George Orwells 1984 and Animal Farm, and the comic book series was Preacher (created by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon). The last took stomach-churning violence to such improbable heights that there were images it has taken me years to remove from memory (consider yourself warned). But all the while, there was a sense of distance social, cultural, geographical. The horror is graphic (literally) and triggering, but not in ones immediate neighbourhood.

Orwell, on the other hand, left the horror to your imagination. In some ways, a more harrowing experience. But the dystopian future of 1984 and the political satire of Animal Farm were clearly improbable from the sanitised perspective of the sheltered life I led in the nineties when I read these books. (This was ironic given that I was living in a Communist state, but it was also a state of denial, and the nightmare of Big Brothers constant surveillance was not easily imagined in the technologically-deprived India before the noughties.)

Despite the cocoon of privilege that prevented a personal connect, the books and the comics touched a nerve, awokening (pun intended) me to the depth of depravity that power can lead humans to, and the bleak realisation that ordinary people are weak, easily corruptible and cowed. Not a sliver of hope did either Orwell or Ennis leave; the much needed catharsis never comes.

Chosen Spirits is much, much kinder. It brings Orwellian dystopia and satire closer home with click-bait headlines that you may have read last week, its vision of technological surveillance is as soul-chilling as it is brilliant; and the violence without being graphic is relentless on your peripheral vision; but it also gives you mostly incorruptible, frequently idealistic, incredibly soft-hearted people, it gives you the kindness of strangers, and it gives you the hope of resistance.

Resistance not to the idea of a nation or to a particular government, but resistance to faceless cruelty, limitless oppression and the general pettiness of immeasurably wealthy corporates. And it does that knowing that you, Dear Reader, will probably fit at least one of these descriptors: entitled, young, upper-caste, upper-class, corporate-job holding, safety-seeking, liberal. You may never be able to do enough, but just the attempt, as Joeys wonderfully wise mother says to stand your ground, and hold on, instead of running away is a good place to start.

Which brings me, in the end, to my one grievance. Im going to read this book again, end-to-end and in snatches, in the months to come. When Ill need courage to change the things I can, strength to deal with the things I cant change, and the wisdom to know the difference. But every time, Ill wonder about the extended story arc of all the characters who became so real in just a few lines.

What happens to Rudra and Zaria, he of the traumatic viral video of his childhood and she of strength enough to challenge governments since her teenage years? What happens to Raja who grew up in Madhupur, the cyber-crime hub of Jharkhand? What happens to the paint-propelling Sharmila, and the soon-to-be-Iconic Indi, and the possibly wanderlusting sapiosexual futurist Tara? In short, I hope the author has a sequel planned already.

Samit Basu has been lauded as a wordsmith and even called the poster boy of science fiction and fantasy in India, but Chosen Spirits is neither simple dystopian science-fiction nor straightforward satire. It is a book that is gently funny at times, cuttingly sardonic at other times, and breathes empathy at all times. It is a call for freedom in an age of puppy adoption shows.

Chosen Spirits, Samit Basu, Simon & Schuster India.

More:

Samit Basus new novel looks at how reality is shaped and what humans can do about it - Scroll.in

There is a sense of perspective there for the politicians and others who are trying to stir public discontent for self-serving ends. In a world where so many people do it extremely tough, Australia has been generally well looked after by government policies in this pandemic.

Barbara Chapman, Hawthorn

Tim Smith, it is in your best interest to remove your unnecessary political grandstanding and read the article in yesterday's paper: "I didn't say a proper goodbye, it was the last time I saw them" (The Age, 11/5).

Sarah Saaroni details her experiences in Majdanek concentration camp and within Jewish ghettos. If you want to talk about oppression and a life of restriction, I think it best you avail yourself of a broader view and understand our situation really is not that bad.

You have embarrassed yourself.

Julian Roberts, Burwood

Another vote of support for the cautious approach taken by the Premier. Do I want the world to be back the way it was? In many respects, yes, but not at any cost.

For all those in a hurry, my 85-year-old mother and I respectfully suggest you might wish to look overseas and see how that's working for others.

Nick Gibson, Romsey

The negative carping of some members of the Victorian opposition leads me to believe that Australia may have been lucky that Scott Morrison won the unwinnable election last year.

I hope Liberal MP Tim Smith read the story about Tom Wolf's struggle with COVID-19 in The Age ("Coronavirus robbed Tom of oxygen but whispered words brought him back to life", 11/5). It gave a perfect counter-vision to Mr Smith's "me" moment, name-calling Premier Daniel Andrews like a silly schoolkid.

Stand by if, god forbid, a second wave of the virus hits Victoria. The Smiths and Bernie Finns in the opposition largely irrelevant just now will be the first to say Andrews lifted restrictions too early.

David Allen, Bayswater North

If you contract COVID-19 as a result of protesting against measures that were put in place to prevent you from contracting it, you have only yourself to blame.

Oh, and by the way, if you were protesting because of the restrictions not being lifted for Mother's Day, you do realise that a) thanks to technology such as phones and Zoom, you were still able to say hi to your mum on Mother's Day, even if you couldn't do it in person, b) potentially giving your mum COVID-19 is a funny way of showing that you love her, and, c) now that the restrictions have been eased, you will be able to visit her in person even though it's not Mother's Day any more?

John Howes, Rowville

Congratulations to Peter Hartcher on an excellent article correctly comparing Australia's performance in containing the coronavirus with other nations on a deaths per million of population basis (Comment, 9/5).

Our performance deserves to be more widely known, because (along with New Zealand) at 4 deaths per million, that low death rate stands in stark contrast to the very high death rates per million in Europe: Belgium 684, Spain 540 and the UK 420, as at May 4. Even Germany, regarded as a success in Europe, had 84 deaths per million.

It was pleasing to see Hartcher give credit where it is due, because in this crisis the federal government mostly got things right, being guided by medical experts, acting promptly with interventions such as border controls, testing and public education programs, getting public and private hospitals to act in unison, plus forming a national cabinet to manage the crisis and communicating regularly with the public.

Apart from mishandling cruise ships, the generally capable performance of our combined governments contrasts with the slow to act, near shambolic administration of some other nations, with their consequent unnecessary deaths.

Thomas Hogg, East Melbourne

It's a waste of time trying to appeal to scientific evidence to convince conspiracy theorists they are misguided.

There is a deeper social displacement and psychological condition that makes some people highly receptive to this nonsense that needs to be understood and countered with care.

Paul Miller, Box Hill South

On the way coming into the city today on Dandenong Road, Springvale, petrol 119 a litre, on the other side of the road going out of the city petrol 85 a litre

In these traumatic pandemic times one needs to be alert as to whether they are coming or going.

Francis Bainbridge, Fitzroy North

Some commentators are saying that getting immigration started again is fundamental to kick-starting the economy after the virus-induced recession and that immigration has always been a key to economic growth. However the evidence does not support this.

In recent years Australia has had historically huge immigration numbers and therefore population growth far exceeding rates in the rest of the OECD. Between 2003 and 2018 Australia's population grew by 26 per cent compared with the OECD average of 10 per cent.

Did this growth put Australia's economy ahead of the pack? Well GDP per capita for Australians between, for example, 2010 and 2018 grew by nearly 9 per cent. However in the same period the OECD economies grew by an average 12.5per cent, the EU economies by 11per cent and Japan 9.5 per cent.

Given the stress that higher population numbers are creating for Australia's environmental carrying capacity and the huge backlog of infrastructure creation which has lagged, and always will, behind population growth, simple population-expansion panaceas need to be questioned.

Peter Fellows, Ashburton

People who can't wait for the lockdown restrictions to be further eased will have another chance to complain if such easing produces a surge in infections.

Heed the medicos' message: more patience means fewer patients.

Jenifer Nicholls, Armadale

Had Labor formed a federal government I have no doubt that a Coalition opposition would have delayed and been against every action taken during this COVID-19 crisis. Look at its track record during the GFC.

Scott Morrison's success with the coronavirus crisis is in large part a result of the Labor opposition playing a constructive, bipartisan role while state and territory leaders have significantly influenced decisions of the national cabinet.

It is interesting that in every major crisis facing Australia for more than 100 years it has been a Labor government and prime minister who have successfully led Australia through uncertain times.

During WWI we had the Fisher/Hughes governments (albeit that Billy Hughes changed parties in 1918), while the Great Depression saw the election of the Scullin government and it was John Curtin to whom Australians turned during the darkest days of WWII.

At a state level Daniel Andrews has continued this tradition of strong, effective leadership.

James Young, Mount Eliza

As an arts practitioner for more than four decades and a union delegate for eight years, I maintain little optimism for creatives during the pandemic despite the efforts of Labor's Tony Burke and the Greens. When dealing with conservative governments it was a given they would place the arts at the bottom of any funding list. The reason: "There are no votes in this for us."

Why would the Morrison government spend extra billions to sustain an industry it sees as antagonistic and presents as elitist and out of touch? It's pathetic but it's true.

Kevin Summers, Bentleigh

Yes, Sue Green ("Working at home not always a win-win", Comment, 11/5), working from home means "lower labour and infrastructure costs for employers", and that would be a win for employers.

Unless the law has changed, employees working from home get to claim tax concessions for phones, computers, printers, internet services, office expenses, etc. This enables employers to have their operating costs subsidised by taxpayers.

Employers, usually in a position of power, have used a great many legal tricks to manipulate the employer/employee relationships to their benefit, including putting full-time staff on contracts, avoiding legal obligations for employees (sick/annual leave).

The government needs to ensure employers are not able to transfer their operating costs to the Australian taxpayer. If they cannot provide a safe working environment for staff then the employer needs to pay all of the costs of any employee working from home.

Wendy Tanner, Footscray

How about speed bumps or sections of corrugated boards or cement, sand or pebbles on shared pathways to slow cyclists down and prevent horrendous injuries to pedestrians like those suffered by Margot Schmidt (Letters, 11/5)?

Probably all walkers on these pathways could report many close calls as cyclists come flying past without you even realising they're there. The compulsory ringing of a bell when a cyclist is 20 metres or so from a pedestrian would be helpful.

It's time for some undercover police to nab the small proportion of cyclists who act as if the shared pathways are their private velodromes.

All adult cyclists should have to display an official number plate so that miscreants can be identified and reported to the authorities.

Tony Lenten, Glen Waverley

John Quinn (Letters, 11/5) pinpoints the problems caused by shooting brumbies. Feral cats and wild dogs will feast on the easy meal of brumby carcasses and then breed exponentially. Once they've eaten the carcasses, they will prey on native and farm animals.

A program that takes account of the entire food chain is the answer. Shooting brumbies is not only cruel, it will increase other feral animal numbers and create more problems.

Jan Kendall, Mount Martha

Tim Smith has a problem. There is an autonomous part of his make up that makes him verbally respond to information before the signal reaches his brain. His leader knows this.

He should learn that playing politics in an age of real uncertainty doesn't work. The skilled politics comes when you can identify failures with objective facts. Not the school-yard tactics of casting aspersions for the sole reason of being noticed.

John Rome, Mount Lawley, WA

As a retired teacher I wish to endorse Col Mason's comments (Letters, 11/5) in lauding the work of teachers in this COVID-19 world.

Our teachers have been magnificent in their commitment to their students, their heroic adaptation in a very short time to alternative ways of progressing learning, and their dedicated management of student welfare.

Teaching is arguably the most important role in society, and amid the panic, confusion and political conflict, teachers have continued to provide learning for their students.

If the coronavirus has given us something positive it should be inestimable gratitude for our teachers, and it is hoped that this new found appreciation will be for what teachers do every day, and not just in times of crisis.

Maybe, just maybe, when this is over, when the dark clouds disappear and the sun comes out again, and our school grounds resonate once more with noise and laughter we might have an epiphanous moment, and give teachers the recognition they have always deserved .

Bryan Long, Balwyn

I can sympathise with Tom Wolf's coronavirus experience. Fortunately, I didn't have the virus, but still suffered the horrors of an isolation ward in which nurses dressed in full protective gear attempted to communicate with me. I was allowed no visitors, and needless to say, found the whole experience lonely, terrifying, and not easily forgotten.

Helen Scheller, Benalla

I have just listened to Premier Daniel Andrews' message (11/5) on how he is going to manage coronavirus in Victoria.

I am disappointed. What is the purpose in coronavirus testing on hundreds of thousands of Victorians? That will take several weeks and cost several hundred thousand dollars.

If the purpose of the exercise is to find out how many people in Victoria have coronavirus infection, please select 1200 or so people at random and test whether they have coronavirus.

This is an exercise similar to what the pollsters do on a daily basis. The exercise will take two days.

Bill Mathew, Parkville

Shop till you drop ...

Ian Hill, Blackburn South

Jill Dumsday (Letters, 8/5) nailed it about our sense of entitlement to travel: I went to the tropics and found Ashburton.

Kate Bond, Glen Iris

As lunatic fringes go it doesn't get any worse than the people on the steps of Parliament on Sunday.

Reg Murray, Glen Iris

Is there a cruise ship handy we can send the protesting loonies on?

Jan Newmarch, Oakleigh

Not sure which is more scary, COVID-19 or Sky News.

Jon Smith, Leongatha

I've been following the anti-lockdown protests in the US and now Melbourne and all I can see are crowds of Darwin Award hopefuls. The judges are going to have an extra-hard time this year.

Lynne McLennan, Mount Helen

And a peace descended on the land. Golfers stopped railing against the ban on golf games.

Jenni King, Camberwell

Dear Prime Minister, with all this washing of the hands business, can we please have a one-off soap allowance payment?

John Cummings, Anglesea

There'll be a Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On in heaven. Vale Little Richard.

Mary Hind, Brighton

Tim Smith, playing the fool may have worked for Donald Trump and Boris Johnson but it doesn't necessarily mean it will work for you.

Phil Alexander, Eltham

Really, Tim Wilson; Daniel Andrews enjoying the clampdown because it gives him power? I prefer the one that blames Bill Gates for orchestrating the pandemic.

Henry Herzog, St Kilda East

Vale Jack Mundey, a loss of a strong unionist and leader. A privilege to have known him.

Mary Fenelon, Doncaster East

*Sign up to editor Alex Lavelle's exclusive newsletter at: http://www.theage.com.au/editornote.

Loading

Read the original:

We have been looked after in this pandemic - The Age

When medical experts warned us that this virus was especially dangerous for patients with underlying medical conditions, I was scared, given that this nation suffers from multiple comorbidities. Will our weak and overburdened healthcare system be able to contain the shock? Our socioeconomic reality also merits concern. Many of us have no social safety nets, reside in slum communities unfamiliar with social distancing, lack access to basic sanitation, and can't eat if we don't work. While some claim that the virus does not discriminate, it has proven otherwise. The virus brought here by those who can afford to travel will first kill the poor.

I am more afraid, however, that this crisis will end without fostering change in us. We may overcome this disease but remain blind to the causes of this nations social pathology. Patricia Licuanan postulated that one weakness of the Filipino character is our lack of self-analysis and reflection. More than a century ago, Rizal also reproached our weaknesses (i.e. lethargy and subservience), and such criticism is still relevant today.

Before this crisis, most of us lived our lives with little or no help from the government. We were too preoccupied with our own survival that we saw politics not as our concern. This distance made us forget the true meaning of public service. When we exercised our right to suffrage, we voted not to effect change, but rather to just fulfil our civic duty and/or receive our share of the spoils. (READ: Robredo hits 'growing culture of apathy, impunity, lies')

But now that we are locked up in our houses, we can see that governance can actually be a matter of life and death. The crisis exposed the incompetence of many elected officials, and the long-standing bureaucratic pathologies that have compromised our development. The same problems were there: rampant corruption, red tape, nepotism, patronage, incompetence, lack of coordination from government offices, selective justice, and the weaponization of the law, etc.

Nothing much has actually changed: red tape and politicization caused delays in the delivery of aid; brain drain deprived us of important professionals; our justice system was more apt at prosecuting the powerless; and our history of marginalization left our cultural minorities more vulnerable to crises. We failed to realize that this insurgency is a result of our inability to solve historical grievances and structural problems.

Adding insult to injury is how we condone oppression and become perpetrators ourselves. Nepotism floods the bureaucracy with incompetents. Corruption is sugarcoated as diskarte lang, and our participation in it as pakikisama. We tolerate mediocrity: Puwede na yan, Bahala na. Mediocrity is also disguised as contentment, fear, and subservience in the guise of respect.

It is disturbing that we have normalized oppression. It has become a potent anaesthetic that makes us indifferent to our own suffering and the suffering of others. We tolerate inefficiency, irregularities, and incompetence, and then call ourselves resilient. (READ: 'Those in power have long abused the Filipino's resiliency')

I am more afraid that this lack of critical reflection will go on. We will continue to vindicate a dictator, exonerate traitors, reinstate plunderers to power, elect warlords, recycle trapos, applaud demagogues, depend on the patronage of the same people who cause our suffering, tolerate inefficiency, embrace mediocrity, and listen to rubbish yet suppress valid dissent.

When this crisis ends, we need to treat governance as a matter of life and death. When we search for scapegoats, we have partly ourselves to blame. Rizal once said, after all, that there are no tyrants where there are no slaves. Rappler.com

Tobit P. Abao is a graduate of the AB Political Science program at Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT). He advocates for good governance, environmental protection, and youth engagement to effect social change.

Original post:

[OPINION] Our lack of critical reflection is the real disease in our midst - Rappler

Has the music we listen to, and why we listen, changed during the coronavirus pandemic?

Beyond the well-documented evidence of pandemic music-making at a distance and over social media, music critics have suggested there is an increased preference for music that is comforting, familiar and nostalgic.

Data from major streaming services and companies that analyze them may support this view.

On Spotify, the popularity of chart hits dropped 28 per cent between March 12 and April 16. Instead, Spotify listeners are searching for instrumental and chill music. In the first week of April on Spotify, there was a 54 per cent increase in listeners making nostalgia-themed playlists, as well as an uptick in the popularity of music from the 50s, '60s, '70s and '80s.

More than half of those participating in a survey conducted by Nielsen Music/MRC Data at the end of March 2020 said they were seeking comfort in familiar, nostalgic content in their TV viewing and music listening. The survey was based on responses by 945 consumers in the U.S. aged 13 and older, plus online responses.

As a researcher who has examined musics power in times of crisis most recently, exploring the music of people who were refugees from civil war El Salvador during the 1980s I believe such work can help us understand our apparent desire to use familiar music for psychological support during this challenging period.

In a time when many are confronting both increased solitude and increased anxiety, familiar music provides reassurance because it reminds us who we are as people. Whether it is a hit we danced to with our teenage friends, or a haunting orchestral piece our grandmother played, music lights up memories of our past selves.

Music allows us to create an emotional narrative between the past and present when we struggle to articulate such a narrative in words. Its familiarity comforts us when the future seems unclear.

Music helps to reconnect us to our identities. It also helps us, as all the arts do, to pursue an otherwise inexpressible search for meaning. In so doing, it helps bolster our resilience in the face of difficulty.

People have used music to such philosophical and psychological ends even in times and places where one would think music would be the last thing on peoples minds.

In one of the most extreme among many examples, survivors of Nazi concentration camps report having sung familiar songs to reinforce their sense of self and their religious identity, when both were gravely threatened.

My current research considers musics use for such purposes during the 1980s by refugees from the civil war in El Salvador. Subsistence farmers (campesinos/campesinas), who fled government oppression for refugee camps in Honduras, have told me they considered music essential to their psychological survival.

In a sometimes-dangerous new land, away from their war-stricken home, campesinos and campesinas performed, listened and danced to old and new folk songs to help sustain a connection to their pre-war identities in the nation they had left behind. Traditional folk songs were sometimes given new words to document the refugees persecution.

Songs thus provided both a means to maintain identity and an emotional narrative for traumatic events that were hard to describe in words. This helped the refugees manage the challenges of the present and face an uncertain future.

In 2019, I helped conduct research for a short documentary about one leading refugee singer-songwriter in El Salvador, Norberto Amaya. Amayas story shows how Salvadoran musicians harnessed music to help their refugee compatriots manage the psychological challenges of their situation. The film was a collaboration between Western University and Juan Bello of Triana Media, with support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

The songs of El Salvadors civil war refugees make clear that music, whether old or new, serves a vital function for humans facing hardship, both on personal and cultural levels.

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit some communities much harder than others, and demonstrated how existing inequalities are thrown into even greater relief in times of crisis. Yet in all affected communities, the pandemic has the capacity to trigger anxious feelings about earlier traumas and current separations.

Listening to music we know well reminds us of the friends and family that have made us who we are. In our current situation, different as it is from that faced by Salvadoran civil war refugees, familiar music is similarly permitting reconnection both to personal identity and to a much larger community of family, friends and strangers who also love these familiar songs. This helps us better manage our isolation and anxiety.

This apparent human instinct to seek out mechanisms that enable cultural reconnection is a smart one. Trauma scholars believe that, for some people, familiar cultural practices may actually be more effective than psychiatric treatment in helping people deal with potentially traumatic events.

American poet and activist Maya Angelou once movingly wrote:

Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.

Many can surely relate to such a sentiment. We may not yet have the words to articulate our response to the situation in which humanity currently finds itself. But engaging with music soothes us in these difficult times, providing a means to begin to process our emotions, to stay connected to our pre-pandemic identities and to participate in something larger than ourselves, even while we live apart.

Read the rest here:

Music helps us remember who we are and how we belong during difficult and traumatic times - The Conversation CA

Christians want international community to pay attention to Chinas religious and human rights situation

UCA News reporter, China, May 5,2020

Chinese Christians have welcomeda damning US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) report butsaid religious oppression in China is more severe than what is reported.

Christian leaders say the spacefor religious freedom has severely shrunk in the past two decades, with thecommunist regime implementing a series of policies aiming to eradicate religionfrom society.

The US State Department hasconsidered China a country of special concern since 1999, followingthe USCIRF recommendation. The recent 2020 report of the commission kept Chinaamong the global worst performers in terms of religious freedom.

But some religious scholars toldUCA News that the most serious but often overlooked form of religious suppressionin China is to make Christians sign a declaration rejecting religion under thethreat of denying them government benefits such as pensions.

Since 2018 in areas such asZhejiang province, Christian teachers in schools and colleges have been forcedto sign such documents, without which they are denied pensions.

The oppression continues subtly, blocking people from practicing their faith, said a religious leader who requested anonymity.

The USCIRF report, released onApril 28, said that the state of religious freedom in China has continuedto deteriorate over the last year, with authorities using facialrecognition and artificial intelligence to monitor religious minority groups.

Series of violations

Independent experts estimate thatbetween 900,000 and 1.8 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyzstans and other Muslimsare being held in more than 1,300 concentration camps in Xinjiang, the reportsaid.

It also referred to attacks onChristians, saying that authorities had raided or seized hundreds of Christianhouse churches. They released members of the Autumn Rain Covenant Church inDecember 2018, but a court last December charged its priest, Reverend Wang Yi,with subversion of state power and sentenced him to nine years inprison.

The report also explicitlymentioned Auxiliary Bishop Guo Xijin of Fujian Mindong Diocese and CoadjutorBishop Cui Tai of Hebei Xuanhua Diocese. Authorities harassed and jailed themfor refusing to join the official state-sanctioned church.

It also alleges that various localgovernments, including Guangzhou, are offering cash incentives to people whoreport underground church groups.

In addition, crosses fromchurches across the country have been removed, people under 18 are banned fromparticipating in religious liturgies, and images of Jesus or Our Lady arereplaced with those of President Xi Jinping.

The report recommended that theUS government again designate China as a country of special concern under theInternational Religious Freedom Act.

It wanted the US to impose targetedsanctions on institutions and officials that commit serious violations ofreligious freedom by freezing the property of the individuals involved orbarring them from entering the United States.

They also suggested that if theChinese government continues to suppress religious freedom, US governmentofficials will not participate in the Winter Olympics hosted by Beijing in2022.

The report also asked forintensified efforts to fight back against the Chinese governments attempts toexert influence in the United States to suppress information or propagandaabout religious freedom violations.

China defends freedom

Chinese Foreign Ministryspokesman Geng Shuang responded to the report at a regular press conference. Hesaid the US committee was biased against China and has published reports overthe years denigrating Chinas religious policy.

He claimed that China has nearly200 million people of all kinds of religious communities, more than 380,000religious staff, about 5,500 religious groups and more than 140,000 religiousactivity sites registered by law.

Geng reiterated that China wouldnever allow anyone to engage in illegal criminal activities under the guise ofreligion.

He also urged the US to respectbasic facts, reject arrogance and prejudice, stop the misguided practice ofreleasing reports year after year, and stop using religious issues to interferein Chinas internal affairs.

But a Chinese religious scholarwho wished to remain anonymous argued that the report was basicallytelling the truth.

Chinese authorities have beenincreasingly cracking down on religion in recent years, with the worstcrackdown on Christianity in Henan province in 2018.

More severe than the demolitionof crosses and churches is the coercion of citizens to sign declarationsrejecting religion under the threat of denying them benefits, he said.

It is a serious violationof human rights and contempt for the law, causing regression of the legalsystem in society, he added.

Religious oppression as culturalrevolution

The scholar said suppression inHenan province is like a rehash of the Cultural Revolution, which will causemajor social trauma and great stimulation to peoples minds, triggering mutualhatred and creating a social group psychological distortion.

After all these years sincethe Cultural Revolution, people have just regained a little bit of sanity, butthey didnt expect to go back all of a sudden, which is a disaster, hesaid.

He pointed out that just 10 daysbefore Geng Shuang responded to the report, the cross of Our Lady of the RosaryChurch in Anhui province was removed. On the following day, the cross ofYongqiao Catholic Church in Suzhou City was also removed.

But the Chinese communistauthorities did not produce any legal documents for their action, saidthe scholar.

Chinese official Geng Shuang waslying, said Cebu parishioner Paul Li. The officials accused this USreport of denigrating Chinas religious policy. Is it Chinas religious policyto tear down the crosses of churches? And to spend public money to demolishcrosses despite churches objections,? Li asked.

Father Thomas Wang, who has beenfollowing the developments, said authorities have never responded positively tothese accusations of religious persecution, either dodging them oroutrightly evading them, or accusing others of interfering in internalaffairs.

Father Wang said the Chinese sidesees it as a domestic fight. I beat my wife and children behind closeddoors; it has nothing to do with you, I just beat them to death, its ourfamily business, its none of your business.

Maria Li in Guangdong said Chinais no longer worried about international pressure and condemnation.

They have bribed a lot of smallcountries and organizations; even international agencies like the World HealthOrganization defended it. So what are they worried about? she asked.

However, she wanted theinternational community to pay attention to the religious and human rights situationin China.

If more countries unite andput pressure on China, authorities will desist from blatant oppressions, whichwill help the Church to breathe, she said.

https://www.ucanews.com/news/chinese-oppression-worse-than-us-reported/87921

Visit link:

Chinese oppression 'worse than US reported - Catholic Citizens of Illinois

RNS

Akida Pulat has made it through her last three birthdays and the onset of a pandemic without knowing where her mother is.

This weekend, she will add a third Mothers Day to the list.

On Mothers Day, she and a group of Uighur diaspora youth living in the US, Turkey, Germany and Norway are asking China to answer one question: Where are our mothers?

Boys from the Uighur community living in Turkey take a break to pray during a rally in Istanbul on 6th November, 2018. The group, carrying flags of what ethnic Uighurs call 'East Turkestan, protested against what they allege is oppression by the Chinese government to Muslim Uighurs in Chinas far-western Xinjiang province. PICTURE: AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis.

Her mother,Rahile Dawut, is a prominent professor and scholar of the Uighur minority, the ethnically Turkic and mostly Muslim population to which her family belongs. Concentrated in Chinas north-west Xinjiang region, more than one million Uighurs have beendetainedin its vast network of camps that have evoked condemnation from US and international officials.

Pulat and other Uighurs suspect their parents have disappeared into this system. In a social media video they plan to publish on Sunday, 10th May, she and over half a dozen young Uighurs around the world will demand the release of their mothers.

Today, we are remembering our mothers currently being held in Chinas concentration camps, whom we arent able to say Happy Mothers Day, the video says. "Today is supposed to be a day of celebration but for us, its another day filled with pain and desperation.

For Ziba Murat, 34, this is the second Mothers Day with no news of her mothers whereabouts.

What happened to her? Murat, who also appears in the video and helped coordinate it, asked during an interview with Religion News Service. Where is she? What is her condition? Its been 20 months, and weve heard nothing from her or about her. Honestly, Im desperate and I need to know how she is, or if shes even alive.

Her mother, Gulshan Abbas, is a retired doctor who has not been heard from since 11th September, 2018. Abbas sister, prominent Uighur activist and Campaign for Uyghurs Executive Director Rushan Abbas,suspectsthe disappearance was a punishment for her speaking out against the camps; Gulshan Abbas disappeared six days after the activist denounced the camps at a major conference in Washington, DC.

I cant believe all of a sudden she disappeared like this, Murat said. I dont know why. There are so many questions I cant get my head around. Its hard to live this every day. The emotions are overwhelming, especially on a special day like that.

Last year on the holiday, after months of public silence for fear of spurring retaliation against her mother and other family in Xinjiang, Murat wrote an essay pleading for the world to find her mother. In it, she prayed that her mother would be free to celebrate at home by the next year.

But the months since have only brought two more grandchildren that Abbas has not met, as well as more frustration, unanswered questions and fruitless appeals to the Chinese government for any information on Abbas whereabouts or condition.

Now, that anxiety has ratcheted up with the outbreak of the coronavirus, which Uighur family members and human rights advocates fear could spread like wildfire in Chinas detention camps. If she were free, Murat pointed out, her mother would be the first to volunteer to be on the front lines assisting infected patients.

Before her disappearance, Murat and her mother would spend their Mothers Days chatting over video or, when they were in the same country, shopping and spending time together.

Im missing those days, Murat said with a deep sigh. If she were here, I would take her to the beach so she could enjoy the beautiful weather here in Tampa...we could do a lot of things, but we wont be able to because China took her away from us.

Ziba Murat's mother, Gulshan Abbas. PICTURE: Courtesy photo

The Chinese Government, though it first denied the existence of the detention camps, insists that the centers are completely voluntary vocational training institutes in response to terrorism and Islamic extremism in the region.

But leaked documents from within the government, which China claims are fabricated",showthat Uighurs have been systemically penalized for traveling abroad, speaking Arabic or their native Uighur, and practicing their faith in any way, from growing a beard to praying.

Across social media, Uighurs have begun posting tributes to their mothers, some of whom they say are missing and others whom they avoid contacting for fear of retribution.

"If you have a lovely mother just like mine, do you think telling her happy Mother's Day would be too much to ask?" said Shayida Ali, a Boston-based software engineer who has not spoken to her parents in three years, in avideo. "If you are a parent, do you think sending your children abroad is a crime?"

Such videos, young Uighurs say, are an attempt to show the world that their pain and stories are real.

We are real people, living through this atrocity, Murat said. Its nothing political. We are just the flesh-and-blood living example of what China has done to our family.

Given the chance, she said, Murat would make sure her mother knows how much she means to her family with a simple message.

Happy Mothers Day. Youre the strongest woman I know. Please hang in there. We miss you and love you so much.

More:

On Mother's Day, young Uighurs ask: Where are our mums? - Sight Magazine