Haley Saffren 20 /Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

In 1949, George Orwell created a classic novel about a dystopian society that takes place in, what seemed at the time, a futuristic version of the year 1984. The story follows a man named Winston who is entrenched in a corrupt society that uses lies and propaganda to ensure that its citizens follow the Inner Party without any questions. Winston harbors a strong hatred for the party and yearns for a rebellion to one day overthrow it. When Donald Trump became president, sales of this book, which has been in publication for many decades, began to spike because of the eerie similarities to what is going on today in the US government. It is not difficult to understand why.

In the novel, extreme oppression of independent thoughts and ideas is rampant, especially if these thoughts and ideas present a challenge to the government. If someone is even suspected of being a traitor to the government, they are manipulated into revealing their position, captured, and tortured. From just the first few weeks of Trumps presidency, his methods seem eerily similar to those of the followers of Big Brother and the Inner Party in 1984. While no one has been treated as harshly by the US government as they were in 1984 (so far), extreme occurrences of discrimination and oppression of freedom of speech already have occurred. Police arrested journalists at Trumps inauguration protests, holding some of them overnight just for doing their jobs.

This was a clear attempt to stop them from reporting accurate accounts of events and highlighting how more people seemed to show up for the protests against the new president than for his inauguration. Trumps administration tried to manipulate the media coverage to trick the public into believing that more people showed up for his inauguration than Obamas in 2009 and 2013. When the Muslim Ban was put forth, Trumps staff tried to say it was not a ban, even though Muslims were being explicitly held at airports and arriving Muslims were sent out of the country. Trumps methods are not as extreme as the atrocities Big Brother committed in 1984, but Trumps administration is showing signs of taking the government down a similar, dark path to the ruling body in the book.

Increased sales may also be due to the fact that some people are scared. They know the near future looks bleak as long as Trump is in power.1984 shows readers how far Trump could go with the power he has. However, this book also reminds us to never stop fighting for civil rights so that the US government cannot take the terrible turn Winstons government did in the novel. If people stop fighting wrongs and exercising their rights, Trump will be allowed to do whatever he wants. Even though most believe it could never happen, it could get to the point where he is willing to torture people who remotely oppose him. In 1984, when Winston was suspected of being a rebel, the government had one of his coworkers pretend to be an ally and gain his trust. Once this so-called friend figured out Winston was against Big Brother, he exposed him.

They tried to change his way of thinking by using torturous methods including electroshock therapy and drastically exposing him to his worst fear (which involved him being nearly eaten by rats). Although this is the worst case scenario, it is still a possibility in our world. The book is a marvelous showcase of what effects a government under the worst form of dictatorship could have on society. Although it is hard to imagine America falling to this level, the US is entering unknown waters and a period of a horrifying use of power.

The increase in sales of 1984 reveals the terror and resolve people are feeling in order to address this dark era. People are trying to understand what government looks like under extreme, oppressive leadership, especially since Trump is already exhibiting these characteristics. Not only is this book informative, but also it gives people hope that things are not as bad as they could be, and, unlike the citizens in 1984, a lot of people in the United States are actively standing up for what they believe is right.

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Opinion: The Relevance of Orwell's 1984 - Emertainment Monthly (registration) (blog)

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) For the second time this month, jeepney operators and drivers hold a nationwide transport strike and commuters are feeling the crunch.

The members of transport groups PISTON, Stop and Go Coalition, and No to Jeepney Phase-out Coalition are expected to gather at the Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan City to kick off today's nationwide transport strike.

According PISTON President George San Mateo, this jeepney strike is not only happening in Metro Manila, but in over 20 cities and municipalities across the country.

San Mateo said this is their response to the government's inaction to their plea to scrap the current version of the jeepney modernization program of the government - which they believe is a phase-out.

The same groups also organized a similar nationwide transport strike last February 6.

The previous transport strike was resolved when officials of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) called for a dialogue which was attended by the transport leaders.

However, transport groups were unsatisfied with the results of the dialogue, and on the same day declared their intention to organize a much bigger strike the one happening today.

San Mateo apologized to all affected commuters, but threatened if the government continues to be dismissive of their pleas, their groups will organize regular monthly strikes like this.

The jeepney groups are against the provision of the Transportation Department's order that will disallow jeepney models that are 16 years and older from plying their routes.

San Mateo said if they disallow these jeepney models, the government is actually phasing them out. He called this move a clear oppression of small jeepney operators and drivers, which will ultimately deprive them of their livelihood.

Apart from jeepneys, this modernization program also affects other types of public utility vehicles like buses and vans.

Commuters in several parts of the Metro are feeling the effects of the strike this early in the day.

There are fewer jeepneys arriving in Philcoa, along Commonwealth Avenue as of six in the morning.

The jeepneys passing along the area are mostly full.

Passengers say that their Monday commutes are usually difficult, but it's made worse today because of the striking jeepney drivers.

The members of PISTON from Quezon City came here as early as 2 a.m., to express their grievances.

This group will be converging with other PISTON members all over Metro Manila in Mendiola before lunch time today.

The police and personnel from the MMDA have positioned themselves in the area ready to assist the commuters.

In Monumento, the number of jeepneys ferrying commuters is growing smaller as the day progresses.

Some passengers here have been walking around, chasing available jeepneys. Others have been waiting for over 30 minutes hoping to get a ride.

Sonny Magalang, a commuter, said, "Lalo na mamayang ala-sais, agawan na 'yan tapos hindi na sila magpi-pick up... Inagahan ko para makapasok, pero hanggang ngayon hindi pa rin ako nakakasakay."

[Translation: Come 6 a.m., it will be difficult to get a ride. People will jostle each other to get a ride, but then jeepneys won't pick up passengers anymore... I got up early to go to work, but I haven't been cable to catch a ride up to now.]

The LTFRB and the Metro Manila Development Authority have pre-positioned government vehicles to offer free rides.

The LTFRB has also commissioned some buses to ferry commuters for minimal fees.

Some MMDA personnel and members of the police are also assisting passengers.

Class and work suspensions in several areas nationwide were declared on Sunday to ease the burden on commuters.

READ: #WalangPasok: Class and work suspensions for Feb. 27 due to transport strike

CNN Philippines correspondent Yumi Lugod contributed to this report.

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Transport groups hold nationwide transport strike to protest government's PUV modernization program - CNN Philippines

Posted on 26 February 2017.

establish justice, insure domestic tranquility From the preamble of the U.S. constitution

By Bruce S. Ticker

Bruce S. Ticker

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania Just Sunday afternoon, I was gazing at an internet photo of cemetery headstones, some overturned, bearing names like Singer, Weiss, Goldstein and Markowitz three miles southeast of my apartment in Northeast Philadelphia.

The desecration of nearly 100 headstones at Mt. Carmel Cemetery over the weekend is the latest crime directed at Jewish cemeteries, community centers, synagogues and other facilities during the past few months. Mt. Carmel is part of a collection of cemeteries across the street from the Frankford Transportation Center, the northern terminus of the citys elevated train which I ride frequently.

It is disturbing enough that American Jews are targeted so much at this time, but it would be far scarier if the government refused to address this problem. The introduction to our constitution states that we enforce the law and keep all of us as safe as possible. This is a contract between the American people and our government.

The Jewish community has been able to rely on this premise, as have all other racial, religious and ethnic groups at least in modern times. So-called President Trump managed to disrupt this comfort zone when the issue arose at his first presidential news conference and he persisted in stumbling through this episode when he sought to reassure American Jews.

Let us give him the benefit of the doubt that Trumps response was due to sloppy governance, not cynical pandering to anti-Semites who form part of his base. Idiocy is scary enough.

Certainly, every American must be protected by the government, but starting on Feb. 16 the Jewish community experienced a five-day period of confusion over the governments reliability to ensure as much as possible the safety of Americas estimated 5.3 million Jews.

This is personal. Despite my exposure to anti-Semitism, I have always felt I could depend on the government at all levels to address illegal actions toward Jews be it physical assault, vandalism or job discrimination.

That is so fundamental. Jews throughout history have been vulnerable to anti-Semitic acts because the government either sponsored them or was lax in addressing the offenses. Not in America. In fact, my people have been relatively fortunate here in the past 227 or so years.

The system cannot prevent all anti-Jewish acts nor control the thinking of anti-Semites, but it can and does address these incidents as they happen.

Today, police automatically investigate reports of criminal acts against Jews. Moreover, vandalism of synagogues and other Jewish facilities often prods our non-Jewish neighbors to come out in droves to repair the damage. Agencies on the state and federal levels routinely respond to claims of workplace bias. The FBI usually investigates nationwide crime patterns that victimize Jews as well as everyone else.

As The New York Times reported it, Trump muffed an ideal opportunity to reinforce the governments role on Feb. 16 when reporter Jake Turz asked, What we are concerned about and what we havent really heard being addressed is an uptick in anti-Semitism and how the government is planning to take care of it.

As Turz recounted the spate of bomb threats at Jewish facilities and similar incidents from Maine to California, Trump interrupted him in mid-sentence, saying, I understand the rest of your question

(HmmmTrump revealing his psychic skills.)

I am the least anti-Semitic person that youve ever seen in your entire life, Trump continued.

(Apparently, our president did not even understand the initial part of your question.)

I find it repulsive, Trump went on. I hate even the question because people that know me

He admonished Turz for ignoring Benjamin Netanyahus friendship with Trump whom the Israeli prime minister regards as a friend of Israel and the Jewish people instead of having to get up and ask a very insulting question like that. Just shows you about the press, but thats the way the press is.

Like many allies of Netanyahu, Turz is Orthodox and reports for Ami Magazine, an Orthodox Jewish weekly based in Brooklyn. He is conspicuous at White House news conferences by his Orthodox-style attire. To clarify, more of the Orthodox are prone to vote Republican, press for hardline Israeli actions and even take Christian right-type positions such as opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage.

The response from mainstream Jewish groups was swift and biting. Summing it up well was David Harris, executive director of the American Jewish Committee, who said, Use your bully pulpit not to bully reporters asking questions potentially affecting millions of fellow Americans, but rather to help solve a problem that for many is real and menacing.

In short, Trump shattered the contract between American Jews and government protection from oppression.

Practically speaking, Trumps response to the reporter will probably make no difference in the lives of American Jews, but officially it was a breach. Maybe he intentionally ignored the real thrust of the question to please his anti-Semitic supporters, or maybe he had such a lapse in concentration that he simply misunderstood the question. This was the president talking about constitutional policy and traditional routine practice. As George Costanza of Seinfeld asked about pigeons who historically fly away when cars approach until one such bird flouted tradition, Dont we have a deal with the pigeons?

Of course, Trump has threatened the security of Muslims, Hispanics and others, but his breach with Jews was done in a sharper manner. He could not tout any excuses that Jews might be dangerous and he acted in a more specific, categorical manner for no discernible reason. Especially, consider his staunch backing of Israel and his family relationship (his daughter as convert to Judaism).

His efforts to fill the breach were downright tepid. He waited five days after the confrontation with the reporter before offering an easy answer. In a flat, static tone of voice, he said, The anti-Semitic threats targeting our Jewish community and community centers are horrible and are painful and a very sad reminder of the work that still must be done to root out hate and prejudice and evil.

Another Trump comment was nice but a tad mystifying. As The New York Daily News reported, he said, Anti-Semitism is horrible. And, its gonna stop and it has to stop.

Anti-Semitism is horrible? Is this a matter of debate? As for stopping anti-Semitism, Trump would surpass the likes of Oskar Schindler, Raoul Wallenberg and Meep Gies as gentiles who saved Jews during World War II should he accomplish this feat.

It will be sufficient if Trump can end acts of anti-Semitism. American Jews will appreciate that deal.

* Ticker is a freelance writer in Philadelphia. He may be contacted via[emailprotected].

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Another Jewish cemetery desecrated; what will the President say? Isn't the government supposed to help? - San Diego Jewish World

As I get older, Im more and more inclined to see life as a collection of cycles. What goes around, comes around; to everything there is a season, from glorious Spring to blazing Summer, from brilliant Autumn to frozen Winter, to glorious Spring again.

Like the moon, everything waxes and wanes our economies, our schools, our families, our governments large and small even our diets. Sometimes things are going well, sometimes badly. Sometimes things are going marvelously well. Sometimes unbelievably badly. Sometimes a brilliant sunset, sometimes a rainbow, sometimes a snowstorm.

Cultural norms swing from liberal to conservative, from conservative to liberal, and back and forth again; hemlines rise and fall, neckties and lapels grow wider and narrower, beards grow, and are shaved away, and grow again. As a people we seem to move from comfortable to excess, to contraction, to comfortable; from comfortable to belt-tightening, to recovery, to comfortable.

Good government waxes and wanes, too, like the moon.

Powerful people take charge, creating new departments, expanding little empires, taking on bigger and bigger projects until eventually the departments are bloated, the projects are full of hot air, and the bubble bursts, putting good people out of work at the same time as getting rid of deadwood.

Perhaps you see some of this the same way, or perhaps not; you are your own Spiritual Authority.

Someone asked me today how I would respond, as a Wiccan, to our present national situation. Here is my reply:

I call to the powers of Air; I ask that you lend clarity of thought, release of oppressions, a cleansing breeze to blow through the corridors of power and sweep away what does not serve our nation and all its people.

I call to the powers of Fire; I ask that you lend passion to the ideas of liberty and justice, and that you transform the ideas of power-over, of greed, of privilege, of unfair taking; bringing in their place the warmth of shared community and shared resources throughout our nation.

I call to the powers of Water; I ask that you lend gentleness to the deliberations of our legislators, that they enter the flow of caring for the highest good of this land and its many peoples; I ask that you dissolve the barriers that set us to seeing each other as red states and blue states and let us see our common interests and feel our common devotion.

I call to the powers of Earth; I ask that you lend stability and support to our judges and our executives at all levels of government; that you remind them often of this holy ground on which they stand, and lead, and rule our peoples.

Later I realized I had asked for guidance and support from the Elements, but had not made corresponding pledges of my own. So here are some now:

I pledge to be mindful, as I read the news, that not everything published is true, and not everything true is right or fair.

I pledge to be mindful, as I cast my ballots, that not every candidate is honorable and not every candidate will be able to resist the work of lobbyists and horse-traders.

I pledge to use my voice, and the privileges I have been granted, to lift up and amplify the voices of those who bear greater oppressions than my own. I pledge to acknowledge and work to reduce my sense of entitlement and my unearned privilege.

But this post would not be complete without mention of a grave confusion I feel, a grave error I see around me, some important questions whose answers escape me: What is it in our humanness that leads so many of us to act as if we need to oppress some group in order to be sure of our own value? How is it that so many of the people I would naturally love have somehow concluded that they deserve more consideration than people who dont look like them, or who dont believe like them, or even who are a different gender than they are?

And a corollary, whether I can ever answer those questions or not: What can I do to reduce the oppression in which I participate, and to prevent new oppressions from arising?

All around me is reason for despair, but also reason for hope. More of my companions are deeply engaged than Ive seen in decades. More actual work is being done to reduce racism, ageism, sexism, ableism, and what I have to call religionism.

I know, as I said at the beginning, that everything goes in cycles. The pendulum swings, sometimes farther and sometimes more briefly. May the present cycle of oppression and doublespeak be brief, may the hard work continue and may it be effective; may the pendulum swing back toward center, and may we dwell in a fair-minded place longer than before.

So mote it be.

Maggie Beaumont, Halfway to Ostara at the Dark of the Moon

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Cycles and Oppression - Patheos (blog)

Is it ever acceptable to break the law? This question has gained new urgency under the oppression of the Trump presidency. For example, is it morally acceptable to hide our neighbors and friends from violent deportation raids? Can we destroy government property to slow the progress of unconstitutional proposals like Trumps border wall? How can we stand up against an incompetent administration that refuses to recognize our most basic human rights?

These questions are not new. In fact, this country was founded through lawbreaking when the 13 colonies decided to reject an oppressive government that did not fairly represent their interests. Countless other examples of disobedience from Rosa Parks to the Stonewall Riots that sparked the modern movement for LGBTQ equality have been defining moments in U.S. history.

The key point is this: There is sometimes a difference between what is legal and what is right, and understanding that distinction is a critical part of what it means to be a patriot in the United States. Standing up for ones country does not mean blind obedience. As the famed Civil War General Carl Schurz said, [The U.S. is] my country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right. In some cases, setting the country right may involve working within the system and following the rules, but other times it may not. Perhaps in a perfect world the need for disobedience would not exist, but sadly, this world is far from perfect, and an unjust law is no law at all. Our actions, therefore, must be dictated not by legality but by our conscience.

When the law is found to be lacking in morality, crime can be a powerful force of good. For example, in 2014, a 90-year-old Floridian was repeatedly arrested for feeding the homeless an illegal act punishable with a $500 fine and up to 60 days in jail. This goes to show that the law is not always representative of justice or the will of the people it is simply a tool for the purpose of establishing and maintaining the status quo. However, the act of breaking the law can reject a corrupt status quo, inviting a new status quo to take its place. As a result, disobedience becomes an unofficial last resort in a system of checks and balances.

Now, Im not advocating for anything malicious. Disobeying the law does not necessarily require one to harm another person in any way. In fact, one should be disobedient only when there are no alternatives that may be taken in good conscience, such as in cases of defending oneself or others from police brutality or unjust deportation raids.

Some argue that breaking the law can be detrimental to ones own cause. The alt-right movement has used crimes against white supremacist leaders as propaganda, disguising themselves as victims rather than oppressors. A prominent example of such propaganda is the alt-rights use of the viral video of neo-Nazi Richard Spencer being punched by a protester. Ultimately, it is important to remember that lawbreaking is an inherently risky activity especially for anyone who lacks the protection of social privilege and should not be taken lightly.

So if you choose to break the law in any way, choose an issue that matters one that is worth the consequences, whatever they might be. Productive crime is only necessary because legislation is fallible. Laws are only as fair as the people who write them sometimes less so and if they are not constantly questioned, then our democracy is already lost.

In the end, well-behaved, law-abiding citizens seldom make history. Bystanders are well-behaved. These were the people who shrugged as the slave trade thrived, who allowed the Nazis to commit their atrocities, and who now turn a blind eye to police brutality, immigration raids and the cruelty of the rising alt-right movement, simply because these injustices were or are considered legal. A petition and a nice speech are rarely enough to change the world. Sometimes, when the rules are rigged, the best thing to do is break them.

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Disobedience Checks Unjust Laws - The Oberlin Review

The Supreme Court has denied bail to a prominent anti-U.S. base activist in Okinawa despite repeated calls for his release from human rights organizations and civic groups who deem his arrest political oppression.

In a decision dated Monday, the court rejected an appeal filed against a lower courts rejection on two occasions of a bail request for Hiroji Yamashiro, head of the Okinawa Peace Action Center.

Yamashiro, 64, has led groups opposed to the contentious relocation plan for U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.

He was arrested in October on suspicion of cutting barbed wire near the construction site for a U.S. helipad in Higashi, northern Okinawa, and has also been charged with injuring a Japanese Defense Ministry official and obstructing base relocation work at another U.S. Marine base in Nago.

The arrests have sparked an outcry from civic groups and some Diet members from Okinawa who suspect Yamashiros arrest is aimed at weakening the fierce local opposition to building new U.S. military facilities needed to make the decades-old relocation plan work.

Supporters submitted petitions requesting his release to the Naha District Court last month.

Amnesty International Japan has released a statement calling for Yamashiros immediate release, saying he does not meet the criteria for being detained because the chances of him destroying evidence concerning his alleged crimes are very low.

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Supreme Court denies bail to leading anti-base activist in Okinawa; government accused of oppression - The Japan Times

The opinions stated in this article are solely those of the author and not of The Davis Clipper.

Twice a week for four years I went to Fatumas home to help her in the transition to America.

Fatuma was from Somalia, though shed lived in refugee camps in Kenya for a good portion of her life. Her husband was already good at English and had a job at the airport when I first started coming to their home. Her older children were in school and a second language seemed to come easily to them.

Fatuma was home with babies and toddlers so getting to a class was difficult. Going to the store was intimidating. Dealing with American traditions was overwhelming. So after some training, I got signed up to help.

I dont know if she learned anything over those four years of pictures and letters and flashcards and props and stories and explanations and sharing and trying and trying again. But I did. I learned about the price of opportunity. The price of freedom.

She had loved her home in Africa. Her father had land and hundreds of animals. Life was simple. Children were home. Families were together. But unrest made their home unsafe.

Everybody wants to be the government, her husband told me when I asked about the government in Somalia. Everybody fights. Everybody dies.

So they brought their family to America.

It wasnt easy. Not to get here and not to adjust to here.

I taught Fatuma about our money, about our holidays (Halloween was especially unfathomable for her), about our schools. I taught her husband, Ali, and his sister, Zeinab, about our government and our history and our geography to help them prepare to take their citizenship tests. And they taught me.

I saw the love in their home. Young children helped younger children. Multiple generations lived together and took care of each others needs.

I saw a deep religiosity in their home. Even young girls wore headscarves when they went to school or if I wanted to take a picture of them. They had a special room for worship and prayer. They fasted from sunrise to sundown for the month of Ramadan, even when it meant headaches and weakness.

During one visit, they were upset for a sister who had been resettled to Alaska. She was alone with children, had been sent there in the randomness of refugee resettlement decisions made by someone they would never be able to reach or reason with, and had no one to talk to or to understand her.

They wanted to drive there. Or fly her to Utah. Or find some way to help. But we were all helpless.

Resettling to America isnt for the faint of heart. It is for the brave. For those willing to risk all they know and understand for something new and frighteningly different. They do it because there is safety here. And one would hope they would find support and understanding and acceptance as well.

Fatuma and Ali and their family moved to Minnesota some years ago so our weekly visits have ended. They went for new opportunities and a larger community from their homeland to support and relate to them.

While I no longer spend time with them, I continue to have hope for them and the children they brought to America to provide a future of opportunity and security. They are all American citizens now.

They know about the balance of powers, the first president, the longest river, the countries at our borders, the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

And when they took the naturalization oath to become citizens, they renounced allegiance to any other country and pledged to support ours in any way that might be asked of them.

And though I never used to worry about what is ahead for them here, things have changed.

They are free from the fear and oppression of the homeland of their birth.

I hope they can be free from fear in their new one.

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On finding freedom from oppression, fear - Davisclipper

VI WALN

Sicangu Lakota

Sicangu Scribe

One of the most amazing things about the anti-pipeline movement is witnessing human beings unite in prayer. The spiritual energy created by the people who came together in this movement was experienced by many visitors to the Oceti Sakowin, Rosebud or Sacred Stone camps. No matter what happens, that spiritual fire will always burn in our hearts.

In the first few days of the resistance against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), only a handful of people occupied Sacred Stone Camp. A couple of months later, the Water Protector camps were home to 10,000 people. Wopila to all the human beings whove established a residence near the Cannon Ball river over the past year.

Many people across Unci Maka sacrificed to stand up for the Water of Life. President Obama lent a false sense of hope when he denied a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. The temporary halt of DAPL construction in December 2016, was another action bringing a false sense of hope that the black snake wouldnt be built. Yet, believing that the federal government would truly support a permanent halt to more pipeline construction was just too much to hope for.

For many people, it was no surprise to see newly-elected Trump take quick action to revive the big oil pipeline projects after he was sworn in as president. Unfortunately, many of us knew the politicians holding oil investments would push these projects forward. Its all about the profit margin for these capitalists.

In addition, much of the action Trump has taken or is promising to take, is not environmentally friendly at all. The fight against those whove made it their life purpose to destroy Mother Earth has just started. In the continuing battle to project Mother Earth, we have to remember that our own people are not to blame.

For example, there are derogatory remarks posted on social media about elected officials at Standing Rock. Granted, there arent many fans of the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) systems governing our reservations, but its the only form of government we have. And nothing about tribal government is going to change until we unite as tribal citizens and fix it ourselves. In any case, its extremely disheartening to read the negativity of peoples minds on public social media platforms.

There are also social media musings written by people questioning the validity of all the prayer thats been made for the Water of Life. People who question the power of prayer show their lack of faith. Without faith, you will always question your prayer.

These are examples of lateral violence. When an individual uses their energy to lash out at others, it shows how much of their focus is on others, instead of their own self-improvement. Focusing on the perceived shortcomings of others wont heal us. Each individual has to do their own work to heal their inner spirit.

Wikipedia defines Lateral Violence as something which occurs within marginalized groups where members strike out at each other as a result of being oppressed. The oppressed become the oppressors of themselves and each other. Common behaviors that prevent positive change from occurring include gossiping, bullying, fingerpointing, backstabbing and shunning. https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Lateral_ violence

Lateral violence is the residual of intergenerational trauma that many of us carry because of our history with the government; it continues to cripple our efforts at healing. Some healing is work we must do on ourselves. We have to help one another understand how violence inflicted upon on ancestors still affects us today. The more steps we take on our path to healing, the less painful that same journey will be for our descendants.

Again, the fight for Mother Earth has only just begun. Our energy would be better used fighting the real enemy, who are moving now to kill our planet. If you cant travel to a protest site, you can always pray. Despite what some may believe, its the daily prayers of the faithful that have transformed the antipipeline movement into what it is today.

Posting crap about your own people on Facebook doesnt do Mother Earth any good. It just shows the rest of us how much healing you need to go through in order to get over your tendency to engage in lateral violence. Time grows short. Look within and heal yourself. Our children are depending on healthy adults to protect the Mni Wiconi and save Unci Maka.

*Vi Waln is an enrolled citizen of the Sicangu Lakota Nation and is nationally published journalist.

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Lateral Oppression Hurts Us All - The Lakota Country Times

On the night of July 15, 2017, Turkey went through the most catastrophic tragedy in its recent history as a result of the attempted military coup. The events of that night could be called a serious terror coup.

Turkish people from all walks of life who thought the era of military coups was over showed solidarity against the coup and on the side of democracy. While the coup attempt was in progress, I condemned it in the strongest terms.

Twenty minutes after the military coup attempt surfaced, before the real actors were known, President Erdogan hastily blamed me. It is troubling that an accusation was issued without waiting for the events details and the perpetrators motives to emerge. As someone who has suffered through four coups in the last 50 years, it is especially insulting to be associated with a coup attempt. I categorically reject such accusations.

I have been living a reclusive life in self-exile in a small town in the United States for the last 17 years. The assertion that I convinced the eighth largest army in the world from 6,000 miles away to act against its own government is not only baseless, it is false, and has not resonated throughout the world.

If there are any officers among the coup plotters who consider themselves as a sympathizer of Hizmet movement, in my opinion those people committed treason against the unity of their country by taking part in an event where their own citizens lost their lives. They also violated the values that I have cherished throughout my life, and caused hundreds of thousands of innocent people to suffer under the governments oppressive treatment.

If there are those who acted under the influence of an interventionist culture that persists among some of the military officers and have put these interventionist reflexes before Hizmet values, which I believe is unlikely, then an entire movement cannot be blamed for the wrongdoings of those individuals. I leave them to Gods judgment.

No one is above the rule of law, myself included. I would like for those who are responsible for this coup attempt, regardless of their identities, to receive the punishment they deserve if found guilty in a fair trial. The Turkish judiciary has been politicized and controlled by the government since 2014 and, consequently, the possibility of a fair trial is very small. For this reason, I have advocated several times for the establishment of an international commission to investigate the coup attempt and I have expressed my commitment to abide by the findings of such a commission.

Hizmet movement participants have not been involved in one single violent incident throughout its 50-year history. They havent even taken to the streets to confront Turkish security forces while they have been suffering under the governments witch hunt, to use Mr. Erdoans own words, for the last three years.

Despite being subjected to a smear campaign and suffering under state oppression for the last three years in the hands of a politically controlled law enforcement and the judiciary, Hizmet movement participants have complied with the law, opposed injustices through legitimate means and only defended their rights within the legal framework.

Turkeys legal and law enforcement agencies have been mobilized for the last three years to investigate and reveal an alleged parallel state that they claim that I run.

The administration called the 2013 public corruption probe an organized attempt by Hizmet sympathizers within the bureaucracy to bring down the government. Despite detaining 4,000 people, purging tens of thousands of government employees and unlawfully seizing hundreds of NGOs and private businesses, authorities were unable to find a single piece of credible evidence to prove their claims.

Turkeys prime minister called an opportunity to meet with me heaven-sent in May 2013; however, after the public corruption probe emerged in December 2013, he began using hate language such as assassins and blood sucking vampires when referring to Hizmet movement participants.

After the treasonous coup attempt of July 15, the attacks have become unbearable. Turkish government officials also began referring to me and people sympathetic to my views as a virus and cancer cells that need to be wiped out. Hundreds of thousands of people that have supported institutions and organizations affiliated with the Hizmet movement have been dehumanized in one way or another.

Their private properties have been confiscated, bank accounts taken over and their passports cancelled, restricting their freedom of travel. Hundreds of thousands of families are living through a humanitarian tragedy due to this ongoing witch hunt. News reports show that nearly 90,000 individuals have been purged from their jobs and 21,000 teachers teaching licenses have been revoked.

Is the Turkish government forcing these families to starve to death by preventing them from working and prohibiting them from leaving the country? What is the difference between this treatment and the pre-genocide practices throughout European history?

Ive witnessed every single military coup in Turkey and, like many other Turkish citizens, have suffered during and after each one. I was imprisoned by the order of the junta administration after the March 12, 1971 coup. After the coup of September 12, 1980, a detention warrant was issued against me and I lived as a fugitive for six years.

Right after the February 28, 1997, post-modern military coup, a lawsuit asking for capital punishment was filed against me with the charge of an unarmed terrorist organization consisting of one person.

During all of these oppressive, military-dominated administrations, three cases accusing me of leading a terror organization were opened and, in each case, I was cleared of the charges. I was targeted by the authoritarian military administrations back then, and now, I face the very same accusations projected in an even more unlawful manner by a civilian autocratic regime.

I had friendly relations with leaders from various political parties, such as Mr. Turgut Ozal, Mr. Suleyman Demirel and Mr. Bulent Ecevit, and genuinely supported their policies that I found to be beneficial to the larger community. They treated me with respect, especially when recognizing Hizmet activities that contribute to social peace and education.

Even though I distanced myself from the idea of political Islam, I praised the democratic reforms undertaken by Mr. Erdogan and AKP leaders during their first term in power.

But throughout my life, I have stood against military coups and intervention in domestic politics. When I declared 20 years ago that there is no turning back from democracy and secularism of the state, I was accused and insulted by the same political Islamists who are close to the current administration. I still stand behind my words. More than 70 books based on my articles and sermons spanning40 years are publicly available. Not only is there not a single expression that legitimizes the idea of a coup in these works, but, on the contrary, they discuss universal human values that are the foundation of democracy.

Emancipating Turkey from the vicious cycle of authoritarianism is possible only through the adoption of a democratic culture and a merit-based administration. Neither a military coup nor a civilian autocracy is a solution.

Unfortunately, in a country where independent media outlets are shut down or taken under government custody, a significant portion of Turkish citizens were made to believe through relentless pro-government propaganda that I am the actor behind the July 15 coup. However, world opinion, which is shaped by objective information, clearly sees that what is going on is a power grab by the administration under the guise of a witch-hunt.

Of course, what matters is not majority opinion but the truths that will emerge through the process of a fair trial. Tens of thousands of people, including myself, who have been the target of such gross accusations, would like to clear our names through a fair judicial process. We do not want to live with this suspicion that was cast on us. Unfortunately, the government has exerted political control over the judiciary since 2014, thereby destroying the opportunity for Hizmet sympathizers to clear their names of these accusations.

I openly call on the Turkish government to allow for an international commission to investigate the coup attempt, and promise my full cooperation in this matter. If the commission finds one-tenth of the accusations against me to be justified, I am ready to return to Turkey and receive the harshest punishment.

Participants in the Hizmet movement have been overseen by hundreds of governments, intelligence agencies, researchers or independent civil society organizations for 25 years and have never been found to be involved in illegal activity. For this reason, many countries do not take seriously the accusations of the Turkish government.

The most important characteristic of the Hizmet movement is to not to seek political power, but instead to seek long-term solutions for the problems threatening the future of their societies. At a time when Muslim-majority societies are featured in the news for terror, bloodshed and underdevelopment, Hizmet participants have been focusing on raising educated generations who are open to dialogue and actively contributing to their societies.

Since I have always believed that the biggest problems facing these societies are ignorance, intolerance-driven conflicts and poverty, I have always encouraged those who would listen to build schools instead of mosques or Quran tutoring centers.

Hizmet participants are active in education, health care and humanitarian aid not only in Turkey, but also in more than 160 countries around the world. The most significant characteristic of these activities is that they serve people of all religions and ethnic backgrounds not just Muslims.

Hizmet movement participants opened schools for girls in the most difficult areas of Pakistan and continued to provide education in the Central African Republic during the countrys civil war. While Boko Haram took young girls hostage in Nigeria, Hizmet participants opened schools that educated girls and women.

In France and the French-speaking world, I have encouraged people who share my ideas and values to fight against groups that embrace radical Islamic ideologies and to support the authorities in this struggle. In these countries, I strived for Muslims to be recognized as free and contributing members of society, and have urged them to become part of the solution rather than be associated with the problems.

Despite receiving threats, I categorically condemned numerous times terrorist groups such as Al Qaida and ISIS who taint the bright face of Islam. However, the Turkish government is trying to convince governments around the world to act against schools that have been opened by individuals who did not take part in the July 15 coup attempt, and who have always categorically rejected violence. My appeal to governments around the world is that they ignore the Turkish governments claims and reject its irrational demands.

Indeed, the Turkish governments political decision to designate the Hizmet movement as a terrorist organization resulted in the closure of institutions such as schools, hospitals and relief organizations. Those who have been jailed are teachers, entrepreneurs, doctors, academics and journalists. The government did not produce any evidence to show that the hundreds of thousands targeted in the governments witch hunt supported the coup or that they were associated with any violence.

It is impossible to justify actions such as burning down a cultural center in Paris, detaining or holding hostage family members of wanted individuals, denying detained journalists access to medical care, shutting down 35 hospitals and the humanitarian relief organization Kimse Yok Mu, or forcing 1,500 university deans to resign as part of a post-coup investigation.

It appears that, by presenting the recent purges as efforts that target only Hizmet participants, the Turkish government is in fact removing anyone from the bureaucracy who is not loyal to the ruling party, while also intimidating civil society organizations. It is dreadful to see human rights violations occurring in Turkey, including the torture detailed in recent reports by Amnesty International. This is truly a human tragedy.

The fact that the July 15 coup attempt which was an anti-democratic intervention against an elected government was foiled with Turkish citizens support is historically significant. However, the coups failure does not mean a victory for democracy. Neither the domination by a minority nor the domination of a majority that results in the oppression of a minority nor the rule of an elected autocrat is a true democracy.

One cannot speak of democracy in the absence of the rule of law, separation of powers and essential human rights and freedoms, especially the freedom of expression. True victory for democracy in Turkey is only possible by reviving these core values. By: Lemonde.fr

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I want an international probe into failed Turkey coup Fethullah Glen - Citifmonline

With two weeks until the US Election, Russian punk band Pussy Riot sparked controversy through a viral video entitled Make America Great Again protesting the comments of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

In the beginning of the month, there was a video released showing Trump using offensive vocabulary when talking about women. The band clearly alludes to the video when singing Grab them by the pussy, an expression that became the mark of the scandal.Pussy Riot member, Nadya Tolokonnikova, said, Trumps words are not just words.Those words lead to violence.

The single, however, does not represent the groups support to Hillary Clinton, who as far-Left supporters were on Bernie Sanders side for the Democratic candidate. Lets just say his policies appealed to me more, Nadya told TIME. But its not good to talk about that now. Its a harmful conversation. Their wish is to make a strong presentation against Donald Trump. The video released on Thursday was

Apart from this critique, Nadya also raised other polemical issues that marked Trumps electoral campaign. The lyrics to the song highlight pressing issues in the world including Mexico, Syria, Palestine, African-American lives, and the status of women, even torture and killing.

The viral video was intended to be graphic. It was to highlight the implications of Trumps words. His words imply real-world consequences. There were previous videos such as Organs and Straight Outta Vagina.

These sparked controversy and discussion for the public and the fan-base of Pussy Riot. Organs was based on government oppression and womens sexuality. Straight Outta Vagina was themed on womens empowerment in general.

These songs are part of a consistent tradition by the punk rock group to protest what they see as injustices against women and government oppression. Their protests can have negative consequences for them.

They are known for being a feminist punk rock music group, protesting and opposition to Vladimir Putin (who they compared Trump to in Make America Great Again), and advocating for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights.

In fact, these are not the first time Pussy Riot tried to shake things in the political scenario before meaningful elections. In 2012, two members of the group, Nadya herself and Maria Alyokhin, were arrested because of a public anti-Putin protest in Moscow. It was one day prior to the one that got him re-elected.

Putin has connections with the Russian Orthodox Church. Indeed, protests from Pussy Riot against Putin have been seen as attacks on the Russian Orthodox Church,according to The Guardian.

The members have fought back in legal cases. For example, in May, 2015, Nadya Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, along with others, filed a suit to the European Court of Human Rights.

In the suit filed, they claimed there was police inaction in addition to the refraining from prosecution of Cossacks who had assaulted Pussy Riot in the midst of a video shoot. The video was for the Sochi Winter Olympics, and entitled Putin Will teach You to Love the Motherland.

In an earlier interview by Esquire, Pussy Riot lead singer, Nadya, said, I wouldnt say Russian society is misogynistic. Our country was one of the first to give women the right to vote, in 1917So we have a good history of feminism and state-supported feminism.

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Pussy Riot Protests Through Make America Great Again Viral Video - Conatus News

Dave Treen was sworn in as Louisianas Governor 37 years ago. Anyone who knew him noted what a nice guy he was. But Treens legacy will not be based on his friendliness. History will treat him well and acknowledge that he was the first, and perhaps only, true conservative Louisiana Governor in the past century.

His philosophy was simple. Have state government provide basic public services, keep up the infrastructure, and provide publicprotection. No meddling in private business; No political deals to benefit supporters.He just wanted to create a healthy business climate, run the state efficiently, and then tell government to just get out of the way.See that the trains run on time. Nothing creative or entrepreneurial.That wasnt the job, according to Treen, of state government.

Dave Treen was elected Louisiana Governor in 1979 in a close election against then Public Service Commissioner Louis Lambert.Voter fraud had been alleged in both the primary where Lt. Governor Jimmy Fitzmorris had been nudged out of the runoff, as well as the general election itself.I joined the statewide fray having been elected as Secretary of State at the same time. Shortly after taking office, the new Governor suggested we meet to talk over the election process.He wanted a full investigation into any of the election fraud allegations, and we both agreed on creating an Election Integrity Commission, the first such investigative body by any state in the country.

I never saw anyone so enmesh themselves in the details of government.Some criticized Treen for being so deliberative and slow to make a decision.He would be ridiculed unmercifully by Edwin Edwards in their future election confrontations when Edwards accused Treen of taking an hour and a half to watch 60 minutes.But that was his strength.He did not jump head first into some quick fix financial boondoggle expecting immediate results.Treen knew it would take years to dig the state out of the hole left by short-range thinking administrations going back many decades.

I tagged along on a helicopter trip with the Governor when we were both invited to speak to a Chamber of Commerce meeting in New Iberia.He read over a request on a budget matter the whole way over and back, something Edwin Edwards might have spent 4 or 5 minutes with.These decisions often set precedents that are followed by years, he said.I want to be sure I get it right.

I talked with Greg LeRoy, author ofJobsScam, about state giveaways to bribe out-of-state businesses to move in.He recognized Dave Treen as a solid conservative who knew that the best way to attract new companies was with lower business taxes and a healthy business climate rather than dangling subsidies. And, according to Greg, Louisiana has still not learned Dave Treens lesson. By impoverishing their tax base in the name of jobs, the Louisiana public officials continue to perversely harm the business climate.

And the former Governor was certainly a strong conservative in courageously raising his objections when he felt there was government oppression.Treen wrote the forward to the biography of Edwin Edwards. Heres what he had to say about the Edwards conviction.I believe the federal government, and by that I mean JudgeFrank Polozola, doubled his (Edwards) sentence from the prescribed five years purely out of vindictiveness,Treen wrote in the foreword. They didnt like him. Thats not a good reason to double someones sentence and is, I believe, a misuse of power.

Dave Treen had strong feelings about what government should do and not do.He eloquently expressed a litany of conservative values and ideas in a book he wrote back in 1974 while in Congress about conservative principles and pursuing what you believe in.It was calledCan we afford this House?Ideas have consequences, he wrote. They need to be implemented.Dave Treen wanted to have government help in a number of ways, but knew there were costs to consider and consequences.

Yes, Dave Treen was a nice guy. But history will remember him as having core beliefs and sticking to his guns.We could use a lot more like him in public office today.

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Browns syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com. You can also hear Jims nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9 am till 11:00 am, central time, on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.

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Governor Treen brought sunshine to Louisiana governmental conservatism - Bayoubuzz

New York Times

President Trump Breaks a Promise on Transgender Rights New York Times On the campaign trail, Donald Trump broke with Republican Party orthodoxy by vowing to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans from violence and oppression. Soon after ... Mr. Sessions has reversed the government's course. Of all the ... Trump Hands Transgender Bathroom Decisions Back to the StatesGoverning Trump officially revokes trans bathroom guidelinesGay NZ all 1,540 news articles »

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President Trump Breaks a Promise on Transgender Rights - New York Times

MODESTO, Calif. (CNS) -- Affirming that all human life is sacred and all people are "protagonists of their future," more than 600 grass-roots leaders echoed the call of a U.S. bishop to disrupt practices that cause oppression and violate human dignity.

The leaders attending the U.S. Regional World Meeting of Popular Movements concluded the four-day meeting Feb. 19 saying in a final message that a "small elite is growing wealthy and powerful off the suffering of our families."

"Racism and white supremacy are America's original sins. They (the elites) continue to justify a system of unregulated capitalism that idolizes wealth accumulation over human needs," said the "Message from Modesto."

The message broadly echoed Pope Francis' regular critiques of the world economy in which he has said the accumulation of wealth by a few people has harmed the dignity of millions of people in the human family.

The representatives from dozens of faith-based and secular community organizations, labor unions and Catholic dioceses representing an estimated 1 million people called for eight actions to be undertaken. The actions included inviting faith communities, including every Catholic parish, to declare their sites a sanctuary for people facing deportation by the U.S. government; developing local leadership to hold elected officials accountable and, when possible to recruit grass-roots leaders to seek elected office; and a global week of action May 1-7 in which people "stand together against hatred and attacks on families."

"There's too many leaders in this room not to mobilize," Takia Yates-Binford of East St. Louis, Illinois, who represented the Service Employees International Union, said as the meeting ended.

The delegates called for "bold prophetic leadership" from faith communities to speak and act in solidarity with citizens on the margins of society. Participants in plenary sessions and small-group discussions challenged clergy, including the Catholic hierarchy, to be in the forefront of movements to seek justice on social issues for people outside of mainstream society.

In their message, delegates said they wanted to see the seeds planted in Modesto blossom across the country in statewide and regional gatherings to bring the vision of the four meetings of popular movements held to date and the pope's message of hope and courage to every U.S. community.

The final message reflected the words of Bishop Robert W. McElroy of San Diego, whose stirring presentation a day earlier invited people to follow the example of President Donald Trump, who campaigned as the candidate of "disruption."

"Well now, we must all become disruptors," Bishop McElroy told the delegates Feb. 18 to sustained applause. "We must disrupt those who would seek to send troops into our streets to deport the undocumented, to rip mothers and fathers from their families. We must disrupt those who portray refugees as enemies rather than our brothers and sisters in terrible need.

"We must disrupt those who train us to see Muslim men and women as a source of fear rather than as children of God. We must disrupt those who would take even food stamps and nutrition assistance from the mouths of children."

At the same time, Bishop McElroy said, people of faith must rebuild society based on justice for everyone.

"We have to rebuild this nation so that we place at its heart the service of the dignity of the human person and assert what that flag behind us asserts is our heritage: Every man, woman and child is equal in this nation and called to be equal," he said.

Bishop McElroy's words in a plenary session on labor and housing followed a video greeting from Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, in which he said the concentration of wealth and political power in the country "threatens to undermine the health of our democracy."

As families cope with economic stress and feel no elected official at any level of government cares about their plight, people tend to withdraw from civic participation and effectively disenfranchise themselves, leaving special interest groups, lobbyists and "even demagogues" to fill the void, Cardinal Tobin said.

Such a situation has given rise to populist and nationalist sentiments in the U.S. under which the blame for the economic struggles of some are placed on today's "scapegoats" including immigrants, Muslims and young people of color, he said, rather than toward the architects of what the pope has called the economy of exclusion. The rising fear and anxiety among people in the dominant culture has given rise to "the sins of racism and xenophobia," he said.

Cardinal Tobin used Pope Francis' calls for encounter and dialogue as necessary steps to overcome fear, alienation and indifference. "Encounter and dialogue create the capacity for solidarity and accompaniment," he said.

"It is our responsibility to respond to the pain and anxiety of our brothers and sisters. As popular movements, your role is to knit together strong communal networks that can gather up the experiences and suffering and aspiration of the people and push for structural changes that affirm the dignity and value of every child of God," Cardinal Tobin said.

Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, told the gathering as the final message was adopted that the church was "here to accompany you and support you all."

"The Catholic Church believes that the joys and the hope, the grief and the anguish of people of our time, especially those who are poor or who are isolated, these also are the joys and the hope and the grief and the anguish of the followers of Christ," Cardinal Turkson said.

Meeting organizers, which included the PICO National Network of congregation-based organizations and the U.S. bishops' Catholic Campaign for Human Development, planned to send the message and a comprehensive report on the proceedings to the pope and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The USCCB and the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development co-sponsored the gathering.

The U.S. gathering was the first regional meeting in a series encouraged by Pope Francis to bring people working to improve poor and struggling communities around the world through organizing initiatives, prayer and social action. Three previous meetings since 2014 -- two in Rome and one in Bolivia -- have focused on land, labor and housing. The U.S. meeting added immigration and racism to the topics being discussed.

Along with the grass-roots volunteer leaders and professional organizers, 25 prelates attended the California meeting and several addressed the plenary sessions including Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, USCCB vice president, on immigration, Bishop Shelton J. Fabre of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana, on racism, and Bishop Oscar Cantu of Las Cruces, New Mexico, on the environment.

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Editor's Note: The full Message from Modesto can be read online at http://popularmovements.org/news/message-from-modesto.

- - -

Follow Sadowski on Twitter: @DennisSadowski.

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Grass-roots leaders join call for 'disrupting' oppression that hurts many - Catholic News Service

Stephen Miller would eagerly tell you hes from a liberal paradise, and Id have to agree with him. Growing up in Los Angeles, I have always noticed my views on gun control and womens rights rarely provoked a challenge. Locally, I have been represented by women and minorities in Congress and on my City Council.

Comfortable as I am with my hometowns reputation, I came away from reading The Times piece last month on President Trumps thirtysomething advisor with a bad taste in my mouth. Miller a 2003 graduate of Santa Monica High School, where I am a senior comes across as a heroic figure, a conservative treading water in a sea of overwhelming liberalism. Readers could be forgiven for believing the rest of Santa Monica High Schools student body to be a bunch of too-cool-for-school sensitive progressives whose only goals are to promote their agendas and vanquish the opposition.

I wont pretend that Im not living in a bubble. Nor will I pretend there are people in my community and in my school who would rather not hear the opinions of the other side. However, I have come to know Santa Monica High School as a place where activism thrives, where people are encouraged to share their beliefs and fight for them. The walls of my classrooms are not lined with partisan, lovey-dovey shrines to Barack Obama; rather, they display rousing reminders to do the right thing even if youre the only one saying anything, including quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. that transcend partisanship.

Conservatives in Santa Monica are in the minority, but they are generally argued against, not bullied into silence. Miller wouldhave us believe something else, and readers of The Times article might sympathize with him.Our school is portrayed as a culturally sensitive environment filled with unpatriotic students who slouched in their chairs while Miller valiantly recited the Pledge of Allegiance each morning. I dont recite the pledge every morning, but I do not sneer any anyone who does.

Incredibly, Miller describes his years at Santa Monica High as having presented challenges that were some of the toughest I faced in life.

What about the challenges that Latino and black peers of Millerfaced because of his denial of the existence of institutional racism, outlined in opinion articles he wrote for Frontpage Magazine? Or the challenges of students involved in Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanode Aztlan, or MEChA, an organization designed to help Chicano students become educated and politically active, who were characterized by Miller in another one of his articles as members of a radical national Hispanic group that believes in racial superiority and returning the southwestern United States to Mexico to create a bronze nation? Or the challenges faced by Muslim students who had to deal with a classmate who penned an article titled A Time to Kill about his support for the Iraq war and responding violently to Islamic radicalism? What about my economics teacher, a woman who taught Miller government and was falsely accused by him in a radio interview of disparaging the founding fathers and the Constitution, resulting in threats to her safety?

The communities that suffered the ill effects of Millers bombast receive only passing mentionin The Times piece, but theres plenty to suggest that Miller really showed us precious snowflakes.

Furthermore, the piece gets a few basic things wrong about Santa Monica, among them being its reference to the city as a liberal enclave. An enclave of where? Los Angeles, one of the most progressive cities and counties in the country? California, a state where Hillary Clinton receivedupward of 4 million more votes than Trump?

What about the description of Santa Monica before 2000 as being a laid-back coastal community of rundown rent-controlled apartments that suffered from entrenched working-class poverty and on-again, off-again gang violence, while also describing us as a town of wealthy elites? The era of run-down buildings and rampant crime passed long before Miller was in high school. Miller surely did not come of age on the hard, mean streets of Santa Monica because those hard, mean streets had mostly changed by the time he was a toddler.

To some, my responsefits in with the behavior of a whiny, sensitive liberal, the kind of Santa Monica progressive Miller loved to annoy. But Im only doing what Santa Monica High teaches students to do, especially when a misleading article in The Times portrays us in an unflattering light: standing up for what I believe is right.

Raffaella Gumbel is a senior at Santa Monica High School. This piece was adapted from a previously published article in the schools student newspaper, the Samohi.

This piece is part of Blowback, our online forum for rebuttals to The Times. If you would like to write a full-length response to a recent Times article, editorial or Op-Ed and would like to participate in Blowback, here are ourFAQs and submission policy.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook

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Stephen Miller was no hero fighting left-wing oppression at Santa ... - Los Angeles Times

Crystal Galvn Serrano speaks on the history of Afro-Mexicanos and the fight for black representation in Mexico.

Black history month is not just a month dedicated to the celebration of African-American history and culture, but a month for all who share African heritage throughout the world.

Crystal Galvn, an undergraduate student in the McNair Achievement Program, talked about Black History in Mexico yesterday at the African-American Student Center.

For me, its important to realize that Latinos come in different shades, Galvn said. There isnt just one type of Latino.

In Mexican history, people of African descent were forced into slavery working in sugar-cane fields. After slavery became illegal, the Mexican government seemed to forget that African people were still alive in Mexico.

Mexico created a sistema de castas, or a hierarchy of skin pigment. At the bottom of the hierarchy were the darkest skin tone variations.

Because blackness is seen at the bottom of the racial hierarchy, it has impacted resources that they have in Mexican society, Galvn said. It impacts their experiences. By society, they are told that they are ugly because they are darker complexion.

Galvn explained that a writer, Jos Vasconcelos, erased Mexican consciousness of blackness in Mexico. He wrote The Cosmic Race, in 1925 and said the only true Mexican were Spanish and those indigenous to Mexico.

This allowed Mexican society to ignore the Afro-Mexicans and give them no recognition in the Constitution of Mexico. Rafael Pruneda, retention counselor in the Chicana/o Latina/o Student Center, explains how the Mexican government sees Mexico as a whole rather than a country with individuals.

At the same time, the Mexican government recognizes them as one rather than their individuality of being Afro-Mexican, Pruneda said.

Galvn highlighted that because the existence of the Afro-Mexican communities has not been recognized by Mexico, those communities have been discriminated against and receive no benefits from the Constitution.

The constitutional rights never explicitly allow Afro-Mexicans social security, health or education rights. The government also has a history of silencing the voices of Afro-Mexicans, Galvn explained.

Afro-Mexicans were silenced to the point that they were not represented in the Mexican Population Census until 2015. There are about 1.4 million people in Mexico who identify as Afro-Mexican, according to Galvn.

Theyre deported to other countries because people dont even know they exist in Mexico, Galvn said. Because they dont have constitutional rights under the Mexican Constitution, they really cant do anything about it.

In recent years, countries all around the world have noticed the oppression of Afro-Mexicans. Because of this recognition along with the unity of the many Afro-Mexican activist groups, the Mexican government has begun to notice the voices of this silenced populace. The oppressed communities are coming out and recognizing their ancestry of black people who have been in Mexico for hundreds of years, Pruneda said.

With the mix of indigenous, black and European, you get a good blend of a variety of different ethnicities and cultures within Mexico, Pruneda said. But its really important that we stop in time and really recognize and give perspective of others individualities and reclaiming who they really are. I think thats awesome.

Galvn will speak about this topic again at 3 p.m. on Friday in the Chicana/o Latina/o Student Center.

They have their own culture and their own things that theyve inherited from their ancestors, Pruneda said. We are starting to see more through celebrations and cultures in dance, versus not recognizing it at all.

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Afro-Mexican people brought to light - The Daily Evergreen

The yellow-clad participants of Bersih 5 carrying banners and placards during their march in Kuala Lumpur. Source: Reuters.

TOXIC political rhetoric is stirring up violence and dragging much of the worldinto a dark age of human rights, Amnesty International (AI) warned in its annual reportreleased Wednesday.

And with the voice of the oppressed struggling to be heard, it is online activism and social media movements that are rising up to fight against the oppression.

But at what cost?

The reportgives a fairly damning assessment of the state of human rights across the globe, stating that 2016 saw the idea of human dignity and equality, the very notion of a human family, coming under vigorous and relentless assault from powerful narratives of blame, fear and scapegoating, propagated by those who sought to take or cling on to power at almost any cost.

The report, which delivers the most comprehensive analysis of the state of human rights in 159 countries, shows how divisive fear-mongering is having an increasingly pervasive impact in societies. It alsohighlights how world leaders are rolling back human rights protections and pursuing narrow self-interest, replacing multilateralism with a more aggressive, confrontational world order.

SEE ALSO:Understanding Thailands revised Computer Crime Act

But it is not all bleak. AI also noted how fierce repression had inspired courage and resistance around the world, and Asia-Pacific specifically.

Young people were increasingly determined to speak out for their and others rights. Online technologies and social media offered expanded opportunities to share information, expose injustices, to organise and advocate, the report said.

With the proliferation of the Internet and social media throughout a lot of Asia, people have been provided a platform from which their voices can be heard and movements can be organised.

Asia Pacific has the worlds largest and fastest-growing internet user base.

More than 40 percent of those who live in the region have access to the Internet a number that has increased 12-fold since 2000, Victoria Kwakwa, the World Banks vice president for the East Asia Pacific Region, said at an event in 2016.

The number of Internet users in Asia-Pacific rose by 15 percent between January 2016 and January this year, to 46 percent of the total population. Meanwhile, social media use grew a significant 25 percent over the same 12-month period.

Mobile subscriptions for the region total four billion, or 96 percent of the population.

Considering these statistics, it is no wonder how much easier it has becometo organise mass social movements or to direct criticism to the eyes of those in power using web platforms. In fact, the use of social media has been a driving force in bringing people together and it is proving an incredibly powerful and effective tool in uncovering corruption and getting the message to the masses.

SEE ALSO:Burma: Fresh fears for freedom of speech under Aung San Suu Kyis administration

But it is not just the activists who have realised the powerful potential of this medium. Politicians too have recognised the ability of the social media tool to sow the seeds of discord among the people. Activists are paying a heavy price for this, AI observes.

Many governments (in the Asia-Pacific region) displayed an appalling disregard for freedom, justice and dignity. They strove to muzzle opposing voices and suppress protest and activism, including online dissent, through crackdowns, by force or cynical deployment of old and new laws, AI writes.

The report lists countless examples across Asia of activists, bloggers and commentators being incarcerated and silenced for expressing their political concerns.

In Burma,dozens of people have been investigated for online defamation under Article 66D of the 2013 Telecommunications Act, a vaguely worded law used increasingly to stifle peaceful criticism of the authorities.

Since Aung San Suu Kyis 2015 election victory, the controversial law has been used to jail at least 38 people.

In October, Hla Phone was sentenced to two years imprisonment for online defamation and incitement for criticising the former government and the Burmese army on Facebook.

Ma Chaw Sandi Htun was sentenced to six months in prison under Article 66D for posting a satirical photo on Facebook of a military officer wearing womens clothing.

Activist Patrick Kum Jaa Lee also served a six month sentence for sharing a defamatory post about Myanmars military chief.

Abuse of the law has gone so far as to include a member of the ruling party pressing charges against two villagers for insulting Suu Kyi during a night of drinking.

In Indonesia, the vague language in the 2008 Electronic Information and Transaction (ITE) Law allows for a wide interpretation of definitions of defamation and blasphemy, and the criminalisation of expression.

As a result, writers and activists aresusceptible to prosecution for any articles deemed offensive to the government, as was seen in the case of Haris Azhar, Executive Coordinator of the human rights NGO KontraS.

Azhar was threatened by the police, the military and the National Anti-Narcotics Agency with defamation charges under the law for publishing an article on social media linking security and law enforcement officials to drug trafficking and corruption.

An activist in North Maluku, Indonesia was charged with rebellion simply for posting online a photo of a t-shirt with a caricature of the communist hammer and sickle symbol.

In Thailand, AI condemned a courts decision to uphold a 10-year sentence against social activist and former magazine editor Somyot Prueksakasemsuk. He was jailed in 2013 over two articles deemed offensive to the royal family.

Authorities in Thailand have in recent years increasingly used legislation, including the lese-majeste law, to silence peaceful dissent and jail prisoners of conscience, AI said following the ruling.

In Malaysia, pro-democracy activist Maria Chin Abdullah was detained under theSecurity Offences (Special Measures) Act, or SOSMA,after she organised a rally calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Razak.

SEE ALSO:Malaysia: Bersih 5 leader allegedly put in windowless cell, to be held 28 days

The governments deepening intolerance towards criticism and open debate across the region has given riseto a resurgence of state control and censorship, AI noted.

Dated and broad laws such as the Telecommunications Law in Burma, the Computer Crime Act in Thailand, SOSMAin Malaysia, the sedition law in India, ITE Law in Indonesia, and numerous others, are being used with increasing regularity against those who dare to raise their voice in protest.

But activists remain undeterred, constantly finding new and innovative ways to communicate their message to the masses using media and the internet.

AI highlights the case of four human rights defenders in China, a country that is notorious for increasing and systematic intimidation and harassment of activists, who were arrested for commemorating the anniversary of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.

The group posted an online advertisement for a popular alcohol with a label reading Remember, Eight Liquor Six Four a play on words in Chinese echoing the date of the notorious event. The advert was soon censored.

2016 continued to see a rise in such forms of online activism, according to AI, as loud and insistent demands for freedom of expression and justice, and activism and protests against violations grew.

Despite the narrowing space for civil society to raise issues deemed contentious by the authorities, peoples instincts for freedom and justice do not simply wither away, AI states, championing the role that activists have played in 2016 as courageous and labelling them the ordinary heroes standingup againstinjustice and repression.

The rights group urges ordinary people to continue this resolve into 2017, encouraging people to take a stand against dehumanisation by acting locally to recognise the equal rights of all.

Everyone can take a standto recognize the dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all, and thus lay the foundations of freedom and justice in the world. 2017 needs human rights heroes.

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Online activism is leading the fight against oppression but at what cost? - Asian Correspondent

Nazi Paikidze is the reigning U.S. chess champion, but when the Iranian government told her she had to wear a hijab, the Muslim head veil, and restrict contact with men in order to compete in the world competition hosted by Iran this year, she refused. The morality laws were supported by FIDE, the international organization that coordinates the world chess championship event.

By participating, I would be forced to submit to forms of oppression designed specifically for women, Paikidze told Marie Clare magazine. It sets the wrong example, particularly for young girls interested in chess.

Paikidze further explained her decision in a post on Instagram in September.

This is a post for those who dont understand why I am boycotting FIDEs decision. I think its unacceptable to host a WOMENS World Championship in a place where women do not have basic fundamental rights and are treated as second-class citizens. For those saying that I dont know anything about Iran: I have received the most support and gratitude from the people of Iran, who are facing this situation every day.

Paikidze also retweeted this tweet noting the irony of members of the Swedish team, a country known for its feminist advances, giving in to the gender-specific oppression imposed by Iran by wearing the hijab.

I will NOT wear a hijab and support womens oppression. She told the founder of a group organizing against Irans hijab laws. Even if it means missing one of the most important competitions of my career.

When an Iranian chess player criticized her boycott saying that the tournament were important for women in Iran and presented them with an opportunity for show their strength, Paikidze appeared to respond on her Instagram account to the charge.

A message to the people of Iran: I am not anti-Islam or any other religion. I stand for freedom of religion and choice. Im protesting FIDEs decision not because of Irans religion or people, but for the governments laws that are restricting my rights as a woman.

The world chess championship began February 10th and will continue until March 5th. For boycotting the event, Paikidze forfeits the opportunity to win over $100,000 in award money.

She posted this tweet during whilethe competition continued without her:

I miss playing chess ? (Photo from the US Champs 2015) pic.twitter.com/A325Sxxh7t

— Nazi Paikidze (@NaziPaiki) February 18, 2017

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Iran tells US chess champion to wear a hijab here's how she responds - TheBlaze.com

Deacon Rennie Nahanee and minister Mary Fontaine talk about the legacy of colonization

By Josh Tng

Photo Caption: Presbyterian minister Mary Fontaine (third from left) speaks to the 50 participants at an educational workshop on colonization in Canada at the John Paul II Pastoral Centre Feb. 11. She and Deacon Rennie Nahanee (second from left) shared their experiences as children growing up in aboriginal families and explained how they felt colonization affected them.

Deacon Rennie Nahanee was only 14, but he still remembers the day his family was confronted by a fisheries officer as they cooked salmon over a fire.

His Squamish First Nation father, mother, and aunt had been barbecuing fish they had caught. My dad had caught all this fish, said Deacon Nahanee, a Squamish First Nation elder and coordinator of First Nations ministry for the Archdiocese of Vancouver.

The fisheries officer approached the family and in not a kind way told Deacon Nahanees father to open up the trunk of his car for inspection. Seeing the salmon stored in the trunk, he ordered the family to throw the dead salmon back into the water.

The rules were you had to cut off the nose and dorsal fin of the fish you caught, Deacon Nahanee told a group of participants during a workshop on colonization in Canada. The reason for that is so you couldnt sell it to the supermarket.

But before the fisheries officer left, he walked over to the salmon cooking on the fire and kicked it into the flames.

Watching his treatment of my mother and my aunt and my dad, it hurt, he said. I wished I hadnt witnessed that, because I have no respect for fishery officials today. I dont respect them or their laws.

Deacon Nahanee was speaking at a workshop on the effects of colonization in Canada. First Nations speakers shared their stories with about 50 people at the John Paul II Pastoral Centre Feb. 11.

My experience with the laws of Canada and with fishery officers was very negative, he told the group.

Similarly, Reverend Mary Fontaine, a Presbyterian minister and Cree elder, saw her tribe suffer from government abuse and colonization efforts. Thats what they did to us on the prairies too, she said. The government took away our economy first.

Fontaine had grown up in Saskatchewan, and her family was very familiar with government mistreatment. They starved us out by killing all the buffalo. Its how colonization works. They disable you, then make you dependant.

Fontaine and several children in her tribe were taken to day schools in nearby towns. We were lucky to not have residential school because the Presbyterians brought a missionary to the reserve to teach, but eventually we had to attend at the town schools.

She remembered the treatment she received from the children at the public schools. The kids at the school called me a dirty little Indian squaw. I was very, very, hurt.I came home and cried to my mom. As her mother comforted her, she told Fontaine, God always has the final say, no matter what we go through in life.

Her mothers calm demeanor and trust in God strengthened her and helped her through the experience. We are sent to earth to learn to how to love. That is the most important thing in life.

Deacon Nahanees experience with the fisheries officer left him with a negative attitude toward government representatives. He showed an abuse of power, thats what it is. He didnt have to kick our dinner into the fire. He didnt have to have that kind of treatment of my parents and my aunt.

He told the audience he has worked on getting through his pain. I have learned a lot of things. I have learned resistance, I dont blame anyone, and I dont carry my anger (anymore). I try to smile more often. Then, laughing, he said, Its a work in progress.

Ive forgiven a lot of people in my life, but Im still working on that fishery officer.

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Elders share experiences with oppression from their youth - B.C. Catholic Newspaper

First Lady Melania Trump read from a script that includedThe [Christian] Lords Prayer as part of her introduction of her husband at a rally in Florida, Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017. She did this at a time when Donald has consistently marginalized Muslims, and when reported hate crimes against Muslims and Jews (in addition to Blacks, Latinx, and LGBTQs) has continually increased since Trumps election.

Where is thesupposed separation of church and state? Trump has, though, fortified the already solid and impenetrable wall between mosque and state and synagogue and state.

During Trump and Pences inauguration ceremonies, six religious clergy offered prayers and Biblical readings atop the balcony of the U.S. Capitol, interspersed by Trump and Pence placing their left hands on a stack of Bibles during their swearing-in ceremonies. Ending the festivities, sounds emanated from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Clergy invited to read and offer prayer at the inauguration included five Christians and one Jew. As I watched the proceedings on TV, I questioned whether I was viewing a presidential swearing-in or, rather, attending an evangelical tent revival as clergy invoked the name of Jesus at least eight times.

Not wanting to exclude Muslims, he said during his inaugural address, in usual Trump fashion, We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones and unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the Earth.

Trumps continual marginalization of Muslims in his rhetoric and in his attempts to impose travel bans against people from the seven majority-Muslim countries where he has no direct business ties are testaments (pun intended) to his feelings about the followers and precepts of Islam.

On International Holocaust Remembrance Day (27 January 2017), throughout his ceremonial speech commemorating the Holocaust, Trump denounced the horror inflicted on innocent people by Nazi terror while never once mentioning Jews and anti-Semitism.

While the Nazis targeted several groups for interrogation, incarceration, and death, the regime singled out the Jewish people for mass genocide as their final solution. Though Trump has only a limited grasp on world history, we should at least assume that even he would know this basic fact.

During a campaign rally speech, in West Palm Beach, Florida, October 14, 2016, Trump said, in part:

The Washington establishment and the financial and media corporations that fund it exist for only one reason: to protect and enrich itself.For those who control the levers of power in Washington, and for the global special interests.This is a conspiracy against you, the American people, and we cannot let this happen or continue. This is our moment of reckoning as a society and as a civilization itself.

Donald Trump may not have a general grasp of politics and history, but he certainly understands how to use of the propaganda of fascism to sway public opinion. Donald will never admit to lifting the sentiments and words almost verbatim from the notorious Protocols of a Meeting of the Learned Elders of Zion.

The Protocols area fabricated anti-Semitic text dating from 1903 that was widely distributed by Russian Czarist forces to turn public opinion against a so-called Jewish Revolution for the purpose of convincing the populace that Jews were plotting to impose a conspiratorial international Jewish government.

The white nationalist website, The Right Stuff, celebrated Trumps Florida speech. Lawrence Murray wrote an article affirming that somehow Trump manages to channel Goebbels (Nazi Minister of Propaganda) and Detroit Republicanism all at the same time.

During his recent marathon and rambling White House press conference, Trump was asked by Jake Turx, an orthodox Jewish reporter, about the recent spike in reported anti-Semitic incidents across the country. Turx made it clear, using an agreeable tone, that he was not charging the President of anti-Semitism:

Despite what some of my colleagues may have been reporting, I havent seen anybody in my community accuse either yourself or anyone on your staff of being anti-Semitic. We understand that you have Jewish grandchildren. You are their zayde, (an affectionate Yiddish word for grandfather).

At this point, Trump said, Thank you.Turx then asked his question:

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In Trump's America, Christian proselytizing is another form of oppression - LGBTQ Nation

Chinese colonialism cannot continue to be ignored

The present North American political context is defined by the perpetuation of deep fear, factual inaccuracy, and the subordination of Otherness. It is one characterized by the struggles of neoliberalism and the politics of greed and fracture which accompany it. In the wake of the recent American election, radical right-wing political projects to limit migrant and refugee rights, and complete destructive pipeline projects such as the Dakota Access Pipeline have made this social reality unquestionably explicit. Even if todays situation may seem unique in recent Canadian and American memories, the projects of the present are mere contributions to a much broader global trend towards unrestrained growth and private ownership. Tibet seems perhaps an unlikely place from which to understand the challenges afflicting todays North American context, though the sustained struggle of its traditional inhabitants offers a model for resilience in the face of powerful oppressive institutions.

In 1950, The Peoples Republic of China invaded Tibet and by the end of 1951 had annexed the entire Tibetan Plateau. The young Dalai Lama, who serves as the spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan nation, sought common ground with the occupying power to no avail. On March 10, 1959, tensions culminated in Lhasa, Tibets capital, leading to massive uprisings, during which more than 10,000 people are believed to have been killed. Following these uprisings, the Dalai Lama fled his ancestral homeland to exile in India, followed by around 80,000 Tibetans. The Indian city of Dharamsala is now home to both the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration: the governing authority which Tibetans consider legitimate. Due to its significance in the collective Tibetan memory, March 10 now serves as an international day of resistance against Chinas abusive colonialism.

Lhasa, the historical religious and political capital of Tibet, lies in an area designated by the Chinese as the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). Despite what the name suggests, the regions government largely advances Chinese Communist Party (CPC) directives through a local peoples congress designed by and answering to the CPC. In order to have any real influence in local politics, Tibetans must join their local Communist Party branch, where the atheism required for membership effectively prohibits representation for the Buddhist majority. International labor and human rights organizations are categorically banned from working in the region, while access for foreign journalists and diplomats is extremely limited and restricted only to government-approved areas.

Despite the faade of modernization propagated by the Chinese government, Tibet is one of the most severely repressed places in the world. The region ranks at the bottom of Freedom Houses 2016 Freedom in the World index, second only to Syria. Acts as harmless as possessing a photo of the Dalai Lama are met with arrest and beatings, while political dissidents are routinely silenced with lengthy prison sentences and torture. This has led to a frustrating tension within Tibetan society: while the Dalai Lamas pacifist message emphasizes nonviolent resistance, avenues for such resistance have been blocked off by the Chinese regime.

Both culturally and naturally, Tibet is under profound threat. At three miles above sea level, Tibet is the source of several of Asias major rivers, which leads to its popular characterization as the roof of the world. The detrimental effects of climate change are often first and most intensely experienced within the region through droughts, which devastate local agricultural practices, melting of permafrost grounds which form the foundations for countless communities, and the loss of a myriad of keystone species which provide a crucial source of food in the harsh environment. More directly, Chinese presence within the region has radically disrupted environmental autonomy through the development of invasive damming projects and by way of pollution via mining industries and nuclear waste disposal sites throughout remote portions of Tibet.

Such kinds of ecological domination must necessarily be conceived of as inseparable from social forms of oppression, wherein Tibetans are limited in their freedom to practice indigenous spirituality and Tibetan Buddhism. Since the Chinese Cultural Revolution from the mid-1960s to 70s, 99 per cent of Buddhist monasteries have been closed at the hands of the state. Most recently, China has begun the destruction of Larung Gar, one of the largest religious communities in the world populated by over 10,000 practicing Buddhists. Due to the nonviolent teachings of Tibetan Buddhism, a radical act of political protest has been popularized: self-immolation. In response to the desecration of their way of life, 146 Tibetans aged 16 to 64 have self-immolated since 2009.

Because of their lack of political rights and meaningful representation in formal governing structures. Tibetans have had to look to alternative forms of mobilization. Direct action such as disruptive protesting has become the norm, as the only practical way to seek change. Within Tibet, significant actions have been undertaken, not by political elites but rather by everyday Tibetans. Outside of Tibet, a transnational social movement has transpired thanks to the advances of social media. Tibetans in exile, despite being scattered across the globe, have set up various issue-oriented interest groups such as the Canada Tibet Committee and Students for a Free Tibet. Unfortunately, countries consistently disregard the situation within Tibet and continue to treat China with deference. In fact, due to Chinese pressure, South Africa has consistently refused the Dalai Lama entry, notably for fellow nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutus 80th Birthday celebrations in 2011 as well as for the 14th World Summit of World Peace Laureates of 2014. Other countries to act as such include Mongolia and Norway.

Ultimately, globalization has acted as an empowering force for the Chinese state and has granted it considerable commercial, economic and diplomatic power on the international stage. Canada has contributed to Tibets contemporary challenges in the form of extractive mining developments. Companies previously financed by Canada, such as China Gold, aid the project of colonialism and environmental devastation through mining techniques involving the pollution of local water sources, resource extraction, and exploitive labor practices. Tibetans hired to work at these mines frequently face dire health consequences and become cyclically impoverished as they come to depend on the menial wages they receive from the industry.

In the early 1970s, Canada was one of only two Western nations (the other being Switzerland) to offer resettlement to Tibetan refugees. However, Canada has had a mixed record, choosing to adopt a foreign policy of principled pragmatism with respect to China. This has translated into a careful diplomatic balancing act aimed at appeasing the Chinese government on the one hand, while maintaining the carefully cultivated image of a country that recognizes human rights as a cornerstone of is international relations. In fact, having de-linked human rights and trade to the point of withdrawing support for a United Nations Commission on Human Rights resolution on China in 1997, Canada has effectively excused itself from putting meaningful pressure on China. The likely-impending free trade deal between our two nations will likely increase Canadas involvement in the economic colonization of Tibet.

Chinas far-reaching economic and political influence does not mean there is nothing we, as Canadian individuals, can do to sustain the resistance movement. The Chinese government is extremely sensitive about its reputation and sustained pro-Tibet movements here and elsewhere in the world have had a tremendous impact, leading to the release of numerous jailed dissidents. Showing solidarity with the struggle of Tibetans on March 10 sends an important signal to the government of China that the oppression with which they meet Tibets nonviolent resistance movement is not ignored by the world. Standing with Tibet means standing against injustice and colonialism everywhere. Bhod Gyalo!

All are welcome to attend this years March 10 rally on Parliament Hill. For more information or to find out how you can show solidarity in other ways, please contact the Canada Tibet Committee at ctcoffice@tibet.ca.

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Commentary | We must all stand with Tibet - The McGill Daily (blog)