海角大神

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2020
July
09
Thursday

Monitor Daily Podcast

July 09, 2020
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Peter Grier
Washington editor

America鈥檚 rural areas don鈥檛 have well-established relief organizations, like many big cities do. So, when the pandemic hits, residents do what they鈥檝e always done 鈥� come together as a community.

Utah鈥檚 Cache County is a great example.聽

In early June about 300 workers at the JBS meatpacking plant in the small town of Hyrum for COVID-19. Many were from the area鈥檚 Latino and refugee communities.

The evening the results came in, Lizette Villegas鈥� phone began to buzz like crazy. She鈥檚 a well-known volunteer who鈥檚 trusted in the community, . She answered worried questions until the wee hours about how affected workers and their families could isolate and respond to their diagnoses.

But she couldn鈥檛 handle it all herself. Other helpers and local organizations got involved. By the next day people were dropping off cleaning supplies at affected households. The day following food began to arrive.

Pretty soon there were decentralized drop-off points for donations. Area churches got involved. A Church of Latter-Day Saints in Logan donated space for organizing supplies. It began to resemble a grocery store warehouse.

The connections between volunteers began to resemble a spider鈥檚 web as food pantries got involved. The ad hoc network served the widespread area more effectively than a single relief group or government agency would have, according to Ms. Villegas.

A month later she鈥檚 still getting a steady flow of incoming messages. But now many are from people who want to help the affected workers.

鈥淲e鈥檙e just trying to do everything so they stay home, stay safe,鈥� Ms. Villegas . 鈥淲e鈥檝e even built busy kits for the kids, to let their parents rest, because they鈥檝e been sick.鈥�

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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Profile
Elaine Thompson/AP
Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best talks with activists near a closed Seattle police precinct June 9, 2020. On July 1, police returned to the East Precinct building, after clearing a weekslong protest zone in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

A police chief鈥檚 message to community: Help us 鈥榙o a better job鈥�

( 6 min. read )

Few people are forced to grapple with the complexity of this summer鈥檚 protests and calls for racial justice as are Black police officers. One week after Seattle cleared demonstrators鈥� occupation, its police chief聽鈥� one of just a few women of color leading U.S. departments today聽鈥� takes stock.

By Ann Scott Tyson , reporting from Seattle
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A deeper look

鈥榃e need to keep speaking out鈥�: Racial justice in rural America

( 8 min. read )

What does it mean for small towns like Victor, Idaho, and Buffalo, Wyoming, to hold Black Lives Matter protests? It's a groundswell of support not seen since the civil rights era.

By Martin Kuz , reporting from Buffalo, Wyoming
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Maya Alleruzzo/AP/File
Afghanistan has been deadly for U.S. troops, as memorials like this one in Afghanistan's Farah province on Nov. 9, 2009, attest. But a recent report suggests that Russia has tried to make it moreso by paying bounties to the Taliban for killing American troops.

For Russian experts, Taliban bounty report just doesn鈥檛 make sense

( 4 min. read )

The report of Russia paying bounties to the Taliban for killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan has heated up the political rhetoric in Washington. But it hasn鈥檛 swayed many in Moscow, not even those critical of the Kremlin.

By Fred Weir , reporting from Moscow
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Essay

A Black mom knows: How I prepared my sons for racism in America

( 4 min. read )

All parents struggle with how to make their children feel secure in a world that isn鈥檛 always safe. For Black parents that paradox is particularly acute.聽Writer and mom Meme Kelly shares her family鈥檚 story.

By Meme Kelly
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Rosy Garibay/City Kids Wilderness Project
City Kids Wilderness Project canceled its in-person summer camps in Jackson, Wyoming, creating instead a virtual camp for the 130 children it would have hosted from Washington, D.C. Here, parents of seventh grade participants learn about last year's program and the plans for 2020.

Kids are running and jumping. So are parents: Camp is back.

( 5 min. read )

Summer camp allows young people to form friendships and connect with nature 鈥� and gives parents an often needed break. The coronavirus has complicated the camp experience, but has not done away with it. How is it being adapted?聽

By Chelsea Sheasley
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The Monitor's View
The Jefferson City News-Tribune via AP/File
WNBA star Maya Moore, right, calls Jonathan Irons as supporters react to his overturned conviction in a 1997 burglary and assault case. He was freed from prison July 1, 2020, after years of work by Moore and other supporters.

To do justly, to love mercy

( 3 min. read )

Her T-shirt read 鈥淒o justice, love mercy, walk humbly鈥� 鈥� three things God asks of His people in the Bible鈥檚 book of Micah.

When Jonathan Irons walked out of a prison in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a free man last week, Maya Moore couldn鈥檛 help but drop to her knees in gratitude. After becoming convinced of his innocence, Ms. Moore had spent years working to secure his release.

Another factor added to the drama of the moment: Last year, while still in her prime, Ms. Moore had given up her career as a superstar in the Women鈥檚 National Basketball Association to devote her full attention to the case.聽

She wasn鈥檛 someone who鈥檇 just had a brush with professional sports. Ms. Moore is a six-time WNBA All-Star and a former league MVP. As a member of the Minnesota Lynx she鈥檇 won four WNBA titles. That was on top of two national championships at the University of Connecticut and a gold medal playing for Team USA in the 2016 Olympic Games.

In 1998 Mr. Irons, at age 16, had been tried as an adult and found guilty of burglary and the nonfatal shooting of a man in his home. He had always professed his innocence, and only shaky evidence tied him to the scene. His conviction was overturned when it was shown that his defense had not been given access to fingerprint evidence that could have helped his case. After 22 years, Mr. Irons was finally free.

鈥淯ntil Maya Moore got involved, [Mr. Irons] just really didn鈥檛 have the resources to either hire counsel or hire investigators,鈥� says his attorney, Kent Gipson. 鈥淚t鈥檚 big to sacrifice a year of your career in your prime to do that.鈥�

Professional athletes regularly make sizable gifts to charities, establish charitable foundations, and in general use their fame to promote various causes. And many of them aren鈥檛 household names. This week Patty Mills, a guard on the San Antonio Spurs basketball team, said he would donate all the money he earns when the NBA season resumes 鈥� just over $1 million 鈥� to three charities in his native Australia that combat racism. He鈥檚 decided to play, he says, because 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to leave any money on the table that could be going directly to Black communities.鈥� 聽

Ms. Moore has said she will take the coming WNBA season off as well. Some speculate that she鈥檒l retire altogether. Her criminal justice work has struck a chord with her, nurtured by her deep 海角大神 faith, which has guided her since childhood.

鈥淚t hit me so hard when I was in middle school that God is my father, and He is my identity,鈥� Ms. Moore said in a 2019 interview. 鈥淗e is what matters most about who I am.鈥�

Ms. Moore uses a sports metaphor to explain her commitment.聽

鈥淧eople don鈥檛 want to watch a fixed game,鈥� she said in an interview after Mr. Irons鈥� release. 鈥淭hey want to watch a fair game, and so that鈥檚 all we鈥檙e asking for, in our justice system 鈥� let鈥檚 be fair.鈥澛�

For Ms. Moore, a new playing field may now beckon, one not filled with money and fame but with doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly.

By the Monitor's Editorial Board
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A 海角大神 Science Perspective

About this feature

Each weekday, the Monitor includes one clearly labeled religious article offering spiritual insight on contemporary issues, including the news. The publication 鈥� in its various forms 鈥� is produced for anyone who cares about the progress of the human endeavor around the world and seeks news reported with compassion, intelligence, and an essentially constructive lens. For many, that caring has religious roots. For many, it does not. The Monitor has always embraced both audiences. The Monitor is owned by a church 鈥� The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston 鈥� whose founder was concerned with both the state of the world and the quality of available news.

My people

( 1 min. read )

In response to the question 鈥淲ho is my neighbor?鈥� Jesus responded with the well-known parable of the good Samaritan. Here鈥檚 a poem based on the essential message of true brotherhood conveyed in that parable

By Becca Beaty
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A message of love

Andrew Matthews/PA/AP
A volunteer sweeps the streets at the Wimborne Model Town and Gardens, as it prepares to reopen to members of the public on Saturday following the easing of lockdown restrictions in England, in Wimborne, England, July 9, 2020.
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( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Karen Norris and Jacob Turcotte. )

A look ahead

Thanks for joining us. Come back tomorrow, when we鈥檒l have coverage of the big Supreme Court cases of the week.

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More issues

2020
July
09
Thursday

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