海角大神

2021
May
19
Wednesday

Monitor Daily Podcast

May 19, 2021
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Noelle Swan
Weekly Editor

Mavis Rudof was just 13 when she realized what she wanted to do with her life.聽

It was June 11, 2019, and she watched from the courtroom gallery as her public-defender father argued for the freedom of Darrell Jones, a Black man who had been convicted of murder by an all-white jury in 1986. When the jury, this time with two Black jurors, came back with a , she knew.

鈥淚 got into the car with my dad after the verdict ... and was like 鈥榯his is the work I need to do,鈥欌 she recalls.聽

I met Mavis when she was a student in my preschool classroom. When I caught up with her a year ago, cellphone footage of George Floyd鈥檚 death had just emerged and Mavis could no longer wait to add her voice to calls for racial justice. She joined protests and solidified her resolve to 鈥渙bstruct the injustice that we are living in right now,鈥 as she told me at the time.

A year later, former police officer Derek Chauvin has been convicted of Mr. Floyd鈥檚 murder. In Mavis鈥 view, 鈥渢remendous change鈥 is still needed. 鈥淥ur first police officers were slave patrols,鈥 she says. 鈥淭hat says a lot about how our systems have been built.鈥

At a societal level, she says the verdict opened 鈥渁 window of possibility for changes. It showed that convictions can happen.鈥

These hopes have been buoyed by the public discussions of justice, privilege, and racial equity over the past year. 鈥淲hite people need to be forced to think about these issues,鈥 she argues. 鈥淏lack people live it every day.鈥澛

Her advice to white people wanting to better understand these issues? 鈥淟isten to people of color. And learn. ... If race is hard to talk about, then you are probably having the right kind of conversations.鈥


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

A deeper look

Ann Hermes/Staff
Ruhel Islam (standing), a restaurateur, works with a friend to build a stage in a community garden on the site of his former Gandhi Mahal restaurant, which was burned down in May 2020 following the killing of George Floyd.

A neighborhood in Minneapolis, heavily damaged during protests a year ago, is trying to rebuild in a way that embodies ideals of diversity and equality, potentially offering聽a new model for urban redevelopment.

Patterns

Tracing global connections

It has been over 20 years since the U.S. was last involved in a serious effort to resolve the Palestinian issue. The current fighting between Israel and Hamas might 鈥 just possibly 鈥 prompt Washington to try again.

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
Students in teacher Carina Tsuneta鈥檚 third to fifth grade class draw the sun during a lesson on the solar system at Grace Preparatory Academy on May 10, 2021, in Needham, Massachusetts. Grace Prep students spend two days in class and three days being taught at home by parents using lesson plans provided by teachers.

With interest in hybrid home schooling on the rise, many parents are emphasizing a new priority for their children鈥檚 education: flexibility.

French society is increasingly diverse, and its publishing industry is having to stretch itself to reflect this diversity in new titles and a broader literary conversation.聽

Points of Progress

What's going right

In this week鈥檚 progress roundup, careful planning for the needs of people and the natural world benefits all. One study says that armed conflicts are rare in places where natural resources are well managed.


The Monitor's View

Reuters
Colombians in Bogota take part in a May 19 protest demanding government tackle poverty, police violence, and inequalities in healthcare and education.

Anti-government protests in Colombia have now entered their fourth week, which is unusual enough for one of Latin America鈥檚 stronger democracies. The numbers are also atypically big, with tens of thousands on the streets at a time in most cities. Another notable is the range of voices, from urban youth to rural poor. And the number of their complaints spans from corruption to police brutality to a proposed tax hike that first triggered the protests.

Most remarkable, however, may be a popular demand for the new style of politics.

鈥淲hat seems to be ruled out is the continuity of the politics of hatred and polarization that have characterized Colombia in the past several years,鈥 writes Mauricio C谩rdenas, a former finance minister, in Americas Quarterly. 鈥淕overning from one side of the political spectrum is a recipe for disaster.鈥

Colombians see a disconnect between their daily problems and politics marked by divisiveness and acrimony. 鈥淭hey are telling the traditional politicians that they are ready to replace them in order to make the country more democratic, less corrupt, less unequal,鈥 states Mr. C谩rdenas.

Before the protests began April 28, many people already had high expectations of political reconciliation. In 2016, the government entered a peace pact with the country鈥檚 largest rebel group, the FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The agreement promised to bring the rebels into politics and end a half-century of war. But slow implementation of the pact is now one of the protesters鈥 grievances.

With elections due in 2022, public opinion has shifted against the conservative president, Iv谩n Duque. He is trying to reach out to youth but his popularity has only fallen. 鈥淲e are looking at a citizenship that is more committed and involved,鈥 said political analyst Laura Gil in a YouTube forum.

Among Latin American countries, Colombia ranks relatively high in its capability to combat the No. 1 complaint of the protesters 鈥 corruption. It has a high level of civil society, investigative journalism, and education, according to Transparency International. Now, protester Miguel Morales told BBC, 鈥淲e need to make good choices in next year鈥檚 election.鈥 By the size and duration of the protests, the choice seems to have been made.


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.

Turning to God, divine Love, for inspiration and guidance brings greater wisdom, peace, and joy to parenting efforts.


A message of love

Amit Dave/Reuters
Women carry their belongings after salvaging them from their damaged workplaces at a fishing harbor following Cyclone Tauktae in Jafrabad in the western state of Gujarat in India, May 19, 2021. The cyclone was the strongest ever recorded to hit the country's west coast.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Jacob Turcotte. )

A look ahead

Thanks for joining us today. Come back tomorrow when chief culture writer Stephen Humphries interviews an author who believes no conflict is unsolvable, for the next聽installment of The Respect Project.

More issues

2021
May
19
Wednesday

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