海角大神

2023
May
22
Monday

Monitor Daily Podcast

May 22, 2023
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Stephen Humphries
Staff writer

Last week, Otis Taylor finally received his high school diploma in his 70s.聽

Mr. Taylor, a celebrated blues musician, was the guest of honor at Manual High School in Denver. The occasion was more than just a graduation ceremony. It was an act of atonement.聽

In 1966, Manual High School expelled Mr. Taylor after he refused an ultimatum.

鈥溾楥ut your hair, or you won鈥檛 graduate,鈥欌 recalls Mr. Taylor in a phone call. 鈥淚t was very simple.鈥

His hair wasn鈥檛 that long, just a little fluffy on the sides. But administrators at the mostly Black school targeted students, including white hippies, who weren鈥檛 regulars at a barber shop. Back then, Mr. Taylor stood out as different. He was a Black kid who played a banjo while riding a unicycle. The teenager listened to the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Muddy Waters.聽

Asked what happened after he was expelled, the musician offers a wry response: 鈥淚 just became Otis Taylor.鈥

The nonconformist artist has released 16 albums, including the 2023 release 鈥淏anjo ...鈥 His hard-to-classify sound, which he dubs 鈥渢rance blues,鈥 centers around the banjo. The songwriter is drawn to exploring injustices faced by Native Americans and African Americans. But his unconventional approach kept him out of the mainstream. His belated breakthrough came in 2009 when director Michael Mann featured the song 鈥淭en Million Slaves鈥 in the movie 鈥淧ublic Enemies.鈥 More recently, the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville, Tennessee, has also recognized Mr. Taylor鈥檚 work. Now, the musician鈥檚 alma mater has made amends for failing to support the musician鈥檚 individuality.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the antithesis to who we are as Manual today, that type of discrimination,鈥 says school principal Joe Glover in a phone call. 鈥淣ow we embrace that creativity. We embrace that uniqueness. ... You could tell this was meaningful and powerful for him.鈥

Mr. Taylor doesn鈥檛 begrudge choosing an unusual path in life.

鈥淚 have two kids. A beautiful wife, married for 37 years,鈥 he says. 鈥淲hy should I have regrets?鈥

Describing the graduation ceremony as a surreal experience, Mr. Taylor jokes, 鈥淣ow I can apply for the Berklee school of music.鈥澛

Editor鈥檚 note: This story has been updated to correct an error about Mr. Taylor鈥檚 race. He is Black.


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

A deeper look

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Army Staff Sgt. Alex Henninger kisses the head of his newborn son, Hugo.

Men and women make big work commitments in military service, but they often also have big commitments in family life. A new paid leave policy aims to help military families find a better balance.聽

Commentary

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Jim Brown was the paragon of football running backs, whose athletic feats defied belief. But he saw himself, first and foremost, as a man fighting for the freedom of those around him 鈥 and himself.

In Pictures

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Elephant tourism brings joy to many who visit Thailand. As the industry rebounds from a pandemic pause, so too has discussion of how to best care for the beloved beasts.


The Monitor's View

Reuters
People in Port Sudan, Sudan, move boxes of aid from an Indian Air Force plane, May 18.

Despite five weeks of civil war between factions of a military junta, the people of Sudan have shown remarkable enterprise and resolve. Many are caring for one another. Youth groups have launched apps to help people find resources. Doctors and women鈥檚 groups are working together to record incidents of sexual violence committed by soldiers.

Such civic activism helps explain why the two warring generals 鈥 erstwhile partners in a 2021 coup 鈥 have felt compelled to reassert their democratic intentions despite turning on each other. In early May, they signed an agreement vowing to uphold international legal norms for protecting civilians. And today their respective forces were set to begin observing a weeklong cease-fire to enable the flow of humanitarian supplies to besieged citizens.

The truce, brokered over the weekend by the United States and Saudi Arabia, is meant to be a first step toward restoring Sudan鈥檚 interrupted transition back to civilian rule. It concedes an important point. By 鈥渆nsuring full, safe, and unhindered movement for all humanitarian organizations, civil society groups and community organizations,鈥 it acknowledges that political legitimacy rests not with the force of arms but in self-government.

鈥淲e have been moved by the courage and resilience of the people of Sudan, their desire for change, and their attachment to principles of justice and freedom,鈥 said Volker T眉rk, the United Nations鈥 human rights chief, during the cease-fire talks. For peace to be sustainable, stable, and just, he said, it must be built on 鈥渂edrock commitments of accountability, non-discrimination and participation.鈥澛

Sudan has struggled since 2019 when pro-democracy groups toppled a military dictatorship that had lasted 30 years. A civilian-led transitional government was established with the military鈥檚 tacit support. But two years later, just as that government was set to publish a report on corruption in companies tied to the armed forces, the generals seized back power.

An alliance between thee generals prevailed for a time against an array of professional and civil society groups seeking a restoration of democracy. But last month the political and economic competition between the two main armed factions erupted in urban warfare. More than a million people have fled into Sudan鈥檚 already fragile neighbors.

The civil society groups that formed the backbone of Sudan鈥檚 pro-democracy movement have now become, as regional expert Alex de Waal described them recently, the only functioning civic government in the country, 鈥渞epurposed ... as emergency networks for community information, protection, and supplying humanitarian essentials.鈥澛

Sudan鈥檚 conflict has raised concerns of destabilizing a region beset by drought, hunger, and myriad other conflicts. But it is also reinforcing a civil strength. By tying 鈥渢he slogan 鈥榥o to war鈥 with practical assistance,鈥 Muzan Alneel, co-founder of a Sudanese technology institute, wrote earlier this month, 鈥渁 truly realistic and sustainable approach is being created by the people of Sudan in the face of war.鈥


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 a spiritual, Godlike view of those who oppose us opens a path to progress.


Viewfinder

Amy Harris/Invision/AP
Festivalgoers attend the Welcome To Rockville Music Festival on Sunday, May 21, 2023, at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. The four-day event attracted an estimated 170,000 people who enjoyed 95 acts 鈥 and showed off a wide variety of hairstyles, costumes (including an inflatable dinosaur), and body art.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Karen Norris. )

A look ahead

Thanks for reading our stories today. Please do share your favorites with friends and family. Tomorrow鈥檚 issue will look at how Saudi Arabia, the world鈥檚 second-largest oil producer, is聽a surprising new player in the fight against climate change.

More issues

2023
May
22
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