The April 2006 issue was well-written, especially the articles on abortion and immigration. Janet Parker’s article, “Can These Bones Live?” especially moved me.
Human Rights
When the Sago mine explosion trapped 13 West Virginia miners 250 feet below ground in January, I was deep into Kettle Bottom, a stunning collection of poetry by Diane Gilliam Fisher that i
Twenty-five Christian peacemakers, members of Witness Against Torture, walked 50 miles from Santiago, Cuba, to the gates of the controversial U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay in December to protest the treatment of prisoners detained there.
An interview with Palestinian leader Hanan Ashrawi on feminism, faith, and the future of the Palestinian cause.
My son hates social studies. No matter how much I drill him on the subject, he could care less about James Madison, the Bill of Rights, the abolitionist movement, or even more-contemporary figures like Arthur Ashe. This is more than unfortunate; it's a problem.
That's because he's a fourth grader attending public school in the Commonwealth of Virginia. And at the end of the school year, he and every other fourth grader in Virginia is going to be tested on the subject, with an emphasis on the history of the Old Dominion.
The problem isn't the subject matter; it's the way that it's presented. There's little or no attempt to engage his imagination. Facts alone don't begin to tell the story of why these figures are important and why we should know who they are, much less admire them. I also know that this disconnect between history and the imagination is far from universal. His cousins, who are the same age, don't have this problem. They live in Mexico City, a place where art and history seem inseparable. Because they can see and even touch the history of the place they call home, they are more apt to want to read about it.
It's also true for me. I remember when I first saw a reproduction of Diego Rivera's (no relation) painting of Emiliano Zapata, the leader of peasant and indigenous forces during the Mexican Revolution. Rivera's painting, which conveys both Zapata's peasant origins and his nobility, made me want to learn more about the revolutionary leader and the times that produced him. It grabbed my imagination and the rest of me soon followed, so much so that a reproduction of the work hangs in my home.
The election last year of President Vicente Fox and Chiapas Gov. Pablo Salazar brought hope to Mexico's indigenous population...
It is the late 1970s in El Salvador, when peasants read the Bible and discover that they are God's hands, feet, and voice; if El Salvador is to be a savior, for which it is name
Jennifer Harbury's eight-year fight for justice in the death of her husband, Guatemalan resistance leader Efrain Bamaca Velasquez, has ended in victory.
Despite presidential apologies and lip service to human rights, the Clinton administration continues to offer aid to the Guatemalan and Colombian militaries...
In August, the Chilean Supreme Court stripped Gen. Augusto Pinochet of immunity from prosecution for the kidnapping, torture, and murder of thousands of people during his 17-year rule.