We Need to Practice What We Preach to Avoid “Slacktivist” Conversations
“But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.”- Matthew 23:3b Although written for an ancient audience, the biblical idiom “practice what you preach” still applies today. The phrase directs its listeners to avoid hypocrisy, a phenomenon all too prevalent in discussions of the unique issues faced by minority […]
Musical Artists Against the Brazilian Military Dictatorship: Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and Chico Buarque
The Brazilian military dictatorship—a politically tumultuous period lasting from 1964 to 1985—is mostly known for the government’s numerous crimes and many artists’s countless peaceful protests. The oppressive government lacked democracy, suppressed basic human rights, pervasively censored arts and literature, and persecuted those who opposed the dictatorship, including musical artists. Singers, such as Caetano Veloso, Gilberto […]
America’s Ever-Shifting Goalposts on Violence and Protest
Photo by Andy Montgomery Last August, Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin. As the incident gained national attention, NBA players protested the shooting by temporarily halting playoff games. But anyone who remembered how NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s peaceful protest was met with threats, scorn, and […]
Returning to Pride’s Intersectional Protest Roots
The Stonewall Riots of June 1969, one of the major turning points leading to the gay liberation and modern LGBTQ+ rights movements, was a multi-night rebellion against the police. Black trans women of color, namely Marsha P. Johnson and Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, were central figures at Stonewall and in the movement it sparked. In fact, […]
It’s Not the Spectacle of the Protests That Matters. It’s the Substance.
What you feel when you see a police officer depends entirely on who they are to you. For the privileged white protesters who donned military gear, brandished guns, and marched uninhibited into the Michigan State Capitol on April 30, police officers were public servants to be shouted at on the way into the building. Amid […]
Hong Kong Attempts to Criminalize the Basic Right to Protest
Photo courtesy of Aidan Marzo June 1989 marked a flashpoint for Hong Kong activism, when one million Cantonese people protested the massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Many Hong Kongers continue to observe June 4th to remember those who died in the crackdown. Martin Lee is one such observer. Lee is the founding […]
Protest and Productivity
From the inception of our country, protest, defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary as “a solemn declaration of opinion and usually of dissent,” has played a role in how citizens can voice concerns and draw a government’s attention to particular issues. In times of discontent, people have turned to protests to voice their opposition toward […]
#WAKEUPWORLD and Showing Solidarity
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. Early last week, I was lucky enough to witness and participate in #WAKEUPWORLD, a Boston march in solidarity with students of color all over the country protesting institutionalized discrimination within schools and universities. Representatives of 17 schools, including Northeastern, walked through Boston […]
European (Dis)Union
Lily is currently studying International Affairs and Economics at Sciences Po in Paris, France. Since the beginning of the conflict in Syria, about 4 million refugees have fled the region, seeking safety from the violence and destruction left in the wake of ISIS and by the Assad regime’s brutal policies.[1] As people move westward, a […]
Ayotzinapa: Mexico´s Pandora´s Box
During this past year, Mexico experienced one of the worst crimes in recent memory — the kidnap and murder of almost 50 students. The magnitude of this atrocity has not been seen in the country since the Tlatelolco Massacre, which occurred on October 2, 1968. Over 500 students were wounded and killed by the police, […]