On Saturday April 28, Malaysians living in Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, and elsewhere gathered at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden for a peaceful demonstration to support the Bersih 3.0 movement. In spite of the cold, rainy day, over 60 people showed up to support free, clean elections in Malaysia.
Why is this significant? In most American papers, Malaysian affairs do not get top billing. Perhaps they should. For quite some time, Malaysia has been the Southeast Asian country with the most stable democracy in the region. Due to a widening class divide rising from corruption and laws favoring Muslim Malays, and institutionalized racism against Malaysians of Chinese and Indian descent, this former model of democracy and tolerance is disintegrating. Many of the nation's intellectuals leave Malaysia for opportunities elsewhere.
Amnesty International has published a report about the Malaysian government's increasing repression of the Malaysian people here.
It was not so long ago that some people in the United States questioned Dubya's presidential election victories, and wondered if his brother Jeb in Florida had something to do with rigging things. It was also not long ago that the state of Minnesota decided to put a Voter ID bill up for public vote in November. American patriots should follow what is happening in Malaysia to make sure that we are not fooled into following the same path.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Bullying Listening Sessions
The Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) is one of the organizations appointed to the Task Force on the Prevention of School Bullying. We are encouraging our colleagues and community partners to become engaged in the work of the task force.
The Task Force on the Prevention of School Bullying was created by executive order in February 2012. The task force will examine current trends in bullying, intimidation and harassment in Minnesota schools and will review existing related laws and regulations. From this review and input from experts on the topic, the task force will define bullying, harassment and intimidation and then provide policy recommendations to the Governor and Legislature. The task force is scheduled to meet through July 2012.
Here’s how you can engage with the work of the task force:
· Provide public comments to the task force on the issue of school bullying.
· Encourage others to provide their comments to the task force.
· Attend task force meetings. Meetings are open to the public and tentatively scheduled to be held at the MN Department of Education (MDE).
· Help turn out community members to listening sessions. The MDE is tentatively planning to host a few listening sessions in different communities across the state. These sessions will be open to the public.
We want to make sure that at minimum you know how you or your colleagues can provide comments, suggestions or ideas to the task force. You can provide your comments by:
1. Speaking at a task force meeting: The last 15 minutes of the task force’s meetings on April 16th, May 21st, and June 18th, will be set aside for public comments. You can provide your comments during this time.
2. Speaking at listening sessions: Listening sessions are tentatively planned for Bemidji, Rochester, and St. Cloud. Additional communities are being considered. There will be a time set aside during these sessions when participants can provide their comments. (Note: The location of the listening sessions is one of the agenda items for the task force’s April 16th meeting.)
3. Submit comments in writing: Written comments can be submitted to the task force co-chairs or the lead MDE staff person, Rose Hermodson, at rose.hermodson@state.mn.us.
We hope to provide a couple more updates to you on the work of this task force. You are highly encouraged to bookmark the Task Force on Prevention of School Bullying web page on MDE’s web site and use that web page as your source for updates on meeting agendas, handouts, task force meeting times, and other relevant information.
The next meeting of the task force is scheduled for April 16, 2012, at the MDE, Conference Center A, Room 13, 1500 Highway 36 West, Roseville, MN. If you are interested in attending any of the meetings or providing public comments at the meetings, please contact Rose Hermodson at rose.hermodson@state.mn.us.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Easter and Human Rights
Easter is an ancient holiday. The word "Easter" comes from the Anglo-Saxon Eastre, goddess of spring. Early Christians celebrated Passover, just like the Jewish people, for some time after Christ. The development of Easter as a distinctly Christian holiday probably took place after the fall of the Roman Empire, when Christian missionaries traveled to Northern Europe. Celebration of the arrival of spring and fertility became associated with the rebirth of Jesus Christ, which is why Easter in many European cultures is associated with Easter eggs, rabbits, pastel colors, and baby animals.
Every year, the Pope delivers a message on Easter Sunday which is usually a call for peace. This year, Pope Benedict XVI did the honors, naming particular countries and his hopes that they resolve their troubles. If Easter is a time to celebrate rebirth and new starts, perhaps it is the day we should reflect, forgive, and try to see our neighbors in a positive light. We have a long way to go on this planet together, as it is everyone's home, and we need to work together to keep it green, fertile, and fair. They say that the main reason for the Arab Spring rebellion was rising food prices due to climate change around the world. Without food, without sustainable agriculture and a renewal of the land, all humankind will sink to barbarism. How can we smile at our neighbors with empty bellies, while theirs are full? How can a prosperous, well-watered nation exploit the poor, parched ones? And how can a handful of corporations monopolize agriculture around the world?
What will change this spring?
Every year, the Pope delivers a message on Easter Sunday which is usually a call for peace. This year, Pope Benedict XVI did the honors, naming particular countries and his hopes that they resolve their troubles. If Easter is a time to celebrate rebirth and new starts, perhaps it is the day we should reflect, forgive, and try to see our neighbors in a positive light. We have a long way to go on this planet together, as it is everyone's home, and we need to work together to keep it green, fertile, and fair. They say that the main reason for the Arab Spring rebellion was rising food prices due to climate change around the world. Without food, without sustainable agriculture and a renewal of the land, all humankind will sink to barbarism. How can we smile at our neighbors with empty bellies, while theirs are full? How can a prosperous, well-watered nation exploit the poor, parched ones? And how can a handful of corporations monopolize agriculture around the world?
What will change this spring?
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Passover: A Celebration of Freedom
In the Western world, most people today would agree that the enslavement of fellow human beings is a human rights violation, even though slavery was permissible in the Old and New Testaments. In Judaism, the Passover holiday commemorates the liberation of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt and their exodus to the Holy Land as given to them by their god.
On the first night of Passover, observant Jewish families have a ritual meal called the seder. During the seder, the Jewish family (often led by the male head of the household) reads from the Haggadah, a special book which explains the reasons that Jewish people celebrate Passover, and why they eat and drink what they do in what sequence during the holiday, through question-and-answer, narrative, prayer, rituals, and games. What is not explained very well, however, is how the Jews became slaves in Egypt in the first place.
Respected sources state that the ancient Hebrews migrated to Egypt in order to escape famine. The Pharaoh at that time allowed them to stay in Egypt, where they prospered, became fruitful and multiplied. A later Pharaoh saw this Jewish baby boom as a threat to the kingdom (although this too is never explained), and he decided to enslave those of working age and kill off male infants. Moses would have been one of those infants, if his mother Jochebed did not send him down the Nile in a basket, to be adopted by the Pharaoh's daughter.
As the infant Moses would not nurse from the Pharaoh's daughter, it was suggested that she find a Hebrew wet nurse for him. Moses' older sister Miriam went to fetch Jochebed, who was allowed to care for Moses in the Pharaoh's custody. This meant that Moses never lost his connection to the Hebrew people, and therefore was not corrupted by Egyptian ways. He was selected by the god of his people to lead the ancient Hebrews out of Egypt into the Promised Land.
Freedom for the ancient Hebrews came at a cost. Their god told them that, if they wanted to live as free people, they had to follow many rules to prove that they were civilized and of a higher moral caliber than the Egyptians, as well as rules that would simply appease their god. During the Jewish Diaspora, where Jews migrated frequently and were rarely given equal rights in the countries where they settled, they took the definition of freedom very seriously. All humans have the right to freedom of movement, the right to personal safety, the right to work, the right to believe what they wish, and the right to pursue their happiness. It is said that the most spiritual of the Jewish people fight for social justice for everyone, in memory of every period of persecution that they have faced.
On the first night of Passover, observant Jewish families have a ritual meal called the seder. During the seder, the Jewish family (often led by the male head of the household) reads from the Haggadah, a special book which explains the reasons that Jewish people celebrate Passover, and why they eat and drink what they do in what sequence during the holiday, through question-and-answer, narrative, prayer, rituals, and games. What is not explained very well, however, is how the Jews became slaves in Egypt in the first place.
Respected sources state that the ancient Hebrews migrated to Egypt in order to escape famine. The Pharaoh at that time allowed them to stay in Egypt, where they prospered, became fruitful and multiplied. A later Pharaoh saw this Jewish baby boom as a threat to the kingdom (although this too is never explained), and he decided to enslave those of working age and kill off male infants. Moses would have been one of those infants, if his mother Jochebed did not send him down the Nile in a basket, to be adopted by the Pharaoh's daughter.
As the infant Moses would not nurse from the Pharaoh's daughter, it was suggested that she find a Hebrew wet nurse for him. Moses' older sister Miriam went to fetch Jochebed, who was allowed to care for Moses in the Pharaoh's custody. This meant that Moses never lost his connection to the Hebrew people, and therefore was not corrupted by Egyptian ways. He was selected by the god of his people to lead the ancient Hebrews out of Egypt into the Promised Land.
Freedom for the ancient Hebrews came at a cost. Their god told them that, if they wanted to live as free people, they had to follow many rules to prove that they were civilized and of a higher moral caliber than the Egyptians, as well as rules that would simply appease their god. During the Jewish Diaspora, where Jews migrated frequently and were rarely given equal rights in the countries where they settled, they took the definition of freedom very seriously. All humans have the right to freedom of movement, the right to personal safety, the right to work, the right to believe what they wish, and the right to pursue their happiness. It is said that the most spiritual of the Jewish people fight for social justice for everyone, in memory of every period of persecution that they have faced.
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