June 16, 2007

You may not know it living in the United States, but this year most of what historians call the Atlantic World is commemorating the 200th anniversary of the British abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.

When it comes to global warming, Bush claims to be ready to take action, he is actually not proposing any action. He’s ready to spew words but not ready to back them up with anything meaningful.

The latest chapter in Pete Seeger’s long and illustrious life is a petition drive by thousands of his fans to convince the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker group, to nominate the great U.S. folksinger for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize. AFSC enjoys the privilege of nominating people for the prize because the group won it in 1947.

Puerto Rican New York actress Rosie Perez’s recent documentary “¡Yo soy Boricua, pa’que tu lo sepas!” (I’m Puerto Rican, just so you know!) emphasizes, perhaps without really intending to, the contradictions facing a national minority of a colonial country within the United States.

“Chalk” is a mockumentary about the lives of a handful of teachers at Harrison High School. If you are a teacher, if anyone close to you is a teacher, if you plan to become a teacher, or if you simply appreciate great humor, see this film.

On May 14, noted social documentary photographer Milton Rogovin, 97, received the Cornell Capa Award presented by the International Center of Photography in New York.

CLEVELAND — On June 4, Marc Dann, Ohio’s new attorney general, announced an enforcement program targeting contractors who violate Ohio’s prevailing wage law.

COLUMBUS — “We’re here for those that can’t be here, for those who’d like to be, but are still in Iraq,” said Teresa Dawson, the Central Ohio coordinator of Military Families Speak Out. Dawson is the mother of an Iraq war veteran and the daughter of a Marine.

CHICAGO — With the Zimbabwean economy in a state of collapse and President Robert Mugabe stepping up repression against the country’s population, activists here called for extending greater solidarity to the people.