By Kris Manjapra, Tufts University | – The actual day was June 19, 1865, and it was the Black dockworkers in Galveston, Texas, who first heard the word that freedom for the enslaved had come. There were speeches, sermons and shared meals, mostly held at Black churches, the safest places to have such celebrations. The […]
Patriarchy and Purity Culture Silence Evangelical, Southern Baptist Women amid Sexual Abuse Scandals
By Julie Ingersoll, University of North Florida | – A devastating yearlong investigation into the executive committee of the largest conservative evangelical denomination in the U.S., the Southern Baptist Convention, has documented widespread claims of sex abuse including accusations of rape, cover-ups and gross mistreatment of women seeking justice. In 2019 the Houston Chronicle and […]
Why Muslim countries are quick at condemning Defamation – but often ignore Rights Violations against Muslim Minorities
By Ahmet T. Kuru, San Diego State University | – The Indian government finds itself in a diplomatic crisis following offensive remarks by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson, Nupur Sharma, on national television about the Prophet Muhammad and his wife, Aisha. The BJP has suspended Sharma from the position, but that has not […]
Lessons in Activism: How Australia’s expanding environmental Movement is breaking the Climate Action Deadlock in Politics
By Robyn Gulliver, The University of Queensland | – The federal election saw voters’ growing concern about Australia’s laggardly response to climate change finally addressed, with teal independents garnering seats in Liberal heartland and record votes for Greens candidates. But what caused this seismic shift in Australia’s political landscape? And why now? We believe the […]
Food prices: how Countries are using the Global Crisis to gain Geopolitical Power
By Sarah Schiffling, Liverpool John Moores University; and Nikolaos Valantasis Kanellos,Technological University Dublin | Twenty million tonnes of grain are currently stuck in Ukrainian silos, exacerbating the global food crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of the country. Aside from the need to get the grain onto world markets, freeing up storage space will be crucial […]
Biden just declared Heat Pumps and Solar Panels essential to National Defense – here’s why and the Challenges Ahead
By Daniel Cohan, Rice University | – Solar panels, heat pumps and hydrogen are all building blocks of a clean energy economy. But are they truly “essential to the national defense”? President Joe Biden proclaimed that they are in early June when he authorized using the Defense Production Act to ramp up their production in […]
Regardless of seditious conspiracy charges’ outcome, groups like Proud Boys seek to build a white nation
By Matthew Valasik, University of Alabama; and Shannon Reid, University of North Carolina – Charlotte | – As the House Select Committee prepares to begin public hearings on the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, far-right groups including the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers are were a prominent topic of discussion. At the same time, both […]
Ice world: Antarctica’s riskiest glacier is under assault from below and losing its grip
By Ted Scambos, University of Colorado Boulder | – Flying over Antarctica, it’s hard to see what all the fuss is about. Like a gigantic wedding cake, the frosting of snow on top of the world’s largest ice sheet looks smooth and unblemished, beautiful and perfectly white. Little swirls of snow dunes cover the surface. […]
Guns in the US: Why the NRA is so Successful at preventing Reform
By Thomas Gift, UCL | – In the wake of the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas that killed 19 children and two teachers, Democrats in the US – led by the president, Joe Biden – have once again called for stricter national gun laws. Yet many experts believe prospects for reform remain bleak, a […]