In Pictures: May Day Protests Around the World
In Pictures: May Day Protests Around the World Source link
All posts tagged: activism
Faith leaders’ activism shows organized religion can still be a force for good
(RNS) — The Rev. Kenny Callahan sat handcuffed in the back of an SUV after distracting ICE from abducting one of his neighbors. “Take me instead,” he yelled. So they did. “I’m not afraid of you,” the pastor of All God’s Children Metropolitan Community Church in Minneapolis told them. The agents visited him in the vehicle three times, as he sat next to two other detainees, asking each time if he was afraid yet. “No,” Callahan answered each time. Finally, one officer told him “Well. You’re white. You wouldn’t be any fun anyway,” and let him go. Callahan’s story, first reported by the local Fox affiliate, is one of many compelling testimonies from the burgeoning revival of religious resistance to authoritarianism in the U.S. From Jewish groups staging mass protests to Muslim mosques hosting civic defense panels, to Buddhist sanghas practicing “faithful defiance,” the religious left is finding its place in the vanguard of the United States’ pro-democracy movement, showing us that contrary to popular belief organized religion can be a force for good. Faith-based …
From Doubts About Nuke Talks to an Air Force One Flight, What Led up to Trump’s Order to Strike Iran
This is how the operation unfolded: 12:25 p.m. EST: Trump emerges from the White House on his way to Texas and tells reporters about the indirect negotiations with Iran: “I’m not happy with the way they’re going.” “No, I haven’t,” Trump says when asked if he had made a final decision on what to do next. 3:38 p.m. EST: As he flies aboard Air Force One to events in Texas, Trump gives the order to launch the operation, termed “Epic Fury.” “The president directed, and I quote, ‘Operation Epic Fury approved … Good luck,’” Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at a briefing Monday. That order, Caine said, set up every element of the joint U.S. forces making their final preparations, with air defense batteries readying themselves and pilots and crews rehearsing their strike packages for the final time. Meanwhile, air crews began loading their final weapons and the two U.S. carrier strike groups began to move toward their launching points, Caine said. During the nearly three-hour flight to …
Volunteer Group Archives Smithsonian Wall Text
A group of historians and volunteers has been documenting wall labels across the Smithsonian Institution as the Trump administration pushes for changes to how American history is presented in federal museums, according to The Washington Post. The effort, organized under the name Citizen Historians for the Smithsonian, began after administration officials called for reviews of content at several museums and urged the removal of what they described as “divisive narratives.” The Smithsonian, which comprises 21 museums and the National Zoo, has increasingly become a focal point in debates over historical interpretation. Related Articles The group was co-founded by James Millward, a Georgetown University historian, and Chandra Manning, a US history professor at Georgetown. Over seven weeks in late summer and early fall, they recruited hundreds of volunteers to photograph and archive publicly accessible wall text throughout the Smithsonian system, compiling more than 50,000 images, the Post reported. The documentation effort drew attention after the National Portrait Gallery replaced wall text accompanying President Donald Trump’s portrait. According to the Post, the previous label stated that Trump …
How should Muslims talk to their youth about the risks of activism?
(RNS) — In January, at a board of supervisors meeting in Hanover County, north of Richmond, Virginia, more than a hundred county residents signed up to air their concerns about a 550,000-square-foot warehouse that U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement had applied to buy as a place to house immigrant detainees. Judging from the chatter online, civic leaders and community organizers warned that the meeting could get contentious. But for people of color and Muslims who planned to show up, the advice was particularly ominous. Decide for yourself if you feel comfortable joining the protest planned for outside of the meeting or to speak inside. If you go, think about using the buddy system. In plainer terms: Show up, speak out and make your voice heard at your own risk. Risking arrest has always been part of social justice and faith activism, especially for persons of color. Recent stories and images out of Minnesota show that being a member of the clergy or otherwise representing a faith community hasn’t offered any protection against being recorded, doxed, …
People Who Don’t Go To Protests Are Often Helping In These Powerful Ways
Protests have been making the news a lot lately as Minnesotans take a stand against the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in their state, and other Americans have joined in around the country to express their similar displeasure. A lot of people seem to be under the impression that if you don’t show up to a protest, it means you simply don’t care, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Many people don’t or can’t participate in protests for various reasons, but that doesn’t mean they’re sitting on their hands doing nothing. There are quite a few ways people can make their voices heard without actually showing up to a protest. A content creator named Kiore shared some of the powerful things people can do outside of protesting in a recent TikTok video. People who don’t show up to protests are often helping in these 4 equally powerful ways: 1. They educate others William Fortunato | Pexels Protestors may be the most visible members of a social movement, but educators are the backbone …
Inside Paris Hilton’s World: Fame, Family, and Activism
Christmas is being dismantled, piece by piece, at Paris Hilton’s Beverly Hills estate. Assistants pluck bulbs — mostly pink — from the towering tree in the foyer before moving on to the forest of pink-tinted pines lining the living room. Up on the roof, a team of workers disassemble holiday lights that just a few weeks ago shrouded this 30,000-square-foot mansion (likely the only one in the neighborhood with a hot-pink tennis court) in what must have been a brilliant, shimmering — and let’s go out on a limb here, probably pink — halo. “It’s more than just a color,” Hilton notes while surveying the proceedings, a glimmer of self-awareness nearly detectable in her smile. “Pink is a lifestyle. It’s a movement.” Indeed, it is — and it’s one that’s followed Hilton, 44, through a long public arc that has often been lucrative, frequently eyebrow-raising and always impossible to look away from. Once known primarily as a hotel heiress turned tabloid fixture, she has over the past couple of decades cycled through reality television, DJ …
Lizzo Urges Action and Community After Shirley Raines’s Death: “The Whole World Needs to Know About Her”
In your Instagram Stories, you were talking about how she was really there for you personally through difficult times. How did your relationship evolve? After the People’s Choice Awards—because before it was very, you know, hey girl, like, you know—she really began to speak life to me. She would just always send me messages, or she was thinking about me. Or when she started receiving all these awards, she would send me videos and be like, “I wish you were here. Love you.” And, “wow, you know, I love you, Queen. I’m so proud of you. I’m so happy for you.” And when life started coming back into my eyes, and I started feeling more like myself again, she was like, “I can really see the light in you again, and I could see you’re coming back to the light. You look so happy, and I’m so proud of you.” That kind of emotional support from somebody like her can really change your whole day. And sometimes, when I did not hear from nobody, it …
How To Turn Overwhelming Emotions Into Action During Tough Times
We are once again living in difficult times and our political and social landscapes seem completely overwhelming. With the rise of the far-right, violent immigration raids and the cruel rollback on trans rights just to name a few, it can be hard to find hope anywhere. Feeling helpless in these times is completely understandable and feeling overwhelmed with empathy for those hit hardest by all that’s happening makes a lot of sense, too. However, that empathy can quickly become overwhelming and leave us feeling drained. In their book Sensitive: The Power of a Thoughtful Mind in an Overwhelming World, Jenn Granneman and Andre Sólo argue that we should use this pain, this empathy and this overwhelm and turn it into compassionate action. They write: “When sensitive people practice compassion, it doesn’t just give them a rudder in the storm. It makes them an ark unto others. Almost nothing is more calming than the presence of a person with unflinching compassion. “They care, but they don’t panic; they speak up, but they do not command. Compassion …
Sundance 2026: Nezza expands on her activism in ‘La Tierra del Valor’
Ever since she could remember, the burgeoning L.A. pop singer Nezza has written her own songs. She’s choreographed her own moves. She’s even applied her own rhinestones to her outfits. Then last summer, she staged her own protest at Dodger Stadium — as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stormed the city and raided immigrant communities, prompting waves of demonstrations from angry Angelenos. Directed by News & Documentary Emmy Award-winning director Cristina Costantini, Nezza stars in a new short documentary film titled “La Tierra del Valor” (The Home of the Brave), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday. Argentine American director Cristina Constantini, left, and Colombian Dominican singer Nezza at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday, Jan. 24 in Park City, Utah, for the premiere of “La Tierra del Valor” (The Home of the Brave). (Cat Cardenas / De Los) Powered by Latina grit and glory, the film chronicles the lead-up to Nezza’s famous act of defiance: singing the Spanish-language rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” titled “El Pendón Estrellado.” The song was penned by …