July 18, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
From the beginning, these founders understood how change would come — just as King and all the civil rights giants did later. They understood that unjust laws needed to be overturned; that legislation needed to be passed; and that Presidents needed to be pressured into action. They knew that the stain of slavery and the sin of segregation had to be lifted in the courtroom, and in the legislature, and in the hearts and the minds of Americans.
More on page 3660
May 9, 2009 :: staff :: Comments Off
In 1860, Abraham Lincoln faced the challenge of proving himself worthy of national leadership, with only 2 years experience in the House of Representatives, 11 years prior to his candidacy. He arranged to deliver a major policy address in New York City. The topic was daunting: he would make the argument in favor of federal control of slavery in the territories which might become new states. Southern states where slavery was not only legal but was the structural basis for their economic culture, were opposed to such a policy, believing it would lead to the powerful and populous northern states forcing Congress to ban slavery throughout the US. [transcript follows comment...]
More on page 2665
December 10, 2008 :: J.E. Robertson :: One Comment
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), one of the United Nations’ founding charters, today marked 60 years since its official adoption. Promising the most sweeping raft of protections for human beings around the world, the document has long been controversial, as the major powers have each been accused of selectively enforcing the document’s provisions, according to their own governments’ ideologies or convenience.
More on page 825
November 18, 2008 :: Evelyn Winston Perez :: Comments Off
A federal judge in Miami has ordered the Curação Drydock Company to pay $80 million in damages and fines for enslaving workers shipped to Curação from Cuba. The workers were reportedly forced to work up to 112 hours per week at just 3 cents (US$0.03) per hour. As CSM reports: “Their passports were seized at the airport and they were rarely allowed to leave the shipyard complex…”
More on page 774
November 17, 2008 :: Evelyn Winston Perez :: Comments Off
Socio-economic issues linked to the disparate treatment of racial groups still plagues much of Brazil’s population and impedes the modernization of its economy. Though the Amazon nation is booming, and has become a world leader among developing market economies, the current president, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, took office promising to finally rid the dense, remote rainforest of de facto slavery.
More on page 770
October 15, 2008 :: J.E. Robertson :: One Comment
The monumental series of 7 3-hour-long debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas ended on 15 October 1858, exactly 150 years to the day before tonight’s third Obama-McCain televised 90-minute debate. The two Illinois politicians were competing for one of the state’s two Senate seats, and their epic debates are considered a watershed for intellect in American politics, a transformative political moment and a media revolution that drove democracy’s expansion in human society.
More on page 661
CafeSentido Partner Sites: