Samantha Power, collaboration, and the anti-echo-chamber.
Published December 09, 2008 @ 06:43AM PT
I had the pleasure of seeing Samantha Power speak in Portsmouth, New Hampshire over the weekend as part of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Forum's annual event. The super-intellectual/academic/journalist/activist was speaking about lessons learned from the career of Sergio Vieira de Mello, the late UN Diplomat Power had profiled in her latest book Chasing the Flame. I was happy to hear her mention Darfur Scores, a web-effort run by the Genocide Intervention Network (Power sits on their board, by the way) that aims to monitor and educate about elected leaders' votes relating to Darfur.
Power also noted the potential for activists to get wrapped up in echo-chamber elements of Internet communication, and she highlighted Vieira de Mello's strength as one who was willing to talk and act with the un-like minded in order to make progress.
I was surprised to not see many young people in the audience. I am not shy to say that Power is surely one of my heroes, and I can confidently say that a Problem From Hell is one of the most influential books among my extended circle of activist-friends (several of whom became a part of the anti-genocide movement at least in part because of reading it). It definitely informed my awareness, not just about genocide but about how governments and activism works. It was a great pleasure to hear her speak, and to see her cover two points of my own interests, albeit briefly.
The question and answer section of the talk was cut short awkwardly by the moderator, so I didn't get to ask any young activism/Internet related questions, but I'll surely be reaching out to Power in hopes that she gets back to me. If I do hear back, you'll be the first to find out.
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Alex is a freelance journalist, activist, and online community management consultant based in Boston and Portland, Maine. He currently serves as executive editor of MakeSomethingHappen.net, where he writes about online organizing and the power of collective action.
Samantha Power is a really important figure for young millennials. I'd say at least in my group of friends anyway, this is especially the case for young women. She is uncompromisingly brilliant, smart, savy and tough.
Intellectualism has taken a battering in the last few decades generally but especially with Bush. The rejection of Palin-ism was a pretty significant victory for people who think its okay to be smart in traditional and non-traditional ways. But the public profile of people like Samantha Powers, her similarly brilliant husband Cass Sunstein and others is, frankly, really nice to see.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&pwst=1&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=cass+sunstein+samantha+powers&spell=1
Posted by Nathaniel Whittemore on 12/09/2008 @ 06:48AM PT
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Our great hope for American Schoolchildren is that President Obama's Administration will ensure their Civil Rights Equality in Schools by ABOLISHING PHYSICAL (CORPORAL) PUNISHMENT (PADDLING WITH WOODEN BOARDS) as the deliberate infliction of physical pain and suffering intended to punish them. This unacceptable practice is currently LEGAL IN 21 STATES and administered for minor infractions such as chewing gum or violating school dress codes, according to the United States Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights latest available statistics reported voluntarily by schools. The legislatures of 29 states in our nation have abolished Corporal Punishment of Schoolchildren and MOST Americans believe, incorrectly, that the practice of hitting children with paddles in schools is illegal. In the state of Tennessee, where my family resides, we have contacted our Governor, Congressman and Senators with our concern and request to abolish physical punishment of schoolchildren, only to be told it is a "local control issue" by law under the authority of local school districts. We have contacted our local school district's 7 elected members and the Superintendent/Director of our County's Schools with our concerns and request to abolish physical punishment of schoolchildren, once in a verbal/written presentation at their Board meeting, and have received NO RESPONSE. Two of our three children attend Middle School where they overhear students receiving paddlings in the hallway and they tell us the names of the students and how many blows they receive. Teachers keep wooden paddles with holes drilled into them in their desk drawers and take them out to show the students and threaten them with physical punishment for forgetting their homework or talking, etc. Teachers who inflict physical pain on schoolchildren by hitting them with wooden paddles and threatening them are modeling physical violence as the acceptable means of solving problems/conflict resolution. This is UNACCEPTABLE! American Government Officials, including our President and Secretary of Education, must ensure EQUAL CIVIL RIGHTS FOR OUR CHILDREN and equal educational access for ALL AMERICAN SCHOOLCHILDREN to a safe, healthy and supportive learning environment IMMEDIATELY! The only to bring about positive change for Americans is through AWARENESS. We must DEMAND government officials take ACTION to ENSURE ALL AMERICAN CHILDREN ARE TREATED WITH HUMAN DIGNITY AND RESPECT!
Posted by Julie Worley on 01/29/2009 @ 08:43AM PT
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