Author: TheConversation

By Caitlin Caspi, Professor of Public Health, University of Connecticut Among the many striking images from the pandemic is an aerial photo showing cars in seemingly endless rows lined up at a food bank. A jarring awareness of food insecurity in the U.S. has accompanied the health and financial concerns brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, with record numbers of people visiting food banks for the first time. Even those not immediately in need were made increasingly aware of food insecurity in 2020, amid conversations not only of the economic fallout of the coronavirus, but also how structural racism...

By David Himmelgreen, Professor of Anthropology, University of South Florida; and Jacquelyn Heuer, Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology and Public Health Education, University of South Florida Food banks, nonprofits that collect and distribute food to hunger relief organizations, have played an essential role in the distribution of emergency food relief throughout the United States for more than 50 years. They have been more visible than ever before during the pandemic, with many organizing large drive-through pantries, where people line up in vehicles to receive boxes of food from mask-clad staff and volunteers. This uptick in demand for their services is...

By Adam Seagrave, Associate Professor of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership, Arizona State University One of the most under-appreciated figures in the nation’s history, John Brown, has been introduced to Americans by the recent Showtime series “The Good Lord Bird,” based on the James McBride novel of the same name. Too often dismissed as a failed zealot, Brown was an unconventional anti-slavery leader who blazed a trail that Abraham Lincoln would follow just a few years later. Commentators then and now are more likely to see differences between Lincoln’s and Brown’s approaches to civic leadership. Lincoln was cautious...

By Vanessa Freije, Assistant Professor, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington Facebook barred Australians from finding or sharing news on its platform, in response to an Australian government proposal to require social media networks to pay journalism organizations for their content. The move is already reducing online readership of Australian news sites, with dark implications for America and other nations. Similar to what happened when Facebook suspended Donald Trump’s account in January, the fight with Australia is again raising debate around social media networks’ enormous control over people’s access to information. Australia’s prime minister, Scott...

By Tamara L. Brown, Executive Dean and Professor of Psychology, University of North Texas In her speech at the 2020 Democratic National Convention Kamala Harris saluted seven women who “inspired us to pick up the torch and fight on.” All but two of them, one of whom was her mother, belonged to Black sororities. Harris also mentioned her own Black sorority, saying: “Family is my beloved Alpha Kappa Alpha.” Many Americans may have wondered why Harris would invoke sororities on such an occasion. But not me. Like her, I am a proud member of a Black sorority: Delta Sigma...