Author: TheConversation

From 1864 Rebellion to 2020 Pandemic: America cannot have a free society without elections

From 1864 Rebellion to 2020 Pandemic: America cannot have a free society without elections

Posted by | Aug 20, 2020 |

By Calvin Schermerhorn, Professor of History, Arizona State University The outlook was not promising in 1864 for President Abraham Lincoln’s reelection. Hundreds of thousands of Americans had been killed, wounded or displaced in a civil war with no end in sight. Lincoln was unpopular. Radical Republicans in his own party doubted his commitment to Black civil rights and condemned his friendliness to ex-rebels. Momentum was building to replace him on the ballot with Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase. A pamphlet went viral arguing that “Lincoln cannot be re-elected to the Presidency,” warning that “The people have lost all confidence...

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Social Isolation: How prolonged loneliness during COVID-19 raises the dementia risk in older adults

Social Isolation: How prolonged loneliness during COVID-19 raises the dementia risk in older adults

Posted by | Aug 19, 2020 |

By Karra Harrington, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Clinical Psychologist, Pennsylvania State University; and Martin J. Sliwinski, Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, Director of the Center for Healthy Aging, Pennsylvania State University Physical pain is unpleasant, yet it is vital for survival because it is a warning that your body is in danger. It tells you to take your hand off a hot burner or to see a doctor about discomfort in your chest. Pain reminds us all that we need to take care of ourselves. Feeling lonely is the social equivalent to feeling physical pain. It even triggers...

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A celebration of Black culture: African Americans have used public spaces to defy white supremacy

A celebration of Black culture: African Americans have used public spaces to defy white supremacy

Posted by | Aug 16, 2020 |

By Shannon M. Smith, Associate Professor of History, College of Saint Benedict & Saint John’s University From Richmond to New York City to Seattle, anti-racist activists are getting results as Confederate monuments are coming down by the dozens. In Richmond, Virginia, protesters have changed the story of Lee Circle, home to a 130-year-old monument to Confederate General Robert E. Lee. It is now a new community space where graffiti, music and projected images turn the statue of Lee from a monument to white supremacy into a backdrop proclaiming that Black Lives Matter. This is not a new phenomenon. I’m...

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Discovering the Rainbow: Solarpunk embodies an optimism towards the future that our society needs

Discovering the Rainbow: Solarpunk embodies an optimism towards the future that our society needs

Posted by | Aug 15, 2020 |

By Jennifer Hamilton, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Gender and Cultural Studies, University of Sydney Punks (of the 70s and 80s kind) were not known for their optimism. Quite the opposite in fact. Raging against the establishment in various ways, there was “no future” because, according to the Sex Pistols, punks are “the poison / In your human machine / We’re the future / Your future”. To be punk, was, by definition, to resist the future. In contrast, the most basic definition of solarpunk — offered by musician and photographer Jay Springett — is that it is a movement...

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Slaves and a racist medical theory: Health disparities have existed since the nation’s beginning

Slaves and a racist medical theory: Health disparities have existed since the nation’s beginning

Posted by | Aug 14, 2020 |

By Eric Kyere, Assistant professor, social work, Indiana University Some critics of Black Lives Matter say the movement itself is racist. Their frequent counterargument: All lives matter. Lost in that view, however, is a historical perspective. Look back to the late 18th century, to the very beginnings of the U.S., and you will see Black lives in this country did not seem to matter at all. Foremost among the unrelenting cruelties heaped upon enslaved people was the lack of health care for them. Infants and children fared especially poorly. After childbirth, mothers were forced to return to the fields...

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Challenges to the 10th Amendment and the guarantee of a state’s sovereign right to police its citizens

Challenges to the 10th Amendment and the guarantee of a state’s sovereign right to police its citizens

Posted by | Aug 13, 2020 |

By Frank V. Zerunyan, Professor of the Practice of Governance, University of Southern California The vast majority of anti-racism protests over the past two months in Portland, Oregon have reportedly been peaceful, and any damage was due to a small minority of rioters who fought police and federal agents around federal property. I recently visited the city and saw the destruction around the federal courthouse – walls defaced with graffiti, fences vandalized, and the remains of garbage fires that had been set. President Donald Trump sent in federal agents, falsely claiming that Portland was no longer able to maintain...

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Knezelism