Activism

Years ago I remember a particularly influential professor who required that each student in his class volunteer or perform some community service as part of the course requirement. His explanation was simple: Students are idea-rich but experience-poor.

Now that I am a professor, I’m beginning to question his premise. I find that most of my college students are both idea- and experience-deprived. In fact, if I use a standard text, more often than not an outbreak of MEGO – My-Eyes-Glaze-Over – quickly overtakes the classroom. But one remedy I’ve found to that is the MEOW approach – My-Eyes-Open-Wide. And my most constant companion is alternative media. read more

Many strides have been made since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Promoting and protecting human rights has become a key theme in contemporary international relations. The mass media are more aware of the rights of women, minorities, and cultures. Within the UN itself, a High Commissioner for Human Rights monitors abuses globally.

And yet, as the UN celebrates the golden jubilee of the declaration, one of the most basic human rights – the right to live with dignity – is denied to the vast majority of humans. read more

The bouncy twang of the jamisen and the heartfelt bleat of traditional folk songs are the essence of Okinawan music. Shokichi Kina, an Okinawan legend, transforms that incomparable sound into a rocking frenzy of color, dance, and pleas for peace and earth conservation.

On almost any night in Naha, Okinawa’s capital city, you can stop into Chakura, Kina’s own "live house" venue, and groove to the definitive sounds of his band, Champloose. If you’re lucky, Kina himself will be performing. read more

Street newspapers across the US are buzzing about the implications of an emerging battle between two rival papers. It’s a David and Goliath fight, raising important question about how best to help the homeless. Playing the role of David is Making Change, a new addition to the street paper movement, written and sold by homeless people in Santa Monica, Los Angeles. With the tiniest of operating budgets, it’s struggling to keep afloat in a world where the marketplace makes the going tough for small business ventures. read more