As more and more retail giants open their doors on the family holiday that used to be known as “Thanksgiving,” more Americans are ditching their families for what is now called “Grey Thursday”, or worse, “Thanks For Shopping Day.”
November 10 marked the 18th anniversary of the state execution of writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and the ‘Ogoni 8’. Not long ago, the Governor of our state in Nigeria said to the Ogonis: ‘Why can’t you people move on?’ The simple answer is that since Ken’s death in 1995 nothing has been done to stop the devastation brought about by unwanted, dirty oil extraction in our homeland.
There has been civil war in Colombia more or less continuously since 1948. It seems it may finally be coming to an end. It is ending the way most other long-lasting civil wars end. A changed geopolitical context combined with a deep sense of exhaustion on both sides is permitting an uncertain and imperfect compromise arrangement to prevail.
In one of Colombia’s key strategic and resource rich areas, Eastern Antioquia, a nascent social movement is unifying disparate social issues under one banner – the defense of water.
It seems these days that whenever Mother Nature wants to send an urgent message to humankind, it sends it via the Philippines. This year the messenger was Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Yolanda.
Why the fight for biodiversity is about protecting life itself.
Copyright Toward Freedom 2019