Athletes Want an End to the Protest Ban at the Olympics

Raised Black fist. Oladimeji Odunsi. Unsplash

Olympic athletes are urging the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to remove a rule that seems out of place to some as protests sweep every corner of the world. Currently, the Olympic Charter stipulates in Rule 50 that, “No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.” Various institutions have reckoned with similar issues in recent months, and the IOC and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee are the latest to be criticized for their rules forbidding displays of political protest. 

 Various athletic organizations, athletes and some sports administrators have spearheaded the movement and joined in solidarity with the push to create meaningful change for the rights of athletes. Global Athlete, an athlete-led group, said in a statement, “Athletes have had to choose between competing in silence and standing up for what’s right for far too long. It is time for change. Every athlete must be empowered to use their platforms, gestures and voice. Silencing the athlete voice has led to oppression, silence has led to abuse, and silence has led to discrimination in sport.” 

This statement reflects the historic moments of protests at Olympic events, including when at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, John Carlos and Tommie Smith raised their fists on the medal stand. They were immediately sent home. Furthermore, this year the IOC doubled down on its rules against political protest after track athlete Gwen Berry raised her fist on the medal stand and fencer Race Imboden took a knee at the 2019 Pan American Games. It is only this month, after mounting pressure, that “IOC President Thomas Bach said the athlete group would “explore different ways” opinions could be expressed during the games — while still “respecting the Olympic spirit.”

A new athlete-led group was established on July 16 by Olympian Christian Taylor called Athletics Association “to stand up for athletes who have long felt underrepresented at the sport’s top table.” According to Taylor, the Athletics Association’s short-term goal is to see Rule 50 gone, but it also has many long-term goals for the welfare of athletes facing many Olympic committees that have not done their part. These goals, according to The Independent, include starting a “hardship fund” for athletes struggling to make ends meet, education programs on financial literacy “to help athletes not leave the sport broke,” reversing World Athletics’ controversial plans to strip down the Diamond League and ultimately driving a power shift from governing bodies to athletes.

To follow suit, Brian Lewis of the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees agreed with the notion that “arguing the oft-cited IOC notion that sports should be free of politics is not realistic.” As Gwen Berry put it, many Olympians believe that, “Rule 50 needs to be canceled for the simple reason that it goes against athletes’ human rights. There are rights inherent to all human beings and one is the freedom of speech.” 

Hanna Ditinsky

is a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is majoring in English and minoring in Economics. She was born and raised in New York City and is passionate about human rights and the future of progressivism.

Congo Faces New Ebola Outbreak Amid Global Pandemic

The World Health Organization has called on the international community for financial support and aid in combating the latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This latest outbreak was announced by the country’s government on June 1 and has seen 56 cases reported in the Equateur province, a region which has been a hot spot for the disease in recent years.

Ebola is a deadly disease with outbreaks occurring primarily in Africa. In humans, the virus can be caused by one of four virus species: Ebola virus, Sudan virus, Tai Forest virus and Bundibugyo virus. The virus spreads through direct contact with organic matter from infected humans and animals. Common symptoms include fever, aches, weakness, fatigue, abdominal pain, gastrointestinal symptoms, and hemorrhaging, bleeding and bruising.

This latest outbreak comes as the 11th in a long line of Ebola outbreaks in the Congo since the disease was first discovered in 1976. A couple of weeks ago, the WHO celebrated the end of the country’s 10th outbreak, which began in August 2018. That Ebola outbreak was the deadliest recorded in the DRC and second worst in history, seeing 2,280 deaths.

According to The New York Times, the WHO has gathered $1.75 million to combat the outbreak, but this funding would only last the organization for a couple more weeks. Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’s regional director for Africa, called for additional funding to be allocated toward vaccinations, testing and treatment, as well as contact tracing and health education resources.

“Responding to Ebola in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is complex, but we must not let COVID-19 distract us from tackling other pressing health threats,” Dr. Moeti said. “The current Ebola outbreak is running into headwinds because cases are scattered across remote areas in dense rainforests. This makes for a costly response as ensuring that responders and supplies reach affected populations is extremely challenging.”

Dr. Moeti also stated that over 12,000 people living in the Equateur province had been vaccinated since the outbreak was first reported in June.

WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus echoed Dr. Moeti’s sentiments in a recent news release on the situation.

“This is a reminder that COVID-19 is not the only health threat people face,” Dr. Ghebreyesus said. “Although much of our attention is on the pandemic, WHO is continuing to monitor and respond to many other health emergencies.”

This call for funding follows a challenging six months for the organization, as the WHO has partnered with global leaders to combat the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

While much of the world has been supportive of the organization, the United States has been an exception. President Donald Trump pulled the country out of the WHO in late May over concerns about Chinese influence, with the withdrawal going into effect on July 6, 2021. The U.S. is the organization’s single largest financial contributor, having provided over $400 million in 2019.

President Trump has not publicly commented on this latest Ebola outbreak. While the U.S. directed $21 million in aid through the U.S. Agency for International Development for the 10th outbreak in 2019, it is unclear whether the country will direct any funding toward this latest outbreak’s relief efforts.

The WHO is expected to continue Ebola relief operations within the Equateur province for the foreseeable future, as governmental agencies such as the United Nations have directed additional funding to the organization. However, it is unclear how long this funding will last and how the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will complicate these relief measures.

Jacob Sutherland

is a recent graduate from the University of California San Diego where he majored in Political Science and minored in Spanish Language Studies. He previously served as the News Editor for The UCSD Guardian, and hopes to shed light on social justice issues in his work.

Book Sales Reflect the Amplification of Black Voices

One of the components that Black Lives Matter’s resurgence has emphasized over the past few months is amplifying Black voices and businesses; one of the most notable spikes of consumer interest is in the sales of books written by Black authors and the promotion of Black-owned bookstores. Prominent book charts by The New York Times and Publishers Weekly have released major upticks in sales for titles about race such as “How to Be an Antiracist” and “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism.” Although the biggest increases are in the United States, where the Black Lives Matter movement originated and is the most concentrated, other places such as the U.K. are seeing increased interest as well. 

Why Books?

Books are vessels of knowledge, and for a mass of people hoping to learn about racial injustice, this is one of the most obvious solutions. Simply put, knowledge can overturn ignorance. Although some may disagree about how to dismantle racist systems, there is a general understanding that establishing a base level of knowledge about racial injustice is essential. As Khalil Muhammad, a Harvard University professor of history, race and public policy said, “People use reading as a way to understand what they're doing, why they're doing it and why the work is critically important.” He further explained, "There's a fundamental requirement of organizing around shared knowledge, usually coming from shared text, to build collective engagement around what histories are relevant to explain the matter." 

This widespread desire for information during surges of activism is not new and has been occurring for decades. In regard to this movement in particular, some of the foremost goals have included efforts to get a more complete understanding of history through the lens of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) eyes, in addition to learning how to be actively anti-racist. Many of these books’ authors have made statements of support about this rush for knowledge. Ijeoma Oluo, author of bestselling “So You Want To Talk About Race,” tweeted, “I am happy people are reading my book. But if you read my book and think ‘oh - now I understand racism!’ You have a lot more books to read. My book was intended as an introduction.” Without substantive knowledge, people will not have as fluent an understanding of the actions needed to dismantle racial injustice. It is important to note that a person wishing to contribute substantial change must move beyond just reading books and translate their newfound knowledge into meaningful action. 

Bookseller Reactions

As physical copies of many books about race and anti-racism have been selling out on major online sites such as Amazon and Bookshop.org, people have turned to their local booksellers. There has been a spotlight on Black bookstore owners, many of whom have shared that their business traffic has increased dramatically in terms of overall book sales and race-oriented books in particular. Though reactions are generally positive, there is also some trepidation and agitation among booksellers. Some say that as great as it is that these books are getting more attention, texts about Black experiences have been overlooked on bookshelves for years. Others want to emphasize that Black voices should be lifted in every genre, not just in race education. “We want to make sure people are not just reading books about slavery, even though that's important,” explained Shauntee Burns-Simpson, vice president of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association.

Perhaps some of the most mixed responses have come from those booksellers who have previously focused on educating Black communities and are now shifting resources to address a new non-Black audience. The creation of a White Ally Book List has aided booksellers as they attempt to make this transition. There is also the problem of those booksellers who say that during this turbulent time they are managing the “‘emotional labor’ of guiding customers” towards anti-racist literature recommendations that could have easily been determined from one of many reading lists already online. 

Proof in the Numbers

Beyond the buzz of social media and blog posts, there are some companies that have tried to tackle the notoriously tricky task of monitoring “bestselling” books. One tracker reported that sales for political science civil rights titles increased by 330% and books about discrimination increased by 245% during the week of May 17 to May 23. In the United States, books about race and anti-racism have dominated bestseller lists for months. During the week of June 10, half of USA Today’s Best Selling Books list was composed of titles about race. As of July 14, multiple categories of The New York Times bestsellers are still dominated by books about race and anti-racism. Other bestseller lists to check out include IndieBound and some Amazon lists. 

Although countries such as France, Germany and India did not have chart-topping books on race during June, demand for these types of books has still increased globally. Publishers Weekly, a news magazine which claims to gather information internationally in order to determine its bestsellers list, has included “White Fragility,” “How to Be an Antiracist” and “Stamped from the Beginning” on its Top 10 Overall list. In the U.K. specifically, buyers are making race-related books bestsellers on their own. For example, Waterstones, a major British book retailer, has “Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race” on its list of current bestsellers. Also, the U.K. is responding to the Black Lives Matter movement in a way that speaks to that country’s own history, featuring impressive sales on Amazon for books such as “Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire” (#21 as of 7/15), and “The Boy At the Back of the Class” (#30). While the United States is the center of the Black Lives Matter movement and subsequent spike in race-related book sales, this is a global matter as well. 

Book covers from left to right: “How to Be an Antiracist,” “White Fragility and “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.”

Need a place to start? Here’s a selection of books by Black authors:

• “How To Be An Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi

• “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism” by Robin DiAngelo

• “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou

• “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” by Michelle Alexander

• “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria: And Other Conversations About Race” by Beverly Daniel Tatum

• “Beloved” by Toni Morrison

• “Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race” by Reni Eddo-Lodge

• “Sister Outsider” by Audre Lorde

Phoebe Jacoby

is a Media Studies major and Studio Art minor at Vassar College who believes in the importance of sharing stories with others. Phoebe likes to spend her free time reading, drawing, and writing letters. She hopes to continue developing her skills as a writer and create work that will have a positive outward effect.

10 Travel Destinations Paving the Way in Sustainability

According to the United Nations, the global community must take drastic measures to alleviate the climate crisis. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, composed of nearly 1,300 scientists, predicts that global warming could increase worldwide temperatures up to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit by 2040. This temperature rise will almost certainly exacerbate food insecurity, disease transmission, sea level rise and loss of ecosystems. From 2009 to 2013, international travel alone accounted for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Roughly 1.4 billion people travel to a new destination each year, indirectly contributing to air pollution, land degradation and strained resources. These current levels of travel threaten the Paris Agreement, which proposes an annual 7.6% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions. Many countries have recognized the importance of environmental management and have striven for sustainability. From Malta to Japan, travel destinations are implementing eco-friendly practices, such as renewable energy and wildlife conservation. Travelers to these locations can explore pristine environments while positively impacting the planet. 

1. Gozo, Malta

The coastline of Gozo, Malta. Zoltan Tasi. Unsplash.

Located in the Mediterranean Sea, the island of Gozo boasts a rich historical identity. Recognized by UNESCO, the Ggantija Temples are the world’s oldest free-standing structures, predating Stonehenge and the pyramids of Egypt. In addition to these historical sites, the island is relatively undeveloped, offering scenic hills and untouched coastlines. The European Environment Agency regularly monitors urban waste and pollution in coastal areas. According to their assessment, Maltese beaches rank among the cleanest in Europe. Within this pristine environment, common activities include swimming, snorkeling, deep-sea diving and kayaking. Gozo also hosts 85 endemic species of flora and fauna. To protect and preserve this unique landscape, the Ministry for Gozo established the Eco-Gozo Regional Development Directorate in 2009. Over the past decade, the island has become a model for sustainable development. Through renewable energy, green transportation and plastic reduction, Gozo is committed to reducing its carbon and water footprints. Ecologists have established protected spaces for endangered species, while local craftsmen sustainably restore ancient ruins like the Ggantija Temples. To further improve the standard of living in the Gozitan community, the island implements eco-education programs in schools and offers locally sourced, organic ingredients in restaurants. Named the Mediterranean’s Best Green Destination in 2018, this small island continues to gain recognition for its innovative conservation efforts.   

2. Ljubljana, Slovenia

The Ljubljanica River, a pure water source in central Slovenia. Pedro Szekely. CC BY-SA 2.0

Known as “Slovenia’s Green City,” Ljubljana is the first European capital to establish a “zero-waste” initiative. The city currently recycles nearly 70% of its waste, reducing landfill trash to a mere 5%. Residual waste is processed into recyclable materials, solid fuels and high-quality gardening compost. Public green spaces, which include thousands of trees, comprise a third of the city’s territory and absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Visitors to Ljubljana can explore a variety of hiking trails, as well as an urban bee path that cares for 4,500 beehives. The city draws from the Ljubljanica River, which provides natural, non-processed drinking water and eliminates the need for plastic bottles. Since 2007, the historic city center has banned car traffic, allowing only bikes, pedestrians and electric trains. With fewer cars, the integrity of cultural and historical landmarks, like Preseren Square and Cobblers' Bridge, will be preserved for generations. In 2016, Ljubljana was deemed the “European Green Capital” and it plans to be zero-waste by 2035.

3. Azores, Portugal

The rugged cliffs of the Azores Islands in Portugal. Yves Alarie. Unsplash.

With nine volcanic islands, the archipelago of the Azores has diverse geological significance. The islands’ landscapes are dominated by craters, lagoons, waterfalls and lava fields. Visitors can hike among dense coastal forests, relax in natural hot springs and journey through dormant volcanoes. Azorean wildlife is varied and includes whales, dolphins, seals, bats and hedgehogs. However, rising sea temperatures spurred by climate change have driven aquatic species, such as the North Atlantic right whale, to near extinction. To protect the islands’ biodiversity, the Azores Islands harbor more than 60 marine protected areas which serve as sanctuaries for endangered species. Rather than burning fossil fuels, the Azores utilize geothermal power plants to harvest renewable energy from the earth’s subsurface. Geothermal power currently provides around 50% of the islands’ energy needs. Due to these sustainable developments, the Azores ranked among the world’s top 100 sustainable destinations in 2019. 

4. Iwokrama Forest, Guyana 

The dense foliage of the Iwokrama Forest. Kunal Shinde. Unsplash.

Named “The Green Heart of Guyana,” the Iwokrama Forest is one of the last pristine tropical forests in the world. For decades, global timber industries have exploited these natural ecosystems through deforestation, generating 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions. While tropical forests only occupy 7% of the Earth’s surface, they capture and store carbon naturally, with Iwokrama capturing over 1.4 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. In order to mitigate the loss of vital vegetation, Iwokrama employs a polycyclic harvesting system, resulting in the removal of less stems per acre and no significant gaps in the forest canopy. The Forest Stewardship Council has commended these forest management practices, which prioritize locals, wildlife and the natural environment. Amid lush forests, wetlands and savannas, visitors might encounter diverse wildlife such as jaguars, giant anteaters, black caimans and harpy eagles. While traversing the Iwokrama Canopy Walkway, a 500-foot series of suspension bridges, travelers can examine nearly 6,500 species of plants. In 2016, Guyana’s Environmental Protection Agency awarded the Iwokrama Forest with the Green Award for its exemplary environmental stewardship.  

5. Galapagos National Park, Ecuador

A Galapagos sea turtle swimming off the coast. Wexor Tmg. Unsplash.

As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Galapagos National Park and surrounding waters are protected for conservation. The 19 islands boast distinct landscapes, ranging from barren volcanic rocks to green sand beaches formed by olivine crystals. The Galapagos are home to a variety of endemic species, including 15 mammals, 45 bird species and 79 types of fish. Due to wildlife sanctuaries and habitat restorations, vulnerable animals like tortoises, iguanas and sea lions live in harmony with humans. The Galapagos Islands also have a rich variety of endemic flora, with over 500 species discovered. When visiting the Galapagos, visitors are expected to act responsibly and treat the environment with respect. Common activities include snorkeling alongside sea turtles, hiking over dried lava beds and whale watching from kayaks. The Galapagos National Park is well maintained and protected by park rangers and volunteers, who partake in regular coastal cleanups. However, to ensure long-term sustainability, the islands offer outreach and education programs. Ecologists and environmental experts teach locals and visitors about the harmful effects of climate change and pollution in the hopes that this diverse landscape will endure for years to come. 

6. Felicite Island, Seychelles 

Felicite Island in the early morning. Nenad Radojčić. Unsplash.

Located in the Indian Ocean, Felicite Island contains parts of Ramos National Park and multiple marine protected areas. This small island community has multiple initiatives to conserve energy and invites visitors to share the responsibility of offsetting their carbon footprint. Drip irrigation has been introduced as a solution to water and energy waste. Widespread rainwater harvesting allows the use of rainwater for non-potable needs, such as washing clothes and watering gardens. Organic vegetable gardens support the ultimate aim of self-sustained food and beverages in the Seychelles. Special efforts are given to waste reduction, with zero-waste and plastic-free initiatives. Recently, island officials banned plastic bags, plates, cups and plastic foam boxes in order to mitigate ocean pollution. Additional conservation programs include a reforestation project, sea turtle monitoring and coral restoration. Within this pristine paradise, visitors can partake in snorkeling, diving and community outreach programs regarding climate change. 

7. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Elephants, an endangered species, graze the Serengeti. Hu Chen. Unsplash.

Founded in 1951, Serengeti National Park houses one the highest concentrations of mammals in Africa, with species such as lions, giraffes and hippos. It is also known for the largest remaining unaltered animal migration in the world, with over 6 million zebras, gazelles and wildebeests stampeding over the fertile plains. At least four globally threatened or endangered species, such as elephants and cheetahs, thrive in these heavily-patrolled conservation areas. Guided safaris allow visitors to witness this diverse wildlife from a close proximity. Serengeti, however, is committed to sustainable visitation in order to protect the environment from irreversible damage. Human activity and waste disposal are closely monitored by park rangers. Conservation areas and secure breeding grounds also mitigate the impacts of deforestation, poaching and urbanization. Through such practices, Serengeti National Park allows wildlife to roam freely in their natural habitat, an increasingly rare commodity. 

8. Republic of Palau

Coral reefs, an endangered ecosystem. Qui Nguyen. Unsplash.

Located in the western Pacific Ocean, the Republic of Palau includes over 200 volcanic and coral islands. Palau supports a diverse aquatic environment, inhabited by nearly 700 coral species and 1,400 fish species. Coral reefs protect coastlines from waves, provide wildlife with refuge and offer opportunities for recreation. Due to climate change, this vital ecosystem is severely threatened. The Coral Reef Research Foundation promotes water conservation, renewable energy and recycling to mitigate coral destruction. In 2018, Palau banned sunscreens that contain environmental pollutants and established marine sanctuaries in 80% of its territorial waters. Travelers to Palau must sign a pledge declaring that they will preserve and protect the island. While scuba diving, snorkeling and surfing, visitors must adhere to this pledge and respect wildlife. 

9. Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan

Sun Moon Lake at sunset. Eddy Tsai. CC BY-SA 2.0

Residing in the foothills of Taiwan’s Central Mountain Range, Sun Moon Lake prides itself on maintaining a low carbon footprint. Public transportation routes have decreased the reliance on driving, thereby reducing the emission of greenhouse gases. Cable car systems, electric boats and cycling paths are common alternatives to cars at Sun Moon Lake. This rural region also hosts a range of dams which generate 62% of Taiwan's total hydroelectricity. Travelers to Sun Moon Lake can hike through dense forests, kayak in turquoise waters and interact with Indigenous people who live in the area. Thao natives, such as the Bunun, believe humans and Earth are intrinsically connected, opting to practice sustainable farming and fishing. Sun Moon Lake adheres to this philosophy and strives to protect the fragile environment. 

10. Kamaishi, Japan 

A traditional Japanese torii. Tianshu Liu. Unsplash.

Along the rugged Sanriku Coast, Kamaishi is an important fishing and industrial city. In 2011, a 45-foot tsunami swept through the city, devastating the local fishing industry and taking the lives of roughly 1,000 people. Amid ongoing reconstruction efforts, Kamaishi is prioritizing sustainability. Established two years after the tsunami, the Sanriku Fukko National Park consists of towering cliffs, unique stone formations and isolated coastlines. The Jodogahama and Kirikiri beaches, surrounded by vibrant green pine trees, host diverse marine ecosystems. Salmon, scallops, crabs and sea urchins are among the many aquatic animals that receive protections from overfishing. Through coastal cleanups, inland forestry conservation and river purification, Kamaishi strives to reduce the impact of industrial pollution. Forms of public transportation, such as electric trains and ride-shares, further mitigate car traffic and fossil fuels. Kamaishi is also a leader in renewable energy, relying on solar power and biomass fuel to power residential areas. Environmental organizations have commended Kamaishi for rebuilding a cleaner community in the wake of such a devastating natural disaster.

Shannon Moran

is a Journalism major at the University of Georgia, minoring in English and Spanish. As a fluent Spanish speaker, she is passionate about languages, cultural immersion, and human rights activism. She has visited seven countries and thirty states and hopes to continue traveling the world in pursuit of compelling stories.

Plastic Rain: The New Acid Rain

The world produces approximately 359 million metric tons of plastic every year, half of which is single-use and immediately thrown out. A 2017 study discovered that of the 8.3 billion metric tons of plastics produced, 12% is incinerated and only 9% is recycled. The remaining 79% accumulates in landfills and the natural environment, including the oceans.  More than 8 million tons of plastic makes its way to our oceans every year, polluting an already fragile environment due to habitat elimination, destructive fishing practices and other pollutants such as oil spills and reactive nitrogen and phosphorus that rivers like the Mississippi carry into the ocean.

Some of those pollutants enter the water cycle in the form of acid rain. Acid rain poisons everything it comes into contact with—the sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides harm humans, wildlife and the Earth. Acid rain was first discovered in the U.S. “in the 1950s when Midwest coal plants spewed sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides into the air, turning clouds—and rainfall—acidic,” according to the National Science Foundation. It wasn’t until widespread damaging effects began on forests and bodies of water in the Northeast that Congress took action by passing the Clean Air Act in 1970, which imposed emission regulations to target air pollutants. This was not enough, however, as acid rain became one of the most well-known pollutants during the 1970s and 1980s as it damaged German, Czech and Polish forests in the “black triangle” region and increased the acidity of bodies of water in the U.S., particularly along the Atlantic coast, which in turn harmed the aquatic organisms and ecosystem.

Acid rain may be slightly less of a problem now with effective environmental regulations, but our environment is not any less at risk. There is a new threat to our environment that is falling along with rainwater: microplastics.

A study conducted in 2019 by researchers at U.S. Geological Survey shows that microplastics have made their way into the water cycle and are permeating virtually every surface on Earth with no way to control where the plastic rains down. Researchers discovered that over 90% of the water samples taken along Colorado’s Front Range contained microplastics.

Microplastics are plastic debris that are less than 5 millimeters in length that come from a variety of sources, including microbeads—exfoliants used in skin products and toothpastes— textile fabrics, and larger plastic items that have degraded into smaller pieces after being broken down by wind, the sun and waves. In addition to taking a long time to decompose, microbeads are damaging due to their ability to absorb toxins and are notoriously difficult to remove from the environment due to their minute size. They became such a problem that Congress passed the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015, which prohibits the manufacturing of rinse-off cosmetic products containing microbeads. Although there is not enough research at this point to determine how detrimental microplastics are, it is evident that they are polluting the Earth—appearing in remote areas such as the French Pyrenees and even hitching rides on sea breezes.

New research published last month indicates that plastic rain is a huge problem—leaving no place safe from plastic pollution. Researchers collected rainwater and air samples from 11 protected areas in the western U.S. for 14 months and discovered over 1,000 metric tons of microplastic pieces in the rainwater collected, which is “the equivalent of over 120 million plastic water bottles,” according to Wired. The researchers predicted that in just five years 11 billion metric tons of plastic are projected to accumulate in our environment, which is equivalent to the weight of approximately 55 million blue whales.

Asiya Haouchine

is an Algerian-American writer who graduated from the University of Connecticut in May 2016, earning a BA in journalism and English. She was an editorial intern and contributing writer for Warscapes magazine and the online/blog editor for Long River Review. She is currently studying for her Master’s in Library and Information Science. @AsiyaHaou

7 Reasons to Climb Mount Kilimanjaro - and How to Do It Sustainably

Mount Kilimanjaro, commonly known as the “roof of Africa,” is the tallest free-standing mountain in the world. At 19,340 feet, its snowcapped peak extends well above the clouds. Kilimanjaro is located in northeast Tanzania, towering over all of East Africa. Relative to other destination climbs, “Mount Kili,” as it is often known, is fairly easy. Nonetheless, the 75,000 individuals who summit the mountain each year push their bodies to the limit, experience Tanzanian culture and take in surreal views. 

1.) Mount Kilimanjaro is the most accessible of the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on every continent. As the only Seven Summit hike free of technical climbing, Mount Kili does not require equipment like harnesses or ropes. Hikers simply need adequate physical fitness, a pair of hiking poles and their own two feet. 

2.) That’s not to say Mt. Kilimanjaro isn’t a thrilling, challenging adventure. It remains a taxing endeavor that demands strength, stamina and an awareness of potential oxygen deprivation. Most tour operators ensure that their clients consult a doctor before embarking on the climb. The hike, however, is predominantly safe, with altitude sickness being the main reason that hikers do not complete the climb. Ultimately, Mt. Kili is a realistic challenge that testifies to its hikers’ willpower. 

3.) Mt. Kilimanjaro is beautiful, both from up close and afar. Its paths scale across multiple climate zones, including lush rainforests, wide open moorlands and chilly glaciers. Additionally, the scenic campsites offer an ideal respite from a long day of trekking. 

4.) The mountain is a  dormant volcano composed of three different cones: Kibo, Mawenzi and Shira. Although Mawenzi and Shira are extinct, Kibo could erupt again. Along their journey to the top, hikers witness miles of lava and rock. The highest point on Kibo’s crater is Uhuru, or “freedom” in Swahili. 

5.) The hike lasts roughly one week. Ascents can take as few as four nights and as long as eight, depending on the route. Once climbers complete the challenge, they can descend the mountain and turn their attention to the surrounding wildlife. Northern Tanzania is teeming with wildlife and offers some of the best safari experiences in all of Africa. Elephant herds in Tarangire National Park, flamingos and pelicans at Lake Manyara, and wildebeest in the Serengeti are only a few of the wildlife encounters to be had in northern Tanzania. 

6.) Guides hail from surrounding parts of Tanzania. To the visitors, they teach Swahili hiking phrases, singsongs, and provide support during trying periods of the climb. On the trails, these porters call out “Pole pole!” (slowly slowly) to save their clients from altitude sickness. Before leaving the campsites in the morning, they often amplify the group’s energy with song and dance. 

7.) By making sustainable choices, hikers can exercise social responsibility and promote the welfare of hardworking porters, guides and cooks. The Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project (KPAP) is a nonprofit organization seeking to improve the working conditions of exploited porters. Although they are the backbone of the trek, oftentimes guides are ill-equipped, overworked and underpaid. KPAP suggests that hikers take action by giving mountain clothing to porters and selecting ethical climbing companies. A cheap Kilimanjaro trip means lower wages and poor working conditions for the Tanzanians who carry gear, cook for and guide tourists. When hikers purchase Kili climbing programs at non-exploitative prices, they not only indulge in Tanzania’s riches, but also give back to the community. 

Anna Wood

is an Anthropology major and Global Health/Spanish double minor at Middlebury College. As an anthropology major with a focus in public health, she studies the intersection of health and sociocultural elements. She is also passionate about food systems and endurance sports.

As Acai Demand Rises, Amazonian Communities Seek Out their Role

The acai palm is one of the many native plants that has been commodified for Western consumption. This has shifted acai consumption and production practices within Indigenous Amazonian communities. 

Acai bowls are the most common form of Western acai consumption. Ella O, CC BY 2.0

Prior to 2000, Indigenous Amazonian communities utilized the acai palm plant on a local scale. The purple berry then found its way to the U.S., appealing to surfers in Hawaii and Southern California. It has since been in the spotlight, spurring new industries and finding its way into the global marketplace. The acai palm plant is one of many Indigenous plant foods that has been commodified for foreign consumption, shifting acai usage and production practices among Brazil’s Amazonian tribes. Indigenous Amazonian communities, who have utilized acai as a diet staple for centuries, are now exporting it  for profit, hoping not to forfeit their land to multinational corporations. 

Companies that sell acai heavily market its health benefits, calling it a superfood that allows individuals to reach maximum health. Acai specifically offers anti-aging benefits, improved digestive health, increased energy levels and a strengthened immune system. The berry contains high amounts of antioxidants, omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids, fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals. When globally transported, the acai berry is processed and packaged into various forms. When reduced to powders, capsules and liquids, the acai berry becomes a watered-down entity detached from Amazonian food culture. While many understand acai’s countless health benefits, few consumers know the context from which it comes. 

Grown on tall acai palm trees, the acai berry sprouts in large, clustered bunches. The trees grow to between 50 and 100 feet tall, bearing the fruit from their extended branches. In the village of Acaizal on the Uaca Indigenous reserve, villagers loop a palm leaf tied around their feet and scale the tree, knife gripped firmly between their teeth. Children, some as young as seven, learn this harvesting method. Once collected, acai pulp is served chilled and often mixed with sugar and tapioca. 

Increased demand for acai pushes Indigenous groups to formalize and industrialize this cultivation process. Amazonian tribes subsequently alter their traditional production to accommodate increased consumption. In the state of Amapa, Indigenous communities want to explore potential business arrangements and have identified acai production as a top priority for natural resource management. In a workshop hosted by local government agency Secretary Extraordinary of Indigenous People, Acaizal village chief Jose Damasceno Karipuna learned how to capitalize on acai harvesting processes. The increase in acai demand creates a flourishing job market for large-scale Amazonian farmers; however, it harms farmers who rely on small-scale production. With an ever-increasing demand for acai, protection of natural areas is crucial to preservation. For the villagers in Acaizal, proper environmental management will increase productivity while ensuring sustainability. Acai companies emphasize this business exchange as mutually beneficial, bettering individuals’ health and the Brazilian economy alike. However, the mass consumption and commodification of acai is ultimately a gray area, creating an uncertain future for Indigenous communities.

---

Anna Wood

Anna is an Anthropology major and Global Health/Spanish double minor at Middlebury College. As an anthropology major with a focus in public health, she studies the intersection of health and sociocultural elements. She is also passionate about food systems and endurance sports.

4 Verdant Rainforests to Explore Across the US

Though the United States has a vast array of landscapes to be appreciated, one is often forgotten: its rainforests.  While the term “rainforest” is not entirely defined, they are known to be densely vegetated areas that usually receive at least 75 inches of rain per year.  It is easy to think that all rainforests are like the Amazon and the Congo since they are the most well-known, but the United States also boasts several unique rainforests that travelers definitely should not miss.  

Tongass National Forest - Alaska 

Mendenhall Glacier in Tongass National Forest. Jcsullivan24. CC BY-NC 2.0.

The largest temperate rainforest in the United States is the Tongass as it reaches over the majority of southeast Alaska. This region is home to many Alaska Natives, with groups represented including the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian. The name of the forest comes from the Tlingit people, who lived in the southernmost portions of the region. Now, the area is known as Alaska’s “Inside Passage,” and it is ideal for travelers who want to experience Alaska in its fullness. Skilled hikers can traverse high snowy peaks while other travelers can catch a wildlife tour or ride the White Pass & Yukon Route Railway. Even without travel plans, the grand fjords and glaciers are sure to stun. 

Hoh Rainforest, Olympic National Park - Washington 

Large hemlock trees in the Hoh Rainforest, Washington. Nathan Dumlao. Unsplash.

Washington state is notorious for its rain, but its particularly rainy winters result in an incredible sight. The Hoh Rainforest bursts with wildlife in the warmer months, with mosses and ferns covering the forest floor adding to its allure. This temperate rainforest is home to an ecosystem that has been unchanged for thousands of years, and it is now the most carefully preserved rainforest in the Northern Hemisphere.

Banana slug on a tree. John Loo. CC 2.0.

While most travel is best on a sunny day, hikers should experience the Hoh while it’s raining. Not only will the moss radiate like emeralds against the dirt beneath it, but you also have a chance of seeing a bright yellow banana slug, the second largest land slug in the world.  

Hamakua Coast - Big Island of Hawaii 

Akaka Falls in the Hamakua forests. Seth Cottle. Unsplash.

On the northeastern side of Hawaii’s Big Island, the Hamakua Coast is a stretch of lush rainforests home to roaring waterfalls and rich green valleys. Flanked by the Mauna Kea and Kohala volcanoes, this region is home to three of Hawaii’s most famous waterfalls–Akaka Falls, Umauma Falls and Rainbow Falls.  

Flowing water in the rainforest near Hilo, Hawaii. Pascal Debrunner. Unsplash. 

Outdoor adventure is abundant, though the area’s scenic driving tours are just as likely to impress. The rainforest also has a large abundance of eucalyptus in certain areas that can be explored on fast-paced tours by all-terrain vehicle.        

Appalachian Rainforest - Southeastern United States 

Black Balsam Knob in North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest. Darrell Moore. Unsplash.

The Appalachian Mountains are stunning by themselves, being some of the oldest mountains in the world. The southern portion of the Appalachian Mountains is home to a particularly breathtaking temperate rainforest noted for its vibrant colors in the fall and gentle mist. Many travelers are familiar with the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina, which get their name from the blue mist that rises up from the mountains after they receive heavy rainfall. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most biodiverse national park in the country, making it perfect for wildlife lovers.  In addition, the Pisgah, Nantahala and Chattahoochee-Oconee national forests are also temperate rainforests in the region ripe for exploration. 

The Great Smoky Mountains. Acaitowriting. CC 2.0.

Renee Richardson

is currently an English student at The University of Georgia. She lives in Ellijay, Georgia, a small mountain town in the middle of Appalachia. A passionate writer, she is inspired often by her hikes along the Appalachian trail and her efforts to fight for equality across all spectrums. She hopes to further her passion as a writer into a flourishing career that positively impacts others.

Ableism in the Age of the Coronavirus Pandemic

What is Ableism?

“Ableism is the discrimination of and social prejudice against people with disabilities based on the belief that typical abilities are superior.” Ableism rears its ugly head in our society every day through large discriminatory practices such as the eugenics movement as well as minor ableism that is utilized when assuming someone’s disability must be visible for it to be a disability. On a day-to-day basis people with disabilities (or disabled people as some in the community prefer to use identity-first language) endure ableism and now during the COVID-19 pandemic they are facing ableist rationing practices.

Triage and It’s Ableist Undercurrents

Disability activists have been speaking up about how many of the guidelines and criteria for triage during the COVID-19 pandemic are proving to be ableist. As Elliot Kukla puts it, “This is not an unusual triage decision to make in wartime or pandemics; our lives are considered, quite literally, more disposable.” Various states are under fire for their ableist triaging policies, with many of them receiving federal complaints from a coalition of national disability advocates including the Center for Public Representation, The Arc of the United States, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, and University of Michigan law professor Samuel Bagenstos. In Alabama, the state’s policy (which has since been retracted following retaliation from disability advocates) conceded that “individuals may be excluded under Tier 1 with … functional domains include cognitive, neurological, and psychosocial. For example, persons with severe mental retardation, advanced dementia or severe traumatic brain injury may be poor candidates for ventilator support.” In New York, where the virus hit the hardest in the U.S., a doctor made the decision to take a non-COVID and terminally ill patient off a ventilator to save another patient with COVID. This disregards the fact that many disabled people are already living with the use of a ventilator. 

Statements and Solutions from the Disability Community

In an op-ed from The New York Times, disability rights activist and author Ari Ne’eman says that, “While many disabled people need ongoing medical care, many doctors view life with certain disabilities as unworthy of living. Disabled people who require ongoing ventilator care and other forms of expensive lifelong assistance are used to being asked by medical professionals if they would rather abandon life-sustaining treatment — often with the clear implication that ‘yes’ is the right answer.” These experiences are not an anomaly among the disabled community, as disability activist Alice Wong argues that, “Eugenics isn’t a relic from World War II; it’s alive today, embedded in our culture, policies, and practices. It is imperative that experts and decision-makers include and collaborate with communities disproportionately impacted by systemic medical racism, ageism and ableism, among other biases.” 

Others such as Joseph Stramondo, a philosophy professor at San Diego State University, are focusing on creating a paradigm shift in the way professional bioethicists respond to the coronavirus pandemic. He advises against using deeply biased quality of life judgment due to there being “a significant body of empirical evidence showing that there is a substantial gap between a disabled person’s self-assessment and how their quality of life is judged by folks that have never experienced their disability.” He furthers the discourse by highlighting Shelley Tremain, a feminist philosopher who studies disabilities and hopes to push the conversation away from just fixing triaging protocols. “The primary object of our analysis seems to sanction the idea that these hard choices are inevitabilities,” Tremain writes of triage practices. Instead, bioethicists “should be putting our energy behind efforts to reduce the need to make such choices at all.” 

Hanna Ditinsky

is a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is majoring in English and minoring in Economics. She was born and raised in New York City and is passionate about human rights and the future of progressivism.

Animal Activists Celebrate as More of Asia Bans Dog Meat Consumption

The eating of dog meat, though not widespread anymore, is still practiced today in countries such as South Korea, China, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. 30 million dogs are killed for consumption every year in Asia, motivating animal rights activists to speak up and call for change. Many have pushed back against the practice, finding success in the last few weeks as the first Cambodian province and India’s Nagaland state ban the selling, trading and consumption of dog meat. This marks a crucial turning point for animal rights activists across the world. 

Siem Reap - The “Hub” of Dog Meat

While only about 12% of Cambodians eat dog meat on a regular basis, the province of Siem Reap has been identified as a “hot spot” for the trading and consumption of dog meat in wet markets. Tea Kimsoth, head of Siem Reap province’s agriculture, forestry and fisheries department, stated that “dog meat has been a lot more popular following the arrivals of foreigners, especially among the South Koreans.” On July 8, Siem Reap became the first province in Cambodia to mark the practice as illegal. Consequences of defying the ban include up to five years in prison and $12,200 in fines. The implementation of the law banning dog meat consumption marks a victory for the Humane Society International (HSI), which hopes that Siem Reap will serve as a model for the rest of the country to save the lives of millions of dogs. 

Nagaland, India - Following Suit 

After pictures of “dogs bound in sacks at wet markets” circulated online, the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations called for change and headed a campaign to stop the illegal trading and slaughtering of the animals. However, many civil rights activists retaliated against the ban, calling it “an attack on food customs in the state.” While illegal in some parts of India, dog meat is still considered a delicacy by some in the northeastern areas of the country. The government has not revealed how it plans to enforce the ban, but it announced that it would also ban commercial importation, trading and dog markets in general. This comes as a relief to HSI, which has been campaigning for years to stop the consumption and slaughtering of dogs. 

The Movement Continued

These victories come in light of the decision by Shenzhen, China, to ban the eating of both dogs and cats. This makes Shenzhen the first Chinese city to do so, after beginning to enforce the decision on May 1. Ultimately, the eating of dog meat is not common in China, only practiced by a few with the majority stating they have never tried it and never will. This comes after the city government released a statement saying that “dogs and cats have established a much closer relationship with humans than all other animals.” The city followed suit after Hong Kong and Taiwan banned the practice. 

In the meantime, organizations such as the Humane Society International and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are celebrating their success while working constantly to target other countries where the practice is still prevalent.

Elizabeth Misnick

is a Professional Writing and Rhetoric major at Baylor University. She grew up in a military family and lived in Europe for almost half her life, traveling and living in different countries. She hopes to continue writing professionally throughout her career and publish her writing in the future.

The Impact of the Coronavirus on Efforts to End Child Marriage

The coronavirus pandemic has negatively impacted the world, creating unforeseen challenges and serving to highlight and deepen racial disparities and global inequalities. Since the start of the pandemic, many countries have enacted mandatory quarantines in order to slow the spread of the virus, while a few countries are now in the process of easing, and in some cases lifting, restrictions. In addition to the coronavirus’s effects around the world, the pandemic is also having lasting impacts on the lives of women and girls across the globe—from school closures to a rise in domestic abuse to a loss of access to health care and community programs. In particular, COVID-19 is setting back efforts to end child marriage as it causes delays in programs around the world that are dedicated to ending child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM). According to the World Health Organization, more than 3 million girls are at risk for FGM every year. According to UNICEF, there are approximately 15 million child marriages annually.

Researchers at the United Nations Population Fund predict that there “could be an extra 13 million child marriages and another 2 million cases of FGM in the next decade as the pandemic stymies global efforts to end both practices,” according to a report from Reuters. As more families face economic struggles caused by a global recession in the wake of the pandemic, “parents may marry off girls as a way to reduce the number of children they have to support or to access dowries,” according to the World Economic Forum. The risks of child marriage and FGM are also increasing during the pandemic because schools are closed and many organizations are finding it difficult to operate under lockdown. Schools help protect children, particularly girls, and when the schools shut down, organizations found it difficult to reach the girls and communities they support, according to Girls Not Brides, a global organization dedicated to ending child marriage.

The Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) said that “some girls are prioritizing marriage and children over education” and “in Malawi, some people are saying, ‘Schools won’t reopen, so just marry,’” according to Voice of America. Malawi has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world, according to UNICEF. In Malawi, 42% “of girls are married before the age of 18 and almost one in 10 are married before their 15th birthday,” according to a 2016 study.

The Centre for Social Concern and Development (CESOCODE) is one group that is trying to continue its work despite the challenges of COVID-19 restrictions. The programs director for CESOCODE, Ephraim Chimwaza, said, “When girls are forced to stay at home or within their communities rather than attending school, they are at far greater risk of experiencing gender-based violence and are more vulnerable to child marriage. The difficulty of the lockdown means that they cannot report anything that does happen to them, as they are much more isolated,” according to Girls Not Brides. CESOCODE utilized technology to keep in touch with the girls, using social media and a Bluetooth messaging service to check in with them and to promote domestic violence prevention and public health. They have also developed a podcast about domestic violence against girls, and for communities without access to technology the organization is handing out flyers and brochures to educate and spread advice on how to keep safe.

In Somalia, the coronavirus lockdown led to a huge increase in FGM. The country has the world’s highest FGM rate “with about 98% of women having been cut,” according to Reuters. The practice is “traditionally carried out during school holidays in urban settings or during the rainy season in rural areas,” according to Plan International, a girls’ and children’s rights charity. According to Plan International, Somali girls are being subjected to FGM from door-to-door circumcisers who are using the lockdown as an opportunity to carry out FGM since the girls are not in school. Since the period that girls are off of school is longer than other years, there is already an increase in FGM cases.

Girls and young women who were already at risk before the pandemic are now left unprotected, and as such, Sadia Allin, Plan International’s head of mission in Somalia, says, “Measures to address increased risk of gender-based violence and harmful practices, including FGM, should be included in response and recovery plans and these should be gender and age responsive. Girls and young women should be involved in the development of response and recovery plans to ensure their unique needs are met.”

---

Asiya Haouchine

Asiya is an Algerian-American writer who graduated from the University of Connecticut in May 2016, earning a BA in journalism and English. She was an editorial intern and contributing writer for Warscapes magazine and the online/blog editor for Long River Review. She is currently studying for her Master’s in Library and Information Science. @AsiyaHaou

Elections Strive to Avoid Contributing to Upticks in Coronavirus

The coronavirus is one of democracy’s newest adversaries, especially when it comes to running elections. Although each country is subject to its own set of laws and customs during this formalized process, no one wants to let voting become another opportunity for virus numbers to spike. With governments dissuading large public gatherings and social distancing still being a critical asset to the prevention of COVID-19 across the globe, democratic countries need to organize upcoming voting events with new considerations in mind. 

COVID-19 has been labeled by the World Health Organization as a pandemic since March 11, and many voting events have since come and gone. Although elections across the world have been postponed, there are some countries that have pursued the process anyway. The elections that have occurred are on both national and local scales and have been met with varying levels of success. The Council on Foreign Relations released a short video on the optimal way to have an election; although this organization is American and focuses on United States elections, the suggestions are broad enough to be applicable in most democratic countries and include an emphasis on mail-in ballots, careful fund management and safe-in person voting procedures. One of the best examples was South Korea, which on April 15 became the first country to attempt a national election. The country had the highest voter turnout for a parliamentary election in 28 years, with 66.2% of about 44 million registered voters casting ballots. 

Prior to April 15, the country came out with a set of election guidelines that all voters and polling places would need to follow. This included the downloading of a self-quarantine app so voters’ movements could be tracked and social distancing at the voting stations. Voters had their temperatures taken on location, wore masks, and had gloves and hand sanitizer at their disposal. South Korea also made sure to account for people in quarantine and active COVID-19 patients, all of whom had to abide by additional voting guidelines. Despite all of these extra precautionary steps, one person reported that it took them less than 10 minutes to go through the whole voting process. When asked about why South Korea was so successful, many citizens said they had a lot of trust in the country’s actions involving the health care system. South Korea has recorded over 13,300 cases of the virus, but the number of new cases has not exceeded 80 since early April. Although an early voter in the city of Busan tested positive some time later, contact tracing later determined that only one person they came into contact with on Election Day had contracted the virus as well. 

Other places have also attempted to hold large-scale voting events, although none of them quite as successfully as in South Korea. For example, Croatia ran a presidential election with a 46% voter turnout (average of 53%), and Japan ran multiple elections as well. Tokyo’s election for governor resulted in about 52% of eligible people coming out, just above the average gubernatorial election turnout rate of 48%. In Poland, the presidential election was originally scheduled to occur in early May and would have been Europe’s first try at a presidential election since the pandemic. The country attempted to modify the voting standards beforehand (it wanted to offer more remote voting options so that there would be less crowding at polling places) but long-established laws prevented the country from making major changes to the process less than six months before the scheduled election. There was some conflict between the parties about the timing of the election—the incumbent party wanted a quick, on-time election while the challenging candidates asked for a delay—that ultimately resulted in the vote being postponed to June 28 and done with a larger number of postal ballots than the country had seen before. 

With a string of elections still on the horizon for this year, now-completed elections offer a template to copy or learn from, ultimately proving that safe voting is doable despite the pandemic. There are ways to work around the dangers of congested polling stations and there is considerable value in encouraging people to vote remotely (if the laws allow for it). While online voting is still very vulnerable to potential cyberattacks and other security concerns, postal ballots are an effective alternative. Safe and sanitary in-person voting is potentially the greatest universal asset for elections going forward. Although there are a multitude of factors that must be addressed when organizing elections, it is clear that ultimately, with sufficient and well-allocated resources, voter turnout does not necessarily have to suffer during this pandemic.

Phoebe Jacoby

is a Media Studies major and Studio Art minor at Vassar College who believes in the importance of sharing stories with others. Phoebe likes to spend her free time reading, drawing, and writing letters. She hopes to continue developing her skills as a writer and create work that will have a positive outward effect.

25 Years On, Bosnia Mourns Victims of the Srebrenica Massacre

On July 11, mourners gathered for a memorial service at the Srebrenica Genocide Memorial in Potocari, Bosnia, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre. The service, which included the burial of nine recently identified victims, comes as many Bosnians continue to mourn the loss of loved ones during the massacre.

The commemoration was not limited to the region around Srebrenica. Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina, played sirens throughout the city at noon on July 11 in memory of the victims of the massacre.

Serge Brammertz, chief prosecutor of the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia until its shutdown in 2017, spoke on the importance of honoring the massacre’s victims - and of labeling the event as a genocide, something many Serbs refuse to acknowledge.

“To truly honor the memory of those lost 25 years ago, and to recognize the victims and survivors with us today, it is our responsibility to keep fighting for justice and truth and to call what happened in Srebrenica by its name, genocide,” Brammertz said.

The Srebrenica massacre was the killing of more than 8,000 majority-Muslim Bosniak men and the mass deportation of Bosniak women and children from the area around the town of Srebrenica during the Bosnian War in 1995. Units of the Bosnian Serb army led by Gen. Ratko Mladic carried out the atrocities. The massacre was formally classified as a genocide by the United Nations in 2004.

In the 25 years that have followed, not all who call Srebrenica home have felt like the racial tensions which brought about the massacre have been addressed. According to a 2018 poll, 66% of Serbs in Republika Srpska, Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Serb-run entity, deny the genocide.

Almasa Salihovic, a survivor of the massacre, discussed in an interview with Al-Jazeera about how there are those within the community who celebrate July 11 as “the day of liberation of Srebrenica” from the Bosniaks.

“That's what scares me the most,” Salihovic said. “Even if we don't have incidents in Srebrenica like physical fights, we still have these hidden attacks which is far more worse … You have people who would still do the same thing tomorrow if they have the chance and if we don't speak even more loudly than we do now, then I'm really not sure where this is going.”

This misinterpretation of the genocide is not limited to the massacre’s sympathizers in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Shortly after the commemoration events began throughout the country, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic publicly referred to the genocide as one of several “misunderstandings from the past.” The Serbian government has previously apologized for the massacre, but has not yet recognized the event as a genocide.

For the time being, Bosnia-Herzegovina continues to urge the international community to counter any denial of genocide. The European Union, the United States and a number of other countries have officially recognized the massacre as a genocide, while Russia, notably, denies the event’s scale. Additionally, efforts to identify victims of the massacre within Bosnia-Herzegovina and abroad are ongoing.

Jacob Sutherland

is a recent graduate from the University of California San Diego where he majored in Political Science and minored in Spanish Language Studies. He previously served as the News Editor for The UCSD Guardian, and hopes to shed light on social justice issues in his work.

The World Shuts Its Doors to US Travelers

As countries around the world continue to maintain flattened curves of COVID-19 cases and begin the process of reopening their borders to visitors, many have enacted restrictions and bans on entry for all United States citizens. The U.S., a country which has not flattened the curve, has seen its number of COVID-19 cases increase to over 3 million as of July 8, the highest in the world for any country.

The European Union and the non-EU nations of Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein began the process of allowing foreign visitors into their respective borders on July 1. This initial list of 15 countries highlights the cautious standards set by the EU to limit the spread of the virus by foreign travelers arriving from countries experiencing surges of COVID-19 cases.

According to the Council of the EU, a country that is to be considered for the travel restrictions to be lifted must include: “[the] number of new COVID-19 cases over the last 14 days and per 100,000 inhabitants [be] close to or below the [June 15] EU average, stable or decreasing trend of new cases over this period in comparison to the previous 14 days, [and the country’s] overall response to COVID-19 taking into account available information.”

These travel restrictions do not apply to travelers with “an essential function or need” in Europe. Likewise, the EU will review the situation every two weeks and may add or remove countries from the list of those whose travelers are permitted to enter the aforementioned European countries.

While the EU is the latest governing body to bar U.S. citizens from travel to the region, others have had similar restrictions in place for a much longer duration of the ongoing pandemic. Cuba, a country which notably shut its borders to all non-Cuban citizens on March 20 and flattened its curve early on, extended its suspension of all international flights to August 1.

New Zealand, a country which has virtually eradicated COVID-19 within its borders, imposed similar travel restrictions to those of Cuba. The nation essentially barred all foreign travelers from entering the country at the beginning of the pandemic, and will continue to uphold these restrictions for the foreseeable future.

China, where the COVID-19 outbreak began, has not imposed an official ban on U.S. travelers entering the country. However, all international travelers entering China are subject to COVID-19 screening upon entry and a mandatory 14-day quarantine at either a government-selected facility or hotel at the traveler’s expense.

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs continues to update its travel database daily with any new information in regard to travel restrictions and COVID-19 cases around the globe. While the Trump administration has not officially restricted U.S. citizens from traveling abroad, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discourages any form of nonessential travel.

Jacob Sutherland

is a recent graduate from the University of California San Diego where he majored in Political Science and minored in Spanish Language Studies. He previously served as the News Editor for The UCSD Guardian, and hopes to shed light on social justice issues in his work.

4 Little-Known Facts About Rural Thailand

Thailand is a country known for its beautiful landscape, beaches and ornate Buddhist temples. Its largest exports include technology such as computers and automobiles, and it is also the world’s largest producer of rubber and second largest of rice and sugar. People from all around the world come to visit the cities and experience the cuisine and culture that Thailand offers. However, beyond city life, the rural parts of Thailand are like a whole different country. 

Outside of the big cities, rural Thailand takes up most of the country while holding many of the historical pieces of Thailand. Villages and towns such as Kanchanaburi are found near the border with Myanmar and are surrounded by mountains. Sitting right next to the River Kwai, it houses the “Bridge on the River Kwai,” the Death Railway, wartime cemeteries and museums. In Thailand’s northeastern village of Ban Na Ton Chan, people make textile fabrics to sell by softening them with mud and boiling them in salt water to produce soft and naturally dyed textiles. You may have heard of Chiang Mai - the largest city in northern Thailand - but just an hour north is Mae Kampong, a beautiful village nestled within a bright green forest with jungles nearby. Finally, if you go further south, you’ll find Baan Bang Plub, where they harvest and cultivate coconuts to sell and are quick to teach the curious traveler about it. In short, going into the north of Thailand you are sure to find mountains, wartime villages and rivers that flow with historic importance. If you’re looking to find a more quaint village, going further south you will find more waterfront villages with basket weaving, boats, jungles and lush forests. 

Regardless, if you’re looking to master the skill of basket weaving or hope to visit wartime museums, rural Thailand offers a completely different experience than any city in the country. Here are some facts you should know before visiting. 

Lost Tourists Find Unmatched Hospitality 

Thai farmer. Eric Bagchus. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Visitors traveling to see the landscape of foreign countries often find themselves lost with no signal, no travel plans and no surefire way to communicate with locals. However, in Thailand the local farmers are known for being incredibly hospitable. Often, many take in lost travelers, give them food and a place to rest and help them on their way. Chittiya, a native Thai who immigrated to the United States, stated, “they’re the nicest people you’ll ever meet. You never have to worry about getting lost because there will always be someone to help you along the way and make sure you have food and water to get there.” Ultimately, if you find yourself lost along the way and pass through a village, ask someone for help and they will most likely go out of their way to help you or find someone who can.

Rural Villages: The Simple Life 

Chiang Mai harvest. Ol’ Pete. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

When moving from the large, bustling cities to the villages in rural Thailand, one might feel as though they’ve entered a completely different country – or even moment in time. Many in the villages like to hold to the old, simple way of life that was prevalent before Thailand’s industrial development truly took off. Farmers are dependent on the turn of the seasons, growing their own crops and raising their own animals, hoping to sell them at local markets and in the cities. During the off-season, most young people travel into the city for temporary labor work until the monsoons end. They then head back to join the family farm and help tend to the animals and crops and the cycle continues.

 Men’s Duty to Give Back

Thai monks. Carl Parkes. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

More traditional Thais observe Buddhism and spend their lives trying to live well and do good according to their religion. Many men believe it is their duty to help pave the way for their parents and ancestors to reach nirvana or have a better life after their reincarnation. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for young men to feel obligated to spend around three to four months at a monastery to truly understand their duty, and what their purpose is. These men spend a lot of time praying, giving up worldly material things and staying celibate during this period. 

The Negative Impact from Technology

On the road in rural Thailand. Lee Craker. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Finally, the impact of technology has started to create negative consequences for farmers. When living the simple rural life, materialism is not prevalent. However, now with developing technology, views such as “everyone needs to have a car” are common and many have become more materialistic. Problems with debt have been on the rise as farmers lack credit but still want to buy more – even though their current lifestyle cannot support it. A lot of cars get repossessed or taken back when the period to pay them back passes. In the old days, rice farmers kept some to feed their families and sold the rest of the rice to buy what they could not produce themselves. However, nowadays everyone wants cars and gadgets even when they do not need them. The problem is that the nature of their livelihood depends on unreliable seasons that mean they cannot always pay back their debt. Additionally, in today’s age many young people have lost interest in continuing the family farms. Most grow up and move into the cities and work corporate jobs, leaving their families to take care of the farms themselves or ultimately selling them. 

Thailand is a beautiful place to visit, and the culture that hides in the rural, more obscure countryside is almost an entirely different one from the cities. In the past and even into the present there has been tension between city people and village people, and many crimes or issues that take place are usually one side pitted against the other. Taking the time to understand both the city people and farmers is important in getting a full picture of Thai culture. 

Elizabeth Misnick

is a Professional Writing and Rhetoric major at Baylor University. She grew up in a military family and lived in Europe for almost half her life, traveling and living in different countries. She hopes to continue writing professionally throughout her career and publish her writing in the future.

The Amazon Rainforest Was and Still Is On Fire

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the dangers that threaten the Amazon rainforest

The Amazon rainforest during “fire season.” diversityphotos. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

There are a multitude of dangers ranging from climate change to human destruction that threaten the fragility of the Amazon rainforest. The destruction of the Amazon is largely attributed to consumerism and the extraction of natural resources. Without the existence of the Amazon, the world loses a crucial contender in the fight against climate change along with the likely deaths of many Indignenous people and already endangered species.

Reports from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research recorded 2,248 fires last month, a 13-year high and a 20% increase over the norm. Last year around this time, there were about 1,880 fires. However, the worst is likely yet to come as burnings in the Amazon tend to increase until September, the end of “fire season.” 

In 2019, the greatest destruction of the fires correlated with the peak of fire season. The increase in the number of fires was likely fueled by President Jair Bolsonaro’s decision to decrease the fines for environmental violations. It gave more leeway for commercial groups and loggers to disregard regulations that help preserve the Amazon. Bolsonaro has been nicknamed “Captain Chainsaw” for his policies that prioritize development over conservation. In an interview, Bolsonaro stated that “the Amazon belongs to Brazil,” so it can do as it wishes with it. As a result, it was estimated last year that every minute, a portion of the Amazon equal to the size of a soccer field was lost due to deforestation. 

The process of deforestation results from loggers trying to clear land as quickly as possible. That includes the use of chainsaws to cut down lumber for manufacturing and development. Then, farmers burn the downed trees that remain to make room for crops and pastures. Fire season, then,is the mark of when farmers begin to set these fires. It is important to acknowledge this is not a new practice, but an unending cycle of extracting from the land without replenishing it. 

Another sign of deforestation in the Amazon. rosamariavidal. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

A similar phenomenon is occurring this year due to the lack of authority in the Amazon. Just as with last year, many of the fires started so far have been due to illegal loggers. For instance, in the first four months of 2020, deforestation rose by 55% due to a lack of governmental enforcement as Brazil’s attention focused on combating COVID-19.

The spread of COVID-19 also caused many activists and field agents to pull out of the region. As a consequence of the lack of protection by field agents and thin numbers of police, loggers and miners have been able to overtake the Amazon. To show the magnitude of this problem, April’s extent of deforestation was 64% higher than that in April 2019. 

Due to international outcry last year over the fires, President Bolsonaro was forced to deploy enforcement to help monitor the fires and enforce regulations. Most new enforcement agents were unable to be deployed for this year’s fire season, though, due to COVID-19. And to make matters worse, the authority of troops currently in the Amazon expired on June 10, so there is currently no one monitoring fire conditions. 

Eva Ashbaugh

is a Political Science and Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies double major at the University of Pittsburgh. As a political science major concentrating on International Relations, she is passionate about human rights, foreign policy, and fighting for equality. She hopes to one day travel and help educate people to make the world a better place.

The Continued Abuse of Australia’s ‘Stolen Generation’

The term “Stolen Generation” was coined after deeply discriminatory government policies were passed in Australia between 1910 and 1970. This was due to the fact that many Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their homes under the pretense of “assimilation” into “white society.” Assimilation was based on the “assumption of Black inferiority and white superiority, which proposed the Indigenous people should be allowed to ‘die out’ through a process of natural elimination or, where possible, assimilation into the white community.” This tragedy led to children being torn from their families, taught to reject their culture, forced to not speak their native languages and required to adopt white culture in new white families they were brought into. 

Aboriginal people of white parentage, known at the time by the derogatory term “half-castes,” were most at risk of being removed from their homes since it was thought they would be easier to assimilate into white culture because of their lighter skin. Many were abused and neglected, and they received minimal education due to the assumption that the highest they would go was indentured servitude or work as manual laborers. The ensuing trauma has caused both the children and families mental trauma while the continued societal abuse such as stolen wages and racial discrimination was and still is prevalent. This is especially evident in statistics such as incarceration numbers and yearly wages. After George Floyd’s death, “debate raged about Australia’s own history.” By looking into the Australian national statistics, it was revealed the distrimination from back in the early 1900s has continued into the present. 

Stolen Wages Still Prevalent Today

“Back in the early 1970s, Aboriginal people living in remote areas were being paid as little as 19% of the non-Aborginial population.” The average Indigenous income is roughly only 44% of the median non-Indigenous income, though the gap is starting to close for the 37% of the Indigenous population living in Australia’s major cities. 20% of the Indigenous population living in cities is still living in poverty, though, along with more than half of those living in rural areas. Even more concerning, “about 10% of the Indigenous population also received no income at all and that includes government payments. It is unclear how these people survive.”

Largest Incarcerated Population in the World 

An even more shocking statistic was found in 2018 that “100% of children being held in youth detention in the (Northern) Territory are Aborginal.” They are currently the most incarcerated people in the world - not always for committing crimes. Tanya Day was arrested for sleeping on a train, later dying from repeated head injuries in jail. Additionally, a woman named Ms. Dhu was found dead in jail due to untreated injuries caused by prior family violence and abuse. The coroner said her medical care was “deficient” since the police refused to treat her, believing she was “faking it.” There have been serious concerns about racial profiling that have been directly correlated to arrests made - and the arrests not made. It was found that “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up about 2% of the general population but represent 28% of those in prison.” It has been estimated that in the last 29 years, one Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island person has died every three weeks in jail. 

Higher Levels of Domestic Violence, Abuse and Poverty

Another impact of Aboriginals being forced to assimilate into white communities is a staggering amount of domestic violence and abuse. Aboriginal women are 34 times more likely to be hospitalized from domestic abuse; however, when Aboriginal women try to call police for help, they are often arrested instead for defending themselves. This has also led to the statistic that Indigenous people have a lower life expectancy than the average non-Indigenous person, by an estimated 9 years. This has been blamed on factors such as poverty, poor health care, lack of healthy food, low living standards and more. 

The reality of today’s society in Australia is the hidden discrimination that started in the early 1900s and prevails even today. With the recent global reaction to racial discrimination and slavery, a closer look into Australia’s history has revealed these revelations that have often been covered up and disputed. Efforts to increase awareness of the current state of affairs in the country have been underway and protests continue despite an absence of widespread media coverage.

---

Elizabeth Misnick

Elizabeth is a Professional Writing and Rhetoric major at Baylor University. She grew up in a military family and lived in Europe for almost half her life, traveling and living in different countries. She hopes to continue writing professionally throughout her career and publish her writing in the future.

Outrage Mounts as Colombian Soldiers Admit to Rape of an Indigenous Girl

On June 25, seven soldiers of the Colombian army confessed to raping a 13-year-old Indigenous girl from the Embera tribe. She was discovered at a nearby school after having gone missing from her home in the department of Risaralda on June 21. Upon seeing that the young girl could barely walk, she was sent to a hospital and then forensic services along with receiving assistance from the Organization of Indigenous Nations of Colombia (ONIC). Luis Fernando Arias, senior adviser for ONIC, told CNN that the girl “was kidnapped and raped for a period of 17 hours.” The Embera community requested that the soldiers be tried under their own laws along with ONIC “demanding that they be tried under Indigenous law, arguing that it's their jurisdiction since the alleged crime was against an Indigenous person, on Indigenous land.” 

Since the alleged rape, the seven men accused were fired along with three of their superiors. The country’s attorney general, Francisco Barbosa, stated that if found guilty the men could face 16 to 30 years in prison, but Colombian President Ivan Duque urged a life sentence for the accused soldiers. He stated that, “If we have to inaugurate the life in prison penalty with them, we're going to do it with them. And we are going to use it so that these bandits and scoundrels get a lesson.” Although many are asking for the imprisonment of the soldiers, Gimena Sanchez, Andes director of the think tank Washington Office on Latin America, believes that, “There needs to be education and consciousness raising within the armed forces on how to treat and how to engage with ethnic minorities. Not just with Indigenous but also Afro-Colombians.” 

The country’s response was that of fury, albeit bereft of shock due to the long-standing systemic issue of soldiers' abuse and violence against Indigenous women and girls in Colombia. On July 2, after pressure mounted and Indigenous groups held protests against the gender-based violence of Indigenous women, Colombian Army Commander General Eduardo Zapateiro publicly disclosed that 118 soldiers had been investigated due to incidents of sexual violence against minors since 2016, and of those only 45 have been fired. Despite these statistics, Zapateiro stated that, “These abuses are not systemic conduct. Understand that we are 241,000 men, who every day give everything for the Colombian people.” His argument is that this is not a systemic issue but since the reporting of this story, other cases of sexual violence against Indigenous girls have emerged. One case that was not widely reported until now reveals that a 15-year-old girl from the Nukak Maku Indigenous tribe was kidnapped, tortured and raped in the military barracks of troops in the southern Guaviare department. 

Colombia is not exempt from the pandemic of sexual violence that affects women all over the globe but following a vote against a peace referendum to end the conflict in Colombia, women are disproportionately enduring violence on a systemic level. Colombia has the 10th highest rate of femicide in the world, according to U.N. data. The Colombian Femicide Foundation documented that “8,532 women and girls reported that they had experienced sexual violence in the first five months of this year. More than 5,800 were under the age of 18.” The outcome of this case may bring hope to those who want to see justice in the form of imprisonment, but the culture that normalized violence toward women remains. 

Hanna Ditinsky

is a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is majoring in English and minoring in Economics. She was born and raised in New York City and is passionate about human rights and the future of progressivism.

Record Heat Waves in Siberia Act as a Reminder of Global Warming’s Threat

In Siberia, one of the world's coldest regions, record high temperatures have been reported as a weeks long heat wave precipitates wildfires. On June 20, Verkhoyansk, a town north of the Arctic Circle, reached 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit. This possible record-breaking number has yet to be confirmed by the World Meteorological Organization, but stands to be the hottest temperature ever recorded above the Arctic Circle.  

Natalia Lapteva, a resident of Verkhoyansk, told Al-Jazeera that, “every day our family comes here to swim in our beloved river.” While residents of Verkhoyansk happily flee to their local river to bathe in the heat, many climate scientists are heeding the record numbers as warnings of accelerating global warming. In an interview, climate analyst Peter Pfleiderer recieved a question of whether the coronavirus lockdowns and its effect of reducing carbon dioxide emissions has already had a positive impact on the Arctic. He responded, “it's a reduction of emissions which means that we still emit greenhouse gases, so we are still warming the climate at the moment; it’s just a bit slower than we warmed it before. So for positive effect...we would really need to drop these emissions to zero and this is actually the only way to protect the sensitive environment of the Arctic.” 

The sensitive environment that Pfleiderer refers to is the melting away of permafrost in Russia, which could release “as much as 240 billion tons of carbon by 2100” according to a group of scientists convened by the United Nations. This phenomenon, known as “arctic amplification,” is “a critical reason why the Arctic has warmed at more than twice the rate of the global mean since the mid-1990s.”

 Not only does the thawing of permafrost leave a hefty impact on global warming, but it also leads to the erosion and destabilization of infrastructure and environmental habitats. “Officials [in Russia] say it was the reason a fuel tank collapsed in the northern city of Norilsk in May. More than 20,000 tons of diesel fuel soaked into the soil and flooded a river that feeds the Arctic Ocean,” according to Al-Jazeera. Repercussions for humans and wildlife alike can be felt following a spill to this degree. According to Sergey Verkhovets, the Russian coordinator for Arctic projects of the World Wildlife Fund, "the consequences of such accidents, especially in the north, reverberate for a long time. It means the death of fish, the contamination of birds' feathers and the poisoning of animals.”

These concerns also come with the news of extreme wildfires that are ravaging Siberia. “Russia’s forest fire aerial protection service says forest fires in Siberia have grown nearly fivefold over the past week,” according to The Associated Press. The consequential wildfires had burned about 7,900 square miles of Siberian territory as of June 25 compared to 6,800 square miles as of the same date a year ago. A culmination of these events in the Arctic further corroborates that the accelerated warming of our Earth has major ramifications for infrastructure, biodiversity and human life.

Hanna Ditinsky

is a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is majoring in English and minoring in Economics. She was born and raised in New York City and is passionate about human rights and the future of progressivism.