Clarity

I keep trying to write a post, and I keep getting thrown off.  I’ve limited myself to a small number of topics; refer to a few posts back.  I was hoping to build some structure and a way to move forward.  I think that this method will normally work, and I plan to continue with it. 

So, getting thrown off…the last time I wrote I had some hope that South Sudan would find its way back to peace.  Perhaps I was right that we are near a solution, but the day I wrote that post seems to have been the closest point to getting a deal out to the country in a long while, but subsequent events have been horrifying.  Now there is a growing consensus among impartial observers that Salva Kiir and his army have been guilty of unspeakable acts.  Before one thinks that the government in place is the enemy of peace though, Riik Machar’s opposition may be guilty of even worse crimes.  Further, it is suggested that Machar is nothing more than a proxy for Omar Bashir of Sudan, and his efforts to undermine his former rebel provinces.  They all appear to be bloody-minded criminals.  So where will peace come from?

Well, I had not planned to come right back to South Sudan’s war, so perhaps I should have diverted my attention, but it is terribly hard to do so when you feel despair for the situation.  I had planned on writing introductory notes about Thomas Merton.  Thomas Merton was a Trappist monk who lived in the mid-20^th Century.  He was a prolific author, first about devotion to God through monasticism, and then about the horrors of war, particularly nuclear war.  My plan has been to introduce Merton as a prelude to talking about the upcoming 70^th anniversary of the destruction of Hiroshima.  I wrote a few drafts, but Merton is such an inspiration to me, I got lost in how to start.

Well, now I’ve started to tell you about Thomas Merton, so I guess I’ll be able to hold onto that thread.  I just hope I can properly dive into his works before we get to Hiroshima.  We’ll see.  I’m going to get to him one way or another.  I may have been able to get that thread going, and then…

Charleston.

What can I say about Charleston?  It seems like everything I’ve spoken about unraveled with Charleston.

Charleston puts the Baltimore riots in a harsh, blinding flash.  The reason we fell into the rioting ultimately was hate, wasn’t it?  Never mind who hates who, it’s simply the presence of hate.

Why are refugees met with hate, in Europe, where no country will own up to the responsibility to care for people who have risked all to cross the Mediterranean; or in the US where we stigmatize with the moniker “illegals”, many of whom have legitimate cause for asylum.

In Africa, greedy, rapacious people divide Dinka and Nuer, SPLA and SPLA I/O over hate, then kill for power – and hate.

Hate now comes into crisp focus.  Nine beautiful, holy, people in a church were slaughtered for no other reason than hate.  Even the response to the Charleston Massacre has been tinged with hate, with suggestions that people in church should be armed to prevent violence; that a rallying flag for hatred should not be removed because of tradition.

Hate.  That’s what we have to fight.  I know that greed, and poverty, and ignorance will kill people.  Those things only become truly deadly in the presence of hate though.

It’s a sad thought.  Hate is preventable.  Preventing hate will fix it all.  And, while it may be the human condition to harbor hate, it is a higher condition of the human spirit to harbor love.  So let’s get to love.  I think people who see problems either fix blame or fix the problem.  Let’s do the latter.  In South Sudan, fighting bad people does not make you good.  It’s no different here.  Love makes you good.

A Prayer attributed to St. Francis (click here for the prayer in song)

Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is
hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where
there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where
there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where
there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to
be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is
in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we
are born to eternal life. Amen.

South Sudan and the Arusha Peace Accord

5 months ago, in Arusha, Tanzania, the parties to the South Sudanese civil war signed an accord designed to bring peace and reconciliation to South Sudan.  That agreement is here.

Since the Arusha Accord was signed the warring factions of the South Sudanese Liberation Movement (SPLM) have only moved deeper into warfare.  The results have been horrific.  Today, however, it appears that the Arusha Accord may be gaining traction.  Today, President Salva Kiir, who famously wears a cowboy hat given to him by US President George W. Bush, has vowed to implement the deal according to the news source Gurtong.net.  It is hoped that the opposition, led by former Deputy Chairman Riek Machar will also commit to the peace process.  Over the past several days, fighting has intensified.  While this is distressing, it may be a sign that warring factions are finishing their campaigns, and striving for last minute advantages.

I believe that it is more likely than not that the two year old civil war is ending.  It is also noteworthy that:

• This is an Africa-led brokered deal, with South Africa, Ethiopia and Tanzania taking the lead.  The US, European and Asian powers have not exerted a neo-colonial presence, further relegating that massive injustice to history;
• The accord looks a lot like the South African Peace and Reconciliation deal following the overthrow of apartheid, at least to my eyes.  If it is the same kind of peace, and parties are diligent in implementation, hopes for a true and enduring peace will be achieved.

So, how does the prospect of a healthy and prosperous South Sudan look?  In the short run, the challenges are enormous.  We can expect residual violence to continue for a while, but if we are on the verge of peace, that will subside.  Grinding poverty is a destabilizing factor, as are the large amount of displaced people, both internally and externally from destabilized areas to the north and east, particularly in Sudan and the Central African Republic.  Allegations of Sudanese interference and hostility may threaten the peace.

For my readers who are primarily American, we should let the peace process proceed without interference, letting the youngest country on the planet build their own future.  It would be helpful if the World Bank forgives the South Sudanese debt, which is an effort that Americans can help with.  We should take note of the human rights issues that have occurred over the past two years, including the forcible recruitment of child soldiers, and instances of systematic rape used as a terror weapon.  While we wait for these issues to resolve under the Arusha framework, we should applaud the peace brokers from South Sudan, and leading African nations.  We should continue to educate ourselves to the issues facing South Sudan, and we should actively pray and/or meditate on behalf of peace in South Sudan.

I am grateful that the South Sudanese have a realistic, attainable chance at peace.  Bless you all.

An Artistic Respite – Ladysmith Black Mambazo

When I revived this blog, I was determined to give it a little more breadth.  I decided that I would break some of the talking a break, especially as I am aware that I can be long-winded and lean toward a lecture format.

Tonight, I’m inviting you to enjoy Ladysmith Black Mambazo, via YouTube links.  You can access their long and fascinating story as you listen via a google lookup.  I recommend it.  I will only add that they are ambassadors for peace from the kwaZulu nation, and South Africa.

My first link is for an 81 minute selection of performances of LBM and the Soweto Gospel Choir, many of which are only the Soweto Gospel Choir (no worries, it’s also wonderful).  It’s beautiful, and long enough to accompany my several year old posts of the philosophy of peace, where I pick a small fight with St. Augustine, or just enjoying while you do something quietly.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo and the Soweto Gospel Choir

Next, I have their 2007 performance of ‘Homeless’ at the Nobel Peace Concert honoring Nelson Mandela.  Homeless was featured on Paul Simon’s famous album “Graceland”

Homeless at the 2007 Nobel Prize Concert

Last one:  Amazing Grace

I hope the hyperlinks work in Blogger!

That’s all.  Good night, and Peace!  

Will we fix what is wrong in Baltimore?

To understand why Baltimore became violent in April, 2015, one needs to understand some basic facts about the city.  It seems clear to me that the riots following the murder of Freddie Gray were inevitable, the catalyst for the violent outburst was the Gray murder, but it could have been caused by any incident given the conditions in the city.

Baltimore is a city in sharp decline.  In the mid nineteenth century it was the second most populous city in the United States after New York.  Until about 1980 it was still one of the ten largest cities in the country.  At its height in 1950, Baltimore had about one million residents.  Today, the city has only 620,000 people, a decline of one-third of the population in 65 years.  It was once one of the great manufacturing centers and a key shipping center.  Despite some recently improved economic sectors, including health care, academics and tourism, these improvements do not replace the losses in employment.

Baltimore is a black majority city.  Nearly 64% of the cities people are black.  In most respects, this fact should be inconsequential.  Sadly though, the mechanisms that continue to repress poor people of color exist in Baltimore.  Within the black community, mobility is stagnated; college education is difficult and expensive to attain, yet the largest employer and organizational group in the city, Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins University, rely on a workforce dominated by the highly educated.  Further, there is a clear and undeniable component of racism that oppresses Baltimore’s black people.

One in five residents of Baltimore lives below the poverty line.  I’ll leave this fact alone; it speaks for itself.

Baltimore is desperate, poor, short on hope, and now violent.  It is extremely important to make Baltimore peaceful again.  Of course it’s not easy.  We will continue to see Baltimore being under threat of violence until we address what is wrong.  The big picture resolutions to the Baltimore problem are:

·         Rebuilding trust between the residents of Baltimore and the police force.  The riots were met with a measure of restraint by the police.  I am sure that most officers are proud professionals who ensure everyone’s safety.  Smart protocols which engage police in the everyday activities of people exist in many cities, and could be adopted there.

·         Improve access to higher education.  The sad truth that higher education selects based more on economic status that academic status.  This is a nationwide problem, but it is acutely felt in Baltimore.

·         Identify entrepreneurs within the city, and enable them with microloans and planning support.  Small businesses should bring hope and vision, and

·         End racism.  End institutional racism.  End racism based on ignorance. Just end it.

What a daunting list!  No one said peace was easy, right?

I will revisit the issues raised here, hopefully soon.  I think my next few posts will head into other directions, but I still feel there is a lot of unfinished business.  Peace, my friends.

Some Housekeeping

Let me start this piece off with a bit of a complaint.  As news consumers, Americans have such a short attention span that major, long-trending stories can gain no traction.  I am appalled that a few short weeks after the fires in Baltimore were extinguished, there is hardly a word spoken about the riots, or Freddie Grey.  It would be easy to say that CNN and related news outlets will report on an endless string of stories where a photo opportunity occurs behind the reporter, and that reporting stops when the viewer gets bored.  I am more concerned that these 24-hour news feeds make editorial decisions based on viewers’ appetites; as such, the news is not content-driven, but market-driven.  News has been reduced to a segment of the entertainment machine, and predictably content,  depth, and a willingness to report on second-tier stories have suffered.

Given that criticism, I find myself thinking about addressing matters of peace that seem urgent.  In fact, many of the issues that come out of the news of the day are urgent.  I would like to do a deep dive into Syria, Iraq and ISIS.  The proposed Iran nuclear deal is incredibly important.  Events in Yemen, Burundi and Burma vie for my attention as well.  Nonetheless, I am not writing these pieces to keep up with the day’s news, and so I will only refer to these issues tangentially, so that I can follow some long term trends, and keep a longer conversation moving along.  I apologize if you think that I should devote more of my time to Middle Eastern issues, or the Guantanamo Bay prison, or the Ukraine.  They are all worthy of our attention.  Instead, I will keep a discussion (a dialogue would be OK ;-) ) going about a finite number of themes that will allow us all to become better educated, and to become better peacemakers.  To that end, for the remainder of 2015, I plan on limiting my posts the following:

·         Justice for the American underclass.  My recent post titled ‘Baltimore and Beyond’ can be seen as a launch of this thread,

·         The South Sudan Civil War, to the end of educating my followers and exploring how conflicts rise and continue, and how peace might develop,

·         The worldwide migration of vulnerable people,

·         A retrospective of the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 70 years later, which will include current non-proliferation challenges, and an introduction to the pacifism of Thomas Merton,

·         The connection between peace and art, to break from the politics and brighten this space a bit.  This is a new idea that I’m looking forward to, and

·         A calendar of peace events in Greater Boston, or perhaps throughout New England, which was always a goal of this blog.

I hope that keeping to these issues will bring my writing into better focus, and allow for better reading for you.  As the 1500^th pageview will most likely happen over the next few weeks, I’ll want to write more regularly, and build my readership.  Thanks.  Look forward to a follow-up on Baltimore in the next few days, and a cycle through of each of the items I’ve promised.

Baltimore and Beyond

Let’s get a few items off the plate before we get into the core of our problems:

• ·         Yes, the riots were the wrong response to the problem.  Violence is never a good solution to anything.
• ·         Yes, police protect life and property at great personal risk, and as such deserve respect.
• ·         Despite the two preliminary statements above, there are serious and systemic problems in society that have contributed to the unrest in our cities.  In the current climate of distrust, and in the absence of extraordinary leadership and proposals, the unrest will continue for some time.

I’m glad those matters are done with.  It is time to unpack what the problems are, and how we might constructively engage in solving them.

First, the proximate cause for the unrest is police brutality.  I have no problem with saying that Freddie Gray was murdered.  Receiving a broken neck, and a crushed larynx prior to being thrown into the back of a vehicle, unrestrained, do not constitute reasonable force or self-protection.  Gray’s criminal activity and character have no bearing on these facts.  Eric Gardner’s death in New York was identical in many respects.  Michael Brown’s death in St. Louis was not as clear cut.  We can only draw circumstantial conclusions.  The injustice in St. Louis is that no legal proceedings excepting a summary dismissal by a grand jury were brought.

It would seem that a quick remedy for police brutality, however rare or common, is a system of reporting and accountability, and the addressing of urban police tactics.  Unfortunately, an accountability system, while an important part of the solution, treats the symptom, not the disease.

The underlying problems which give rise to the instances are much more challenging:  Those underlying problems are:

• ·         Endemic urban violence, fueled by ready access to firearms, distrust of police, and most importantly, lack of social mobility, or lack of opportunity if you prefer.  Sadly, these issues victimize both urban people, and police.  Police brutality and anger at police, ironically, are two sides of the same coin.
• ·         A broken and dangerously flawed justice system that makes an enormous amount of people felons.  The mechanics of how this happens are very complex, but are driven by the legal system that follows up where the policing problems end.  Two important components of this injustice are mandatory minimum sentencing, and the stripping of civil rights of former felons who have completed their sentences.
• ·         Bigotry.  This is the biggest and ugliest part of the problem, perhaps the ultimate source of all of the problems.

One quick word about bigotry is that bigotry encompasses more than racism.  Racism directed at people of color is perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the problem, but intensifying social stratification, and an utterly suppressed underclass have also emerged.

I am gratified that in the immediate aftermath of the Baltimore riots, peace rallies have emerged.  It’s a great start.  There is a danger that if left to photo ops for CNN, and calls for bland dialogues, the attitude of emerging peace will burn off in the heat of a dangerous summer, but we have cause for hope.

I should stop here tonight.  I think that’s enough to digest.  Each of the points above can be and have been the subject of entire books.  We have a lot more to discuss on this, and some other burning issues about peace, So, let’s stop here.  Pray and/or meditate on behalf of everyone in Baltimore and beyond.

Reprint and follow-up of my January 15, 2013 post

This was a more or less technical post from January, 2013, as a follow-up to my post right after the Sandy Hook murders (warning – if you remain traumatized by that event, you might want to skip that one).  I find that my 2015 research and follow up comments aren’t too good.

I'll be brief today....I know, I'm never brief....don't worry though, I'm posting a link to a 22 page report from Mayors Against Illegal Guns titled "Access Denied".  Please read it, as I will be referring to its contents in the near future, hopefully.  http://libcloud.s3.amazonaws.com/9/c1/6/1017/3/access_denied.pdf

Please pay close attention to the summary recommendations:

·                     Remove "policy riders" on federal appropriations bills that limit firearms research at the CDC and NIH and provide appropriate funding to study the role of firearms on public health.

2015 update:  The day after the original post, President Obama issued an executive order to direct the CDC (and by extension the NIH) to fund this research; see http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-01-22/pdf/FR-2013-01-22.pdf.  Go to page 10 (it’s a BIG document).  The CDC reacted slowly, presumably because congressional pressure had then “gun shy”.  Rest assured the NRA has done all it can to impede research.

·                     Fully fund the National Violent Death Reporting System and expand it to all 50 states to improve our understanding of the role firearms play in fatalities.

2015 update:  Nope…nothing…despite the fact that gun violence has now surpassed auto accidents as the leading cause of death in young people.

·                     Reconstitute the research program on gun trafficking at the National Institute of Justice to update and expand our understanding of the market for illegal guns.

2015 update:  Hopeful – NIJ is proposing to issue grants of up to $1.5M to “Research and Evaluation on Firearms Violence Reduction”. See https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/sl001153.pdf The deadline for applying for grants is 4 days from this post.  It will be interesting to see what happens with this small amount, but it is forward momentum.

·                     Resume the publication of Justice Department reports on illegal gun markets and trafficking patterns.

2015 update – Nothing.  Really?  This is a disturbing lack of progress.  Here is a good example of recent research…unfortunately, the City of Chicago had to issue it, because they couldn’t wait for the Justice Dept. to do their job http://www.cityofchicago.org/dam/city/depts/mayor/Press%20Room/Press%20Releases/2014/May/05.27.14TracingGuns.pdf

·                     Rescind the Tiahrt Amendments 1

2015 update – nothing!

2015 summary:  The report from Mayors against illegal guns 5 summary proposals have been largely ignored by congress.  President Obama’s Executive order was a win, but it always faces threats.  You can bet that it will be rescinded if the president elected next year is a friend of the NRA.  The NIJ has provided some funding for research…we can award a half-win.  This movie gets one and a half stars…barely worth seeing!

1"Access Denied" by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, January, 2013.

OK.  As I promised I'm staying brief today.  But here's a good couple of hours worth or studying for my peacemaker friends.  You'll probably get nostalgic for my explanations of St. Augustine and Immanuel Kant when you've finished (seriously, it's a good read...but then, so was my philosophy blogging).

Peace to you all.  I'l talk soon.  Feel free to comment/write.