Matthew J. Parker: The Shine On her Shoes
With another Memorial Day upon us, I again find myself pondering its magnitude, which invariably brings me back to 2016, when President Obama met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial on May 27.
Carlene M. Gadapee: Give Peace a Chance
The Burning World by Sherod Santos is a complicated and arresting mytho-historical and contemporary narrative demonstrating the pain of war and conflict.
Andrea Mazzarino: The Army We Don’t See
In 2019, there were 50% more contractors than troops in the U.S. Central Command region that includes Afghanistan, Iraq, and 18 other countries in the Middle East, as well as Central and South Asia.
Susan Farrell: Why Kurt Vonnegut’s advice to college graduates still matters today
If Vonnegut was, like the students’ fathers, a family man and a veteran, perhaps he also embodied the dad that students in 1969 dreamed their own fathers could be: funny, artistic, anti-establishment and anti-war.
Kim Stafford: Poems for a Cause
Maybe we’re past hints and whispers,
our chance gone for subtle scents
and fugitive flavors—time for coffee
black, jolt of onion, garlic unadorned.
Brett Wilkins: US Lawmakers Call on Biden to End US Taxpayer Support of Israeli Human Rights Violations
“Each year, the U.S. funnels billions of tax dollars to the Israeli government, funding obscene human rights violations,” said Rep. Cori Bush, who signed the letter. “We must stop funding Israeli apartheid.”
Video: Suheir Hammad | Poems of war, peace, women, power
Poet Suheir Hammad performs two spine-tingling spoken-word pieces: Wait for the astonishing line: “Do not fear what has blown up. If you must, fear the unexploded.”
David Kirby: More Than This
you three must be thirsty,
come in and get a drink, and the cowboy says okay,
but what is this place, and the guy says it’s heaven
Aidan Smith: Despite Meat Industry Lies, Plant-Based Diets Are Healthy
Plant-based diets have been connected to a decrease in mortality.
Video: A Boat Carrying 500 Refugees Sunk at Sea. The Story of Two Survivors
Aboard an overloaded ship carrying more than 500 refugees, a young woman becomes an unlikely hero.
John Feffer: The Shift from Pink to Green in Latin America
Can the United States Become a Green Good Neighbor?
Abby Zimet: Kids Are Begging, Begging, Begging For Their Lives
The shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School, which killed three kids and three adults, was one of 103 mass shootings already recorded this year; of those, 90 were school shootings.
Shimri Zameret: A mass wave of army refusal offers a transformative moment for Israel
A new movement of Israeli army refusers has put the government in a crisis, presenting an opportunity for those fighting the occupation of Palestine.
Vox Populi 