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☆ Opinion | New York Is Turning 400. We Should Celebrate. But How?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Russell Shorto | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

This spring is the 400th anniversary of the founding of New York — or, to be precise, of the Dutch colony that became New York once the English took it over. That settlement gave rise to a city unencumbered by old ways and powered by pluralism and capitalism: the first modern city, you might say. Yes, New Netherland, the Dutch colony, and New Amsterdam, the city that became New York, created the conditions for New York’s ascent, and helped shape America as a place of tolerance, multiethnicity and free trade. But the Dutch also established slavery in the region and contributed to the removal of Native peoples from their lands. Efforts to commemorate the occasion have been slowed, in part, by controversy and confusion because we can’t agree on what our past means.

Organizations: New, York Historical Society Locations: New York, New Netherland, New Amsterdam, Independence

☆ Opinion: Ancient superstitions about eclipses paved the way for this scientific truth
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-06 | by ( Opinion Jason Colavito | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —In ancient Mesopotamia, a solar eclipse was a cause for deep concern. Today, eclipses retain a little bit of their historic role as harbingers of doom. Many cultures imagined a solar eclipse occurred when a mythological being ate the sun. A group of people safely watching a solar eclipse in New York City in 1865. During the solar eclipse of 1842, 20,000 people of all social classes gathered in Perpignan, France, and applauded the sun’s performance.

Persons: Jason Colavito, Jimmy, James Dean, Herodotus, Thales, Miletus, Corbis, “, Pierre Gassendi, Christopher Columbus, Mark Twain, François Arago Organizations: New, Slate, CNN, puma, Thales, Connecticut Yankee, King Locations: New York, New Republic, Mesopotamia, United States, American, Vietnam, North America, China, New York City, France, Paris, Columbus, King Arthur’s, Perpignan

☆ ‘Mary Poppins’ gets a new age rating over discriminatory language
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Harmeet Kaur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —A British film industry group has raised the age rating for the beloved children’s classic “Mary Poppins” over discriminatory language. “Mary Poppins (1964) includes two uses of the discriminatory term ‘hottentots,’” a BBFC spokesperson said in a statement to CNN. Even as “Mary Poppins” remains a treasured part of the cultural canon, the film has been criticized for trafficking in blackface. It’s partly in this context that the discriminatory language referenced by BBFC appears in the film. In recent years, the movie industry has grappled with how to handle racist or offensive content in classic films.

Persons: CNN —, Mary Poppins ”, “ Mary Poppins, ’ ”, “, Mary Poppins, ”, Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, Banks, Boom, hottentots, “ We’re, Shutterstock, Peter Pan ” Organizations: CNN, British, of, Disney, BBFC, US Library, Congress, National Film Registry, Banks Locations: British, Africa, South Africa, Namibia, Oxford

When two Native American boys from Nebraska died after being taken to a notorious boarding school hundreds of miles away in Pennsylvania, they were buried there without notice. After it opened in 1879 in an old Army barracks, thousands of Native American children were sent by train and stagecoach to Carlisle. In 1990, Congress passed the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, or NAGPRA. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American Cabinet secretary, has pushed the government to reckon with its role in Native American boarding schools. At least 500 children died at some of the schools, including Carlisle.

Persons: Samuel Gilbert, Edward Hensley, Samuel, Edward, weren't, Jan, ”, Greg Werkheiser, Richard Henry Pratt, Jim Thorpe, —, Deb Haaland, “, Beth Wright Organizations: Nebraska, Army, Carlisle Indian Industrial School, “, Cultural Heritage Partners, Department of Interior, War Department, Medical Field Service School, American, Protection, United States Congress, Interior, Native American, Native American Rights Fund Locations: Pennsylvania, Winnebago, Carlisle, Nebraska, Servicemembers, Lake, Washoe, Umpqua, Ute, Rosebud Sioux, Northern Arapaho, Blackfeet, Oglala Sioux, Oneida, Omaha, Modoc , Iowa

☆ Research unveils gruesome history of Tasmanian tiger skins in British museum’s collection
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Warning: This article contains disturbing descriptions about the practices of colonial settlers in Tasmania and violence against Tasmanian Aboriginal peoples. “In all, Allport shipped five Tasmanian Aboriginal skeletons to Europe, proudly identifying himself as the most prolific trader in Tasmanian bodily remains,” according to the study. The colonial government allowed settlers to murder Tasmanian Aboriginal people without punishment and, in 1830, even established a bounty for the capture of Indigenous humans and Tasmanian tigers, or thylacines. Some Aboriginal Tasmanian people did survive colonial persecution, Ashby added, though at brutal costs. Their descendants make up today’s Tasmanian Aboriginal community, Ashby said.

Persons: Jack Ashby, Morton Allport, Allport, Ashby, It’s, ” Ashby, Mortan Allport, ”, incentivized Allport, William Lanne, William Crowther, Crowther, Truganini, thylacines, “ We’re, Rebecca Kilner, ” Kilner Organizations: Tasmanian Aboriginal, CNN, Cambridge University’s Museum of Zoology, Tasmanian, Allport Library, Museum of Fine Arts, State, of, Royal Society of Tasmania, Royal Society, British Museum, University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, University of Cambridge Grappling Locations: Tasmania, United Kingdom, Europe, Belgium, of Tasmania, Great Britain, London, Bass, ”, Brussels, Tasmanian, Cambridge

A statue of Christopher Columbus is vandalized with the word ‘murderer.’ (Nik Wheeler/Corbis via Getty Images)When did Indigenous Peoples Day come about? Indigenous Peoples Day is an opportunity to reconcile tensions between these two perspectives. Yes, the shift from Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day has met resistance from communities across the country. In 2021, parents in Parsippany, New Jersey, protested the local school board’s decision to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day in place of Columbus Day. Now the holidays are just referred to as “days off.”What resources do you recommend for Indigenous Peoples Day?

Persons: “, Columbus, Susan C, Christopher Columbus, Nik Wheeler, Corbis, –, Christopher Columbus ”, James Loewen, Roxanne Dunbar, Ortiz, Faircloth Organizations: Columbus, Indigenous Peoples, Colorado State University, Getty, Indigenous, South Dakota –, District of Columbia, Day, Columbus Day, Young, School of Education Locations: Columbus, United States, Americas, Coharie, North Carolina, South Dakota, U.S, Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii , Idaho , Iowa, Louisiana, Maine , Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina , Oklahoma , Oregon, South Dakota , Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, Parsippany , New Jersey, ”

NEW YORK (AP) — A comprehensive new biography of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr, a memoir on family by the prize-winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen and an exploration of the crack epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s are among 10 books on the nonfiction longlist of the National Book Awards. The National Book Foundation, which presents the awards, also released its poetry longlist Thursday, a day after announcing 10 nominees each in the categories of young people's literature and books in translation. Judges will next month reduce each list to five finalists, with the winners to be announced during a Manhattan dinner ceremony on Nov. 15. Political Cartoons View All 1160 ImagesOthers on the poetry longlist are John Lee Clark's “How to Communicate,” Oliver de la Paz's “The Diaspora Sonnets,” Annelyse Gelman's “Vexations,” José Olivarez's “Promises of Gold,” Brandon Som's “Tripas,” Charif Shanahan's “Trace Evidence” and Evie Shockley's “suddenly we.”

Persons: Martin Luther King Jr, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Jonathan Eig's “, Nguyen's, ” Donovan X, Ned Blackhawk's “, Prudence Peiffer's, Cristina Rivera Garza's “ Liliana’s, ” Christina Sharpe's, ”, Shehadeh's, ” John Vaillant's, Williams, Monica Youn, Paisley Rekdal, Craig Santos Perez, John Lee Clark's, ” Oliver de la, ” Brandon Som's “, Evie Shockley's “ Organizations: Book Foundation, Native Peoples, New York, Justice, “ Locations: Manhattan, America, ” Utah

A new accounting shows that at least 523 institutions were part of the sprawling network of boarding schools for Native American children. ‘War Against the Children’ The Native American boarding school system — a decades-long effort to assimilate Indigenous people before they ever reached adulthood — robbed children of their culture, family bonds and sometimes their lives. “The government was not done with war, so the next phase involved war against the children,” said Mr. Sherman, 83, a former aerospace engineer. Now 76, his voice grows shaky when he recounts the punishments children received — and how children were turned into punishers. Library of Congress, Chronicling AmericaA precise accounting of how many children died at Native American boarding schools remains elusive.

Juneteenth became an official federal holiday two years ago, but it was an unofficial holiday for many Black people before then. We should say, "We are a nation of Indigenous peoples, enslaved peoples, and immigrants." Since President Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law two years ago, Juneteenth is now a federally recognized holiday. Some schools, such as Georgetown, have gone further than acknowledgement by renaming buildings that glorify slave owners and offering full scholarships to descendants of enslaved peoples. The Juneteenth National Independence Day Act is but another step towards inclusion of all peoples who made America: "We are a nation of Native peoples, enslaved peoples, and immigrants."

Persons: Juneteenth, —, Lincoln, Biden, Charles, Willa Bruce, Klansmen, Gavin Newsom, Bruce Organizations: Service, Union, Texans, Plymouth Rock, Civil, Evanston, Colleges, Ivy League, Brown, Princeton, Harvard Locations: United States, Indigenous, Texas, Plymouth, America, Manhattan, California, Evanston In Evanston , Illinois, Christian, Evanston, Amherst , Massachusetts, Amherst, Columbia, Georgetown

The justices found that the plaintiffs - the Republican-governed state of Texas and three non-Native American families - lacked the necessary legal standing to bring their challenge. They also rejected challenges to the law, known as the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, on other grounds. Congress passed it to end a longstanding practice in the United States of removing many Native American children from their families and placing them with non-Native Americans. At the time of the law's passage, between 25% and 35% of all Native American children were removed in states with large Native American populations, according to court papers. Interior Department and federal officials by Texas and the three families who sought to adopt or foster Native American children.

Persons: Amy Coney Barrett, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Joe Biden, Biden, Jennifer, Chad Brackeen, Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, Kavanaugh, Andrew Chung, Will Dunham Organizations: U.S, Supreme, Constitution's, Republican, Indian Child Welfare, Tribal Nations, Indian Child Welfare Association, National Congress of American, Child Welfare, U.S . Interior Department, Circuit, Thomson Locations: Texas, United States, Navajo, New Orleans, New York

[1/5] Pope Francis greets the crowd ahead of a holy mass at the Kossuth Lajos Square during his apostolic journey in Budapest, Hungary, April 30, 2023. Francis believes migrants fleeing poverty should be welcomed and integrated because they can culturally enrich host countries and boost Europe's dwindling populations. He believes that while countries have a right to protect their borders, migrants should be distributed throughout the European Union. In his homily, Francis also spoke against doors "closed to the world". On Friday, he quoted what St Stephen, the 11th century founder of Christian Hungary, had written about welcoming strangers.

☆ Retelling U.S. History With Native Americans at the Center
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Alan Taylor | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

THE REDISCOVERY OF AMERICA: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History, by Ned Blackhawk“How can a nation founded on the homelands of dispossessed Indigenous peoples be the world’s most exemplary democracy?” This is the provocative question with which Ned Blackhawk opens his important new book, “The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History.” A historian at Yale and a member of the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone, Blackhawk rejects the myth that Native Americans fell quick and easy victims to European invaders. Instead, he asserts that “American Indians were central to every century of U.S. historical development.”More boldly still, he insists that “Indigenous dispossession facilitated the growth of white male democracy and African American slavery” to constitute America’s historical trifecta of flaws. Blackhawk’s introduction identifies only two, one of them dead. In fact, this book benefits from Blackhawk’s wide and savvy reading of the many scholars who, during the last 50 years, have restored Native peoples to their prominent place within a fuller, richer American history. Yes, we still have a triumphalist story of white settlers overcoming a wilderness filled with Indians to make democracy, but that tale persists almost entirely in popular culture and among right-wing corners of politics and the internet, far from academic historians.

☆ Remaking the River That Remade L.A.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Michael Kimmelman | Photographs Adali Schell | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +33 min

Remaking the River That Remade L.A.February 1938 was a wet month in Los Angeles. Reservoirs overflowed, dams topped out and floodwaters careered down Pacoima Wash and Tujunga Wash toward the Los Angeles River. The Los Angeles River was never a storybook river of the kind that, like the Hudson or the Seine, we associate with great cities. Among the naysayers is a venerable organization called Friends of the Los Angeles River, founded by the Texas-born poet and performance artist Lewis MacAdams. “With all the problems L.A. is facing,” he said, “even if it costs $50 billion to fix the river, we should just effing do it.”The headwaters of the Los Angeles River aren’t easy to find.

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