This is the Age of Too

Dear Editor,

This is the age of “Too.”  Too many demands – from kids, work, relationships, finances, health; even global events pushed on us via instant media. So we learn to compartmentalize. To pick and choose the battles.  To decide what piece of us we have to carve out for that next grasping hand.  Somewhere on that list, there are the philanthropies whether in money or in time. With the economic recession, many of us have had to whittle those kindness to the bone.  We’ve had to toss out envelopes with pictures of skeletal children, puppies shivering in fear, or the sounding of environmental catastrophes.  We are in the “learn to say no” stage of survival.  I get it.  I’m too am struggling to find some footing in my personal financial quagmires with the loss of a job, possibly a home and being more than just a little afraid.

Then,  I made the mistake of taking some down time to listen to Lisa Kristine on TED.com.  I made the mistake of seeing, of listening, of feeling.  Now, I cannot compartmentalize this new reality.  I cannot justify inaction.  This amazing documentation of 21st century slavery is a brutal assessment of our values-an indictment of the loss of humanity for all our nations.  The images and the words are seared in my conscience and my heart, for that is what happens when you see, hear and feel Hell. Yet, somehow in that writhing inferno, I also saw true beauty, resilience, determination and good. I learned there are those brave enough to battle real monsters; no unrealistic happily ever afters, but dogged, systematic changes that brings hope for 27 million slaves around the world, around the corner. 

Nineteen minutes and twenty-two seconds. That is the time it will take for you to bear witness to one of the most important truths of our times.  Twenty seven million men, women and children who have never known anything other than suffering,  is counting on you to donate nineteen minutes and twenty-two seconds of your time.  If at the end, you choose to give five dollars, to write another letter to the editor, to sponsor a fundraiser in your school, or to just put your struggles in perspective, you will have changed.  Your burdens will be lighter.  Your love of your family stronger. Your gratefulness will abound.  Please. Bear witness.

Mae L. Arant

‹

Why Do They Flock to Turkey Trots? Runners Count the Reasons

Turkey Trots have become an enduring tradition for many people. Some do it for fitness, others for family and community, others for charity.

New Hampshire Man Had No Car and No Furniture, but Died With a Big Secret, Leaving His Town Millions

Written by KATHY MCCORMACK and ROBERT F. BUKATY Geoffrey Holt was unassuming as the caretaker of a mobile home park in Hinsdale, New Hampshire, where he lived a simple, but curious life. Residents would see Holt around town in threadbare clothes — riding his lawn mower, headed to the convenience store, parked along the main […]

DeSantis Is Defending New Slavery Teachings. Civil Rights Leaders See a Pattern of ‘Policy Violence’

Written by STEVE PEOPLES, BRENDAN FARRINGTON AND KAT STAFFORD Civil rights activists cheered when Ron DeSantis pardoned four Black men wrongfully convicted of rape as one of his first actions as Florida’s governor. But four years later, as DeSantis eyes the presidency, their hope that the Republican would be an ally on racial justice has long faded. Instead, […]

UNC Hosts Conference on Grappling with History of Slavery, Racial Injustice

UNC's Commission on History, Race and A Way Forward is hosting the conference to discuss its work to better contextualize university history.

Slavery Is On the Ballot for Voters in 5 US States

Written by KIMBERLEE KRUESI More than 150 years after slaves were freed in the U.S., voters in five states will soon decide whether to close loopholes that led to the proliferation of a different form of slavery — forced labor by people convicted of certain crimes. None of the proposals would force immediate changes inside […]

Union Will Defend Teachers in ‘Critical Race Theory’ Fights

Written by COLLIN BINKLEY One of the nation’s largest teachers unions on Tuesday vowed to defend members who are punished for teaching an “honest history” of the United States, a measure that’s intended to counter the wave of states seeking to limit classroom discussion on race and discrimination. In a virtual address to members of […]

Colleges Pushed Anew for Reparations for Slavery, Racism

Written by PHILIP MARCELO For Brown University students, the Ivy League college’s next step in its yearslong quest to atone for its legacy of slavery is clear: Pay up. Nearly two decades after the Providence, Rhode Island, institution launched its much-lauded reckoning, undergraduate students this spring voted overwhelmingly for the university to identify the descendants of slaves that […]

Hillsborough Residents Working to Change Name of Thomas Ruffin Street

Some Hillsborough residents are petitioning for a town street name to be changed from honoring a state Supreme Court justice with ties to white supremacy. The namesake for Thomas Ruffin Street, which runs through a neighborhood off North Cameron Street, has many ties to the area. Ruffin practiced law in Hillsborough and served as a […]

Bernie Sanders’ Mittens, Memes Help Raise $1.8M for Charity

About those wooly mittens that U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders wore to the presidential inauguration, sparking endless quirky memes across social media? They’ve helped to raise $1.8 million in the last five days for charitable organizations in Sanders’ home state of Vermont, the independent senator announced Wednesday. The sum comes from the sale of merchandise with the […]

NC Supreme Court Removing Portrait of Slave Owner Ex-Justice

The North Carolina Supreme Court announced Tuesday that it will remove a portrait of a former chief justice from its courtroom who staunchly defended slavery and owned slaves himself. Thomas Ruffin, a slave owner in the 1800s, believed an owner’s power over his slave was absolute. He once wrote in a court ruling that slaveholders should not […]

›