Our New Home

Hi folks,

Our Common Concern now has an exciting new home at ourcommonconcern.wordpress.com, which will allow greater functionality and hopefully greater readership.

Please join us in the coming weeks and months at WordPress. See you there!

Best -
Jared

Myanmar pressed to release Suu Kyi

A brief update on one of our earlier concerns: the unjust imprisonment of the democratically elected opposition leader in Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi has been under house arrest since 2003 by the military regime in power.

This week, an official from the U.S. State Department has again pressed for her release, unfortunately, it seems, to no avail.

And so the movement to release this symbol of human rights and courage continues.

An Easy Way to Save Darfur

Good news: the Sudanese government has finally agreed to a hybrid United Nations / African Union peace-keeping force of over 17,000 troops to patrol Darfur and curb the continuing violence. For more, go here.

Also, an easy way to Save Darfur: Ask U.S. Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), the Chair of the Senate Banking Committee, to bring the Sudan Divestment Authorization Act to the Senate floor for a vote. The Act would ensure that states divest from any companies with "a qualifying business relationship with Sudan", and would protect the 15 states that have already done so.

Take 1 minute and call Senator Dodd at (202) 224-2823. Actually, take 30 seconds, because that's all you'll need.

For the text of the bill, go here.

Our Own Prejudice, Part II

On behalf of Reeba Monachan, thanks to everyone for taking the time to read this week's posts on prejudices, and sorry for the delay in getting Part II to you. Hopefully, we have all been reminded that the first step for change must come from within. Thank you, Reeba, for your hard work!

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Following up on last week’s Concern I happened to come across this article by a nationally syndicated Harvard grad, Ruben Navarrette Jr.

For more on hate crime statistics, see the sidebar or go to the FBI website here.

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Being a fairly religious person, for Part II of “Our Own Prejudice” I’ve decided to compile a few verses from many of the major religious texts affirming my belief that above all “God is love.”

34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

John 13:34-35


Do not judge or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged and with the measure you use it will be measured you.

Matthew 7:1-2


18 "'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.'"

Leviticus 19:18

O humankind! We created you from a single [pair] of a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise each other)…T.Q. Sura 49, The Inner Apartments, Ayaa 13.


When you judge, between people, judge with justice: verily how excellent is the teaching which Allah giveth you! T.Q., Sura 4, The Women, Ayaa 58.

O ye who believe! Stand out firmly for Allah, as witnesses to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to piety… T.Q. Sura 5, The Table Spread, Ayaa 8.

"Tolerance is a virtue that is required no matter how one lives, yet its virtues are certainly greater when based on the bigger picture of life described in the sacred literature…The beginning of realizing and living in this bigger picture beyond the duality of sense perception is tolerance." - Bhagavad-Gita: Its Feeling and Philosophy, p. 46

Our Thirteenth Concern: Our Own Prejudice

This week, guest blogger Reeba Monachan asks us to reflect on our inner prejudices -- and to realize those that prevent us from fully acknowledging each other's humanity. Be sure to read her post, take action, and look for an update on Wednesday 5/2.

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Our Own Prejudice

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

- Edmund Burke

Prejudice is all around us. It is involved in most of the topics we’ve discussed, in one form or another, but how often do we sit back and sit astounded by the prejudice around the world? This blog looks at the prejudice in our society and in our culture and more surprisingly in our own home.

There are multiple angles to look at societal, and inner prejudice. The first is through race:

Are these ideas ingrained in us everyday? After Hurricane Katrina, two photos were printed in two different AP news sources. They both displayed individuals wading in water chest-high carrying food items after the destruction caused by the storm. The photo with a young African-American was captioned “looting”, while a similar photo cited two Caucasian individuals in the same deep, murky water “finding” the goods. Check out the pictures of this discrepancy on the side panel.

Maybe these ideas are ingrained into us at a much younger stage, before we are even able to really comprehend news media. Last year, Kiri Davis recreated a 1940s experiment concerning young girl’s images of themselves. Ms. Davis asked these girls to choose the “good” doll and the “bad” doll between a black and white barbie, identical in every other way, but race. 15 of the 21 girls in the study (taken last year) chose the black doll as the bad one.

The video Ms. Davis produced was reposted on youtube.com and can be found here

Check out an interesting article from Time Magazine regarding the immigration debate. Would Americans be concerned with immigration if illegals were coming in from Canada, Australia or England? Are we just afraid of being “over-run by darker skinned people”?

Race is only one of our subconscious prejudices that we may be condoning. I don’t believe that we were born to hate. We are taught our manners, ideas, and opinions by society, by our cultures, and by the individuals with whom we surround ourselves.

Subconsciously, it's there. It is our job to change.

Because this topic is less tangible than others I don’t have statistics or a “top ten list” of how to be a better person. However, the mission of “Our Common Concern” is to “leave the world a better place than we found it.” This is just the first step.

Take Action!

This week, conquer your own inner prejudice. Tell someone they’re beautiful. Influence children in the right way. Think about and rethink your views on certain issues and why you have these views. Donate to organizations and charities established to fight injustice, such as the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ).

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”

-Gandhi

For more information on this topic and ways people are closing these gaps, try these websites.

- Racial Disparities on the war on drugs

- The National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ)

- The Fight for Your Rights Campaign is geared towards the young MTV crowd, but this page has links to a number of organizations established to fight against various forms of discrimination and to educate those of all ages.

Part III: Burma/Myanmar

To complete his three-part post on the Three Countries You Don't Hear Much About, guest blogger Dan Gilligan takes us to Myanmar, aka Burma.

Dan personally asked that I thank all of you for reading. He noted that while your small actions may not seem like much, "ripples sometimes add up into waves". Which is exactly why we need all of you. Thanks everyone, as always.

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“There exist today as many signs to justify hope as there are to instill fear.”

–Hannah Arendt

Burma or Myanmar, whether you wish to use a colonially imposed name or one imposed by a military junta, is a country we don’t get to hear about much about for a very simple reason: other than North Korea, it is perhaps the most closed off state to the rest of the world. Foreigners -- especially journalists -- are rarely allowed in. What little we do know comes mainly from human rights workers who must sneak into, around, and out of the country illegally. Since its independence from Great Britain, Burma/Myanmar has been marked by internal ethnic struggles. As you may know, this is not uncommon in post-colonial countries where administrative borders of former European powers were imposed on a locality and called a nation. It has, however, given rise to a particularly brutal military government. Forced and child labor as well as human trafficking are common, especially among military ‘officials’. While the military allows a parliament and political parties, they are heavily regulated and their influence is minimal. Further, without an independent judiciary, widespread and summary executions are commonplace in Burma/Myanmar.

Fast Facts:

- 1,300 political prisoners, including 18 members-of-parliament-elect are believed to still be held in Burma/Myanmar.

- While the National League for Democracy won over 60% of the vote and over 80% of parliamentary seats in the 1990 election and the military-backed National Unity Party won less than 2% of the seats, NLD-leader Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest while Senior General Than Shwe remained in power.

- Myanmar in ranked in the top 15 military spenders in the world, while it is ranked 66^th in GDP.

Learn More By Visiting:

- Amnesty International Country Profile

- BBC country profile

Take Action by:

- Contacting the US and UK Ambassadors to the UN in support of their recent draft resolution for the UN Security council to address the Human Rights and political concerns in Burma/Myanmar.

- And as before, contact the Media and your Representatives to raise their concern for our concerns.

In Memoriam

Friends,

In light of the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech, the University has created the "Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund" to support grief counseling, memorials, and more. Give what you can here.

I'll keep this and related links available for the indefinite future on the top of this page as well.

Thanks,
Jared