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Are You Aware? Coming to an Understanding
This is part I in our Awareness Wednesday series on disability. Read the other posts in the series here. A few weeks ago my son returned from his mission in Argentina due to the coronavirus. While he waits for reassignment, we have enjoyed having him home and hearing about his experiences. He was in Argentina for six months. It was just enough time to learn Spanish and become moderately fluent. He spoke about how homesick he was throughout those first weeks and months. It was incredibly hard to not understand the language. He is a smart kid who is very gifted with words. The inability to share his thoughts and participate…
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MWEG Member Op-Ed :: “Congress Does Not ‘CARE’ About My American Family”
“Intentionally disqualifying millions of Americans from much-needed stimulus funds during this unprecedented health crisis is both unnecessary and cruel. It also further contributes to the demonization of immigration and labeling of immigrants—and their citizen family members—as unworthy.” MWEG member Dr. Jane Lilly López will not receive the stimulus funds due to her, despite the fact that she is a U.S. citizen who paid thousands in taxes in 2019. Read her op-ed to learn more about the American families who are being excluded from the “CARES” relief bill. “Congress Does Not ‘Care’ About My American Family” • April 24, 2020 • The Appeal
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Are You Aware? Homefront — In Our Response Lies Our Growth and Our Freedom
This is part II in our “battlefronts” Awareness Wednesday series. Read the other posts in the series here. According to Maslow, our three most important needs are physical need, for things such as air, food, and water; need for safety, such as feeling safe from danger, pain, or an uncertain future; and love and/or belonging, which includes the need to bond, feel loved, and have strong attachments with others. All these important needs are challenged by our present circumstances, as we each fight our individual battles on the homefront to help contain this coronavirus. In this war, many of the most important contributions will be made on the homefront. Each of…
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Awareness Wednesday :: Xenophobia, Part IV — Let Them Worship
We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may (Articles of Faith 1:11). India is a secular federal republic of more than 1.3 billion people, governed by a democratic parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual, and multi-ethnic society. About 80% of the population is Hindu. Nearly 15% are Muslim. Jawaharlal Nehru was the first prime minister of the Republic of India. He was committed to the idea of India being a secular nation. In 1950, when the Republic was first formed, perhaps some felt they had…
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Awareness Wednesday :: Xenophobia, Part III — Never Again
January 2020 marked the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the largest extermination and concentration camp run by the Nazis. It is the place where about 1.1 million Jewish people were murdered; others were used as slave labor. As the second World War ended in 1945, the Allied soldiers found stacks of naked corpses in Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration camps. The few survivors were emaciated prisoners that looked more like skeletons than human beings. At the time of liberation, the prisoners had no food, no fuel, and no water. The Holocaust is one of the worst atrocities of humankind. It is a terrible reminder of our potential for evil. Sadly, the Holocaust was…
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Awareness Wednesday :: Xenophobia, Part II — Symptom of a Virus
The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names. — Chinese Proverb In the closing months of 2019, a novel coronavirus jumped from animals to humans and began spinning a web of infection, starting with the people of China and spreading with staggering speed worldwide. The virus, and its potentially deadly symptoms, are not the only thing being disseminated on a global scale. Xenophobia, particularly toward those of Asian descent, has seen a dramatic rise in the ensuing months, both here in the United States and around the world. A young woman from Brooklyn reported that while visiting Washington D.C., a man started making faces at her on the metro. She…
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Awareness Wednesday :: Xenophobia, Part I — Compassionate Eyes
“But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves…” (Luke 10: 29–30). What follows is a beautiful and compelling parable. A Jewish man, robbed and beaten, his bloody and broken body left helplessly on the side of the road. Two men pass him, actually crossing the road to avoid close contact with the destitute figure. A certain Samaritan notices the injured Jew, and he stops. Two men look at one another. One broken, one whole. Two men trained and taught to despise each other and everything they represent —…
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Black History Month :: 12 Book Recommendations from MWEG Members
Looking for book recommendations to read during Black History Month (and beyond)? Our MWEG members weighed in, and we have a mile-long list of books and authors to help you celebrate black excellence. We’re sharing a sampling of the most recommended books here.
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Awareness Wednesday :: Black History Month — Not-So-Fair Housing
Homeownership is the main way most American families build wealth. As they pay off a mortgage and appreciation builds equity, family wealth is increased. With this wealth, homeowners send their children to college, take care of aging parents, and have the means to take care of themselves when they are elderly. Any equity left over is passed on to their children. According to the 2016 US Census Bureau data, 72% of white people own their homes but only 42% of African-American people own their homes. This gap is the result of issues created when the U.S. government mandated segregation in housing beginning in 1933. Soon after the end of the…
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Awareness Wednesday :: Black History Month — Are You Aware of Labor?
“For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.” Psalm 128:2 America was founded on slavery. Most people in North America prior to 1776 labored and did not reap the benefits. The vast majority of the people in the colonies were African slaves. The economy of the British colonies was dependent on the labor of slaves. In fact, in the Americas there were five times as many Africans as white Europeans. About one million Europeans settled in the Western Hemisphere between 1492 and 1776; 5.5 million Africans were brought here. During the colonial period, the most important crop was…
