Humanitarians Shouldn’t Have to Choose Between Crises

But Race, Wealth, and Politics Are Dictating Who ‘Deserves’ to Be Saved

On February 6, two earthquakes struck near the border of Turkey and Syria. Measuring 7.8 and 7.5 on the Richter scale, they have, to date, claimed over 50,000 lives.

Those of us who respond to such disasters cannot help but wonder how much bigger the next humanitarian disaster will be, and how we will be able to cope with it.

The sheer number and scale of humanitarian emergencies have increased drastically over the last few years. Conflict, war, climate, and natural disasters are all burgeoning as we speak. But are humanitarian agencies …

by Themrise Khan | March 6, 2023

We Can Tell New Thanksgiving Stories

For Centuries, Indigenous Thinkers Like William Apess Have Urged Americans to Reimagine the National Narrative

by Peter C. Mancall | November 23, 2022

In November 1620 the Mayflower deposited about 100 Pilgrims at the Wampanoag community of Patuxet, which the newcomers renamed New Plymouth. A year later, the English and Wampanoags enjoyed a …

Surfing the Tides of History in Northern Chumash Land

White Men Have Long Dominated the Sport I Love—But the Status Quo Isn’t Set in Stone

by Maya Weeks | August 9, 2022

For health reasons I have to stay out of the water for the next couple weeks so I am dreaming about surfing, thinking about surfing, writing about surfing, doing everything …

The ‘Ferociously Contested’ Story of How Blackness Became a Legal Identity

In Cuba, Virginia, and Louisiana, Colonial Laws Defining ‘Freedom’ Still Affected the Status of Citizens Centuries Later

by Ariela J. Gross and Alejandro de la Fuente | April 23, 2020

How did Africans become “blacks” in the Americas?

Those who were forced into the ships of the infamous slave trade probably thought of themselves using ethnic and territorial terms that …

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How Native American Artists Are Claiming the Future

Across the Arts, Indigenous Creators Are Drawing From the Past to Imagine Different Paths Forward

by Jackie Mansky | February 28, 2020

Over the last 50 years, futurity has become an important theme among native people and artists, said Harvard historian Philip J. Deloria during a Zócalo event entitled “How Are Native …

How Modern India Was Built on the Legacy of British Institutions

Indians Have Drawn From a Dark Colonial Past to Create a More Liberal and Open Society

by Sir David Gilmour | January 30, 2019

In the years after India’s independence in 1947, Britons tended to congratulate themselves on their legacy to the subcontinent.

Although the empire’s successor states, India and Pakistan, had been born amid …

Colonialism