Latest news with #FreedomCenter
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
New Freedom Center exhibit marks something that hasn't been done in 15 years. Take a look
Cincinnati's regional significance in the Underground Railroad will be on full display in a new permanent museum exhibit. The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is opening the "In This Place" gallery – its first new permanent exhibit in 15 years. "In This Place" joined the Freedom Center's first floor exhibits starting May 23, offering visitors an immersive glimpse into the significance of the museum's downtown Cincinnati location along the Ohio River. There, slaves seeking freedom through the Underground Railroad took their first steps as free individuals, migrating from the slave plantations in the South to the free states of the North. The exhibit was open exclusively this weekend but will officially open Juneteenth, June 19. Museum visitors can expect a gallery, artifacts, historic photos and footage and an interactive table showcasing the currents of the Ohio River. 'The story of the Freedom Center is rooted in this power of place and the legacy of the land we stand on,' Woodrow Keown, Jr., president and COO of the Freedom Center, said in a press release. 'This new gallery will serve as an important introduction to the Freedom Center, our region's history and the stories guests encounter as they journey through our museum.' The introduction of "In this Place" arrives amid remodeling happening at the center as existing exhibits are updated and new experiences are launched. Access to "In This Place" is included in general admission for the Freedom Center, starting June 19, which starts at $11.50 for kids ages 3-12 and $16.50 for adults. Tickets can be purchased online at The Freedom Center is located at 50 East Freedom Way in downtown Cincinnati. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Freedom Center adds permanent exhibit for first time in 15 years
Express Tribune
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
David Horowitz, conservative commentator famous for anti-Muslim views, dies at 86
Listen to article David Horowitz, a conservative commentator and founder of the David Horowitz Freedom Center who spent decades promoting anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian rhetoric, died Tuesday at age 86 after a long battle with cancer. Though once a Marxist in his youth, Horowitz became better known in his later years for what critics widely condemned as Islamophobic activism, incendiary writings, and a central role in pushing far-right ideological narratives across college campuses and media platforms. Horowitz's Freedom Center, originally established to combat what he described as 'leftist indoctrination,' evolved into a hub for conspiracy-driven, anti-Muslim content. The Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled the organization an 'anti-Muslim' hate group, citing its persistent campaigns against Muslim student organizations and its propagation of discredited claims about Islamic law infiltrating the U.S. legal system. One of Horowitz's most controversial initiatives was his 'Islamofascism Awareness Week,' which he promoted on college campuses, warning students of what he alleged was a jihadist threat from Muslim student groups like Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). Civil rights organisations, Muslim advocacy groups, and university communities roundly rejected the campaign as fear-mongering and hate speech. He was also an outspoken opponent of Palestinian rights, frequently describing pro-Palestinian activists as apologists for terrorism and openly opposing any political recognition of Palestinian grievances. His center's publications often vilified Palestinian advocacy and dismissed critiques of Israeli state violence as anti-Semitic. Over the years, Horowitz was a polarising figure, receiving sharp criticism from academics, civil rights groups, and interfaith coalitions for contributing to what many viewed as a climate of rising Islamophobia in the US. His rhetoric was cited as part of a broader effort to mainstream anti-Muslim sentiment in conservative politics, particularly during the post-9/11 era. Despite this, Horowitz remained an influential figure in far-right circles, penning multiple books and endorsing Donald Trump, who he spoke with from his hospital bed, according to his son Benjamin Horowitz. Trump, the family said, was eager to speak with him during a hospital visit, a testament to Horowitz's ongoing influence among Republican elites. Horowitz's legacy is one marked by deep division. While supporters praised his commitment to opposing what he saw as leftist extremism, his critics argue he spent his later life fueling bigotry under the guise of free speech. He is survived by his wife April Mullvain, children Benjamin, Jonathan, and Anne. His daughter Sarah Rose died in 2008.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Nobel Prize-winning author among recipients of Freedom Center's highest honor for 2025
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center announced the 2025 honorees of its International Freedom Conductor Awards, which, in past years, recognized several celebrities, politicians and activists, including Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela and George Clooney. The Freedom Center announced Wednesday that it will present its highest honor to the following modern-day freedom heroes and equity advocates: Opal Lee, the grandmother of Juneteenth. Lonnie G. Bunch III, the first African American secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Toni Morrison, Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize-winning author. *posthumously Isabel Wilkerson, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and best-selling author. According to a press release, the International Freedom Conductor Award recognizes the "contributions of contemporary individuals who, by their actions and personal examples, reflect the spirit and courageous actions of conductors on the historic Underground Railroad, the nation's original social justice movement." The Freedom Center's International Freedom Conductor Awards will be presented during a special honors program, presented by Procter & Gamble, on May 24 at the Aronoff Center. The program, which coincides with the Freedom Center's 30th anniversary, will also feature live musical performances and reflections from award honorees. Other past recipients of the award include Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former President George H.W. Bush and former President Bill Clinton. 'Our International Freedom Conductors remind us that we are all worthy of being torchbearers and we must all answer the call to lead through the darkness, moving ever closer to the brilliant light of freedom," Woodrow Keown, Jr., president and COO of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, said in a statement. Tickets for the 2025 International Freedom Conductor Awards go on sale Friday, April 11. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Toni Morrison, others honored by Underground Railroad Freedom Center
New York Times
29-03-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
A Novel That Offers a Chilling Peek Into U.S. Intelligence
Rav Grewal-Kök's intriguing novel seems intent on unsettling us from its opening pages, with coolly precise prose that sneaks nimbly around the periphery of its characters' darkest thoughts and actions. In that sense, you might say that this accomplished debut, 'The Snares,' has adopted the techniques of the world it depicts — a realm of shadowy intelligence dominions where even the deadliest actions are carried out with calm detachment. We view this world largely through the eyes of Neel Chima, who, as the son of Punjabi Sikh immigrants, has never felt fully accepted by America even after graduating from an Ivy, serving as a naval officer, marrying a patrician young woman from the Beltway suburbs, and becoming a deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice. As a federal prosecutor, he catches the attention of two mysterious schemers deep within the C.I.A., who see in Neel a bright young man with yearnings and vulnerabilities that might be leveraged to make him do their bidding, even when their plans go beyond the usual moral and legal boundaries of clandestine service. They engineer his hiring as a deputy director of the Freedom Center, which, with its newness, vague powers and bunkerlike headquarters in Northern Virginia, feels like a fictional version of the National Counterterrorism Center, an agency created in 2004. The book is set about seven years after 9/11, in the final months of the George W. Bush administration and the first term of President Barack Obama, who, in attempting to establish his toughness against foreign adversaries, liberally employed some of the deadliest tools at his disposal, especially drones. At the Freedom Center, Neel is expected to assess and identify worthy targets for those strikes. His sponsors' stated goal for Neel — to build the Freedom Center's influence with the White House by orchestrating high-value killings — comes with its own emotional costs, which weigh heavily on him from the beginning. But it is their enlistment of Neel in even more sensitive plans — involving targets on U.S. soil — that alerts him to the depths of the morass he has entered, especially after they entrap him with a compromising event designed to keep him more firmly under their thumb. In chronicling Neel's descent, Grewal-Kök offers us vivid glimpses into one room after another of push-button remote warriors, not just the trailers in the Nevada desert where crews pilot drones thousands of miles away, but also the cavernous operations chambers of the Freedom Center, where Neel's commands play out on video screens with horrifying results. Richer still is the author's depiction of rival agencies as they compete for influence, at war with one another as bitterly as with their enemies abroad. Grewal-Kök's icily clean prose is one of the novel's greatest strengths, yet also its most off-putting feature. While delivering the necessary chill with such precision, at times he holds us at arm's length from his characters. Neel often does the same with everyone in his orbit, including his wife and children, and only heightens this distancing effect. Some of the book's most oddly intimate scenes occur when Neel encounters other dark-skinned players within his world of secrets. In those moments, a code seems to arise organically between them, allowing them to finally speak freely of the hurdles and barriers they have faced since birth. The ending, arising with a jarring suddenness, feels like a bit of a puzzle — either a hapless stab at redemption or a surrender posing as resistance. But the chill, at least, is finally gone.
