Latest news with #U.S.CivilWar
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
As Harvard fights Trump admin in court, professors are quietly dropping courses
Jules Riegel, a lecturer in History and Literature, planned to teach a course in the fall at Harvard University on global transgender history. Now they are opting out of teaching the course due to fears of content-based retaliation and fears for their students' safety and as an openly transgender individual, according to a Monday court filing. 'I have had to reevaluate how I can safely teach courses on topics including global transgender history, World War II and the Holocaust,' Riegel said. Riegels' decision comes at a time when Harvard University says it is fighting in federal court to protect its academic freedom, aiming to push back billions of dollars in funding cuts executed by the federal government. The Harvard faculty chapter of the American Association of University Professors is also suing the federal government in a separate lawsuit. Riegel's commentary is included in court documents on the case. Both Harvard and the association submitted motions for summary judgment on Monday. As a non-tenure-track faculty member, Riegel said they are worried the Trump administration's goal of 'reducing the power held by students and untenured faculty,' as stated in an April 11 letter. They are concerned about having 'even less control around my curriculum, such as hindering my ability to determine my own course content, or being forced to teach content with which I disagree,' they said. 'I am fearful for the safety of my students, especially international students or students with immigrant backgrounds, including their ability to engage with critical scholarship around the Holocaust and transgender history,' Riegel said. 'Because of the administration's actions, I could not in good conscience recommend that doctoral applicants attend Harvard right now,' they said. Riegel isn't alone in altering course plans. Read more: Harvard foreign students feel like 'poker chips,' consider transfer after Trump attacks An anonymous faculty member in the court filing also changed their teaching plans for next semester due to fears of harassment. The professor, a member of the faculty of arts and sciences, planned to teach a course addressing the lead-up to the U.S. Civil War, according to a court filing from Harvard professor Kirsten Weld. However, they felt like the topic would be considered a part of diversity, equity and inclusion programing due to its focus on slavery, settler colonialism, Indian removal and the U.S.-Mexico War. The professor was concerned that they would face false accusations under Title VI — which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin — since the course would explore white supremacy in American history. They were also nervous that, because they had already experienced public targeting and harassment at Harvard due to being in support of pro-Palestine student protesters, greater emphasis could fall on them. For other Harvard professors, canceling courses isn't an option. One anonymous faculty member, who has been working at the medical school and has decades of clinical expertise, said they will be working outside of the U.S. next year and plan to eventually leave the country 'because they do not feel comfortable being at Harvard anymore.' The faculty member said their pro-Palestine advocacy and opinions make them a target at Harvard, according to the court filing. Harvard researchers are also being discouraged from publishing in scholarly and public-facing materials on topics opposed by the federal government, according to Weld's court filing. Since the attacks against Harvard, the American Association of University Professors has had to prioritize training on digital surveillance and information security and a Know Your Rights workshop, using up valuable resources for the organization. They also have had to hold twice as many meetings with members as they typically do to help navigate the Trump administration's actions, according to the court filing. Clark University to lay off up to 30% of faculty amid enrollment woes 'Incredibly ironic': Trump antisemitism effort may force out Harvard's Israeli Jews MIT bans class president who gave pro-Palestine speech from commencement Why the fight over foreign students at Harvard has some US students leaving, too Harvard affinity group graduations held off campus amid 'capitulation' to Trump Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Okla. Historical Society hosts ‘Juneteenth' celebration June 18
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – The Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) is preparing to celebrate Juneteenth with a program free to the public on Tuesday, June 18. Juneteenth is the celebration of emancipation following the U.S. Civil War. OHS says the event, titled '2024 Juneteenth: Honor, Reflect, and Celebrate!,' is set to educate the public about the history of Juneteenth with attendees enjoying a book signing, live performances and discussions featuring the following: Author Archietta Burch James will sign copies of her book Francis Clinton: A Buffalo Soldier American Hero Francis Clinton is James' great-grandfather, one of the original Buffalo Soldiers Dr. Raushan Ashanti-Alexander, assistant principal at Douglass High School in Oklahoma City Shirley Nero, a member of the OHS Board of Directors and current president of the Friends of the OHS Multicultural Office Board of Directors Stitt signs bill limiting Oklahomans' access to support ballot initiative petitions DETAILS: Location: Oklahoma History Center Date: June 18 Time: 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. No registration is required. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hamilton Spectator
20-05-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
Ona Mae Allen was first Black nurse at Hamilton General Hospital
Ona Mae Allen was a trailblazer and a beloved member of Stewart Memorial Church, built by runaway slaves before the U.S. Civil War. Allen — who died April 17 at age 99, just shy of her 100th birthday — made history when she became the first Black nurse in Hamilton in 1952. She worked at Hamilton General Hospital and was known as a 'floater,' meaning she moved between different departments and wards. She became an institution at HGH — when she retired in 1989, the hospital threw a huge retirement party for her, inviting everyone who worked at the hospital to come by. Ontario Lt-Gov. Lincoln Alexander, Canada's first Black MP and cabinet minister, dropped by with his wife, Yvonne. 'She was just a lovely lady,' said Mary Whitfield, her longtime friend and retired nurse. 'She had a great face. You knew she was on your floor because as she was going down the corridor, she was singing a hymn.' Allen did face bouts of discrimination throughout her life. A descendant of slaves, she endured not being allowed into restaurants or dances when she was growing up. After she became a nurse, she told The Spec in 1999, 'I had patients say 'Keep your Black hands off me' — but there were far more of the other kind of people who would accept you.' Ona Mae Allen in her 1951 graduation photo from the Public General Hospital Nursing Class. She believed her past helped her deal with discrimination. It 'made a strong person of me. I never let it hold me down.' Allen was proud of what she accomplished and the barriers she knocked down for Black health-care workers who came after her. 'We had to pave the sidewalks for them to walk on,' she told The Spec in 2007. 'I didn't want them to feel trampled on because I knew what that meant.' Whitfield, who worked in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), said she and Allen became closer friends after Allen retired. Each January, she would get together for dinner with Allen and her husband Alfonso to mark his and Whitfield's birthdays. 'She never missed calling me and wishing me a happy birthday, even this year, her 99th year,' said Whitfield, recalling Allen always hosted a party at her Burlington home each August to mark her own birthday. Allen was a parishioner at Stewart Memorial on John Street North for decades and was treated like royalty. She sang in the choir and served on the stewardship committee. She was also a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and received a lifetime membership from the fraternal organization in 2018. On social media, colleague Jeannie Hope said Allen was a pleasure to be around. 'Her smiling face would always cheer everyone whenever she arrived on your ward,' she said. 'You knew it would be a good day.' Carol Fulthorpe said, 'Ona Mae guided us through our student years with kindness and humour. (She's) treasured by all who knew her.' Ona Mae Morris was born Aug. 7, 1925, and grew up on a farm outside North Buxton, near Chatham. It was a settlement built by slaves who arrived in Canada on the Underground Railroad. Allen's great-great-great-grandfather came to Canada through Fort Erie and her great-great-great grandmother arrived through Windsor. She graduated from a business college in Chatham, but couldn't land a job. She worked in a tomato canning plant. She made her way to Hamilton and Whitfield said she worked as an aide at the former Mountain Sanatorium. She said Dr. John Holbrook, who developed and built the sanatorium, recognized her abilities and encouraged her to become a nurse. Allen, Cora Prince and Marion Johnson were the first Black women to graduate from the Public General Hospital Nursing Class in 1951. Allen is survived by her niece, Trinia Griffith Williams, and nephews, Stacy and Curtis Griffith. She was predeceased by her son, Benjamin Paul, and her husband, Alfonso Jesse.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
White House's Stephen Miller: ‘We are actively looking at' suspending habeas corpus
In recent months, the radicalism of the Trump administration's anti-immigration agenda has come into focus, leaving many to wonder just how much further the Republican White House is prepared to go. It was against this backdrop that CNBC reported: White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller said Friday that the Trump administration is 'actively looking at' suspending habeas corpus, the right to challenge the legality of a person's detention by the government. Miller's comment came in response to a White House reporter who asked about President Donald Trump entertaining the idea of suspending the writ of habeas corpus to deal with the problem of illegal immigration into the United States. 'The Constitution is clear — and that, of course, is the supreme law of the land — that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in time of invasion,' the presidential adviser said. 'So, that's an option we're actively looking at.' As part of the same comments, Miller went on to say that the White House's actions will be guided by whether federal courts 'do the right thing or not.' In other words, if Miller and his colleagues are satisfied that judges are ruling in ways that satisfy the White House, then everything will be fine. If judges fail to make Team Trump happy, then Miller and his cohorts are 'actively looking at' alternative ideas, such as suspending the writ of habeas corpus. There are legal experts who can speak to this with greater authority than I can, but the basic idea behind habeas corpus is that people who are taken into custody by the government have a legal right to challenge their detention. To suspend habeas — something that happened during the U.S. Civil War, for example — is to allow the government to lock people up without charges and without the ability to contest incarceration. This, according to Miller, is a point of discussion in the White House. When I spoke about this to my colleague Lisa Rubin, an MSNBC legal correspondent and a former litigator, she described Miller's idea as 'truly crazy,' adding, 'Miller isn't proposing suspending a statutory right; rather, what he's talking about is triggering a specific constitutional provision, namely the Suspension Clause of Article I of the Constitution. That clause provides 'The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.'' Steve Vladeck, a Georgetown University law professor, similarly explained that the Constitution's Suspension Clause 'doesn't allow the President to unilaterally suspend habeas, especially when Congress is in session; applies only to cases of invasion or rebellion (this is quite clearly neither); and even then applies only 'when the public safety may require it.' (It doesn't.)' This is precisely why it was relevant throughout the 2024 campaign that Donald Trump and his allies would reference the word 'invasion' as part of their anti-immigration pitch. Time will tell whether the president is seriously prepared to pursue such an extreme approach, but that this conversation is even underway is a startling reminder of just how far the United States has gone down a radical path. This article was originally published on
Days of Palestine
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Days of Palestine
Israel's Genocide Killed 213 Journalists, Making Gaza Deadliest Place for Media
DayofPal– At least 213 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the start of Israel's genocide on Gaza in October 2023, according to Gaza's Government Media Office, making it the deadliest war for media professionals in modern history. The latest victim, journalist Nour Abdu, was killed Wednesday while reporting on an Israeli airstrike targeting the Al-Karama school in Gaza City's Tuffah neighborhood. The school, which had been sheltering displaced families, was hit twice in quick succession, with the second strike reportedly occurring as civilians attempted to retrieve the dead and wounded from the first blast. In a statement condemning the killing, the Government Media Office said: 'We strongly denounce the targeting, killing, and assassination of Palestinian journalists by the Israeli occupation. We call on the International Federation of Journalists, the Federation of Arab Journalists, and all global press bodies to condemn these systematic crimes against Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip.' The ongoing war has drawn international condemnation over its devastating toll on journalists. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) recently labeled Palestine the 'most dangerous place in the world for journalists' in its 2025 World Press Freedom Index. The organization reported that nearly 200 media workers have been killed since the war began, at least 42 of them while actively reporting in the field. 'Trapped in the enclave, journalists in Gaza have no shelter and lack basic necessities, including food and water,' RSF said. It also highlighted ongoing threats against journalists in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces and settlers have reportedly carried out a wave of arrests and attacks since October 7, 2023. The Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs described the situation as 'the worst ever conflict for journalists,' in its recent report titled 'News Graveyards: How Dangers to War Reporters Endanger the World.' According to the institute, the number of journalists killed in Gaza has surpassed the combined media fatalities of major war including the U.S. Civil War, both World Wars, the Vietnam and Korean Wars, the wars in the Balkans, and the post-9/11 war in Afghanistan. The report found that in 2023, a journalist or media worker was killed every four days, with that frequency rising to one every three days in 2024. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has documented a record number of journalist deaths in 2024, with Israel responsible for over two-thirds. At least 85 journalists were killed by Israeli forces last year, 82 of them Palestinian. CPJ also criticized Israel for obstructing investigations into the killings and failing to hold its military accountable. Jodie Ginsberg, CPJ's president, said, 'The war in Gaza is unprecedented in its impact on journalists and marks a major erosion of international norms meant to protect reporters in conflict zones.' Echoing these concerns, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) called 2024 'one of the worst years' for journalists and condemned the killings as a 'massacre taking place in Palestine before the eyes of the entire world.' The Center for Protecting Palestinian Journalists (PJPS) has also accused Israel of committing widespread human rights violations by targeting members of the press, saying the killings are part of an effort to silence the Palestinian narrative. Despite the mounting toll, Palestinian journalists continue to report from the ground amid the destruction, determined to bear witness to a war that has claimed the lives of so many of their colleagues. Shortlink for this post:
