Return-Path: <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id g8DGHQX26889; Fri, 13 Sep 2002 12:17:27 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 12:17:27 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <78F847BDFA020B41BA9A7E67EDCA873C03A96A@leh-server.leh.org> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Dana Eness" <eness@leh.org> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-POVRACELIT:898] Re: 9/11 Message from Neil Calman X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 8979 Lines: 235 Thank you, Jason, Ujwala, et al for your thoughtful comments these last few days. Very refreshing to know we're not all sleepwalking through these strange days. A few years ago, I wrote a paper called "Remote Control: Literacy in the Digital Age." The paper wasn't very good, but the idea behind it was. The thesis was that by giving ourselves over to the proliferating mainstream media-- tv, radio, online new sources and print media-- we are relinquishing control of our critical thinking skills, our perspectives, and ultimately our lives. This is more true today than it was when I wrote the paper 2 years ago. Americans seem to be having a great deal of difficulty pulling themselves away from TV these days, for many reasons. How differently would 9/11/02 have felt if we as a nation had unplugged ourselves from the mainstream media machine this past week? What if we had just lived and experienced OUR little lives, OUR little days, not as it was filtered and fed to us through CNN and NBC Nightly News? I venture to guess that for most of us, it would have been just another day, not unlike any other day. We are having more and more difficulty experiencing real life without the media spin put on it. For that reason, Bush has had a lot of help from mainstream media in pushing his foreign policy agenda. It's amazing to watch the rhetorical shift in his "Attack Iraq" campaign. Two weeks ago it was a vexing joke. We-- and the media-- were scratching our heads asking "Where did this come from? What about Enron? What about WorldCom?" Today, news on Enron, Haliburton and WorldCom has been buried to make room for articles implying war with Iraq is imminent. Convenient to divert attention from pesky and incriminating domestic issues in an election year. I do not advocate burying our heads in the sand. Rather, I suggest we take control of seeking out in-depth, analytical information from reliable sources rather than just take what's being spoon-fed to us over our morning coffee. One needn't go far to find insightful analysis that would be considered heresy to many within the borders of our red, white and blue fortress and therefore will never show up on the front page of USA Today. We cannot wait for the media industry to become self-regulatory. The public has a voracious appetite for the salacious and the news business is all about keeping America tuned in to sell the advertising to make the buck (see Neil Postman's books _Amusing Ourselves to Death_ and _Technopoly_ for a good insightful read on that subject). Just because something comes to us as "news" doesn't mean it's newsworthy. I recommend checking out http:cursor.org for a good compendium of alternative (including mainstream international) news sources. Any other ideas? Sincerely, Dana *** Dana Eness, Assistant Director PRIME TIME FAMILY READING TIME Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Louisiana Humanities Center/Turners' Hall 938 Lafayette St., Suite 300 New Orleans, LA 70113 1-800-909-7990 ext. 126 (504)-523-4352 ext. 126 Fax: 504-529-2358 eness@leh.org -----Original Message----- From: Jason Guard [mailto:jasonguard@riseup.net] Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2002 12:04 AM To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [NIFL-POVRACELIT:897] Re: 9/11 Message from Neil Calman I just wanted to echo everything Ujwala Samant had to say. I'm a part time teacher and full time activist. I spent all day today in class talking to my students about what has been missing from our collective national assessment of the highjacker attacks and US response. Everyone agreed that the outpouring has been so over the top and jingoistic (my word for my students' sentiment) as to be disrespectful to the 9/11 victims. My students are dizzied by the whole situation, but the cling to common sense. How is going to war with the entire Arab world (a logical extension of invading Iraq) going to end terrorism? What has W done to make us safer? One student suggested that they'd be willing to let W's unelected status slide if he would just take an IQ test. I spent an hour to two talking about US counter-insurgency in Latin America. We talked about the School of the Americas where Latin American militaries are trained to kill their own people to protect US corporate interests. We didn't come to any conclusions. Money has corrupted our definition of democracy. Entire religions can be slated for extermination to protect American cash- flow. It's unholy. It's shortsighted. And it's no kind of world we want to push our young people out into. How do you swim in a sea of sharks? I salute any Arab person who is able to weather this era of fashionable ignorance. Few are able to come forward and question like Ujwala Samant. America is all for diversity and welcomes Arabs with open arms as long as they sit quiet and don't offer up any of the missing pieces to this 9/11 puzzel. A whole year and no wholistic response. It is our job to build a nobler consensus. Onwards. Teach the children well, Jason Guard ps: read www.counterpunch.org Quoting Ujwala Samant <usamant@comcast.net>: > Dear Gail, > > I try and keep my political opinions to myself since September 11th for > obvious reasons. But your article, especially the following paragraphs made > me sit up and wonder when nations will really learn the true meaning of > compassion, from what has happened to them. All we hear is the rhetoric of > revenge, of "How dare they do this to us!" rather than wondering what it > means to be born in nations where people live in civil war their entire > lives and forcing the government to take a different tack, or actually > wondering what past policies have done to the reputation of a nation once so > admired for it's caring. When will reflection and accountability be demanded > of the elected (or selected as the case may be) officials? > > >>But the underlying story is not about buildings and planes, nor even about > the > 2801 people who died as a result of the tragedy of 9-11, but a story about > bigotry and the hatred that people around the world breed into their > children, > and pass from generation to generation. I pray that today, in our > remembrances > of this tragic day, that we will dedicate ourselves to examining our own > prejudices and renew our commitment to teaching our children and friends > that > in the entire history of the planet, nothing good has ever come from a war > over > religious, economic or racial biases which divide us.<< > > The Chileans remember this date as the date of the coup when Allende was > assassinated. Does anyone remember the 2nd of December when the Bhopal > industrial accident happened and that the CEO of this company remains > golfing in sunny Florida? Does anybody remember the bloody birth of > Bangladesh? Robert Fisk's article in today's Independent cites a number of > dates in September where bloodbaths have happened. And we have all forgotten > or never even known of them. I am so weary of dates being remembered and > memorials being built, with no action being taken to show a real sense of > change or compassion, or a genuine expression of concern that the world > needs to be different for our children and grandchildren. We see this > insidious hatred everywhere we look: India, America, France, Pakistan, > Israel, Palestine, Afghanistan, East Timor, Iraq, Australia..... to remember > and not change for peace is not a viable option any more. My son asked me > after Sept 11th, if it was bad to be an Arab. I asked him why he wanted to > know that. He told me he had been asked if he was Arab, and not in a nice > way. He has not yet told me who asked him that, just that he was told it was > bad to be one. > > >>We seem to be on the verge of initiating a new war - one against Iran - > not the > land and buildings of that country, but the people of that country. As > health > care providers it is particularly tragic to imagine our country inflicting > injury and death on thousands of Iranians while we come to work here, doing > school physicals and check-ups on New Yorkers. The message is clear. We > value > the lives of New Yorkers more than we value the life of an Iranian > family we may > bomb.<< > > I assume the gentleman means Iraq, although Iran is also on Washington's > laundry list, and once again, with very little evidence. Fergal Keane writes > a good article in The Independent on how we need more America in the wars > that matter: against AIDS, the energy struggle, against poverty. As far as > the lives of New Yorkers being more valuable, we just have to look at the > reimbursements made to the Indians who died in Bhopal, to know how that > equation works out. Bush was asked by an Indian journalist, after September > 11th, whether he felt that an American life was more valuable than an Indian > one, and he chose not to answer that. > > regards > Ujwala Samant > > > >
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Jan 17 2003 - 14:46:10 EST