This article was originally published by Fair Observer on February 12, 2013. A combination of advanced technology, a 24 hour media cycle, and troubled, alienated youth has splashed the unthinkable too frequently across our minds’ eye. We’re becoming no strangers to eruptions of fear in our youngsters, to shadowy threats in fleeting moments of our common patterns of life. We are not … Read More
The Eye, the Heart & the Roots of American Activist Journalism
This article was originally published by Fair Observer on January 31, 2013. Amy Edelstein reflects on the influence of the Transcendentalist Margaret Fuller (1810-1850) In the digital age, where anyone with a smartphone, tablet, PDA, twitter feed or wordpress account can become a journalist, it’s hard to imagine a time that marked the advent of what was to become an … Read More
Creating Human Security in an Insecure World: Mary Robinson
An Interview with Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner of Human Rights (1997-2002); President of Ireland (1990-1997) Originally published by Women’s Review of Books, Wellesley College Mary Robinson may well be the most tough-compassion, pragmatic human rights advocate of recent times. Appearing last December as the key moderator for the State of the World Forum’s Commission on Globalization Meetings in Mexico City, … Read More
Spiritual Activism & Peacebuilding: A Work in Progress
The Legacy of the Belgian Congo and the Story of Mulegwa Zihindula spokesperson for Pres. Joseph Kabila in 2002 Raised in a village in Eastern Congo. Became a Christian Pastor. Received a Masters Degree in Conflict Transformation at a University in the US. Served as Spokesperson for President Joseph Kabila in … Read More
Stewards of the Planet: Jane Goodall
Amy Edelstein interviews Dr. Jane Goodall Dr. Jane Goodall, primate specialist, UN Ambassador for Peace, and special advisor to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, seemed to be everywhere at the World Summit for Sustainable Development, ever patient and stridently impatient. She glided from event to event, observing with a scientist’s eye, responding with a mystic’s heart, and synthesizing with an … Read More
Calling for More Conscience on a Difficult Issue: Rigoberta Menchu Tum
Amy Edelstein interviews Nobel Laureate Rigoberta Menchu Tum Equally at home with President Jaques Chirac and indigenous peoples from around the world, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Nobel Laureate and activist, stands out for her uncompromising ability to build bridges and bring the issues of the poor and often forgotten peoples of the world forward with strength, dignity, and fortitude. After the … Read More
Transforming the Seeds of Corruption
An interview with Brother Wayne Teasdale “We have a universal responsibility to speak out when we see injustice, oppression, and the abuse of human rights, the rights of the earth, and other species,” writes an impassioned Brother Wayne Teasdale in his book The Mystic Heart. “Personally, I find the silence [on the crisis in Tibet] disturbing and morally indefensible; it … Read More