Levellers

Faith & Social Justice: In the spirit of Richard Overton and the 17th C. Levellers

R. I. P. John Hope Franklin (1915-2009)

The prominent historian John Hope Franklin (1915-2009) passed away today.  He both chronicled and help to make America a more just, less race segregated, nation.  The first African-American historian at a major “white” college (Brooklyn College), the first African-American chair of the history dept. at Duke  University, and first to hold an endowed chair at Duke, Franklin was also the first black president of the American Historical Association.  He was awarded the Medal of Freedom (the highest civilian order given by our government) by Pres. Bill Clinton.  His groundbreaking history textbook From Slavery to Freedom was the first widely used textbook that showed the presence of African-Americans in all of American history–at event after event where the white participants were regularly mentioned in history textbooks and the black participants were not mentioned.

March 25, 2009 Posted by | Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Proud Papa–But Nervous!

Yesterday, I put my 13 year old daughter, Molly, on an airplane bound for France and Spain.  Yes, she will be chaparoned–It’s an educational tour with her Spanish Club and the French Club and, in addition to the teacher, there are 3 other responsible adults.  Yes, she earned most of the money herself, working for over a year to get to this point (although many people in our church essentially overpaid her for odd jobs).  Yes, I am excited for her.

But, still, I am nervous.  A 13 year old girl flying without family to Europe? What was I thinking? And she’s tall, which makes her look older than she  is and that invites trouble.  ARRGH! She won’t be back until 04 April.

Molly wants to work for the United Nations, so I am glad she is getting a stamp on her passport long before I did. Sure,  I changed my mind repeatedly on what I wanted to do and she may, too, but I am proud to have the kind of kid who even THINKS about working for peace, human rights, development, etc by dedicating herself to global public service.  She has been in the Model UN and in the mock KY Legislature–all in Middle School. 

Next year, she starts high school. Because of her 4.0 GPA, high test scores, teacher recommendations, and after school public service,  she has won admission to the International  Baccalaureate program at Atherton High School, a magnet program.  The IB program (which kicks in the last 2 years of high school, building on Advanced Placement classes in Frosh and Sophomore years) is equivalent to two years of college work and is recognized by university programs all over the world.  There are only 15 high schools nationwide which offer it.  I know the trip to France (Versailles and Paris) and Spain (Madrid and Barcelona) will contribute greatly to her education and confidence.

But I’m still nervous.

March 25, 2009 Posted by | family | 6 Comments

New Hampshire House Repeals Death Penalty

This just in, the New Hampshire House of Representatives has just voted to repeal the death penalty in New Hampshire.  The legislation now goes to the NH Senate.  Gov.  John Lynch (D) has promised to veto the legislation if it reaches his desk!  NH citizens who disagree with this promise and want the death penalty repealed can send Gov. Lynch a message here.

This has happened in New Hampshire before.  In the 1990s, NH voted to repeal the death penalty and then-Gov. (now Sen.) Jeane Shaheen (D-NH) vetoed it.  Clearly NH people and legislators are not in agreement with their governors, even when the latter are Democrats!  But the ’90s was a time when public support for capital punishment (and the number of executions) was reaching all time highs.  Since 2000, the number of executions has plummeted nationwide (though still remaining high in Texas, Virginia, and Florida) and public support for capital punishment has also decreased–though not as fast or thoroughly as abolitionists like myself would want.

NH has not actually executed anyone for the last 50 years.  In fact, of the 35 U.S. states who have the death penalty on the books, the only two which have carried out ZERO executions since 1976 (the year that the Supreme Court said, in Gregg v. Georgia , that the death penalty could be Constitutional if carried out in a way that was neither arbitrary nor discriminatory) are New Hampshire and Kansas.  (KS has just buried in committee for another year a bill that would repeal its death penalty.)

Will NH follow New  Mexico and New Jersey and become the 3rd U.S. state to repeal the death penalty since 1976? Or will that belong to one of the other states considering such repeal this year like Colorado? Will 2009 be a “tipping point year” for the movement to abolish the death penalty in the U.S.? Stay tuned. (And, as promised, in April I will write a series of blog posts making the case for abolishing the death penalty–and invite debate from the other side.)

March 25, 2009 Posted by | death penalty | 1 Comment

   

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