#263: Is Freedom White?

Shemar is 12 years old, lives in East Baltimore, loves math, and hates remote learning. That’s because his Internet is spotty, his teacher quit, and his school doesn’t have enough laptops. Most of all, though, despite the hard work and dedication of teachers and school leaders, distance learning is just not as effective as the real thing. In this nuanced article, Alec MacGinnis makes the case that public schools should reopen as soon as possible, or else children will regress in their learning so much that “it will be virtually impossible to come back.” (39 min)

Michael Harriot: “The fantasy that we call the ‘American Dream’ isn’t solely funded by decency, hard work, or American exceptionalism. It comes from theft. Punishing a thief is not justice, it is retribution. For justice to exist, the victim must be made whole and their losses must be repaid. Justice demands restitution, and until there are reparations, there can be no justice. Until there are reparations, anyone who pledges their allegiance to the flag that stands for a country with ‘liberty and justice for all’ is a liar and a thief.” (10 min)

+ California will become the first state to consider reparations for descendants of enslaved people.

If you’ve read this newsletter long enough, you know that I like to follow the pros and cons of the wellness industry. You may also know about my strange fascination with right-wing movements (like QAnon). But did you ever expect these two topics to intersect? Well, with the rise of #SaveTheChildren, all of a sudden Hala Khouri and other health practitioners, who find power in questioning science and the mainstream medical industry, are realizing how yoga, supplements, vaccines, masks, and child trafficking all lead to an overarching international conspiracy theory. “We want to wake up, we want to see the truth,” Ms. Khouri says. (10 min)