Systemic racism. According to some sources it’s a form of racism that is embedded as a normal practice within society or an organization. Recently, Merriam-Webster has decided to change their definition of racism to reflect systemic oppression and examples of such actions. I don’t have to read someone else’s definition of systemic racism. In fact, no minority person, who is aware of what it entails, needs to read it. We live, hear about it and see it, almost daily. 

It happens everywhere, even in the grocery line. I was fourth in the line at Save-a-Lot in Northern Lights on Cleveland Ave, which is in a minority area. The line had stopped moving and I heard the security guard, white, say “Where’s your receipt for that?” in an aggressive manner to a clean cut, nicely dressed middle aged Black man. The man was speaking in low voice tone and I didn’t hear his response. The guard said, “How do I know you brought that across the street?”

The first 10 minutes of Rebuilding Paradise are harrowing.
Ron Howard’s documentary is mostly about the aftermath of the November 2018 “Camp Fire” in Paradise, California, but first it shows us the fire itself. With the help of cellphone and dashcam footage, it recreates people’s terror as they attempt to escape a wildfire that engulfed their town only minutes after originating on a nearby hillside.

In one particularly hair-raising moment, we find ourselves inside a vehicle barreling along a road that has turned into a fiery obstacle course. Meanwhile, the air is so filled with smoke that the day appears to have turned to night.

The danger is real, we learn. By the time the fire is brought under control, 85 residents of Paradise are dead. Of those who survive, most have lost their homes, along with schools, municipal buildings and services.

Monday, August 24, 5:30-7:30pm
Worthington Village Green

Palestinians are not going anywhere. This is the gist of seven decades of Palestinian struggle against Zionist colonialism. The proof? The story of Ahmed Amarneh.