Too often we forget that America has not always enjoyed its position as a human rights watchdog. Only a few generations ago, Americans were legally segregated with women and African-Americans barred from the voting booth. And looking back a few more generations, America was engaged in one of the most devastating slave trades the world has ever known.
As a nation, we have come a long way since then. But that is no excuse for forgetting our history. Remembrance for that arduous journey and reverence for the great men and women who led the way is in order.
The year 2014 gives us a unique opportunity to reflect on the long road to freedom that Americans have endured.
One hundred fifty years ago, the city of Atlanta was ravaged in one of the final battles of the Civil War. The Battle of Atlanta sealed the fate for the war-torn South, and it paved the way for the important, yet only marginally successful Civil Rights Amendments: the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments. Combined, those amendments to the U.S. Constitution made slavery illegal, guaranteed equal rights for all and made it unconstitutional to deny a voter on the basis of color.
Sixty years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that separate did not mean equal. The ruling deemed segregation of schooling facilities to be unconstitutional.
The basis for the ruling was the 14th amendment, which was added to the Constitution nearly a decade prior to the decision. Progress for the human rights movement in America was by no means swift.
This month also marks the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Along with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, these laws were able to finally instantiate the ideals set forth in the 14th amendment.
But that was not the end for the human rights movement in America. True equality remains an elusive dream for the two aforementioned groups: women and African-Americans.
According to a 2012 Associated Press Poll, the majority of Americans — 51 percent — “now express explicit anti-black attitudes.”
Likewise, studies show that women earn somewhere between 77 and 84 percent of what their male counterparts earn.
Despite the great strides that we have made in the human rights movement, there is still much work to be done if we are to realize the full equality guaranteed to us by the First Amendment.
Even still, the progress that has yet to be made in America pales in comparison to the dismal condition of human rights globally.
Given our relative success in realizing human rights, and given our dominance on the global scale, America stands in a unique position where we can sacrifice a portion of our time and money to rectify human rights violations around the world.
If a superpower like the U.S. had existed in the midst of our earlier struggles, a helping hand would have dramatically expedited our social development process.
Human rights are being advanced around the world, but at a relatively sluggish rate. America stands in a position to help move that process along, both with our bountiful resources and our invaluable knowledge of how to successfully lead a human rights movement.
We learned from the American human rights movement that progress takes time. It takes a monumental struggle. It requires trial and error. And more than anything else, it takes sacrifice.
– Sam Hillestad
Sources: US Courts, Historynet, SaportaReport, Stanford, Pew Research, USA Today
Photo: Civil Rights Teaching
In Search of How to Define Congress
The Oxford English Dictionary defines congress as “the action of coming together (of persons.)” In the United States, that definition takes on a literal meaning and forms one of the three branches of the federal government. Comprised of the House of Representatives and the Senate, the U.S. Congress is the country’s foremost legislative body.
Established by Article I of the U.S. Constitution, Congress convenes in two-year periods and is currently in its 113th session. With 435 members in the House and 100 in the Senate, Congress is a perfect example of the representational government which the Constitution seeks to impart. The results of the U.S. Census dictates the drawing of congressional districts which allow eligible voters to select their representatives. Historically, there is a high reelection rate among incumbents.
Congress draws most of its powers from those expressly written in the Constitution, but the principle of implied powers set forth by the Supreme Court in 1819 gives Congress an incredible amount of leverage. Congress also helps to maintain the system of checks and balances which is essential for the even distribution of power between the different branches of government.
One of the most important roles of members of Congress is their ability to appropriate funds. They are essentially tasked with directing the monetary commitments of the U.S. during any given fiscal period. This makes Congress an essential part of the United States’ government’s efforts to combat global poverty. In 1961, Congress passed the Peace Corps Act, which created one of the most well-known sources of American international aid in recent decades. In its first 50 years of existence, over 200,000 Americans served in nearly 140 different countries under the Peace Corps banner.
In recent years, international aid and American monetary commitments abroad have proven to be a divisive issue due to poor domestic economic prospects. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, in 2011 one percent of the United States federal budget was allocated to non-security foreign aid. Public support for increased foreign aid is substantial, but it often fails to engender significant changes in federal foreign commitments.
In any effort to define Congress, partisanship must be taken into account. Increased public scrutiny and media coverage created a politically polarized climate in the waning decades of the 20th century which has continued into the 21st century. In this climate, lobbying groups have gained influence, but topics like global poverty have also gained more prominence in the public sphere. As political coverage has increased in the media the attention given to the federal government’s commitments abroad has also increased.
As a legislative body it is Congress’s duty to enact legislation on behalf of its constituents, but to define congress a broader view of the interactions of delegates is necessary. Congress, both in its governmental and noun functions, is a forum for discussion. It is in this forum that global poverty asserts its presence and that the recognition process begins.
– Taylor Dow
Sources: OED, CFR, Gallup
Photo: The Washington Update
Education in Nicaragua
Many children in Nicaragua attend school for a few hours in the morning or evening, and work during the remainder of the day. Children must attend school in shifts in order to accommodate other students and to contribute financially to their families according to The Tico Times article, “Is Nicaragua’s education system failing?”
Abbreviated school days combined with student and teacher poverty has resulted in poor education in Nicaragua. UNICEF estimates that only 55 percent of children complete primary school and enter into secondary school. During secondary school the rate of completion continues to drop. While attendance rates have increased in the past ten years, university entrance exams demonstrate a continuous pattern of poor education quality in schools.
At the center of the quality issue, Nicaraguan teachers have very low salaries, earning an average of only $266 per month. The teachers also have a limited amount of supplies and facilities for students, forcing them to limit their curriculum. In The Tico Times article, José Treminio, Nicaragua’s education vice minister, exhibited concern about teacher’s salaries, stating, “We are determined to solve educational problems. We have a commitment to make a leap in the quality of education.” As a result, government has promised a small salary increase for teachers in 2014.
However, in a Nicaragua Dispatch article, “Impoverished teachers, poor schools”, Tim Rogers describes the financial struggles and government promises involved in Nicaragua’s education system. He states, “Nicaragua’s cash-strapped school system is delivering a poor quality of education.” Rogers maintains that the Nicaraguan government has not produce promised education results.
Rogers explains that the government, under the leadership of President Daniel Ortega, expresses a strong interest in improving national education. The government, however, only allots a small amount of the budget towards education, sending the public mixed messages about their endeavors. The amount does not provide enough money for adequate teachers’ salaries, student supplies, or school facilities.
The International Development Association (IDA), a division of the World Bank, offers aid to impoverished countries, providing loans or grants to promote economic growth. In 1995, the IDA partnered with the Nicaraguan government through the First Basic Education program. From 1994 to 2004, this program increased enrollment in primary schools in Nicaragua.
The IDA reported that, “The project contributed to an increase in the enrollment coverage of pre-schools and primary schools, particularly in targeted poor and indigenous communities.”
Even though Nicaragua now has a high primary school enrollment rate, school exams still show low student performance. In response, the IDA acknowledged that the quality of education still remained very low and initiated a similar program to strengthen the education system overall. IDA’s programs combined with an increase in government funding suggests that a sustainable system of education in Nicaragua is possible.
– Jaclyn Ambrecht
Sources: Tico Times, NICA, Nicaragua Dispatch, Child Info, World Bank
Photo: Compassion Internation
Labor Unrest in Cambodia
Protesting has emerged in Cambodia since the first of 2014. Chevron employees demand wages to be increased from $110 to $160 a month. Over 200 workers from the multi-million dollar company, Chevron, have organized a strike for salary increases. The strike has forced 17 of Cambodia’s Chevron gas stations to temporally close until the strike is over.
The Chevron employees have also been joined by several of the country’s garment factory workers in protesting to raise not only the company’s wages, but the national minimum wage to $160 a month.
Because Chevron is a U.S. company, Cambodia is reaching out to the U.S. government officials for help. The thoughts among Cambodia’s factory and service workers have pushed the labor unrest to continue. Laborers in Cambodia‘s large textile industry staged strikes and protest late last year and in the beginning of 2014 for a higher minimum salary and has steered toward political resistance.
The Cambodia Daily states that local worker “Ly Heng, a 29-year-old gas pumper at the Stung Meanchey station, said he is only paid $75 per month and wanted to join the strike but had feared losing his job.”
Chevron released a statement stating, “We are disappointed that our unionized service station colleagues have taken the drastic action to stop work instead of following legal processes to resolve the matter that would have enabled us to continue the supply of fuel products and minimize inconvenience to the public.”
Chevron has been working with authorities to ensure the safety of civilians and the workers participating in the strike.
In the past, Cambodia has seen a fair share of wage strikes. The garment factory strike was a great success with an estimate of over 200,000 workers that participated. This made it one of the largest garment-worker strikes in the history of Cambodia.
So far this year, factories in Cambodia have enforced an inspection of current safety related policies due to the six deaths related to a garment factory accident. The deaths have resulted in not only a strike, but further inspections on current wage circumstances in Cambodia.
The strikes from the garment workers have inspired other members of the work force to fight for higher wages.
Teachers demand $250 a month because the current $75 a month is not a livable wage. According to the Cambodian Independent Teachers Union, there are 87,000 teachers in the country. Several of these teachers protested for higher wages, shocking Cambodia with the current salary that they receive.
The strike ended with Chevron’s agreement to increase the monthly wage by $20 back in May. The agreement stated that workers would head back to work and end the strike. The Chevron cashiers will have their salaries increased to $150 and petrol pumpers will make $130. Also, the Chevron employees participating in the strike will not receive a pay dock from the time spent during the wage strike.
– Rachel Cannon
Sources: The Associated Press, The Diplomat, Global Post
Photo: VOA
Unemployment In Spain
In his first speech since his father Juan Carlos abdicated the throne, Spain’s future King, Crown Prince Felipe, addressed his country’s begrudgingly slow economic recovery. He referred to Spain as “united and diverse.” These remarks came a week after a new report noted that 1.26 million Spaniards have been without jobs since 2010. These citizens, unemployed for at least three years, are representatives of the 500 percent increase in Spain’s long-term unemployed population since 2007. They are 23.1 percent of Spain’s unemployed population and their numbers are continuing to grow with each passing year.
In the first quarter of 2014, Spain’s unemployment rate fell to 25.73 percent, down from a record high of 26.94 percent last year. During the same quarter, Spain’s economy grew at a quarterly rate of 0.4 percent, its best period since 2006. These increases have caused politicians and the International Monetary Fund to reassert their confidence in Spain’s recovery prospects, but that confidence has proven divisive within Spain.
Fiscal policies by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and his conservative Popular Party have been lukewarmly received by the general public. On June 6, the Spanish government approved a $15 billion stimulus package to spur growth and promote their renewed confidence in the economy. However, 26 percent of Spain’s population remains on government benefits. This figure is second in the EU only to Greece.
As reform efforts begin to take hold throughout Spain, civil unrest has resurfaced. Much of the focus is now geared toward high levels of income inequality. There has recently been a boom in tourism in Barcelona, accounting for a record high of 7.5 million visitors in 2013, but the unemployment rate still looms at 18 percent. Protesters are noting changes in government policies which have only affected the well off and have left the despondent with little to aspire to.
Spain’s corporate tax rate has recently been lowered to 25 percent from 30 percent, but the ability of the country’s educational institutions to produce well-trained students for prospective employers is questionable at best. Two-thirds of Spain’s 38.6 million residents over the age of 16 have only a basic education. Of these residents, 32.5 percent are currently unemployed. The youth unemployment rate is also nearly double that of the national rate. Slow recovery rates have dissuaded international investment and stymied growth in Spain’s financial sector.
Spain recently announced an early 1.3 billion euro repayment of a 41 billion euro EU banking rescue loan. This announcement was positioned as a confidence boosting measure. Whether it proves a catalyst for a Spain bereft of chronic unemployment, only time will tell.
– Taylor Dow
Sources: Digital Journal, Euro Weekly News, Fox News Latino, Latin Post, The Local, RTE News, The Spain Report
Photo: Wall Street CN
Remembering Yuri Kochiyama
Yuri Kochiyama, a prolific civil rights activist, died this past Sunday in Berkeley, Calif. at 93 years old. Known for her friendship with Malcolm X (she held him in her hands as he lay bleeding from gunshot wounds the night of his assassination,) Kochiyama was equally a revered activist in her own right. She, along with her husband, pushed for reparations and a government apology for the many Japanese-American internment camp victims under the Civil Liberties Act, and her legacy and determination has inspired a slew of young activists.
Kochiyama was born in San Pedro, Calif. to Japanese immigrants. After leading a figuratively normal teen life, it would not be until Pearl Harbor in 1941 that she would become involved in political issues after her father was taken into custody by the FBI. Like many other Japanese-Americans, Kochiyama and her family were just one of 120,000 Japanese-American victims who were unjustly sent to internment camps following the attack.
Kochiyama and her husband lived in the housing projects in New York City, where her African American and Puerto Rican neighbors inspired her to become involved in the Civil Rights Movement. Upon meeting Malcolm X, she reportedly challenged his harsh stance on integration — a move causing him to move away from the strict Nation of Islam viewpoint he preached to a more inclusive acceptance of all kinds of people. Upon Malcolm X’s death, Kochiyama continued to fight for the rights of those whose voices needed to be heard. She was constantly fighting.
Her home, which was the permanent “meeting place” for activists in the area, will be forever remembered by Kochiyama’s eldest daughter, Audee Kochiyama-Holman, who described her upbringing as a “24/7” movement. And that it was: until her death, Kochiyama continuously fought for the under-represented voice. Her activism against the discrimination of South Asians, Muslims, Arabs and Sikhs after 9/11 was just one example; her fight toward equality was all-inclusive.
Shailja Patel, poet and activist, is just one of many who remembers Kochiyama in this light. “She made us all larger, reminding us always to think globally and organize locally,” she says. “She emphasized that all struggles for justice are connected — and she lived that truth.”
– Nick Magnanti
Sources: Huffington Post, NPR, The New York Times
Photo: Casa Atabex Ache
Solar Power in Cameroon
On June 2, Joule Africa announced a $200 million investment plan to develop solar power in Cameroon.
This announcement comes on the heels of another successful agreement between Joule and the Cameroonian government: the building of a hydroelectric plant on the Katsina Ala river. This project alone is expected to raise the country’s capacity to generate power by 40 percent, an increase of 450 megawatts.
Cameroon has the second largest hydroelectric potential in Africa. While working to harness more of this potential, the government of Cameroon is looking toward complimentary sources of energy. Predicting dry spells and rain shortages during hot summer months, they have turned to solar power.
The new deal with Joule Africa, set to supply an additional 100 megawatts of power, marks a confidence in the nation’s growth that is sorely needed. For the time being, there is little information on the accessibility of electricity in Cameroon, but some reports estimate that less than 20 percent of the population has a reliable power source.
It is hoped that higher outputs of energy, in tandem with the building of energy grids and roads, will reach a greater number of Cameroonians, though for many, it is first and foremost a development strategy upon which hinges economic growth. President Paul Biya has expressed his desire for Cameroon to achieve emerging market status by 2035. One of the avenues to this end goal is the improvement of energy infrastructure, and indeed, Cameroon’s energy needs are expected to triple by 2020.
Joule Africa is now working with a partner-engineering firm, Bethel Industrievertretung, and the government to determine five sites suitable for solar power facilities in Cameroon. The project will increase Cameroon’s capacity to generate energy by 15 percent. It will be constructed in two phases; the first stage being completed in 2015, and the second by 2017.
– Olivia Kostreva
Sources: Joule Africa, EBR, IT News Africa, Heifer International
Photo: IPS
Effects of India’s Poor Sanitation
Poor sanitation can sometimes be the initial domino that starts a cascading wave of other problems. In the case of India, poor sanitation and open defecation have allowed for an overwhelmingly unhygienic environment and a variety of widespread health problems.
In India, there are more people who openly defecate on a regular basis than live in the entirety of Africa. Out of the 1.2 billion inhabitants, 103 million lack safe drinking water and 802 million lack any sanitation services.
For starters, combining an unhygienic environment with a high population density creates a breeding ground for preventable disease epidemics. Two common hygiene-related diseases, typhoid and diarrhea, prevent their victims from absorbing necessary nutrients which leads to malnutrition. India has higher rates of malnutrition in children than Sub-Saharan Africa.
The effect of having proper hygienic practices is shown when comparing the states within India. States where 80 percent or more of the rural population can access toilets have much lower levels of childhood malnutrition than cities where open defecation is commonly practiced.
Not only are there health consequences to open defecation, but social safety consequences as well. When women and children have to relieve themselves, they are forced to venture into the streets rather than using a toilet in the safety of their own home, which compromises their safety. A senior police officer in Bihar stated that about 400 women would have avoided rape last year if they had toilets in their homes.
The root of the problem is the lack of available or accessible toilets to the general population. Unfortunately, use of the toilets found in developed countries would be impractical and nearly impossible to achieve in India. A waste disposal system would need to be put into place, and toilets like these require large amounts of water, which is rarely consistent in developing countries.
While India is not known for being wealthy, the country ranks fourth in the world for manufacturing competitiveness. With many citizens capable of designing and manufacturing innovative solutions, the possibility of a low-cost toilet is promising.
One type of toilet that could potentially work well with India is the composting toilet, which is a toilet that is used for about a year, and subsequently sealed for 6-9 months, where the heat and decomposition of the feces kills off harmful bacteria and creates rich fertilizer that can be used in gardens.
While India’s poor sanitation has deep-rooted negative effects, the country has the innovative capacity to find an efficient and widespread solution.
– Courtney Prentice
Sources: Live Mint and The Wall Street Journal, British Broadcasting Corporation, The Child Fund, Water
Photo: OMICK
Remembrance for the Human Rights Movement in America
Too often we forget that America has not always enjoyed its position as a human rights watchdog. Only a few generations ago, Americans were legally segregated with women and African-Americans barred from the voting booth. And looking back a few more generations, America was engaged in one of the most devastating slave trades the world has ever known.
As a nation, we have come a long way since then. But that is no excuse for forgetting our history. Remembrance for that arduous journey and reverence for the great men and women who led the way is in order.
The year 2014 gives us a unique opportunity to reflect on the long road to freedom that Americans have endured.
One hundred fifty years ago, the city of Atlanta was ravaged in one of the final battles of the Civil War. The Battle of Atlanta sealed the fate for the war-torn South, and it paved the way for the important, yet only marginally successful Civil Rights Amendments: the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments. Combined, those amendments to the U.S. Constitution made slavery illegal, guaranteed equal rights for all and made it unconstitutional to deny a voter on the basis of color.
Sixty years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that separate did not mean equal. The ruling deemed segregation of schooling facilities to be unconstitutional.
The basis for the ruling was the 14th amendment, which was added to the Constitution nearly a decade prior to the decision. Progress for the human rights movement in America was by no means swift.
This month also marks the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Along with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, these laws were able to finally instantiate the ideals set forth in the 14th amendment.
But that was not the end for the human rights movement in America. True equality remains an elusive dream for the two aforementioned groups: women and African-Americans.
According to a 2012 Associated Press Poll, the majority of Americans — 51 percent — “now express explicit anti-black attitudes.”
Likewise, studies show that women earn somewhere between 77 and 84 percent of what their male counterparts earn.
Despite the great strides that we have made in the human rights movement, there is still much work to be done if we are to realize the full equality guaranteed to us by the First Amendment.
Even still, the progress that has yet to be made in America pales in comparison to the dismal condition of human rights globally.
Given our relative success in realizing human rights, and given our dominance on the global scale, America stands in a unique position where we can sacrifice a portion of our time and money to rectify human rights violations around the world.
If a superpower like the U.S. had existed in the midst of our earlier struggles, a helping hand would have dramatically expedited our social development process.
Human rights are being advanced around the world, but at a relatively sluggish rate. America stands in a position to help move that process along, both with our bountiful resources and our invaluable knowledge of how to successfully lead a human rights movement.
We learned from the American human rights movement that progress takes time. It takes a monumental struggle. It requires trial and error. And more than anything else, it takes sacrifice.
– Sam Hillestad
Sources: US Courts, Historynet, SaportaReport, Stanford, Pew Research, USA Today
Photo: Civil Rights Teaching
48 Years After Day of Affirmation Speech
June 6 is the 48th anniversary of Robert Kennedy’s “Ripple of Hope” speech. On this day Kennedy gave his speech at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. He called it a day of affirmation, defined by the freedom for which it stood. It was an incredible statement at the time to come to a third world country ruled by apartheid and express to the people that they are human beings, and that they do matter.
Senator Kennedy went on to talk of equality and its vital importance to progress and a better world. He noted the sad reality of discrimination, and that as a result, many never reached their full potential. As Kennedy notes, it is for this reason that we lost many great contributions to the world.
It was Senator Kennedy’s desire that equal opportunity exist for all and for the simplest of reasoning: “We must do [this] for the single and fundamental reason that it is the right thing to do.”
Where do we stand today? Have we eliminated discrimination and the poverty and suffering it brings with it?
Ideally, we would like to think we have, but there is much work still to be done. The best way to combat this ongoing struggle is to continue to create opportunity. We do this by empowering every man and woman on earth to lift themselves out of poverty so that they may realize their potential as well.
We have had many successes with eliminating poverty, including a reduction in extreme poverty by over half since 1981. However, with 1.2 billion people still living in extreme poverty, there is no doubt that there is much more potential to be realized.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, where Kennedy spoke 48 years ago, there lives more than one-third of the world’s extreme poor. That is the equivalent of more than 400,000,000 people living in extreme poverty. The average income of these individuals is 84 cents a day.
It is discouraging to realize that of all the wealth we have amassed, we still have not eliminated extreme poverty. A 2012 report by Oxfam showed that, in 2012 alone, the world’s 100 wealthiest individuals earned enough money to end extreme poverty four times over.
This distribution of wealth does not represent the equality that Kennedy and so many others sought. The term equality encompasses more than rights and protection. It encompasses access to resources, income equality and fairness in general.
However, it is too early to get discouraged. In 2010, the world achieved Millennium Development Goal One, which was to decrease poverty in developing countries by half. The number of those living in poverty is still declining and if we as an international community keep working toward this goal, then ending extreme poverty is possible in our lifetime.
In the words of Kennedy on this day 48 years ago, “they are hoping and they are gambling their progress and their stability on the chance that we will meet our responsibilities to them, to help them overcome their poverty.”
– Christopher Kolezynski
Sources: Day of Affirmation Speech, The Huffington Post, Policy Mic
Photo: NPR
Iranian Journalist Masih Alinejad Slandered
Masih Alinejad is a prominent Iranian journalist and activist who is currently in the news regarding some unfortunate circumstances. Last week, the Iranian TV personality Vahid Yaminpour reported a fake story that Alinejad was raped while on drugs in London, where she is living in exile, and subsequently called her a whore on his Facebook page.
This type of slander is despicable and some of the worst that Alinejad has had to endure. As an outspoken activist against the Iranian government, she understands that “they want to keep journalists silent.” However, she goes on to further explain that even though she’s been attacked many times in the past, “this was the most fabricated, most disgusting news about me.”
In the face of such adversity it is important to give support to Alinejad. She believes the reason for the fake report is in retaliation to a Facebook page she created last month which has garnered almost 500,000 likes. The page is called My Stealthy Freedom, and its main purpose is for Iranian women to post pictures of themselves in public without wearing the hijab.
Iran has a 35-year old law that forces women to wear the hijab. Many women protest this law because it denies them their freedom. Hundreds of women from Iran have written to Alinejad so their pictures can be posted on her Facebook page.
One woman sent a picture of her throwing her hijab while in the street with an accompanying text saying, “what I want is freedom of choice, not a meter of cloth! I’ll remove this piece of cloth! Look! I am still a human!”
Alinejad’s personal favorite photo is of women wearing the hijab but holding a sign that says, “I support and wear hijab but I am against compulsory hijab.” Although the page is mostly in Arabic, some of the pictures are truly moving and beautiful.
Alinejad sees the hijab as a form of control by hardliners in her country. They use it to remove any possible power or participation in society for women. Since Iranian media is controlled by the government, they have an easy time of shaping the citizens’ perceptions. Those in power want to keep women wearing the hijab.
Alinejad believes the fake report about her is an attempt to discredit her and her My Stealthy Freedom campaign. Her campaign challenges those in power and the status quo in Iran. Specifically, it challenges the hijab and promotes women’s rights to more freedom. As evident by her favorite photo on her page, its not that she is against the hijab itself, but what it represents: male domination over women.
– Eleni Marino
Sources: Facebook, Time, ABC
Photo: WordPress