human rights

The word ‘hero’ is overused but it’s truly fitting for John Lewis

Posted on by Moni Basu
I love driving by this mural that is not too far from my home in Atlanta.

When is the last time I cried over the death of a public figure or a politician? I can’t remember, really. Perhaps it was when Indira Gandhi was assassinated. I was young then and mourned the woman I had idolized in childhood. Beyond politics, she served as a role model for Indian girls of my generation.

Last night, I cried when I heard the news that John Lewis had lost his battle with pancreatic cancer. I grieved the death of a tireless fighter for freedom and justice. Continue readingThe word ‘hero’ is overused but it’s truly fitting for John Lewis

The stories I will live by

Posted on by Moni Basu

My pandemic isolation began on March 12. At first, I welcomed the days spent alone at home. And though I felt stressed about having to suddenly pivot and shift my classes online, I relished not having to rush out of the house every morning. But as the days turned to weeks and then months, a strange sort of loneliness set in and I found it dangerously easy to slip into a morose mood.

Determined not to spiral downward, I began posting about the things that made me smile in this strange and trying time when the news seemed to get worse by the day. COVID-19 had killed more than 100,000 Americans. Millions were unemployed. Countless businesses shuttered, maybe forever. And then America exploded over police brutality against people of color. The Black Lives Matter movement that had been born years ago was again at the forefront of our collective consciousness. Continue readingThe stories I will live by

Migration crisis: People keep dying

Posted on by Moni Basu

Almost every day, I receive an email from the International Organization for Migration containing the latest update on migration issues around the world. Many of you may not know that more than 60 million people are on the move, either as refugees fleeing horrendous situations in their homelands or economic migrants seeking a way out …

Continue reading “Migration crisis: People keep dying”

Cuba, Si!

Posted on by Moni Basu

CNN interviewed former President Jimmy Carter tonight about the thaw in relations with Cuba. Carter, of course, made a historic trip to the Caribbean island in 2002 with the intention of improving relations. I was fortunate enough to make that trip with Carter. I will write more about that. But for now, here is one of …

Continue reading “Cuba, Si!”

Ferguson

Posted on by Moni Basu

I did not cover the story in August when a black teenager was killed by a white officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Nor did I have any idea that I would be thick in the middle of things one day. But here I am, amid a deep freeze in Missouri, waiting with everyone else for a grand …

Continue reading “Ferguson”

Cat fight between homeland and home

Posted on by Moni Basu

I just read a CNN-IBN report on the Devyani Khobragade episode that made me squirm. “Devyani’s arrest,” the report said, “has rattled the Indian Diplomatic Corps. “It is forcing the government to hit back at the U.S. According to Indian diplomats serving in the Western countries, paying lesser than what is actually on official papers …

Continue reading “Cat fight between homeland and home”

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