Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on September 17, 2021

Kirsten Grieshaber| Associated Press

Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah: The Jewish High Holy Days, explained

Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah are the Jewish High Holy Days. They're the two most important holidays of the year, and are very differently observed.

USA TODAY, Wochit

BERLIN A 16-year-old boy and three other people were detained Thursday in connection with a suspected plan for an Islamic extremist attack on a synagogue in the German city of Hagen, authorities said.

The detentions took place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, and two years after a deadly attack in another German city on the Yom Kippur holiday.

Police cordoned off the synagogue on Wednesday and a worship service planned for the evening was called off.

Officials had received very serious and concrete information that there could be an attack on the synagogue during Yom Kippur, said Herbert Reul, the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, where Hagen is located. The tip pointed to an Islamist-motivated threat situation, and named the possible timing and suspect, he added.

Police using sniffer dogs found no dangerous objects in or around the synagogue, Reul said. On Thursday morning, the 16-year-old, a Syrian national who lives in Hagen, was detained. Three other people were detained in a raid on an apartment, and authorities are investigating whether they were involved in the suspected plan, the minister said.

This is America: I returned to synagogue for the Jewish High Holidays. It felt like going home.

What is Rosh Hashanah?: Here's what you need to know about the Jewish New Year

Reul said searches were ongoing in Hagen, but gave no details and took no questions. He didn't say where the tip came from.

News magazine Der Spiegel reported, without identifying sources, that the tip came from a foreign intelligence service. It said the teenager told someone in an online chat that he was planning an attack with explosives on a synagogue, and the probe led investigators to the 16-year-old, who lived with his father in Hagen.

Two years ago on Yom Kippur, a German right-wing extremist attacked a synagogue in the eastern German city of Halle. The attack on is considered one of the worst anti-Semitic assaults in the countrys post-war history.

The attacker repeatedly tried, but failed, to force his way into the synagogue with 52 worshippers inside. He then shot and killed a 40-year-old woman in the street outside and a 20-year-old man at a nearby kebab shop as an appropriate target with immigrant roots.

He posted an anti-Semitic screed before carrying out the Oct. 9, 2019, attack in the eastern German city of Halle and broadcast the shooting live on a popular gaming site.

German Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht sharply condemned the foiled Hagen attack.

It is intolerable that Jews are again exposed to such a horrible threat and that they cannot celebrate the start of their highest holiday, Yom Kippur, together," the minister said.

Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

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Posted By admin on September 17, 2021

Former President Donald Trump targeted his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, with off-color remarks suggesting he was more loyal to Israel than his home country evoking an anti-Semitic trope in the process during a White House meeting, according to Bob Woodward and Robert Costa's new book, "Peril."

"'You know,' Trump joked in another meeting, mocking his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who was raised in a modern Orthodox Jewish family and was working on Middle East peace, 'Jared's more loyal to Israel than the United States,'" Woodward and Costa wrote.

This was not the first time Trump has played into the dual loyalty trope or the anti-Semitic notion that Jewish Americans are more loyal to Israel than the US. "The charge of disloyalty has been used to harass, marginalize, and persecute the Jewish people for centuries," per the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

Trump in April 2019 told an audience of Jewish Americans that Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu is "your prime minister.

In August 2019, Trump said Jewish Americans who vote Democrat display either "a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty."

Trump also faced criticism in September 2020 after he referred to Israel as "your country" in a conference call with Jewish American leaders. And that same month, The Washington Post reported that Trump after a phone call with Jewish lawmakers said Jews "stick together" and "are only in it for themselves."

The former president and his Republican allies have frequently accused Democrats who are critical of the Israeli government of anti-Semitism. In December 2019, Trump signed an executive order against anti-Semitism at colleges, which opponents said stifled free speech. Critics said the order was designed to target movements critical of the Israeli government's policy toward Palestinians.

Meanwhile, Trump supporters have frequently exhibited anti-Semitic sentiments. Among the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6 was a man wearing a "Camp Auschwitz" t-shirt. An array of neo-Nazis and white supremacists participated in the deadly insurrection, which Trump provoked with lies about the 2020 election.

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Posted By admin on September 17, 2021

An Ohio city hired a private investigator to observe Jews entering and exiting a local synagogue on the first day of Rosh Hashanah as evidence for an ongoing lawsuit, outraging Orthodox Jews there and further inflaming tensions in a local dispute over worship protocols.

University Heights officials said the investigator, who had been hired by the mayor at an undisclosed cost, was there to monitor the number of people entering the Aleksander Shul to determine if the congregation was adhering to court-ordered rules on maximum occupancy. The city also said the community outrage was the result of miscommunication stemming from the local federations failure to alert the synagogue to the investigators presence.

The Aleksander Shul has had a long, drawn-out dispute with University Heights, an area with a large Jewish population and many synagogues. Operating out of a private residence, the synagogue was cited in 2019 for not complying with local code and zoning ordinances that prohibit a private residence from serving as a house of assembly. Earlier this year, the city tried to block its operation and fined the shuls owner $65,000 over building code violations he has appealed the fine as a prelude to suing the Aleksander Shul in June.

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In addition to operating unlawfully as a house of assembly, the suit alleges, the synagogue also performed work and construction without building permits or city inspection. Lawyers for the Aleksander Shul countered that the mayor was discriminating against Orthodox Jews.

After attempting to shut down the shul in July, the citys order was temporarily stayed on July 27 by a Cuyahoga County judge, who issued an amended order that allowed the Aleksander Shul to continue operations on Shabbat and the High Holidays through Sukkot, provided maximum occupancy in the building was limited to 36. But the city said the worshippers violated the occupancy limit on Rosh Hashanah.

The investigator observed 50 people entering the house, in seeming violation of the courts order limiting capacity to 36, University Heights Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan told the Cleveland Jewish News in a Sept. 13 email.

Yet it was the investigators presence that drew the ire of the local community.

At a Sept. 9 City Council meeting, Rabbi Eric Yitz Frank, executive director of Agudath Israel of Ohio, which represents Orthodox families and day schools, called the incident an absolute outrage.

Mothers walking with their children to synagogue were deeply traumatized by this event, he said at the meeting.

Michele Weiss, the vice mayor of University Heights who is Jewish, criticized Brennan and the law firm that authorized the move at the council meeting.

A city should not be spying on its own residents ever, especially during one of the holiest days of the year for our Jewish residents, Weiss said at the meeting. Its unconscionable that if this was Easter or Christmas that this would even be contemplated. City Council is shocked by the behavior of the mayor and the outside law firm and will look at our options in dealing with the situation.

Wednesday evening I was just fielding phone calls and texts all night, she said.

Weiss said she spoke with the police chief and law director on the morning of Sept. 9 to understand what this meant.

In a Sept. 13 email to CJN, Brennan laid the blame on the Jewish Federation of Clevelands security contractor, JFC Security. Brennan and other city officials said they had alerted the federations security director that an investigator would be present outside services at the Aleksander Shul. But the contractor, Brennan wrote, did not disseminate word of this to those working in the field, resulting in the confusion the city expressly sought to avoid.

A federation spokesperson responded, JFC Security, LLCs job is to work with law enforcement to help provide security to Jewish Cleveland. When we were notified of a suspicious vehicle, we responded promptly as the community expects us to do.

Brennan, who was not present at the Sept. 9 City Council meeting owing to the sudden illness and death of his father, told CJN that the city nevertheless remains willing to go to mediation to bring about a mutually agreeable resolution.

At the council meeting, Frank said it was incumbent on the city to foster a community feeling.

We have a responsibility to take overt steps to promote our sense of community, sense of safety and unity, and this is just one sad example of that breakdown, he said. Id like to make sure that this type of activity never happens again. And if residents continue to feel targeted or threatened, that in itself is a breakdown.

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A private investigator observed a US synagogue during the High Holy Days - The Jerusalem Post

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Posted By admin on September 17, 2021

After comparing vaccine supporters to Nazis and sharing an image of needles in the shape of a swastika on social media, Republican state Sen. Kelly Townsend dismissed a Jewish organization who admonished her to learn your history.

On Sunday, Townsend tweeted an image a Nazi flag made up of needles with a caption that anyone who is vaccinated and complaining about the unvaccinated are saying the vaccine doesnt work.

The Anti-Defamation League, an international Jewish organization that focuses on fighting back against antisemitism and hate, sharply criticized Townsend on the social media network.

(Townsend) should delete this outrageous and offensive tweet, the Arizona chapter of the Anti-Defamation League wrote on Twitter. There is never a valid time to share this flag which represents oppression and genocide for so many. Comparing health mandates to Nazism is highly insensitive and escalates tensions around efforts to fight #COVID19.

Townsend rebuked the 108-year-old Jewish organization. Learn your history, she retorted.

Other local Jewish organizations have chimed in on Townsends comments as well.

There is no place for Nazi imagery in regards to vaccination. Period, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Phoenix said on Twitter. This is shameful, offensive and insensitive. Do better.

Townsend, whose legislative district includes Mesa and Apache Junction, posted subsequent tweets agreeing with other users who compared vaccinations to Nazi Germany. She also liked tweets by other users who had photoshopped Sen. T.J. Shopes face onto Nazi officers asking Polish citizens for their papers.

These officers, known as the Ordnungspolizei, played a key role in the Holocaust. Townsend liked a number of tweets comparing Shope to these officers.

Shope opposed a bill during the 2021 legislative session that would have barred private businesses from refusing service to unvaccinated customers. But Shope, a Coolidge Republican whose family owns a grocery store, said he opposes government-imposed vaccine mandates, tweeting last week, I join Gov. @dougducey and Im sure a majority of my colleagues in looking forward to our day in court with @POTUS over this unconstitutional mandate!

The officers Shope was compared to perpetuated a number of war crimes and were also known as the Order Police and were responsible for many of the atrocities in the Warsaw Ghettos. On July 27, 1941, one battalion of the unit was responsible for the massacre of between 2,000 to 3,000 Jews in the recently occupied Bialystok. Hundreds of the victims were burned alive while inside a synagogue.

This isnt the first time Townsend, who opposes vaccine use, has compared vaccination requirements to Nazi Germany or the Holocaust. In 2019, Townsend was denounced for comparing school vaccination requirements to the tattoos that Nazis forced upon Jews in concentration camps during WWII. In a now-deleted Facebook post, Townsend took a poll asking if the government should be able to forcibly place your id number on your arm, later going on to say in the post that those who had a visceral reaction to the poll would understand the idea of forcing you to inject a solution into your body.

Townsend would later claim in an interview with the Arizona Republic that she was not trying to compare vaccinations to the Holocaust, despite the clear connections to the actions of Nazi Germany.

And she isnt the only Arizona politician to draw comparisons between the Holocaust and Nazi Germany to vaccines and COVID-19 mitigation measures.

Republican Rep. John Fillmore, who represents the same legislative district as Townsend, apologized last year after he linked mask mandates to the Holocaust at a Freedom Rally. Fillmore compared masks to the tattoos those at concentration camps were forced to get.

Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward also was criticized when she agreed with a tweet that said so-called vaccine passports were akin to the yellow Star of David Jews were forced to wear in order to make them identifiable to Nazis.

Comparing the vaccine and an government attempts to encourage its use to the Holocaust has become a popular analogy, particularly among conservatives in the wake of President Joe Bidens decision to make employers with more than 100 people require the vaccine.

However, that requirement appears to be on firm legal ground, and religious exemptions for vaccines still exist for those who wish to use them. Those who choose not to get vaccinated will have to get tested once a week. Additionally, those medically exempt from immunization can work remotely under the new guidelines.

Roughly 4 million Arizonans have gotten at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and about 3.6 million are fully vaccinated approximately 50% of the states population.

We strongly recommend that everyone 12 and older get vaccinated against COVID-19. Vaccines are safe, free, widely available and proven to be highly effective at preventing hospitalization and death from COVID-19, Arizona Department of Health spokesman Steve Elliot said when asked about Townsends comments. For those who remain hesitant, we suggest talking with your healthcare provider about the benefits of getting vaccinated.

Anyone seeking a vaccination can find vaccine information online for Maricopa County here and statewide here.

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Kelly Townsend likened COVID vaccines to the Holocaust, tweeted a swastika and told a Jewish group who complained to 'learn your history' - Arizona...

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Posted By admin on September 17, 2021

A man, armed with a machete and a knife and expressing White supremacist views, was arrested near the Democratic National Committee's headquarters on Monday as Washington awaits a rally of diehard Trump supporters set for Saturday. The adornments on his truck flashed old-fashioned signs of hate, including a swastika -- an old-fashioned symbol in an era when right-wing extremists are more likely to rally behind internet memes. Whether old or new, these symbols have one thing in common: They are meant to terrorize.

Mindful of the bloody attack on January 6, police have erected fencing and are preparing just in case violence erupts among the demonstrators gathering to show their solidarity with those charged with crimes related to the attacks. Capitol Hill residents are expressing anxiety and dread, which means that the demonstrators have already had an impact -- intimidating locals and forcing the government to mobilize defenses.

The rally itself is not an act of terrorism, but fear instilled by an attack, or even the mere threat of one, accomplishes the same goal. In the case of Trump extremists, including those who belong to the so-called Proud Boys and various self-described militias, the terror campaign is already years long. While it's legal to bear arms in Michigan, this terror campaign was evident when armed men crowded into the state's Capitol to support Trump's view on the pandemic, and in Arizona when they paraded to support his claims of election fraud. Seen any where else in the world, we would decry the threats against election officials as undemocratic. Here, however, we have been slow to recognize them as such.

Two factors have made it difficult for the press to report on the radicalization of far-right extremists and for the public to understand what has happened. The first is the fact that the process mostly takes place online, out of the view of outsiders and powered by seemingly innocuous social media memes. With startling or humorous images and phrases, the memes invite viewers to believe, for example, that White people are victims of oppression and the West is under threat from outsiders.

Borrowing from the film "The Matrix," those who are persuaded use the term "red pilling" to indicate they had accepted the challenge of learning truths that others feared. As the Anti-Defamation League and others would eventually explain, "red pilling" could lead to developments as "radical as someone coming to believe that Jews control the world or that feminism is destroying the West."

Of special concern has been the canny use of memes by right wing extremists around the world who develop clickbait to engage viewers with messages about the supposed oppression of White people and the dangers of Islam. In the US, Donald Trump was the subject of many of these memes. When he was elected, one online poster declared, "We actually elected a meme as president."

The second difficulty we encounter as we look at right wing extremists is an overall reticence to recognize that their activities are sometimes terroristic. This problem was identified in 2017 in the Fordham Law Review by University of Miami law professor Caroline Mala Corbin. She writes that false narratives about Muslims and White Americans shape assumptions. Sometimes, as in the case of the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995, this way of thinking leads to the initial belief that an attack carried out by a White perpetrator must have been executed by Muslims.

In the fall of 2020 the Department of Homeland Security declared White supremacists the greatest terror threat facing the country. However, the government did not connect this movement to the Trump cause. Any doubt that the two intersect should have been erased on January 6 when Trump flags and Confederate battle flags were waved together by the rioters who attacked the Capitol. Members of the mob also displayed images and phrases taken from the most popular memes in extremist online communities. For example, flags for the make-believe country of Kekistan and placards honoring the god "Kek," which takes the form of a cartoon frog, signaled the presence of red-pilled Trump supporters who play with memes about how Kek grants Trump magical powers.

In memes popular with extremist Trump supporters, hateful messages are combined with American flags and shareable quips. These are often decorated with Christian crosses, Confederate battle flags, and show Trump as a superhero or godlike emperor. The murderous Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and his black helicopters are also popular in this memestream, as is Pepe the Frog, a cartoon character whose "Feels Good Man" message ironically confirms that your emotions are what really matter.

As they share the memes online, these citizens of MAGA World wind each other up emotionally with a torrent of messages about a nation in crisis that must be saved from its enemies. While this may all be fantasy, it is powerful and motivating for true believers.

There's a tendency among many to focus on the acts of MAGA extremists, but that misses the full picture of the parallels with other kinds of radicalism, as well as the roots of aggressive actions.

Whether it's an armed "militia" at Michigan's state Capitol or the Proud Boys committing street violence, much of the organizing and motivation comes from deep online spaces where the uninitiated would struggle to understand the coded messages that are promoted repeatedly. If we are to confront the domestic threat identified by Homeland Security, we must expose this process and how it leads some people from laughing at memes to extremist views and terroristic actions.

Just last month, Trump supporter Floyd Ray Roseberry parked his truck outside the Library of Congress, turned on his cellphone camera and posted on Facebook that the vehicle was loaded with enough explosives to level "two and a half blocks." During his five-hour livestream standoff with police he told viewers that Trump had been deprived of re-election by a massive fraud and announced that "the revolution's on."

"When this bomb goes off there's gonna be four more right behind it," said Roseberry, "and the patriots are gonna come." After hours of negotiations with police, Roseberry surrendered. A search of the truck turned up bomb-making materials but not a working device, police said. Roseberry was charged with threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to use an explosive device.

As he spoke, Roseberry was visibly in real distress, suggesting that mental health issues may have been a factor in the incident at the Library of Congress. But it would be wrong to ignore the influence of the digital toxic energy that was obviously part of his online environment. His claims, phrases and even his live streaming are all staples of the online MAGAverse. He claimed to be a patriot and deplored the idea of America sheltering refugees from Afghanistan.

Outrage stirred online became real life action on January 6. Many of the attackers decorated themselves with symbols made popular in memes, which they showed as they ransacked the Capitol. These images are certain to appear at future extremist events, including the demonstration planned for September 18. Designed to threaten outsiders and incite those waiting for their time to act, they are, when used this way, emblems of terrorists. By their memes we should know them.

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Posted By admin on September 17, 2021

MORNING VIEW, Ky. On the 20th anniversary of 9/11, thousands of former President Donald Trump's supporters flocked to a farm a half-hour south of Cincinnati.

Among the pastures and bales of hay,banners directing expletives at President Joe Biden adorned trucks and fences.

This was a celebration organized by former lawyer Eric Deters, a conservative firebrand, podcasterand self-described "legal outlaw." He's no stranger to controversy. A judge in 2020 banned him from the Hamilton County courthouse for comments Deters made on his podcast, "The Bulldog."

Deters didn't see anything wrong with organizing a Trump pep rally on 9/11. It was the first Freedom Fest, something he told the crowd he wants to hold annually on his 138-acre farm in the rural outpost of Morning View, Ky., just south of Independence.

Speaking Saturday night wereformer Trump advisor and Fox News personalityKimberly Guilfoyle, who is currently dating Donald Trump Jr., and Fox News personality Tomi Lahren.

People came from all over the region, as far away as Batavia andFairfield, united in their fealty to Trump, distrust of the COVID-19 vaccines andbelief in the debunked myths surrounding the 2020 election and Trump's discredited claims of a stolen election. No evidence exists of widespread voter fraud.

"We're the outcasts of the country these days," said Bill Albright.

The 57-year-old traveled from his home in Batavia with his girlfriendKathi Brinegar. They gripped flag poleson the hillside where Deters had built a stage and amphitheater, the wind whipping their large flags that said "2020 was rigged", "Unmasked, unmuzzled, unvaccinated, unafraid," and "Joe Biden sucks."

In the crowd wereseveral membersof the Proud Boys, wearing their yellow and black colors and polo shirts. The Proud Boys group isdesignated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Both the SPLC and Anti-Defamation League describe the Proud Boys' all-male membership as known for anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric.

During the speeches, one man in the Proud Boy colors flashed the 'OK' symbol, which the Anti-Defamation League and other civil rights groups say has been co-opted into a white supremacist symbol.

Hundreds of motorcycles thundered over the rolling hillsides and parked in front of the stage, forming a barricade between the stage and audience.

One of the bikers, Dwayne Turner, 51, of Goshen, told The Enquirer he was on the Capitol steps in Washington, D.C. during the assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6. He said he didn't enter the Capitol, though.

He traveled to D.C. that day for Boots on the Ground Bikers for Trump organization to provide security for different groups.

"I was right on the steps," Turner said."They made it out more than what it really was.The mainstream media has made it out to be an insurrection, to me it was a few people who were pissed off."

But many of the people who were at Freedom Fest said they weren't part of any group. About 100 cars and motorcycles, most decked out in pro-Trump, anti-vaccine regalia traveled up Ky. 17 for about 10 miles to Deters farm in a caravan.

Shari Reynolds, dressed head-to-toe in stars and stripes, walked among the cars pulled over at Pioneer Park in southern Covington. She was getting the caravan to Deters' farm into order,telling cars to put their blinkers on.

She said the caravan just kind of came together.

"It takes one person to organize somebody and you tell one person, and then you tell one person," Reynolds said. "The worst thing you can do is be silent."

Reynolds, 51, and her husband Patrick, 38, of Deer Park,like many of the thousands at Freedom Fest believe Trump won the 2020 election and distrust the media.

So then where do they get their information?

"I don't have any news sources," Patrick Reynolds said.

"Just research," Shari Reynolds said.

They do see news stories, Patrick Reynolds said, but "you have to research the information."

The keynote speakers, Lahren and Guilfoyle, in their speeches hit on the usual talking points, railing against vaccine mandates, praising Trump, slamming Biden and blaming "cancel culture" for silencing conservatives.

The media wasn't popular at Freedom Fest.

"The media has become so consumed by their own agenda that they've lost sight of their responsibility to report, toinform and to serve, but they sure do love their little fact checks," Guilfoyle said."I could say Kentucky is a beautiful state, magnificent, and they would fact check me."

Many who showed up to Deters' farm simply wanted to gather with like-minded people. Mark Hunter stood by his white SUV in Pioneer Park ready to caravan to Deters' farm. As heaffixed a Gadsden flag with the Don't Tread On Me label and coiled rattlesnake and an American Flag to his car, Hunter, 65, of Independence, described why he went to Freedom Fest.

"I'm here because I love America," Hunter said. "This event is to bring unity and to stand for freedom and liberty and that we should never accept or take security and sacrifice freedom for that. Sometimes just showing up makes a difference."

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Trump supporters rally on Sept. 11 south of Cincinnati: 'We're the outcasts of the country these days' - The Cincinnati Enquirer

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Posted By admin on September 17, 2021

As a South Asian, I often find myself and my culture underrepresented in many forms of American media. Most South Asians born in the United States grew up confined to a certain stereotype portraying us as nerdy, obedient, good at school, etc. Certain characters imposed these stereotypes repeatedly in TV shows, like Ravi from the Disney Channel show Jessie or Baljeet from Phineas and Ferb. These characters, making up the little representation we had, did not do justice to the depth and range of the entire South Asian diaspora.

To clarify, the South Asian diaspora consists of people from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives. Given the rich histories and cultures behind all of these countries, it would be unfair to limit the representation of the diaspora to just India or Pakistan. It would also be unfair to reduce the more than one billion people that make up the populations of these countries to being nerdy or quiet. Although South Asia is a part of continental Asia, we are often not considered Asian in mainstream media or included in typical Asian discourse. This may stem from the fact that we have fundamentally different experiences from those who identify as East Asian or even Southeast Asian. We face different stereotypes, different discrimination and even different privileges. Because of this, South Asians have all but physically departed from the term Asian.

Many South Asians in North America within this generation can probably remember watching Superwoman (aka Lilly Singh) on YouTube back in elementary or middle school. We finally had a large South Asian creator that most of us could identify with in terms of shared cultural experiences. While we initially related to and enjoyed the jokes Lilly made on YouTube, those same jokes may have further confined us to that stereotypical box we were in before. The stereotype that South Asian parents are verbally abusive or harsh still carries weight to this day. This is the reason that a wide range of representation is needed to eliminate any predominant stereotypes.

Accurate and meaningful representation in Western media gives young South Asian children role models and the ability to find solace in people who look like them. As a child, my favorite Disney princess was Princess Jasmine, not because of her actual characteristics but because she was the only princess that bore some resemblance to me, even though she wasnt meant to be South Asian. If given a wider representation, we wouldnt have to confine such a diverse diaspora to a singular category.

In fact, considering South Asias immense film industryas shown by Bollywood and even smaller subsets such as Tollywood and Kollywoodits ironic that South Asian representation in mainstream American media is almost nonexistent or channeled into one-dimensional characters. We have such a diverse range of characters represented in South Asian films, yet the same is not extended to U.S. media.

However, there have been some breakthroughs in the last couple of years. In the Netflix series Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj, Minhaj shares his experiences as a South Asian in a meaningful yet comedic way. Soloist Zayn Malik also represents South Asia in the pop culture sphere, and we see that through his music (some of which has South Asian influence) and his Bollywood covers. Excitingly enough, Marvels upcoming TV miniseries, Ms. Marvel, stars a largely South Asian cast, most of which are of Pakistani origin. Arguably the most impactful South Asian representation can be found in the Never Have I Ever series on Netflix. Despite some negative reviews, we have to acknowledge Mindy Kaling for bringing the South Asian diaspora to the spotlight. Scriptwriting and character development aside, she did a great job creating a South Asian main character who didnt play into all stereotypes while also maintaining the cultural aspect, allowing the audience to relate through shared experiences.

While we are still not where we should be in terms of accurate representation of the South Asian diaspora, we are definitely making progress.

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Chintada: Representation of the South Asian diaspora in US media needs to change - The Observer

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Posted By admin on September 17, 2021

Dr. Steven Gregory

Dr. Steven Gregory, the inaugural Dr. Kenneth and Kareitha Forde Professor of African American and African Diaspora Studies at Columbia University died this week. His distinguished work in anthropology on the intersections of race, class, gender, and urban-based movements were explored in several books and articles. Notably, his 2006 bookThe Devil Behind the Mirror: Globalization and Politics in the Dominican Republicreceived the Society for Urban Anthropology's Anthony Leeds Prize as well as the Gordon K. Lewis Book Prize from the Caribbean Studies Association.

In 2000, Gregory came to Columbia to run a new interdisciplinary Master's program in African American Studies at the University's Institute for Research in African American Studies. He held a joint appointment with the Department of Anthropology, mentoring many students and contributing meaningfully to the anthropological community. Gregory's recently finished book,The Valley & the Acropolis: Power, Spatiality, and the Politics of Knowledge, is forthcoming.

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The Passing of Columbia's African American and African Diaspora Studies Professor Steven Gregory - Diverse: Issues in Higher Education

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Posted By admin on September 17, 2021

NEW HAVEN, CT The Hellenic Studies Program at Yale University presents The Greek Revolution and the Greek Diaspora in North America, a virtual conference on Saturday, October 16, 10 AM-2 PM ET. Three panel discussions featuring distinguished speakers will highlight various aspects of this fascinating subject.

Panel I on Communities and Associations, 10-11 AM ET, begins with Alexander Kitroeff of Haverford College discussing AHEPA's Commemorations of1821, Nick Alexiou of Queens College, City University, NY on Commemorating the Revolution in New York: A Historical Overview, and Athanasios Gekas of York University, Toronto, Canada on Perceptions of the Greek Revolution and the Greek Communities of Canada,1920s-2021.

Panel II on Literature and Art, 11:15 AM-12:15 PM ET, features Dan Georgakas of Queens College, City University, NY, and a longtime contributor to The National Herald, on Harry Mark Petrakis' Novels Chronicle the Greek War of Independence; Kostis Kourelis of Franklin & Marshall College on Architecture, Abolition, Revolution: A Greek American Revival (1920s) of the American Greek Revival (1820s); and April Kalogeropoulos Householder of Honors College, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, with Reflections on Greek Nationalism and the Making of a Documentary Film about Bouboulina.

Panel III on Culture and Education, 12:30-1:30 PM ET, features Maria Kaliambou of Yale University discussing Like Another Rigas Feraios: Reviving the Revolution in Greek American Publications, Fevronia Soumakis on Queens College, City University, NY on Celebrating the 1971 Greek Independence Day Jubilee through Greek Orthodox Schools in the United States, and Yiorgos Anagnostou of the Ohio State University on The Bicentenary across Greece and the Diaspora: Toward the Making of a Global Greek Civic Identity.

The National Herald

The Hellenic Studies Program at Yale University presents The Greek Revolution and the Greek Diaspora in North America, a virtual conference on Saturday, October 16. Photo: Courtesy of the Hellenic Studies Program, Yale University

Register online: https://campuspress.yale.edu/greekrevolutiondiaspora/.

The conference is organized by Maria Kaliambou of Yale University and sponsored by:

The Hellenic Studies Program, Yale University.

The activities of the Hellenic Studies Program are generously funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center for Hellenic Studies at Yale University, the Modern Greek Studies Association, Innovative Initiative Grant, The Edward J. and Dorothy Clarke Kempf Memorial Fund, and The Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale, and The European Studies Council, Yale University.

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Posted By admin on September 17, 2021

Locally grown coffee from Rwanda has been a commodity savoured around the globe. Yet according to Emmanuel Nsabimana, the head of the Tourism Regulation Department at the Rwanda Development Board, it has only been recently that coffee shops and coffee consumption has gained popularity in Rwanda.

Say 10 years ago, you would hardly find a good spot for a cup of coffee, [it was mostly] just mostly ordinary bars, Nsabimana said.

Within the past five years he has noticed an increase in coffee shops, especially in Kigali, which has added a new experience for coffee lovers, he said.

When Kevin Mbundu returned home after studying university in the United States, he joined the family business. It was then that he was introduced to the coffee sector and that is how he developed the Kivu Noir Coffee brand for export.

It only took two years before they expanded by starting a coffee shop where their clients could meet and learn more about their coffee.

I didnt leave the US with the intention to open a cafe but merely join the coffee sector and help the family business and in doing so, we thought a cafe would be a nice element to add value, Mbundu said.

According to him, they had originally speculated that their main clientele would be tourists but to their surprise, they found it was predominantly locals who patronized the cafe.

The demographics are great because we get to see a lot of our local clients appreciating Rwandan coffee, Mbundu said.

Since opening their first location, he said that there have been around four more coffee shops that have opened in their neighborhood which he said is a good sign.

The more we can open cafes, the more Rwandan coffee that is produced here will be consumed within the country instead of just exporting it, he said. Its a good cycle of what we create is what we consume and thats the trend we are banking on.

Vincent Nzigira, the Managing Director of Bourbon Coffee, one of the biggest coffee houses in the country, said that the coffee culture in Rwanda has grown tremendously since they opened in 2007.

When we started, coffee was grown as a crop for export and not many locals knew how to prepare or drink coffee, Nzigira said.

Being the first coffeehouse chain restaurant in Rwanda, Bourbon Coffee had the unique opportunity of being part of the development of the coffee shop culture.

Many cafes have opened in Rwanda because of the success of Bourbon, Nzigira said. We can say that we have had a multiplier effect in the sector as more people discover and grow the coffee drinking culture in Rwanda.

Alice Van Mierlo and her husband Jean-Philippe Kayobotsi, started their coffee shop chain Brioche in 2013. It was originally intended to be a bakery but quickly developed into a coffee shop after clients requested more food options and a seating area.

We talked about the concept of having a coffee shop chain that could be like Starbucks in the U.S. or Le Pains Quotidien in Belgium, Van Mierlo said. The idea for us was to create a coffee shop chain that we can grow in scale and also have our own food or bakery manufacturing bakery production facility.

Both being part Belgian and part African (her being Algerian and he being Rwandan), they felt as though they could contribute to the development of the private sector in Rwanda.

We were supposed to be here for a period of three years but we really liked the country and also the private sector environment in the way that it was really promoted she said. They liked the way the government promoted the private sector as a way of growing the economy.

While the pandemic has hurt the hospitality industry, Van Mierlo said that the future of coffee shops seems promising.

People used to go back home for lunch time. But now that we have more traffic (...) people are looking for alternatives to have their lunch break Van Mierlo said. You can see that Kigali is growing and expanding so there is also this demand for cafs to grow alongside.

The Rwandan diaspora has inspired a lot of changes in the coffee shop sector, said Nzigira.

The Rwandan diaspora brings new trends based on their experience abroad. Some of the changes mentioned include having vegetarian or vegan options and having certain expectations in the service and experience in the coffee shops.

We work hard to keep up with the changes and expectations, Nzigira said.

Nsabimana said the diaspora offers unique contributions and technologies which will help in developing the hospitality industry.

The more they provide these innovative ideas in the industry, the more you increase the visitor experience and [increase the] spending. Not to forget employment created in the economy he said.

The lack of options previously offered resulted in coffee lovers to not consume at all, he said.

I believe that was a hanging fruit that was waiting to be collected, he said. Some pressure and competition will be felt but this also plays as an opportunity for traditional players to think outside of the box and take advantage of growing trends in tastes and preferences.

He sees the diaspora bringing trends from abroad as a positive challenge for local businesses to attract new markets and consumers.

Mbundu said that Kivu Noir Coffee uses the diaspora to further the reach of their clientele.

Using the Rwandan diaspora as brand ambassadors, through different social media posts will not only increase brand trust and value, but also portray Kivu Noir coffee as something of high quality he said. It will encourage their peers to try it out themselves.

Since its first location in Kigali, Bourbon has opened seven locations throughout the US and Kigali. Nzigira said this has helped make Rwandan coffee a specialty coffee that is relished around the world.

A lot of people who have experienced Rwandan coffee in our US stores come to Rwanda looking for Bourbon Coffee and Rwandas coffee story he said. The same is true of the reverse for Rwandans looking for a piece of home when travelling in the US.

Rwanda has done a lot of work to shift the narrative from its tragic past to position itself as an ambitious country of innovation and a producer of high quality specialty products Nzigira said. We are telling the stories of Rwanda and re-writing our history (...) through our products.

editor@newtimesrwanda.com

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