Posts by Ben Dawson

  • Gun Violence

    Wear Orange

    The Wear Orange movement began in honor of Hadiya Pendleton, an honors student and drum majorette who was shot and killed on a Chicago playground in January 2013 just days after she had performed in President Obama’s second inaugural parade.

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  • “I See Myself and the Books Give Me Hope”

    It’s hard to be what you can’t see, and just as children of color need to be able to see themselves in the books they read, all children need to be exposed to a wide range of books that reflect the true diversity of our nation and world as they really are.

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  • A Lesson from Ambassador James Joseph

    It was a crucial moment following Nelson Mandela’s 1994 election as South Africa’s first Black president, and Ambassador James Joseph became the only American ambassador to present his credentials to President Mandela as he worked closely with his new administration.

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  • So Much Work to Do

    Mother’s Day is often celebrated as an opportunity for families to show mothers they are appreciated through a day of “rest,” maybe with a home-cooked breakfast in bed or a dinner out. But mothers know that even in a rare moment when our hands are still, our minds and hearts are never fully at rest.

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  • Remembering the Children’s Crusade

    On this 60th anniversary of the Birmingham Children’s Crusade it is again time to remember, honor, and follow the example of the children who were frontline soldiers and transforming catalysts in the movement for civil rights and equal justice.

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  • Harry Belafonte

    When Harry Belafonte died on April 25, many people were quick to honor him not only as a luminous, barrier-breaking singer and actor but as an outspoken lifelong crusader for civil and human rights. I am especially grateful for his enduring legacy as a champion for children in the United States and across the world.

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  • Gun Violence

    It’s Always the Guns

    On April 15 there were seven mass shootings, the most in a single day so far this year. All of these only-in-America atrocities took place the very same week that many Republican politicians were attending the National Rifle Association’s annual convention to pledge their allegiance to the gun lobby.

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  • Gun Violence

    Doing Something

    There is an overwhelming chorus urging elected leaders to "do something" to stem our national gun violence epidemic.

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  • A Ripe Time

    This special holy season this year, as many people are observing Ramadan, Passover, and Easter during the same week, is also fifty-five years to the week after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination. It is as useful as ever right now to return to his last Sunday sermon, delivered at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., on March 31, 1968.

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  • Gun Violence

    Beyond Thoughts and Prayers

    It happened again. This time, the mass school shooting was at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee.

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