Dickinson to Durban » Mosaic Action
Building a Platform
The spring right after I turned seven I planted a tree. It was a small white pine, and I patted it into my great grandfather’s backyard with my own little hands. Since then I have watched the tree grow from the window of that little house. I remember feeling like I was connecting with something as I planted the tree. I was connecting with the tree, with nature, with my future. I knew, innately, that I was doing a good thing. And I wanted to do it again and again. I don’t think that planting one tree will save the world. No more than I think that buying a sustainable dishwasher or riding a bike instead of a car will stop climate change. But I do not deny that it is important. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Mosaic Action
Did violence strengthen the movement?
1. Explain the reasons behind the creating of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK). Do you think adopting violence as a method strengthened or weakened the anti-apartheid movement? Umkhoto we Sizwe (MK) was formed after fifty years of non-violent resistance by the ANC. In those fifty years, non-violent resistance brought a sense of unity to the masses, but it had not managed to instigate changes in the government. After fifty years people were tired of having their peaceful resistance met with harsh and unnecessary violence. When MK is formed it is to take the resistance to the next level. Non-violent resistance has united the African people, but the movement was starting to fall apart as people became more frustrated with the lack of results. Fifty years later and they are still fighting the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Mosaic Action, Summer Reading Responses
The “humanness” of nearsightedness
How can we reconcile the variability of weather with that of climate? How does our humanness restrict our thinking? Climate change was observed by scientists as early as the 1930’s, it was not, however, accepted by the general public until as late as the 2000’s and much of the public still questions its validity. This lag between data collection and public education and understanding has harmed our chances of turning the problem around. Even when word spread we had a hard time believing in the severity of the problem, when “asked to name environmental problems facing the nation, most Americans would think of pollution of drinking water, local smog, or the destruction of tropical forests ahead of climate change” (185): all very visible threats. As humans we have a tendency to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Mosaic Action, Summer Reading Responses
Why Violence?
Explain the reasons behind the creation of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK). Do you think adopting violence as a method strengthened or weakened the anti-apartheid movement? When Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the military branch of the ANC, was formed in the 1960’s the anti-apartheid movement was struggling. The organization had spent decades fighting for their rights through peaceful protests but the government only became more oppressive. Eventually, the ANC felt they had no choice but to resort to nonpeaceful demonstrations. In Nelson Mandela’s statement in the 1964 trial he claimed that “We were placed in a position in which we had either to accept a permanent state of inferiority, or to defy the Government.” The ANC also felt that due to the severity of the oppression the people were going to turn … Read entire article »
Filed under: Mosaic Action, Summer Reading Responses
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