... Haven't posted in a while. Sorry! Life update, casual WordPress peruse-rs and loyal followers: I have returned to the States and my hometown in Ohio, and will be here until late August, reconnecting with my family, relaxing, taking up the scoop at Jacky's Depot once again, and... catching up on blogging about seven months … Continue reading Things to Come
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This week marked the beginning of my internship with the Unite Lebanon Youth Project. My primary responsibility for the summer will be work affiliated with ULYP's BRIDGE IV SAT prep programming. For the rest of the month of June, I will be (mostly) working to develop lesson plans, and create curriculum and classroom materials for a … Continue reading Week 2
I write this sitting at my terminal at Charles de Gaulle airport, waiting for my connecting flight to Beirut, Lebanon. I will be there for the next 10 weeks, interning with an organization called the Unite Lebanon Youth Project. As such, this site is going to shift and be something more of a travel blog … Continue reading A New Adventure
This past semester I wrote a poem for my Intermediate Arabic class. It was composed in Arabic, but my translation appears below. I post it today in remembrance and in solidarity with all those girls whose dreams are marred by the reality of occupation. May you find peace. طفلة هنالك طفلة صغيرة فتخيلوها خدينها زهرية … Continue reading Imagine Her
This post was originally published in the April 11 print edition of The Kenyon Observer. This week, the Center for the Study of American Democracy will hold its bi-annual conference. This year’s topic will be sure to raise innumerable compelling questions about America and its role in the world. The conference title itself is structured … Continue reading Should, How, Why and Can?
I began organizing "Hoodie Day" just over 24 hours ago. I was frustrated by the apathy and the lack of action or discourse on this campus regarding not just the tragic death of Trayvon Martin, but a series of racially charged incidents in the media in the last few weeks. I wanted a simple way … Continue reading The Intent Behind ‘Hoodie Day”
This article was originally published by the online edition of the Kenyon Observer I remember in the aftermath of President Obama’s election in November 2008, many proclaimed that America was post-racial. I disagreed then and now with this assessment; it suggests that the election of a black President amounted to full eradication of racial prejudices … Continue reading Hoodies, Hijabis and the Hunger Games
Following publication of "A State of Denial: Candidates, Consequences, and the Road to Peace", a letter to the editor written by Professor Fred Baumann was published in the Kenyon Observer which rejected my argument regarding the role of Palestinian identity in the conflict. This letter provided an excellent opportunity for me to refine my positions … Continue reading Separate Cannot Be Equal
This article was originally published in Kenyon College's MESA Journal, Vol. 3, Ed. 1 (November, 2011). I can already see the entries in future history books: what began with self-immolation by a frustrated young fruit vendor in Tunisia launched unprecedented revolution across the Arab world. Aided by Facebook, Twitter and other social media, movements spread … Continue reading Why I Don’t Call It The Arab Spring
Obama claims to believe that talking is the appropriate way to resolve this conflict, but as Hanan Ashrawi clearly argues in this interview, "talks must have a relationship to reality." http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2011/09/21/jk-ashrawi-palestinian-statehood.cnn To me, this bid is not about forcing the U.S. to veto or undermining the U.S. diplomatically; rather, it is an attempt to express … Continue reading Statehood? We have to build it ourselves.
tess m. waggoner 