Biden’s historic speech

U.S President says the world would be better off without Putin in ‘power’

U.S. President Joe Biden delivered a forceful speech Saturday in Warsaw, Poland, calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a “butcher” because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting attacks on civilians in several of Ukraine’s major cities.

Biden also said that the sooner Putin has no power, the better. He also likened Putin’s assault on democracy to the world’s fight against fascism during World War II, a time in which Americans had to ration goods such as coffee, sugar, gasoline and metals in order to fight Adolph Hitler’s Nazi war machine.

“There will be costs, but the price we have to pay, because the darkness that drives autocracy is ultimately no match for the flame of liberty that lights the souls of free people everywhere,” Biden told the crowd gathered in Warsaw, a city that has welcomed many of the 2 million Ukrainians who have fled their home country to Poland.

In all, about 10 million Ukrainians have been displaced. The U.S. announced last week that it will welcome 100,000 Ukrainian refugees.

Here’s what you can do: 

There are so many angles you can explore.

First, you could do a service to your readers by explaining how Russia devolved into an oligarchy over the last few decades. You could create a great infographic that explains the differences between autocracy and democracy. How do your social studies faculty explain it? Conversely how healthy is the U.S. republic? Is it fully a democracy, or do we still have a ways to go?

Second, the history of the U.S. is also the history of captive people and refugees, going back to the movement of Europeans — and their subsequent enslavement of native populations and of African captives — into the Western Hemisphere. What refugee populations have contributed to your school’s and your community’s population? There are many:

• Vietnamese people fleeing their country during the wars of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
• Irish people escaping famine and pestilence in the 19th century.
• Jews leaving Europe during the 1930s and 1940s to escape the Holocaust.
• And so many, many more.

Third, how about that speech? Was it really as good and as powerful as some pundits claim? What made it so good? It lasted 27 minutes. What does your speech teacher or your English have to say about it?

Finally, there’s also the angle about American sacrifice in order to help stop fascism and autocracy in Europe. We did it once, but are we willing to put up with some shortages if things come to that?

The world has had a tough two years dealing with COVID, and in that struggle Americans went crazy over having to wear a mask. Recently, with fluctuations in the price of gas, many in the U.S. had to cut back on other things in order to pay for the price rise. Are we really a country that can do without for a short time in order to help the world overcome a distinct evil?

Americans like KBJ

Early polls indicate that Supreme Court nominee Brown Jackson is popular in the U.S.

Early polling indicates that a majority of Americans support the nomination and the confirmation of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, who went before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. (See video below for highlights of that testimony.)

The Senate will vote on Jackson’s nomination in the near future. A simple majority is needed in order to make Jackson the first Black woman on the country’s highest court.

Here’s what you can do: 

Many commentators noted the importance of Brown Jackson’s nomination and what it means for Black girls and women in the U.S. How do students in your school feel about their futures? Do they sense they have the mobility represented by such important figures as Vice President Kamala Harris, Judge Brown Jackson, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra and other prominent American leaders?

The Oscars go to …

‘CODA,’ mostly, in a ground-breaking evening for the deaf community

Wow. Can you believe what happened last night at the Academy Awards? Whew. That slap was was really something, eh?

Aside from a squabble between Will Smith and Chris Rock over a joke Rock told about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett, the most impactful news of the night came from “CODA” winning best picture and actor Troy Kotsur winning best supporting actor Oscars.

“CODA” stands for “Child of Deaf Adults,” and the film is about a hearing 17-year-old girl (Ruby, played by Emilia Jones) who’s the only hearing member of her family. The story focuses on the girl’s outcast status at school and her ambition to become a professional singer, as well as her family’s struggle to make ends meet in their Massachusetts hometown.

Ruby’s parents were played by Kotsur and Marlee Matlin, who won an Oscar for Best Actress in the 1986 drama “Children of a Lesser God.”

Here’s what you can do: 

The Academy Awards are fun, generally, and the internecine feuds just add spice to the drama, but it’s the best movies themselves that give us a window into others’ lives. In this case, the lives of children of deaf parents.

Are there stories in your school of people living, struggling and succeeding with disabilities? Journalists are too often accused of writing about and focusing too closely on bad news. Here’s a chance to share some good news and share success stories, wherever you find them.

And about that slap? It started because of a joke about Pinkett Smith’s hair. Here’s a chance to enlighten your audience about alopecia and the people who have the condition, if they’re willing to share their story, of course. Empathy is an underrated trait.