democracy now

Oliver Moreno

Social Movements

MW      

This week’s topic in social movement’s class was the environment and going green. Great videos were shown in class as earth day was celebrated and how important it is to take care of the environment. I n the article Momentum on Fossil Fuel Divestment Grows as Harvard Professors, Desmond Tutu Call for Action discusses how momentum is rapidly growing in the movement to divest from fossil fuel. South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu demanded an anti-apartheid-style boycott and disinvestment campaign. This boycott would be against the industry for its contribution in climate change. The University of Harvard has 100 members for the their faculty has released an open letter saying that the Ivy league school to sell off its interest in coal, gas, and oil companies. One of the professors stated, “If the Corporation regards divestment as ‘political,’ then it continues investment is a similarly political act, one that finances present corporate activities and calculates profit for them.” Harvard has the largest university endowment in the country, approximately worth 32 billion.

                http://www.democracynow.org/2014/4/11/momentum_on_fossil_fuel_divestment_grows

                The other article I choose for the week was Can Any Court Hold U.S. Accountable for Killing Americans Overseas with Drone Strikes? This article talks about how the federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. government’s killing of three American citizens in Yemen due to drone attacks. This particular case was filled by the families of Samir Khan, Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, his teenage son, Abdulrahman, accusing top U.S. officials of unlawful killings. The U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer ruled the victims’ constitutional rights that were never violated and the U.S. officials believed the involvement cannot be held liable. Maria LaHood, who is senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights stated, “The courts have abdicated their roles with torture, they’ve abdicated their roles with indefinite detention.”

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/4/8/can_any_court_hold_us_accountable

                Both of the artless were different, but one thing they had in commend was how there is so many things happening around us. There are people getting killed and people fighting for a better environment. More attention to these topics should receive more support.