The author of this opinion piece calls into question several commonly held ideas about what the Statue of Liberty represents.
Category Archives: Hard-Won Liberty
The wind in my hair: one Iranian woman’s courageous struggle against being forced to wear the hijab
Activist Masih Alinejad has protested against wearing a hijab since she was a child. Click this link to learn about her online campaign to encourage Iranian women to resist the law that requires them to cover their hair in public.
Teaching Gandhi’s Nonviolent Principles in a Violent Time
In this interview, a youth educator at the Gandhi Institute describes how her organization applies a philosophy of principled nonviolence to its work with conflict resolution in schools.
There’s a war on books in prisons. It needs to end.
Can banning books help keep prisons safe? The author of this opinion piece believes there should be fewer restrictions on the books that prisoners are allowed to read.
Civil Disobedience
Both Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. drew inspiration from the writings of Henry David Thoreau. Read the 19th-century work that lit the fires of both Indian independence and American civil rights.
Spring Awakening: How an Egyptian Revolution Began on Facebook
Read this review of Revolution 2.0 to learn about Wael Ghonim’s experience and influence during the 2011 Arab Spring.
Quiz: What’s Your Freedom Type?
Answer questions based on realistic scenarios to find out where you rank in the balance between freedom and security. Then, see which historical figures fit and clash with your “freedom type.”
Plessy and Ferguson: Descendants of a divisive Supreme Court decision unite
The Supreme Court’s ruling in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson upheld racial segregation in the United States. Learn how descendants of the opposing sides have come together.
How Charles Dickens Helped the English Get Fresh Air
Charles Dickens’s writing brought the struggles of the poor to light in ways that helped improve their lot. But you may not know that he also brought literal light to the poor, along with air to breathe.
Segregation Now . . .
Six decades after U.S. schools were ordered to be racially integrated by the Supreme Court, enrollment is sliding back in the direction of segregation.
Welcome to the World’s Nicest Prison
Is the purpose of prison to punish or to reform? John D. Sutter highlights a controversial Norwegian prison that doesn’t feel like a prison at all—because its aim is not taking away freedom but instead creating good neighbors.
We use big data to sentence criminals. But can the algorithms really tell us what we need to know?
You might be surprised to learn that computer programs are used to help determine the length of a prison sentence. The question is whether that’s a good idea.
The Kurdish Project
The Kurds are a Middle-Eastern ethnic group without a country of their own. Find out more about who they are, where they live, and what obstacles they face.
Meeting in the Middle: Youth Activism and Formal Politics in Egypt
Written during the hopeful Arab Spring, this article analyzes how young people using social media spurred powerful political change in Egypt.
Juneteenth: A New Birth of Freedom
Have you ever heard of Juneteenth? On June 19, 1865, almost two and a half years after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, word finally reached Texas that the Civil War was over and that any slaves were free. Learn more about this celebration of freedom.
100th Anniversary of the Russian Revolution
Russia’s 1917 Revolution strove to free the people from the imperial rule of the Czars. As with the Arab Spring, though, a successful revolution was no guarantee of freedom from oppression.
Social Media Sparked, Accelerated Egypt’s Revolutionary Fire
Twenty-first century revolutionaries have a powerful tool not available to previous generations. Read about how technology aided the Arab Spring.
American Roots of the Indian Independence Movement
It’s well known that the American Civil Rights movement drew on the ideas that helped India break free from British rule. But those ideas in turn stem from American influence.
The challenge of the past
How does a country move forward once it has freed itself from a dictatorship? This article discusses the aftermath of oppression in several Latin American nations.
White clergymen urge local Negroes to withdraw from demonstrations
Read the newspaper commentary to which Martin Luther King Jr. responded in his powerful “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”