by Gene Gibbons | 10 Sep 2021 | Decoders, Educators' Catalog, Personal Reflections, Politics, Religion, World
Primitive tribes helped topple the powerful Roman Empire. Did attacks on the U.S. by Islamist extremists 20 years ago augur the end of a superpower? The Statue of Liberty and New York City’s skyline as smoke rises from the ruins of the Twin Towers, four days...
We often hear that history repeats itself. A core tenet of News Decoder’s mission is to help students place current events in a broader historical context. Correspondent Gene Gibbons looks beyond today’s headlines all the way back to ancient Rome to show how pride, corruption, strategic overreach and other political mistakes have contributed to the decline of superpowers, then and now.
Exercise: Ask students to debate the question in the headline, providing evidence for their position.
by Gene Gibbons | 19 Aug 2021 | Journalism, Personal Reflections, World
My birthday is a chance to survey the state of the world. So much news is full of despair, yet I feel mostly upbeat about progress that’s been made. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. addresses marchers during his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln...
by Susan Ruel | 2 Aug 2021 | Asia, Personal Reflections, Politics, United States
New Yorkers will never forget the attack on our city of 20 years ago. But will Americans remember the lessons of 9/11 and of the war in Afghanistan? Survivors of the attacks in New York, 11 September 2001 (AP Photo/Gulnara Samoilova) Next month will mark 20 years...
by Jeremy Solomons | 14 Jul 2021 | Economy, Personal Reflections
Not every successful entrepreneur wants above all to make money. But they do share certain traits. Read on if you want to break out on your own. “In the journey of an entrepreneur, the most important thing is self-belief and the ability to convert that belief...
by Enrique Shore | 28 Jun 2021 | Environment, Personal Reflections
Little did I know that leaving New York City during COVID-19 lockdown would bring me and my camera face-to-face with wild foxes. (All photos by Enrique Shore) I must admit that until very recently, I didn’t know anything about foxes. With few exceptions, people living...
by Nelson Graves | 1 Jun 2021 | Education, News Decoder alumni, News Decoder Updates, Personal Reflections, School Year Abroad
Elisabeth Wachtel learned a second language, made friends and lifted her chances of college admission by studying abroad for a year of high school. Why would a teenager pick up stakes and leave friends and family behind for a year to study in an unfamiliar, foreign...
by Stacy Shyaka | 26 May 2021 | Art, Human Rights, Personal Reflections, Student Posts, Westover School, Youth Voices
I come from Rwanda, where Black children are not hated for the color of their skin. My photos capture innocence and an age of purity. (All photos by Stacy Shyaka) In my country, Black children are able to hold on to their innocence because they live in a place where...
by Clarice Gillian Achola | 18 May 2021 | African Leadership Academy, Educators' Catalog, Health and Wellness, Personal Reflections, Student Posts, Youth Voices
Mocked for my dark skin, I long loathed myself and yearned for a lighter complexion. But now I fight colourism and defend diversity. “Leaning away from un-African beauty standards,” by Alana Muchemi, August 2020. The author is in the yellow shirt....
Adolescence is a time of self-discovery, and Clarice Gillian Achola of the African Leadership Academy finds that the discrimination she has faced since her days on the playground plagues large numbers of girls and women with dark skin. With detail and sensitivity, the author gives shape to the abstract notion of colourism, then moves from the first to the third person pronoun as she extends her personal battle to a broader campaign to save others from bigotry.
by Elisabeth Wachtel | 13 May 2021 | Americas, Europe, Government, Health and Wellness, Personal Reflections, Science, Youth Voices
COVID-19 has hit France and the U.S. to a similar extent. But their approaches to tackling the pandemic have been radically different — as I’ve seen. Elisabeth Wachtel in front of the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral In January, I moved from the United States to...
by Willow Delp | 4 May 2021 | African Leadership Academy, Art, Personal Reflections, Student Posts, Youth Voices
I’m a mix of black Jamaican and white American. My distinctive identity is both a target of hatred and my weapon for fighting injustice. A demonstrator at a protest against racism in Berlin, Germany, 6 June 2020 (Friedrich...
