by Paul Radford | 15 Jun 2021 | Decoders, Educators' Catalog, Sports, World
Dogged by corruption and politics, the Olympic Games may seem outmoded. But their ideals survive, and the Games motivate athletes and excite fans. Greek actress Xanthi Georgiou lights the Olympic Torch, Athens, Greece, 19 March 2020. (EPA-EFE/ARIS MESSINIS / POOL)...
Paul Radford has covered 17 Olympic Games, and he displays his vast experience in this “decoder” that shows why the global sporting event still matters. Radford acknowledges the scandals and politics that have tarnished the image of the modern Games and made skeptics of many fans, while examining the high ideals that led to their creation. Like the Games, youth today are torn between idealism and skepticism born of frustration with their elders’ inability to resolve the world’s biggest problems. As Radford writes, it’s a tricky balance between idealism and skepticism.
Exercise: Organize a debate in class on the resolution, “The Olympic Games Should Be Abolished”.
by Nelson Graves | 27 May 2021 | Americas, Health and Wellness, Hewitt, News Decoder Updates, Podcasts, Students in the Spotlight, Youth Voices
In a series of articles and a global webinar, students at the Hewitt School in New York have drawn lessons from COVID-19 that point to a better future. Students from the Hewitt School and the African Leadership Academy during their April webinar on how COVID-19 has...
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 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...
by Aralynn Abare McMane | 28 Apr 2021 | Journalism, Media Literacy, News Decoder Updates, Politics
Thirty years after a landmark declaration of press freedom principles, journalists face threats that jeopardize democratic institutions around the world. Committee to Protect Journalists The international community salutes World Press Freedom Day on May 3 with...
