A fresh political controversy has erupted in Tamil Nadu after the DMK accused TVK of colluding with the BJP following the police decision to deny permission for a statewide campaign against the National Education Policy (NEP) and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) reservation.

DMK president MK Stalin alleged that TVK was acting in line with the BJP, while Dravidar Kazhagam criticized the protest ban, saying previous governments had allowed similar demonstrations. The organization has now postponed its campaign and announced it will challenge the decision through legal means.

DMK Accuses TVK of BJP Nexus After Protest Ban | Stalin Targets Vijay Over NEET Row

Hundreds of members of Pakistan's transgender (Khwaja Sira) community and their supporters gathered in Karachi to protest against soaring inflation, rising fuel prices, expensive food, and the increasing cost of living.

The demonstrators carried placards demanding urgent government action, better employment opportunities, and financial relief for vulnerable communities. Protesters said the rapid increase in the prices of essential goods, housing, and transportation has made survival increasingly difficult, especially for transgender Pakistanis who continue to face discrimination and limited access to formal employment.

Pakistan's Transgender Community Protests Rising Inflation and Cost of Living in Karachi

<p>If everything had gone according to plan, California would have approved new guidelines this month for math education in public schools.</p>

<p>But ever since a draft was opened for public comment in February, the recommendations have set off a fierce debate over not only how to teach math, but also how to solve a problem more intractable than Fermat’s last theorem: closing the racial and socioeconomic disparities in achievement that persist at every level of math education.</p>

<p>The California guidelines, which are not binding, could overhaul the way many school districts approach math instruction. The draft rejected the idea of naturally gifted children, recommended against shifting certain students into accelerated courses in middle school and tried to promote high-level math courses that could serve as alternatives to calculus, such as data science or statistics.</p>

<p>The draft also suggested that math should not be colorblind and that teachers could use lessons to explore social justice — for example, by looking out for gender stereotypes in word problems, or applying math concepts to topics such as immigration or inequality.</p>

<p>The battle over math comes at a time when education policy, on issues including masks, testing and teaching about racism, has become entangled in bitter partisan debates. The Republican candidate for governor in Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, seized on those issues to help propel him to victory Tuesday. Now, Republicans are discussing how these education issues can help them in the midterm elections next year.</p>

<p>Even in heavily Democratic California — a state with 6 million public school students and an outsize influence on textbook publishing nationwide — the draft guidelines encountered scathing criticism, with charges that the framework would inject “woke” politics into a subject that is supposed to be practical and precise.</p>

<p>“People will really go to battle for maths to stay the same,” said Jo Boaler, a professor of education at Stanford University who is working on the revision. “Even parents who hated maths in school will argue to keep it the same for their kids.”</p>

<p>The battle over math pedagogy is a tale as old as multiplication tables. An idea called “new math,” pitched as a more conceptual approach to the subject, had its heyday in the 1960s. About a decade ago, amid debates over the national Common Core standards, many parents bemoaned math exercises that they said seemed to dump line-by-line computation in favor of veritable hieroglyphs.</p>

<p>Today, the battles over the California guidelines are circling around a fundamental question: What, or whom, is math for?</p>

<p>Testing results regularly show that math students in the United States are lagging behind those in other industrialized nations. And within the country, there is a persistent racial gap in achievement. According to data from the civil rights office of the Education Department, Black students represented about 16% of high school students but 8% of those enrolled in calculus during the 2015-16 school year. White and Asian students were overrepresented in high-level courses.</p>

<p>“We have a state and nation that hates math and is not doing well with it,” Boaler said.</p>

<p>Critics of the draft said the authors would punish high achievers by limiting options for gifted programs. An open letter signed by hundreds of Californians working in science and technology described the draft as “an endless river of new pedagogical fads that effectively distort and displace actual math.”</p>

<p>Williamson M. Evers, a senior fellow at the Independent Institute and a former official with the Education Department during the administration of George W. Bush, was one of the authors of the letter and objected to the idea that math could be a tool for social activism.</p>

<p>“I think that’s really not right,” he said in an interview. “Math is math. Two plus two equals four.”</p>

<p>Distress over the draft made it to Fox News. In May, Boaler’s name and photograph were featured on an episode of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” an appearance she did not know about until she began receiving nasty letters from strangers.</p>

<p>Like some of the attempted reforms of decades past, the draft of the California guidelines favored a more conceptual approach to learning: more collaborating and problem-solving, less memorizing formulas.</p>

<p>It also promoted something called de-tracking, which keeps students together longer instead of separating high achievers into advanced classes before high school.</p>

<p>The San Francisco Unified School District already does something similar. There, middle school math students are not split up but rather take integrated courses meant to build their understanding year by year, although older high school students can still opt into high-level classes such as calculus.</p>

<p>Sophia Alemayehu, 16, a high school junior in San Francisco, advanced along that integrated track even though she did not always consider herself a gifted math student. She is now taking advanced calculus.</p>

<p>“In eighth and ninth grade, I had teachers tell me, ‘Oh, you’re actually really good at the material,’” she said. “So it made me think, maybe I’m good at math.”</p>

<p>The model has been in place since 2014, yielding a few years of data on retention and diversity that has been picked over by experts on both sides of the de-tracking debate. And while the data is complicated by numerous variables — a pandemic now among them — those who support San Francisco’s model say it has led to more students, and a more diverse set of students, taking advanced courses, without bringing down high achievers.</p>

<p>“You’ll hear people say that it’s the least common denominator that discourages gifted kids from advancing,” said Elizabeth Hull Barnes, the math supervisor for the district. “And then it’s like, nope, our data refutes that.”</p>

<p>But Evers, the former Education Department official, pointed to research suggesting that the data on math achievement in places such as San Francisco was more cherry-picked than conclusive. He added that California’s proposed framework could take a more nuanced approach to de-tracking, which he saw as a blunt tool that did not take the needs of individual districts into account.</p>

<p>Other critics of de-tracking say that it amounts to a drag on children who would benefit from challenging material and that it can hurt struggling students who might need more targeted instruction.</p>

<p>Divya Chhabra, a middle school math teacher in Dublin, California, said the state should focus more on the quality of instruction by finding or training more certified, experienced teachers.</p>

<p>Without that, she said, students with potential would quickly fall behind, and it would only hurt them further to take away options for advanced learning. “I feel so bad for these students,” Chhabra said. “We are cutting the legs of the students to make them equal to those who are not doing well in math.”</p>

<p>Tracking is part of a larger debate about access to college. Under the current system, students who are not placed in accelerated courses by middle school may never get the opportunity to take calculus, which has long been an informal gatekeeper for acceptance to selective schools.</p>

<p>According to data from the Education Department, calculus is not even offered in most schools that serve a large number of Black and Latino students.</p>

<p>The role of calculus has been a talking point among math educators for years, said Trena Wilkerson, president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. “If calculus is not the be-all, end-all thing, then we need everyone to understand what the different pathways can be and how to prepare students for the future,” she said.</p>

<p>California’s recommendations aim to expand the options for high-level math, so that students could take courses in, say, data science or statistics without losing their edge on college applications. (The move requires buy-in from colleges; in recent years, the University of California system has deemphasized the importance of calculus credits.)</p>

<p>For now, the revision process has reached a sort of interlude: The draft is being revised before another round of public comment, and it will not be until late spring, or maybe summer, that the state’s education board will decide whether to give its stamp of approval.</p>

<p>But even after that, districts will be free to opt out of the state’s recommendations. And in places that opt in, academic outcomes — in the form of test scores, retention rates and college readiness — will add to the stormy sea of data about what kinds of math instruction work best.</p>

<p>In other words, the conversation is far from over.</p>

<p>“We’ve had a really hard time overhauling math instruction in this country,” said Linda Darling-Hammond, president of California’s board of education. “We cannot ration well-taught, thoughtful mathematics to only a few people. We have to make it widely available. In that sense, I don’t disagree that it’s a social justice issue.”</p>


If everything had gone according to plan, California would have approved new guidelines this month for math education in public schools. But ever since a draft was opened for public comment in February, the recommendations have set off a fierce debate over not only how to teach math, but also how to solve a problem more intractable than Fermat’s last theorem: closing the racial and socioeconomic disparities in achievement that persist at every level of math education.

If everything had gone according to plan, California would have approved new guidelines this month for math education in public schools. But ever since a draft was opened for public comment in February, the recommendations have set off a fierce debate over not only how to teach math, but also how to solve a problem more intractable than Fermat’s last theorem: closing the racial and socioeconomic disparities in achievement that persist at every level of math education. The California guidelines, which are not binding, could overhaul the way many school districts approach math instruction. The draft rejected the idea of naturally gifted children, recommended against shifting certain students into accelerated courses in middle school and tried to promote high-level math courses that could serve as alternatives to calculus, such as data science or statistics. The draft also suggested that math should not be colorblind and that teachers could use lessons to explore social justice — for example, by looking out for gender stereotypes in word problems, or applying math concepts to topics such as immigration or inequality. The battle over math comes at a time when education policy, on issues including masks, testing and teaching about racism, has become entangled in bitter partisan debates. The Republican candidate for governor in Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, seized on those issues to help propel him to victory Tuesday. Now, Republicans are discussing how these education issues can help them in the midterm elections next year. Even in heavily Democratic California — a state with 6 million public school students and an outsize influence on textbook publishing nationwide — the draft guidelines encountered scathing criticism, with charges that the framework would inject “woke” politics into a subject that is supposed to be practical and precise. “People will really go to battle for maths to stay the same,” said Jo Boaler, a professor of education at Stanford University who is working on the revision. “Even parents who hated maths in school will argue to keep it the same for their kids.” The battle over math pedagogy is a tale as old as multiplication tables. An idea called “new math,” pitched as a more conceptual approach to the subject, had its heyday in the 1960s. About a decade ago, amid debates over the national Common Core standards, many parents bemoaned math exercises that they said seemed to dump line-by-line computation in favor of veritable hieroglyphs. Today, the battles over the California guidelines are circling around a fundamental question: What, or whom, is math for? Testing results regularly show that math students in the United States are lagging behind those in other industrialized nations. And within the country, there is a persistent racial gap in achievement. According to data from the civil rights office of the Education Department, Black students represented about 16% of high school students but 8% of those enrolled in calculus during the 2015-16 school year. White and Asian students were overrepresented in high-level courses. “We have a state and nation that hates math and is not doing well with it,” Boaler said. Critics of the draft said the authors would punish high achievers by limiting options for gifted programs. An open letter signed by hundreds of Californians working in science and technology described the draft as “an endless river of new pedagogical fads that effectively distort and displace actual math.” Williamson M. Evers, a senior fellow at the Independent Institute and a former official with the Education Department during the administration of George W. Bush, was one of the authors of the letter and objected to the idea that math could be a tool for social activism. “I think that’s really not right,” he said in an interview. “Math is math. Two plus two equals four.” Distress over the draft made it to Fox News. In May, Boaler’s name and photograph were featured on an episode of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” an appearance she did not know about until she began receiving nasty letters from strangers. Like some of the attempted reforms of decades past, the draft of the California guidelines favored a more conceptual approach to learning: more collaborating and problem-solving, less memorizing formulas. It also promoted something called de-tracking, which keeps students together longer instead of separating high achievers into advanced classes before high school. The San Francisco Unified School District already does something similar. There, middle school math students are not split up but rather take integrated courses meant to build their understanding year by year, although older high school students can still opt into high-level classes such as calculus. Sophia Alemayehu, 16, a high school junior in San Francisco, advanced along that integrated track even though she did not always consider herself a gifted math student. She is now taking advanced calculus. “In eighth and ninth grade, I had teachers tell me, ‘Oh, you’re actually really good at the material,’” she said. “So it made me think, maybe I’m good at math.” The model has been in place since 2014, yielding a few years of data on retention and diversity that has been picked over by experts on both sides of the de-tracking debate. And while the data is complicated by numerous variables — a pandemic now among them — those who support San Francisco’s model say it has led to more students, and a more diverse set of students, taking advanced courses, without bringing down high achievers. “You’ll hear people say that it’s the least common denominator that discourages gifted kids from advancing,” said Elizabeth Hull Barnes, the math supervisor for the district. “And then it’s like, nope, our data refutes that.” But Evers, the former Education Department official, pointed to research suggesting that the data on math achievement in places such as San Francisco was more cherry-picked than conclusive. He added that California’s proposed framework could take a more nuanced approach to de-tracking, which he saw as a blunt tool that did not take the needs of individual districts into account. Other critics of de-tracking say that it amounts to a drag on children who would benefit from challenging material and that it can hurt struggling students who might need more targeted instruction. Divya Chhabra, a middle school math teacher in Dublin, California, said the state should focus more on the quality of instruction by finding or training more certified, experienced teachers. Without that, she said, students with potential would quickly fall behind, and it would only hurt them further to take away options for advanced learning. “I feel so bad for these students,” Chhabra said. “We are cutting the legs of the students to make them equal to those who are not doing well in math.” Tracking is part of a larger debate about access to college. Under the current system, students who are not placed in accelerated courses by middle school may never get the opportunity to take calculus, which has long been an informal gatekeeper for acceptance to selective schools. According to data from the Education Department, calculus is not even offered in most schools that serve a large number of Black and Latino students. The role of calculus has been a talking point among math educators for years, said Trena Wilkerson, president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. “If calculus is not the be-all, end-all thing, then we need everyone to understand what the different pathways can be and how to prepare students for the future,” she said. California’s recommendations aim to expand the options for high-level math, so that students could take courses in, say, data science or statistics without losing their edge on college applications. (The move requires buy-in from colleges; in recent years, the University of California system has deemphasized the importance of calculus credits.) For now, the revision process has reached a sort of interlude: The draft is being revised before another round of public comment, and it will not be until late spring, or maybe summer, that the state’s education board will decide whether to give its stamp of approval. But even after that, districts will be free to opt out of the state’s recommendations. And in places that opt in, academic outcomes — in the form of test scores, retention rates and college readiness — will add to the stormy sea of data about what kinds of math instruction work best. In other words, the conversation is far from over. “We’ve had a really hard time overhauling math instruction in this country,” said Linda Darling-Hammond, president of California’s board of education. “We cannot ration well-taught, thoughtful mathematics to only a few people. We have to make it widely available. In that sense, I don’t disagree that it’s a social justice issue.”

Should social justice be part of math education?

<p><strong>Pope Francis</strong>&nbsp;hosted a delegation of <strong>NBA players and union officials</strong> at the Vatican in a bid to discuss the wide-ranging issues of <strong>racial equality and social justice</strong>. The delegation of five players and five union executives met with Pope Francis&nbsp;in the papal library of the Apostolic Palace on Monday, presenting gifts and discussed their share of experiences in tacking racism and social injustice. Interestingly, <strong>no one wore a mask</strong> to protect against the spread of COVID-19.</p>

<p>Photos and videos from the meeting showed at least 16 people sitting and exchanging gifts and opinions with no masks and almost no social-distancing measures.</p>

<p><strong>The National Basketball Players Association</strong> (NLBPA) confirmed that the members of the delegation underwent COVID-19 tests before meeting Pope Francis, in accordance with the Vatican protocols.</p>

<p><strong>ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/nba-draft-2020-top-picks-trivia-and-best-quotes-344039" hreflang="en">NBA Draft 2020: Top picks, trivia and best quotes</a></strong></p>

<p>Pope Francis, 83, over the months, has received criticism for rarely wearing a mask while meeting people indoors.</p>

<p>Notably, the US has reported around 12 million coronavirus cases with death toll north to 250,000 from the virus – the most in the world.</p>

<p>The NBA player delegation included the likes of <strong>Sterling Brown </strong>and <strong>Kyle Korver</strong> of Milwaukee Bucks, <strong>Anthony Tolliver</strong> of the Memphis Grizzlies, <strong>Jonathan Isaac</strong> of the Orlando Magic and <strong>Marco Belinelli</strong> of the San Antonio Spurs. Belinelli spoke to the Pope in Italian.&nbsp;</p>

<h2><strong>"Meeting validates the power of our players' voices"</strong></h2>

<p>“Today's meeting validates the power of our players' voices,” NLBPA executive director Michele Roberts said. “That one of the most influential leaders in the world sought to have a conversation with them demonstrates the influence of their platforms.”</p>

<p><strong>ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/nba-announces-structure-and-format-for-2020-21-season-343846" hreflang="en">NBA announces structure and format for 2020-21 season</a></strong></p>

<p>The NBA became central to political storm this year in the aftermath of the massive <strong>Black Lives Matter (BLM)</strong> protest across the US after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, under police custody. Players boycotted matches after another African-American man Jacob Blake was shot dead by police in Wisconsin.</p>

<p>Korver stated that players were honoured to share their experiences with Pope Francis. “His openness and eagerness to discuss these issues was inspiring and a reminder that our work has had a global impact and must continue moving forward,” Korver said.</p>

<p><strong>ALSO READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/nba-2020-draft-history-stats-and-all-the-numbers-you-need-to-know-343844" hreflang="en">NBA 2020 Draft: History, Stats and all the numbers you need to know</a></strong></p>

<p>Pope Francis’s book is due out on December 1 in which he has supported demands for racial justice among many other social causes.<br />
&nbsp;</p>


Pope Francis hosted a delegation of NBA players and union officials at the Vatican in a bid to discuss the wide-ranging issues of racial equality and social justice.

Pope Francis hosted a delegation of NBA players and union officials at the Vatican in a bid to discuss the wide-ranging issues of racial equality and social justice. The delegation of five players and five union executives met with Pope Francis in the papal library of the Apostolic Palace on Monday, presenting gifts and discussed their share of experiences in tacking racism and social injustice. Interestingly, no one wore a mask to protect against the spread of COVID-19. Photos and videos from the meeting showed at least 16 people sitting and exchanging gifts and opinions with no masks and almost no social-distancing measures. The National Basketball Players Association (NLBPA) confirmed that the members of the delegation underwent COVID-19 tests before meeting Pope Francis, in accordance with the Vatican protocols. ALSO READ: NBA Draft 2020: Top picks, trivia and best quotes Pope Francis, 83, over the months, has received criticism for rarely wearing a mask while meeting people indoors. Notably, the US has reported around 12 million coronavirus cases with death toll north to 250,000 from the virus – the most in the world. The NBA player delegation included the likes of Sterling Brown and Kyle Korver of Milwaukee Bucks, Anthony Tolliver of the Memphis Grizzlies, Jonathan Isaac of the Orlando Magic and Marco Belinelli of the San Antonio Spurs. Belinelli spoke to the Pope in Italian. "Meeting validates the power of our players' voices" “Today's meeting validates the power of our players' voices,” NLBPA executive director Michele Roberts said. “That one of the most influential leaders in the world sought to have a conversation with them demonstrates the influence of their platforms.” ALSO READ: NBA announces structure and format for 2020-21 season The NBA became central to political storm this year in the aftermath of the massive Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest across the US after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, under police custody. Players boycotted matches after another African-American man Jacob Blake was shot dead by police in Wisconsin. Korver stated that players were honoured to share their experiences with Pope Francis. “His openness and eagerness to discuss these issues was inspiring and a reminder that our work has had a global impact and must continue moving forward,” Korver said. ALSO READ: NBA 2020 Draft: History, Stats and all the numbers you need to know Pope Francis’s book is due out on December 1 in which he has supported demands for racial justice among many other social causes.

Pope Francis hosts delegation of NBA players for maskless meeting over social justice

<p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/supreme-court-refuses-to-entertain-pil-seeking-guidelines-for-frisking-of-students-during-examinations-235264/amp">Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi</a> on Friday said that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) should be integrated into modern business strategy.</p>

<p>Speaking at the second annual Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Memorial Lecture in Associated Chambers of Commerce of India (ASSOCHAM), Gogoi said, "In order to achieve the goal of <a href="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-uds-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;q=https://www.wionews.com/india-news/mayawati-weakening-fight-for-social-justice-says-sp-after-bsps-alliance-snub-229997&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjijufPvrHjAhXRaN4KHa2hAKE4ChAWMAV6BAgCEAI&amp;usg=AOvVaw0KclMUvVLLb_dlDdKPEr7c">social justice</a> in the best possible manner, it is necessary that CSR is integrated into our modern business strategy so as to make it sustainable."</p>

<p>"We can do that by making our business adopt, demonstrate and practice more holistic approaches to business where financial drivers together with sustainable development performance like a social utility, environmental protection, and economic growth are incorporated into mainstream business strategy and are embedded in organisational values," Gogoi said.&nbsp;</p>

<p>He further said that CSR goes beyond charity and requires the companies and businesses to act beyond their legal obligations and to integrate social, environmental and ethical concerns into a company`s business process.</p>

<p>"CSR at its best is about the corporate sector reaching out from within to society outside in order to benefit both business and social and physical environment from which it springs and within which it functions.&nbsp;</p>

<p>CSR does synergize social and business interests.&nbsp;</p>

<p>It is because of such interdependence of business and society in modern times that makes CSR exceedingly important and it is because of that reason that CSR has been made mandatory in our country," said Gogoi.</p>

<p>Terming the Companies Act 2013 as a historic milestone in the context of the growth of CSR, the CJI said the Act "provides an opportunity in the corporate sector to socialise its business operations.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The 2013 Act has introduced several provisions that will change the way Indian corporates do business and one such provision is spending on CSR activities.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Thus CSR which has largely been a voluntary contribution by corporates has now been mandated by law."</p>


Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi on Friday said that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) should be integrated into modern business strategy. Speaking at the second annual Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Memorial Lecture in Associated Chambers of Commerce of India (ASSOCHAM), Gogoi said, "In order to achieve the goal of social justice in the best possible manner, it is necessary that CSR is integrated into our modern business strategy so as to make it sustainable.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi on Friday said that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) should be integrated into modern business strategy. Speaking at the second annual Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Memorial Lecture in Associated Chambers of Commerce of India (ASSOCHAM), Gogoi said, "In order to achieve the goal of social justice in the best possible manner, it is necessary that CSR is integrated into our modern business strategy so as to make it sustainable." "We can do that by making our business adopt, demonstrate and practice more holistic approaches to business where financial drivers together with sustainable development performance like a social utility, environmental protection, and economic growth are incorporated into mainstream business strategy and are embedded in organisational values," Gogoi said. He further said that CSR goes beyond charity and requires the companies and businesses to act beyond their legal obligations and to integrate social, environmental and ethical concerns into a company`s business process. "CSR at its best is about the corporate sector reaching out from within to society outside in order to benefit both business and social and physical environment from which it springs and within which it functions. CSR does synergize social and business interests. It is because of such interdependence of business and society in modern times that makes CSR exceedingly important and it is because of that reason that CSR has been made mandatory in our country," said Gogoi. Terming the Companies Act 2013 as a historic milestone in the context of the growth of CSR, the CJI said the Act "provides an opportunity in the corporate sector to socialise its business operations. The 2013 Act has introduced several provisions that will change the way Indian corporates do business and one such provision is spending on CSR activities. Thus CSR which has largely been a voluntary contribution by corporates has now been mandated by law."

CSR should be integrated into modern business strategy, says CJI Ranjan Gogoi

<p>Samajwadi Party leader Ramashankar Vidyarthi Monday said BSP supremo Mayawati's decision of going solo in all future elections will "weaken" the fight for social justice.</p>

<p>Mayawati on Monday declared that her party in the future will contest all elections "small and big" on its own, signalling the end of the much-discussed Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Samajwadi Party (SP) alliance forged for the Lok Sabha polls.</p>

<p>"She is speaking against the Samajwadi Party in haste and due to the Dalit support to the SP and its leader Akhilesh Yadav. She is weakening the fight for social justice," Vidyarthi told reporters</p>

<p>The SP national general secretary said the 'Dalit samaj' is getting connected with the Samajwadi Party and its chief Akhilesh Yadav in a big way. "People know the reality about what the 'malkin' of the alliance has done," he said.</p>

<p>Mayawati's announcement came a day after she held a meeting with party workers to review the BSP's performance in the recent Lok Sabha polls.</p>

<p>"Everyone is aware that forgetting everything of the past as also the anti-BSP and anti-Dalit decisions like reservation in promotions and bad law and order during the SP rule in 2012-2017, BSP adhered to the 'gathbandhan dharma' with the Samajwadi Party in the interest of the country," she tweeted in Hindi.</p>

<p>"But the SP's attitude after the elections has forced the BSP to think, will it be possible to defeat the BJP in the future? This is not possible," she said.</p>

<p>"Therefore, in the interest of the party and the movement, the party will contest all small and big elections on its own strength," Mayawati added.</p>

<p>The BSP entered into an electoral alliance with Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) and Chaudhary Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha polls.</p>

<p>The alliance, however, failed to make an impact in the politically crucial state. While the BSP managed to win ten seats, SP got five seats and RLD drew a blank.</p>


Samajwadi Party leader Ramashankar Vidyarthi Monday said BSP supremo Mayawati's decision of going solo in all future elections will "weaken" the fight for social justice.

Samajwadi Party leader Ramashankar Vidyarthi Monday said BSP supremo Mayawati's decision of going solo in all future elections will "weaken" the fight for social justice. Mayawati on Monday declared that her party in the future will contest all elections "small and big" on its own, signalling the end of the much-discussed Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Samajwadi Party (SP) alliance forged for the Lok Sabha polls. "She is speaking against the Samajwadi Party in haste and due to the Dalit support to the SP and its leader Akhilesh Yadav. She is weakening the fight for social justice," Vidyarthi told reporters The SP national general secretary said the 'Dalit samaj' is getting connected with the Samajwadi Party and its chief Akhilesh Yadav in a big way. "People know the reality about what the 'malkin' of the alliance has done," he said. Mayawati's announcement came a day after she held a meeting with party workers to review the BSP's performance in the recent Lok Sabha polls. "Everyone is aware that forgetting everything of the past as also the anti-BSP and anti-Dalit decisions like reservation in promotions and bad law and order during the SP rule in 2012-2017, BSP adhered to the 'gathbandhan dharma' with the Samajwadi Party in the interest of the country," she tweeted in Hindi. "But the SP's attitude after the elections has forced the BSP to think, will it be possible to defeat the BJP in the future? This is not possible," she said. "Therefore, in the interest of the party and the movement, the party will contest all small and big elections on its own strength," Mayawati added. The BSP entered into an electoral alliance with Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) and Chaudhary Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha polls. The alliance, however, failed to make an impact in the politically crucial state. While the BSP managed to win ten seats, SP got five seats and RLD drew a blank.

Mayawati weakening fight for social justice, says SP after BSP's alliance snub

<p><em>*By&nbsp;Steven Friedman</em></p>

<p>One day, if they follow instructions, Africa’s new democracies will grow up to be “real” like those of Western Europe and North America. This assumption makes little sense – but it influences the way many people in the West and in Africa think about African democracies.</p>

<p>Challenging this myth is a central theme of my book Power in Action: Democracy, Citizenship and Social Justice, which has just been published by Wits University Press.</p>

<p>Over the past two decades, the book notes, democracy has blossomed in Africa: in 1990, the continent housed, at most, four democracies. Today, countries in which the government is not at least elected in a free vote in which opposition parties contest are a small minority. But there is still a deep-rooted feeling among Western academics, policymakers and journalists that African democracies are not yet “the finished product” – that they are still on their way to becoming full democracies.</p>

<p>This view gave birth to a field of academic study in the West – the search for “democratic consolidation”. It emerged because academics assumed that the new democracies were not yet “complete”, even though they called themselves democratic. And so they set out to discover whether democracies in Africa (and Asia and Latin America) were “consolidated”, which meant that they were the finished product.</p>

<p>The academics have never said how we would know a “complete” democracy when we saw one. They don’t have to – it is obvious from their writing that, to become the “finished article”, democracies have to become like those in the West.</p>

<p>The academics are reflecting a widely held view. Western governments that set out to make the world democratic were trying to “help” democracies outside the West to become just like those in it. European and US politicians who care about democracy elsewhere share this view. So do many Africans.</p>

<p><b>Colonial mindset&nbsp;</b></p>

<p>Academics on the African continent are keen to study whether their democracies are on the way to being “consolidated” and much commentary on the continent assumes that a “grown-up” democracy looks like Britain, France or the US. This is particularly so in countries like South Africa which house a significant minority of people of Western origin, many of whom believe that the West is the home of civilisation to which the rest of the world should aspire.</p>

<p>This view has a distinctly colonial flavour. The moral excuse for colonialism was that it was bringing to the colonised “civilisation”, which meant whatever people in the colonising country valued. There is no difference between this and trying to persuade the formerly colonised that their democracies can only become “real” if they mimic those in the West.</p>

<p>But it makes very little sense to claim that Western democracies are the “finished product”.</p>

<p>First, Western democracies differ between themselves. So which version are people in Africa meant to mimic? Must their countries become unitary states like Britain or France, or federal like the US and Germany? Must African states give unions and business associations a say in decisions as Sweden, Austria and Switzerland have done? Must language or religious groups be allowed a special say as Belgium and Holland have done? It is not clear which of the many forms of Western democracy Africans are meant to want to be.</p>

<p>Second, the “finished products” of the West are not that finished. Britain has an unelected house of traditional leaders and clergy – the House of Lords. The US system allows the half-million residents of one state to have the same say in the Senate as the 35 million of another. Several Western democracies detain suspects without trial – the US has done this for nearly two decades at Guantanamo Bay, far longer than South Africa’s apartheid state ever detained anyone without trial.</p>

<p>The media in several Western countries is judged by specialists to be less free than those in some non-Western democracies. To show the absurdity of claiming that Western democracies are always better, think what would happen if an African president was elected because he won the vote in a state where the voting machines were faulty and the governor was his brother? This happened in the US in 2000 – and no-one has declared it an “incomplete” democracy.</p>

<p>Third, the democratic idea is that every adult should have an equal say in the decisions which affect them. Where does that happen? Nowhere. So no democracy is a “finished product”. All fall short of the democratic goal and so Western democracies are no more real than those elsewhere. It also makes little sense to claim that one democracy is further down the road to “completion” than another – democracy has many aspects and on some, newer democracies outside the West are further down the road than those they are meant to want to be.</p>

<p>More people vote in some African countries than in some in the West. South Africa does more to promote women’s participation than most Western countries. A study of Botswana complained that its people did not value democracy because only 45% of voters knew the name of their member of Parliament – but the equivalent figure in Sweden was only 33% and several other European countries lagged far behind Botswana, whose voters are better informed than Swedes.</p>

<p><strong>Inferiority complex </strong></p>

<p>In sum, the democratic inferiority complex of many Africans is unwarranted. The idea that our democracies are “B Grade” and those of the West are prime quality is false.</p>

<p>None of this means that African democracies are better than those in the West. It means that the idea of “real” and “not yet real” democracies expresses a colonial mentality, not reality.</p>

<p>Like all democracies, Africa’s have much room for improvement. But they will never become what they could be if they struggle to become a copy of a romanticised Western democracy. Africa’s democracies will progress if they concentrate on the core democratic principle – giving more and more people a say over more and more issues – and debate how to do that in their particular conditions.</p>

<p><em>*(Steven Friedman is Director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy at Rhodes University and the University of Johannesburg)</em></p>

<p><em>(This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-claim-that-democracy-fares-better-in-the-west-than-in-africa-is-a-fallacy-110408">original article</a>)</em></p>

<p><em>(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)</em></p>


*By Steven Friedman One day, if they follow instructions, Africa’s new democracies will grow up to be “real” like those of Western Europe and North America. This assumption makes little sense – but it influences the way many people in the West and in Africa think about African democracies.

*By Steven Friedman One day, if they follow instructions, Africa’s new democracies will grow up to be “real” like those of Western Europe and North America. This assumption makes little sense – but it influences the way many people in the West and in Africa think about African democracies. Challenging this myth is a central theme of my book Power in Action: Democracy, Citizenship and Social Justice, which has just been published by Wits University Press. Over the past two decades, the book notes, democracy has blossomed in Africa: in 1990, the continent housed, at most, four democracies. Today, countries in which the government is not at least elected in a free vote in which opposition parties contest are a small minority. But there is still a deep-rooted feeling among Western academics, policymakers and journalists that African democracies are not yet “the finished product” – that they are still on their way to becoming full democracies. This view gave birth to a field of academic study in the West – the search for “democratic consolidation”. It emerged because academics assumed that the new democracies were not yet “complete”, even though they called themselves democratic. And so they set out to discover whether democracies in Africa (and Asia and Latin America) were “consolidated”, which meant that they were the finished product. The academics have never said how we would know a “complete” democracy when we saw one. They don’t have to – it is obvious from their writing that, to become the “finished article”, democracies have to become like those in the West. The academics are reflecting a widely held view. Western governments that set out to make the world democratic were trying to “help” democracies outside the West to become just like those in it. European and US politicians who care about democracy elsewhere share this view. So do many Africans. Colonial mindset Academics on the African continent are keen to study whether their democracies are on the way to being “consolidated” and much commentary on the continent assumes that a “grown-up” democracy looks like Britain, France or the US. This is particularly so in countries like South Africa which house a significant minority of people of Western origin, many of whom believe that the West is the home of civilisation to which the rest of the world should aspire. This view has a distinctly colonial flavour. The moral excuse for colonialism was that it was bringing to the colonised “civilisation”, which meant whatever people in the colonising country valued. There is no difference between this and trying to persuade the formerly colonised that their democracies can only become “real” if they mimic those in the West. But it makes very little sense to claim that Western democracies are the “finished product”. First, Western democracies differ between themselves. So which version are people in Africa meant to mimic? Must their countries become unitary states like Britain or France, or federal like the US and Germany? Must African states give unions and business associations a say in decisions as Sweden, Austria and Switzerland have done? Must language or religious groups be allowed a special say as Belgium and Holland have done? It is not clear which of the many forms of Western democracy Africans are meant to want to be. Second, the “finished products” of the West are not that finished. Britain has an unelected house of traditional leaders and clergy – the House of Lords. The US system allows the half-million residents of one state to have the same say in the Senate as the 35 million of another. Several Western democracies detain suspects without trial – the US has done this for nearly two decades at Guantanamo Bay, far longer than South Africa’s apartheid state ever detained anyone without trial. The media in several Western countries is judged by specialists to be less free than those in some non-Western democracies. To show the absurdity of claiming that Western democracies are always better, think what would happen if an African president was elected because he won the vote in a state where the voting machines were faulty and the governor was his brother? This happened in the US in 2000 – and no-one has declared it an “incomplete” democracy. Third, the democratic idea is that every adult should have an equal say in the decisions which affect them. Where does that happen? Nowhere. So no democracy is a “finished product”. All fall short of the democratic goal and so Western democracies are no more real than those elsewhere. It also makes little sense to claim that one democracy is further down the road to “completion” than another – democracy has many aspects and on some, newer democracies outside the West are further down the road than those they are meant to want to be. More people vote in some African countries than in some in the West. South Africa does more to promote women’s participation than most Western countries. A study of Botswana complained that its people did not value democracy because only 45% of voters knew the name of their member of Parliament – but the equivalent figure in Sweden was only 33% and several other European countries lagged far behind Botswana, whose voters are better informed than Swedes. Inferiority complex In sum, the democratic inferiority complex of many Africans is unwarranted. The idea that our democracies are “B Grade” and those of the West are prime quality is false. None of this means that African democracies are better than those in the West. It means that the idea of “real” and “not yet real” democracies expresses a colonial mentality, not reality. Like all democracies, Africa’s have much room for improvement. But they will never become what they could be if they struggle to become a copy of a romanticised Western democracy. Africa’s democracies will progress if they concentrate on the core democratic principle – giving more and more people a say over more and more issues – and debate how to do that in their particular conditions. *(Steven Friedman is Director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy at Rhodes University and the University of Johannesburg) (This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

The claim that democracy fares better in the West than in Africa is a fallacy

<p>India has made technology a medium to attain social justice, empowerment, inclusion and transparency, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.</p>

<p>He said the government was using technology to ensure effective 'last mile delivery of services' and it was also being made an effective medium to bring in 'Ease of Living'.</p>

<p>Modi was addressing DST-CII India Italy Technology Summit, along with his Italian counterpart Giuseppe Conte.</p>

<p>"India has made technology a medium for attaining social justice, empowerment, inclusion and transparency. The government is using technology to ensure effective last mile delivery of services," he said.</p>

<p>Highlighting the achievements of the Indian space programme, he said it was an example of innovation with quality.</p>

<p>The prime minister said India was now able to send satellites of many countries, including Italy, into space and this showcased the nation's capability of creating innovative solutions at a low cost.</p>

<p>In his address, Conte said he had a "fruitful discussion" with Modi and the two sides explored the possible contribution of Italy to 'Make in India' in various sectors.</p>

<p>Conte said he and the prime minister explored the potential for a new partnership in the area of railway and re-launching of cooperation in the development of renewable energy.</p>

<p>"India and Italy have a lot of similarities and complementarities that make us natural allies in offering effective solutions to the challenges in the 21st century," Conte said.</p>

<p>Innovation, he said, could be a catalyst for achieving inclusive growth and instrument to growth of global development.</p>

<p>Increasing cooperation in the area of heritage was also one of the important aspects, the Italian prime minister said.</p>

<p>"I'm pleased that cultural heritage has been included in the focus area of this technology summit. As Italy has the highest number of UNESCO sites, we have used innovation technology for conservation of monuments. We are pleased to share with India the unique expertise we have gathered in this area," he said.</p>

<p>Modi said to strengthen economic ties, the countries have agreed to set up the Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation (JCEC) under which a CEO forum would also be established.</p>

<p>He said the two sides have agreed to establish a fast track mechanism to increase two-way investment and remove hurdles in trade.</p>

<p>"The common goal of our two governments is to become the most strategic partners in innovations to provide a very concrete and more effective answer to the global challenges that we face.</p>


India has made technology a medium to attain social justice, empowerment, inclusion and transparency, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. He said the government was using technology to ensure effective 'last mile delivery of services' and it was also being made an effective medium to bring in 'Ease of Living'.

India has made technology a medium to attain social justice, empowerment, inclusion and transparency, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. He said the government was using technology to ensure effective 'last mile delivery of services' and it was also being made an effective medium to bring in 'Ease of Living'. Modi was addressing DST-CII India Italy Technology Summit, along with his Italian counterpart Giuseppe Conte. "India has made technology a medium for attaining social justice, empowerment, inclusion and transparency. The government is using technology to ensure effective last mile delivery of services," he said. Highlighting the achievements of the Indian space programme, he said it was an example of innovation with quality. The prime minister said India was now able to send satellites of many countries, including Italy, into space and this showcased the nation's capability of creating innovative solutions at a low cost. In his address, Conte said he had a "fruitful discussion" with Modi and the two sides explored the possible contribution of Italy to 'Make in India' in various sectors. Conte said he and the prime minister explored the potential for a new partnership in the area of railway and re-launching of cooperation in the development of renewable energy. "India and Italy have a lot of similarities and complementarities that make us natural allies in offering effective solutions to the challenges in the 21st century," Conte said. Innovation, he said, could be a catalyst for achieving inclusive growth and instrument to growth of global development. Increasing cooperation in the area of heritage was also one of the important aspects, the Italian prime minister said. "I'm pleased that cultural heritage has been included in the focus area of this technology summit. As Italy has the highest number of UNESCO sites, we have used innovation technology for conservation of monuments. We are pleased to share with India the unique expertise we have gathered in this area," he said. Modi said to strengthen economic ties, the countries have agreed to set up the Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation (JCEC) under which a CEO forum would also be established. He said the two sides have agreed to establish a fast track mechanism to increase two-way investment and remove hurdles in trade. "The common goal of our two governments is to become the most strategic partners in innovations to provide a very concrete and more effective answer to the global challenges that we face.

India has made technology medium to attain social justice and inclusion: Narendra Modi

<p>Political turmoil roils across the United States as the ultra-right ascends to power, symbolised by Donald Trump. The most dynamic and innovative opposition to the ultra-right has been led by the Reverend William J. Barber II, longtime pastor of the Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, North Carolina.</p>

<p>The ultra-right began its ascent in North Carolina when the Republicans took control of the State Legislature in 2011. They then redistricted the state in such a way as to guarantee them a legislative majority regardless of the votes, so that the next year, 2012, they won 9 of the 13 seats up for reelection even though Democrats won 51 per cent of the votes.</p>

<p>That strategy gave them control of both houses of the Legislature and the governor&rsquo;s office, which allowed them to implement a radical right-wing agenda: cut taxes on the rich, raising taxes on the middle class, and cutting social programs.</p>

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<p>Author Jeffrey Bortz with Reverend William J. Barber (Others)</p>
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<p>To make the rich richer, they eliminated the state&rsquo;s three-tier progressive income tax, substituting instead a flat-tax in which the poor pay the same rate as the state&rsquo;s wealthiest citizens. Furthermore, they eliminated the estate tax, which applied only to the wealthy. To pay for the tax cuts, they blocked Medic-aid expansion, leaving 500,000 North Carolinians without health care.</p>

<p>They cut unemployment benefits, which were already meagre, to begin with, and slashed spending on public education, including the university system. They also eliminated many environmental protections. Then to prevent being thrown out of the office, they implemented voter suppression, reducing the number of early voting days, eliminating same-day voter registration and requiring an ID to vote, measures designed to reduce the electoral participation of students, the poor, and minorities, particularly African Americans.</p>

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<h5>Rev Barber believed that the Republican legislature was dragging North Carolina down an immoral path, and so he launched a moral crusade.</h5>
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<p>Barber, President of North Carolina chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 2005, was outraged at the assault on the poor, on African Americans, on the middle class, and particularly at the restrictions to democracy. Measured against the many Biblical injunctions to help the poor and the powerless - James 2:15-16, &quot;Suppose there are brothers or sisters who need clothes and don&rsquo;t have enough to eat. What good is there in your saying to them, &quot;God bless you! Keep warm and eat well!&quot; &ndash; if you don&rsquo;t give them the necessities of life?&rdquo;</p>

<p>He believed that the Republican legislature was dragging North Carolina down an immoral path, and so he launched a moral crusade. On Monday, April 29, 2013, he led a protest at the State Legislature, which continued the following Mondays. It was his insight that protesters, to be effective, had to be willing to confront immoral laws with a moral challenge to the law, so that they occupied the Legislative building, where they were arrested, including the Rev Barber.</p>

<p>By the end of the summer, more than 900 Moral Mondayers had been arrested, the Rev Barber repeatedly. As Barber said, &quot;Some issues are not about left and right, Republican and Democrat &ndash; they&rsquo;re about our deepest moral values&quot;. Following through summer after summer, the 2017 Moral Monday gathering at the State Capitol assembled 80,000 protesters.</p>

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<h5>The state cutbacks to the university budget were hurting students, faculty, university employees, and the quality of public education.</h5>
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<p>Teaching at Appalachian State University in the mountainous far northwestern corner of North Carolina, I was well aware of how state cutbacks to the university budget were hurting students, faculty, university employees, and the quality of public education, so when I heard of the Moral Monday protests in the summer of 2013, I was intrigued. With some friends, we trekked the 200 miles from Boone, NC, to Raleigh, the state capital, where we participated in that Monday&rsquo;s protest.</p>

<p>As usual, before the occupation of the legislative building, Barber gave a speech to the assembled crowd, and as I listened, I realised that he is really quite brilliant, as well as courageous and passionate. We were more than impressed.</p>

<p>So the five of us - Greg, Sheila, Nancy and Tim - decided to bring Barber to campus to talk to the university community, an invitation he graciously accepted. He came In October and presented a spellbinding moral criticism of the Legislature, along with a moral vision for a better North Carolina.</p>

<p>I had an opportunity to have dinner with him during the visit and I was just as impressed by him as a person as well as I was by his leadership. Highly educated and intelligent, he was authentic, unassuming, natural, and down-to-earth, and with a keen sense of humour.</p>

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<h5>Rev Barber resigned his post as President of the North Carolina NAACP and has founded the Poor People&rsquo;s Campaign, following Martin Luther King&rsquo;s.</h5>
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<p>This is a man truly committed to his mission to elevate the poor. His talk was a great success, so we had him back to campus three years later, along with a Republican speaker, so that students could compare both visions of society. Once again, Barber gave an awesome presentation. This year the U.S. Supreme Court gave Barber a major victory, ratifying lower court decisions that ruled that the Republican Legislature had racially gerrymandered voting districts in such a way as to deprive African Americans of fair and Constitutional representation, the original source of his Moral Monday protests. The courts ordered new redistricting.</p>

<p>This year, Barber has decided to take his moral message to the rest of the country. He resigned his post as President of the North Carolina NAACP and has founded the Poor People&rsquo;s Campaign, following Martin Luther King&rsquo;s last major initiative just before his assassination in April 1968. That year, King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, itself an organisation that grew out of the 1955 Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott against racial segregation, planned a campaign to address economic injustice and to assemble &quot;a multiracial army of the poor,&quot; though King was murdered before it could take effect.</p>

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<h5>The goal is to establish chapters around the country who will engage in civil disobedience, as in Moral Monday, in order to bring about a &quot;moral revival across the United States&quot;.</h5>
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<p>Today Barber co-chairs the new organisation with the Rev Dr Liz Theoharis, a pastor from New York City. Their goal is to establish chapters around the country who will engage in civil disobedience, as in Moral Monday, in order to bring about a &quot;moral revival across the United States&quot;. Barber and Theoharis have already been to the Rio Grande in El Paso to share their goals with the undocumented families of the Texas-Mexico borderlands.</p>

<p>As in North Carolina, Barber is committed to bringing justice to those whom American society has left behind, to stand and march with them until America shares its wealth with the poor and the outcasts, much as Jesus shared his message of hope with the poor and outcasts of his time. That is the moral renewal that Barber sought and seeks.<br />
&nbsp;</p>


Barber is committed to bringing justice to those whom American society has left behind, to stand and march with them until America shares its wealth with the poor and the outcasts, much as Jesus did.

Political turmoil roils across the United States as the ultra-right ascends to power, symbolised by Donald Trump. The most dynamic and innovative opposition to the ultra-right has been led by the Reverend William J. Barber II, longtime pastor of the Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, North Carolina. The ultra-right began its ascent in North Carolina when the Republicans took control of the State Legislature in 2011. They then redistricted the state in such a way as to guarantee them a legislative majority regardless of the votes, so that the next year, 2012, they won 9 of the 13 seats up for reelection even though Democrats won 51 per cent of the votes. That strategy gave them control of both houses of the Legislature and the governor’s office, which allowed them to implement a radical right-wing agenda: cut taxes on the rich, raising taxes on the middle class, and cutting social programs. Author Jeffrey Bortz with Reverend William J. Barber (Others) × To make the rich richer, they eliminated the state’s three-tier progressive income tax, substituting instead a flat-tax in which the poor pay the same rate as the state’s wealthiest citizens. Furthermore, they eliminated the estate tax, which applied only to the wealthy. To pay for the tax cuts, they blocked Medic-aid expansion, leaving 500,000 North Carolinians without health care. They cut unemployment benefits, which were already meagre, to begin with, and slashed spending on public education, including the university system. They also eliminated many environmental protections. Then to prevent being thrown out of the office, they implemented voter suppression, reducing the number of early voting days, eliminating same-day voter registration and requiring an ID to vote, measures designed to reduce the electoral participation of students, the poor, and minorities, particularly African Americans. Rev Barber believed that the Republican legislature was dragging North Carolina down an immoral path, and so he launched a moral crusade. × Barber, President of North Carolina chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 2005, was outraged at the assault on the poor, on African Americans, on the middle class, and particularly at the restrictions to democracy. Measured against the many Biblical injunctions to help the poor and the powerless - James 2:15-16, "Suppose there are brothers or sisters who need clothes and don’t have enough to eat. What good is there in your saying to them, "God bless you! Keep warm and eat well!" – if you don’t give them the necessities of life?” He believed that the Republican legislature was dragging North Carolina down an immoral path, and so he launched a moral crusade. On Monday, April 29, 2013, he led a protest at the State Legislature, which continued the following Mondays. It was his insight that protesters, to be effective, had to be willing to confront immoral laws with a moral challenge to the law, so that they occupied the Legislative building, where they were arrested, including the Rev Barber. By the end of the summer, more than 900 Moral Mondayers had been arrested, the Rev Barber repeatedly. As Barber said, "Some issues are not about left and right, Republican and Democrat – they’re about our deepest moral values". Following through summer after summer, the 2017 Moral Monday gathering at the State Capitol assembled 80,000 protesters. The state cutbacks to the university budget were hurting students, faculty, university employees, and the quality of public education. × Teaching at Appalachian State University in the mountainous far northwestern corner of North Carolina, I was well aware of how state cutbacks to the university budget were hurting students, faculty, university employees, and the quality of public education, so when I heard of the Moral Monday protests in the summer of 2013, I was intrigued. With some friends, we trekked the 200 miles from Boone, NC, to Raleigh, the state capital, where we participated in that Monday’s protest. As usual, before the occupation of the legislative building, Barber gave a speech to the assembled crowd, and as I listened, I realised that he is really quite brilliant, as well as courageous and passionate. We were more than impressed. So the five of us - Greg, Sheila, Nancy and Tim - decided to bring Barber to campus to talk to the university community, an invitation he graciously accepted. He came In October and presented a spellbinding moral criticism of the Legislature, along with a moral vision for a better North Carolina. I had an opportunity to have dinner with him during the visit and I was just as impressed by him as a person as well as I was by his leadership. Highly educated and intelligent, he was authentic, unassuming, natural, and down-to-earth, and with a keen sense of humour. Rev Barber resigned his post as President of the North Carolina NAACP and has founded the Poor People’s Campaign, following Martin Luther King’s. × This is a man truly committed to his mission to elevate the poor. His talk was a great success, so we had him back to campus three years later, along with a Republican speaker, so that students could compare both visions of society. Once again, Barber gave an awesome presentation. This year the U.S. Supreme Court gave Barber a major victory, ratifying lower court decisions that ruled that the Republican Legislature had racially gerrymandered voting districts in such a way as to deprive African Americans of fair and Constitutional representation, the original source of his Moral Monday protests. The courts ordered new redistricting. This year, Barber has decided to take his moral message to the rest of the country. He resigned his post as President of the North Carolina NAACP and has founded the Poor People’s Campaign, following Martin Luther King’s last major initiative just before his assassination in April 1968. That year, King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, itself an organisation that grew out of the 1955 Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott against racial segregation, planned a campaign to address economic injustice and to assemble "a multiracial army of the poor," though King was murdered before it could take effect. The goal is to establish chapters around the country who will engage in civil disobedience, as in Moral Monday, in order to bring about a "moral revival across the United States". × Today Barber co-chairs the new organisation with the Rev Dr Liz Theoharis, a pastor from New York City. Their goal is to establish chapters around the country who will engage in civil disobedience, as in Moral Monday, in order to bring about a "moral revival across the United States". Barber and Theoharis have already been to the Rio Grande in El Paso to share their goals with the undocumented families of the Texas-Mexico borderlands. As in North Carolina, Barber is committed to bringing justice to those whom American society has left behind, to stand and march with them until America shares its wealth with the poor and the outcasts, much as Jesus shared his message of hope with the poor and outcasts of his time. That is the moral renewal that Barber sought and seeks.

Rev Barber leads a moral crusade for justice in the US

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