By Chidera O. Nwosu
The conversation about whether statehood should be granted to Puerto Rico is a fraught one indeed.
It is paramount to understand that Puerto Rico is a Caribbean island that remains currently as an unincorporated territory to the United States.
Famed American linguist, Noam Chomsky, once said that American Imperialism is often traced to the takeover of Cuba, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico in 1898.
With that being said, if America is able to dictate economic, military and cultural influence in itself, other countries, and unincorporated territories such as Puerto Rico – then why isn’t Puerto Rico the 51st state?
A great place to begin, would be in conferring superlative peculiarities in which Puerto Rico is hailed for.
Puerto Rico, known for its beautiful lands and mountains, the El Yunque tropical rainforest, and cultural Spanish colonial buildings, is often regarded as a place of tourism.
On a more serious note, Puerto Rico is a populated territory, in which its populace is greater than half of the states formally incorporated into the United States.
Many people are often unaware that Puerto Rico is quite established with common languages being both Spanish and English.
For those reasons alone, Puerto Rico should be the 51st state.
Despite the fact that the Commonwealth government has its own tax laws, Puerto Ricans are already required to pay most US federal taxes.
To place this into perspective, in 2009, Puerto Rico paid $3.742 billion into the US Treasury.
With this in mind, if Puerto Rico – a U.S territory – is paying taxes to the U.S federal government, why should statehood even be a question?
Puerto Ricans have been granted U.S. citizenship since 1917. In other words, Puerto Ricans have been granted U.S citizenships for 99 years (1-year shy from a century) and admittance into the U.S has yet to occur.
In 2012, 61% of voters supported statehood.
More than half of eligible voters, voted in advocating of beginning the process in admitting Puerto Rico to the Union.
The people of Puerto Rico spoke and they want Congress to answer their demands.
Statehood now!
It is vital for Puerto Rico to become formally recognized and incorporated into the United States because it elevates the quality of life in Puerto Rico, aids in its economic salvation, and fashions innovative and integrative access to education and career opportunities.
The latter issue is quite problematic as Puerto Rico is losing doctors on a daily basis.
It is even more caustic, how Puerto Ricans pay US federal taxes but have little to no say in governmental actions.
As Chomsky states, American Imperialism has been deeply rooted in Puerto Rico – why not just harvest it?
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Juan Cristobal Zulueta/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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Muhammad Ali And The History Of Public Courage In America
By Eric M. Harris
The most important date in Muhammad Ali’s life was April 28, 1967.
No this was not the date of one of his amazing bouts with the great “Smokin'” Joe Frazier, it was not the date of the “Rumble in the Jungle” against George Foreman, it was not the day that he converted to Islam, nor the date he lit the Olympic Torch in Atlanta.
On this date, Muhammad Ali refused induction into the United States Army.
Muhammad Ali’s life is well chronicled.
He was born in Louisville in 1942.
He became a Gold Medal Winner in Boxing in the 1960 Rome Olympics.
He shocked the world in 1964 when he captured the world heavyweight boxing championship from Sonny Liston. His boxing career and life was off to a tremendous start.
Three short years later, his life took a drastic turn that showed courage on a level that has been unmatched by public figures in American history.
He was sentenced to the maximum of five years in prison and a fine of $10,000. He went into an unknown position of possibly not being able to box again all because he took a moral stand.
But he’s not the first to show massive amounts of public courage on the national stage.
Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell was the first female with a medical degree in the United States. She was able to get medical books from a local reverend when he was a young woman.
She was met with “No’s” at almost every possible opportunity.
Many physicians suggested that she move from the United States to Paris, because she would have better opportunities.
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Blackwell studied in secret. In 1847, she was brought in to study medicine at Geneva Medical College. She was voted in unanimously by all male students at the college and became the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States.
President Abraham Lincoln’s story is well known by most. He was the President during one of America’s most difficult times- the Civil War.
He had the courage to not only have the Union fight the Confederacy in the Civil War, but he also wrote the Emancipation Proclamation and freed the slaves.
Slavery had been an institution in this country for hundreds of years. It was the driving force for the economy in the South and made many southern plantation owners very wealthy.
Although many other elected officials and leaders said that slavery was wrong, he was the first to actually do what it took to end it.
Some have pointed out however, that Lincoln’s decision to free the slaves did not have as much to do with the actual freeing of the slaves, but more to do with keeping the Union together. Lincoln said so himself.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was another President during a challenging time in American history.
He was the president during the Great Depression and World War II. He was following in the foot steps of his distant cousin Teddy Roosevelt, who was one of the greatest presidents in our nation’s history.
Not to mention, he did all of this with a challenging disability, the disease of polio, which prevented him the use of his legs.
Read More: What Young People Can Learn From Muhammad Ali
Many people to this day do not know that while he was President, FDR did not have the use of his legs at all. He is a true inspiration to many, especially people with disabilities.
FDR had extreme courage to create new programs to help low income Americans in his New Deal program. He had to make difficult military decisions that would change the United States and the world forever.
Although his bravery is unquestioned, and the times might have made this difficult, he was not out front with his disability show others that disability is something that should be accepted and embraced.
FDR Memorial in Washington, D.C. Photo Credit: Matt Wade/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
He also did not have the best relationships with people of color for no other reason than they were of another race.
Jackie Robinson is an example that can be used to show another athlete who had extreme courage. He was the first African-American to integrate professional team sports. Boxers had integrated professional sports, but this was the first time where an individual had joined a team sport that had been exclusively white.
To many, Jackie Robinson integrating baseball in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers was the start of the Civil Rights Movement.
Jackie was chosen by the Brooklyn Dodgers and Branch Rickey to be the single representative in that season and as someone who could take it after playing four sports at UCLA and being in the military.
As brave as that was for Robinson to do, in my opinion, he did not necessarily risk the way that Muhammad Ali did.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee is a strong progressive voice. She is a Democrat from California and has been in the House of Representatives since 1998.
One of the most powerful signs of courage was displayed by Congresswoman Lee in the Fall of 2001.
After the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the United States Congress voted to give President authorization to use any force he sees as necessary and appropriate under the circumstances as a response for retaliation against the terrorists who killed thousands of American citizens.
Congresswoman Lee was the lone no vote in the House of Representatives.
She was shocked that she was the only no vote that day.
She talked about in later interviews that she received angry letters for years after her decision.
Photo Credit: Peter T/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
Previously, while in the California legislature, she was one of very few no votes against the Three Strikes Law, that puts people in prison for 25 years to life after a third felony conviction.
Many Californian’s lives have been destroyed because of this law. Congresswoman Lee has shown the courage to stand by her decisions even when she knows that she might be one of very few who feel a certain way.
She understands how important it is to represent her constituents in the beset way possible, regardless of how others might decide to represent theirs.
Now lets look at Muhammad Ali’s decision not to step forward to join the United States Army.
He famously said:
“My conscience won’t let me go shoot my brother or some darker people or some poor hungry people in the mud for big powerful America. And shoot them for what, they never called me Nigger, they never lynched me, they never put no dogs on me, they never robbed me of my nationality, they never raped my mother or father. What am I going to shoot them for what. How am I going to shoot them. They are little poor people women and children. How am I going to shoot them poor people, just take me to jail. If I’m going to die, I’ll die right here fighting you, if I’m going to die. You’re my enemy, my enemy is the white people, not the vietcong, or Chinese or Japanese. You’re my opposer when I want freedom. You’re my opposer when I want justice. You’re my opposed when I want equality, you won’t even stand up for me for my religious beliefs. You want me to go somewhere and fight but you won’t even stand up for me at home.”
Muhammad Ali had just won the Heavyweight Title of the World in Boxing, and had that title stripped from him.
It was the first time any boxer in history had had his boxing title stripped from them without losing it in the ring. Ali was 25 years old, in his athletic prime.
He had only been a boxer up to that point and had no realistic way of knowing how he would provide for himself.
He knew that he was potentially taking a chance where he might not be able to box ever again.
Ali knew that he was giving up years in his prime, while he was the heavyweight champion of the world. To put this in some context, this would be like if Steph Curry decided to leave basketball, go to jail for a political stance and not able to return to the sport.
Ali did all of this in the height of the Civil Rights era in the 1960s, a year before Martin Luther King was assassinated. His level of courage and pride stands above any public figure in American history.
Ali also knew that the backlash for this decision could be even more serious and drastic. After the statement, “I have no quarrel with those vietcong … No vietcong ever called me Nigger.” He saw millions around the country call him unpatriotic. This was only the beginning. Ali could not have known what the reaction would have been like with his fans and supporters, military veterans and supporters of the war and military throughout the country.
Ali could have moved on through life disliked by nearly everyone in his own country. He did not care.
He had already rubbed many the wrong way by joining the Nation of Islam. He rubbed his father and many in his family the wrong way by changing his name from Cassius Clay.
Ali showed another example of being able to make a difficult decision without caring about the possible repercussions, despite understanding what they could and likely would be. That is true courage.
Finally, it has been great to see so much support for an athlete that many, including myself look up to as a role model and a hero.
However, I find it interesting, because many of these same people coming out to support the Greatest now, will talk bad about outspoken athletes like Serena Williams, Floyd Mayweather and Lebron James when they make bold statements that are not as humble as many might like.
I understand that Muhammad Ali was a tremendous person and athlete that makes him different in many other’s eyes from the previous examples, but I hope we can give young superstar entertainers the benefit of the doubt the way many did with Ali as he was growing and becoming the greatest and letting us all know how great that was.
As we go through this election season, one can only hope that Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Donald Trump can show powerful elements of courage in their actions and stances moving forward.
I will hope for our country’s sake that they are not just in this game to get recognized, elected and then reelected. One would hope that the person holding the highest office in the land is doing so with the type of courage that the Greatest of All Time, Muhammad Ali showed on April 28, 1967.
There is not a single athlete, entertainer or elected official that I can think of who displayed more powerful courage in American history than Muhammad Ali on that date.
He impacted a generation of 20 and 30 somethings who did not even get a chance to see him fight live.
His story and passion resonated with all of us and I hope that his courage rubs off on an American society, which is in desperate need of some true courage in its leadership.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in public affairs. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: Elizabeth Blackwell/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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Millennial Intelligencer: Robert Mugabe Wins Confucius Peace Prize, But What Does That Mean?
You’d be hard pressed to find many more people on planet Earth less deserving of a “peace” prize that Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe. And yet Mugabe was just named as the winner of the 2015 Confucius Peace Prize.
For those unaware, the People’s Republic of China launched the answer to the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010, in response to the Nobel presentation of a Chinese dissident.
Despite the prize being awarded by a private institution, the validity of its intentions has come under question. It is been suggested as targeting those that benefit China’s geopolitical position rather than peacemakers, for example both Fidel Castro and Vladimir Putin.
The same is true in this case, though when questioned about Mugabe’s poor track record regarding political dissent and economic guidance, the chairman of the committee that awarded Mr. Mugabe with the Prize, Qiao Damo, told The Guardian that “Every country’s economy has its highs and lows. Though its economy is lagging behind, [Zimbabwe is] a very stable country [and] stability is precious in the African continent.”
While the Western reaction is well-known, one would likely also have interest in what Zimbabwean opinion is on the matter.
The largest news outlet in the country, The Herald, is a state-owned enterprise according to the Zimbabwean Stock Exchange, and is commonly regarded as the government’s mouthpiece. But it has been remarkably silent on the matter.
While The Herald lacked any specific coverage of the honor bestowed on Mugabe, it did offer a piece somewhat touching on the subject which suggested that Mugabe is trying to downplay the importance of the award.
This may have something to do with his desire to not stir negative public opinion as another Zimbabwean outlet featured a scathing piece lambasting the award.
While this is purely conjecture, it seems that there is a swath of Zimbabwean society that isn’t fooled by international gamesmanship. And the state has seemed to take notice.
Cover Photo Credit: Al Jazeera English/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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House Republicans Nominate Paul Ryan As Next Speaker, Expected To Take Office Thursday
House Republicans overwhelmingly voted for Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) to be the party’s nominee to be the next Speaker of the House in a vote Wednesday afternoon.
Ryan made quick work of his only active opponent for the job- Rep. Daniel Webster (R-FL) and is expected to face a full house vote tomorrow before taking office. (Ryan is expected to easily win the full house vote, considering his party has a solid majority.)
According to the Huffington Post, the final vote count among Republicans was 200 votes for Ryan, 43 votes for Webster, 1 vote for Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN.) and 1 vote for Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
If he is elected tomorrow, Ryan will be the youngest Speaker of the House since the Civil War.
Cover Photo Credit: Tony Alter/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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