Why Black Lives Matter

Every few weeks we are reminded of what it's like to be black in America.

We see Trayvon Martin gunned down a block from his home, his life taken from him by a neighborhood watchman who deemed him "suspicious" despite the fact he had only skittles and iced tea in his hands.

We see Eric Garner choked to death on the streets of New York city for selling loose cigarettes, his endless cries of "I can't breathe" completely ignored by the NYPD officers surrounding him.

We see 12-year-old Tamir Rice executed on a Cleveland playground, sentenced to death for playing with a toy gun.

We see Sandra Bland assaulted on the side of a dusty Texas road, tossed in jail and mysteriously killed, all for a minor traffic violation.

We see Walter Scott shot in the back multiple times as he's running away from police after being pulled over for a broken tail light.

We see Freddie Gray thrown into a Baltimore police van and given a "rough ride," his spine severed, his life ended, simply for possessing a legal switchblade.

Now we see a teenage girl violently assaulted by a school resource officer in South Carolina. Why? Because she was using her cell-phone and refused to exit the classroom.

Across America, there are two major reactions to these types of events when they take place. Half of the country is disgusted, ashamed, depressed, saddened, confused and upset. We keep asking ourselves the same questions. Why does this keep happening? Why are African Americans treated so unfairly? 

The other half of the country sees these events through a completely different lens. Their is no shared sense of guilt or bewilderment. No long, deep soul searching. No uneasiness over the fact that their fellow Americans are being treated unjustly. They see a teenager killed by a neighborhood watchman or a student tossed aside like a rag-doll and think they must have done something to deserve it. They should have respected authority. They were probably guilty anyway. They got what was coming to them.

These two conflicting perspectives grow more and more entrenched after each tragic event, deepening the divide between law enforcement and communities of color, causing further polarization among everyday Americans.

WHY BLACK LIVES MATTER

When the topic of racial injustice is brought up at the 2016 presidential debates, the candidates on both sides are often asked whether "all lives matter" or "black lives matter." 

Republicans say "all lives matter." They are dismissive of the black lives matter movement. They argue that it's divisive and antagonistic and anti-police. They do not believe it raises legitimate concerns about police brutality or the corrupt nature of our justice system.

However, with each passing day, it's getting harder and harder to ignore the reality of the situation we face. These incidents keep happening. We can argue over the reasons why they keep happening, but that doesn't stop them from taking place. 

Recently, President Obama brilliantly explained the reason why black lives (and not all lives) matter.

I think the reason that the organizers used the phrase "black lives matter" was not because they were suggesting nobody else's life matters. Rather, what they were suggesting was there is a specific problem that is happening in the African American community that's not happening in other communities. And that is a legitimate issue that we've got to address.

Simply put, the tragic events we keep witnessing do not happen with the same frequency in white communities. White kids wearing hoods aren't deemed to be "suspicious." They aren't gunned down in their own neighborhoods. They aren't beaten up by cops in their own classroom. White women aren't pulled over for minor traffic violations, assaulted and mysteriously killed in police custody.

I know this because I grew up in a white community. I made many of the same "mistakes" but never once did I fear for my life. Why? Because I'm white. 

Because of the color of my skin, I am given a free pass, a presumption of innocence, a perpetual benefit of the doubt. I don't have to worry about going out at night, or the clothes I wear, or how I have to speak to police if I'm pulled over for a broken tail-light.

African Americans are not afforded these same rights.

That is the essence of white privilege.

WE STILL MUST OVERCOME

Despite taking place hundreds of years ago, the sinful legacy of slavery lives on in America. African Americans may no longer be held in bondage, but they are still not afforded full citizenship under the law. In many ways, they are still treated as 3/5 of a person.

A powerful new video by the The Equal Justice Initiative brilliantly illustrates this sad reality. As the narrator explains, slavery didn't end in 1865, it evolved. We see it everyday in the form of violent policing and mass incarceration. 

Recently, FBI Director James Comey blamed the rise of violence and racial tensions over the past year on "the Ferguson effect." He argued that officers are "under siege" and unable to "protect and serve" because they worry about being caught on a career-ending cell-phone video.

This completely misses the point. Simply put, if the only thing that motivates you to act properly is the threat of being caught on tape then you are not fit to be a police officer in the first place. 

To fix the situation, we must reform the way we police. We must also reform our corrupt criminal justice system that preys upon African Americans and leads to mass incarceration.

But changing our laws can only do so much. In order to fully exorcise the racial demons that plague us, we must overcome our own individual prejudices. We must learn to empathize with our fellow Americans who are drowning in injustice.

We must reject the long lasting biases, left over from centuries of oppression, that cause us to see African Americans as innately guilty and somehow less human, less worthy of full citizenship and protection under the law.

We must learn to see Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, the young girl in the South Carolina classroom and the countless other unnamed victims of racial injustice not as thugs who got what they deserved, but as fellow Americans who are being denied their rights.

We must remember what Martin Luther King Jr. told us: injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Barack Obama: Climate Champion or Climate Hypocrite?

During the 2008 campaign, Barack Obama famously stated that his ultimate goal as president, if he were lucky enough to win, was to act as the Democratic version of Ronald Reagan: a transformational figure who "changed the trajectory of America" by placing us on a "fundamentally different path."

In many ways, Obama has achieved this goal. He brought us back from the worst financial collapse since the Depression. He saved the auto industry. He passed health care reform. He ended the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. He killed Bin Laden. Under his watch, the unemployment rate has fallen to 5.1%, the Stock Market has soared and Marriage Equality is now the law of the land.

This isn't to say that Obama hasn't made mistakes. He has. Chief among them is the fact that he placed way too much faith in Republicans in the early and mid years of his presidency, naively hoping they would meet him in the middle and help move the country forward. Instead, he got rebuffed at every turn, resulting in years and years of political gridlock where nothing got done.

When it comes to climate, Obama appears as a truly dedicated, compassionate and focused leader in the fight to save our planet. He listens to the science and shames those who don't. He makes countless speeches about the severity of the environmental threat we face, urging us all to act.

Legislatively, Obama has enacted sweeping new EPA regulations to cut carbon pollution, a key component to his overall climate plan. In addition, he has also put into place the most ambitious fuel efficiency standards in our nation's history. In 2009, he signed into law the Omnibus Public Land Management Act, which protected 2 million new acres of land across nine different states. Overall, he has designated nine new National Parks during his presidency.

All the while, Obama has been a vocal champion of renewable energy sources like solar and wind.

But if he's so committed to combating climate change, why is he allowing Shell to drill for oil in the Arctic?


HALFWAY MEASURES ARE NOT ENOUGH

To be a transformational president, you can't ride the fence on important issues. You must adhere to your northern compass and never let public opinion or outside influence lead you astray. You must always be guided by the courage of your convictions (regardless of whether something is unpopular) so that no one ever questions where your loyalties lie. This is what makes you authentic, which in turn allows you to be successful, and therefore, transformational.

It cannot be questioned whether or not Obama is transforming the climate conversation. He is. He has brought the issue to the forefront and taken meaningful, legislative action to protect our planet and limit the worst effects of climate change. For this, he should be commended.

However, he has also made the terrible decision to allow Shell to exploit and destroy one of the last truly pristine wild spaces left on Earth: the Arctic.

This is an awful, crushing blow to the overall environmental movement because it allows our never ending addiction to fossil fuels to continue unabated. Instead of taking a principled stand against further oil extraction, Obama has gifted a new, untapped piece of wilderness to the filthy rich oil industry so they can profit even further off the plundering of our planet.

Giving Shell the go-ahead to drill in the Arctic means that even more oil will be sold and burned on the global market. More fossil fuels will evaporate into the air. More greenhouse gases will be trapped in our atmosphere, causing our planet to warm and our storms to grow more intense and out of control.

It also means that the Arctic is now under severe threat of a catastrophic oil spill that could spell environmental disaster for one of the most fragile ecosystems on the planet. After all, despite Shell's braggadocios safety promises, we all know that oil rigs are prone to leaking or breaking.

The BP oil spill in 2010 occurred in the tranquil, warm waters of the Gulf and it still took months to cap. Some five years later, the ocean and coastal areas still haven't recovered. Imagine if a similar spill took place in the Arctic. It could take weeks just for icebreakers and equipment to reach the full disaster zone. It could take months, even years, to cap and fully contain the spill, causing unimaginable environmental devastation.

ALL OR NOTHING

When speaking about climate change, Obama always uses the science to bolster his argument and motivate others to act. He constantly cites the 97% of scientists who say that climate change is real and caused by human activity.

However, Obama is also selective in his use of science, which makes us question just how committed he is to the overall cause.

For example, the scientists say that in order to avoid the worst effects of climate change we must keep at least 75% of all remaining fossil fuels in the ground. Anything less than that is an assured death sentence for our planet.

The scientists also say that glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica are melting at 10x the rate than previously thought, which will cause the sea level to rise at least 10 feet in as little as 50 years.

We conclude that continued high emissions will make multi-meter sea level rise practically unavoidable and likely to occur this century. Social disruption and economic consequences of such large sea level rise could be devastating. It is not difficult to imagine that conflicts arising from forced migration and economic collapse might make the planet ungovernable, threatening the fabric of civilization.

By allowing Shell to open up a brand new oil excavation site in the Arctic, Obama is directly going against the scientists. In this scenario, Obama is acting like a doctor who advises a lung cancer patient to quit smoking, then offers them a carton of Marlboro cigarettes on their way out the door.

When asked why he decided to allow Shell to drill in the Arctic, Obama told reporters that "our economy still needs to rely on oil." This "economy" argument has long been used to justify doing nothing. This type of thinking is not going to solve our climate crisis. After all, what good will protecting the economy do if our planet is destroyed beyond repair? A million dollars won't mean much in a Mad Max-post Apocalypse world where the planet is no longer habitable.

When it comes to combating climate change, we must take an all or nothing approach. Halfway measures will not keep the planet from warming or the seas from rising. Protecting wilderness areas, enacting bold fuel efficiency standards and championing solar and wind are great. But they are meaningless in the big picture if you then turn around and allow places like the Arctic to be destroyed and millions- even billions- more barrels of oil to be extracted and burned.

If Obama wants to be a true climate champion, he must stop playing both sides of the issue. He can't publicly decry the threat of climate change one day and then allow Shell to profit off the destruction of our planet the next.

Tell President Obama that his decision to allow Arctic drilling is wrong and must be reversed. Sign the petition here >> https://www.savethearctic.org/

The Republican Party Is Frankenstein And Donald Trump Is Their Monster

According to Freud, the human psyche has three parts: the "id," the "ego" and the "super-ego."

The "id" is the dark, primordial yearning that exists deep down in our core. It represents our unfiltered animal instinct. The "super-ego" is our moral compass. It is our conscience, keeping us in line. The "ego" acts as the arbiter between the "id" and "super-ego." It seeks to satisfy both desires in a realistic, culturally appropriate and personally beneficial way.

When applying Freud's psychic apparatus to today's Republicans, it's clear that Donald Trump is the party's "id." He is racist, sexist and ignorant, with no regard for societal norms or common decency. He says exactly what he thinks, whether you like it or not. With Trump, there is no "super-ego" keeping him in line.

Normally, a person like Trump would be laughed off a presidential circuit, publicly shamed for being such an offensive, divisive figure. However, as we've seen the past few weeks, the exact opposite is happening. The more outrageous Trump gets, the more his popularity soars among Republicans.

Trump has hit a nerve with the far-right base. He has tapped into their hatred for government and disdain for political correctness. He is channeling their anger in a way no other Republican has in recent years.

After watching the first GOP Debate, it's clear that none of Trump's competitors can touch him. They aren't brave enough or skilled enough to take him on. Trump is a ten-time Big League All-Star. Bush, Rubio, Walker and the rest are Single-A ballplayers.

When Trump first launched his campaign, he was considered a side-show. Now he has a commanding lead in the race for the Republican nomination.


THE ANTI-POLITICIAN

For years, Trump has been a favorite among Tea Party Republicans.

In the early Obama days, he was lionized for spearheading the "Birther" movement. Now, Trump has risen to near-mythical prominence by demonizing immigrants and taking on Mexico.

He questions John McCain's heroism. He calls Mexican immigrants "rapists." He makes misogynistic, sexist comments about women. He condemns our political leaders as "idiots" and "morons." And yet, amazingly, these comments do not hurt him. In fact, they only make him stronger.

Trump is the front-runner for the Republican nomination because he is the anti-politician. He is the knight in shining armor for Republicans on the far-right who think they are losing their country. Trump may be a billionaire, but he speaks their language. He shares their hatred for establishment politics and the "liberal media." He talks like them. He acts like them. He is politically incorrect, just like them.


A GIFT FROM HEAVEN FOR DEMOCRATS

I may be an Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders Democrat, but I must admit: I find Trump wildly entertaining.

Yes, he is absurdly ignorant and offensive, and I vehemently disagree with almost everything he says, but I respect his authenticity. As Americans, we are so used to politicians playing both sides of an issue, pandering to whatever audience they're speaking to, telling us one thing today and the complete opposite tomorrow.

Trump is vile, but it's refreshing to hear someone tell you what they truly believe. He isn't owned by lobbyists and special interests. He isn't a puppet of the Koch Brothers. He is so rich that he is beholden to no one.

In the end, one would expect the Republican "ego" to step in and overrule Trump, the party's "id." After all, as much as he is beloved by the Republican base right now, at some point the party will realize that Trump is too divisive to win a general election, so making him the nominee would be a futile endeavor. Instead, they will nominate someone like Jeb Bush, a "safe bet" in the mold of John McCain or Mitt Romney.

But even if that happens, it still may not be enough to stop Trump.

He is too popular, too out of control to turn back now. He has lit a flame that no one on the right can put out.

During the first GOP Debate, Trump reiterated the fact that if he does not get the Republican nomination he might run as a third-party candidate.

All across the country, Liberals will be cheering Trump on, knowing the more popular he gets, the more likely he becomes the Ross Perot or Ralph Nader of 2016.

Is Hillary Clinton Serious About Fighting Climate Change? Or Just Telling Us What We Want To Hear?

Earlier this month, Hillary Clinton held her first official town hall meeting in New Hampshire. It took place in Dover, a town of just under 30,000 located in the southeast corner of the Granite State.

The leading Democratic candidate for president took a variety of questions from the swing-state crowd, ranging from the Iran Deal and marriage equality to mass incarceration and the minimum wage, but it was a series of questions on climate change that caused an uproar.

First, a University of New Hampshire student asked Hillary a simple "yes" or "no" question about whether or not she would ban the extraction of fossil fuels on public lands. Much to the chagrin of climate activists, Clinton replied: "the answer is no until we get alternatives into place."

Moments later, another UNH student pressed Hillary again, saying she was "disappointed" by her "refusal to take leadership on climate change." She then asked Hillary- point blank- if her lack of climate action was due to the fact that she takes massive campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry.

"No, no it's not," she replied, before going on a longwinded tangent about how the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy will take time and we can't just do it all overnight because it will "disrupt our economy."

Underwhelmed by her vague, non-committal answer, the crowd voiced their displeasure in deafening fashion, erupting in boisterous chants of "Act on Climate. Act On Climate. Act on Climate."

For the first time in her campaign, it was clear that Hillary wasn't willing, prepared or able to take on climate change in the substantive way that is needed in order to prevent environmental doomsday.


CHANGING HER TUNE

Just a few weeks after the New Hampshire town hall, Hillary finally began focusing her campaign on climate change.

First came a powerful, short video called "Stand for Reality," in which Hillary highlights the threat of climate change and excoriates Republicans for denying science.

"You don't have to be a scientist to take on this urgent challenge that threatens us all. You just have to be willing to act."

Then, she unveiled two ambitious climate goals: install at least half a billion solar panels by the end of her first team and power every home in America with renewable energy within 10-years.

Climate activists all across the country applauded the move. Many were downright ecstatic. After months of barely even mentioning climate change, Hillary was taking on the issue in a substantive, meaningful way.

Sadly, despite Hillary's newfound focus on climate change, environmental activists must question whether she's truly serious about fighting climate change or just charming her progressive base to shore up votes for 2016.

There are two reasons for this.

First, Hillary continues to accept millions of dollars in campaign contributions from fossil fuel lobbyists. As a recent Huffington Post article points out, some of her biggest bundlers "have worked against regulations to curb climate change, advocated for offshore drilling, or sought government approval for natural gas exports."

Second, Hillary refuses to oppose or even comment on the Keystone XL Pipeline. As Secretary of State, she was "inclined" to approve the pipeline, however, as a Democratic candidate for president, she has yet to voice an opinion either way.

This infuriates climate activists.

While many non-environmentalists see the Keystone Pipeline as an overblown issue unworthy of such polarization and notoriety, it holds deep, symbolic meaning for climate activists.

The Earth is at a crossroads. We are standing at a fork in the road, overlooking the cliff of climate disaster. We can either continue extracting, polluting and warming our planet or we can transition to wind, solar and other renewable energy forms which will save us from climate judgment day.

With Hillary, we still don't know which road she would take.

"In the largest sense, it's her hedging-of-bets that makes the rest of us so wary. Dealing with climate change in a serious way will take enormous commitment in the face of many strong opponents; we need strong signals that our president would be resolute in this crucial task." -Bill McKibben

WILL THE REAL HILLARY PLEASE STAND UP

Recently, a former lead NASA climate scientist issued a bombshell report showing that glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica will melt 10 times faster that previously thought, which will cause the sea level to rise "at least 10 feet in as little as 50 years."

You don't have to be a scientist to realize that this is a "holy shit" moment for our planet.

This comes on the heels of a report that 2015 is on track to be the hottest year ever recorded.

The science is clear. But even if you don't believe it, just open your eyes. Wherever you look, it's obvious that the planet is sick and the fever is rising.

This past week, Iraq has been plagued by four-straight 120+ degree days, 25 degrees higher than normal for this time of year. In Iran, one city is experiencing a heat index of 163 degrees, which is close to a world record. This comes just a few months after a massive heat wave killed 2,000+ in India and another heat wave in Pakistan killed more than 1,200.

Here in America, extreme weather is everywhere. We are coming off a winter in which the northeast got record amounts of snowfall. Months ago, Texas experienced the worst flooding ever recorded. In California, the drought is so bad they only have one year of water left. Throughout Alaska and much of the West, out-of-control wildfires are raging, burning millions of acres of land. Florida and Louisiana are falling into the ocean as we speak.

Hillary's newfound focus on climate change is commendable. Her proposal to install half a billion solar panels is worthy of applause. So is her goal of powering every home in America with renewable energy within 10 years.

But the climate crisis we face is too daunting and too severe to take half-measures. It demands 100% commitment across the board. Solar panels are great, but their impact will be limited if we continue to frack, build more pipelines and allow new drilling projects in the Arctic.

We need a president in 2016 who recognizes the depth of the climate crisis we face. We need a president who isn't beholden to the fossil fuel industry. We need a president who acts boldly and takes real action to prevent climate apocalypse. We need a president who doesn't play politics with the future of the planet.

I'm thrilled to see Hillary finally take on climate change, but as long as she continues to accept money from fossil fuel lobbyists and refuses to oppose the Keystone Pipeline, the country will be left wondering just how serious she is about preventing environmental doomsday.

Austerity Isn't The Only Reason Why Greece Is In Shambles

In progressive, Democratic circles all across America (and throughout the West), the Greek Referendum vote has been championed as not only a major victory for the working class, but also a global indictment against austerity.

By rejecting another round of harmful budget cuts as part of a new bailout package, Greece loudly and unequivocally said "enough" to the elitist overlords who are bleeding the common man dry.

Bernie Sanders celebrated the decision, saying "I applaud the people of Greece for saying 'no' to more austerity... In a world of massive wealth and income inequality Europe must support Greece's efforts to build an economy which creates more jobs and income, not more unemployment and suffering."

Paul Krugman also cheered the "No" vote: "The truth is that Europe's self styled technocrats are like medieval doctors who insisted on bleeding their patients- and when their treatment made the patient sicker, demanded even more bleeding."

In an open letter published in The Nation, world renowned economist Thomas Piketty echoed Krugman's thoughts: "The medicine prescribed by the German Finance Ministry and Brussels has bled the patient, not cured the disease."

"The Greeks have complied with much of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's call for austerity- cut salaries, cut government spending, slashed pensions, privatized and deregulated, and raised taxes. But in recent years the series of so-called adjustment programs inflicted on the likes of Greece has served only to make a Great Depression the likes of which have been unseen in Europe since 1929-1933."

Throughout the process, Merkel has emerged as a de-facto villain in the eyes of the left-leaning media: a German version of Paul Ryan on steroids. She has been painted as unruly, even bloodthirsty, holding Greece hostage, demanding more and more cuts that hurt the poor and the working class in exchange for debt relief.

However, despite the fact that austerity has plunged Greece deeper into financial meltdown, it isn't the only reason why the financial crisis exists.

The Greeks must shoulder part of the blame as well.


NO COUNTRY FOR TAXED MEN

In a fascinating piece for Vanity Fair (published in 2010), critically acclaimed author Michael Lewis travels to Athens to speak to Greek monks, tax collectors and government officials about the country's financial system.

His findings are mind-blowing.

Corruption runs rampant throughout Greece. The entire country runs on bribes. Everyone lies about their income. No one pays taxes. All the books are cooked. Money is laundered through massive, under-the-table real estate deals. No records are ever kept. Everything is "handwritten and hard to decipher."

"The Greek people never learned to pay their taxes. And they never did because no one is punished. It's a cavalier offense- like a gentlemen not opening a door for a lady."

This massive, widespread and systematic lying and cheating has crippled not just the Greek economy but the Greek culture as well. Simply put, civic ties are crumbling because Greeks don't trust each other. It's become an "every man for himself" society.

"No success of any kind is regarded without suspicion. Everyone is pretty sure everyone is cheating on his taxes, or bribing politicians, or taking bribes, or lying about the value of his real estate. And this total absence of faith in one another is self-reinforcing. The epidemic of lying and cheating and stealing makes any sort of civic life impossible; the collapse of civic life only encourages more lying, cheating and stealing."

Sure, the austerity measures pushed by Merkel and the rest of the Eurozone have poured gasoline on the Greek fire, but the initial spark wasn't lit in a vacuum. It was lit within.

As Lewis explains, "[Greece] behaves as a collection of atomized particles, each of which has grown accustomed to pursuing its own interest at the expense of the common good."

A society that functions this way cannot succeed. Even the best financial system in the world is doomed to fail if the people running it are only looking out for themselves.


CHANGING FROM WITHIN

Greece is the birthplace of democracy. To save their financial system and their soul, the Greeks must return to their democratic roots.

Voting against austerity was the first step on this journey toward salvation. More harmful cuts will only plunge Greece further into the abyss. A new course must be charted. The current one just isn't working.

But democracy is more than just voting. You can't just cast a ballot every few years and then exit the democratic process entirely. Democracy comes with responsibilities. It requires citizenship.

To turn the country around, the Greek culture must change. Corruption must be rooted out. No more bribes. No more cheating your taxes. No more fake real estate deals. No more cooking the books.

In the end, austerity is only one side of the Greek crisis coin.

To save their country, their economy and their way of life, Greeks must also change within.

Taking Down the Confederate Flag Isn't Enough: We Must Remove All Public Ties To The Confederacy, Everywhere

When I first heard that the Confederate flag was still flying high on the grounds of the South Carolina state Capitol I was shocked.

I may be a "Yankee liberal" from the North, but I figured that, surely, in the year 2015, a symbol of unabashed racial hatred would have been taken down decades ago. How could it possibly still be hung in a public space of a modern society, in a state capitol no less? 

I've never spent much time in the South, but I know the Confederate flag is still popular. Even in my home state of Massachusetts, a liberal bastion of progressive ideals, I still pass by trucks with Confederate flag stickers or license plates. I know the flag is kept alive by individual citizens who choose to wave it, but I thought for sure statehouses all across the country outlawed it.

Sadly, I was wrong.

If a silver lining exists in the wake of the horrific Charleston attack, in which a self-proclaimed white supremacist killed 9 African American churchgoers, it's the fact that millions of Americans all across the country have rose up in unison to demand that the Confederate flag be removed from the South Carolina capitol grounds. 

But that's not enough. We must remove all public ties to the Confederacy, everywhere.

SURROUNDED BY INJUSTICE

Imagine, for a second, that you are the great-great grandson or great-great granddaughter of a slave.

Everyday, you are forced to walk down "Jefferson Davis Boulevard."

Everyday, you pass by your state capitol building and see a Confederate flag waving high and proud.

Everyday, you drive by the same monument that honors the people who fought to keep your family enslaved.

Everyday, you go to school to try to escape the Confederate ghosts that chase you, but how can you concentrate or learn when your school is named after Stonewall Jackson?

Maybe you leave school and seek solace in a park. But how can you enjoy any peace or tranquility when it's named after Robert E. Lee?

With nowhere to go, you decide to just get in your car and drive. You aren't going anywhere in particular, but you know you want to get as far away from this place as you can. But even then, you realize you are driving on "Jefferson Davis Highway."

No matter where you turn, you are surrounded by reminders of a torturous, totalitarian regime that kept your ancestors in chains.

Even if you have no ancestral link to slavery, this is a gross injustice that must end, once and for all.

NOT MY HERITAGE

Many defenders of the Confederate flag say it deserves to live on forever because it "honors Southern heritage." They always seem to ignore the fact that is dishonors the heritage of African Americans.

In the case of South Carolina, it's important to note that the flag has not been flying high for 150+ years. It was first hung in 1961 to protest against the Civil Rights Movement. Honoring Southern "heritage" had nothing to do with it.

The Confederate flag is a symbol of hate. It is an emblem of a murderous, treasonous regime that tortured, raped, enslaved and systematically oppressed innocent Africans, stealing them from their homeland and robbing them of their identities forever.

Taking down the Confederate flag is a necessary first step we must take on the long journey of making amends with the sins of our past.

But we can't stop there. We must remove all ties to the Confederacy in public places. 

We must take down all Confederate monuments and statues. We must re-name Confederate streets, schools, parks and highways. We must take a stand against all public relics that honor, memorialize or pay homage to the most evil institution in American history.

However, to erase them entirely would be a mistake. Instead, we should place the flags, monuments and statues in museums, much like how Germany turned Auschwitz into a museum. They must stand forever as a reminder of how oppressive, immoral and horrifying slavery was.

If you want to hang a Confederate flag on your porch or in your back yard, go for it. I vehemently disagree and think it's incredibly offensive, but the beauty of America is that we give you the right to express yourself freely. Freedom of speech allows you the freedom to be ignorant and divisive.

Getting rid of the Confederate flag won't cure racism. Neither will removing statues or re-naming high schools. But it's the right thing to do. It is the best way to honor the lives of those killed not only in Charleston, but all across our country over the past 400 years.

As long as a young African American is forced to walk down Robert E. Lee Road or attend Jefferson Davis High School, the stain of centuries of injustice will remain.

Take it down.

Take it all down.

It's Time to Embrace, Arm and Support the Kurds

The Middle East is a complex and dangerous place where alliances are confusing and violence seemingly never ends, at least in the eyes of many Americans like myself who try to make sense of it from afar.

On the surface, religion plays a major role in fanning the flames of bloodshed. Despite being brothers of Islam, the Sunnis hate the Shias and the Shias hate the Sunnis. It may be a naive generalization, but most all conflicts in the Middle East stem from this sectarian divide, whether we are willing to admit it or not.

However, religion isn't the only factor at play. Behind the veil of the Sunni/Shia divide, two hegemonic powers- Saudi Arabia and Iran- battle for influence and control. Both countries fund and support various groups, using them as vehicles in a massive proxy-war to re-shape the region in their image.

But beyond religious hatreds and warring spheres of influence, it starts to get confusing when you look at who's fighting who on the ground.

In their mythic quest to establish a caliphate, ISIS is fighting everyone, killing both Sunnis and Shias, as well as Yazidis, Christians and any other religious sect that stands in their way.

Iranian Shiite militias and the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah are fighting ISIS in Iraq and defending Assad in Syria.

Assad is fighting the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the Al-Qaeda aligned Jabhat al-Nusra (JAN).

The Army of Conquest, a massive new rebel coalition supported by Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, is fighting ISIS and hopes to topple Assad.

Thousands of miles away, the United States focuses like a laser beam on ISIS, grappling with how to proceed in the war against the barbaric terrorists. Sure, we are bombing dozens of ISIS targets each day (and we have been for nearly a year). And yes, every now and again we carry out SEAL-team raids on ISIS leaders in Syria.

But despite spending millions and now billions of dollars launching non-stop airstrikes, ISIS continues to gain ground. Just recently they took the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra as well as Ramadi, one of the biggest cities in Iraq's Anbar district.

Obama's plan has succeeded only in the fact that he has spared the lives of countless American troops by not ordering a massive ground war. But in terms of actually "degrading and destroying" ISIS, Obama's plan is not working.

It's time to change course and take a new approach. It's time to embrace, arm and support the Kurds.


AN OASIS OF HOPE

For the US, finding reliable allies on the ground to fight ISIS is extremely difficult.

The Iraqi army, which we've spent over a decade training and billions of dollars supporting, can no longer be counted on. Despite outnumbering their ISIS opponents, the Iraqi army has cut and run on multiple occasions when faced with an ISIS attack, famously tossing aside their arms last year in Mosul and again recently in Ramadi. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter summed it up best when he said that the Iraqi army "lacks the will to fight."

So if we can't rely on the Iraqi army, who can we rely on?

We can't partner with Jabhat al-Nusra. Sure, they are one of the leading rebel groups trying to topple Assad, who we can't stand, but they are also a designated Al-Qaeda terrorist group.

We can't ally with Shiite militias because it will fan sectarian flames and give the impression that we are acting as Iran's air force, which will only alienate moderate Sunnis, driving them further into ISIS's hands.

We can't possibly partner with Assad, the brutal Syrian butcher who has ruthlessly killed tens of thousands of innocent civilians with barrel bombs and chemical weapons. While Assad may represent a "lesser of two evils" when compared to ISIS, the US position remains that Assad "must go."

Our best (and maybe our only) option is to partner with the Kurds and make them our new, number one ally in the region.

EMBRACING THE KURDS

An oasis amidst a sea of never-ending despair, the Kurds are a perfect prospective ally for the US.

First off, they are one of the only forces on the ground with the courage to fight ISIS (the Peshmerga, the name of the Kurdish military, roughly translates to "one who confronts death"). They never cut and run, as evidenced by their successful defense of Kobane despite a massive, months-long ISIS onslaught.

But they're not just brave warriors who we can rely on in battle, they also have great character.

The Kurds have similar values as us Americans. They aren't run by a radical religious dogma. They believe in democracy. They are largely secular. In a region where women are oppressed in all directions, the Kurds treat their women as equals. They don't wear burkas. They aren't confined to the house. They aren't banned from driving cars or getting an education. They are valued members of society. They even fight in the military, risking their lives on the front lines just like their male counterparts.

For the Kurds, gender is not a dividing concept. All that matters in that they are Kurdish. The collective pride and honor they have for their shared heritage and traditions provides them with unshakeable courage. They are fiercely loyal to their history and their land. This gives them the will to fight when others wouldn't. They are defending not only their territory, but their way of life.

They also honor their dead with spectacular respect, even if the dead isn't their own. Just look at how they reacted to the death of Keith Broomfield, an American who, after seeing ISIS rampage across the Middle East, decided to move to Syria to fight with the Kurds.

The Kurds welcomed him with open arms. They respected his sacrifice to a cause that was not his own. When Broomfield was killed recently, the entire town of Kobane took to the streets and held a massive funeral for Broomfield. They draped his coffin in a Kurdish flag. Young Kurdish children held pictures of Broomfield as they marched.

To the Kurds, Broomfield wasn't an American "infidel" or "crusader." He was one of their own. He was a martyr and a hero- and they treated him as such.

In the history books of our coming generations our children will learn of the brave foreign warriors who came to Rojava to fight for a land that was not theirs. They came to fight for freedom and democracy, for humanity and liberty. They will never be forgotten. -The Lions of Rojava

This connection is proof that the Kurds and Americans aren't so different after all. We have the capacity to work together, to respect and sympathize with each other, despite coming from opposite ends of the Earth.

A NEW LONG-TERM ALLIANCE

The US would be wise to align itself with the Kurds. Not only are they the only force in the region with the courage to fight ISIS, but they also happen to embrace democracy. They share a lot of the same values we do: love of country, love of freedom and liberty, respect for women, equal rights, education. They are also compassionate, honorable and have great dignity.

We must fund the Kurds and give them all the support, equipment and training they need. We must shift our resources from Baghdad- a dysfunctional capital where nothing seems to get done- and move it to Kurdistan. Kobane should become the new home base of US efforts against ISIS. This is key because it would allow us to stop taking sides in the Sunni-Shia conflict and align ourselves with a democratic people who share the same values we do.

Also, with Iran and Saudi Arabia engaged in a heavyweight battle to win the Middle East and the future of Syria undecided, having a strong, prosperous Kurdistan aligned with the US would be a huge victory for America. Kurdistan could be the new buffer between the two warring hegemonic powers. It also gives the US options, leverage and a reliable partner on the ground to fight ISIS or other jihadist groups should they emerge victorious when the dust settles in Syria.

In the end, Iraq as we know it no longer exists. The borders drawn by Sykes-Picot, which carved up the Middle East into new nation states after the fall of the Ottoman Empire during WWI, are being washed away through brute force and bloodshed. The warring factions on the ground are drawing the new map. And in this new Middle East, allegiances are not based upon nationalism, or love of country, but instead by religious affiliation.

The US needs to stop being so reactionary in the Middle East. We must stop holding onto the past and instead anticipate the future, which is normally difficult but in this case it's obvious.

Joe Biden's prophetic vision- once lampooned- has been proven true: the only way to solve the Iraq problem is to allow the country to split into three autonomous regions: Sunni Iraq, Shia Iraq and Kurd Iraq.

Helping the Kurds achieve official statehood, something they've dreamed of for decades and proven they are deserving of, isn't just the right thing to do, it's strategically smart.

The old, Western-drawn borders mean nothing anymore. And when the new borders are decided, the US will be left out completely if we don't align ourselves with a worthy partner that can survive the redistricting of the region.

Now, more than ever, the US needs a reliable ally it can count on in the Middle East.

That ally is the Kurds.