This account was sent to me by Christa Grenawalt, who is traveling in India right now. Recently, she spent several weeks studying under the Dali Lama. She also participated in marches there supporting Tibetan monks who are protesting Chinese persecution of monks in Lhasa, Tibet. While Christa was sitting in a café near Dharamsala, Tenzin [...]

Read Fleeing Tibet »

I know a brilliant, young Burmese woman who recently moved to the States. When she lived in Burma she was always strong and courageous, never acting apathetic or disillusioned despite the overpowering junta that runs her country. She wants to return home one day, so I cannot give her credit and use her name. But [...]

Read Burmese Voices: Watching from the States »

The Burmese junta cut off all internal access to the Internet on Friday morning as its crackdown on the demonstrations continues. The government has not allowed foreign correspondents into the country, so journalists have relied on the people inside Burma to smuggle out information, photos and videos. Their stories— mostly sent out by email— have [...]

Read Burma: Junta Cuts Internet »

The Burmese junta continues to order troops to beat up monks and protesters as it cracks down on the mass demonstrations in Burma (renamed Myanmar by the regime). Reports coming out of Burma say that troops attacked people at a monastery in Rangoon Thursday morning and then arrested about 100 monks and laymen. An American [...]

Read Crackdown continues: troops beat up monks »

On my second day living in Rangoon, Burma (renamed Yangon, Myanmar, by the ruling junta), I visited the blockaded American Embassy. After my passport was passed from person to person to person, I got in.
It was August 2003. Burma had been ruled by an oppressive, military dictatorship for more than 40 years.
I was [...]

Read Burma: before the protests »

Hundreds of thousands of Burmese monks and civilians have spent the past week marching in cities across the country, demanding change. They want an end to the repressive, tyrannical rule of the junta. They want free and fair elections.
These are the biggest protests in Burma (renamed Myanmar by the junta) since 1988, when the army [...]

Read Biggest Demonstrations in Burma in 19 Years »

While controversy spilled over the airwaves Tuesday, a storm erupted at my own school, raising questions about the power of protest. Tuesday morning, members of the Student Coalition Against Labor Exploitation (SCALE) at the University of Southern California decided to take a drastic step in their seven-year campaign to get the university to stop doing [...]

Read students protest! »

Ever heard of the Westboro Baptist Church? It’s a small church in Topeka, Kan. whose mission is to spread the word throughout the world that “God Hates America.” This church was spearheaded by Pastor Fred Phelps (who actually looks like the devil himself). His basic, homophobic doctrine blames our country’s failed success [...]

Read So Far to the Right, Even Conservatives Hate Them »