Editorial: 50 years after Emmett Till
August 28 marked the 50th anniversary of the lynching of Emmett Till in Mississippi. This 14-year-old Chicago youth was abducted, beaten, tortured and shot in the head by racists for “whistling” at a white woman. The courageous decision of Till’s mother to order his mutilated body displayed in an open casket touched off a worldwide outcry against lynching. It ignited the civil rights revolution.
The battle to defend Social Security
Saving Social Security from privatization will be a major theme at Labor Day celebrations around the country, as members of Congress prepare to head back to Washington. Working people are determined to put Congress on notice that any proposal that undermines or privatizes Social Security is not acceptable and must be voted down. As was done in the 1930s to win Social Security and other social legislation, a massive outpouring can achieve not only protection of Social Security, but expansion of it as well.
Abstinence-only? Inadequate sex education threatens student safety
Abstinence-only education denies students basic information on pregnancy prevention and sexually transmitted diseases. It fails to acknowledge that most will become sexually active as young adults.
Tennessee disabled rights sit-in enters third month
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The occupation of Gov. Phil Bredesen’s office here by disabled rights activists has entered its third month. The activists are protesting proposed cuts in TennCare, Tennessee’s state health care program.
Missing! Five million workers are missing, and almost nobody has noticed
When the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that July’s unemployment rate was only 5 percent, President Bush interrupted his five-week vacation to take credit for a strong economy. But a report released earlier this summer strikes a jarring note.
World Notes
Jamaica-Venezuela: Oil pact signed Congo: Girl soldiers find it hard to go home; India: ‘Things go badly with Coke’; Ecuador: Demand oil firms invest in poor communities; France: African immigrants die in fires
Bolton thumbs nose at UN Millennium Goals
NEW YORK — In his first official act as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton has already fulfilled his critics’ worst fears by delivering what many say may be a fatal blow to the United Nations World Summit.
Cuba graduates doctors from over 20 nations
“The Latin American School of Medicine is Cuba’s modest contribution to unity and integration,” said Dr. Juan Carrizo Estévez, dean of the school, to the 1,610 members of the first graduating class at a ceremony in Havana Aug. 27. Students from over 20 nations were awarded degrees, including one student from the United States.
Festival diary: It was enough to change my mind forever
Erika, 19, a Chicana student from Los Angeles, agreed to be interviewed by the World before, during and after the 16th World Festival of Youth and Students. Below is her interview upon returning home.
Hot debates over Iraqs constitution
Iraq’s communists say that while the draft constitution now being hotly debated is “acceptable” in its general content, they have big reservations about many aspects. They single out potential loopholes that could set back women’s rights and open the door for sectarian religious control over Iraqi society.
