Hard on the heels of recent reports revealing the shocking existence of 1,000-plus unmarked graves of First Nations children at church-run schools in Canada (see: Canada: 751 unmarked graves found at residential school - BBC News), the new movie Cousins – written, directed and starring Maori females – deals with the trauma of family separation of New Zealand’s indigenous children.

The 98-minute feature is an adaptation of the 1992 novel of the same name by Maori author Patricia Grace (who I met in the 1990s at a literary symposium of Pacific Islander authors in Honolulu) and co-directed by Maoris Ainsley Gardiner and Briar Grace Smith (who also wrote the screenplay). Cousins tells the story of three Maori cousins, Mata, Missy and Makareta, who are portrayed by different actors at different points in their lives as children, teens/young adults and middle aged.

We crossed the Atlantic, encountered a bunch of savages, defeated them, claimed the continent. We won! This is the history I remember learning, as satisfying and stupid as a John Wayne movie.

The myth is crumbling and cracking, its certainty now as precarious as the statue of a Confederate general. Truth flows in through the holes, e.g.:

By the late 1830s, most of the native residents had been “removed” from a big chunk of the South — a few million acres of land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Florida — so white men could start growing cotton there. In 1838, a final group of stubborn Cherokees were deported to Oklahoma Territory, as President Martin Van Buren sent 7,000 soldiers to do the job.

On the heels of Pride Month and with National Sugar Cookie Day quickly approaching on July 9th, Drag Queen baker, cookie decorator, and owner of Plenty O’Cookies, Alex Copeland is making a comeback after the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on his baking business, as it did on many other small businesses.

“With all the custom orders that were coming in, I was on track to have my best month before the pandemic hit. My business relies on baking for events, so as people were forced to cancel their events, they also cancelled their orders,” Copeland explains.

After being in operation since 2014, Copeland understood that Plenty O’Cookies needed to adapt in order to survive this global setback. He turned to social media and his website to advertise with Facebook Live and Instagram Live cookie decorating workshops as well as video collaborations with other bakers.

On Saturday, July 17th over 100 Ohioans in Columbus and Cincinnati rallied to demand that Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) back legislation to increase public transit service across the country. Participants, including members of youth-led climate organization Sunrise Movement and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1, called on Senator Brown to support the “Stronger Communities Through Better Transit Act.” The bill would provide $20 billion per year in federal funding for transit operations.

Protesters in Columbus gathered in Capitol Square at noon before marching to the office of Senator Brown to read their demands. Sunrise Columbus Hub Member, Jordan Mays, expressed that: 

Nina Turner is very scary -- to power brokers who’ve been spending big money and political capital to keep her out of Congress. With early voting underway, tensions are spiking as the decisive Democratic primary race in northeast Ohio nears its Aug. 3 finish. The winner will be virtually assured of filling the seat in the deep-blue district left vacant by Rep. Marcia Fudge when she became President Biden’s HUD secretary. What’s at stake in the special election is whether progressives will gain a dynamic champion in the House of Representatives.

For the Democratic Party establishment, the specter of “Congresswoman Nina Turner” is alarming. The former national co-chair of the Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign has a proven capacity to stir fervent energy on the left around the country. Her ability to inspire at the grassroots is far beyond what mainstream party leaders can do.