New Year, Who This?
Iran and the US are at it again, the first Nahuatl masters program, the postal service is privatizing, literacy in decline, and Evangelical Latinx voters (sigh).
Happy New year everyone! I wanted to wait til the first to send this.
This is still the unofficial version of the newsletter, I’m testing it out.
There are some pretty interesting stories in the news right now. Don’t forget to put in your critical lenses when you read something. Always remember to:
Think about who is speaking?
Who is their intended audience?
What are their politics?
Who are they sympathizing with or against?
What narrative are they trying to convince you to get on board with?
I’d love to hear your feedback! If you like this, please share and give me some hearts so I can bump up on the substack feed.
World News
New Year’s World Traditions: Yellow Underwear, Smashed Plates, Hanging Onions — Plus Special Turn-Of-The-Decade Celebrations
'Iran is not afraid': Why Tehran dismisses US threats over Iraq
The US is messing with Iran— Again. Trump is claiming that an assault on the US embassy in Iraq was lead by pro-Iranian demonstrators. Some outlets are calling it a “proxy militia,” this sounds like more of the same bullshit. The US has been hitting Iran with sanctions for decades. Iran’s leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei basically said I ain’t no holla back girl, "For one thing, you are damned wrong because this matter has nothing to do with Iran. If Iran decides to confront a country, it will do so openly. But everyone must know that we are strongly committed to the country's interests and we shall not hesitate to intervene and deal a blow to any party who attempts to pose a threat to the country."
US-Iran relations: A brief history— It’s not great.
This Mexican University Will Offer the First Nahuatl Masters Program
“This is about more than Nahuatl. It’s about decolonizing Indigenous tongues, expanding its use nationally and educating not only native speakers but anyone who cares to take the time to learn. Seems like just the beginning.”
Podcasts
https://www.therapyforblackgirls.com/session-136-20-questions-for-2020/
https://www.backstoryradio.org/shows/1619-the-arrival-of-the-first-africans-in-virginia
Sh*t You Should Know
The Fall, And Rise, Of Reading— Literacy and reading comprehension is dying ya’ll.
Language Look: “Harvard students are really not that different in terms of how they behave. They’re bright, they’re academically more gifted,” she says. But they’re also “incredibly good at figuring out how to do exactly what they need to do to get the grade. They’re incredibly strategic. And I think that’s really true of students everywhere.”
Imagine making this claim despite everything we know about legacy acceptance and bribery at Harvard. Bold. Very bold. Harvard students are not better or smarter, they are richer and better connected.
Language Look: “Two-thirds of college instructors think their students come unprepared to read scholarly articles, according to the ACT’s “National Curriculum Survey” — yet they’re less likely than K-12 teachers to say texts of any kind are “important” to their own courses. Teaching students how to read in college feels “remedial” to many professors, Jolliffe says.”
This article also assumes that academic writing and language is not inherently elitist and structurally biased. And tbh a lot of it is really poorly written and very hard to read regardless of your background and reading ability.
Latino Evangelical Voters Face a Tug of War in the Trump Era
Here we need to look at a few things in this article:
Concentration camps at the border and abortion are not in any way connected by the same policy.
Restricting abortion access does not end abortion.
If you want to “end abortion” you need to support social services that educate people about sexual health as well as support whichever party is going to push for health care reform.
Republicans won’t end abortion but they’ll keep the camps open. So at the end of the day it’s a waste of a vote.
USPS Could Privatize As Early As Next [This] Year
What does that mean for you? Well a lot of things actually.
Higher shipping costs which by proxy would mean higher costs for customers and lower profits for businesses, shop owners, makers, creatives.
“Small businesses would be hit especially hard, since they don’t have the clout to negotiate the same level of shipping discounts as big corporations.”
“A study by the Institute for Policy Studies found that 70 million more Americans would have to pay hefty surcharges for deliveries without the USPS.”