Published December 11, 2020 with Era Magazine | By Clare Church Violent storm clouds and blistering winds gathered around Germaine Sablon. As her silk scarf wavered in the wind, she clenched her fists to the sky and sang “Ce soir l’ennemi connaîtra la prix du sang et des larmes.” Tonight, the enemy will know the price… Continue reading Songs of Resistance
Published April 16, 2018 on The Mary Sue | By Clare Church Question: What’s more attractive than an intelligent, compassionate, rugged Professor, who has tumbling brown hair, cares for orphans, and loves to hear about your work? Answer: A rich, rude snob, who despises dancing, scoffs at your family, and calls you “tolerable, but not… Continue reading Let’s Stop Romanticizing Mr. Darcy When There Are Way Better Options in Literature
Published July 14, 2017 on Tablet Magazine | By Clare Church Early last year, France opened its WWII police archives for the first time. More than 200,000 documents, formerly available only to select scholars and officials, became open to the public after 76 years of secrecy. Reports soon surfaced of people leaving the archives in tears, distraught with… Continue reading Confronting Memories of Nazi-Occupied France
Published March 16, 2017 on openDemocracy | By Clare Church This week, the frigid temperatures and blustery winds of winter storm Stella shut down New York City. On Tuesday, the second day for the 61st Commission on the Status of Women, the United Nations Headquarters closed its complex, while most of the planned events were postponed. But one Mission… Continue reading Indigenous women brave the storm to begin talks at UN CSW
Published February 26, 2017 on Civic Ideas | By Clare Church NEW YORK – In the sea of pink pussy hats, waves of cornflower blue folded through the Women’s March on Washington, the day after Donald J. Trump was sworn in as president. Although not included in the first phase of organizing the protest, Native… Continue reading Native American Women: “Original Resisters and Ultimate Survivors”
Published February 23, 2017 on Philanthropy New York | By Clare Church Imam Khalid Latif urged his wife not to get off the plane with him on the way to their honeymoon in St. Lucia. “You don’t want to go through this,” he pleaded. Latif, on previous occasions, had been stopped for random checks; escorted… Continue reading Watch this New Series Showing the Ordinary and Extraordinary Lives of Muslim New Yorkers
Published January 4, 2017 on Bedford + Bowery | By Clare Church Heckles and howls echoed through the meeting rooms of 64 East 4th Street on February 1, 1913. “Down with How and his postage stamp philanthropy!” yelled Jeff Davis, the self-proclaimed King of the Hoboes. “He has never given us any of his mythical millions!” Davis further… Continue reading The Feud Between the Millionaire and the ‘King of the Hoboes’
Published November 6, 2016 on Salon.com | By Clare Church Sometimes I think I’ve adapted successfully to the American way of life. I can tell the temperature in Fahrenheit and without complaint. I have eliminated “shreddies,” “smarties” and “ketchup chips” from my diet. I don’t even visibly cringe anymore when a complete stranger stops me mid-sentence… Continue reading View from Canada: Your elections are too damn long!
Published October 12, 2016 on the Journal of Political Inquiry | By Clare Church The room was filled with an impatient buzz. Students and faculty looked around, both admiring their surroundings and hoping to get a glimpse of the world leader who would speak in only a few short minutes. Five journalists in the third… Continue reading A Leaderless Movement: Gordon Brown on Globalization
Published September 16, 2016 on openDemocracy | By Clare Church Poverty, displacement, malnutrition. Over the next two weeks, these three concerns will be discussed as agenda items at the United Nations’ annual gathering. And yet, indigenous peoples, who suffer at disproportionately high rates from these issue, will not be invited to participate in the meetings,… Continue reading Who will speak for indigenous peoples at the UN General Assembly?
Published August 18, 2016 on Philanthropy New York | By Clare Church This summer’s headlines, tweets and cable TV shouting matches have been unrelenting against Muslims. Not surprisingly, a study recently found that more than 80 percent of media coverage of Muslims is negative, and media coverage of Muslims is more negative now than it… Continue reading Introducing our Muslim Neighbors, One Story at a Time
Published July 8, 2016 on the London Free Press | By Clare Church NEW YORK – Living in the land of Donald Trump, I’ve almost become numb to the unrelenting onslaught of Islamophobia. It’s in politics, it’s in the news, and it’s on the streets. But I never thought it would be in my Canadian hometown. After growing… Continue reading Closer to home than you think
Published June 20, 2016 on Civic Ideas | By Clare Church NEW YORK – When a Native American woman is raped, her case can easily disappear into a jurisdictional black hole. “Over and over again, we see that nothing happens,” said Kristen Ruppel, associate professor of Native American Studies at Montana State University. “Some women… Continue reading Most Rapes of Native American Women Go Unpunished; Communities and Police Debate Solutions
Published June 20, 2016 on the Journal of Political Inquiry | By Clare Church In April, Joseph Dean Lee was sentenced to 9 years in federal prison for sexually assaulting a Native American woman on the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana. Although Lee will serve time in prison, often those who rape Native American women… Continue reading One in Three Native American Women Report Rape – Rarely See Justice
Published March 7, 2016 on the Journal of Political Inquiry | By Clare Church Well, well, well. How the tables have turned. It was only last month that I was still getting a constant barrage of “You’re Canadian?! That’s so cute!” or “You say ‘about’ funny!” or even better, “Is Canada even a real country?”… Continue reading So you want to move to Canada, eh?
Published January 27, 2016 on Bedford + Bowery | By Clare Church and Esme Montgomery Last week, we gave you the heads up about Exponential Festival, a cavalcade of local productions that are “all experimental and strange in nature, but in a way that’s experimenting with the idea of experimental theater,” according to founder Theresa Buchheister.… Continue reading Backstage at a Fest That’s ‘Experimenting With the Idea of Experimental Theater’
Published December 25, 2015 on Pavement Pieces | By Clare Church Three Christmases after Superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc in New York, Staten Island couple Helena and John Mahon have something to be merry about. Thanks to the gift of mild weather this December, construction on the Mahons’ home can conclude and the couple will finally… Continue reading A Rebuilt Home for the Holidays
Published December 15, 2015 on Women Across Frontiers | By Clare Church NEW YORK — Imagine a Barbie who sports red sneakers instead of stilettos, wears a utility belt instead of a purse and vows to save the world instead of being a damsel in distress. On October 8, DC Comics and Mattel, multinational toy company… Continue reading Barbie’s New Campaign May Be Missing the Point
Published October 17, 2015 on Pavement Pieces | By Clare Church Toria Gibbs, a Canadian citizen living in New York, received a letter from her government in August revoking her right to vote in the upcoming Canadian federal election. Gibbs is among 1.4 million Canadians who will be barred from voting on Monday because they… Continue reading Canadians Living in New York Face Voting Restrictions
Published October 5, 2016 on the Journal of Political Inquiry | By Clare Church 60,000 fans waved their smartphones in the air as Beyoncé joined Eddie Vedder to close the Global Citizen Conference last weekend in New York with Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.” What the socially-conscious fans probably didn’t know is that to supply the minerals… Continue reading What the sponsors of the Global Citizen Conference forgot to mention
