Other Voices: The Connexions Newsletter - December 2, 2023
Toward the light

Date Written:  2023-12-02
Publisher:  Connexions
Year Published:  2023
Resource Type:  Serial Publication (Periodical)
Cx Number:  CX25017

Most of us no longer celebrate the ancient festivals, but many of us - countless thousands - have been asserting our own desire and determination to create light in the darkness by going out into the streets and making our voices heard. This issue of Other Voices looks at challenges we face, asks questions about what we should do, and looks to the past, as well as what is happening now, for ideas about how to move forward.

Abstract: 
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In the northern hemisphere, the approach of the Winter Solstice brings the darkest days of the year. This year, we are experiencing not only the long nights associated with the earth’s annual dance with the sun, but a deeper and more tragic darkness arising from the inhuman actions of some of our fellow humans. We live in a world where the most powerful states not only refuse to condemn genocide, but actively condone it.

The dark days of the Solstice have been a time of festivals and celebrations for thousands of years. Our ancestors knew that the darkness would be followed by the return of the light. The days would get longer, the icy days of winter would run their course, spring would come, plants would bloom. And so there were celebrations: Yule, Yalda Night, Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, Dongzhi, Inti Raymi, Saturnalia. The date for Christmas was chosen in part to align with existing Solstice festivals. The celebrations, whatever they called, were an occasion to come together and collectively assert our joy in knowing that the sun would return and bring with it the light that would nurture future life.

Most of us no longer celebrate the ancient festivals, but many of us - countless thousands - have been asserting our own desire and determination to create light in the darkness by going out into the streets and making our voices heard. This issue of Other Voices looks at challenges we face, asks questions about what we should do, and looks to the past, as well as what is happening now, for ideas about how to move forward.


Contents:
Activating the Genocide Convention
Does Fossil Fuel Divestment Work?
The Slow Motion Execution of Julian Assange
Let's Back Up A Sec And Ask Why Free Speech Actually Matters
Featured website: Mondoweiss
Featured book: I'll Burn That Bridge When I Get To It! By Norman Finkelstein
People's History: Inside a Mound in Hiroshima
From the Archives: People's Archive of Rural Ontario