Our first Global Thoughts session of 2021 will take place on January 18th at 2pm EST. Abroadia will speak with several winners of the Chevening Scholarship and what they did when they studied in the UK.

The event is free and open to the public. You may register via this link:

http://bit.do/globalthoughts-CheveningScholars

We hope to see you there!

Farewell, Armando Manzanero

Abroadia is saddened to learn of the passing of Mexican singer Armando Manzanero. Born in 1935 in Mérida, México, his work became popular in the 1960s and 1970s featuring covers of his songs by the likes of Perry Como and Frank Sinatra.

Here is a live performance of his song “Adoro”.

¡Descansa en paz, maestro!

Photo: from Armando Manzanero’s Instagram account.

Deb Haaland

It has been announced that President-elect Joseph Biden will announce that Rep. Deb Haaland (New Mexico) is the new Secretary of the Interior Department. Abroadia wholeheartedly applauds this choice. Haaland is a member of the Laguna Pueblo people and will be the first Native American selected to fulfil the duties of a Cabinet. Her support for the environment and Native American communities will be a welcome change to the US government. Her approach will be a fresh of breath air in a government that has not prioritized the environment.

Photo credit: Aliyah Chavez, Indian Country

Abroadia Salutes Miguel Algarín

Abroadia joins the Nuyorican poetry community in lamenting the passing of Miguel Algarín, the poet who inspired and drove that literary movement in the 1970s and 1980s. Mr. Algarín passed away on November 30th at the age of 79.

In an era where the the literary power of the spoken word of poetry has been supplanted by the hard scrabble and pulsating rawness of rap music, Mr. Algarín’s words still remain relevant and inspiring. Who will be the next Miguel Algarín? Time will tell.

We can enjoy his work. From his poem “Survival” we recall these powerful lines:

i resist being humanized

into feelings not my own—

the struggle is really simple

i will be born

Rest in peace, Miguel Algarín.

Photo credit: Paul Hosefros/The New York Times

A Perceived Racist Comment Conjured Through Distinct Cultural Lenses

Until this week, few people outside the world of fútbol (soccer), knew of Edinson Cavani, the Uruguayan forward, who until now, was best known for moving to Manchester United from Paris St. Germain. Yesterday, he posted a comment on social media that immediately drew scorn from sleep wokers (I define “sleep wokers” as partisans of wokeism whose passion and righteousness sometimes blinds them to what is right before their very eyes) around the world. In a 2019 article for Medium.com Joe Duncan defined this new movement in these terms:

“Wokeism is the religification of social justice, a bastardization that pollutes original messages of those legitimate social grievances that it consumes as they become hijacked by decentralized players who are more concerned with inflicting harm, shaming, and celebrating together, rather than righting the very grave wrongs of social institutions. It’s the conspiracy-theory arm of the so-called “left” quite often, a term I refuse to use to this particular group of people because their message is so vehemently anti-left on a predictable basis. The point of wokeism is to attack an out-group, it’s never to correct an error, and rarely to criticize the more dangerous elements of society that lead to those errors, namely infinite-growth capitalism. Outrage for outrage’s sake wants to inflict pain, not acquire justice.”

We may disagree with the most precise definition for wokeism, but we cannot deny the impact it has had. It has been said that wokeism has evolved from critical theory, but the present form of this movement eschews any form of constructive debate or criticism. If finds reprehensible the mere notion of considering context or culture in its attacks against alleged perpetrators of 21st century social mores.

Cavani comes from a Latin American culture where interactions between friends center round terms of endearment or affection. It is not rare to call a white friend “negrito” or a heavy-set colleague “flaco”. Irony is part of the friendly interaction in Latin American in a way that no longer exists in the US. Having lived in Cuba for seven years, I am used to this. I was often called by my Cuban friends “mi negro”. I never felt offended, but rather honored that I was considered to be part of the individual’s circle of close friends. In the case of Cavani, he is being judged and condemned by people who are not attuned to these cultural nuances. Oftentimes these keyboard warriors take their shots behind the shields of their social media anonymity and that is a shame. Cavani is not even afforded an opportunity to defend himself against the sleep wokers who have assailed him in such a vicious fashion. It never occurred to them to consider the context or the culture that it was made in.

Racism and wokeism are two sides of the same coin. Both represent the extreme sides of human behaviour and attitude. As international educators we must work hard to build and maintain a middle ground.

The Many Faces of Language Discrimination and Profiling

Every day there appears to be a new form of racial animosity, hatred, discrimination and downright hatred. I would like to say that nothing surprises me anymore, but on reading Allyson Waller’s November 26 article in The New York Times, I was surprised. Ms. Waller wrote about the recent victory of two Mexican-Americans in Montana who were profiled by a Border Patrol Agent and then detained for no other reason than that they were speaking Spanish.

We live in a time where wearing a mask makes one appear weak to some; speaking another language providing tinder to others to fan the flames of nationalism and white supremacy ideology. An exchange between one of the detained women and the Border Patrol agent caught my attention. Waller relates that, “Ms. Suda asked the supervisor if she and Ms. Hernandez would have been detained if they had been speaking French. “No,” he responded, “we don’t do that.”

What an interesting comment to make. Are we to suppose that nothing would have happened if French had been spoken? That the two women, one of whom was born in California and the other in Texas, were speaking Spanish, made them in the eyes of the agent “illegal immigrants”? The supervisor did not even pause to think about what he was saying. And this is exactly what implicit bias is and illustrates how deeply embedded it is in our culture.

Those of us in international education have a lot of work to do!

Photo credit: Brooke Swaney/ACLU of Montana, via Associated Press

Descansa en paz, leyenda

Abroadia shares the sadness of Argentina in light of the passing of world football legend Diego Armando Maradona. Such was the extent of his brilliance that his skill and virtuosity illuminated even those unaffiliated with the world’s most popular sport. His image and mastery of “el balón” enthralled millions and the entertainment he brought to the pitch is beyond dispute. Even opponents recognized his greatness.

Years ago I read the book “Sueños de fútbol” by Jorge Valdano, Maradona’s former teammate on the Argentine national team. He recounted an incident where a heckler threw an orange at Maradona, who calmly took the fruit projectile out of the air, played with it with his feet like a hacky sack, then stomped and crushed it with his cleats, and kicked it back to the heckler. Even when dealing with the brutishness of a rude heckler, Maradona found a way to use artistry in this response. Brilliant!

When asked about Maradona, Manchester City’s coach, Pep Guardiola, quoted Roberto Fontanarrosa, the Argentine writer and cartoonist who said, “No importa que hiciste con tu vida, sino lo que hiciste con las nuestras” (It doesn’t matter what you did withyour life, but what you did with ours.”). Abroadia completely agrees with Guardiola and Fontanarrosa: Maradonna inspired millions with his play and personality.

Rest in peace, legend.

Source of photo: Getty Images and CBS Sports.

Dr. Christof Van Mol, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Tilburg University will speak to us about student mobility and labor market outcomes on Friday, November 20th at 9 am EST.

Join us!

The registration link is:

http://bit.do/globalthoughts-christofvanmol

Shabana Basij-Rasikh, co-founder and president of the School of Leadership, Afghanistan (SOLA), will be our Global Thoughts speaker on November 19th at 2pm.

Please join us!

Here is the registration link:

http://bit.do/globalthoughts-shabanabasijhrasikh

Join us as we speak with Collin Laverty about how he sees the US-Cuba relationship develop under a Biden Administration.

There is no cost! Here is the registration link:

http://bit.do/globalthoughts-collinlaverty

Global Thoughts-Bolivia with Alejandra Leon

Alejandra Leon will join us on Friday, November 13th to talk about Bolivia and why it should be the next big study abroad destination for students.

The registration link is: http://bit.do/globalthoughts-alejandraleon