It’s been a wild ride the past few weeks, and you might be wondering, “What is going on?” We’ll be honest… we were asking the same thing. Here are four things that happened this past week in the world of politics, let’s figure it out together.
1. Apparently No One Fully Knows What Happened at that Rally Last Saturday
In the aftermath of the initial images of the Covington high school incident at the March for Life Rally in D.C last Saturday, there have been narratives in what happened. Who instigated what. Who insulted who. It was a media blitz, with the public simply watching and piecing together their own conclusion. Several videos, interviews, and public statements have been released on the matter, with the main two parties involved giving their full statement. Here is what we know right now:
This last weekend there were several marches that had been taking place in Washington D.C. The Women’s March, March for Life, The Indigenous People’s March, along with several smaller solidarity marches overtook the streets of the capital. The three main marches (as above stated) managed to collide at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Covington High School, the students in the center of the controversy were waiting on the steps awaiting transport after the March for Life rally which they attended, during this time a group identified as the Hebrew Israelites began taunting the high schoolers with homophobic slurs at them. The students responded with a series of school chants back towards the Hebrew Israelites, which they explained was their way of fighting negativity with positivity.
At this point the Omaha Nation Elder Nathan Phillips, a veteran, began their walk towards the Lincoln memorial after the Indigenous Peoples rally. Phillips stated that he and his colleagues began to walk through the crowd of Covington students beating the drum, in a way to pass through the crowds, and to break up the tension between the Covington Students and the Hebrew Israelites, which was becoming intense. Phillips states that was he moved forward the crowds of students had begun to make a path for Phillips, when one student, 16 year old Nick Sandmann stood in front of Phillips, not moving. Videos of the situation catch Phillips praying and beating his drum in front of Sandmann, while Sandmann himself is there smirking. Sandmann states that he never smirked, that he was simply smiling at Phillips, in an attempt to appear non-confrontational in the situation.
In videos that have surfaced, he other Covington students surrounding this situation can be seen doing a tomahawk chop, and chanting. Sandmann and other students have stated that these were simply their school chants, though Phillips stated that he did not feel that these were simply school chants, “I’ve heard that rhetoric before…Time for lies not to be accepted anymore. I don’t accept their, ‘I’m just chanting a school chant.’”
Phillips also stated that he could hear students say, ‘Build that Wall’, however, videos could not be found where those statements were clearly said. Sandmann then said that he wished that he and his classmates had found another place to wait after the rally. When asked if he felt he owed Phillips an apology, he stated that he didn’t owe anyone an apology, but that he respected Phillips and would be open to a dialogue with him.
Phillips, the Indigenous Peoples March, and the Lakota People’s Law Project are working to conduct a dialogue with Covington soon. President Trump sided with the Covington students, and invited them to the White House, saying that the students are, “Symbols of Fake News and how evil it can be.” This visit would be conducted after the government shutdown.
2. There was a Massive Shark Found off of Hawaii
Now typically people don’t have to say “don’t swim with great white sharks” and yet that is the topic of the conversation after last Tuesday’s viral nature video. In the video you see Marine Biologist Ocean Ramsey swimming up close and personal with a horrifically large shark. With 600,000 views on the video, people were starting to speculate that this shark was the legendary Deep Blue. Clocking in at 18 ft and growing, the pregnant shark named Deep Blue is the largest Great White on record. For reference the average female Great White only grows 15 to 16 feet.
However, some marine biologists are saying that it is very unlikely that this really is Deep Blue, as the timing of the post, and the last documented sighting of Deep Blue don’t quite match up. Ramsey has yet to confirm the identity of the shark. Whatever may be the case, the video has drawn lots of positive attention to sharks, classified as a vulnerable species, and people are now looking up more ways to donate and support shark conservation. That being said… DON’T TOUCH THE SHARKS.
3. People Left Food and Water for Immigrants Crossing the Desert…and Got Arrested
Amid the immigration debate, there is now coming a larger debate concerning the fate of four women, and the solutions to a mass humanitarian problem at the border. The Arizona desert can get up to the triple digits of heat, and It has claimed the lives of hundreds of people seeking refuge in the united states.
The Arizona based organization called No More Deaths have worked to provide for the past 15 years to provide humanitarian assistance and encourage immigration policy reform. In 2017 four women brought water and canned food for those crossing the border. These women, whose names have not been released, were charged with misdemeanor crimes, however prosecutors said that these women broke federal law by entering the area without a permit and leaving provisions there. A judge convicted the women on the 18th of this month. They could face up to six months in a federal prison. This case is coming in the midst of growing tensions on the border, with both sides of the political sector wondering what to do next, and how to handle more cases like these.
4. LA Public Schools Return from a Six Day Strike
For six whole days, LA did not have enough teachers. 30,000 teachers walked out, half a million students were affected. Demanding better pay, smaller classrooms, less charter schools, full time nurses, more librarians, and reduction of standardized tests.
After six days of picketing in downtown Los Angeles and outside of the different school of the district, the teachers have a win. A resolution was passed to put a cap on the number of charter schools, the number of standardized test would be cut by half, and the teachers won for themselves a 6% pay raise. Finally, the kids are coming back to school.