Red Notice and Current News
Yesterday, Nov. 19, my Mount Holyoke book group was ready to discuss Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man’s Fight for Justice.
Red Notice by Bill Browder. We read this for my book group Monday evening.
I had nearly finished the book the night before. I was returning from the gym in the morning, preparing to finish reading. I was surprised to hear the author Bill Browder’s name on NPR. This was a man and a story I had never heard of before a month earlier when we chose the book.
Browder’s story is fascinating. He became the largest investor in Russia in the early 2000’s. When he uncovered corruption among government officials and made it public, he was no longer welcome in the country. His Russian lawyer, sometimes called his accountant, was imprisoned, tortured, and died in custody in Russia. Ever since, Browder has been on a campaign to get justice.
He was able to get the US Congress to pass the Magnitsky Act which Obama signed into law in 2012. It is intended to “punish Russian officials responsible for the death of Russian tax accountant Sergei Magnitsky in a Moscow prison in 2009.”
The bill “authorizes government to sanction human rights offenders, freeze their assets, and ban them from entering the U.S.
Russian officials have been trying to silence him for years. He has constant security, knowing what has happened to others who offended the Russian government. The news yesterday was about Russia’s attempt to install one of their people as General Secretary of Interpol and the effect that could have on Browder.
Browder’s book title Red Notice refers to the Interpol’s request “to locate and provisionally arrest an individual pending extradition. It is issued by the General Secretariat at the request of a member country or an international tribunal based on a valid national arrest warrant.”
As I knew from the book, Russia had issued an arrest warrant for Browder. They even held a trial though he wasn’t present. They requested extradition but it was denied. He is a British citizen.
Now apparently they are upping the ante and hoping for a Red Notice that other countries would honor.
The book was intriguing to read and our discussion last night was intense. Knowing the story and having it in the news made it even better! I recommend the book highly – I gave it five stars on Goodreads!
Jennie Augusta Brownscombe’s 1914 painting and the myth of the first Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving for Whom and for What?
We were brought up on stories of the pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving. The story said that the Pilgrims needed help learning to farm and fish in their new home. The native Americans provided the help. The feast was to give thanks for the good harvest. The Pilgrims invited the natives to join them.
There’s another story. You can read it for yourself.
Today I think of Thanksgiving as a reminder that the Pilgrims and other early settlers damaged the way of life of native Americans. Over the next three centuries the new Americans stole the land from the native people.
Thanksgiving decorations at our UU church on Sunday
I’ve seen reports that some schools are beginning to tell a more truthful story to children. More people are using the term genocide for what the early American immigrants did to the native people. They not only brought disease, they killed masses of people, destroyed the wildlife that provided a way of life, and signed treaties they then ignored.
“Educators have an ethical obligation to teach accurately about Thanksgiving,” says the headline of an article from Tolerance.org. They present some excellent resources for teachers, many written by native Americans.
“Plimoth Plantation has a Just for Teachers section that outlines . . . activities that incorporate the Wampanoag perspective. In one interactive activity, kids are detectives figuring out what really happened at the first meal.”
The challenge is to teach respect for native Americans and create an understanding of what was done to them by the “illegal immigrants” who arrived from Europe. Having children who are not native Americans dress up with feathers and “Indian” costumes is not the way to teach respect.
Instead it’s important to learn the truth about that early celebration. Why was the land available for the Pilgrims when a few years earlier it was densely populated? How did the Pilgrims first behave? What was the arrangement between the native people and the immigrants?
Next time I’ll write about Doris Fafunwa’s 90th birthday party! Here’s a quick picture.
Today many of us use the occasion to gather with family.
Do you celebrate Thanksgiving? We’re going to Philadelphia to be with our daughter and her family. Our son-in-law’s mom will be there too.
I’m making Mama Stamberg’s Cranberry Relish tomorrow to take with me. Every year on NPR this recipe is repeated, and I’ve made it several times. I know not everyone likes it, but I do!
Happy Thanksgiving to you if you are celebrating. And spare a moment to remind your family and friends that the “immigrants” were welcomed and helped by the “natives.”
