history
A Complex Man’s Complex Legacy: What the Movie Rustin Leaves Out
by John Whitehead The great civil rights activist and thinker Bayard Rustin (1912-1987) has received renewed attention thanks to the recently released movie Rustin. The movie is an engrossing look at Rustin’s role as an advisor to Martin Luther King and the organizer of the 1963 March for Jobs and Freedom in Washington, DC. Rustin…
Sleepwalking toward Nuclear War: The Lessons of the Able Archer Scare
by John Whitehead Since nuclear weapons were created, nations have repeatedly come close to nuclear war. The most famous episode was the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Another terrifying near miss occurred 40 years ago this November. In 1983, with extreme Cold War tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, a NATO military exercise…
Victoria Woodhull – First Woman to Run for U.S. President
This is an excerpt from ProLife Feminism: Yesterday and Today. The introduction was written by Mary Krane Derr. Introduction Victoria Woodhull (1838-1927) and Tennessee Claflin (1845-1923) Victoria Woodhull and Tennessee Claflin, sisters from a poor, chaotic Ohio family, became the first female stockbrokers on Wall Street after a stint as…
Reflections from My Decades of Consistent Life Ethic Experience
by Fr. Jim Hewes In 1978, Frank Staropoli and I founded the Diocesan Human Life Commission, with our charter clearly being what was later called a “consistent life ethic” or a “seamless garment.” During those years, when we tried to reach out to pro-life groups, we ordinarily didn’t find the warmest reception because of our…
Consistent Life History: Being Across the Board
by Father Jim Hewes In 1978, Frank Staropoli and I founded the Diocesan Human Life Commission, in the Catholic Diocese of Rochester, with our charter clearly being what was later called a “consistent life ethic” (CLE) or a “seamless garment.” This was five years before Cardinal Bernardin’s famous speech at Fordham. We called it at…
East Germany’s Peaceful Revolution: Remembering the Berlin Wall’s Fall
by John Whitehead The Berlin Wall fell 30 years ago this year, on November 9, 1989. This massive barrier that since the 1960s had effectively imprisoned the residents of Communist-ruled East Berlin was also a symbol of the larger Cold War division between Eastern and Western Europe and the Soviet Union and the United States….
Women’s History Month: Jane Addams
Jane Addams is a notable follower of the consistent life ethic (before the term was coined). We offer a lengthy book excerpt, a shorter book excerpt, and a note from the exhibits at Hull House Museum. Condensed excerpt from ProLife Feminism: Yesterday and Today, pp. 120-126 The Nonviolent Power of the Maternal Body Politic: Jane…
The Future of Fake Social Conservatism
by James R. Kelly James R. Kelly is a professor emeritus of sociology at Fordham University. Susan Bevan and Susan Cullman, co-chairwomen of the political action committee Republican Majority for Choice, wrote a much commented-on op-ed in the June 24 New York Times entitled “Why We Are Leaving the G.O.P.” For their abandoned party, for…
Where Does Martin Luther King Jr. Fit into the Consistent Life Ethic?
by Rob Arner First, if there’s anything we know, we know where Martin Luther King Jr. stood on racism and poverty – for all of his public life. We know that he came out strongly against war as well, toward the end of his public career. And we know that he saw the three as…
Valentine Friends: Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass
by Carol Crossed These were remarks delivered by Carol Crossed at a February 18, 2018 event at the Susan B. Anthony Birthplace Museum, a CLN member group. This week is not only the birthday of Susan B. Anthony, but also the 200th birthday of her good friend Frederick Douglass. Because of illiteracy, the birth…