![]() The Trump presidency has normalized racially charged incidents through constant reminders of “us” versus “them” rhetoric. Since Trump’s “Make America Great Again” and “America First” replaced Obama’s “Yes We Can,” the American culture has turned its tide from equity and inclusivity to hierarchy and exclusivity. ![]() He or she is a symbol, in a distinctive position to create an era and a culture. president epitomizes what means to be an American and embodies what America is. While both claiming American values and interests, the question becomes: which one is the true and undistorted Americanism?Īny ism needs a larger-than-life figure to be the face and the voice of the system, the identifiable practice, and the movement in which that particular ism is embodied. In fact, we find ourselves catapulted into an abyss that separates the two Americas: one envisioned by Guthrie and one enacted by Trump. In a divisive and combative time like the Trump era that we are presently living, bigotry, hate, and intolerance distance Guthrie’s American Dream even further from Trump’s American reality. It has been the vertical America building walls and blocking the views. However, between dream and reality there is always a distance. The horizontal perspective is also a precursor of Martin Luther King’s dream that one day we all cross racial barriers and level cultural hierarchies and be judged by the content of our character not the color of our skin, and that a racially harmonious and interconnected society define America. ![]() That is the American Dream, meant for all of us, regardless of race, creed, color or gender. Clearly, he envisions a paradisiacal land where the most impossible dream can come true. Guthrie’s song sings of an equalizing Americanism. In an unimpeded and sweeping horizontality, “from California to New York island,” everywhere is replete with bright colors and fresh air, celebrating this land and singing the symphony of American voices. It is an ideal and dream land for a horizontal America. Guthrie sang from his soul a land that flattens social hierarchies and erases divides between us and them. He protested the Dust Bowl experiences in his adulthood, imagined an idyllic America where everyone has a place, and sought social justice in an environment characteristic of inequality, discrimination, and exclusion. When the American “Troubadour” Woody Guthrie composed the lyrics of “This Land Is Your Land” in 1940, he had just completed one of his major migrations, the trans-continental journey from California to New York, in search of job and shelter. 23 election suggests that change could be beyond the horizon, despite vigorous local campaigns and global pressure for increased female participation in decision-making.This land is your land, this land is my land From the California to the New York island From the Redwood Forest, to the gulf stream waters This land was made for you and me As I went walking that ribbon of highway I saw above me that endless skyway And saw below me that golden valley This land was made for you and me Men have historically dominated the political, economic, religious and social spheres. In Zimbabwe, a patriarchal southern African nation of 15 million people, gender-based biases are still rampant. The IPU describes itself as a global organization of national parliaments established in 1889. According to a report released in March by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the number of women in national parliaments in sub-Saharan Africa increased from 10% in 1995 to about 27% in 2022. ![]() The shortage of women candidates puts Zimbabwe at odds with trends on the continent. The reality on the ground is that the role of women in politics is restricted to being fervent supporters and dependable voters,” said Marufu Mandevere, a human rights lawyer in the capital, Harare. “We have some of the best laws and policies on gender equality and women representation, but that’s just on paper. It appears worse this year because the number of women candidates has plummeted, despite women constituting the majority of the population and, traditionally, the biggest number of voters. HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - In a large hall at the headquarters of Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party, women responded with roaring cheers when President Emmerson Mnangagwa described them as the party’s “backbone” whose votes are vital to victory in elections scheduled for August.Īt a recent opposition rally, women with the face of their male party leader emblazoned on dresses and skirts sang, danced and promised to vote for change - never mind that the election again represents a status quo where women are largely limited to cheerleading. ![]()
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