On intelligence is intuitive

1: what happens to a society when mystery is labeled as evil? it yields an ever-connected chain of false labels and misinterpretations the indigenous are labeled as savage terorists and plotted against the open-hearted are manipulated into slavery the vulnerable are penetrated by force of law citizens where is your allegiance? why do you pledge […]

On all politics is local

A screenshot from this week’s (brilliant) New Yorker hits incredibly close to home —

On visiting the neighbors

Long time neighbor, first time visitor: I finally got to take a tour of the US Embassy today (..unsurprisingly, zero cameras or phones allowed) just before giving a briefing on refugee issues to D.C. and Oslo staff. The building is shaped like a triangle — stairwells included!

On resettlement as investment

In response to the passing of Andrew S. Grove (an Intel founder, chief exec and chairman + resettled to the US from Hungary by way of Austria in 1957), Chris Blattman poses an interesting question — was the greatest contribution to American prosperity the resettling of refugees?

On Super Tuesday

A ways back, I was deeply involved in an American student anti-genocide campaign, specifically responsible for education programming. I eventually came to the belief that the organization’s time and energy was best spent educating Americans on global issues, certainly, but to also pay a large amount of attention to issues closer to home. I didn’t have the language […]

On historical resettlement planning

From FMR 49 – Lessons from planned relocation and resettlement in the past, read by Jane McAdam: In 1942-1945, US President Roosevelt launched a covert “M” project to study resettlement sites around the world, resulting in 660 land studies in 90+ volumes.

On a Lost Boy in Louisville

Daniel Solomon’s piece, A Lost Boy in Louisville: One Refugee’s Story, is an important read — both to begin to tease out the intersections of identity that individuals resettled exist in, but also to remember how much work still needs to happen after arrival. (also: kudos to Solomon for articulating things I saw working in Memphis that defied my […]

On getting to the US

An excellent, if unsettling, snapshot of the current process of resettlement to the US: Eliza Griswold’s Why is it so difficult for Syrian refugees to get into the US? in the NYT Magazine. Relatedly, Intelligence Squared US just held a debate: “The US Should Let in 100,000 Syrian Refugees” — 22.02.2016 update: The US Promised […]

On graphics

The Good People at Vox once again make a great chart: Javier Zarracina illustrates UNHCR data on registered Syrian refugees to contextualize US involvement with resettlement —

On Memphis and REP

What is going on in the US right now is utterly frustrating to watch from abroad. Major love to Ruth, Cam, and the rest of the REP family in Memphis. Via Kelli Cook at Local Memphis, TN lawmaker calls for round up of Syrian refugees — Ruth Lomo fled the South Sudan and was brought […]