Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article a well-known (and married) woman of letters The auction is scheduled to take place on April 27 A watercolor painting by Reginald Marsh that will be up for auction during ACES Gallery's Spring Estates Auction on April 27 An oil painting made and signed by Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant that will be up for auction during ACES Gallery's Spring Estates Auction on April 27 STAMFORD — Over 50 items from former Greenwich resident Susie Hilfiger's collection will soon be up for auction Her items will be available for sale with hundreds of others as part of ACES Gallery's Spring Estates Auction spanning from collectibles to fine art to jewelry along with those that descended through the family of a New York City auctioneer "Additional material from over 50 local estates will also be offered," according to the auction's release this auction will include 59 items from Susie Hilfiger's collection spanning from riding boots to rugs and even a "Three Little Pigs"-themed mat ACES is contracted with Susie Hilfiger's family to sell an additional over 200 items in a future auction An oil painting made by Nicola Simbari that will be up for auction during ACES Gallery's Spring Estates Auction on April 27 The ACES spring auction will also include art created by French painter Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant and Italian painter Nicola Simbari "The Girl in White," should hit between $2,000 and $4,000 Benjamin-Constant's "Nude sketch," signed by him A Reginald Marsh watercolor painting will also be up for auction It is estimated to reach between $3,000 and $5,000 there will be a six and a half inch tall bronze sculpture by Anna Vaughan Hyatt Huntington up for auction estimated to hit between $4,000 and $6,000 It is entitled "Reaching Panther." A bronze sculpture made by Anna Vaughan Hyatt Huntington that will be up for auction during ACES Gallery's Spring Estates Auction on April 27 people can get a preview of the items by appointment only at ACES Gallery located on Old Long Ridge Road in Stamford Appointments can be made for April 25 12 to 5 p.m To make an appointment to preview the auction's items call 475-500-7118 or email gallery@ACES.net To learn how to place a bid, go to aces.net. it has managed to best other rival criminal groups Primeiro Comando da Capital and the Familia do Norte and has started dominating local trafficking in Colombia’s Leticia and in the nearby Brazilian municipality of Tabatinga with a population of 120,000 and the largest in the three-country border region The most blatant evidence of Comando Vermelho’s influence are the so-called decretados a term used by the area’s public officials that has even become jocular slang among local young people The word refers to victims of Comando Vermelho’s threats Members of the groups use their WhatsApp and other social media accounts to post photos of their “enemies,” the majority of them underage Leticia was home to at least 10 decretados It’s a scenario of urban violence that José David Elizalde the head of a human rights governmental agency in the Colombian department of Amazonas admits has rendered remote areas essentially black holes for he and his 13 staff members my agency hasn’t gone past Leticia and Puerto Nariño,” he says That’s not just because trips further into the jungle can be costly but because the control exercised over the region by the armed group has gotten to the point that they review the cell phones of individuals that pass through their checkpoints This has increased inhabitants’ fear when it comes to denouncing such groups’ activities In one of these neighborhoods, graffiti does not only declare the names of Brazilian gangs — it also proclaims those of evangelical churches. The religious organizations have become the safest exit route for young people who form part of delinquent groups “They [Comando Vermelho] are big believers and think that the only way to change these young people is through God,” says a man who has been a pastor at one of these churches for four years Seated on a white plastic chair in a small brick building covered in church posters he says he joined the Comando Vermelho at the age of 15 and left the group 13 years ago saint.’ The Earth will hear what Heaven is saying “We have several young people who were part of the group they call to ask if somebody is still here,” he says “The church is the only way out of crime besides winding up in prison or winding up dead.” He’s not the only one who believes this “These churches have arrived at an understanding with the leaders of the criminal organizations according to which they will accept the exit of a member only if they demonstrate genuine faith and devotion,” reads a report published in July by the non-profit International Crisis Group When the former gang member refers to crime, he’s not just talking about drug trafficking. Peruvian, Colombian and Brazilian criminal groups have been diversifying into other activities that provide avenues to financial enrichment and at the same time, ways to launder drug money. The most visible of these are fishing, logging and above all, gold mining — all using illegal methods but also allows criminals to launder trafficking money and hide drugs in cargo shipments Comando Vermelho appears to be gaining status via criminal multi-tasking and via the tri-border alliance with narcos that is gaining ground as the jungle loses In collaboration with the Foundation for Conservation and Sustainable Development Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition ¿Quieres añadir otro usuario a tu suscripción ¿Por qué estás viendo esto? cambia tu suscripción a la modalidad Premium Cada uno accederá con su propia cuenta de email lo que os permitirá personalizar vuestra experiencia en EL PAÍS ¿Tienes una suscripción de empresa? Accede aquí para contratar más cuentas En el caso de no saber quién está usando tu cuenta, te recomendamos cambiar tu contraseña aquí. Si decides continuar compartiendo tu cuenta, este mensaje se mostrará en tu dispositivo y en el de la otra persona que está usando tu cuenta de forma indefinida, afectando a tu experiencia de lectura. Puedes consultar aquí los términos y condiciones de la suscripción digital. This month marks the 200th anniversary of one of the most significant statements of the principles of liberalism: Benjamin Constant’s 1819 lecture on “The liberty of the ancients compared with that of the moderns.” The ancient Greeks believed that liberty consisted of public democratic control the right to take part in shared political decisions shaping collective life This conception of liberty had animated not only the thought of some 18th-century theorists such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau but also much of the ideology of the French Revolution But in modern times it is anachronistic and doomed to failure Modern liberty is the liberty of diverse people pursuing their various different private lives: their different trades and professions their different recreations and consumption to free up the time of citizens to go take part in the assemblies; on small political societies where one person’s voice and vote could make a meaningful difference; on near-constant war to preserve those small societies in their independence; and on a balance between public goods and private deprivation (notice that those have the same root) that favored the former We have rejected slavery (by 1819 this was true in WesternEurope though of course not in the United States) We live in such large societies that the effective value of one person’s share of control over public life is infinitesimal Commerce has replaced war as the fundamental kind of international relationship And our private lives are richer with options and possibilities And so we moderns will not be satisfied with ancient liberty that prioritizes our share of collective power We will insist on the modern liberty of determining our individual lives was educated in Scotland when the intellectual influence of David Hume and Adam Smith was still large took part in the politics of the French Revolution,and later in life spent time with the early leading lights of German romanticism His mature thought wove together ideas from across the late 18th- and early 19th-century European landscape into a distinctive synthesis: an idiosyncratic philosophy of religion a romantic sensibility about individual sentiments and distinctiveness and a forceful commitment to what we now recognize as the political core of liberalism: freedom of speech and religion;commercial liberty; equality before the law; and the rule of law with robust procedural protections and civil liberties After spending much of the Napoleonic era in exile as an opponent of Bonapartism and a brief,ill-fated attempt to convert Napoleon to liberal constitutionalism during the latter’s return to power in the Hundred Days he spent the Bourbon Restoration as a member of parliament and an intellectual leader of what emerged as its liberal bloc one of the first political groupings to identify with that word He was the first great political thinker to go by “liberal” as a label and he shaped what that concept meant for a generation or more not only in France but across Europe and Latin America And he contributed a great deal to what became known as the idea of “responsible government” in parliamentary democracies the idea that the executive cabinet of ministers was responsible to and chosen by parliament rather than the king as the American founders a generation before had not that representative government had to be pluralistic and partisan with a majority that supported the ministers and a minority that opposed and questioned them It is an elegant and erudite piece of writing a distillation of decades of Constant’s thought in a form that was meant to be accessible to ordinary listeners who had lived through the tumult of the Revolution and the Empire It is a bit of a shame that it has overshadowed his intellectually vital full-length works in political and constitutional theory Its celebration of modern liberty is recognizably the whole core of the liberal vision in a way that neither Locke’s theory of property ownership nor Montesquieu’s account of judicial protections nor Publius’ defense of representative constitutionalism is— to say nothing of the narrow utilitarianism that by Constant’s time was coming to dominate pro-market thought in England And of course each piece of that vision remains in need of reiteration and defense on an ongoing basis Neither freedom of international trade nor liberty of religion can be taken for granted and that this collective freedom to (say) restrict trade and migration is more important than the actual liberty of persons to trade or migrate Constant notes that the desire to have national religious homogeneity and to keep foreign faiths away is a conservative version of the Jacobins’ mistake and that,too,is a desire that afflicts our politics to this day Constant’s vision of liberalism and his critique of an anachronistic illiberal understanding of democracy both stand the test of time and repay rereading today But contemporary readers who are used to the idea of conflicts between liberalism and democracy used to civil-libertarian liberals who emphasize strong courts and market liberals who critique the incompetence of democratic voters will be surprised at the rousing defense of (representative electoral) democracy that concludes the lecture Constant warns that the very richness of our modern private lives would lead moderns to neglect what was vital in the liberty of the ancients we would find democratic politics too burdensome and time-consuming; anxious to protect what is ours the commercial and propertied middle classes— will easily be tempted by the Bonapartist offer: I will take the trouble of governing off your hands and protect you from unpredictable political give-and-take Constant was sure that such offers are made in bad faith and that they would represent a bad exchange even if they were not; they end with even our private,modern liberty being at the mercy of strongmen and dictators But this wouldn’t make us immune to the temptation and particularly the middle-class and wealthy liberals worried about protecting what they own,would not be committed enough democrats to make good liberals the regime of religious liberty and free speech and the rule of general law with protection against arbitrary punishment could never be taken for granted All our modern goods are vulnerable to bad politics and they are only secure if we secure them with better politics which requires that we engage with democratic life rather than retreating to the private economy one I will consider in tomorrow’s essay on democracy for Republicans Constant critiqued the ethic of self-interest and called for religion to sustain human freedom Many of our current political discussions have become reflections on liberal democracy—what it is but too often our characterizations of liberalism are not and espouse an ideology that begins and ends with self-interest we will have to look well beyond what a liberal worldview can offer It’s an important time, then, for the Liberty Fund’s publication of the first complete English translation of Benjamin Constant’s On Religion, a text that prompts us to ask what it takes to have and keep a liberal society. (It is also the subject of a symposium at the Online Library of Liberty.) During his life Benjamin Constant (1767-1830) was a political figure known for his commitment to the cause of liberty He opposed Napoleonic usurpation (he would eventually serve under Napoleon’s administration in the hope of guiding the regime away from tyranny) and defended constitutionalism in pursuit of stable liberty for post-revolutionary France Constant wrote that “for forty years I have defended the same principle he regarded his religious writings as “the only interest partakes of the nature of religion.” His On Religion joined his lifelong defense of liberty with the nobility of religion It is a critique of the ethic of self-interest and a call for religion to sustain human freedom writes that he wants the reader to feel as if she were “reading something from another time and place,” a book that “breathes the air of nineteenth-century romanticism.” Constant’s romanticism underlies and complements his central argument about the religious sentiment and Seaton has done an admirable job of preserving it This sentiment is “found deep within the human soul,” according to Constant;  it is “a necessity that everyone feels it is part of us.” It cannot be captured in purely rational terms but as “thirst” and a “desire for something better than we know.” The focus on sentiment allowed Constant to speak about religion universally Though the form of religion—its institutions its sentiment is grounded in the unchanging nature of human beings It manifests itself differently depending on time and place dimming in ages of intolerance but reemerging again with the progress of civilization when Constant claimed that religion was finally safe from persecution it could be taken for what it truly is: a fact born in the heart and inextinguishable by human hands Because religion is natural to human beings Constant rejected any “state of nature” theory that imagined the individual outside of society is not the detailed history of world religions that one might expect Constant did examine the “progress” of beliefs from barbaric fetishism to polytheism to theism and distinguished between priestly religions and free ones was not to present the variations in religious form throughout history but to emphasize what is unchanging: the sentiment of religion sustained in the human heart The discussion of sentiment reveals the purpose of religion as he saw it and this is where his dedication to liberty resurfaces in the text “By studying the epochs when the religious sentiment triumphed,” he concluded “one sees that in every one liberty was its companion.” For Constant the choice was between religious sentiment and self-interest between self-sacrifice and egoistic materialism he worried that human beings would accept self-interest as the foundation of both individual morality and public life we would lose the beauty and nobility of religion that which is definitively and uniquely human—and our political freedom as well unstable foundation for societies that would lead eventually to isolation and “the hunger for wealth.” Portions of the text remind the reader of Constant’s well-known distinction between ancient and modern liberty particularly his warning about the relentless pursuit of private pleasure and the need for something “ancient”—that is arguing that the private life governed by self-interest is less than human or the well-regimented activities of bees,” not for human communities He worried that a society so constituted was susceptible to tyranny since it was simply a collection of isolated persons who cared little about protecting free institutions What exactly does religion do to counteract these tendencies Constant offers many answers throughout the book Religion tells us “what is evil and what is good”; “reveals to us an infinite being”; and creates “order.” It has two ultimate goals one for the individual and a corresponding one for society religion sets the sights above material well-being to encourage the capacity for self-development It gives us spiritual goals that extend beyond our immediate wants and needs it encourages us to sacrifice for those goals promoting a “certain abnegation of ourselves.” This serves political institutions that can become “empty forms when no one will sacrifice for them.” one might still be asking what religion really is for Constant Though he mentioned a divine eternal being and belief in God he barely addressed either Christianity or Islam (“The Christian Messiah” appears once These fall under the category of doctrinal forms He rejected  priestly religions that operate according to their own artificial morality; these impede human progress by substituting a static moral code for spiritual pluralism certain religious forms that stifle sentiment and development the religious sentiment is presented as all-encompassing It includes “all that is beautiful and all that is noble,” defined more often in opposition to egoism than on its own terms it may even be said that Constant imported certain elements of the secular into the religious particularly the spirit of civic participation characteristic of ancient republics civic virtue is juxtaposed with self-sacrifice Constant had little interest in drawing a line between sacred and secular authority He failed to deal with potential conflicts between the two spheres—even the possibility that religious sentiment can lead to a passive withdrawal from political life when the believer renounces his role as a citizen of the earthly kingdom for membership in the divine one are beneficial for our political institutions It’s unclear exactly what kind of religion Constant had in mind to balance the oft-competing ends of institutional stability we are left with the valuable argument that a free society cannot endure on the basis of self-interest that liberalism can and ought to have a stronger more spiritual foundation than individual rights Constant would certainly share in our continued anxieties about the loss of commonality The issue is whether we ought to identify these features as intrinsic failures of liberalism or as inimical to the values of a liberal society that prioritizes freedom alongside self-development His On Religion encourages us to rethink the sentiments and actions that can counter self-interest to consider where those sentiments have their source and finally to ask how they can be best fostered within a liberal order rather than apart from it Our newsletters highlight and offer a deeper view of the best that is being thought and said in law Law & Liberty is an online magazine published by Liberty Fund and committed to a society of free and responsible persons living under the rule of law and forum debates that elevate discourse on law all with an eye to understanding and cultivating a free society Part of the Liberty Fund network The opinions expressed on Law & Liberty are solely those of the contributors to the site and do not reflect the opinions of Liberty Fund Media Relations Submission Guidelines March 7, 2022 | 5:30 p.m. MT | CASE E422 | 1725 Euclid Ave. | In-person and live stream | Free and open to the public | Watch Here Part of the Benson Center's 2021-22 "Capitalism and Ethics" Lecture Series Benjamin Constant (1767-1830) and Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-59) are recognized today as two of the central figures in the development of French liberalism and of liberalism generally their ideas are still rarely compared – in part because Tocqueville did not respond directly to his predecessor’s writings This lecture will discuss the two liberals on the relationship between commerce and democracy specifically between commerce and the extension of the right to vote in the nineteenth century argued that changes in society and in the economy ought to alter the standards for who could vote And both highlighted the possibilities and potential ills of commercial society and of democracy Studying the two figures side-by-side illuminates contemporary questions regarding the intersection of capitalism and democratic politics Gianna Englert is Assistant Professor in the Political Science Department at Southern Methodist University where she teaches political theory and the history of political thought Annapolis and a PhD in Government from Georgetown University and was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Political Theory Project at Brown University She has research interests in the history of liberalism (French and Anglo-American) with particular interests in themes of political inclusion and exclusion Democracy Tamed: French Liberalism and The Politics of Suffrage is under contract with Oxford University Press Parking information: Nearby lots include 327 (parking garage), 308 (open lot), and 430. Visit the CU campus map for parking options or find more info about short term parking at CU Contact Parking Services at 303-735-PARK (7275) with questions Please note that masks are currently required in public indoor spaces on the CU Boulder campus regardless of vaccination status Our Offices:  Benson Center for the Study of Western CivilizationKittredge Central Phone: 303-492-0406Email: BensonCenter@colorado.edu Mailing Address: Benson Center for the Study of Western CivilizationUCB 406University of Colorado BoulderBoulder University of Colorado Boulder Privacy • Legal & Trademarks • Campus Map University of Colorado Boulder After spending more than half a century in storage a massive oil painting will once again hang in the Ringling Museum of Art after undergoing major restoration made possible by a grant awarded to the museum “Emperor Justinian,” created by Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant in 1886 is a towering 13.3- by 22-foot oil on canvas piece depicting the Byzantine Emperor atop his throne in the company of his consuls The painting was acquired by John Ringling from a private collector in 1929 after being owned by and displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York for many years and is considered one of the most important works by the French artist the chief conservator at The Ringling said the painting was on display in The Ringling museum in the 1940s but has spent most of the past few decades tightly rolled with the painted side facing in The painting has been unrolled multiple times over the past 35 years to check its condition and implement preventative measures against further deterioration The Getty Foundation awards grants to museums directed toward many areas of need including specific aspects of conservation The Ringling was invited to submit a proposal in the “Conserving Canvas” initiative The project targets conserving artwork painted on canvas with an educational focus of providing new teaching experiences for mid-career painting conservators in structural treatment The Ringling Museum of Art Foundation was awarded a grant of $176,800 to combat the deterioration and structural damage the painting experienced over the years and to provide training residencies for several museum conservators The grant covers only what is determined to be structural conservation not aspects considered aesthetic conservation such as removing or applying varnish Ramsay said the grant will account for about two-thirds of the total cost the piece requires for complete restoration plus travel costs for the trainees and other participants Ramsay said the grant is an exciting opportunity for the museum as funds for major conservation projects can be difficult to come by The complete restoration will be no small task due to the significant damage the painting has sustained over the years The process will include structural treatment such as repairing and reinforcing tears and holes in the canvas; attaching canvas edge strips to fortify the fragile tacking edges; removal of harmful materials such as residual adhesive; lining the original canvas; and mounting the lined painting onto a new stretcher frame as well as re-varnishing and inpainting of areas of paint loss will also be necessary to make the painting ready for display An integral aspect of the “Conserving Canvas” grant is the focus on educating mid-career conservators on the technical processes such as tear repair and application of a lining canvas to promote structural integrity a trend toward minimal intervention methods adopted by conservators internationally has created a knowledge gap for many younger conservators who have not had much opportunity to line or remove the lining of a painting The Ringling Conservation Laboratory will not be taking on the project alone The treatment is being carried out by Artcare Conservation in Miami where a team of conservators from across the globe will work on different aspects of the restoration process through January Four mid-career conservators from the U.S. Canada and Colombia will be flying in to work as trainees on the project Assistant conservator Megan Salazar-Walsh and Conservation Intern Elizabeth Robson from the Ringling will also be contributing to multiple stages of structural work as trainees “Conservation is satisfying work for many reasons We are able to get closer to the art than most people are allowed to be,” Ramsay said “We carry out research and play a role in preserving the actual art object and the intent of the artist.” The Ringling already has the exact display location for the painting in mind “That was part of the reasoning for being interested in restoring this painting.” and “will take up the entire wall and be the first thing you see when you enter the gallery from the main entrance to the museum.” The decision to restore the painting came from the desire to showcase more large-scale pieces in the museum “We wanted to focus on the larger late 19th century paintings of which “Emperor Justinian” is one of the finest When John Ringling built the museum he was thinking on this scale,” Cartwright said The conservation project will take several months the Ringling will display a largely unseen masterpiece that is expected to become an iconic work for the museum Please email us at publicaffairs@yu.edu Copyright © 2023 | Yeshiva University News | Editor Login | Privacy Policy The following article by Piotr Chmielinski appears on ExplorersWeb in its original and unedited form It’s been really difficult period for Pete Casey’s journey from the Amazon’s mouth to her source it was another long break in his walk and swim This time not the rainy season bringing floods and high dangerous water in the river were the reasons but the political issues made continuation of the travel hardly possible Searching for the solution was a long and complicated process Pete Casey shared his last experience with Piotr Chmielinski – see the interview below: you were stuck in Brazil right before the border with Peru for the last few months on your Amazon trip It was at the Feijoal Ticuna community where it came to an abrupt halt I and the two Ticuna brothers were unexpectedly stopped searched and detained not long after our arrival there walking from Sao Paulo de Olivença We were asked to leave the next morning and I was told I needed to get permission from the Chief and/or from FUNAI The Ticuna guys wanted to go back home for a festival anyway so I decided to get a boat to Benjamin Constant From there they could get the fast boat home while I waited for their promised return in a week’s time I found out they were unable to return to walk I was stuck in Benjamin Constant without Ticuna guides having frustratingly lost another month of dry season low-water walking time After another few weeks searching and asking around I was set to go back to Feijoal with another Ticuna guide who also worked with FUNAI We both assumed we wouldn’t have any issues when we left Benjamin Constant – we just needed to speak to the Chief and ask if we could walk past Feijoal along the riverbank I was quite concerned for our safety after an announcement was made over their community tannoy about us and hundreds of people surrounded the building They were only held back by the local security guards dressed in black and carrying truncheons it turned out that people wanted me to pay a huge fee to pass the community – money I simply did not have it would be a very long and complicated process that could take anything up to 8 months It would require a decision to be made in Brasilia and it was very unlikely the decision would be made in my favour Despite the locals I confided in warning me never to go back and telling me I would be arrested and jailed in Tabatinga or worse still shot if I set foot on their land again I even considered restarting my walk from Sao Paulo de Olivença and avoiding Ticuna territory altogether by walking on the other side of the Rio Jandiatuba but it would add another two months and cost money I just couldn’t afford I studied all the FUNAI and other maps and finally found a route I could squeeze through which would only require a little luck at the entry point and would take me across territory that separated various indigenous areas but itself was not (yet) officially recognised and registered as belonging to any of the Ticuna groups as it were – at the point we had earlier walked out of Feijoal looking for a boat to take us to Benjamin Constant If I could avoid being spotted long enough to land and get to the piece of no man’s land I had targeted I calculated I could get to Benjamin Constant without any further hassle It was a risky solution – certainly longer and more dangerous – but I was confident I could make it Were the problems you encountered while crossing that part of Brazil a consequence more of political or historical issues The indigenous groups are right to want to protect their land and rights The government agency FUNAI has had its funding greatly reduced recently and is unable to effectively support and protect the Ticuna from illegal mining With new president Jair Bolsanaro’s proposed pro-development policies things look set to get much worse for largely defenceless local communities The Ticuna are angry with FUNAI and the government The Feijoal community leaders could have allowed us to pass but bureaucracy and politics just got in the way Did all these troubles with crossing the border make you doubt in successful end of your trip I thought I would have to give up on this section and carry on into Peru I needed to be able to say to myself that I had covered every inch of ground from river mouth to the border of course (pardon the expression): the delay has meant that my original plan to reach Iquitos by Christmas and avoid the difficulties of the flood season and rains was no longer feasible What new knowledge or experiences did you gain from this ‘incident’ Traversing the Amazon in such an immersive way brings a constant flow of new experiences and knowledge I guess for starters that I got to know Benjamin Constant way better than any tourist on a few days’ visit would I also came to understand better this key tri-border region everyone lives in the constant shadow of illicit drugs This experience has also highlighted to me the complex issues facing the indigenous people trying to remain independent yet at the same time having to be dependent on modern Brazil with all the associated problems this brings dealing with the consequences on a limited budget after recent government cuts to their funding I was not aware until now of the extent of prejudice there seems to be against the Ticuna and other indigenous groups from many of the people who live in the towns and cities especially when I was with the two Ticuna brothers How did you spend time while waiting for the opportunity to move on Probably 50% was spent resolving technical issues with my website and online bank Over the last year all of these have developed major problems and jeopardized the expedition in some way or other I also had to change my planned routes several times to take in to account the rising water levels and I took the time to study and plan beyond Iquitos using maps and information I managed to occasionally get on the internet although running in the streets early morning is out of the question unless you want to be taken down by large packs of hungry I managed to order and replace new items of much-needed gear thanks for which is due to a certain supporters without whom it would have been impossible financially or logistically I travelled to Atalaia do Norte a few times to meet with some of the indigenous groups from upriver on the Rio Javari and I was searching for another suitable person willing to complete the final section of the Brazil Amazon with me perhaps the time was needed to iron out ongoing expedition problems that I would have had to eventually address anyway and then take the plunge again into the jungle to make the crossing to Iquitos Not only will I have to deal with huge tracts of flooded forest and dangerously swollen rivers there is also a lot of trafficking in the area My original aim of arriving at the source in September finally in Peru but still far to the source of the Amazon River https://www.ascentoftheamazon.com/2018/12/jungle-all-the-way/ Sign up to receive ExplorersWeb content direct to your inbox once a week part of a mantis shrimp and microscopic marine organisms reveal that as the Andes rose Water from the Caribbean flooded the region from Venezuela to northwestern Brazil These new findings by Smithsonian scientists and colleagues fuel an ongoing controversy regarding the geologic history of the region “Pollen records from oil wells in eastern Colombia and outcrops in northwestern Brazil clearly show two short-lived events in which ocean water from the Caribbean flooded what is now the northwest part of the Amazon basin,” said Carlos Jaramillo staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and lead author of the study “Geologists disagree about the origins of the sediments in this area but we provide clear evidence that they are of marine origin and that the flooding events were fairly brief,” Jaramillo said His team dated the two flooding events to between 17­ to18 million years ago and between 16 to 12 million years ago Several controversial interpretations of the history of the region include the existence of a large shallow sea covering the Amazon for millions of years shifting lowland rivers occasionally flooded by seawater and a long-lived “para-marine metalake,” which has no modern analog Jaramillo assembled a diverse team from the Smithsonian and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Corporacion Geologica Ares; the University of Birmingham; the University of Ghent; the Universidad del Norte Edmonton; the University of Zurich; Ecopetrol S.A.; the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research at Utrecht University; the University of Texas of the Permian Basin; and the Naturalis Biodiversity Center they examined evidence including more than 50,000 individual pollen grains representing more than 900 pollen types from oil drilling cores from the Saltarin region of Colombia and found two distinct layers of marine pollen separated by layers of non-marine pollen types They also found several fossils of marine organisms in the lower layer: a shark tooth and a mantis shrimp  “It’s important to understand changes across the vast Amazonian landscape that had a profound effect both on the evolution and distribution of life there and on the modern and ancient climates of the continent,” Jaramillo said The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, headquartered in Panama City, Panama, is a part of the Smithsonian Institution. The Institute furthers the understanding of tropical nature and its importance to human welfare, trains students to conduct research in the tropics and promotes conservation by increasing public awareness of the beauty and importance of tropical ecosystems. STRI website: http://www.stri.si.edu “Miocene flooding events of western Amazonia.” Science Advances Manuscript Number: sciadv.1601693; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute kingb@si.edu Newsdesk RSS Research News RSS similar to the fossil shark found in the early Miocene flooding Credit: Gaby Carías Tucker and Alberto Blanco Dávila Drilling platform of the Saltarin core in Colombia Sign up for Smithsonian e-news Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker How did indigenous peoples come to participate in a parade for gay rights in a place called Benjamin Constant deep in the Amazon What may appear as anecdotal raises less trivial questions It is unexpected to find sociocultural modernity in a region epitomizing a wild How are we to reconcile prevailing understandings of an Amazon detached from political modernity with its cosmopolitan LGBT scene explores the imperative of shifting our gaze when looking at modernity Co-sponsored by the Andean Lecture Series and the Department of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies brazil@brown.edu Musiam Paris has been developing unique expertise in commercial catering under concession and catering for events in cultural Committed to craftsmanship and local produce our artisanal culture is based on three related elements: taste The Restaurant welcomes you for a timeless culinary interlude in a place steeped in history the Restaurant and its small salon are precious witnesses to the Paris of the Belle-Epoque The frescoes by Gabriel Ferrier and Benjamin Constant lining the ceilings blend with the more contemporary lines of the chairs designed by Jacopo Foggini With a menu punctuated by the seasons and exhibitions Chef Yann Landureau draws inspiration from the classics of French cuisine to surprise his guests The restaurant is accessible with a museum entrance ticket The restaurant is accessible with a museum entrance ticket Just outside the Impressionist Gallery Café Campana is a place that sparks the imagination the café transports you into a “dreamlike-aquatic" universe directly inspired by Emile Gallé and a tribute to Art Nouveau The café offers a summer menu with quick-serve dishes The café Campana is accessible with a museum entrance ticket Café Campana welcomes you Tuesday through Sunday from 10:30 am to 4:45 pm The Musée d'Orsay restaurants do not take reservations. For all group requests, please contact the sales department at the following email address: commercial.orsay[at]musiam-paris.com Located in the heart of the museum, under the nave, the Café de la Gare invites you to take a pleasant and gourmet break, inspired by the spirit of the French coffee shop, combining self-service and counter sales. This space offers a menu wide enough to satisfy all tastes and desires, from breakfast to snacks, from pastries, wraps and baguettes, to a wide choice of salads in different sizes as well as a nice assortment of desserts, without forgetting a vegetarian offer. So many arguments to enjoy a moment of relaxation and pleasure during your visit. The Café de la Gare is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm, and on Thursday from 9:30 am to 8:30 pm. The last service takes place 30 minutes before closing time (5 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday and 8 p.m. Thursday). At the foot of the old Orsay train station, which houses the richest collection of Impressionist paintings in the world, Le Kiosque du Parvis, located on the Bellechasse square of the museum, welcomes you in fine weather for a gourmet interlude. Discover our cornet of FALAFALS with chickpea, eggplant, lemon confit and ginger, accompanied by their spicy mayonnaise. A novelty signed Ducasse Paris. The Kiosque du Parvis also offers a selection of sandwiches, desserts, drinks and other snacks to enjoy at any time in front of the majestic animal statues of the square or while strolling along the Seine. The Kiosque du Parvis welcomes you from Tuesday to Sunday from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm. , opens new tab "the highest level of mass migration since World War II." U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP) attributed it to "economic distress and political upheaval" triggered in part by natural disasters and a worldwide pandemic.BRAZIL AS MIGRATION HUBOperation Turquesa also offered a peek into Brazil's outsized role in the transcontinental trade others for Europe and some settled in Brazil itself according to Brazil's Federal Police.Federal Police deployed officers to nine points around Brazil the fifth-largest nation in the world by area and one sharing a border with 10 other countries.Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsBrazil has detected patterns such as migrants from Cuba and Haiti traveling to the tiny coastal nation of Guyana then crossing illegally into Brazil and making a two-day overland journey to the Brazilian Amazon city of Manaus There they begin a more than 1,000-kilometer (1,600-mile) weeklong riverboat journey up the Amazon to the jungle outpost of Tabatinga on the border with Colombia and Peru.Tabatinga also attracts migrants from elsewhere in the Caribbean basin who are destined for Europe Dominican Republic nationals obtain fake Colombian passports in Colombia their last stop before Europe.Reuters Graphics Reuters Graphics"We have this open arms (immigration) policy .. and we have some complicated neighbors regarding drug production and everything else," said Commissioner Cristiano Eloi chief of Brazil's Federal Police enforcement for human trafficking and migrant smuggling."And we have these more than 16,000 kilometers 10,000 miles of border with all these Latin American countries So it makes it absolutely impossible to take care of each centimeter of our borders."Another Federal Police officer speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not the official spokesperson said many criminal suspects blend in with the migrants Brazilian law prevents police from arresting people simply for immigration violations.With those limitations Brazil arrested only three suspects in Turquesa but it did free four trafficking victims: the two babies who were to be sold plus two women who were stopped at Sao Paulo airport before going to Europe Eloi said."We are not going after the migrants," Eloi told Reuters for the traffickers that are sending people to be exploited."Reporting by Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad California; Additional reporting by Mica Rosenberg in New York; Editing by Mary Milliken and Cynthia Osterman Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Daniel Trotta is a U.S. National Affairs correspondent, covering race, guns, LGBTQ+ issues, immigration, homelessness and breaking news in the 50 states. Previously based in New York and now in California, Trotta was awarded the NLGJA award for excellence in transgender coverage. He was previously posted in Cuba, Spain, Mexico and Nicaragua, covering top world stories including the normalization of Cuban-U.S. relations and the Madrid train bombing by Islamist radicals. , opens new tab Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. , opens new tabScreen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. © 2025 Reuters. All rights reserved — F.A. Hayek, “Why I Am Not a Conservative” “I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: “I agree with you in the goal you seek but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a “more convenient season.” — Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” Jerry Taylor, “The Alternative to Ideology” Brink Lindsey, Steven Teles, Sam Hammond, and Will Wilkinson, “The Center Can Hold: Public Policy for an Age of Extremes” Brink Lindsey, “Republicanism for Republicans” And on Monday we will meet under the theme “Beyond Left and Right: Reviving Moderation in an Era of Crisis and Extremism.” (I will be and with the emphasis Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt offer in How Democracies Die on whether supporters of constitutional democracy and the rule of law can hold together in moments of crisis standing against their apparent ideological allies on one side or the other who are veering toward system-undermining autocracy This is not a moment for overemphasizing ideological divisions among those who are trying to resist the astonishing combination of corruption and democratic norms that the current administration represents We need both some ability to maintain unity and trust among opponents of the administration in the present and some ability to do so among the factions of a possible cleansed Republican Party in the future (Even though I think that in the short term it is important that the Republican Party suffer crushing defeats and be shut out of power for several years in the medium term constitutional democracy relies on the existence of competing parties and we will need a Republican Party that is capable of responsible turns in power.) In the face of a president who is in every sense immoderate “moderation” has obvious appeal as a rallying point To the degree that “moderation” can serve that temporary but urgent purpose It’s important to reaffirm that species of libertarianism against the pathological but sometimes popular “burn it all down” anti-institutionalism that goes under the same name So I’m happy not only to see the moderate center defended amidst the current crisis but particularly to see it done so in ways that are continuous with that market-liberal tradition It can’t help but appeal to my deep affection for Montesquieu the theorist of political moderation par excellence It is in the nature of a coalition that its members have other interests or allegiances than to the coalition A political coalition among factions doesn’t dissolve those factions; it requires them to prioritize what they have in common It can sometimes gradually reshape the factions leading to a more permanent sense of shared purpose; well-functioning political parties typically do this But a transpartisan coalition for an emergency — think of the governments of national unity that sometimes take power during wartime in parliamentary democracies — is quite explicitly not that It expects that the various coalition members will remain who they are #NeverTrump neoconservatives will mostly still be neoconservatives in 2021 and #Resist democratic socialists will mostly still be democratic socialists the early stages of the Democratic presidential nomination race are revealing that all the traditional factional splits within that party are alive and well So if “moderate” is a useful coalition name for what some people share in the current crisis that does not make it a complete intellectual or political description and we should expect the nouns it modifies to survive intact: There will be moderate neoconservatives and moderate social conservatives and moderate progressives and so on even after reading many essays by my colleagues I don’t understand the reluctance to just say “moderate libertarian,” the eagerness to instead replace the noun with the adjective doing important work keeping many moving parts in mind and in the public view glorious projects around which the nation-state could rally us to overcome our mere private lives If “moderate” is a name for intellectual and moral virtues — acknowledging fallibility and the limits of knowledge recognizing the legitimacy of disagreement — then it is no substitute for having a sense of one’s own about policy goals or the direction of change It merely conditions how they should be pursued like “the vital center,” a name for attachment to the overarching structure of constitutionalism and fair democratic competition between rival parties then it is not a substitute for choosing a party to support And if “moderate” is the name of a substantive position only something defined with reference to the shifting sense of who counts as extreme It has much in common with the conservatism Hayek criticized in “Why I Am Not a Conservative,” taking its cue from a direction set by others and saying only “slower more prudently.” But it is perhaps even less substantive than that It can be driven by a constant both-sides-ism and a perpetual repositioning so that one is always equidistant from either Now, Taylor and my old graduate school friend (and fellow Niskanen senior fellow) Aurelian Craiutu disagree. (See Aurelian’s two books on the question the first of which includes a valuable chapter on none other than Benjamin Constant.) Their writings on the topic are filled with confident negative definitions: moderation is not merely unprincipled compromise It is what is exemplified by the greatest statesmen and thinkers who have gone under that banner It could mean all of that. But it could also mean the pernicious tendency to always view the side-taking of partisan politics with distaste (see Nancy Rosenblum) the desire to give it the unity of purpose characteristic of what Oakeshott called “enterprise associations.” In the United States this often manifests as businessmen and billionaires presenting themselves as getting past partisanship and being willing to govern a contentious and diverse polity like they governed their firm with common sense and good ideas taken from wherever you can find them and a complete failure to see that politics is relevantly different from that And it could mean mere mushy centrism and difference-splitting It could mean the simple patrician unease when politics gets noisy as it always does when previously excluded groups are fighting their way in the moderation Martin Luther King criticized It could mean the hubris of the technocrat Adam Smith’s “man of system,” convinced that by rising above mere ideology he becomes smart enough to remake the world at home through bureaucratic planning and abroad through sheer military power It sometimes means all of those things together However necessary the Montesquieuian virtues are I don’t think the association of “moderation” with them is any stronger in American political discourse than the association of “moderation” with those tendencies And if we’re just stipulating definitions such that a political word means only its best tendencies and not its worst … well we can also do that with an ideological concept like “libertarian” or “classical liberal.” There are plenty of bad associations that have built up around those and more are building up every day as they’re appropriated by the identity politics movements of white men who think that the greatest threat to liberty — the only threat that really matters — is when someone is criticized or stigmatized for saying something that other people think is racist or sexist and real freedom is the freedom to “just ask questions” about racial inferiority But I don’t see that there’s any more reason to cede “classical liberal” to the Intellectual Dark Web than there is to cede “moderate” to Howard Schultz and Mike Bloomberg I can describe where I am in about a hundred words and politically well-informed people will have a pretty good sense of what it amounts to If I start with the concept “moderate” … well I could go toward “socially liberal and economically conservative,” which is the traditional way of trying to make libertarianism sound like a kind of centrism but that’s just a longer way to the libertarian starting line And it relies on senses of “liberal” and “conservative” that are pretty unstable these days; in the era of Trump does “economically conservative” still imply free trade I could position myself relative to Joe Lieberman or Howard Schultz … but I wouldn’t know how to position myself relative to all of them at the same time and leaving the impression “I’m kind of like them” doesn’t add any true and useful information compared to the description I walked through in the previous paragraph which I take to be the core of libertarianism’s political project Here at Niskanen and at Bleeding Heart Libertarians I have criticized libertarians and organized libertarianism pretty often and I’ve encountered a good bit of criticism suggesting that I was looking for the payoff that comes to the professional apostate But my criticism is never in that spirit; it is always offered with a belief that people who are right about fundamental things ought to be persuadable about what I see as their real implications and applications If we’re defining political words to mean our understanding of their best versions then that’s what I’ll keep trying to do with “libertarian,” and if we’re using words in ways that are recognizable within American political discourse I can explain myself a lot more clearly by using “libertarian” as a baseline than by using “moderate.” Similarly, I am not, unlike Brink Lindsey, a republican (small-r), because on my understanding republicanism is precisely the tradition that rejects pluralism, private commerce, and the liberty of the moderns in favor of the public virtue of the imagined ancients the American founders were balanced uneasily on the cusp between that republican tradition and a liberal world that they didn’t quite understand The success of the American experiment mostly lay in its inadvertent flexibility and ability to adapt to the world of commerce contesting political parties that republicanism warned against There are some valuable continuous elements between republicanism and liberalism including an attention to the separation of powers and the rule of law and an indictment of the abuse of public office for private gain If appealing to those elements in republicanism can provide (capital-r) Republicans with a rallying point for rebuilding a party that is committed to constitutionalism rather than to demagoguery great; see above under “coalition-shaping.” But that continuity with the tradition of republicanism certainly doesn’t seem to me any greater than the continuity of a reformist libertarianism with what it comes out of Standing above it all is not the right response to a time for choosing This is the final in a loose series inspired by the 200th anniversary of “Liberty of the Ancients Compared with That of the Moderns” by Benjamin Constant, a great classical liberal who was also a democrat, and, in his way, a moderate. Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here Brazil still struggles to reap the full benefits of constitutional liberty On September 7, 1822, the son of the Portuguese king, the prince regent of Brazil, declared Brazilian independence and became Brazilian Emperor, taking the name of Dom Pedro I. The occasion may not have been as glamorous as later depicted in the canvas “Independence or Death,” but it was the formal birth of the nation The roots of Brazilian national identity and political independence may or may not be traced deep into colonial times the events of the early nineteenth century decisively shaped the idea of Brazil as a distinct political entity the Portuguese court arrived in Rio de Janeiro King Joao VI (at that time still prince regent) abolished the colonial condition by opening Brazil to direct trade with all “friendly nations,” and later Brazil was made an integral part of the “United Kingdom of Portugal The end of colonial status of Brazil implied that the commercial interests in Portugal which had benefited from a draconian monopoly of Brazilian trade before 1808 the Portuguese bureaucrats also lost the rents that used to come along with political power over Brazil when Joao VI decided to remain in Rio de Janeiro instead of returning to Lisbon upon Napoleon’s defeat and more populated territory than Portugal proper The reaction of Portuguese elites was the “Porto Revolution of 1820,” a botched attempt to reinstate the colonial statute which inadvertently triggered Brazilian independence The situation in Brazil was dire at that time 1.2 million were slaves brought from Africa and about 1.5 million were free decedents of white Slavery was at the same time the cornerstone of the economy and the major impediment to economic growth and the Catholic religion had been well established in colonial times almost every other major institution was introduced in the country after 1808 including the first institution of higher education Imagine the United States becoming independent with King’s College being the only institution of higher education and less than 15 years old the constitution given to Brazil by Dom Pedro I was remarkably liberal its virtues evidenced by the fact that it lasted from 1824 to 1891 the longest of any other constitutions of the country since Yet that constitution arguably planted the seeds of some of the most intractable problems haunting Brazil to this day it did not recognize a single source of legitimate political power Both the Emperor and the People were recognized as sources of sovereignty That was not an arcane and inconsequential feature since Montesquieu’s The Spirit of the Laws all of them having popular sovereignty as the sole source of their legitimacy Benjamin Constant later proposed a different separation of power It was based on the recognition that in England the quintessential constitutional monarchy at his time in the words of Adolphe Thiers: “the king rules but does not govern.” Based on that observation Constant proposed that the king had a “moderating” power with the executive power vested in the cabinet of ministers and the king acting as an impartial “judge” of the political game Constant is mostly understood as describing a liberal conception of constitutional monarchy with popular sovereignty exercised by a parliament that was not what was institutionalized in Brazil The charter Dom Pedro I gave the country concentrated power in his hands to intervene in the political process whenever he deemed it necessary he institutionalized a power of “tutelage” of the exercise of popular sovereignty for himself The emperor at his sole discretion could fire the cabinet until the monarchy was abolished by a military coup in 1889 has never again explicitly acknowledged the right of someone to exercise “tutelage” over the political process in its formal constitutions first the army and more recently the Supreme Court have claimed such powers time and again Aside from other minor and not-so-minor incidents the Supreme Court has claimed to have powers not considered by most legal scholars to be authorized by the current Brazilian constitution of 1988 all those instances of tutelage over the political process are manifestations of the “moderating power.” It is part of the real If the Army yesterday or the Supreme Court today may decide that the institutions of limited and representative government in the country are not sufficient The problem is that the principle of legality means not only that private individuals are free to do whatever is not forbidden by law but also that public agents are authorized to do only what is mandated by law  If the political constitution recognizes that the sole source of legitimacy is the sovereignty of the people and determines how the different branches of government will exercise such sovereignty on behalf of the people then any infringement of the constitution is an infringement on popular sovereignty defenders of such arrangements have argued that extreme circumstances require extreme measures the exercise of such “tutelage” is warranted every time that the integrity of the country is at risk other societies have institutionalized emergency powers subject to popular sovereignty rather than above it If the Army yesterday or the Supreme Court today may decide that the institutions of limited and representative government in the country are not sufficient to check the power of a political maverick and therefore they are entitled to intervene “for the good of the country,” then the real sovereign is not the people but whoever exercises the ultimate power in emergency cases That is the Hobbesian lesson of Carl Schmitt the rule of law in the country is conditioned to the goodwill of whoever is perceived as having such “moderating power.” Another argument presented by the supporters of such usurpation of popular sovereignty is that Dom Pedro II used it with prudence Because that man happened to be a prudent man it does not follow that any other man or group of men will act similarly “Jabuticaba” is a fruit that grows only in Brazil Everything that exists only in Brazil such as the acceptance of a “moderating power” limiting popular sovereignty is also called a “jabuticaba.” Very well what are the consequences of this particular “jabuticaba” let us consider in what way slavery was a deadweight preventing the country from developing The answer is that about a fifth of the population of the country was denied basic individual rights denied to the slaves the necessary conditions to engage in mutually beneficial exchanges and to benefit from the use of whatever knowledge of particular circumstances they might have come across the rule of law was and according to some still is conditional Do you think you know what the rules are for whatever endeavor you have chosen for yourself That capital formation and wealth accumulation are still happening in the country is a wonder of wonders Considering that Brazil is one of the world’s biggest economies defenders of Brazilian political practices may argue that Brazil did not fare so badly after all and we cannot know what would have happened if the frequent infringements of constitutional order were not so easily tolerated we may nevertheless affirm beyond doubt that ceteris paribus whatever security of possession and personal autonomy does exist it is less than what it could exist if encroachments on popular sovereignty were not tolerated as they are to this day in the country if we accept that the rule of law is the foundation of individual incentives for wealth creation potentially wealthier if the rule of law were stronger than it actually is Are we experiencing a process of “Brazilianization” of the United States That question would require more detailed consideration the lessons from two hundred years of Brazilian independence without being able to clearly establish the principle of popular sovereignty may serve as a cautionary note to whoever takes it for granted anywhere We might analyze events of American history using the framework of the “moderating” power we see in Brazil one that “for the good of the country,” can infringe the principles of legality and put itself above the constitutional order even if only in spirit: What were the instances in which such episodes could be identified; who are the ones most likely to believe that they are above the law Changing circumstances may require changes in the institutional setting for the very survival of the polity This fact does not do away with the importance of constitutional procedures in making those changes When substantive institutional changes are made not by constitutionally acceptable methods but by abusing forms and disregarding traditional interpretations they amount to infringements on popular sovereignty and the legitimacy of the entire political system is called into question What unites the American people is not a common ethnic origin but an acceptance of some ideas which informed the American founding documents That has been proved by the number of people from different parts of the globe who dream to become Americans regardless of their religious beliefs or the color of their skin That the United States is no longer the kind of polity thought by the framers is obvious many institutional changes since the founding were for the better we may argue that everything good that changed in the United States since its founding was inspired and made possible by the ideals behind the political arrangements established at the founding Chief among those ideals is the ideal of popular sovereignty exercised through a limited and representative government as established by the American Constitution That is the positive expression in the laws of the country of the somewhat metaphysical concept of the Rule of Law The United States became the most powerful political society in the world thanks to the allegiance that so many productive brave individuals were and still are willing to give to its flag Weakening respect for the laws and political practices in the country also weakens the country as a political entity even if there is a long way to go until “tutelage” by any self-proclaimed elite becomes an acceptable part of the actual political norms Gordon Brown, a former Prime minister of the UK, once humorously remarked that “in establishing the rule of law, the first five hundred years are always the hardest.” Perhaps we will all be laughing at that in Brazil and in the United States The American Founders understood that large republics are easily undermined by populism "I decided the best thing I could do is to take my future into my own hands," says the ascendant alto saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin shares her road to the 2024 GRAMMYs where she's nominated for three golden gramophones for 'Phoenix.' Lakecia Benjamin didn't call her last album Pursuance just because it's a Coltrane tune that guest-stuffed 2020 album paid tribute to John and Alice — but also to Benjamin's indomitable doggedness And over Zoom — where she looks crisp and prosperous in futuristic ornate gold necklace — Benjamin's tenacity is palpable I'm not going to stop," Benjamin declares to GRAMMY.com I'm not stopping."So much could have tripped her up for good: The jam sessions she was laughed out of with a dismissal to "Go learn changes." The epic cat-herding session for Pursuance Benjamin just wanted 2023's Phoenix to be a worthy entry in her growing discography The jazz saxophonist didn't have GRAMMY dreams; she didn't even presume it would be more successful than Pursuance Phoenix is nominated for three golden gramophones at the 2024 GRAMMYs: Best Instrumental Album Best Jazz Performance ("Basquiat") and Best Instrumental Composition ("Amerikkan Skin") "I was just trying to tell my story about what happened to me, what's continuously happening to me," Benjamin says of Phoenix, which was produced by four-time GRAMMY-winning drummer and composer Terri Lyne Carrington "Just trying to give people an idea of what it's like to be resilient Read on for an interview with Benjamin about her journey to the GRAMMYs which should apply to creatives the world over: "Keep going This interview has been edited for clarity What role have the GRAMMYs historically played in your life seeing your other peers and superstars performing Are there past jazz nominees that you found super inspiring All of them, really. Chick Corea, Christian McBride, Ron Carter, Terri Lyne, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter I first interviewed you for JazzTimes about your album-length tribute to John and Alice Coltrane You don't have to get things done in a certain timeline I did not think that the reception would have been bigger than Pursuance It's been a really wild rollercoaster year Working with Terri Lyne Carrington was a huge step It seems like you were swinging for something bigger She was actually the catalyst for the whole thing I picked her before I even had the music — everything — because I wanted someone that could get the best out of me Someone who's going to tell me the truth tell me what's not possible.I felt that the guests that I have picked in mind — and they had already agreed to the project — were in her sphere of people that she's worked with I felt she could understand my dedication in this project to highlight women musicians and to highlight [how] women musicians have had to climb the ladder and sometimes they fall back down and climb back up again.I felt that her story is a true testament of that I just felt she embodied where I am right now Terri Lyne commands such a musical universe You could have made Phoenix with so many different configurations and ensembles What made these particular folks perfect to tell your story The fact that [pianist] Patrice Rushen started as a jazz musician Angela Davis — a huge iconic figure — had her own adversities They all represent in their own stories the idea of persevering but also doing that while operating at an extremely high level there's always self-doubt about the past But it took until my thirties to realize that I have all this life to live I don't have to cram everything into the now and beat myself up It seems like you had a similar moment of self-realization I guess I still have those struggles as well too but I think you start to realize you're alive right now You can't control what you did 10 years ago You can't control what you did five years ago You can only control what's happening right now and you could sit around and sit in that regret and doubt I'm going to make a new reality for myself and I'm going to try to accomplish the things that I'm dreaming about You can go ahead forward and try to get there You don't have to listen to other people's limitations We see everyone competing over gigs and vibing each other out It seems like you're trying to get out of that rat race and be like Terri Lyne crabs in a barrel trying to drag each other down "I have more gigs," waiting to say "I have more GRAMMYs," and I decided the best thing I could do is to take my future into my own hands I'm going to try to live out my dreams I did everything I can to get the things I want in life that's enough — if I know that I've tried the very best I can to do something.What helped you get out of that tunnel-vision mindset I wouldn't say I'm all the way out of it because those thoughts creep in; you're programmed this way And to know I was able to tell my own story I was able to get these guests the same way get this music together and get it together lets me know that I may be crawling to get there and I'm doing it in a way that I'm getting better as an artist accolades and noteworthy my actual talent is because I'm choosing to put the music first How have people treated you differently now that you're a first-time GRAMMY nominee There are some people that this whole year She's trying her best," to taking me a little bit more seriously when I have these [nominations]; they're not dreams anymore "She's making things happen." Where are you at in your development as a saxophonist but you spend three years playing Coltrane you'll definitely expedite the process of: at each gig I'm forced to be at a certain level I think I'm making some progress — and we'll have to battle that out with Terri Lyne I wish I could expedite that a little faster but these albums are just pictures of where I am at the time John and Alice were such outstanding models for how to live a creative life For everyone out there that is wondering how to keep pushing forward that's another example of going the right way.My first two albums were projects that were more You would think people would gravitate to that more because they understand that music is more contemporary But then I come out with this Coltrane project and it does exponentially better then I do another project that's even deeper into the pool of what it's supposed to be I just think that we got to spend less time trying to find these gimmicks and people really respond when something is authentic when it's a live show and they see you pouring your soul out there authentically that's what gravitates them — not trying to find a way to get over on them "Get over on them." What do you mean by that I'm going to hold this note for 10 minutes because the audience will really love it I'm trying to find a way to convince them that this is good Rather than just coming out and just being like Do you see a lot of charlatans out there in the jazz scene I will say that I pray for humanity to be more authentic Terri Lyne Carrington Is Making Strides For Inclusion And Mentorship In Jazz. And You Can Hear All Of Them In Her Sound. Photo: JC Olivera/WireImage via Getty Images The jazz-vocal phenom won big at the 2023 GRAMMYs including a golden gramophone for Best New Artist This could have a dramatic effect on an essential and primary yet too-often marginalized genre When young jazz luminary Samara Joy accepted a golden gramophone for Best New Artist at the 2023 GRAMMYs the sequence of expressions that flitted across her visage seemed to cover the entire spectrum of feeling The 23-year-old vocalist born Samara Joy McLendon had already won a GRAMMY for Best Jazz Vocal Album at the Premiere Ceremony for her acclaimed second album and Verve debut This win during the CBS telecast was an entirely different beast Joy likened the experience to living "in a parallel universe or a movie." because it reassures me of the fact that I want to continue pursuing music and growth as a musician," Joy continued "This signifies the beginning of a musical journey that I'm nervous but excited to embark on." While Joy's  post-show comments focused on her continued development as an artist the effect of her win quickly became conspicuous she appeared on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" to perform the recitative standard and Linger Awhile cut "Guess Who I Saw Today." But it's worth considering what this General Field win means not only for Joy Like other genres that appear deeper down the GRAMMY nominees list — from classical to reggae to spoken word — jazz can be treated as a little niche partitioned off into a corner of the music landscape Even the most heralded rising talents seldom rocket to celebrity status It's only once in a while that jazz completely and utterly perforates the mainstream — like in 2020, when Pixar's Soul was released, featuring consulting work from real-deal musicians from deep in the NYC scene, like Jon Batiste and Terri Lyne Carrington Some of these breakthroughs have happened at the GRAMMYs. In 2003, the charismatic and versatile Norah Jones swept the General Field Album Of The Year (for Come Away With Me) and Record Of The Year (for "Don't Know Why") on top of wins for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Vocal Performance Additionally, at the 2022 GRAMMYs, Lady Gaga paid tribute to her collaborator, Tony Bennett with a performance of "Love for Sale" and "Do I Love You" — both from their final duets album which won Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at that year's ceremony their album Cheek to Cheek won in the same category On top of all that, other crossover artists with jazz connections, from Jacob Collier to Robert Glasper to Thundercat have made big splashes at Music’s Biggest Night Despite operating under the "jazz" umbrella, all these artists are wildly divergent in almost every possible way. Joy is connected to a jazz-vocal tradition that snakes way back in history, back to when her heroes like Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and Carmen McRae were dropping jaws "I'm overjoyed at Samara's success But not surprised," Lisa Goich-Andreadis the Director of Awards and Jazz Genre Manager at the Recording Academy I couldn't believe that it was coming out of a 22-year-old It has the richness and depth of the legends that came before her What makes Joy fresh is that it's her doing this music channeling it through her vibrant abilities and irresistibly vivacious spirit There are a lot of singers doing standards "She f—ing deserves it, man," pianist Geoffrey Keezer who took home a GRAMMY for Best Instrumental Composition at the same ceremony Keezer sees Joy's triumph at the 2023 GRAMMYs as a reminder that jazz is no antiquated or peripheral artform it is a vibrant and alive genre very much in the now "The whole umbrella genre is Black American Music and jazz is the branch of it that has a swing beat," he explains it's just as current and relevant as anything else There's all these different branches of the same tree it's just nice to have that recognized as: Yes and it's where it all came from." To Goich-Andreadis, Joy's win is significant because it shows that she's being noticed by a wide audience far afield from the jazz community — including that of such esteem as the pre-GRAMMYs MusiCares Persons Of The Year event, which honored Motown titans Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson "She received a rousing standing ovation by the crowd with honorees Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson leading the way," Goich-Andreadis remembers of her performance "It's great to see a representative from this genre touching so many with her talent." Keezer views Joy's ascent as part of a greater mass of acknowledgement, including that of Spalding, Hancock, and five-time GRAMMY winner Billy Childs — a rising tide that lifts all boats permission to like this music and think it's cool People want to hear good musicianship," he continues "You watch the Olympics to see Simone Biles You want to see human excellence in real time that's what we're seeing with Samara Joy and she's doing it right in front of you with no gimmickry and no Auto-Tune." "I hope that this win means that jazz musicians will be paid a bit more attention and respect for their contributions to music as a whole," Joy says "It really is a wonderful community that deserves some more shine than it's been given It's a small step but a step nonetheless." perhaps the essence of this victory is simply that the flame is proudly preserved and bore by a worthy ambassador "Samara is carrying on this very treasured and important musical tradition," Goich-Andreadis says "Jazz is America's gift to the world." No Accreditation? No Problem! 10 Potential Routes To Get Into Jazz As A Beginner Source Photos (L-R): Courtesy of the Recording Academy® / Photo by Jason Kempin for Getty Images © 2023; Courtesy of the Recording Academy® / Photo by Alexandra Wyman for Getty Images © 2023 The Recording Academy's Producers & Engineers Wing will honor three-time GRAMMY winner Terri Lyne Carrington and revered classical producer and 13-time GRAMMY winner Judith Sherman at its annual GRAMMY Week event in February The Recording Academy has announced Terri Lyne Carrington and Judith Sherman as honorees for their accomplishments as pioneering women in jazz and classical music. They will be honored at the Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing GRAMMY Week Event on Feb The 15th annual event will return in-person for the first time since 2020 In addition to celebrating the achievements of three-time GRAMMY winner Terri Lyne Carrington and revered classical producer and 13-time GRAMMY winner Judith Sherman the event will celebrate the year-round work of the Producers & Engineers Wing and its members They advocate for excellence and best practices in sound recording audio technologies and education in the recording arts "We’re thrilled to return live to The Village Studios for the first time in three years to celebrate two groundbreaking music creators who are dedicated to innovating both creatively and technically in the recording field," said Harvey Mason jr. "Both Terri Lyne and Judith have made indelible contributions to music and we look forward to bringing together producers engineers and artistic professionals to honor these incredible artists and kick off our GRAMMY Week celebrations."   Her artistry and commitment to education has earned her honorary doctorates from York University Manhattan School of Music and Berklee College of Music and her curatorial work and music direction has been featured in many prestigious institutions internationally from Terri Lyne Carrington + Social Science earned the esteemed Edison Award for music and a GRAMMY nomination Three of a Kind (The AllenCarringtonSpalding Trio) and the seminal songbook collection New Standards: 101 Lead Sheets By Women Composers and her visual art curatorial debut at Detroit's Carr Center Shifting the Narrative Part 1: New Standards have accompanied the songbook release as part of the Jazz Without Patriarchy Project Carrington is a 2022 inductee into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is co-executive producer and musical director for the newly formed Jazz Music Awards Judith Sherman has made an indelible contribution to the catalog of recorded classical music She is an 18-time GRAMMY Award nominee and 13-time GRAMMY winner including six GRAMMYs for Producer Of The Year Early in her career she was employed at WBAI-FM in New York City beginning as an engineer and over the course of four years working her way up to become producer and then music director She was the recording engineer for the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont during the summers of 1976 through 1994 and worked as audio faculty at the Banff Centre in 2006 and 2008 A member of the board of directors of Chamber Music America She currently works as a freelance recording producer and engineer in New York Sherman has collaborated with a vast number of artists throughout her career including Rudolf Serkin Llŷr Williams; with the Kronos Quartet and the Cleveland and Pacifica String Quartets; with eighth blackbird and the American Brass Quintet; and with conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach Her recordings in the field of contemporary classical music have been particularly noted including work with such composers as Steve Reich Her recordings have appeared on many labels "The Producers & Engineers Wing is privileged to pay tribute to two women who have pushed boundaries both in and outside of the studio," said Maureen Droney Vice President of the Producers & Engineers Wing Terri Lyne and Judith are awe-inspiring honorees who represent the best of the recording industry and whose contributions to their respective genres continue to resonate with our music community." 2023 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Complete Nominees List With her 'New Standards' multimedia project the extraordinary drummer Terri Lyne Carrington is fighting the good fight for representation of women composers And all of it leads back to her mighty sound — and her connectivity with her fellow musicians A rainshower of recent press coverage has positioned Terri Lyne Carrington as a conservator a caretaker of the canon — and that's deservedly so This multimedia project does a lot to contextualize Carrington as something of a gravitational center for gender equity in jazz As an NEA Jazz Master — one of the highest honors a musician in this field can receive — with decades of experience under her belt Carrington is a worthy representative for this sea change in classrooms But while New Standards is a historic and long-overdue achievement discussions of exactly why Carrington fits into this nexus can get lost in the sauce Carrington is an extraordinary musician — full stop Both her records and live performances speak volumes about how she brings people from divergent backgrounds together and encourages them to forge forward on their own terms No matter which setting or ensemble she appears in Carrington conjures an ineffable center of gravity fresh integrity and a unique sense of purpose and destination This was wholly apparent onstage at New York's Village Vanguard in May, when Carrington appeared as part of Kris Davis' Diatom Ribbons ensemble, alongside guitarist Julian Lage turntablist Val Jeanty and bassist Trevor Dunn so we connect," Carrington tells GRAMMY.com over Zoom this reference you would have in common has to do with phrasing I'm able to hear where it's going before it goes there and vice versa." (Adds Davis: "She knows when to light a fire and when to sit back and let things happen.") The sense that even a strike of a ride cymbal is a declaration "She has a certain way of playing time that's really rare by today's standards," Stevens tells GRAMMY.com "And I think it's just by virtue of coming up under and playing with the mentors that she played with." The path to DeJohnette came by way of Carrington's early life, when her father exposed her to heavy-grooving records, including those by James Brown and organ trios led by Jimmy Smith, "Brother" Jack McDuff, and Richard "Groove" Holmes "The velocity of drummers — of pushing a band — that was my foundation," Carrington says and the concept of interweaving drums through the music in a perpetual flow of organized improvisation "I don't feel like I even like to solo," she adds "because I feel like I'm soloing through everybody else's solo." And all of these concepts are in abundance within DeJohnette a two-time GRAMMY winner and one of the most revered jazz drummers of the 1970s and beyond Among other accomplishments during his long and storied career, DeJohnette has played on electric Miles classics like Bitches Brew, worked with saxophone luminaries like John Coltrane, Jackie McLean and Charles Lloyd and cut albums in various contexts for ECM Records And contemporary offerings like 2016's In Movement show that his abilities remain undimmed DeJohnette and Carrington met when she was about 16 her budding mentor encouraged see the big picture in music and the value of people — and she not only listened to his counsel "We wouldn't really talk about the drums but we listened to music," he tells GRAMMY.com "She's got her own sound and her own approach and she started expanding… She learned how to be a good leader and to get the most out of the musicians she worked with That's what a good drummer does — inspire the players to forge ahead." "He's just a really well-rounded drummer who's very organic and I think that's what I related to with his playing," Carrington says he could play free — he could play straight-ahead you'll see one of DeJohnette's axioms play out: "We're always trying to be free within the boundaries." "I like to keep stretching and pushing the boundaries as far as I can so you're remaining open and can figure out organically: What's the next thing I can do to take the music someplace else?" Carrington says "It's always about a journey and a mystery: How do I find a mystery What can I do at this moment to bring things together or inspire myself to play something I feel really good about?" Carrington was asking herself these questions when she performed in Detroit with saxophonist Wayne Shorter, bassist and vocalist Esperanza Spalding and pianist Leo Genovese — which was just released on Sept 9 as Live At The Detroit Jazz Festival 2017 The titanic (and sadly underheralded) pianist and composer Geri Allen was supposed to be on the gig; on June 27 of that year the reconstituted quartet decided to perform her "Drummer's Song" and dedicate the evening to her the boundaries were partly dictated by these four specific musicians from differing generations and their matrix of memories and inspirations related to Allen "She was looking forward to that show; I remember we were talking about it," Carrington rues "But the four of us have a strong history in varying ways and a lot of knowledge about each other musically and personally; we've played together a lot." What transpired on that stage — as you can hear on the record — is what happens when Carrington's the rhythmic core of any ensemble; it takes on a majestic logic of its own Leo and I kind of looked at each other without saying anything Did you feel what I felt?' … It's kind of a lifetime of preparation that sometimes comes together on a certain evening." That unshakeable integrtion — not just with her fellow musicians but those before her — permeates all facets of Carrington's work As the Founder and Artistic Director of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice since 2005 and advocates for musicians seeking to study jazz with racial justice and gender justice as guiding principles." How did social justice come to be part and parcel with Carrington's career She says it was incremental — and predated her position at said collegiate institute "I started having empathy for people who had experiences I didn't experience," she recalls 'I'm having this trouble,' I would just give her advice based on my life which I realized was not the right thing: 'Oh 'You can; just don't pay attention to that!'" This enhanced consideration of discrepancies felt across the gender and racial spectrum led Carrington on the path to New Standards you start thinking about animal justice or environmental justice," she says "All the other things that you want to be involved with so you leave the planet better than when you found it This value system is harmonious with that of the Recording Academy, which continually fights for the rights of all music people through MusiCares, Advocacy Carrington was a prime candidate for their Board of Trustees she's thinking of getting involved again but I learned a lot and became a voice for the things that I'm concerned with which tend to be on the margins," she says "Just think jazz; that's on the margins when you think about the Academy because it's such a small percentage of consumed music and the mentorship." Carrington cites a common flaw in public understanding of the organization "The best way to do that is to get involved and understand the organization — and the biggest thing is to serve." Carrington has worked under the organization's umbrella to continue pushing for constructive change you don't need to play an instrument — much less master one — to do that Which means the heartbeat of her values — and how she relates to and communicates with her fellow musicians — rings out for all who will listen and most likely the hardest-working person I know," bassist Linda May Han Oh Oh calls Carrington "a bridge between worlds" capable of bringing disparate people and communities together for the love of music-making: "She's able to connect like-minded musicians who may not even be from the same genre Russell Ferrante, the only remaining original member of GRAMMY-winning jazz-fusion greats Yellowjackets thinks back fondly on Carrington's period of working with the band in the early 2000s someone you are drawn to and can easily connect with," he tells GRAMMY.com But this interpersonal amenability never translated to meek or docile playing — far from it "She's such an exciting and explosive drummer never playing it safe," Ferrante adds remembering working with her quartet in tandem with her Yellowjackets affiliation "I quickly realized her music demanded a heightened level of focus and listening and a momentary lapse of focus and concentration came at your own peril!" "Her intuition is in alignment with Linda and I," Davis says about making music with Carrington with drama and creating a storyline in the music." That word — "storyline" — piques curiosity Especially when considering Carrington's role in the music community whether she's shaping the flow of an ensemble mentoring young talent or changing the game via lead-sheet representation for women Because Carrington isn't just telling a story within the bounds of a composition Photo courtesy of M3 — Mutual Mentorship For Musicians Mutual Mentorship for Musicians — or M³ — offers an alternative to the often chauvinistic corrosive power structures in the jazz world Romarna Campbell had a sneaking suspicion that she was being tokenized So she decided to indulge in a little mischief When the UK-based drummer was commissioned for a piece Her male counterpart had received a detailed prompt; Campbell just got a bare request for music or to be inspired by this,'" she tells GRAMMY.com "They were very much more interested in having press shots and biographies than they were in this commission." Campbell felt blithely compartmentalized — an unwilling vessel for a performative gesture "It baffles me that you could reduce my art solely to me being Black or being a woman because it ticks a box for you somewhere," she continues "And probably a funding box as well." To get one over on them half-baked music she could drum up — mostly some MIDI loops with rotten harmonies he was sending them parts and they would give him feedback," she says and they sent me this really happy email that was like we're so grateful for your artistry.'" Campbell called out the commissioners directing them to her Bandcamp stuffed with fully conceptualized and executed works as a point of reference Campbell asked for more money — as she'd held up her end of the contract — which they couldn't And when they asked for a meeting about her experience to ascertain how they could improve it "I'm not a cultural or diversity consultant," she says why is that my responsibility for an organization that's trying to say that they have this diverse roster of musicians and composers?" Campbell's story resonates because it bears so many hallmarks of what women and gender-expansive musicians face in jazz and creative-music spaces: tokenism a request to "educate" those perpetrating such attitudes This is ironic given how couched in progressive politics and academia this world is — imbued with an intellectual air Granted, women and gender-expansive musicians have made strides over the decades. Not only are brilliant yet underheralded artists of yore like Mary Lou Williams, Geri Allen and Lil Hardin increasingly venerated but the pages of magazines like DownBeat and JazzTimes are full of women and non-cis But in almost every sector of the jazz world there's a long way to go — from how writers talk about women to fair representation on festival lineups to interpersonal interactions at residencies and workshops That's why Campbell joined up with M³, or Mutual Mentorship for Musicians — a community meant to establish "a new model of mentorship" that elevates women and gender-expansive musicians Founded by musicians Jen Shyu and Sara Serpa in 2020 M³ is just one of a host of jazz-adjacent organizations offering an alternative to outdated and occasionally corrosive systems of gatekeeping Because of the sheer diversity of its members' creative and cultural backgrounds Across a litany of interviews with its members common themes emerge — identifying fundamental issues "I think part of it needs to be developed on a grassroots level and even moreso on a structural and cultural level — where the culture starts to shift in terms of it being a male-driven community and culture," saxophonist and composer Caroline Davis tells GRAMMY.com a possible first step to challenging that paradigm is simply being mindful of the way we talk to each other in the jazz community — including who gets the often bandied-upon designator of "genius." but older men are always geniuses and they have their following," Serpa notes "And I'm not talking about people in the mainstream or who have access and resources We have had musicians in our cohorts that have been on the scene for 30 Even us — we haven't heard of them." especially adept players are often described as "killing" or "murdering" or "taking no prisoners." Obviously and it's generally meant as a term of endearment or admiration speech like that can alienate in surprising ways — and not simply due to varying tastes or sensibilities "It could be as simple as us shifting our language to include less brutalized words," she continues but I think it actually makes a huge difference to shift the way we talk about music and the way people are sharing music." Guitarist and composer Jessica Ackerley agrees: "Everything is rooted in harming other people," they tell GRAMMY.com "Which is completely ridiculous." this doesn't just serve to swerve around sensitivities — it offers a more holistic and inclusive model of success that doesn't just mean brute athleticism and might "It becomes this ego fest of how fast you can play how many polyrhythms you can learn," Swaminthan white men who probably thought that they were happy with that success — they themselves will be able to heal because we are offering another option." But a need for more thoughtful language doesn't just extend to the classroom or in private conversation; it applies to how journalists write about musicians who aren't straight wrongheaded writing usually goes in one of two directions The first is an example of old-school chauvinism — a writer salivating over a femme-presenting person's appearance before dealing with their art in any meaningful way The second is shoehorning them into readymade categories — even when it's to a "progressive" end composer and improviser who uses she/they pronouns recalls one particularly off-putting exchange to this end "Someone was trying to write this article about me What are your pronouns?' And I was just like this has nothing to do with the music," she tells GRAMMY.com "I don't want to tell you any of that s—t because it has nothing to do with it." Elhajli goes on to question the idea of "having my moment to shine" — just because they happen to fit in a category of marginalized people at a convenient time and there's a personal life too," they say Why should I have to adhere to any identity politics Identity politics are just getting really claustrophobic right now for me We're missing the plot a little bit." Campbell's thinking would seem to jibe with this; she highlights how attempts at inclusivity can tip over into reductionism This aligns with M³'s grander aim — not to divide musicians by perceived degrees of marginalization but reflect the reality on the ground and open doors for talent from all walks of life "Maybe we can have a relationship between macho [behavior] and jazz in the history of jazz," pianist and composer Paula Shocron "But if you go to the States and see the jazz scenes "I just want to make it clear that we're not in doing this mutual mentorship for musicians program [we're not making] an effort to eschew or exclude anyone," Davis adds at some point people have to educate themselves We want people to embrace that and make their own mentorship models "We're all here trying to fight this together and we need everyone.'" This doesn't only apply to M³ but all the other organizations in their constellation trying to make jazz and creative music a fairer an apprenticeship program for women and nonbinary musicians helmed by The New Music USA organization and Berklee Institute of Jazz & Gender Justice "We not only have to face the facts that misogyny and sexism are still very much a part of the music industry," Terri Lyne Carrington, a GRAMMY-winning drummer and Next Jazz Legacy's artistic director, said in 2022 "We have to change the systems and patterns that have remained oppressive in order for the music to fully flourish and match how humanity is evolving." a pianist and composer at the cutting edge of the New York scene got the call from Carrington about Next Jazz Legacy she's really going to make a difference The mentors are super famous musicians,'" she tells GRAMMY.com "And whether people know about the grant or not they're going to see these young people's names next to these incredible mentors — and that's saying something to the community." (Today Linda May Han Oh an Australian bassist who works in an apprenticeship role at Next Jazz Legacy views these dovetailing initiatives as working in parallel with women's and LGBTQ+ rights writ large — including transforming gender roles and the right to vote "It's always been a very traditional role for a woman to be a wife works and tours and brings in the money," she tells GRAMMY.com "And I think that in itself lends itself to inequality or inequity." Oh impresses upon her students the importance of cultivating "your own resilience and your resourcefulness in a way that you can be as independent as you possibly can," she says Also of note is jazz luminary Dee Dee Bridgewater's Woodshed Network Residency supporting and educating women and non-gender-conforming artists cited "an appreciation for the gift of mentorship I’ve received at various junctures." “I’ve tried to give back along the way,” she added "But this opportunity created by my greatest mentor offered a concrete and focused way to pay that forward." the elder Bridgewater — a two-time GRAMMY winner — explains her unique pragmatic approach to mentoring young women "I decided that I would concentrate on the business aspect of the music industry and try and give women a kind of head start for their careers," she says "knowing that they would have all the information that they needed to have a career or to take the career to the next level — if they already had one started "It was born out of a kind of necessity," she continues And if you wonder where rising musicians like saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin and bassist Amina Scott got their launchpad thank Dee Dee Bridgewater for recognizing that necessity These types of programs are far from exclusively stateside affairs a Brooklyn-based nonprofit with an aim to "develop art experiences that educate inspire and heal people and communities," has a purview reaching as far as South Africa And the seed was an online hang during the pandemic facilitated by their co-artistic director — tenor saxophonist who also has run JazzGirls Day at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York it was wholeheartedly embraced by a number of women from a South African jazz camp Jazz Camp for Female Instrumentalists Mamelodi and eventually hosted by one of the camp's founders When the pandemic made live performance impossible "[We searched] for a bigger concept of performance that could incorporate people in different countries," she tells GRAMMY.com "And also show how the number of women has increased in all the countries that we kind of tapped into." The online collaboration network eventually blossomed into a real-life festival in Botswana Jones and saxophonist and music teacher Akhutleleng Kekwaletswe A preceding one-day workshop arranged by Kekwaletswe found more than 50 girls on different instruments; the festival itself involved 24 women on stage That's a very common line in Botswana: 'The future is bright,' meaning that you see some hope," Kekwaletswe says "There is a lot of positivity and positive energy towards what we are doing." Throughout the jazz ecosystem, this mission has serious wind in its sails. To say nothing of the Women in Jazz Organization (WIJO), whose membership has a significant overlap with M³ and Next Jazz Legacy. Among WIJO's mentorship class are Carrington, Caroline Davis, pianists Helen Sung and Marta Sanchez, trumpeter Bria Skonberg "The impact that being a woman has on your pursuit of a jazz career can't be boiled down into one issue, nor should it," WIJO's founder, saxophonist Roxy Coss, told DANSR she noted the multitude of indignities often involved: microaggressions "The fact of being a woman affects your experience entirely and the specific ways it affects one's pursuit are often unnoticed and we've assuredly got a long way to go we've got our best and brightest on the case And few who behold them on the bandstand would dare to say otherwise The Real Ambassadors At 60: What Dave Brubeck, Iola Brubeck & Louis Armstrong's Obscure Co-Creation Teaches Us About The Cold War, Racial Equality & God RECORDING ACADEMY MEMBERSHIP ADVOCACY MUSICARES LATIN GRAMMYS GRAMMY MUSEUM Some of the content on this site expresses viewpoints and opinions that are not those of the Recording Academy and its Affiliates Responsibility for the accuracy of information provided in stories not written by or specifically prepared for the Academy and its Affiliates lies with the story's original source or writer Content on this site does not reflect an endorsement or recommendation of any artist or music by the Recording Academy and its Affiliates A severe drought has thrown the Brazilian Amazon into an emergency with water levels in rivers and lakes across the basin falling to unprecedented lows in September This has restricted the movement of people and goods by boat making it even more difficult for remote communities to access health and education facilities and left thousands of people facing water and food shortages This scenario could worsen dramatically by the end of October when the drought is expected to be at its most severe The Amazon typically receives less rainfall during this current time of year But the 2023 dry spell has been exacerbated by two simultaneous natural events that inhibit cloud formation further reducing the already low rainfall in the region the abnormal warming of the surface waters of the equatorial Pacific Ocean which produces east-to-west air currents over the Amazon Rainforest Another factor is the warming of the waters of the northern tropical Atlantic Ocean which creates north-to-south winds across the biome These air currents are an obstacle to the formation of rain clouds “With the two phenomena acting simultaneously we have a more intense drought that also affects a larger area of the Amazon biome,” Renato Cruz Senna a meteorologist and researcher at the National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA) in Brazil The critical level of the Amazon’s rivers is a major problem River navigation is the primary transportation method across the world’s biggest rainforest and the only means of access for many communities especially in the western part of the biome The flow of boats on the great rivers — the Amazon Purus and Juruá — supplies the entire region with essential goods sent from other parts of Brazil from food items like beans and beef to materials like cement and iron The same routes are used to transport commodities from televisions and bicycles produced in the Manaus Free Trade Zone Authorities say 90% of regular vessels are now operating with some kind of restriction in the state of Amazonas which has ordered cargo capacity to be halved 1,120 kilometers (700 miles) from the Amazonas state capital Manaus It sits at the confluence of the Solimões and the Javari the river that forms the border between Brazil and Peru Water levels here have receded so much that huge sandbanks have emerged in the middle of the rivers even to the neighboring municipality of Tabatinga with the risk of total shortages if the river continues to recede,” David Bemerguy “It’s the worst drought ever seen here because the river has more sandbanks In addition to the shortage of drinking water the municipality of 37,000 inhabitants faces a growing public health problem “We have worsening respiratory diseases and other health problems associated with the drought We depend on a river connection to help patients The current situation is unthinkable,” Bemerguy said On Sept. 26, the Brazilian federal government released $41 million reais ($8,2 million) to dredge 8 km (5 mi) of the Solimões and reestablish the link between Benjamin Constant and Tabatinga Benjamin Constant is just one of 60 municipalities across Amazonas, out of the total of 62 in the state, that are currently suffering from the effects of the drought. Manaus In Porto Velho, the capital of Rondônia state, the Madeira River hit its lowest level in September. With their wells running dry, people living along the river are traveling up to 30 km (19 mi) to buy freshwater, according to news outlet G1 At least 15,000 people are suffering from water shortages on the banks of the Madeira Amid the severe drought, more than 100 Amazonian dolphins, including endangered species like the pink river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) and the tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis), were found dead in Lake Tefé “I’ve never seen anything like this,” Miriam Marmontel an Amazonian aquatic mammal researcher at the Mamirauá Institute “It’s a huge die-off of dolphins in a localized area due to high temperatures We’re worried because these are two endangered species charismatic animals that are symbols of the Brazilian Amazon.” Many other lakes and rivers in the Brazilian Amazon have already recorded large numbers of dead fish due to the drought The dry season in the Brazilian Amazon began earlier than expected and has been more severe than in previous years Weather forecasts indicate the drought conditions will likely last longer in 2023 “We will have low-intensity rains from October onward due to El Niño,” Sidney Abreu from the Brazilian National Institute of Meteorology (INMET) “This rainfall deficit should last until the second half of December river levels in the Amazon will likely take longer to return to normal prolonging navigation problems in the region Mongabay received a forecast of flows for the next three months from Ana Paula Cunha a drought researcher at the National Center for Monitoring and Early Warning of Natural Disasters (CEMADEN) The data show flows well below average throughout the region New restrictions on navigation are expected in the coming weeks president of the Brazilian Association of Cabotage Shipowners (ABAC) which represents companies that transport cargo along the rivers in the Amazon Basin “With depth restrictions to avoid hitting sandbars ships are carrying less cargo than they could That makes freight more expensive,” he told Mongabay by phone “Everything suggests that we will have to reduce cargo even more as the rivers recede which means fewer products with higher prices in the region The greatest impact will be felt in the supermarket,” he said According to Senna, the INPA researcher, river levels in the Amazon may reach record-low levels in late October “The level of the Rio Negro is dropping by 1 meter [3 feet] every three days something that has never been recorded before,” he told Mongabay He said communities living in the Amazonian region have become used to intensive flooding but aren’t as resilient to the effects of severe droughts “It’s a very chaotic process for the region When rivers and lakes can’t be navigated the population suffers all kinds of restrictions The drought that is predicted for the region in 2023 is unprecedented.” Banner image: The mass die-off of Amazon dolphins is under investigation with researchers suspecting high water temperatures may be the cause Image courtesy of Miguel Monteiro/Mamirauá Institute El Niño hurts carbon storage in South America’s tropical forests, study says FEEDBACK: Use this form to send a message to the author of this post The “fortress conservation” model is under pressure in East Africa as protected areas become battlegrounds over history and global efforts to halt biodiversity loss Mongabay’s Special Issue goes beyond the region’s world-renowned safaris to examine how rural communities and governments are reckoning with conservation’s colonial origins and trying to forge a path forward […] Berlin was warning us of the dangers lurking in the concept of “positive liberty.” I have since re-read the essay and Berlin seems primarily to be sounding the alarm about the concept not simply setting it next to “negative liberty” as just another valuable conception of liberty that are not “authentic.” The “real” or “authentic” self has generally been as Berlin notes in “Two Concepts of Liberty,” identified with some super-personal entity – a State regarded as a more “real” subject of attributes than the empirical self But the “positive” conception of freedom as self-mastery with its suggestion of a man divided against himself lent itself more easily to this splitting of personality into two: the transcendent and the empirical bundle of desires and passions to be disciplined and brought to heel It is this historical fact that has been influential Taylor, who endorses positive liberty in his various writings, refers in his essay on “Atomism” to the requirement that “we rise to the level of self-consciousness and autonomy where we can exercise choice or superstition in some code imposed by tradition or fate which tells us how we should dispose of what belongs to us.” Such a conception of “positive liberty” is intimately associated with the “ancient liberty” described by Constant in which the citizens are engaged in public deliberation about the public good as the realization of their freedom Only those with the self-mastery of positive liberty can engage in such acts of self-governance “A society in which such deliberation was public and involved everyone would realize a freedom not available anywhere else or in any other mode.” such deliberation is not an act of freedom if it is based on “fear if those deliberating are not already in agreement with the truth and if they all already agree about the right course of action How can it be an act of freedom to express a view that is wrong or falling short of truth because of ignorance or superstition Positive liberty as collective liberty is self-defeating Why would those who already conform to their true selves Berlin is clearly worried – and rightly so – that the conception of “positive liberty” leads to the opposite of liberty as understood in the mainstream of classical liberalism/libertarianism: with the measure of “negative” liberty that it entails seems to me a truer and more humane ideal than the goals of those who seek in the great disciplined authoritarian structures the ideal of “positive” self-mastery by classes relying on the conception of liberty that Berlin (and others) have labeled “positive liberty.” If I have understood him correctly he is focused on “capabilities,” not in the sense of the capability to make authentic choices as an autonomous agent but in the sense of having more things I can do because I have more options then being wealthier means having more liberty and Tyler’s response to my challenge to compare the liberties of the Germans in 1888 and in 1938 falls flat Those in 1938 would have to have been freer because they had more wealth and hence more things they could do with their lives (make phone calls His response that “1939 Germany was on an unsustainable path with regard to positive liberty we all know what happened” doesn’t begin to address that uncomfortable outcome of his equation of wealth with liberty they had more “positive liberty” in 1938 than in 1888 and he wants us to consider “positive liberty (‘what can I do with my life?’) as more important than negative liberty.” I don’t agree with him that “rule utilitarianism (or consequentialism) collapses into act utilitarianism.” As a categorical statement even though the consequences in the case at hand are undesirable Persons accused of crimes are let off due to procedural police or prosecutorial mistakes even though the various parties “know” that they’re guilty convinces people who would like to force others to shut up to back off Libertarianism is focused on the rules of just conduct Those rules may in the end be justified by the outcomes of following the rules but the outcomes and the rules of just conduct (notably respect for the liberty of each and all) are not the same thing and should not be confused A freer world is – or becomes over time – a richer one but we should not confuse wealth with freedom that the goal of libertarians is to promote liberty not – except insofar as it promotes liberty – merely to promote libertarianism It need not be the only alternative to total social collapse it’s the liberty that matters to libertarians qua libertarians and promotion of the ideology or the movement is only significant to the extent that it advances liberty itself I found Virginia’s podcast [.mp3] a very helpful and useful discussion of the generation and the role of principles It turns out that talking sometimes allows for more precision than writing not by congratulating Brian (which I did at the outset) for managing it all) for such a rewarding discussion which has helped me to try to think through some difficult issues Cato Unbound is a forum for the discussion of diverse and often controversial ideas and opinions. The views expressed on the website belong to their authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff or supporters of the Cato Institute. have affected 100,610 people ( 22,116 families) since February 2015 levels of the Solimões River continue to rise levels of the Solimões River reached 13.52 metres on Sunday 26 April 2015 slightly below the highest recorded level of 13.82 metres in 1999 Amazonas State Civil Defence says that 3,680 people in six districts and 29 riverside communities have been affected by the floods so far Floods have affected the area for the last 3 to 4 weeks The municipality declared a state of emergency on 07 April 2015 Tabatinga officials say that 145 families are currently homeless as a result of the floods The overflowing Solimões has also affected neighbouring Benjamin Constant municipality where 8 out of the 9 districts have been flooded Floods in the Brazilian state of Amazonas have affected 100,610 people ( 22,116 families) since February 2015 flooding in the state has prompted 18 municipalities to declare a state of emergency and five others a state of alert The worst affected area is Boca do Acre, in the Purus region, which has been declared a state of public calamity after the Purus River overflowed in March 2015 The latest figures were released by the state’s Civil Defense in a statement made earlier this week in which officials also said that the flood situation is continuing in some areas as increased Solimões River levels threaten nearby communities in Alto Solimões The state government reports that a total of 363 tons of food have been sent to the affected areas medicines and water filters have also been distributed Financial aid for flood hit areas from the State Government includes: Richard Davies is the founder of floodlist.com and reports on flooding news Cookies | Privacy | Contacts © Copyright 2025 FloodList Diálogo Américas The Amazon region is going through its worst drought in more than a century the lowest mark since measurements began in 1902 Fishing activities are collapsing and there is a shortage of drinking water The ongoing drought combined with the effects of climate change and El Niño has caused temperatures in Lake Tefé to rise and led to the death of more than 150 dolphins in late September The drought is impacting all the countries that share the Amazon — eight nations share the territory — yet the Brazilian Amazon which corresponds to some 60 percent of the rainforest is among the most affected by the El Niño phenomenon at the moment The phenomenon is one of the usual causes of this period of drought; however experts point out that illegal activities and the actions of transnational criminal organizations exacerbate and accelerate this process “The model of the region’s economic structure makes a big contribution: the expansion of fires all of this leads to an increase in deforestation promotes the expansion of criminal activities because we also have to analyze that the issue of organized crime has to be interpreted beyond narcotrafficking,” Aiala Colares a professor and researcher at the State University of Pará and one of the coordinators of the Brazilian Public Security Forum’s Cartography of Violence in the Amazon Region environmental problems in the Amazon have reached a very complex stage due to the expansion of organized crime and a combination of various illegal activities that complement legal activities “The advance of environmental crimes related to the advance of organized crime is something that has been building for a long time and we are now at a time when these socio-environmental conflicts are exploding […] The Amazon region today is at the center of disputes involving organized crime cocaine being imported from the Andean countries manganese and cassiterite or other types of ore being smuggled to Europe And now we can highlight the land market linked to the issue of land grabbing,” Colares said The drought has affected the lives of almost 700,000 people in the western part of the Brazilian Amazon Authorities decreed a state of emergency in several cities The Brazilian government has set up a task force to help the affected population and announced the allocation of more than $132 million for the region which sent technicians specialized in public health and environmental surveillance and provided essential medicines and supplies; to the Ministry of Ports and Airports for dredging rivers to improve navigability; to the Amazon Fund; and the Ministry of the Environment The Brazilian Armed Forces have been on the ground since October with some 380 military personnel from the Navy “The soldiers have transported 10,800 food baskets and 1,290 cartons of drinking water to municipalities of Alvarães and the distribution of medicines,” the Brazilian Ministry of Defense told Diálogo in a statement and two vessels were used for the operations there has been an accumulated distance of 2,437 kilometers in river transport and around 85 hours of flight time in Army and Air Force aircraft.” the answer to environmental problems in the Amazon is quite complex and “requires the efforts of all the political players to build a path that can be somewhat productive in terms of inclusion and building a development model that can bring about a culture of good living.” Colares believes that internally it would require an interinstitutional policy attaching various projects integrating police forces and consolidating a federative pact Colares says that it is essential to work together with the other Amazonian countries “getting closer and working together with neighboring countries and at the same time creating a set of strategic actions based on public policies that strengthen the social and political structures of vulnerable regions that are affected by the advance of organized crime,” the researcher concluded For more on security and defense issues around the globe Marvels and Mirages of Orientalism: From Spain to Morocco Benjamin-Constant in His Time” is Canada’s first large exhibit dedicated to Orientalism the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) has spent sizable amounts of time and money in reuniting the life works of French orientalist painter More doubtful is whether similar resources were employed to ensure that such problematic subject matter would be displayed in a not-so-problematic way The sound of Andalusian music guides visitors up the escalators and into Bourgie Hall lounging on pillowed couches underneath tacky Bedouin-esque tents as servers circle around to take drink orders subsidized by the Consulate General of the Kingdom of Morocco are relegated to a shadowy corner to play ‘authentic’ music for the guests’ enjoyment The scene mirrors Benjamin-Constant’s Interior of a Harem in Morocco There’s no denying that the paintings are visually stunning The walls in the first room of the exhibit are painted a sumptuously dark red enveloping the paintings on display with more esteem than should be accorded to them Quotes from Benjamin-Constant appear on the walls: “See what I have to spend in pigments and canvases and for models and studio hire when the picture is too big for my own atelier I have finished one of these big paintings what does it sell for?” These comments are inscribed with gold lettering a royal treatment for Benjamin-Constant’s commodification of the cultures he painted And then there is room after room of paintings collected from places as disparate as Toulouse and Philadelphia each putting the artist’s commodifying words into practice Each exquisite odalisque – a slave or concubine in a harem – lying supine on a bed Lest the museum fool us into thinking this dehumanizing practice is a thing of the past we should seriously consider the implications of such a shameless celebration of colonial misogyny in the 21st century Orientalism as an art movement is deeply embedded in the racist attitudes of the European empires and their dehumanizing depictions of colonial subjects Artists were sent by the French elite as emissaries to ‘the Orient’ – i.e. Moorish Spain and North Africa – to document and illustrate how the people of those far-away colonial holdings looked and acted Others like Benjamin-Constant journeyed east on their own accord to search for romanticized and ‘exotic’ inspiration The result was a breathtakingly one-dimensional and unashamedly racist portrayal of a culture that There are serious questions to be asked about why such works of art are still considered appropriate for and worthy of display As Edward Said writes in his critical work Orientalism women in the works of orientalists “are usually the creatures of a male power-fantasy and above all they are willing.” The MMFA’s non-committal attempt to briefly address this issue with a few modern pieces by female Moroccan artists Yasmina Bouziane and Majida Khattari in the last room of the exhibit is not enough alias “The Signature,” which the MMFA claims “uses humour” to subvert colonial photographic practices Bouziane’s piece defiantly subverts the orientalist’s voyeuristic gaze by pointing a camera toward the viewer The fake greenery and shabby backdrop mock the sumptuous surroundings of the female subjects in the next room This photograph is a direct and powerful response to the underlying assumptions of the entire exhibit but one relatively small photo is not enough to mitigate the institutional enshrinement of those assumptions The inclusion of the contemporary artists seems shallow and tokenizing in the context of the exhibit The inclusion of all of two of Essaydi’s pieces among at least twenty from Benjamin-Constant the exhibit is centred on the French artist Wouldn’t a true dialogue on orientalism look less like a 10:1 ratio and more like an Essaydi for every Benjamin-Constant Affording the dissenting voice as much physical space as the antiquated point of view would at least present a sincere acknowledgement of the cultural violence committed by Benjamin-Constant’s paintings The main argument for the existence of “Marvels and Mirages” is ‘art for art’s sake;’ but when that art is inherently racist and misogynistic it does not have a place in modern art institutions Benjamin-Constant was a masterful painter who utilized a daring pallette and travelled a bit farther than the average Toulousian but that does not warrant such an outpouring of academic study and funds to showcase it It was the conscious choice of the MMFA curatorial team to enshrine orientalism in a Canadian institution of art for the first time with only token regard to the pain and indignation it could cause those who still face the material consequences of the works produced by the likes of Benjamin-Constant “Marvels and Mirages” features a style and era of painting many would rather forget the museum’s attempts to create a “dialogue” concerning the problematic nature of the exhibit should not go unacknowledged – in fact particularly careful attention should be paid to the hard-hitting contemporary responses to orientalism we must also acknowledge that this attempt at a conversation was not effective In a city that accounts for 37.2 per cent of the Arab population of Canada the notable lack of attendance from individuals of Middle Eastern or North African heritage is a stronger comment on the problematic nature of “Marvels and Mirages” than the contemporary responses exhibited in the last room © 1911-2024 The McGill Daily | WordPress theme based on Neve | Powered by WordPress Neve | Powered by WordPress Renata Peters (UCL Institute of Archaeology) lead the programme at the Museu Maguta with support from Delphine Mercier (UCL Anthropology) Eli was part of the conservation team in the project 'Resignification of a collection display in an indigenous museum:exchanging knowledge with the Tikuna of the Amazon' This collaborative project focused on exchanging indigenous methods of collecting displaying and preserving collections Eli was thrilled to be part of the conservation team teaching preventive conservation in the museum She said "It was an unique opportunity to be part of this project and learn so many things about Tikuna Find out more about the project here 43,000+ global companies doing business in the region 102,000+ key contacts related to companies and projects news and interviews about your industry in English There is an internal server error on Cloudflare's network The notion of whether or not politics and religion should be kept apart is highly controversial in today’s world  ‘While religion has often been ignored as an important political factor it is becoming increasingly clear that it plays a substantive role in world politics Conflict has spread internationally in regards to religion the international network of Al- Qaeda has demonstrated the potential international impact of religious movements’ (Fox and Sandler This essay will argue that politics and religion should be kept separate giving reasons through a liberal perspective It will look at the liberal ideas of John Locke Benjamin Constant and Alexis de Tocqueville The liberal approach claims that there should be a separation; because without separation conflict can spread among human beings about religion ‘Although enlightenment thinkers and their precursors differed on many important issues they were unified in their concern to wrest the notion of legitimate government from its religious particularly Christian foundations’ (Mansfield 1991:101-114).This essay will go on further to explore the ideas of Thomas Jefferson and the ‘wall of separation’ Lastly it will look at the example of Islamic states which incorporate religion into their political system and assess whether it is a viable idea to do so Before arguing why religion and politics should be separate it is necessary to briefly understand why some key thinkers believed it was necessary for religion and politics to remain united Niccolò Machiavelli believed ‘religion was the foundation of state and society’ he stated that ‘rulers use religion accordingly since religion is under his control’ (Barbier Montesquieu also had a firm belief that religion should be part of politics as ‘religion provides unity harmony and social stability for society’ (Barbier Thomas Hobbes argued about religion and politics in many of his works the key argument being in the context of a religion and a world state Hobbes argued that religion was vital for politics as ‘religion drives people to obedience makes them familiar with laws and how to live in a peaceful society’ (Barbier John Locke expressed his ideas in:  A letter concerning Toleration (1689) it should be noted that Locke never mentions a separation of religion and politics he tends to speak more about the ‘difference’ between the ‘Church and the State’ (Locke So what is the difference between Church and State and Religion and Politics It could be said that the church and state are more institutions that are separate from each other whereas religion and politics are activities that occur in spheres of citizen’s everyday lives Locke claims that the idea of separation is linked to tolerance as human beings lack tolerance for one another the controversy between religion and politics increases Locke mentions that if religion was forced onto a country how would one know which to follow from the multiple religions in the world ‘the sum of all we drive at is that every man enjoys the same rights that are granted to others Is it permitted to worship God in the Roman manner Let it be permitted to do it in the Geneva form also… Let no man’s life or body suffer any manner of prejudice upon these accounts’ (Locke Locke addresses his fear of ‘religious forces’ threating to rule the state and its citizens (Chavura Locke was ‘concerned with religious freedom’ and believed that the biggest threat to citizens would be if the state starting talking about religion (Chavura It is evident from Locke’s letter that he did not accept the notion that the church and state or religion and politics should be one entity In fact he wanted them to be as separate as possible so no religious force or power in government could rule the citizens’ If there was no religious force then everyone religious or non-religious could enjoy the same rights as everyone else Benjamin Constant was another key liberal thinker who believed in separation of the religion and politics the state and the freedom of the individual were two of Constant’s central political principles’ (Wood Constant found that the problem was ‘more acute in modern societies like France because they fostered political fanaticism and individual isolation’ (Vincent  Constant believed that ‘religion cannot serve as a basis for morals He mentions the idea of a public and private sphere public sphere being politics and the private sphere being the practice of religion Constant suggested that ‘rather than having to choose among religions only taking care that they be contained inside the private sphere of the individual’ (Todorov religious sentiment is one of the expressions of the human capacity to transcend oneself’ (Todorov Religious sentiment is an important term; Constant believed that since religion was mostly about transcendent feelings it should not be connected to important political matters in the country or globally Once again it is clear to see that Constant believed that religion should be kept as an independent practice and that religious feelings should not interfere with political decisions  ‘Constant’s take on the relationship of political institutions to social mores was similar to one of the main points Tocqueville would make over thirty years later’ (Vincent Alexis De Tocqueville discussed the separation between politics and religion in his second volume of Democracy in America Tocqueville wished to direct his European readers to the proper and natural relationship between religion and politics in drawing a democratic age’ (Tessitore Tocqueville believed that ‘separation of church and state was not only good for politics; it was especially good for religion’ (Tessitore His reason was that separation allowed ‘religious sentiment to arise unclouded from its true source of strength as one of the constitutive principles of human nature’ (Tessitore  Tocqueville believed that ‘religious fervour is harnessed in the attempt to throw off the yoke of political oppression’ (Tessitore He claimed that this was apparent in the French revolution where they attempted to ‘set up a purely secular state which took on the attributes of a religious revival’ (Tocqueville Moreover he claimed that political authority ‘tends to be broken these factors of politics are total threats to the nature of religion’ (Barbier The author of the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson also discussed ideas on the separation between religion and politics ‘Jefferson’s preoccupation was ensuring that religion remained free and uncoerced’ (Chavura Jefferson’s ideas were very much similar to that of John Locke’s as it was also partly theological Theologically speaking Jefferson believed ‘true religion comes from conviction and conviction cannot be coerced’ (Chavura Jefferson’s famous Letter to the Danbury Baptist Association wrote words that would go on to become crucial to the Supreme Court post WWII He stated ‘religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God Legislative powers of government should make no laws respecting an establishment of religion thus building a wall of separation between church and state’ (Jefferson The arguments so far for the separation of religion and politics ‘within the liberal tradition of political thought is a doctrine of negative religious freedom it can also be considered an attack on all models of church-state interaction that had previously been attempted’ (Chavura However if one is to explore the interaction between religion and politics today in some countries which follow Islam for instance then one may find that separation between religion and politics is after all a feasible idea As mentioned in the previous paragraph some Middle Eastern countries that follow the practice of Islam have been in the global eye due to their political institutions mixing with their faith  This paragraph will explore how the branches of government in Middle Eastern countries incorporate Islamic faith with examples ‘Foundations of political authority in Islam can be traced back to the early community established by the Prophet Muhammad in Mecca’ (Weiss It was believed that the role of the state was to ‘enforce the divine law as revealed in the Qur’an and Sunnah’ (Weiss it is already clear to see that problems would arise it was also believed that an ‘individual alone could not conform entirely to the injunctions of Islam unless and until the practical affairs of his society were in line with God’s revealed plan.’ (Weiss In regards to the judicial branch of government the implementation of Sharia law in many Islamic countries poses one question; is it really a good idea to join religion and politics The constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan states the role of a judge on a shariat bench is to ‘examine and decide whether or not any law or provision of law is repugnant to the injunctions of Islam’ (Chap any law that is not in line with the injunctions of Islam ‘immediately becomes void To explain further the problems that Sharia law can create a BBC news article published a story about a teenage girl who was executed in Iran for crimes against adultery The first problem with this execution was that the girl was only sixteen which made it illegal as ‘Iran had promised not to execute anyone under the age of eighteen’ (Wilson The second problem was to do with the system of practice in Sharia law as ‘the clerical courts do not answer to parliament instead they abide by their religious supreme leader’ who at the time was Ayatollah Khamenei (Wilson This posed a problem as the BBC reported that the human rights campaigners could not hold them accountable for the execution of the sixteen year old  That year the BBC (2006) also reported at least 159 executions in regards to Islamic law It is evident from this story that the implementation of sharia law in the judicial system and the idea of mixing religion and politics have its repercussions However Islamic liberals would contest the notion that mixing religion and politics is appropriate One of the most iconic Islamic liberals Muhammad Imara argues that ‘religion and the state were distinguished from the beginning’ and that ‘leadership was not part of the fundamentals of religion’ (Ayubi Muhammad Sa’id al- Ashmawi put forward the strongest case for Islamic liberalism by stating ‘God has wanted Islam a religion but some people wanted it to be politics’ (al-Ashmawi He went further to state that ‘ the Arabic term sharia originally meant path or method followed Judaism without realising the difference in nature between the two religions (al- Ashmawi In relation to punishment for disobeying sharia law al-Ashmawi states ‘their application is not mandatory either by the tradition of the prophet or by the practice of the early ‘guided’ caliphs’ (1987:183) It is clear to see that the Islamic liberals ‘vary considerably in their ideas and style but they are generally less scriptural and more historical and social in their understanding of Islam’ (Ayubi even though Islamic liberals claim that there is a divide of religion and politics in the current climate it is clear to see that religion is not separated from politics and sharia law is still as practiced as it was when first insinuated it is clear to see that many of the key liberals who spoke about the separation of religion and politics were concerned with the idea of religious freedom Nonetheless they put forward a strong argument for the separation of religion and politics and many Western countries today abide by this notion Political Islam: religion and politics in the Arab world Modern Batı Düncesinde Dinve Siyaset (Translated by Özkan Gözel) The Separation of Religion and State: Context and Meaning Nebula [e-journal] 7 (4) Available through: JSTOR Database ‘Religion: An Oft Overlooked Element of International Studies’ International Studies Review [e-journal] 3 Available through: Cambridge Journals Database Separation of Religion and State in the Twenty- First Century: Comparing the Middle East and Western Democracies Comparative Politics 37 (3) Available through: JSTOR Database ‘Letter to the Danbury Baptist Association’ Political Writings ‘A letter concerning Toleration.’ On Politics and Education Benjamin Constant on Modern Freedoms: Political Liberty and the Role of a Representative System Ethical Perspectives 17 (3) Available  through: JSTOR Database Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press Alexis De Tocqueville on the Natural State of Religion in the Age of Democracy A Passion for Democracy- Benjamin Constant  United States of America: Algora Publishing History of European Ideas 30 Available through: JSTOR Database Islamic Reassertion in Pakistan: The Application of Islamic Laws in a Modern State Wilson, G., 2006. Execution of a teenage girl. BBC , [online] 27 July. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/5217424.stm [Accessed 30 December 2011] Copyright © — E-International Relations Emperor Justinian by Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant  Image: Courtesy Photo The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art has been awarded a $176,800 grant from the Getty Foundation as part of the foundation's "Conserving Canvas" initiative The grant is in support of a major conservation treatment of the museum’s monumental oil on canvas painting An intrinsic part of this project is the training of mid-career painting conservators Conserving Canvas is an international grant initiative focused on the conservation of paintings on canvas It aims to ensure that conservators remain fully prepared to care for important works of art through a combination of training activities and information dissemination as well as an upcoming symposium in fall 2019 The Getty Foundation offers grant support for museum projects involving conservation treatment residencies and for targeted professional development opportunities for conservators and curators a shift to self-contained anthologies marked an interesting turn for the animated dramedy "Archer" revolves around the titular protagonist who is supposed to parody a stereotypical James Bond-like figure: Sterling is exceptionally self-centered Benjamin makes brilliant work of highlighting the character's self-conscious portrayal of what he is meant to represent and the supporting intelligence agents (who are wonderfully disastrous in their own ways) help maintain a consistent tone of hilarity and intrigue "Archer" discarded its spy aspects and delved deeper into the protagonist's psyche culminating in the reveal that Archer was in a coma This allowed the show to branch into self-contained anthologies that gave way to new character dynamics as the writers threw in the "alternate-universe" trope for good measure whose character is at the center of this controlled chaos has to constantly adapt to the shifting tones of the show as every season after the ninth installment called for a complete reinvention How does he manage to handle these relentless changes In anticipation of the "Archer" season 13 premiere, H. Jon Benjamin spoke to Screen Rant about his initial reaction to the latest season's scripts and how it feels to not show an arc ahead of time Benjamin explained that scripts are generally given out once a month the overarching quality of a season is only fully-realized by the time everything is wrapped up He also said that the first scripts for the later seasons were distributed right in the midst of production as opposed to him being briefed about character arcs and developments before production commenced: "They used to give me a call at the beginning of the season and sort of fill me in on the season arc or what Archer's up to or what everybody's doing with Archer Vice when they did more thematic stuff The fact that Benjamin and the rest of the voice cast now work with scripts without prior knowledge of their overall season arcs works well with the altered format of the show As opposed to the mission-related narratives that defined the first few seasons of the show the alternate timeline anthologies allow the characters to navigate unchartered territories whilst retaining their core personalities (except that one time when Cyril was a Nazi and Dr When asked about his preference between having prior knowledge about the script and working with a more last-minute, hands-on approach to his character, H. Jon Benjamin explained that it doesn't matter as the characters always stay true to themselves No matter how hilariously chaotic things get Sterling Archer will always drink on the job while messing up classified and his dynamic with his team always remains thematically consistent Even when the show dives into Archer's psyche and takes on a more surreal approach Benjamin is asked to "pretty much stay the same" and "be the a**hole that Archer is," which lends authenticity to the character This allows space for emotional depth and nuance amidst the show's telltale humor While it's unclear how many more seasons of "Archer" we are going to be blessed with the show's genre-hopping and shifting tone prevents the subject matter from becoming stale we can always rely on Sterling Archer and his colleagues to monumentally mess up a high-stakes case or do something stupid enough to incite more chaos 2015This article was published more than 10 years ago Uncovering a forgotten master may be every art historian’s dream though seldom such conflicted fun as the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is offering in the first big Canadian exhibition devoted to Orientalism The show’s specific focus is Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant who in his day (1845-1902) gained an international reputation for his vivid paintings of harems These were all executed in his Paris studio a colourful workspace-cum-showroom that was crowded with props gathered during his youthful trips to Morocco and Granada as if to immerse the viewer fully in his exotic scenes the gigantic canvas at the entrance to the exhibition portrays the idle favourites and their black slaves at nearly life-size as the North African light streams over intricate carpets and carved woods he never witnessed this scene in real life Benjamin-Constant’s Orientalism was as thinly rooted in ethnographic reality as the bacchanale in Saint-Saëns’s opera Samson et Dalila currently in production by l’Opéra de Montréal The painter had a superb eye for colour and form but didn’t look deeply into his exotic subjects “I admire these men who have made an art of lying on the ground,” he wrote in Harper’s magazine in 1889 “in such a manner that they no longer retain the remotest aspect of humanity.” These men are all over his Orientalist canvases often sprawled in subjection to a haughty prince who could be seen as stand-in for an imperial governor the propaganda lies unusually close to the surface Benjamin-Constant and his peers provided a pictorial fantasyland for Europeans whose fixed ideas about the Near and Middle East had formed in tandem with their governments’ imperial ambitions there “Orientals were rarely seen or looked at,” Edward Said writes in his ground-breaking book Orientalism (1978) but as problems to be solved or confined.” It was convenient to think of the conquered as backward static people who could use a dose of Western ways It was titillating to think of their supposedly simple yet lurid sexual dynamics in which men controlled the harem and the harem never agitated for women’s rights Benjamin-Constant’s art reflects a moment in the history of ideas that still resonates at a time when Western ideas about the Muslim East conform to fantasy as much as fact the MMFA’s thoughtful and spectacular exhibition is a must-see The museum doesn’t gloss over the ideology of the images It even solicited contemporary Moroccan works that critique Benjamin-Constant’s passive odalisques – “pretty little animals,” as he called them confined to wait upon the pleasure of a man But co-curators Nathalie Bondil (of the MMFA) and Axel Heméry (of the Musée des Augustins in Toulouse France) maintain that we should appreciate Benjamin-Constant’s work mainly for its painterly values Though he followed popular taste and reviled Modernist tendencies He used a much brighter palette than other academic painters brought architectural volumes into painting in a newly dramatic way and helped to advance ornamental qualities as a form of l’art pour art It seems perverse to celebrate a frankly anecdotal painter for his allegiance to pure art But there’s no denying the boldness of Benjamin-Constant’s colours or the way he revels in texture and ornament “A piece of fabric can set the tone for an entire painting,” said his like-minded friend Henri Regnault whose Orientalist work is sampled in this show Benjamin-Constant also had a knack for monumentalizing his imagery Many of his canvases feature one or more massive keyhole arches that deepen his lighting and frame his figures As art historian Christine Peltre writes in the MMFA’s massive scholarly catalogue he “borrows a great deal from the stage.” a small grouping of which are included in the show But whatever Delacroix actually knew about the people pictured in Arab Actors or Buffoons he represents them as part of a whole society that includes mothers and children As art historian Christelle Taraud writes in her catalogue essay there’s no room in his Oriental fantasy for productive women so children and mothers almost never appear Benjamin-Constant’s Judith stares directly and fully clothed at the viewer unlike the sprawling nudes of the harem paintings A sword held across her hips and a blood-red background complete her identification as a stereotyped femme fatale like Saint-Saëns’s Dalila or Mérimée’s Carmen The Moroccan Caid Tahamy shows a dignified seated chieftain surrounded by sword apparently capturing the man’s entire masculine world in one image But it’s equally a personification of the unchanging East There’s none of the incipient action you typically see in portraits of European hunters or military men Benjamin-Constant was sometimes pilloried in his own time as a provincial exoticist but was mostly praised by critics who could seem stubbornly blind to what was actually on the canvas One Parisian critic said the painter was “enamoured of truth to nature in the grand manner”; another praised him for his skill at “rendering the immense calm of the Orient … which nothing can disturb.” That was written in 1879 a few years after a violent revolt in French Algeria Features of Benjamin-Constant’s Orientalist style crept into his other work including a lucrative line in portraiture His full-length portrait of the opera singer Emma Calvé is backed by a hanging Oriental carpet and the bodice of her gown is as brilliant as a torero’s (Carmen was one of her signature roles) The fabulous Entry of Urban II into Toulouse shows the Pope riding through an archway in a dusty blaze of orange with trumpeters blaring from the ramparts It’s an Orientalist tableau translated to a European scene and unfortunately unavailable in Montreal – it’s a decorative wall panel in the Toulouse Capitole which brought him to the United States and Montreal mainly followed Rembrandt’s practice of highlighting face and hands within a darkened ground The nearly grey-scale palette of Young Bearded Man is very far from the riotous colours of Judith A beautiful portrait of the artist’s two sons posing casually with a dog staring out between them hints at the kind of real domesticity missing from his Orientalist canvases may be Queen Victoria (not loaned by Windsor Castle for this show) seen as a glowing ethereal presence surrounded by the symbols and insignias of power She personifies imperialist might just as the naked noblewomen in Benjamin-Constant’s Sharifas symbolize colonial weakness The painter’s creative heirs were mostly in the popular arts just as Saint-Saëns’s Orientalist music resonated longest in Hollywood Benjamin-Constant’s most lasting impact may have been upon the photography of National Geographic magazine which since 1890 has favoured exotic scenes rich in colour and texture His vision of static Muslim backwaters and barbaric Eastern ways still appeals to a broad Western public Marvels and Mirages of Orientalism: From Spain to Morocco, Benjamin-Constant in His Time opens at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts on Saturday and runs to May 31 (mbam.qc.ca) L’Opéra de Montréal’s Samson et Dalila ends Saturday night at Place des Arts Marvels and Mirages of Orientalism: From Spain to Morocco, Benjamin-Constant in His Time opens at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts on Saturday and runs to May 31 (mbam.qc.ca) Robert Everett-Green was a feature writer at The Globe and Mail He was born in Edmonton and grew up there and on a farm in eastern Alberta He was a professional musician for several years before joining the Globe He has written several published short stories and a novel He has received a National Magazine Award (Silver) Detail from The Favourite of the Emir by Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s comment community. This is a space where subscribers can engage with each other and Globe staff. Non-subscribers can read and sort comments but will not be able to engage with them in any way. Click here to subscribe If you would like to write a letter to the editor, please forward it to letters@globeandmail.com. Readers can also interact with The Globe on Facebook and Twitter Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s comment community This is a space where subscribers can engage with each other and Globe staff We aim to create a safe and valuable space for discussion and debate If you do not see your comment posted immediately it is being reviewed by the moderation team and may appear shortly We aim to have all comments reviewed in a timely manner Comments that violate our community guidelines will not be posted UPDATED: Read our community guidelines here We have closed comments on this story for legal reasons or for abuse. For more information on our commenting policies and how our community-based moderation works, please read our Community Guidelines and our Terms and Conditions 2016Save this storySaveSave this storySaveohne titel and they won an Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation award for womenswear in 2009 the same year they were nominated for the Swiss Textiles Award And today we have learned that they are folding their label that their Fall 2016 collection will not be produced and that they have begun the process of shutting their doors for good Praised primarily for their knitwear, Adams and Gill had a singular preoccupation with pushing textiles to new, advanced places—their loss is badly timed, at least for the 2016 Met Gala made in a partnership with Shapeways and Microsoft with 3-D–printed chain links knitted together in flexible swathes so as to be able to unfurl with every step It was a torrential downpour in New York that day mostly in the form of chicly goth-y easy knit dresses Gill and Adams were charming and effusive backstage poring over the details of their dresses and ruminating on the future of 3-D printing technology It did not seem like a troubled environment these things typically break down two ways: gradually There are several inarguable facts to be had: The first being that there has never been a more inhospitable climate for small independent designers than the one we have today This is a fact that everyone and anyone tells you and that I used in probably half of my reviews from this past season because you can’t really talk about fashion without talking about the world and the world is not feeling very good lately Politics and terror and the plummeting price of oil and a system that feels rigged have all led to a retail environment one might describe as “unsteady.” People are not spending money like they used to they are not buying clothes the way they used to it’s not in the way that the retailers are used to them doing it This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders Complete digital access to quality analysis and expert insights complemented with our award-winning Weekend Print edition Terms & Conditions apply Discover all the plans currently available in your country See why over a million readers pay to read the Financial Times We are all deeply saddened to hear of the unexpected death of Benjamin Zephaniah Leicester Centre for Creative Writing at DMU was privileged to have a long-running relationship with him – as a Visiting Fellow for many years we were touched that he regarded us as colleagues No-one who met Benjamin was quite the same afterwards – he was a one-man national grid emitting constant energy He was also quite simply a lovely man whose ethical commitments and dynamism were matched by his grace and good-humour Benjamin anecdotes would fill a book – and it would be a very characterful book But also something to learn from; in terms of how a creative life can (and should) be an act of patient service When students thronged in DMU corridors wanting to catch a snap with the man they were writers-amongst- writers – he made them feel In his lectures he instilled a sense of vocation and self-belief anchored in the joy of creative making “If you want to write poetry you can be a banker or a cleaner – do it because you love it to express yourself and because it’s good for your mental health,” he once told our students Instilling independent thought through art was his byword – and he was pleased to see that DMUs States of Independence annual publishing festival has the strapline ‘Independent Publishing Covid lockdown robbed us of hearing the planned keynote he was to scheduled to give Benjamin’s bi-annual visits to campus were full of unofficial itinerary where colleagues had managed to grab him for a surprise school-visit because the ‘can-do’ vibe he exuded made you feel everything was possible he’d talk of clandestine hospital visits to teens at the request of worried parents or siblings And it was never a performance of his status – he knew he could help was always keen to meet Benjamin when he visited DMU She said: “He used to mentor my cousin.  We got chatting on one of his visits.  When we were introduced he said ‘I knew a Frank from Leicester called Oscar I used to mentor him’.  I said yes that’s my cousin.  He remembered visiting my uncle’s house which was about four doors away from where we used to live.  Small world.” and we all took away some of the magic he carried when we encountered him those performances will remain with us always We send out deepest sympathy to Benjamin’s family; and want them to know how highly he was valued as writer performer – and as the most wonderfully human of human beings one year after Waterloo and the Congress of Vienna and in the midst of the so-called ‘Year Without a Summer’ a novel portraying a paradigmatic example of Romantic (or post-revolutionary) hero; Byron travels on the continent and composes the third canto of Childe Harold including a meditation on the Waterloo battlefield who has already published Alastor and is about to compose Mont Blanc: they read German ghost stories translated into French and decide to write supernatural tales on their own a game that will give birth to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and to the fragment later published by Byron as an appendix to Mazeppa; a few months before Coleridge had given to press the unfinished poems Kubla Khan and Christabel Hoffmann’s Nachtstücke [Night-Pieces] and the first volume of Goethe’s Italienische Reise [Italian Journey]; in Spain Goya accomplishes Los desastres de la guerra [The Disasters of the War] and publishes the prints entitled Tauromaquia [Bullfighting] 1816 marks the beginning of the so-called Classicist/Romantic quarrel heralded by a famous article by Madame de Staël; Ugo Foscolo prepares the fourth edition of Jacopo Ortis Giacomo Leopardi attempts to gain public visibility by writing a letter to the Milanese periodical Biblioteca italiana begins to work on his tragedy Il Conte di Carmagnola [The Earl of Carmagnola] our project seeks to find new ways of confrontation between nineteenth-century scholars within and beyond the School with the aim of paving the ground for a broader and more substantial collaborative research work Logo by Giacomo Mannironi Seán Allan Katherine Astbury Fabio A. Camilletti Katherine Hambridge James Hodkinson Kirsty Hooper Leticia Villamediana González 27 February 2015 TO BE RESCHEDULED Frameworks of Power: Music - Muslims - Meridionism and the (Near) Orient in E. T. A. Hoffmann's 'The Sanctus' The Novel in 1816: Post-Revolutionary Heroism and Modernity Guest speaker Patrick O'Donovan (UCD) In collaboration with Laboratorio Leopardi (University of Rome La Sapienza) In collaboration with Antica Libreria Cascianelli Phantasmagoria between Visuality and Textuality (working title) Guest speaker Rupert Gaderer (Ruhr-Universität Bochum) IAS Seminar Room (Millburn House) Jean-Baptiste Benoît Eyriès et al., Fantasmagoriana, ed. & transl. by Fabio Camilletti (Rome: Nova Delphi Mariano Tomatis, L'oracolo di Napoleone. Magic laboratory, 10 April 2015. Audio podcast and free downloads here Email: SMLCOffice at warwick dot ac dot ukSchool of Modern Languages and Cultures We use cookies to give you the best online experience Please let us know if you agree to functional You can update your cookie preferences at any time Pereira's ally identified the supposed links between illegal activities and the city government Among the suspects nominated in Pereira's list are the officials Janio Souza and Laurimar Alves known as "Caboclo." Both were appointed to positions of trust by mayor Denis Paiva Caboclo is married to one of the sisters of Amarildo da Costa Oliveira arrested for allegedly participating in the murders of Pereira and Phillips on June 5 Exactly one month after the murders of the Brazilian Indigenous expert and the British journalist Abraji reveals details of the investigation conducted by Bruno Pereira weeks before his death Abraji's work is based on the accounts of two of its main associates they appoint the suspicious relationships between drug trafficking and illegal fishing with politics supporting the invasion of the Indigenous land According to the interviewees – whose identities will be kept secret for security reasons – it is an extensive network with branches in the city hall decided to continue the investigation initiated by Bruno Pereira – Abraji identifies both here as Pereira's associates Pereira planned to deliver copies of the report with the suspects' names and positions in the municipal administration to the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office The British journalist was writing a book on Vale do Javari Indigenous Land Pereira realized that the group involved in the invasions for poaching and illegal fishing in the Indigenous land had changed its profile They were no longer riparian fishers in small boats "Pelado had a boat with a powerful engine and capacity to carry up to 2 tons Before moving to the city of Benjamin Constant like most of the riparians," said the source Pelado's financial rise matches the period in which he lived in Benjamin Constant Pelado started organizing illegal expeditions to invade the Indigenous land with funding from Peruvian drug dealer Rubens Villar Coelho as he is known in the region – use the cities Benjamin Constant a peninsula on the Peruvian side of the river Pelado played a leading role in the coastal villages of Sao Gabriel and Sao Rafael Several members of his family live in both villages about 30 kilometers from the entrance of the Indigenous land The strategic position turns the locality into a support point for clandestine expeditions pirarucu fish and tracajá turtles are taken to Benjamin Constant and resold in Leticia Recognized as a delicacy in the Amazon region tracajá's meat is highly valued and its consumption represents high status Even with the legal ban on the capture and sale of these turtles it is common to find these animals being grilled on the wood on barbecue grilles in front of the houses in Atalaia do Norte "We know when you have tracajás and eggs being sold in the city There are some WhatsApp groups with city hall officials as members Pereira knew it and asked me for help in identifying those involved he asked me to provide a list of the names and positions of Caboclo Caboclo is the brother-in-law of Pelado and has a position in the Health Department Janio de Souza works in the Interior Department He moved to Sao Rafael and always announced merchandise in the groups," said one of the associates The interviewee also cited a third name raised by Pereira in the mentioned call: "Clovis is a health agent He is from an inland region and had an increase in assets that no one can explain Pereira knew that Clovis had two masonry houses rented for the town hall Children play in a house in Atalaia do Norte.  The associate was trying to confirm the suspect's identity when he learned that Pereira and Phillips had gone missing. The news of their disappearance arrived in Atalaia do Norte on Sunday morning The two associates knew that their unknown fate foreshadowed the worst scenario but I never thought they could perpretrate such a vicious crime They were quartered and burned," he said For the second associate interviewed by Abraji Pereira's death was commissioned by a powerful group of people of the region "Pereira did his work with excellence and courage This had always been the case since he began coordinating Funai in the region Pereira mapped the garimpo (illegal mining) dredgers on the river with the locations of each one by geo-referencing He wrote a report and handed it to the authorities a major operation took place with the military and the Federal Police A boat like that is sold for no less than R$ 500,000 (US$ 92,000) It can reach 1 million if you add logistics Pereira was dismissed from the coordination of Funai." The second associate pointed out that the explosion of the dredgers was a blow to illegal mining activity "But that had not been the first investigation by Pereira from accounts of the original peoples living in the Javari Valley Pereira had mapped out traders from Atalaia do Norte who had taken the Bolsa Familia and retirement cards" of Indigenous residents Bolsa Familia is a social welfare program that grants money to impoverished people countrywide Grantees use a card to collect their allowance "They spent months in their small villages Many found that they had unpayable debts hired on their names Traders also made loans on behalf of these grantees." and Bruno Pereira went on to investigate the traders to report the case to the authorities "The Federal Police conducted an operation and found hundreds of cards with traders current mayor of Atalaia do Norte) had more than 100 cards We know that no one has been arrested nor sentenced."   families gather at the entrances of the houses The team from the Tim Lopes Program of the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji) tried to listen to mayor Denis Paiva (from Uniao Brasil party) while in the city covering the work of the Federal Police the trip aimed to gather resources for Atalaia do Norte the Folk Festival of Parintins took place - rumors have it that the mayor traveled to the festival Abraji also sent messages to the office's institutional e-mail but did not get answers the first associate heard by the team reported an episode of violence involving Amarildo de Oliveira and an Indigenous person during an invasion of the Javari Valley Indigenous Land "We know they shot at an Indigenous person who approached an illegal expedition of poachers and fishers on the Indigenous Land The shooter had a 16-caliber shotgun and would have been Pelado." The gun is of the same type used to kill Pereira and Phillips The episode described by him happened in Feb 2019. Soon after, Benjamin Constant's Patrol Station officers found 200 cartridges of a 16-caliber shotgun in Pelado's house. Agência Pública revealed the discovery of ammunition on June 29, 2022. The story shows that Seven months after the discovery of the 200 ammunition in the house maintained by Pelado in Benjamin Constant a former contractor of Funai called Maxciel Pereira dos Santos was killed with two shots in the back He was riding a bike through Amizade Avenue which connects the Brazilian city of Tabatinga to Letícia two weeks after Santos took part in the seizure of a vessel loaded with pirarucu fish The material seized came from the Javari Valley Indigenous Land Maxciel dos Santos no longer worked for Funai "Maxciel [Santos] and Bruno [Pereira] were removed from their functions because their work was damaging the activities of the invaders I do not doubt that many powerful people are involved and senators [in it]," said Pereira's second associate heard by Abraji The interviewee adds that mayor Denis Paiva is the son of a logger was a councilor and mayor of Atalaia do Norte for two terms "He has been exploring for decades the extraction of hardwood in the Javari Valley Galate and the mayor's father – who is deceased – took more than 2,000 logs of hardwood per month Now the trees are sent to sawmills in Peru where the wood is prepared and sent abroad." The two associates believe that the Galate political group – which became known in the region for defending an old policy known as "a good Indian is a dead Indian" – will keep trying to invade the Javari Valley Indigenous Land 90% of the population of Atalaia do Norte do not like Indigenous people: "It is common to hear people here saying that they [Indigenous people] have a lot of land for such a small amount of people And [they ask] what they come to do in the city since people from the city cannot enter their land," he said the disassembly of Funai's supervisory structure has encouraged the activities of the invaders The National Security Force (FNS) sent troops to operate around the Indigenous land but did not approach poachers and illegal fishers They were there for nothing." Currently the FNS does not maintain troops on the triple border between Brazil The image of the building serving as a shelter for the men of the National Force is proof of public authorities' abandonment of the region the site became a meeting point for crack addicts and users of other drugs The abandoned building of the National Security Force GRACIEMAG.com showed up at Rio de Janeiro’s Benjamin Constant Institute an institution specialized in the education of the visually impaired to check out the end-of-the-year training session at Felipe Costa’s project for needy visually-impaired children family members and guests watched on prideful the children received gift packages including food the kids also received a special visit from an actor famous in Brazil who also happens to be a Rodrigo Comprido black belt Gazolla enjoyed teaching and training with the kids even feeling the pressure when green belt Dudu After training came the most anticipated moment of all João Marcelo and Muzio De Angelis spoke of the effort and dedication each of the athletes had exhibited “I was really impressed with your level of technique no one can take from us something God gives us I started training Jiu-Jitsu at 36 and now I’m 54 and it was one of the best things that happened in my life Congratulations to all and thank you so much,” said Gazolla to applause The talent and skill in the Gentle Art each possessed was apparent was congratulated not just for his Jiu-Jitsu ability but mainly for his being an exemplary student on and off the mat “I’m feeling better now because of Jiu-Jitsu but I want to soon,” he told GRACIEMAG.com “I want to tell all of you that João is the soul of the project He is the one who holds fort oftentimes when neither Michelle nor I can be here So we of Brasa team decided to promote you The newly-promoted brown belt fought to hold back his tears but mainly for her firm grip and tight guard when she went to train Jiu-Jitsu elsewhere Dalila hit an obstacle well known to the visually impaired I realized people were afraid to train with me for not knowing how to act,” said Dalila I made a point of showing each of them I was capable of training with everyone there After that they realized there was no reason to treat me any differently,” she said a civil servant who watched the proceedings remarked to the reporter it can never block out the sun; and that’s just what I saw here today All these children represent the sun that shines under any circumstances.” Pragmatic88Slot Gacor America’s finest black artist before Jacob Lawrence and the first African American painter to gain international acclaim spent most of his life as an expatriate in France After early training in the United States and experiments in landscapes where he focused on religious and Middle Eastern paintings inspired by extensive travels in that region he played host to and gave advice to a steady stream of young American artists of all races who visited him in France While African American artists who followed Tanner in the Twentieth Century lived in different social his art and example inspired them in their search for racial and artistic identity who admired Tanner’s success and independence had to wrestle with their own difficult choices of style and subject matter Exploring these facets of Tanner’s career the Baltimore Museum of Art has mounted two exhibitions this year: “Henry Ossawa Tanner and the Lure of Paris,” seen this winter and spring and “Henry Ossawa Tanner and His Influence in America,” on view through November 26 associate professor of art history and theory at the University of Maryland The current show features a half-dozen Tanner canvases along with several by French artists who influenced him and about 40 works by significant Twentieth Century African American artists the exhibition offers valuable insights into an important figure in our art history and those who followed him Born in Pittsburgh into the family of Bishop Benjamin Tucker Tanner of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) where the family lived a few hundred yards from today’s National Gallery of Art Tanner became well-versed in the Bible and theology knowledge that motivated his later decision to paint religious subjects Bishop Tanner’s wide cultural interests encouraged the future artist to become familiar with such African American painters as Joshua Johnson They became role models as he pursued his career somber and perceptive portrait of his father captures the distinguished clergyman’s piety strong modeling and deft use of light suggest the young painter’s familiarity with Dutch Master Rembrandt’s portraiture style this likeness “had something of [his teacher Thomas] Eakins’ keen penetration of character.” Tanner also executed a touching portrait of his pensive mother Enrolling in 1879 at the prestigious Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia Tanner studied for two years under the redoubtable Eakins (1844-1916) taught how to use photography in making art and encouraged the young African American to pursue a career in painting Eakins painted an insightful portrait of his introspective former student while working as an illustrator in Philadelphia somber-toned style strongly influenced by Eakins seeking to establish himself as a painter of animals he moved to Atlanta where he established a photography studio taught drawing at Clark College and continued painting rural African Americans were later turned into sentimental genre paintings such as “The Banjo Lesson,” 1893 troubled by rising racial tensions and Jim Crow restrictions in the United States Tanner concluded that “I cannot fight prejudice and paint.” Fortunately by this time he had attracted the support of several patrons who helped send him abroad for further study Although originally planning to go to Rome he stayed in Paris to study at the Académie Julian under respected academic painters Jean-Joseph-Benjamin Constant and Jean Paul Laurens While stressing technical excellence through academic figure studies academy instructors encouraged experimentation with new styles of painting like Impressionism a frequent traveler to the Middle East and North Africa was fascinated by the appearance and garb of the natives and by Moorish architecture vivid colors and a strongly molded face and figure he created a compelling portrait of a harem denizen in “Odalesque” around 1880 While the devout Tanner may have shied away from this subject matter he admired his teacher’s painterly technique and shared his interest in Orientalist subjects Tanner was also influenced by the silvery vistas and idealized landscapes of French master painter Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796-1875) exemplified in the show by “Shepherds of Arcadia,” circa 1872 Tanner painted landscapes directly inspired by works of Corot Tanner began to spend summer months in Barbizon and in the fishing village of Pont-Aven in Brittany whose art colony included Postimpressionist and Symbolist painters many of his works were permeated by dramatic mysterious light and muted blue-green color harmonies As early as the 1880s he began to depict religious subjects nocturnal depiction of “Joachim Leaving the Temple,” circa 1880-85 Curator Smalls suggests that this unusual gouache and graphite image might have been executed during Tanner’s student days with Eakins Several of Tanner’s early biblical canvases were favorably received at the Paris Salons “The Resurrection of Lazarus,” 1897 and is now at the Musee d’Orsay in Paris A contemporary critic wrote in a Parisian publication that the painting placed Tanner “among the envied ranks of the arrived.” financed Tanner’s first trip to the Middle East he gathered material for works on biblical subjects and observed the dress and manner of the people and the architecture and terrain around them exotic costumes and different cultures of the region appeared in Tanner’s paintings some of which suggest his affinity for the mysterious imagery of the Symbolists the artist returned to Palestine and also traveled in Egypt and Morocco becoming the first important African American artist to visit Africa miraculous and unearthly aspects of religious subjects shadow and bluish tonalities to achieve dramatic effects the semiabstract poetry of his work is reminiscent of that of Albert Pinkham Ryder One of Tanner’s favorite subjects was the Good Shepherd whom he rendered in some 20 works with varied colors and surface textures designed to evoke spiritual responses Closely linked in style and theme is “The Disciples See Christ Walking on the Water,” circa 1907 Tanner symbolized Jesus by a glowing column of light in the upper left while the dramatic moonlight reflection in the lower left suffuses the nocturne with a mystical feeling The loose brushwork and atmospheric quality suggest the influence of Impressionism Echoing his earlier theme of knowledge being passed from one generation to the next in works such as “The Banjo Lesson,” in “Christ Learning to Read,” circa 1911 Tanner depicted a scene from the childhood of Jesus He used his wife and son as models for this intimate Impressionistic depiction of family life and religious faith demonstrates the way in which Tanner employed elongated figures free brushstrokes and a chalky palette to evoke a dreamlike ambience Smalls says that Tanner’s North African scenes “recall [Claude] Monet’s serial views of haystacks and cathedrals each pinpointing the color and texture of his subject before the evanescent ever-changing light alters it.” owned a small country house in Trepied on the Brittany Coast which became the center of an American art colony especially African American artists seeking guidance and encouragement were struck by his kindness and generosity in extending the hospitality of his home and studio and his willingness to spend time talking and advising them on their careers His reputation as “the Great Master in Exile” and “Dean of American Painters in France” drew embryonic painters to his doorstep like a magnet The expatriate’s affinity for the countryside around Trepied is reflected in the luminous nighttime setting of “Le Touquet,” circa 1910 the isolated trees and rural landscape are rendered in a muted blue tonality with purple accents “Tanner’s evocative use of a kind of spiritual light resulted from careful studies of Rembrandt van Rijn’s use of light as a dramatic element as well as the subtle modulation of light and color achieved by Barbizon Impressionist and Symbolist painters,” says Smalls Among the younger black artists who visited Tanner during several years of study in France was Hale Woodruff (1900-1980) He benefited from the expatriate’s conversation and advice although his style was less academic and more avant-garde than Tanner’s Woodruff painted the semiabstract “Normandy Landscape,” 1928 in which two rows of spindly trees play off against each other across an expanse of field Woodruff went on to study mural painting with Diego Rivera he painted a series of murals for the college library and celebrated murals depicting the mutiny of slaves aboard the Amistad for Talladega College While Tanner was making a name for himself in France culture and race posed fresh challenges and opened up new opportunities for African Americans the Great Migration from the rural South to the industrial North and pronouncements by eminent scholar/philosophers prompted African Americans to demand a new identity based on equality whom he called the “Talented Tenth,” could serve as role models and uplift the entire race His ideas had a major influence on the celebrated flowering of artistic and creative talent during the cultural movement known as the Harlem Renaissance of the “New Negro,” forcefully advocated by Howard University philosopher Alain Locke has lessons to teach…lessons of vigorous simplicity and vitality.” Locke encouraged young black artists to find inspiration in their African artistic and cultural heritage including “primitivist” themes he urged them to incorporate avant-garde approaches such as those advanced by Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso “was for African Americans to assimilate into the American mainstream as fully realized human beings embracing both their African and European American heritage.” such as Aaron Douglas (1899-1979) – famed muralist of the Harlem Renaissance – undertook ambitious narratives covering the saga of black Americans and their roots in Africa “Study for Aspects of Negro Life: From Slavery Through Reconstruction,” 1934 is a preliminary gouache for four mural panels for a Harlem library stylized forms to depict a black waiter standing amid New York skyscrapers – a symbol of optimism and hope for the future Such deliberately “pimitivized” works responded to Locke’s “New Negro” ideas Johnson (1901-1970) migrated north from South Carolina to get academic training at New York’s National Academy of Design but his work was far different from the elder statesman’s such as “Harbor Kerteminde,” circa 1930-34 simplified forms to depict the lives of his fellow African Americans Chairperson of the art department at Texas Southern University for 36 years John Biggers (1924-2001) created both domestic vignettes like the hardworking sharecropper in “Cotton Pickers,” 1952 and colorful scenes based on travels to Africa who followed Tanner’s example and pursued his career in Paris painted both portraits and vigorously brushed densely colored and deeply textured abstractions After moving from North Carolina to New York City Romare Bearden (1911-1988) specialized in sophisticated collages that bridged the divide between realism and abstraction An admirer of Tanner’s biblical works he offered a different approach to a popular Christian theme in “Mother and Child,” 1970 arguably the greatest African American artist of all time grew up in Harlem during the “Renaissance,” and devoted his career to recording the history – struggles victories and defeats – of his fellow black Americans His early series of paintings tracing the lives of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman and especially his monumental “Migration of the Negro Series,” following the exodus of African Americans from the South to the North Lawrence later painted views of his experiences in the Coast Guard in World War 11 (“Lifeboat,” 1945) and episodes from the Civil Rights movement such as “Two Rebels,” a black and white lithograph showing two burly white policemen carrying the figure of a limp black Civil Rights protester under the watchful eyes of ten witnesses As “Henry Ossawa Tanner and His Influence in America” documents black artists of later generations worked in African-influenced and modernist styles that differed markedly from the old master’s more conventional manner they were much more deeply involved in the social political and racial realities of the African American experience than the France-based Tanner whether they had direct contact with the expatriate titan or not these black artists who followed learned from his integrity and artistic achievements This exhibition is a rewarding tribute to a singular figure in American art history – and a useful review of the accomplishments of some of his African American successors There is no catalog for the exhibition The Baltimore Museum of Art is on Art Museum Drive at North Charles and 31st Streets