2022
February
04
Friday

Monitor Daily Podcast

February 04, 2022
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Peter Grier
Washington editor

Emily Walton acts in a Broadway musical about positive things arising out of dark moments. The production is “Come From Away,” which tells the true story of how Gander, Newfoundland, rose to the moment when 38 airliners diverted there after the United States closed its airspace following the Sept. 11 attacks.

In real life, Gander opened its arms to 6,500 visitors. People welcomed strangers into their homes, gave them books and blankets, lent them cars, laughed and prayed with them, and baked lots of tea cakes. It was kindness that had a permanent effect on recipients and givers, as the Monitor’s Sara Miller Llana reported last year

Ms. Walton plays “Janice,” a TV journalist, in “Come From Away.” But in March 2020, she – and everyone else on Broadway – faced unemployment as theaters closed due to the pandemic. 

Ms. Walton decided to try to get something good out of the bad time, just as characters did in her show. She finished her college degree online at Southern New Hampshire University, 13 years after dropping out to follow her acting dream.

Broadway lights are back on now. On Jan. 21, the president of SNHU surprised Ms. Walton onstage at the end of the show with a cap, gown, and diploma. She cried as she realized she was finally graduating.

“It’s actually made me a better person to be part of this show because ... [it] makes you realize that being kind is so easy and celebrating each other’s accomplishments and joys is so rewarding, and I just kind of think it’s what life is about,” she said afterward.


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Toby Melville/Reuters
Performers skate under the Olympic rings during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Olympics in the National Stadium, Feb. 4, 2022. Chinese leader Xi Jinping says the success of the Winter Games will boost confidence in "the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" under the Communist Party's rule.

China used the 2008 Olympics to reintroduce itself to the world, but this year’s Games are all about the domestic audience. Comparing the events offers insight into how Beijing’s goals and priorities have changed.

U.S. lawmakers are increasingly united in seeing China as a strategic adversary, and in wanting to revive homegrown chip manufacturing. Yet a trademark of the current Congress – partisan maneuvering – may play into Beijing’s hands.

There seems to be little appetite for a war with Ukraine or NATO among Russians, be they peace activists or members of the general public. But many feel the choice for war isn’t theirs to shape.

For our commentator, looking back at her college literature anthology affirms how central all peoples’ experiences are to American history. She’s also reminded how current the past can be.   

Difference-maker

Feels Like Media/Courtesy of Palaver Strings
Kindergartners at The Opportunity Alliance’s Parkside Head Start program in South Portland, Maine, practice cello with Palaver Strings, January 2020.

Music can be a personal and social solvent. From helping parents compose lullabies to performing music that tackles social issues, Palaver Strings programs calm and connect community.


The Monitor's View

Two summers ago the streets of America’s cities swelled with protest over police violence against minorities. Demonstrators demanded that police budgets be slashed, with the money diverted to social programs. Then came a backlash. With murder rates rising – 30% in 2020 alone – voters favored mayoral candidates promising law and order.

Since then, these two national narratives have led to a possible healing moment. Cities across the country have become laboratories for fresh approaches to both public safety and community outreach.

Their work has attracted federal attention. A good example was the Feb. 3 visit to New York City by President Joe Biden to back the reforms of a new mayor, Eric Adams, a former police officer and the second African American to lead the city. The mayor had just unveiled a plan for ending gun violence through a new collaboration between police and community stakeholders, including former gang members.

It is one of several blueprints redefining law enforcement in underserved communities following the heightened exposure of police killings in recent years. “We see evidence of a shift occurring,” said the Rev. Jeff Brown, who has spent decades addressing violence from within minority communities in Boston. “Love is an essential ingredient if we are going to be able to restore cities. We need love but also need justice. People are beginning to understand what that is, how difficult it is to achieve it, and they are anxious to get on with it and build it.”

Cities are combining hard and soft approaches. Some have increased police presence in the most violent neighborhoods while offering alternative activities to young people, such as summer camp. Former gang members are being deployed as “violence interrupters” to prevent disputes from escalating. Boston has focused on community renewal, such as boosting minority homeownership.

The Biden administration has pledged millions of dollars to city police departments to hire new officers, provide overtime pay, and stem the flow of illegal guns across state borders and on to urban streets. But as cities find a balance between law enforcement and civilian-based strategies, one model shows the value of tackling gun violence from the receiving end of it.

In recent years, hospitals in cities like Chicago and Boston have developed violence recovery programs that focus on helping victims of gun violence and their families heal. These initiatives combine physical and psychological care with access to other supportive resources like job-placement assistance and even relocation to avoid exposure to further violence. The idea behind those initiatives – that restoring individuals is a key element of violence reduction – has resonance for cities seeking to reduce violence by restoring communities.

“If you don’t understand the ‘why,’ we are never going to get to a real solution,” Christine Goggins, a violence recovery specialist at the University of Chicago Medical Center, told the Chicago Tribune. “The key to any type of change, reform, is understanding that culture. We have to get to those people, what leads them to committing violence?”

As cities grapple with gun violence and police reform in the wake of intense social justice protests, a new take on an enduring idea is finding practical expression: that justice, empathy, and compassion are cornerstones of stability and bulwarks of peace. 


A Christian Science Perspective

About this feature

Whether we’re Olympic-caliber athletes or not, each of us can root for and strive to nurture God-given qualities of joy, strength, and grace – in any endeavor.


A message of love

Patrick Semansky/AP
Amid the U.S. diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing, the North Portico of the White House in Washington is illuminated red, white, and blue to honor athletes representing the United States at the Games, Feb. 3, 2022.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Jacob Turcotte. )

A look ahead

Thanks for ending your week with us. Come back Monday, when we’ll take a look at the Biden administration’s policies on the southern border and get a better understanding of some American conservatives’ interest in the nation’s founding.

More issues

2022
February
04
Friday
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