2023
October
20
Friday

Monitor Daily Podcast

October 20, 2023
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Ken Makin
Cultural commentator

I heard about the tragedy of Leonard Cure, and my heart sank. How could a man with a surname of healing have to endure such heartache for so long?

Mr. Cure, who was wrongfully imprisoned for 16 years for a crime he didn’t commit, was gripped by a fear that he would once again be denied justice without cause.

His nightmare came true this past Monday during a struggle with a Georgia deputy. According to reports, the deputy, who was white, pulled over Mr. Cure’s truck, saying Mr. Cure passed him going 100 mph. A series of escalations ended with the fatal shooting of Mr. Cure, who is Black.

Mr. Cure’s fears are my own. The tragic tales of Sean Bell, shot by police the morning before his wedding day, and Philando Castile, born 48 hours before me, haunt me.

Mr. Cure’s last name offers a glimpse into what seems to be both the simplest and the hardest solution – a need for a deeper humanity. The officer couldn’t have known Mr. Cure’s tragic backstory. Mr. Cure couldn’t have known what it is like to be an officer. Where is the space and opportunity for benevolence?

Seth Miller, executive director of the Innocence Project of Florida, says Mr. Cure “is someone that was failed by the system once, and he has again been failed by the system. He’s been twice taken away from his family.”

The Innocence Project is an organization that seeks to reverse wrongful convictions, but it can also speak to an effort to restore. In the face of political polarity, economic uncertainty, and international conflict, there can still be space for a cultural reset.

We are not combatants in a war. We are human beings, and even just the benefit of the doubt toward our neighbor could be the beginning of a revolution.


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Mohammed Salem/Reuters
People eat at the home of Ibrahim Alagha, who shelters over 90 people who fled their homes amid Israeli strikes, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Oct. 20, 2023.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Rep. Jim Jordan pauses as he speaks about his bid to become the next speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 20, 2023. Republicans later dropped him as their nominee.
LUIS BERNARDO CANO
Raul Tolosa, a small farmer and rancher, shows a photo of a jaguar taken with a camera trap on his land. He was one of the first farmers in the area to use electric fences to prevent jaguar attacks on his cattle.

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Large waves caused by strong gusts of wind crash on the northern coast of the island of Bornholm, Denmark, Oct. 20, 2023.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Jacob Turcotte. )

A look ahead

Thank you for joining us today. In addition to continuing our coverage of the Middle East and the U.S. Congress on Monday, we’ll examine the political situation in Pakistan, where a former prime minister is returning after years of self-exile. What does fairness look like in a situation where there have been so many missteps and injustices on all sides?

Also, our “Why We Wrote This” podcast, about how Monitor journalists approach their work, resumes next week. In case you missed it, this July episode with Taylor Luck remains a very timely listen. He describes a rising generation in the Mideast whose hopefulness and sense of agency have endured cycles of conflict. 

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2023
October
20
Friday
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