Editor’s Note

Years ago in southern Sudan I had a dream. We were sitting around the camp circle when generators shut off and lights went out, revealing a black sky, star-spangled and wrapped in quiet. Awestruck, we went to our tents. Soon I was flying low in a crop duster over fields of soybeans thriving in what […]

Visitors to Palestinian towns often return with a souvenir, a large iron skeleton key that resembles a ceremonial “key to the city,” except this one looks old and rusted. For Palestinians the key symbolizes the key to the homes they were forced to leave in 1948, when war created the modern state of Israel. That […]

It could be that DEI was already a nice-sounding euphemism for anti-racism programs, with the thought that nobody would oppose diversity, equity and inclusion. But the anti-anti-racists now in power in Washington were not to be fooled. They have launched a full-scale attack on DEI, with its teaching about how racism can infest systems and […]

While chaos reigned in Washington this week, there was rare joy in Israel and Gaza. So far, the cease-fire is holding, and hostages are gradually being released in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Reunions anywhere are emotional, but no sight was happier than the picture of thousands of […]

The Bishop of Washington, D.C., got all the attention when she spoke truth to power, asking her listener to “have mercy on the people in our country who are scared” because of his threats. But in Springfield on Inauguration Day there were petitions and prayers just as strong. The Frontiers International Martin Luther King Jr. […]

It’s easy to get distracted when huge, proud Canada is belittled, and Denmark and Panama are threatened with military action. On the same day, fact-checking goes out the window at Facebook, while in some quarters even proofreading has become a thing of the past. Proposed remedies for information gaps and news deserts can be distracting […]

That “little town of Bethlehem” is again lying still, now because tourists no longer flock there at Christmastime. For the second year in a row, there is no Christmas tree in Manger Square, and the Church of the Nativity is relatively deserted. This Israeli-occupied West Bank city just south of Jerusalem is not such a […]

It’s hard to adjust to the firehose of dysfunction emanating from the incoming administration, with one accused sex abuser appointee followed by another, followed by an unqualified appointee, and one FOX news host followed by another. It’s hard to keep track. Loyalty is the chief qualification, we’re told, and MAGA is a movement with a […]

As you read this week’s cover story about the disappointing state report card on District 186, it would be easy to look for people to blame. Another idea would be to double down. Double down on trying to understand disparities that allow some children to succeed while others don’t. Double down on kindness and helping […]

The election prayer, “May the best person win,” often doesn’t work. Still, ballots are better than bullets for choosing officeholders, and if everybody participates by voting maybe we can keep nonviolent democracy going a while longer. Ours is not the same as the immigrant experience, but we who are disappointed in election results can feel […]

Traffic stop data recently released by the Illinois Department of Transportation show that the Springfield Police Department has a lot of explaining to do. In Springfield in 2023 there were 11,516 traffic stops, a 37% increase over the year before. Of those stops, 51% involved Black drivers, while only 16% of the population is Black. […]

In the presidential election, Americans have a choice between calm and chaos. The outcome is too close to call. A choice between old and young, likewise too close. Reproductive freedom or restriction, close. Weird or wise? Racism or antiracism? A pro-immigrant or anti-immigrant stance on immigration reform? Jobs or modest inflation? Tariffs on imports or […]