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DISPATCHES FROM THE CULTURE WARS – JUNE 3, 2025
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June 3, 2025
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_ A time for rude awakenings and standing fast _
Yurong “Luanna” Jiang, the first Chinese woman selected as
student speaker at a Harvard graduation, is sparking heated discussion
on both Chinese and American social media. Credit, AP
* Harvard Student Bears Witness to the Crisis
* The Long Backlash
* They’re Going Postal: The Right vs USPS
* Brownsville Community Does What NYPD Can’t
* Who ‘Invented’ Country Music?
* Ex-Cubans’ Rude Awakening
* Medicare Fraudsters and UnitedHealth
* Israel365: MAGA Zionism
* Hypernormalization – You’re Soaking in It
* Town or Country, Pride Stays Proud and Loud
HARVARD STUDENT BEARS WITNESS TO THE CRISIS
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By Kawala Xie
_South China Morning Post_
A Chinese student’s graduation speech at Harvard University
emphasising “shared humanity” and calling for global unity has
gone viral, days after the Trump administration pledged to
“aggressively” revoke the visas of students from China. The
speech was delivered on the same day that a federal judge blocked a
DHS order seeking to prevent the university from enrolling
international students.
THE LONG BACKLASH
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By Olayemi Olurin
_Teen Vogue_
It’s important to reflect, not just on our collective actions, but
the state’s violent response to them — the consequences and the
backlash that always follow. Our collective actions are part of an
ongoing struggle and resistance, not a final resting place. There will
always be a response. The powers that be won’t simply acquiesce to
our requests without a fight, no matter how many of us protest.
THEY’RE GOING POSTAL: THE RIGHT VS USPS
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By Sonali Kolhatkar
_St. Louis-Southern Illinois Labor Tribune_
Right-wing forces have long had their sights on the Postal Service,
and have carried out an effective propaganda campaign against USPS’s
financial viability to justify gutting it. For example, the Heritage
Foundation has claimed for years that the nation no longer needs a
postal service.
BROWNSVILLE COMMUNITY DOES WHAT NYPD CAN’T
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By Chip Brown-lee
_The Trace_
The Brownsville Safety Alliance takes place for one week each
quarter. For those BSA days, on two blocks of the neighborhood,
violence prevention groups like Brownsville In, Violence Out take the
lead on public safety — instead of the police. By stepping in to
calm conflicts and route emergencies to services instead of cuffs,
they work to prevent violence without force or incarceration.
WHO ‘INVENTED’ COUNTRY MUSIC?
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By Chris Willman
Variety
Shaboozey appeared to have reached some kind of tipping point when he
and fellow country star Megan Moroney presented at the American Music
Awards. Viewers couldn’t help noticing the singer’s suddenly
puzzled facial expression, followed by an abrupt chuckle, in response
to his co-presenter reading a line off the prompter stating that the
Carter Family “basically invented country music.”
EX-CUBANS’ RUDE AWAKENING
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By Joshua Goodman
_Associated Press_
Amid record arrivals of migrants from the Caribbean island, Trump in
March revoked temporary humanitarian parole for about 300,000
Cubans. Many have been detained ahead of possible deportation. It's a
shock for the 2.4 million Cuban-Americans, who strongly backed the
Republican twice and have long enjoyed a place of privilege in the
U.S. immigration system.
MEDICARE FRAUDSTERS AND UNITEDHEALTH
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By Daniel Boguslaw
_The American Prospect_
Prior to Trump’s election, Medicare Advantage purveyors like
UnitedHealthcare were bullish on the hyper-accelerated privatization
push heralded by Trump’s return to the White House. Project 2025,
the proposed road map for Trump’s second term, laid out the
plan to ramp up privatized health care, placing vast swaths of an
aging population into the hands of Medicare Advantage providers.
ISRAEL365: MAGA ZIONISM
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By Ben Lorber
_Jewish Currents_
With the support of evangelical allies, Israel365 is now bringing a
Christian Zionist, End Times-inspired project to the institutions of
the Jewish Zionist diaspora. “I see Israel365 as the MAGA movement
inside the Jewish people and for Israel,” far-right leader Steve
Bannon podcasted.
HYPERNORMALIZATION – YOU’RE SOAKING IN IT
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By Adrienne Matei
_The Guardian_
Hypernormalization describes life in a society where two main things
are happening. The first is people seeing that governing systems and
institutions are broken. And the second is that, for reasons including
a lack of effective leadership and an inability to imagine how to
disrupt the status quo, people carry on with their lives as normal
despite systemic dysfunction.
TOWN OR COUNTRY, PRIDE STAYS PROUD AND LOUD
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By Christina Cauterucci
_Slate_
Across the country, a growing right-wing movement is placing LGBTQ+
people under attack. But even in this hostile climate, in some small
towns and cities, queer and trans Americans are stepping up to
organize their communities’ very first Pride celebrations, eager to
give their neighbors an afternoon of joyous release in a stressful
time.
* Harvard University
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* Yurong “Luanna” Jiang
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* Racism
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* resistance
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* repression
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* THE RIGHT
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* US Post Office
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* Violence
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* Brownsville
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* country music
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* Shaboozey
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* Cuban-Americans
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* immigrant rights
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* Medicare Advantage
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* UnitedHealth
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* Israel365
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* Christian Zionists
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* hyper normalization
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* Pride
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* LGBTQ
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INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT
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