Last Word

Whose lives matter?

December 21st, 2016

In 2013, George Zimmerman was acquitted of the murder of an unarmed 17-year-old boy.

A heartbroken Alicia Garza took to Facebook to write a love letter to her dismayed friends reading “Black people. I love you. I love us. Our lives matter. Black lives matter.”

Her words resonated with other activists, who contacted her and organized a social media platform to spread #blacklivesmatter to a disenfranchised community. Alice Garza is a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement.…

The roots of Republican Party dishonor

December 21st, 2016

“This my prayer: Civil war fattening on men’s ruin shall not thunder in our city. Let not the dry dust that drinks the black blood of citizens through passion for revenge and bloodshed for bloodshed be given our state to prey upon.” - Aeschylus

“…the anarchical tendency of our worship of freedom in and for itself, of our superstitious faith…in machinery…our want of light to enable us to look beyond machinery to the end for which machinery is valuable,…All this, I say, tends to…

Saving lives, shattering myths

December 21st, 2016

I commend ND media outlets for raising awareness about the opiate epidemic and heroin overdoses in our communities. Stories about recovering addicts reduce stigma and shame, providing hope for those who still struggle with addictions; meanwhile, stories about people who died of an overdose offer a cautionary tale. Most importantly, media coverage about the epidemic can ignite social change and be the impetus for evidence-based policy reform.

Unfortunately, some of the coverage is…

Some Christmas poetry

December 14th, 2016

I’d be lying if I said James W. Foley was one of my favorite poets. Hokey might be the best word to describe him (but kind of wonderfully hokey). Foley, North Dakota’s longtime Poet Laureate (way before current Laureate Larry Woiwode) has been dead 75 years now, but there’s a renewed interest in his work, as evidenced by a series of new reprints of some of his 20 books of poetry, and you can now buy most of them in new, paperback editions, (Alibris.com is the best place) for less…

‘Our Water Is Our Single Last Property’

December 7th, 2016

The most consistent argument made by North Dakota regulators and the owners of the Dakota Access Pipeline against the protest actions of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is that the Tribe entered the pipeline approval process too late; they should have made their feelings known earlier in the process.

In mid-November, just a couple weeks ago, Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) CEO Kelcy Warren told reporters “I really wish, for the Standing Rock Sioux, that they had engaged in discussions way…

Time for a reset in the Democratic Party

November 30th, 2016

By Bob Valeu

bvaleu@yahoo.com

Okay, a week is often a lifetime, let’s move on. Let’s redirect and focus our energy and political will on 2018. One great thing about our republic is that we, the citizens, get a chance every two years to make the decision on what direction, politically, our country will take. The clock is ticking, don’t be distracted any longer. Time is of the essence!

The Democratic Party needs a reset. We must focus on three things: middle-class stagnation; the…

A matter of context

November 16th, 2016

By Samantha L. Montano, M.S.

samanthalmontano@gmail.com

A few weeks ago I noticed a billboard in downtown Fargo that reads “All Lives Matter.” As a person who believes in equality, I was taken aback.

Some people have interpreted the slogan “Black Lives Matter” to mean that other lives do not matter. This belief led to some responding by saying “All Lives Matter.” First, let me say that I strongly agree that all lives do matter, regardless of race, gender, religion, or…

Historical Facts

November 16th, 2016

By Davin Wait davin.wait@hcsmuseum.org

I’m writing to address a common misconception about immigration. Our political and media climate has been more frequently lending itself to arguments and assumptions on the issues that are not grounded in historical facts.Immigrants are not new to our community. Fargo-Moorhead exists on the Red River, where Ojibwe and Dakota people fished for sturgeon or namé, the “king of fish.” French and English fur traders and their descendants, the…

This is their death knell

November 11th, 2016

The day after the election, I expected to be depressed but I rose invigorated. I have never been more centered on my core beliefs than I am right now. Hillary Clinton was a bad candidate only in that she herself couldn't bring this out in me. Donald Trump's presidency, however, has made me remember who I am. I am resolute. I have never been more ready to destroy them than I am now.

I am their Death.

I don't expect many readers of the High Plains Reader to have supported Donald Trump, but…

Corporate worship and compromising the police profession

November 2nd, 2016

“For the soldier’s (or policeman’s) trade,…is not slaying, but being slain. This…the world honors it for. A bravo’s (or hired gun’s) trade is slaying; but the world has never respected bravos (or hired guns)…the reason (the world) honors the soldier (or policeman) is, because he holds his life at the service of the State.”

–John Ruskin

“This is not about the pipeline…This is not about the protesters. This is about the rule of law.”

--Morton County Sheriff Kyle…