Author Archives: Al Kagan

Another View of the Ukraine War

Posted on 08/27/2023 by Al Kagan

Readers will note that the Public i has recently published three articles about the Ukraine War. However, there are still more issues not yet fully addressed. “When two elephants fight it is the grass that gets trampled.” Swahili proverb The … Continue reading →

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Posted in Afghanistan, Corporate media, Eastern Europe, Foreign Policy, Imperialism, International, International, Latin America, Nuclear War, Peace movement, Section, Ukraine, War | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Another View of the Ukraine War

Feminism, the Environment and Stolen Land: Socially Conscious Music from Africa and the South Pacific

Posted on 06/25/2022 by Al Kagan

Readers may remember my two previous world music reviews, in the February 2021 and Summer 2021 issues of the Public i. All of the music described here was reviewed in the great magazine Songlines. The music is available on Apple … Continue reading →

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Book Banning, Gag Orders, and the Organized Right Wing

Posted on 05/13/2022 by Al Kagan

Book bannings are very much in the news these days. They are happening mostly in more rural school districts and in the South, but not only in these places. The American Library Association (ALA) issued a statement in November of … Continue reading →

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Posted in Censorship, Education, Education, Free Speech, Libraries, Literature | Comments Off on Book Banning, Gag Orders, and the Organized Right Wing

Vietnam Today: Did Anyone “Win” the Vietnam War?

Posted on 04/12/2019 by Al Kagan

Going to college during the Vietnam War transformed my life. Because of my sheltered upbringing, I was rudely awakened. I learned the meaning of imperialism, and with that the lack of justice at home in a class- and race-based hierarchical … Continue reading →

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Hiroshima 1945 and the Threat of Nuclear Catastrophe

Posted on 09/10/2018 by Al Kagan

“The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking, and thus we drift toward unparalleled catastrophe.” – Albert Einstein, 1946. “To hell with these maniacs.” – Premier Nikita Khrushchev, talking about his military advisors during … Continue reading →

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“The End of Civilization As We Know It”

Posted on 09/09/2017 by Al Kagan

The Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association (with several co-sponsors) brought environmentalist Bill McKibben to speak at our annual conference in Chicago on June 24, 2017. It was a terrific presentation, and I will try to relay … Continue reading →

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March for Support of Immigrants at July 4th Parade

Posted on 06/30/2017 by Al Kagan

March for Support of Immigrants at July 4th Parade Hosted by C-U Immigration Forum Tuesday, July 4 at 11 AM – 1 PM In an effort to demonstrate local support for immigrants in our community, the C-U Immigration Forum is … Continue reading →

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The Eugene McCarthy, George McGovern, and Bernie Sanders Campaigns

Posted on 10/16/2016 by Al Kagan

Bio-box: While a student, Al Kagan worked on the Eugene McCarthy campaign for president in New Hampshire, Indiana, Rhode Island, and Washington, DC., and experienced the 1968 Democratic Convention. He also did a bit of work on the Bernie Sanders … Continue reading →

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African Liberation, Socialism, and Ghana Today

Posted on 05/27/2016 by Al Kagan

What do most Americans know or think they know about Africa? A number of stereotypes come to mind. African countries are unsafe and unhealthy, always at war, unstable, and poor. People are uneducated and lazy, and live in rural villages … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Ghana, International, Politics | Comments Off on African Liberation, Socialism, and Ghana Today

The Creation of Frankenstein in the Middle Eastern Region

Posted on 04/16/2015 by Al Kagan

The Creation of Frankenstein in the Middle Eastern Region Al Kagan Al Kagan is African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration Emeritus at the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign. Media coverage of the destruction of antiquities in northern Iraq during … Continue reading →

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Racism and Freedom of Speech: Framing the Issues

Posted on 10/01/2014 by Al Kagan

Two of the more volatile issues in our society are racism and freedom of speech. This article is about an interesting case that severely divided the American Library Association in the late 1970s, and was recently revived. Readers ought to … Continue reading →

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US Labor Against the War

Posted on 07/24/2014 by Al Kagan

The level of violence in Iraq is rapidly escalating and the country is falling apart. There are calls for sending back US troops. Syria’s catastrophic civil war is being fueled by arms shipments from various directions. There are calls for … Continue reading →

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U.S. Labor Against the War

Posted on 06/02/2009 by Al Kagan

”We are living in an era in which the government has manipulated our nation’s fear of terrorism to launch wars, destroy our economic security, undermine government services, erode our democratic rights and intensify racism, sexism, religious discrimination and divisions among … Continue reading →

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The Anti-Semitism Debate

Posted on 05/21/2003 by Al Kagan

What do the names Berman, Rosenzweig, and Kagan have in common? They are all Jewish  names, and they belong to activist librarians who have worked for justice for Palestinians  wherever they have lived. I have participated with two colleagues in … Continue reading →

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The Ogoni Struggle in Nigeria

Posted on 04/21/2002 by Al Kagan

Nigeria was a colony of Great Britain from the turn of the twentieth century until 1960. It is about 1/3 larger than the state of Texas, but is by far the most populous country in Africa with over 120 million … Continue reading →

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Letters from Readers: Fooled Again

Posted on 11/23/2001 by Al Kagan

“We won’t get fooled again.” The Who And so it has come to this. The Who sang their 1960s anthem at the recent Madison Square Garden Concert for New York City (Saturday, October 20th on VH1 TV) to honor the … Continue reading →

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