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Author Archives: Janice Jayes
The Sanctuary Movement: Still a Model for Shaping Policy from the Grassroots Up
The Urbana-Champaign community has a long history of making national and even global matters topics of local debate. Apartheid in South Africa, the US war in Vietnam, and nuclear proliferation are among the many issues that galvanized residents in past … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign Policy, Immigrants, Immigration, Latin America, Sanctuary movement, Section, Uncategorized
Tagged Central America, Central American solidarity, church organizing, local organizing, Sanctuary movement
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Gaza Denialism and the Wider War
In the early months of the war on Gaza US foreign policy paid less attention to the war crimes committed by Israel against Palestinians than the possibility that the war might spread into a regional conflagration. The US administrations (first … Continue reading
Posted in AI, Gaza, International, Iran, Israel/Palestine, Middle East, military, Section, War, World-wide death and suffering
Tagged AI, Gaza, Global War on Terror (GWOT), high-tech military, Iran, Israel/Palestine, Middle East, Sudan, war
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Latrelle Bright, Changing the World through Theater
Latrelle Bright came to UIUC in 2009 as assistant program coordinator for Inner Voices Social Issues Theatre. Over the following years she worked to bring underrepresented voices and perspectives before area audiences while directing shows at Krannert Center for the … Continue reading
Posted in African American women, Arts, In Memoriam, Local Arts, Section, University of Illinois
Tagged African American women, In Memoriam, local arts, theater, UIUC
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The Venezuela Raid: Venture Capitalism in a Gunboat
Kidnapping the president of Venezuela was a showy move, to be sure. Having already attacked boats in nearby international waters and positioned dozens of naval vessels in the region, on January 3 the US deployed 150 aircraft from bases across … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign Policy, Imperialism, International, International, International law, Latin America, Section, Social Media, Trump, Venezuela, War, World-wide death and suffering
Tagged social media, transactional world view, Trump, US foreign policy, US imperialism, Venezuela, war
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The Venezuelan Crisis: Product Placement for the Wars at Home
Trump notified the world of his intended campaign against “narco-terrorist cartels” on Inauguration Day, but the reality of this summer’s naval buildup and military strikes in the Caribbean still took Americans by surprise. Analysts have been working overtime to decipher … Continue reading
Posted in Drug policy, Foreign Policy, ICE, Immigrants, Imperialism, International, Latin America, military, Section, Venezuela, War
Tagged Immigrants, US foreign policy, US imperialism, US militarism, Venezuela, War on Drugs, War on Terror
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The Deportation Industry and the Shadows of Indian Removal
This past spring I traveled with Witness at the Border to the border town of Eagle Pass, TX. I wanted to take a firsthand look at ground zero of the latest domestic militarization project dressed up as a national security … Continue reading
Posted in Immigrants, Immigration, Imperialism, Indigenous, Refugees, Section, Violence, World-wide death and suffering
Tagged deportation, Immigrants, Indian removal, Native Americans, refugees, the border, US immigration policy
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Bombing Iran Might Bring on Regime Change—Just Not in Iran — Print Version
For decades Iran has been the gremlin in the American global imagination. US officials claim that Iran is the main source of instability in the Middle East, allowing them to dismiss any opposition to US or US allies’ policies as … Continue reading
Posted in International, International, International law, Iran, Middle East, military, Section, War
Tagged bombing, democracy, international law, Iran, nuclear non-proliferation, US militarism, war
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Bombing Iran Might Bring on Regime Change—Just Not in Iran — Full Version
For decades Iran has been the gremlin in the American global imagination. US officials claim that Iran is the main source of instability in the Middle East, allowing them to dismiss any opposition to US or US allies’ policies as … Continue reading
Posted in International, International, International law, Iran, Middle East, military, Section, War, Yemen
Tagged bombing, democracy, international law, Iran, nuclear non-proliferation, US militarism, war, Yemen
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Yemen, Gaza and the Obscenity of the Collateral Damage Claim
It’s telling that Americans discussing the March Signal leak detailing plans for the US air strikes on Yemen have focused more on White House emoji choices than the death tolls. This is what “over-the-horizon” warfare means for Americans now: it … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign Policy, Gaza, International, Middle East, Section, War, Yemen
Tagged air strikes, collateral damage, Gaza, Saudi Arabia, Yemen
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Unleashing the Brownshirts
This article, lightly edited for style, was previously published on January 28, 2025 in the News-Gazette as a “My Turn” guest column, under the title “Echoes of William Shirer’s Berlin Diary.” Used with permission. One of the first acts of … Continue reading
Posted in Antisemitism, Politics, Section, Trump, Violence, White Nationalism, Xenophobia
Tagged fascism, Nazism, paramilitary violence, second Trump administration, violence, white supremacy
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Monetization of Reading Endangers Books-to-Prisoners Programs Across the Country
There are about thirty Books-to-Prisoners programs across the US that provide free books to the incarcerated, but changes in regulations and technology practices are threatening their future. While these changes are not specifically book bans, they will directly affect the … Continue reading
Posted in incarceration, Nonprofit, UC-IMC
Tagged access to information, Books to Prisoners, for-profit prison services, incarcerated people, local nonprofit
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Preparing for the Knock on the Door: Community Responses to the Threat of Mass Deportation
Across Champaign-Urbana immigrant assistance organizations, schools, and local governments are worried but actively planning for the next administration. Eight years ago they underestimated Donald Trump, dismissing his vitriol as mere campaign posturing. This time they know that the incoming president … Continue reading
Posted in Immigrants, Immigration, Refugees, Sanctuary movement, Section, Trump
Tagged deportation, Immigrants, local immigrant support, refugees, Sanctuary movement, second Trump admiistration
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The Gaza Protests and Grassroot Challenges to US Foreign Policy
Letters to the editor, teach-ins, motions for divestment, campus protests, city resolutions . . . These expressions of citizen concern are not unique to the ongoing war on Gaza and are entirely appropriate to a democracy. Local communities have the … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign Policy, Gaza, Israel/Palestine, Middle East, Peace movement, Vietnam War
Tagged campus protest, Champaign City Council, Gaza, local activism, peace movement, Urbana City Council, US foreign policy
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The Erosion of US Asylum Protections
It’s been a bad year for international “rule of law.” The escalating war in Ukraine and the wretched failure of the United Nations (UN) to respond to the horror in Gaza deserve the attention they have received, but other international … Continue reading
Posted in Immigrants, Immigration, Latin America, Refugees, Section
Tagged allies, asylum processing, experts, political asylum, refugees, US immigration policy
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The Age of Disconnect: US Policy and the War Beyond Gaza
The hypocrisy gap between US diplomatic pronouncements and US actions is no surprise to world audiences, but the disconnect on display since October 7 has put the nail in the coffin of the American Century. American officials have been invoking … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign Policy, Imperialism, International, Israel/Palestine, Middle East, Section, War
Tagged China, Gaza, imperialism, Israel/Palestine, Middle East, US foreign policy, war
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The $1,686,170 Slap: The Shamar Betts Case Continues
It is hard to understand the magnitude of the restitution fine imposed on Urbana resident Shamar Betts as anything other than the persecution of one young black man. Despite a recent stay on collection of the debt pending a response … Continue reading
Posted in African American, BLM, incarceration, Justice
Tagged African Americans, BLM, George Floyd protests, unequal justice
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Frozen Conflicts, Flashmob Militants, and the End of the Gunpowder State
Syria, Libya, Yemen . . . and now Sudan. Sudan has the unhappy potential to become the next of the intractable conflicts that have unfolded over the past decade. These multisided struggles involving a cocktail of militaries, militias, and mercenaries … Continue reading
Posted in Africa, Foreign Policy, International, International, Middle East, Section, Violence, War
Tagged foreign policy, Middle East, Sudan, the state, violence, war, warlords
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Silence and the Continuing Legacy of the US Invasion of Iraq
The twentieth anniversary of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq slid by with an encore performance of the arrogance that characterized the invasion itself. In 2003 that arrogance disregarded inconvenient international norms as easily as it disregarded the Iraqi victims … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign Policy, Imperialism, International, International, Middle East, Remembering, Section, World-wide death and suffering
Tagged imperialism, Iraq invasion, Memory, US foreign policy
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Labor Abuse as Product Placement at the World Cup
The 2022 soccer World Cup began its takeover of global sports channels on November 20, transmitting endless images of cosmopolitan crowds enjoying the sparkling new stadiums of Qatar to audiences around the world. The country that hosts the World Cup … Continue reading
Posted in International, International, labor, Labor/Economics, Middle East, Section, Sports
Tagged ballwashing, exploitation, human rights, migrant labor, Qatar, World Cup
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In Guatemala, Ethnic Cleansing Moves from the Village to the Courtroom
If you want to see what ethnic cleansing looks like in the 21st century, take a trip to Guatemala. Don’t just stay at the charming eco-lodge by the lake under the volcanoes, however, because you might fly home with a … Continue reading
Posted in Farmworkers, Indigenous, International, International, Land, Latin America
Tagged genocide, Guatemala, human rights, peasant evictions, violence
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