Matador Network's Blog, page 844

BLM protests around the world

In 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s March on Washington was the largest major civil rights demonstration in United States history. And right now, images from all over the country are evoking the memory of that historic event.

For the second week in a row, people have been gathering in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, and in protest of George Floyd’s murder by a white police officer. The incident occured on May 25 in Minneapolis, but since then, demonstrations have spread around the US and then around the world, from Germany to Australia.

Although the protests have been steady and strong for nearly two weeks, they haven’t lost steam. In fact, they’ve grown in numbers and intensity. Cities like Los Angeles and Philadelphia saw large crowds of protesters this weekend, hoping to raise awareness of racial inequality in the US, and calling for law enforcement reform or defunding.

These stirring pictures and videos show how the movement has spread both nationally and internationally, and continues to attract protesters in record numbers.

Washington, DC

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San Francisco, California

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Los Angeles, California

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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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Copenhagen, Denmark

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Italy announces hiking route

Outdoor enthusiasts visiting Italy have a new term to learn before arriving in the country: Sentiero dei Parchi. The name says it all — the “Trail of the Parks” will connect all of Italy’s national parks in one long trail by expanding the current Sentiero Italia, or “Italy Trail.” The project, the result of a collaboration between the Italian Ministry for Environment and the Italian Alpine Club, will connect all 25 of the country’s national parks in a north-south trekking route that spans mountains, inland stretches, and islands. It’s part of a broader effort to promote conservation and outdoor recreation in Italy.

“I think there was no better occasion to celebrate European Parks Day, than to sign a protocol between the Italian Alpine Club and the Ministry of the Environment,” said Italian Alpine Club President Vincenzo Torti in a statement on May 23 (the European Day of Parks takes place yearly on May 24). The existing Italy Trail currently connects 16 of the country’s national parks and stretches more than 4,300 miles. An additional nine national parks plus other protected areas, reserves, and UNESCO heritage sites will be added to complete the new trail that will stretch from the Alps of northern Italy to the island of Sicily and through Sardinia.

Photo: Italian Alpine Club

“National parks are a treasure chest of nature,” said Italian Minister for the Environment Sergio Costa. “We have to guarantee their conservation, but also their availability.”

Much like the Camino de Santiago and other long-distance treks around the world, hikers can collect marks on a passport at different stops along the way. Complete the entire trail and you’ll receive a commemorative honoring from the Ministry for Environment and the Italian Alpine Club.

More like this Hiking England is opening the world’s longest coastal path. Here’s how to plan your walk.

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12 books books by Black women

In the wake of George Floyd’s death, a righteous uprising against racism and police brutality has swept the United States, and with it, a proliferation of so-called anti-racist books lists. The aim of these reading recommendations is to educate non-black people how systematic racism affects every aspect of our society — from what and where we eat, to who gets arrested, elected to office, or a starring role in a movie, and yes, who gets to write and publish a book. These efforts to amplify the voices of Black writers are admirable, but there is no right time to pick up books by Black authors. Our reading lists should be diverse no matter the month or this country’s political situation.

This list focuses on Black women authors in particular, and we have chosen to include both fiction and nonfiction that address racism and racial injustice in some form. We hope to encourage people to finally get out of their comfort zone (if you haven’t already; it really shouldn’t have taken this long!) and read about how Black people in this country — young girls, immigrant couples, babysitters, the ancestors of slaves, new mothers — navigate the repercussions of racism.

It shouldn’t rest on the shoulders of these authors to educate every uninformed person about racism, but giving them your money is a step in the right direction. Even then, it’s still not enough. You actually have to do the work of reading these books, not just to inform yourself about how Black people in this country live under white supremacy everyday, but to appreciate their craft. These writers do not exist just to educate. They are artists and storytellers who should be praised equally for their stunning prose as they are for the difficult subject matter their books depict. And remember: Part of white privilege is that you get to learn about racism, rather than experiencing it on a daily basis.

We didn’t discover any of these books out of nowhere. They’ve been available for anyone to read even when instances of racial injustices aren’t saturating the news. You might have passed these books by at the bookstore again and again, maybe thinking “I’ll get to it eventually.” But there’s no excuse for not reading books by Black authors, especially not “I can’t find any.” Here are 12 books by Black women you should read today, tomorrow, and anytime you want to dive into rich storytelling and honest, raw reflections on the state of racism in the US today.

Fiction
1. Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Photo: Penguin Random House

While an easy and entertaining read, Such a Fun Age covers some serious topics. It is a story of race, class, and the privileges or disadvantages that come with both, but at its core, it is a novel on how supposedly progressive white people use Black people to show off their open-mindedness.

Alix, a successful white blogger in her early 30s, hires Emira, a 25-year-old Black woman with a college degree but no career plan, as her babysitter. One late night, after being called by Alix to do some emergency child-minding, Emira takes three-year-old Briar to the neighborhood’s health-food store for a distraction and is accused by the security staff of having kidnapped the child. While the incident itself is quickly resolved, it changes the dynamic in the relationship between mother and babysitter, as Alix’s attempts at showing her support are awkward, intrusive, and unconsciously selfish. Add to that Emira’s relationship with a white man who has a fetish for Black women and you have a modern story of how white people tend to use Black people as props for their own image rather than appreciate them for who they are as individuals.

2. Red at the Bone by Jaqueline Woodson

Photo: Penguin Random House

National Book Award-winning author Jacqueline Woodson crafts the tale of two Black families, one affluent and a single mother barely keeping the other together, in Red at the Bone. With deft precision, the novel follows five characters over three generations: Melody, the product of a one-time fling between two high schoolers; her parents, Iris and Aubrey, the former of which insists on keeping her baby but abandons her for college as soon she has the opportunity; and Melody’s grandparents. Woodson inverts familiar (and lazy) stereotypes, casting Aubrey as the devoted father who sticks around to raise his daughter after Iris flees Brooklyn. Through poetic prose and heart-rending examinations of grief and familial love, this brilliant novel unflinchingly describes how the modern world shapes the lives of young Black girls.

3. Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi

Photo: Penguin Random House

British novelist Helen Oyeyemi is known for blending the magical realism of fairy tales with Yoruba folklore in her books. In Boy, Snow, Bird, loosely based on Snow White, a white woman named Boy Novak escapes her abusive father in New York City. She lands in a small town called Flax Hill, where she meets Arturo Whitman and his angelic, and much beloved daughter, Snow. Boy marries Arturo, and they conceive a daughter, a Black daughter, Bird, revealing that Arturo and his family are white-passing African-Americans from Louisiana. Instead of disowning Bird, Boy sends Snow away to live with Arturo’s older sister, Clara, shunned by the rest of the family for her dark skin. When Snow comes home 13 years later, these three women must confront the legacy of colorism within their family, and the ways in which each of them chose to push back against it.

4. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Photo: Penguin Random House

Homegoing is a tale of two family lines separated by circumstance, with an examination of the African diaspora as its backdrop and spanning several generations from the 18th century up until the present day. Starting with Effia and Esi, half sisters who never come to know the other, each chapter is then in the voice of a different family member down one of the two lines. Each descendant has their own story, unique to them, but the alternating narration shows how inextricably linked they are to each other’s stories, whether to the descendants that come before them in their own family line or the opposite one. The parallels between the two show just how much chance can affect a single person’s situation, but also provide an emotional, grim look into the history of slavery and colonialism in Ghana and the US, as well as the historical ties the two nations have with each other. The sheer scale of Gyasi’s ambitions, telling 14 different stories in 300 pages, seem daunting, but she does so with the utmost care for her cast of characters, and the results are incredible.

5. Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue

Photo: Penguin Random House

The “American dream” is a concept many are familiar with — the idea that anyone can achieve success and that upward mobility is possible, regardless of who a person is or their status in life. It’s a concept that many hopefuls come to the US for, searching for a better life for themselves and their families. The characters in Behold the Dreamers are no exception, as Jende Jonga, his wife Neni, and their son Liomi, move to the US from Cameroon for that better life; Jende gets a job as a chauffeur for an executive at Lehman Brothers, Clark Edwards, and Neni studies at college hoping to be a pharmacist but also agrees to a temporary job working at the Edwards family’s summer home during a trip, intertwining the two families together even further. Set around the time of the 2008 stock market crash, the book examines the American dream from two different perspectives — the wealthy 1 percent and the people that work for them, as well as the relationship the two groups have with each other. It is in this that we see everything is not all it’s cracked up to be, and while labeled as fiction, the immigrant struggles that the Jonga family faces are all too real.

6. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Photo: Harper Collins

The Hate U Give centers around Starr Carter, a 16-year-old Black woman who lives in a poor Black neighborhood but attends high school in a rich white one. Navigating both worlds is a difficult task for Starr, whose parents have always been very vocal to her and her siblings about race relations and systematic racism. From an early age, Starr’s father taught her how to behave to remain safe if she ever had to deal with law enforcement. And it’s after a party, during a traffic stop, that Starr truly understands the reason behind her parents’ insistent talks, as she witnesses the shooting of her unarmed best friend Khalil by a white police officer. Later, when Khalil is being called a thug and a drug dealer in the media as justification for his murder, Starr, the only person able to attest to what happened, decides to partake in the legal battle to obtain justice for her friend and clear his name.

Although a young adult novel, The Hate U Give’s target readership can be expanded to anyone who cares to put themselves in the shoes of a Black person in the modern-day US — and we recommend that white people of all ages pick it up. It was published as a fiction novel in 2017, and it’s tragically still an accurate representation of the fear and injustice Black people in the US endure daily.

Non-fiction
7. Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall

Photo: Penguin Random House

Hailed as a “searing indictment of mainstream feminism,” Mikki Kendall’s essential essay collection breaks down how the movement ignores the basic needs of all women, including living wages and food insecurity. Kendall references her own experiences with “hunger, violence, and hypersexualization” to illustrate the pitfalls of white feminism, and how its modern iteration excludes the most vulnerable people the movement originally set out to protect. No, feminism is not about “Girl Boss” T-shirts, Kendall argues, but rather fighting for measures, like free and easily accessible medical care, that will save the lives of women. The Guardian wrote that Kendall is here to “lay down the gauntlet.” She will make you uncomfortable, force you to question your values, and is definitely not here to coddle you.

8. Well-Read Black Girl edited by Glory Edim

Photo: Penguin Random House

This NAACP Image Award-nominated essay collection, edited by Glory Edim, the founder of a book club of the same name open exclusively to Black women and girls, tackles representation in literature. Essays by writers like Jesmyn Ward, Morgan Jerkins, and Jacqueline Woodson address “that moment when you first encountered a character who seemed to be written just for you.” Edim’s book is a space for Black women to share ruminations on why they read and the importance of representation in literature. Through these intimate reflections on the contributor’s encounters with their favorite books, readers are reminded of the power and magic of literature to transform and enrich the lives of everyone — regardless of race, gender, or class.

9. When They Call You a Terrorist by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele

Photo: Macmillan

The Black Lives Matter movement as we currently know it did not truly kick off until 2013, after Trayvon Martin was murdered and the man that shot him, George Zimmerman, was acquitted. One of BLM’s founders, Patrisse Khan-Cullors, co-wrote a memoir with asha bandele that not only intimately chronicles her own history but also the early beginnings of the movement itself. Over the course of When They Call You a Terrorist, readers will see the heartbreaking events that Khan-Cullors and her family experienced as Black Americans, which were also some of the driving forces that led her to the community and activism work she finds herself thriving in today. It’s a poignant, eye-opening reminder of the inequality and discrimination that still exist in the country’s institutions, and people, to this very day.

10. Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad

Photo: Source Books

Based on the viral #meandwhitesupremacy hashtag she launched on Instagram, Layla Saad offers this guidebook to allyship, complete with journal prompts so that readers can continue to grapple with their role in white supremacy even after closing the book. Saad (very generously) lays out for white readers their own anti-black sentiments and how they participate in cultural appropriation, perhaps without even being aware of it. Through lessons interspersed throughout the book, readers will learn “language to understand racism, and to dismantle your own biases.”

“The work is uncomfortable, but the fact is that you have so centred yourself that you’re not even thinking about how uncomfortable it is for people of colour to be impacted by racism, being harmed right here,” Saad recently told Refinery29. “And the two are not equivalent.”

11. Redefining Realness by Janet Mock

Photo: Simon and Schuster

Janet Mock’s memoir details her life as a trans woman of color living in the US In Redefining Realness, readers are taken on an emotional roller coaster through Mock’s life, beginning with her growing up multiracial and poor in Hawaii to her teen years, where she began transitioning and became a sex worker to afford it, to her adult life, where she moved crosscountry and hid who she truly was until she gained the strength to tell her story. From sexual and substance abuse to poverty and violence, the challenges Mock has had to face show that she has not had an easy life. But despite all those hardships in her search for identity, self love, and acceptance, Mock remained true to herself and knew who she was. Her story is relatable to both other trans people and anyone who has ever had to hide parts of themselves out of fear others would not accept them. Mock does a fantastic job of explaining terms and concepts that readers might not be familiar with, and even includes statistics to provide further education.

12. Black Is the Body by Emily Bernard

Photo: Penguin Random House

In 12 personal essays Emily Bernard delves into how she has navigated racism in many defining moments of her own life: growing up in the South, marrying a white man, and adopting two children from Ethiopia. But Bernard, in her signature candor, wants to explore all the facets of her identity as she explores how “to find a language that would capture the totality of my experience, as a woman, a black American, a teacher, writer, mother, wife, and daughter.” Bernard writes that her goal with this book is to “contribute something to the American racial drama besides the enduring narrative of black innocence and white guilt.” She takes readers into her classroom in an essay called “Teaching the N-Word,” and even invites us into her marriage. Both intimate and accessible, Bernard’s memoir asks you accept hard truths about the realities of living as Black woman in the US.

More like this Books Purchase your new reading list from these Black-owned bookstores, not Amazon

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D-Day anniversary events canceled

The coronavirus pandemic has canceled events around the world. One of those is the D-Day anniversary, a solemn occasion that marks the landing of Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944. It’s the 76th anniversary of the 1944 landings, but for the first time there won’t be any veterans on the beaches to mark the occasion. Due to bans on large gatherings, official commemorations have been canceled, except for a small gathering of representatives from nine countries for a short ceremony.

Ian Stewart, of the Spirit of Normandy Trust that fundraises for D-Day veterans, told The Guardian, “It’s very sad, and the French are equally saddened by the fact we cannot be there. Nobody takes any pleasure from the restrictions. Every year counts. Last year, the 75th anniversary, was a bonus. The men are now all in their late 90s and they are struggling on.”

While the veterans won’t be there in person to participate in the ceremony, it will be live streamed for anyone who wishes to watch from home. The scaled-down event on Saturday will also feature a flyby from the French air force’s acrobatics team.

Jean-Marc Lefranc, president of the D-Day Landing Committee, said, “Since 1945, every year we have paid homage to the men who fought for our freedom. This year, for the first time it will not be open to the public.”

We all hope this is only a one-year lapse in the tradition, which will likely resume next year for the 77th anniversary.

More like this Museums A visit to Normandy brings D-Day to life beyond the beaches

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How to visit the D-Day beaches

To this day, the shrapnel remains sprinkled in the sand, a hard-hitting reminder of the bravery of thousands of soldiers who lost their lives in battle. For the D-Day beaches are no mere pleasure spots by the sea, but meaningful memorial locations, celebrating the moments in World War II when Western Europe was led to freedom.

One of the most important historical events commemorating the relationship between France and the USA is that of the D-Day Landings. Here, along with British and Canadian troops, both countries battled to successfully liberate France from the clutches of Nazi Germany.

As the location looks set to achieve UNESCO World Heritage status soon, a visit to the Normandy beaches where the action took place is an increasingly popular prospect. For anyone with an interest in history, the sites make for a moving, poignant, and absolutely unmissable memorial trip.

Start by traveling from Paris to the gateway city of Caen

Photo: pisaphotography/Shutterstock

For those keen to get straight to the D-Day sites, the route that’s most hassle-free is simply to hop on a BlaBlaBus vehicle direct from Paris’ Charles de Gaulles Airport. With a journey time of less than three hours and prices starting from merely 2.99 euros each way ($3.40), it’s the most budget-friendly way to arrive in the gateway city of Caen. The service also picks up passengers in Paris’ city center along the way, with stops including Gare Montparnasse.

Naturally, it’s also possible to hire a car, or — for the quickest route of all — trains leave both Gare Montparnasse and Gare Saint-Lazare several times a day and arrive in Caen in as little as two hours.

This “town of a hundred bell-towers,” founded in the 11th century by William the Conqueror, is a perfect place for a stroll and a bite to eat before embarking on the final leg of the journey to the D-Day sites.

To taste food the way the locals like it, sample the traditional Vallee d’Auge chicken dish — cooked in the famous apple cider for which the region is renowned, flambéed with locally produced Calvados, and topped with slices of buttery apple. Few dishes are more authentically Norman and you’re unlikely to find this delicacy on the average menu in Paris. Just look out for the phrase “Poulet Vallée d’Auge.” Chicken aside, Le Bouchon Du Vaugueux is also worth a visit for its beautifully presented and typically French dishes, and its rich berry-focused desserts. Alternatively, for a quicker snack on the move, choosing one of the creperies the city streets are lined with is your best bet.

Photo: Le Mémorial de Caen/Facebook

Once you are satiated, it’s almost time to get back on the road for a slice of war history. However you shouldn’t leave this city without a visit to a site often skipped by D-Day tourists in their hurry to get nearer to the famous beaches — the Memorial de Caen. This museum covers everything from the origins of WWII to the tragic genocides and the determination of the Resistance movement, all the way up to the end of the battles. One section is located underground, in a former quarry once used by a German commander as his headquarters, which adds to the atmosphere. A network of secret buried phone cables allowed for discreet communication. There are also American, Canadian, and British-themed gardens all in honor of the Allied troops who fought in Normandy. Finally, visitors can watch an immersive film about the war effort, Europe, Our History.

If overnighting in Caen, Les Chambres de l’Abbaye is an unparalleled choice. This beautiful historic building, preserved since the 18th century, comes with a view over the jaw-dropping Abbaye Aux Hommes, founded by William the Conqueror in the 11th century. Those wishing to see his tomb are able to visit the interior too. If hoping to catch a glimpse of Normandy as it originally looked before the war wreaked destruction, this is the location. The hotel is an authentic and very refreshing alternative to the string of generic chain hotels that proliferate in the city — and it should be considered as a base for the entirety of your Normandy trip.

Photo: mountaintreks/Shutterstock

Before bidding Caen a temporary farewell the following morning, check out the Pegasus Bridge across the city’s canal, the first to be liberated from oppressive Nazi rule. Although it has been reconstructed since its WWII days, the original bridge can still be seen in the nearby Pegasus Memorial Museum, alongside a reproduction of a wartime glider. Guided tours of the museum last an hour and a half and it can easily be reached by bus.

Check out your first D-Day sites via Sword, Juno, and Gold beaches

Photo: illpaxphotomatic/Shutterstock

Moving on, Sword Beach is the first of the five beach landing sites you will see that were used for the Allied invasions on D-Day. The immediate area is not especially well-developed for tourism. There is, however, a small beachfront museum called Commando No 4 at the port of Ouistreham, not to mention a Grand Bunker Museum, located within a former Atlantic Wall firing command post. Within just three days, British troops had snatched the latter from Nazi hands, and the reconstructed bunker captures the drama of these heart-pounding rescue moments.

Lesser-visited areas like these are not included on the average guided tour, so they provide a great way to experience some of the D-Day sites without the presence of large crowds. That said, those who are low on time may wish to skip these attractions and head straight to Juno Beach further along the coast. It is just a 19-minute drive from Caen, or a brief bus ride (check the Bus Verts website for the latest timetables).

Photo: Centre Juno Beach / Juno Beach Centre/Facebook

Juno was primarily the responsibility of Canadian troops. Consequently the Juno Beach Centre Museum in the town itself, commemorating the 45,000 Canadians who lost their lives in battle, is designed to mimic the shape of the country’s national emblem: the maple leaf. Inside, an immersive experience places visitors inside a simulated aircraft while the voices of war veteran survivors ring out, recounting the battle, and movie imagery is projected on the walls. It’s well worth a visit, but bear in mind that this museum is closed completely throughout the month of January.

Continuing the journey along the coast, Gold Beach is next — the location, along with Sword Beach, where British troops saw off the opposition. The museum by the same name documents struggles and triumphs alike, although the exhibition space is small — a visit takes less than an hour.

Relive the past in the cobblestone streets of Bayeux

Photo: Stefano_Valeri/Shutterstock

By the third day of your trip, heading to neighboring Bayeux, a bustling town of timber buildings and cobblestoned streets which, on June 7, 1944, was successfully seized away from Nazi dominion by British troops, should be a highlight. It was the first town in mainland France to achieve freedom, and — up until Paris’s liberation on August 25 — it was temporarily crowned the country’s capital.

Nearly a thousand years earlier, on the other hand, French soldiers had seized Britain during the Norman Conquest of England. The world-famous Bayeux Tapestry documents those 11th century events through the intricate illustrations stitched onto its fabric — and for any traveler to Normandy with more than a passing interest in history, viewing it up-close is a must. Even better, the town is well served not just by bus but also by train from Caen.

Photo: Bayeux Museum/Facebook

Yet the most fitting attraction of all here is the Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy, which bills itself as the only museum to present all the military operations that took place during the summer of 1944. Detailed film footage plus collections of everything from artillery to artifacts make this a moving experience. Combination tickets can be purchased, giving travelers access to this museum, the Bayeux Tapestry Museum, and the Baron Gerard Museum of Art and History for a one-time fee of 15 euros ($16.50). There is also a cemetery plus a War Reporters Memorial Garden dedicated to the cause of press freedom. The names of over 2,000 journalists who died on the job are honored here, and Bayeux is known as the location for the post-war rebirth of the newspaper.

Should you decide to spend a night in historic Bayeux, Hôtel d’Argouges is an 18th-century mansion, steeped in history and with a walled garden. Finally, you shouldn’t leave the town without picking up some delicious cider or Calvados from Lecornu, which is created by a third generation producer using organic fruit from local orchards. Tastings take place at 2 Rue Bourbesneur every day except Mondays, and the family also owns a B&B next door.

Photo: Shandarov Arkadii/Shutterstock

From Bayeux, buses regularly run to Arromanches where the highlights include a visit to Port Winston, an artificial portable harbor used in the war effort and named after British leader Winston Churchill due to his role in commissioning it. The nearby D-Day Museum reveals in great detail how the harbor was set up, while Arromanches 360 offers a compelling film about the 100 days of the Battle of Normandy delivered across all four sides of an immersive circular cinema.

Explore the American contribution to the war effort

Photo: Jrossphoto/Shutterstock

Not far from here, Pointe du Hoc is a rugged and beautiful 100-foot-high cliff situated between the two key beaches of the American D-Day Landings, Omaha and Utah. Less than half of the US rangers successfully scaled the cliff despite the use of ladders, ropes, and grappling irons. Today, it’s a must-see photo stop and, as such, it’s optimal to arrive as early as possible in the morning to avoid competing for camera space with large crowds piling out of tour buses later in the day.

Photo: Satur/Shutterstock

Less than an hour later, you’ll be ready to head to Omaha, where the heat of the action took place. High above the beach lies the American Military Cemetery of Colleville sur Mer. There might be little to distinguish it from any other peaceful tree-lined field, were it not for the thousands of bright white crosses, each one planted in the ground to honor a soldier who died in battle here. Stars of David also appear here, marking the contributions of those of Jewish faith. The cemetery is a sobering tribute to those who stormed these battlefields, ready to die to defend their cause and knowing in their hearts that they might never make it back home.

Meanwhile on ground level, two excellent museums are available to document the American contribution to the war effort. While back at Pointe du Hoc, the battle scars of war are still etched into the ground, the Omaha Memorial Museum provides an insight into the events that led to those scars. A self-guided tour here reveals uniforms, weaponry, war vehicles, and more.

Photo: Overlord Museum – Omaha Beach/Facebook

Then, set in a striking forested area very close to the war cemetery is the Operation Overlord Museum. Here, an extensive collection of war memorabilia — even down to the pumice soap still stashed in the pocket of a soldier’s backpack — is on display. Events covered span from the D-Day Landings of June 6 all the way up to the liberation of Paris on August 25.

Head to the village where Walt Disney’s ancestors once lived

One unmissable spot that the average D-Day itinerary won’t include is the coastal village of Isigny, located between the Omaha and Utah beaches. Just 25 minutes from Omaha is where Walt Disney’s ancestors once lived and were given the titles of the Lords of D’Isigny as thanks for fighting alongside William the Conqueror in the Battle of Hastings. This name was anglicized to ‘Disney’ when the family relocated to the UK, and years later, Walt’s great grandfather set sail for the USA — yet it all began here. Proving that the patriotic fighting spirit of his ancestors was alive within him too, Walt himself traveled to Normandy as a teenager to work as a World War I ambulance driver, paramedic, and waiter in a Red Cross canteen. The little-known story of the early war efforts made by the founder of the $130 billion Disney brand brings this town to life.

Fast forward to June 9, 1944, however, and amid the brutality of the battles, Isigny was on fire. The day before, 60 percent of the Nazi-controlled town had been destroyed by bombardments, and now American troops were storming it fast and furiously to liberate French territory. A signpost in the region today states that the liberation of Isigny was a pivotal Allied objective helping to “force a link between the American beach-heads of Utah and Omaha.”

It is a fitting place, then, to pause and reflect on the sacrifices made. Later, perhaps snack on the world-class caramels produced in the Dupont D’Isigny biscuit factory before continuing on your journey. The local Isigny-brand butter and Isigny Ste-Mère Camembert are also renowned for their quality. After filling your bags with fuel for the road ahead, it’s time to head to Utah, the final beach.

End your journey at Utah Beach

Photo: s74/Shutterstock

Worth at least a half day in your itinerary, the area includes the Utah Beach Landing Museum. Unique about this location is the chance to see an original B2 Bomber plane, one of only six still remaining in the world. There’s also an award-winning documentary film, Victory in the Sand, to watch. For those with extra time, the nearby village of Sainte-Mère-Eglise reveals some excellent wartime history, including the moment American paratrooper John Steele was left dangling from the tower of a church after his parachute got caught on it. Finally, the village also has the Airborne Museum, which promises to take onlookers right into the heart of the historic conflict.

More like this Dessert How ‘Doughnut Lassies’ supported front-line troops during World War I

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Airlines drop service to 75 airports

US airlines taking government funding during the coronavirus pandemic had been required to maintain service to all their destinations. But airlines have been asking for exemptions from this requirement citing low passenger demand, and the Department of Transportation (DOT) has allowed 15 US airlines to drop their service to 75 airports.

United and Delta airlines were approved to drop flights to 11 airports, Allegiant Air was allowed to stop service to six airports, and JetBlue, Alaska, Spirit, and Frontier airlines were each allowed to drop flights to five airports.

One Mile at a Time compiled the complete list of the US airlines cutting their services and the destinations concerned:

Alaska Airlines: Charleston, SC; Columbus, OH; El Paso, TX; New Orleans, LA; San Antonio, TX
Allegiant Air: New Orleans, LA; Ogdensburg, NY; Palm Springs, CA; San Antonio, TX; Springfield, IL; Tucson, AZ
American Airlines: Aspen, CO; Eagle, CO; Montrose/Delta, CO; Worcester, MA
Cape Air: Portland, ME
Corvus Airlines: Goodnews Bay, AK; Kodiak, AK; Napakiak, AK; Napaskiak, AK; Platinum, AK
Delta Air Lines: Aspen, CO; Bangor, ME; Erie, PA; Flint, MI; Fort Smith, AR; Lincoln, NE; New Bern/Morehead/Beaufort, NC; Peoria, IL; Santa Barbara, CA; Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, PA; Williston, ND
Elite Airways: Sarasota/Bradenton, FL
Frontier Airlines: Greenville/Spartanburg, SC; Mobile, AL; Palm Springs, CA; Portland, ME; Tyler, TX
JetBlue Airways: Albuquerque, NM; Palm Springs, CA; Sacramento, CA; Sarasota/Bradenton, FL; Worcester, MA
Seaborne Airlines: Charlotte Amalie, VI; Christiansted, VI; Culebra, San Juan, and Vieques in Puerto Rico
Silver Airways: Charlotte Amalie, VI; Huntsville, AL; Key West, FL; Tallahassee, FL; Tampa, FL
Spirit Airlines: Asheville, NC; Charlotte Amalie, VI; Christiansted, VI; Greensboro/High Point, NC; Plattsburgh, NY
Sun Air Express: Nashville, TN
Sun Country Airlines: Madison, WI; Philadelphia, PA; Portland, OR; Sacramento, CA; St. Louis, MO
United Airlines: Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton, PA; Charlotte Amalie, VI; Chattanooga, TN; Fairbanks, AK; Hilton Head, SC; Ithaca/Cortland, NY; Kalamazoo, MI; Key West, FL; Lansing, MI; Myrtle Beach, SC; Rochester, MN

If you live in a city with discontinued service, don’t despair. The DOT requires all airports to be served by at least one air carrier, so while your options may be temporarily limited, you won’t be stranded.

But when the CARES Act funding ends, in September 2020, US airlines will be allowed to make any cuts they wish, so things may get worse for smaller airports around the country.

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Sweden admits COVID mistakes

The architect of Sweden’s unusual coronavirus strategy admitted this week that the country’s approach had “potential for improvement” and that too many people had died. On Wednesday, Sweden reached the unenviable distinction of the world’s highest weekly number of COVID-19-related deaths per capita.

According to The Guardian, in an interview with Swedish Radio, the country’s top epidemiologist Anders Tegnell said, “If we were to encounter the same disease again knowing exactly what we know about it today, I think we would settle on doing something in between what Sweden did and what the rest of the world has done.”

At the start of the pandemic, Sweden startled the world by adopting a more relaxed attitude toward social distancing measures — an approach we noted had earned it some critics. Kids under 16 continued attending schools, gatherings of under 50 people were permitted, and bars, restaurants, and shops remained open, albeit with specific guidelines.

Tegnell’s concession was a step back from his confident response six weeks earlier when he told Nature he was satisfied with Sweden’s handling of the disease. Even then, he acknowledged the toll coronavirus had made on residents of nursing homes, which account for half of the deaths.

With a population of only 10.5 million, Sweden has had 4,500 deaths from coronavirus. By contrast, its immediate neighbors Finland and Norway, each with populations of about 5 million, have seen 322 and 238 deaths from the virus, respectively. The vast majority of deaths in Sweden have been among residents over 70 years of age.

Tegnell has denied that achieving herd immunity was ever a goal of Sweden’s coronavirus strategy, noting that the aim was to flatten the curve to prevent the health system from becoming overwhelmed. Yet he brought up herd immunity several times in April, including in the Nature interview. That month Sweden’s ambassador to the US also touted Stockholm’s march toward general immunity as a sign of a successful coronavirus approach.

In fact, experts say Sweden has achieved nothing close to herd immunity, and unlike elsewhere in Europe, its rate of infection curve is merely getting steeper. As a result, the countries closest to Sweden will maintain restrictions on travelers from Sweden, even as they ease up travel amongst themselves.

While it’s unclear whether support for Sweden’s more lax approach is beginning to erode within the country, voices of dissent are getting louder. In a local radio interview, Tegnell’s predecessor, former chief epidemiologist Annike Linde, critiqued the initial management of coronavirus as if it were the flu.

“It has been found that the coronavirus does not behave like the flu at all. It spreads more slowly and has a longer incubation time. This makes it more difficult to detect and to gain immunity in the population,” said Linde.

She also suggested the country had not done right by its oldest citizens, noting its lack of preparation. “There was no strategy at all for the elderly.”

In fact, some observers have noted that a failure to send elderly patients in nursing homes to hospitals is part of the reason for the staggering death rate among those patients. A BBC story featured nurses who said they were instructed not to send ailing seniors to the hospital.

In this week’s radio interview, Tegnell defended the decision not to impose a total lockdown, saying that in so doing countries could not determine which measures would be effective. He did say, though, that by “taking actions one by one” Sweden might have learned what measures could best slow the infection without imposing a total lockdown.

Yet Tegnell did not elaborate on what those actions could be, nor offer any indication of new or modified steps that could be expected in Sweden in the days and weeks to come.

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Los Angeles make cuts to police

Amid calls from protesters and organizations for lawmakers to defund the police, Los Angeles has been the first to announce a significant budget cut for its law enforcement.

Before George Floyd’s death, the Los Angeles police department was set to receive an increase in its annual budget from $1.189 billion to $1.86 billion, mostly in the form of bonuses. On Wednesday, after activists protested outside his home, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti nixed these increases, and cut $100-$150 million from the budget.

Many protests around the country are calling for other cities to do the same, arguing that police funds could be more usefully redirected to areas like education and healthcare. In an open letter, Black Lives Matter and 100 other black rights organizations called on citizens to sign a petition to decrease the funding of police departments.

“Policing and militarization overwhelmingly dominate the bulk of national and local budgets,” the letter reads. “In fact, police and military funding has increased every single year since 1973, and at the same time, funding for public health decreased every year.”

Decades of disinvestment and racially disparate policies have disproportionately hurt our African-American community in SF.

Supervisor @ShamannWalton and I will lead the effort to redirect funding from the @SFPD to support the African-American community in the upcoming budget.

— London Breed (@LondonBreed) June 5, 2020

Forbes reported that in New York, over 40 city council candidates are calling for a $1 billion cut to the NYPD’s $6 million budget over four years, while according to SF Gate, San Francisco Mayor London Breed has promised to redirect police funds to support the black community. Exact details of the San Francisco cuts haven’t been finalized or announced yet.

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Positive environmental news, June

This is The Climate Win, the most positive sustainability news around the world every week.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, patronizing local businesses in whatever ways deemed appropriate is inarguably the right thing to do. But efforts to increase sterility and sanitation during the pandemic have led to massive increases in single-use plastics — the vast majority of which cannot be or are not recycled. While use of expanded polystyrene (EPS), commonly called styrofoam (though that term is actually trademarked and is the formal name of a type of thermal insulation), had been declining for more than a decade, its use shot back up during the pandemic and resulting lockdowns.

This week’s Climate Win offers ideas for repurposing and properly disposing of all those takeout containers. Before jumping in, we prelude with the disclaimer that this advice is in no way meant to encourage or expand the use of EPS containers. Repurposing and even recycling them keeps them out of the landfill longer, but not permanently. Any way you look at it, EPS is terrible for the environment and in almost all normal circumstances can be easily avoided. (Even Dunkin’ Donuts recently stopped using its signature styrofoam coffee cups.) Before venturing out into whatever the new normal evolves to be, get yourself a to-go food container and a thermos.

Now, onto the meat and potatoes.

Styrofoam cups can be reused around the house. Should you lack a Bluetooth speaker, you could cut a couple slots out of opposing sides of the cup, stick your phone into them, and use the cup as a sound amplifier. A far more common use, and one that won’t invite ridicule from friends, family, and roommates, is to use the cup as a seed starter. Fill it with dirt and drop a few veggie or flower seeds in. Since styrofoam holds liquid, you won’t have to worry about water leakage. They can also be used as art canvases and then put on top of a small bulb as a lantern shade, giving you a piece of decor that even the most passionate of home designers won’t be able to replicate.

A quick Pinterest search returns hundreds of results for art projects that can be done with styrofoam food containers. Common uses include palettes for painting. Styrofoam coolers can easily be turned into compost bins and worm farms, as this video shows, and food containers could serve as a smaller prelude for collecting food scraps.

Is it possible to recycle styrofoam?

The answer is…it’s complicated. Some cities, though not many, do accept EPS for recycling. General EPS products are labeled with the number “6,” signifying its plastic number. Check your jurisdiction’s recycling policies and if plastic number 6 is accepted, you’re in luck. If you’re able to recycle EPS containers or cups, always wash them off thoroughly as food-stained recyclables are generally discarded. Also, be mindful of the color; some recycling facilities may only accept white EPS. The same goes for non-EPS takeout containers. Check the plastic number, rinse them out, and recycle appropriately as per your recycler’s guidelines.

More common than municipalities which accept EPS recycling are EPS drop-off facilities. These are often hosted by businesses, organizations, and sometimes even individuals who specialize in hard-to-recycle plastics and other products. The EPS Industry Alliance maintains a map of such locations on its website. If you live in a major city, there’s likely a location nearby. For those in smaller towns and rural areas, consider bringing your EPS with you the next time you visit an urban area, if that’s doable for you.

Climate wins of the week:

Powering large fleets of electric trucks and other commercial and government vehicles is now cheaper than powering gas-powered vehicles in most major US cities, according to a report in Utility Dive . The study found that while it’s likely only 10 percent of large fleet vehicles will be electric by 2025, that number jumps to 30 percent by 2030. Emissions from larger vehicles are much higher than those from personal cars, trucks, and vans, which currently account for around two percent of private electric-vehicle sales — but that number is also rising, as sales of personal EVs increased by 63 percent to more than two million in 2018 over 2017 numbers.
ScienceDaily reported that scientists have developed a form of plastic that actually biodegrades, and could be part of the solution to cleaner waterways around the world. Lead researcher Bryce Lipinski said, “If it eventually gets lost in the aquatic environment, this material can degrade on a realistic time scale. This material could reduce persistent plastic accumulation in the environment.”
With global protests over police discrimination and racial equality, it’s been a tough week in the news. We’ll leave you with a dose of bioluminescence-fueled inspiration. Keep fighting the good fight, because your voice matters and as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. told us, “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”

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Berlin theater reopening

The COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping our entertainment and cultural events in a number of ways. We’ve seen festivals and exhibitions resurrecting the drive-in to ensure social distancing and now, an iconic venue in Berlin, Germany, is giving us a glimpse of what theaters may look like once they reopen.

Photo: Moritz Haase/Berliner Ensemble

The Berliner Ensemble theater group that performs at the 19th-century Theater am Schiffbauerdamm has removed 70 percent of its seating in the last 10 days in an effort to uphold Germany’s social distancing guidelines. Looking more like an art installation than a venue, the theater has cleared out every other row while additionally spacing chairs out at least six feet apart from one another.

Tickets are switching over to contactless to limit any possible spread of the virus. Attendees will be asked to wear a mask until they reach their seats, and there will be an usher ensuring proper distancing inside the auditorium. Guests will be allowed to come in a group of six at a time to avoid any crowding.

Photo: Moritz Haase/Berliner Ensemble

There is no word yet on whether or not ticket prices will go up, how long the admission process will take, and if there will be an open bar at intermission, but there’s no doubt that thespians are dying to get back on stage and we’re more than ready to be entertained again.

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