Hits and Misses
HIT: James Lawson was born in 1928, the same year as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and was an important ally of King’s in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Unlike King, who was cut down when he was just 39, Lawson was able to live a long life and see the changes that have come to American life over the last six decades. The Uniontown native died last weekend, three months shy of his 96th birthday, and just two weeks before a bronze sculpture honoring his legacy is set to be unveiled at the Eberly Campus of Penn State Fayette. Lawson’s eventful life had him working alongside King and leading nonviolent protests in the Jim Crow South. He learned the principles of nonviolence while working as a Christian missionary in India and soaking up the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. For those not so inclined to turn the other cheek, Lawson said, “It’s only when hostility comes to the surface that people see the character of our nation.” In 2022, Lawson offered this insight to the Herald-Standard: “We have not yet begun to understand the extraordinary gift of life. Each of us is endowed with a life signature. If we could tap into these powers of life and love, we could be astonished by what we could create.”
HIT: While some politicians would have you believe that America has become a Wild West of wanton mayhem, it most assuredly is not. Though there was a spike in crime during the depths of the pandemic, it has been easing as COVID-19 has ebbed, and the latest statistics on violent crime show a precipitous drop in the first quarter of 2024. According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, murders fell by 26% compared to the first quarter of 2023, and reported rapes decreased by 25%, robberies were down by 18% and aggravated assaults fell by 13%. Violent crime decreased considerably in several cities, with Philadelphia seeing a 41% dip compared to the same time in 2023. Jeff Asher, a criminologist, told NBC News, “This should be good news for everybody. But it’s also early June and the trend of the nation’s crime rate is always uncertain.” Why has crime fallen so much? Experts aren’t 100% sure, but it’s a welcome development whatever the reason.
MISS: On July 4, while Americans are munching hot dogs and watching fireworks, voters in Britain will be heading to the polls for an election that will likely result in a pounding defeat for the Conservative Party, which has been in power for 14 years. Some polls have the opposition Labour Party leading by more than 20 points, and many observers believe that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the election before the January deadline not because he believes the Conservatives will win, but that his party might be able to stem its losses. Some have even snidely suggested that Sunak might just want to get the election over with and enjoy the rest of the summer. In the lead up to the vote, the Conservatives have lately been using an odd and desperate line of attack against Labour leader Keir Starmer – they have hinted that he is too old to be prime minister. Is he an octogenarian like Joe Biden? Or a septuagenarian like Donald Trump? Nope, Starmer is a mere stripling of 61. He was born just a month before the first Beatles single was released in the UK, and was still a teenager when MTV debuted. Anyone who is in their 60s, or getting close to it, probably feels more than a bit insulted by the criticism.