To laugh or to cry?

I had a student this morning who came to class with no paper or writing implement. He wrote his answer to our in-class activity on his cell phone, then sent it to me as an email.

Che's birthday

Today, June 14, is the birthday of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, a complicated historical figure if ever there was one.  Back in 2009 I wrote a brief note about the irony that emerged from his execution in Bolivia.  Follow this link to a longer essay on Che in historical perspective: the good, the bad, and the ugly.  The author, David Glenn Cox, is not an apologist for Che's revolutionary violence, but he does show that although Che, as a revolutionary, was violent at times, his violence was more than matched by the violence committed by George Washington, our own revolutionary exemplar.  And by the bankers who have treated us so savagely in more recent times:

You see, I am not trying to justify Che’s violence as much as to explain it and to understand it. Ten million homes foreclosed equal more than forty million men, women and children ejected from their homes. They live their lives under threats and under pressure, searching for a decent job when there are none. This is no accident, this is violence done in the name of profit. This is revolution by the pen and the freedom to be manipulated and ordered out for the benefit of others. Forty million people is the largest peace time human disenfranchisement in human history. The bankers who profited from this crime have not been punished but have been rewarded and are receiving their annual bonuses again.

Blog: Carriacou 1968

Bill Cameron was a VSO (British version of Peace Corps) teacher on Carriacou just before I arrived.  He was there for the 1967-68 school year.  He has a blog with some of his very nice photos from then, as well as commentary, all worth checking out if you have an interest in that part of  the West Indies.