Cover Story: As we focus on the lives of refugees, here’s the ‘Song of a Retired Immigration Lawyer’

Is your heart still moved by e pluribus unum?

COVER STORY—For nearly two decades, our online magazine has published stories, reviews and columns about religious and cultural diversity, focusing on values we share around the world. We do that because we believe peace is possible by recognizing that—out of many, we may be one.

Do you remember: e pluribus unum? Does it still move your heart?

So, this week, we are proud to present this new “song”—a reflection on e pluribus unum—by retired immigration lawyer Alan Pampanin. Please, consider sharing Alan’s column with friends via social media. (Even the illustration with this column is offered for readers to freely share.)

,

And speaking of inspiring songs …

We’ve simply got to sing along with master songwriter Allen Toussaint this month!

MSU BIAS BUSTERS FOUNDER JOE GRIMM writes our Front Edge Publishing column this month, which continues the musical metaphors reflecting on this “e pluribus unum” theme—because Joe is celebrating the astonishingly creative career of all-American composer Allen Toussaint.

..

Holidays & Festivals

Are you already thinking ahead to Ramadan?

NEXT WEEK, at sunset on February 28, nearly 2 billion Muslims around the world will begin the annual fasting month of Ramadan. Do you have family, friends, neighbors or co-workers who are Muslim? Are you thinking ahead to this month when they will be abstaining from food and drink throughout the day? Holidays & Festivals columnist Stephanie Fenton has this important and timely overview of Ramadan that you can share with others.

Did you know this is a global season of fasting?

CHRISTIAN FASTING—BY EARLY MARCH, the world’s Christians—East and West—will all be part of the Lenten period that leads toward Easter. That’s traditionally a period that calls for fasting, which is why millions of Americans think of “giving something up for Lent.” However, for Eastern Christians, a much stricter form of fasting still is common. And, this year, because of the movement of various religious calendars—multiple faiths are converging on this practice of giving up food and drink to deepen spiritual reflections. If you care to learn more about the Eastern Christian preparations for fasting, Stephanie Fenton has this story about the “Meatfare” and “Cheesefare” Sundays that help Eastern Christian communities prepare for the stricter fasting that is to come.

BAHA’I FASTING—THEN, AS STEPHANIE reports in this column, Baha’is around the world will begin their fast on February 28.

Maha Shivaratri

AND, HINDUS around the world also have a traditional fast this month—and they may also keep prayerful vigils on the “Great Night of Lord Shiva.”

..

WANT TO SEE ALL OF THE UPCOMING HOLIDAYS & FESTIVALS? It’s easy to find our annual calendar of global observances. Just remember the web address: InterfaithHolidays.com

.

Faith & Film

Honoring Black History Month

Our online magazine has specialized for many years in covering news about religious and cultural diversity as reflected in new books, holidays & festivals and films. In 2024, our long-time film critic Edward McNulty died. In 2025, we will continue to publish important reviews—sometimes by drawing on Ed’s considerable body of work and sometimes by welcoming other writers.

Recalling Spike Lee’s Prophetic Films

TO HONOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2020, Ed McNulty wrote a short column recommending that readers go back and see three especially prophetic Spike Lee films—all of which, in Ed’s view, were under-appreciated by both the public and other film professionals at the time. One of the three movies was Do the Right Thing. Read Ed’s short column to discover the other Lee films that Ed hoped his readers would watch again.

.

Last week, we highlighted 4 by Ryan Coogler

RYAN COOGLER was born in Oakland California in 1986 and was beginning his career in 2009, when Oscar Grant III was shot by a police officer on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system. That incident was the subject of Coogler’s first film, titled “Fruitvale Station.” Here are four films by Ryan Coogler that Ed recommended to our readers:

FRUITVALE STATION—Ed strongly recommended this film back in 2013, when Coogler’s film debuted—but Ed’s advise is just as timely today.

CREED—Even though Ed publicly was an opponent of boxing as a sport, he nevertheless praised this film released by Coogler two years after Fruitvale Station.

BLACK PANTHER—Coogler’s work with Marvel super hero was simply “spectacular,” Ed concluded.

JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH—By 2021, Coogler returned to the genre of historical fiction with a far more complex story—the rise and eventual killing of Black activist Fred Hampton. Ed gave this film 5 stars and described it as both nuanced and passionate.

 

.

.

.

.

.

.

.