INEQUALITY – REVIEWS AND VIEWS OF LIFE

BLACK SHIELD

“The Black Shield” is a disjointed story that inexpertly reveals the truth of organizational discrimination in American society. Inequality based on sex and race is a fact of American life and most, if not all, nations of the world. Cooper’s story is not revelatory but a sad truth about human nature.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Black Shield (An American Memoir of Family and Power)

Author: Wilbert L. Cooper

Narration by: Wilbert L. Cooper

Wilbert L. Cooper (Author, graduate of Ohio University and New York University with a master’s degree in publishing.)

As a writer for national publications like The Guardian, The New York Times, and the Wall street Journal, Wilbur L. Cooper investigates a “2020 police killing” in his former hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. He profiles the president (Vincent Montague) of a Black police organization called Black Shield. Surprisingly, the leader of the Black police organization shoots a young unarmed Black man he thought would run him over. He is not charged. The shooting is ruled as justified and Montague is suspended for one-day for using poor tactics and unreasonable force. What Cooper reveals in “The Black Shield” is partly about Black discrimination despite recruitment that is presumably meant to reduce police force discrimination in Cleveland.

Police training is no joke despite it being often-represented humorously.

Cooper argues the long-standing pattern of hiring and promotion in Cleveland’s police force reinforces Black discrimination in its training and recruitment of both white and Black officers. To be promoted in the department, whether one is Black or white, is influenced by an officer’s reputation as a believer in stereotypes of people based on the color of their skin more than their character. Cooper argues it is a socio/political and acculturation feature of Cleveland’s police recruitment that undoubtedly exists in all human organizations.

Cleveland’s population is approximately 50% Black, but the police force is nearly 75% white.

Cooper notes the department fails to hire minorities based on changing demographics in Cleveland. Cleveland’s population is approximately 50% Black, but the police force is nearly 75% white. His Black father is a Sergeant in the police force who is ironically in the department of “Office of Professional Standards”. (Cooper notes his mother also sought employment in the police department but is rejected. In fairness, that could be based on something other than discrimination.)

Cooper’s point is that experience of living as a white person in America fails to understand or fairly address the socio/economic realities of being Black in America. He believes Black discrimination is embedded in the recruitment and advancement opportunities of the Cleveland police department. Cooper notes that early Black applicants to the Cleveland police had to sue to be hired or promoted in the Department. He suggests his mother’s rejection from being hired is because of her sex and color. He argues his father’s career advancement is inhibited by the management structure of the department. The story of Sergeant Victor Montague is more complicated because of his deadly force use in the death of a Black citizen.

Sergeant Victor Montague (fired by the Cleveland Division of Police in 2021 for ethical violations.)

Cooper tells the story of Victor Montague, a charismatic and outspoken Black leader in the department. He became the public face of “Black Shield” and spoke openly about racism in the department. He pushes for accountability and reform but comes up against entrenched power in the police department. Montague became a target of internal hostility and is closely supervised by his immediate superiors. His confrontational attitude and unwillingness to play politics offended the Department hierarchy. Montague set himself up for a second policy violation by putting himself in a position with a private company that offered to donate to Black Shield in return for security service for a bar owner’s business. This would have been a violation of department policy. It also appears as a potential avenue for bribery of Montague. Similar arrangements had been considered by white officers without noted consequences according to Cooper. This episode undermines leadership in “The Black Shield” organization.

A measure of race and ethnic inequality.

HUMAN FLAW

“Gilead” is a difficult story to listen to or read because one begins with attachment to its main character but ends with recognition that we are all human which by definition makes us flawed.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Gilead (A Novel)

Author: Marilynne Robinson

Narration by: Jim Jerome

Marilynne Robinson (Author, born in 1943, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2005. Time magazine lists her among 100 of the most influential people in America.)

As one grows older, Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead reflects on what it is like to be nearer the end than the beginning of life. Some thought is obviously given to Robinson’s title for her book. Considering the fame of Robinson’s writing, one might look up the word Gilead and find it has a biblical meaning as a place of healing and a place of iniquity. Robinson’s point seems that we live in a world of profound moral wrongdoing that is always in the process of healing. One looks back on life and presumes they know Robinson’s reason for writing “Gilead” as a picture of one who tries to be a healer of humanity for our imperfect, sin-burdened lives.

Being a preacher who is also a father, husband, and fellow human being.

“Gilead” is a story of an older husband and father who is heir to generations of preachers in a small mid-western town. The author’s subject is a preacher who is nearing the end of his life. It is about a preacher who lives among people who live in a town populated with educated atheists and deeply serious believers in God and heaven. Putting aside its argument about the value of belief in existence beyond death, it is an entertaining story of a preacher in his 70s. Whether one believes in God or not, Robinson’s story of old age is a reminder of our imperfect lives.

In a marriage, one wonders how any husband and wife might respond in a crisis. Who would take command and who would follow in a crisis?

The preacher falls in love twice in his life. His first wife dies in childbirth. The preacher marries a second time, and his new wife bares a son. He loves his life and hopes to raise a son who he hopes will carry on the tradition of a preachers’ life. However, his son seems disinterested in becoming a preacher. The pains of an older life are detailed and show how even a believer in God and good will toward others does not protect one from the faults of human judgement and society.

There are heroes and villains in America’s Civil War.

At this point in the story, one sees the preacher as a good man with a family history that shows his grandfather served in the civil war as a union soldier that fought for the freedom of enslaved Americans. In returning to civilian life, he is guardedly received by his adult son (also a preacher) for his role in the war. One actively served in the Union army while his son polished his credentials as a town preacher. This town preacher appears to disagree with his Preacher father’s decision to fight for racial justice; presumably because of reservations about killing fellow Americans for the cause of racial justice. A tension between the son and the returning father is evident in the way the town preacher buries his father’s gun and disposes of his father’s presumed clothing from the Union army. The town preacher shows a level of judgementalism that hints at unspoken prejudice and an emotional reserve that hides a human flaw; i.e. namely, disbelief in the equality of all human beings.

The remainder of “Gilead” addresses the town preacher’s son who becomes a preacher and is the main character of the book.

The catalyst of the story is a returning son of the preacher’s closest friend of 40 years who is also a preacher in this small Iowa town. The prodigal son is viewed as a “good for nothing” highly intelligent young man who broke many rules in his life in Gilead. He left town in disgrace for having impregnated a local girl without marrying her. In his life away from Iowa, he has a son from an interracial relationship that is revealed to the primary preacher of the author’s story. The prodigal son asks the preacher for his blessing. At first the preacher seems reluctant but eventually offers God’s blessing to the now 40 something man who is leaving town. His initial reservation of offering a blessing shows the limits of the preacher’s character. In the end, the preacher shows the boundlessness of his belief in God and heaven with his compassion for what he seems to view as a lost “boy-man”.

“Gilead” is a difficult story to listen to or read because one begins with attachment to its main character but ends with recognition that we are all human which by definition makes us flawed.

WARNING

“The Fire Next Time” signals a political and prophetic warning to America. The continued existence of Baldwin’s observations about racial inequality are compounded by the rising gap between rich and poor and gender inequality in the 21st century.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Fire Next Time

Author: James Baldwin

Narration by: Lawrence Fishburne

JAMES BALDWIN (1924-1987 AMERICAN NOVELIST, SOCIAL CRITIC)

“The Fire Next Time” is written when James Baldwin is only 38 years old. He lives for 25 more years before his death in 1987. His book about life as a Black American is an emotional journey into the struggle of Black Americans that exposes the venality of white suppression and inequality in American history. The intensity of his writing is a brutal exposure of the consequence of discrimination that overwhelms a reader or listener. In many ways, his book is professorial but his view of life as a minority in white America is appalling.

“Learning from the Germans” tells of how post WWII Germany dealt with the history of the holocaust more forthrightly than America has dealt with racism and its evil.

Baldwin exposes the hypocrisy of American democracy, the moral bankruptcy of racial hierarchy, and the failure of American institutions to live up to the values expressed in the American Constitution. The founders argue “all men are created equal” while history shows human equality has never been achieved in America. Baldwin clearly explains America’s failures but is decidedly vague on how those failures can be corrected. He clearly disagrees with the Nation of Islam’s belief in Black self-determination through separation of the races but is ambiguous about organized movements to correct discrimination.

Racist rally in America.

Baldwin explains how white liberals are too complacent, conservatives too cruel, Black separatists to fatalistic, and American institutions too dishonest to forthrightly deal with human inequality. His foundational belief is that a fight for civil rights, and continued arguments for equality are essential requirements for America to achieve the goals that are stated and implied by the Constitution.

“The Fire Next Time” signals a warning to America.

“The Fire Next Time” signals a political and prophetic warning. The continued existence of Baldwin’s observations about racial inequality are compounded by the rising gap between rich and poor and gender inequality in the 21st century. If America refuses to confront inequality, there will be a national reckoning that will be violent and unavoidable.

THE MIDDLE WAY

As every American, particularly white people of conscience know, ethnic minorities are faced with hardship, violence, and social discrimination until ruling majorities realize that all human beings are entitled to equality of opportunity in the society in which they live.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Voice for the Voiceless (Over Seven Decades of Struggle with China for My Land and My People.)

Author: Dalai Lama

Narration by: Edoardo Ballerini

Dalai Lama (Author, born in 1935 is presently 91 years old. He is the spirtual head of Tibetan Buddhism.)

“Voice for the Voiceless” is the wish of every minority in the world. State supremacy over the individual in communism sharply contrasts with democracy in degrees of un-freedom revealed by what a citizen can be and do. Competition and descent, suppression of minority voices, control of information, collective identity, and human rights are insisted upon by communist leadership according to “Voice of the Voiceless” by the Dalai Lama.

American government checks and balances.

In a democratic government, there are multiple societally expressed interests like legal protection for dissent, creation of non-government organizations, guarantee of free speech, and institutional checks and balance on the power of its leaders. It is not that America or any democracy is perfect in its makeup but in the China that the Dalai Lama describes, communism is designed to prevent any form of opposition to its leadership. In the Dalai Lama’s view, no compassion exists in China’s government.

The infamous and unidentified “tank man” who stood in the way of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

The most prominent historical evidence of a lack of government compassion is shown by the Tiananmen Square massacre during the Deng administration. The Dalai Lama’s opinion is reinforced by a Chinese guide who closes the doors of a private meeting room in which several Americans are informed of China’s reaction to the Tiananmen massacre. Chinese students and citizens who demonstrated at Tiananmen Square were asking for communist party reform, a reasonable level of leadership accountability, and elimination of corrupt Chinese government leaders.

In today’s China, President Xi consistently supports authoritarian rulers’ right to rule without interference from outside interests.

The Dalai Lama writes “Voice for the Voiceless” to challenge China’s political system which denies rule of Tibet by the Dalai Lama as its head of state. His demand reminds one of histories of displacement of native tribal leaders in America in the 17th and 18th centuries. Recognizing the fates of proud native leaders in America, the Dalai Lama (who has been exiled to India since the 1950s) is asking the communist government to allow him to be the leader of his “tribe” in Tibet. In America, more than two hundred years passed before genuine recognition and opportunity were seriously offered America’s natives. It has taken nearly 200 years for America to offer equal opportunity for tribal natives to pursue their interests as recognized ethnic minorities. What the Dali Lama wishes for Tibetan people in China is in many ways the experience of minorities in a democracy, let alone a communist autocracy.

Mary Annette Pember offers a firsthand, intergenerational perspective of America’s effort to assimilate native inhabitants of America.

Natives of America grew together as common ancestors that could choose life in a system of government that came to understand the importance of tribal self-determination. Natives of America had land rights, and a concept of cultural difference; accompanied by jurisdictional authority to pursue economic development as a distinct ethnic minority. The Dalai Lama clearly shows Tibetan people have a similar ethnic origin and desire for freedom and self-determination. Only time and ethnic solidarity offer hope for them to realize their goals.

Barbara Demick gives listeners a picture of Tibet with a darkness that rivals the narrative she creates for North Korea in “Nothing to Envy”.

Communist China is not America. However, the Dalai Lama appears to want a level of independence to protect a Tibetan way of life for Buddhists to preserve their cultural identity and language without violent resistance by the Chinese system of government. This is a reminder of native American’s struggle in democratic America. The Dalai Lama seems only to wish for human and religious freedom, not nation-state hegemonic control. He notes Tibetans have no institutional power, no representation in the Chinese government, and no legal way to challenge state’ government policies.

Mao Zedong (1893-1976) Father of the Peoples Republic of China)

The Dali Lama’s book surprisingly notes the initial relationship with Chinese communism that proposed a “Seventeen-Point Agreement” which offered a framework for Tibet to have the recognition requested by the Tibetan culture. However, the tenor of the “…Agreement” is violated with Tibet being occupied by Mao’s government. Mao orders his administration to keep the Dalai Lama from fleeing and pressured Tibetan leaders to negotiate subservience to the Chinese Communist Party. Mao’s goal is to unify Tibet with China, not provide Tibetan autonomy within the structure of Chinese suzerainty. There was to be no self-determination of Tibetans, no interest in preserving Tibetan institutions, no role for the Dalai Lama, and no Tibetan’ autonomy. Mao demanded integration, not reconciliation.

The book “Being Peace” is a layman’s introduction to Buddhist belief.

As the Dalai Lama grew to understand what Mao and future leaders of the CCP really wanted, he chose to leave Tibet in the late 1950s. He exiled himself to India, the origin of Buddhism’s creation. Buddhism teaches liberation from suffering through compassion, wisdom, and meditation. These were not a part of the Communist ideals of Mao or his successors. The core belief of communism is that truth comes from the party whereas Buddhist believe truth is from inner realization. Every Buddhist is a sentient being that has compassion for individual suffering while a CCP member subordinates their feelings to the needs of the state and national unity. All religions are a potential threat to state control which is the basis and practice of communism and, to a lesser extent, all forms of government.

The Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet is the historic residence of the Dalai Lamas.

The Dalai Lama represents a threat to communism because he is a global moral figure, a symbol of Tibetan identity, and a spiritual authority independent of the state. Buddhist belief in inner freedom, compassion, and spiritual autonomy directly conflict with the ideals of communism because of its belief in the collective rather than the individual. An interesting irony in that communism is a form of government that endorses a collective concept. Of course, a communist collective is external to one’s inner self while Buddhism believes a collective is formed through an inner understanding of the self. China insists on centralized government authority, conformity to its edicts, and personal identification with the state’s government. One’s heart goes out to the Tibetan people and the discrimination they are suffering. Only time offers hope for their future.

POWER

As Oscar Wilde’s dialogue between two people said in “The Picture of Dorian Gray”–“Young people, nowadays, imagine that money is everything.” The response is “Yes, and when they grow older they know it.” That was written in 1891. Baker infers not much has changed in the 21st century.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

How to Rule the World (An Education in Power at Stanford University.)

Author: Theo Baker

Narration by: Theo Baker

Theo Baker (Author, former student journalist for “The Stanford Daily”.)

Theo Baker wrote for “The Stanford Daily” newspaper at Stanford University and received the George Polk Award for his reporting. His writing contributed to the resignation of the Stanford University President, Marc Tessier-Lavigne. Theo Baker, as the son of two journalist (Peter Baker and Susan Glasser) appears to have learned something about research and newspaper reporting from his parents. Theo Baker enrolled at Stanford at the age of 17 in 2022 and graduated in 2026 with a degree in history. To have joined Stanford at 17 years of age says something about his intellect, and pre-college academic achievement.

The value of education.

Personally, as a graduate of no-name universities in America, the picture Baker creates of Stanford makes one envious of the opportunities offered by a highly regarded University. On the one hand, most young students interested in college cannot afford the tuitions of Ivy-plus schools and many may not have either the education, or privileges of wealth that good preparatory schools provide. The added benefit of being a Stanford student is its being located in Silicon Valley, the best area of the country for those who pursue programming skills. Though Baker is more tech savvy about programming than past generations, his chosen field of study is history.

Influence.

What Baker interestingly points out is that classroom learning is less important than networking and raising entrepreneurial capital at Stanford. What is a little off-putting in Baker’s story is it implies Stanford’s culture of entrepreneurship is more important than scholarship. The focus of students seems not on education but in the goal of becoming gob-smacking rich. Having recently read a book about the Founding Father’s of America, one wonders what would have become of America if the Founders had focused more on personal wealth than the future of the country. This is, of course, sour grapes of a book-reviewer because the reality is Ivy-plus Universities have trained many students who have become great contributors to American government and America’s way of life, without becoming gazillionaires.

Technology research.

Baker refers to student’ millionaires while at Stanford because of their inordinate wealth and early success in tech-fund raising and creative computer programing. He implies the student culture of Stanford measures achievement on entrepreneurial networking more than academic achievement. A startup founder who raises the most money is elevated above high academic achievement in Stanford’s student culture. Getting good academic grades is important but it takes a back seat to a student’s ability to raise start-up capital, sell their programming, and/or create stock market start-ups. Those who are good at raising capital become among the institutionally privileged at Stanford. Academic success is primarily important as it relates to an entrepreneurial end rather than an educational achievement. Baker is not saying Stanford academic success is not real, but it is overshadowed by social networking, entrepreneurship, and financial reward. It reminds one of a book about the history of Reddit’s early recruits and a skilled programmer who commits suicide. Aaron Schwatz went to Stanford in 2004. Ironically, he like Baker is only 17. However, he left after a year. He joined Reddit and became a millionaire, but his wealth seems to have meant little to him in regard to what he believed or what he hoped to achieve in life.

American universities.

In any case, the Stanford President resignation is only a part of Theo Baker’s book. Ivy-League and Ivy-plus schools in America are inferred to be networks of inherited privilege and social connection with Stanford student’s primary goal of becoming filthy rich more than broadly educated. Though no mention is made of Aaron Schwartz’s death, wealth seems a weakness rather than goal for either students or faculty at Stanford.

For a person to say they graduated from Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, or the University of Chicago is highly regarded by the public. When an Ivy-plus University like Stanford makes networking and making money more important than public service or academic achievement, one becomes somewhat disillusioned.

Silicon Valley,

Stanford definitely has advantage over other Ivy League and Ivy-plus schools because of Silicon Valley. One suspects the power of networking is generally much greater in Ivy League universities because of the average wealth of families who live in well-funded school districts, can pay expensive tuitions, and have either funded or been educated themselves in Ivy League or Ivy-plus universities. Becoming wealthy is a genuine achievement in life but real value should (but does not) come from equal opportunity. Without equal opportunity, society becomes less civil and inclined to believe human value is based on wealth, not character. The power of wealth creates a land of the “haves” and “have nots”.

Marc Trevor Tessier-Lavigne (Canadian-American neuroscientist. President of Stanford 2016-2023.)

Baker’s reporting is central to Tessier-Lavigne’s resignation from Stanford. Discovered irregularities of Tessier-Lavigne’s research on an Alzheimer’s cure reported by Baker in the Stanford paper led the Stanford Board of Trustees to launch an investigation into their President. The Board concluded Tessier-Lavigne’s research papers were flawed by manipulated data that induced Genetech to recruit him in 2003 when he was then President of Rockefeller University and later Stanford. In the end, the President of Stanford is not found guilty of any crime because the research manipulations were considered oversight failures that were retracted before any harm to the public. After his resignation, Tessier-Lavigne went on to become co-founder and chair of Xaira Therapeutics, an AI-biotech company.

Past and present generations.

Putting aside Baker’s good fortune in entering Stanford and working for the Stanford paper, he reveals the motivation of many young Americans today. The fate of Stanford’s President, Tessier-Lavigne, introduces a part of the theme of Baker’s book. Tessier-Lavigne is compelled to resign, in part, because of research and writing by this 17-year-old student in Stanford’s local paper. It is a story of the power of truth and the deleterious effects of seeing position or wealth as a measure of one’s value in society. Whether President of the United States, a newspaper journalist, or President of an Ivy-plus university, real power is ultimately in the truth.

REAPING WHAT WE SOW

The point Butler brutally makes is that every human being should have the hope and opportunity to adapt to their circumstances of life as long as they do no harm to others.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Parable of the Sower

Author: Octavia E. Butler

Narration by: Lynne Thigpen

Octavia E. Butler (Author, American speculative fiction writer. The first science fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship.)

“Parable of the Sower” is a dystopian novel about the future of civilization. One wonders if the author’s view of the future is influenced by personal experience of the many who are different from the majority of those in any nation-state. Ms. Butler writes about the future of society based on aspects of human nature experienced in today’s world. Her story is so relentlessly pessimistic it becomes difficult to complete. Butler writes of the consequences of fear, greed, distrust, empathy, and violence, with a sliver of hope for the future of society. Negative human traits lead to societal self-destruction. Positive human traits hold hope for improvement in human nature. The only hope Butler infers is in human beings’ ability to adapt to circumstances with recreation of empathy for others who choose human equality over ethnic, or racial inequality.

Adaptation based on age.

Adaptation based on Race.

Adaptation based on ethnicity.

The author’s story is about societal adaptability built on inequality reinforced by society and parental influence. Our ability to have empathy for others is key to creating social consciousness based on clarity, solidarity and refusal to dehumanize those who are different. Societal order comes from human empathy and understanding. Without empathy, social cohesion is lost when “I” becomes more important than “we”. Butler creates a future “dog eat dog” world based on parental influence, social belief, and the teaching and practice of human inequality.

Butler shows an evolution of cities into silos of cultural difference rather than communities of common interest.

Butler reduces human interest to protection from violence, shelter security, and the predictability of life. She implies belief for a nation with shared purpose and mutual protection but tells a story of society heading in the wrong direction. Loss of belief in something greater than oneself turns humans into tribes of interest rather than people with common interests and purpose. The desire for control “by the one” whether it is a father, mother, government agency, or political leader breeds rigid belief systems that create an “us” versus “them” world of conflicting interests. In a world of self-interest, Butler infers adaptation becomes more important than learning. Finding what is right or wrong assures human life’s equality. Too often, leaders pursue means to their own ends, rather than what is in the best interest of all.

The point Butler brutally makes is that every human being should have the hope and opportunity to adapt to their circumstances of life as long as they do no harm to others.

AN ACCOMPLISHED WOMAN

“A Woman in Arabia” is a compilation of Gertrude Bell’s writing and involvement in the Middle East in the early 20th century. Her experience and ability to influence the course of events in the Middle East is concrete evidence of the mistaken view of sexual inequality.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

A Woman in Arabia (Gertrude Bell–The Writings of the Queen of the Desert)

Author: Bret Baier

Edited by: George Howell

Narrated by: Sian Thomas & 2 More

Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell (British archaeologist, explorer, political officer, and writer.)

Gertrude Bell was educated at Queen’s College and received a first-class degree in modern history from Oxford in 1888 at the age if 19. She was the first woman to earn a first-class degree at Oxford. Women were not awarded graduation degrees at Oxford at that time, but her intellectual capability compelled the institution to recognize her accomplished study in modern history. (Oxford did not award general college degrees to women until 1920.)

Bell is born into a wealthy family that gave her advantage, but it is her work ethic, adventurousness, and intelligence that demonstrated more than her privileges.

What “A Woman in Arabia” reveals is Bell’s intelligence, erudition, desire for adventure, and research experience. She became a competent field archaeologist who learned Persian and Arabic while traveling through and living in the Middle East. She was a remarkable linguist who could speak a number of languages. Bell is born into a wealthy family that gave her advantage, but it is her work ethic and intelligence that demonstrated more than her privileges. She became recognized in the world as a person who helped shape the modern state of Iraq by supporting installation of King Faisal I as its ruler in 1921. She helped define Iraq’s borders after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

Mesopotamia became territories recognized as Syria, Palestine, Arabia, Israel, and Asia Minor.

Bell spent years mapping and exploring Mesopotamia after leaving England and living in the Middle East. She became intimately familiar with Mesopotamia, which became territories recognized as Syria, Palestine, Arabia, Israel, and Asia Minor. She participated in major archaeological digs and founded the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. Her numerous writings are compiled in “A Woman in Arabia”. A compilation of her writings explores her critical role in the creation of an independent Middle Eastern’ nation known as Iraq.

For anyone who doubts equality of the sexes, Bell represents the truth of a false belief perpetuated by the illusion of male superiority.

Bell shows herself as an accomplished human being, respected by governments, Kings, and the general public in the same way as the greatest men of her or our time. Bell is a woman of substance who reveals her love of two men (one an adulterous married veteran of WWI and another whom her father refuses to countenance because of his alleged unsavory character). Bell never marries. She grows to maturity to council governments and rulers about the value of Middle Eastern countries and their desire and capability to rule as independent nations. This is during a tumultuous time when the Ottoman empire is trying to take, by force of arms, as much Middle Eastern territory as they can.

Sir Percy Cox (The British High Commissioner for Mesopotamia.)

Bell counsels and significantly influences several powerful and well-known “great men” of her time. Great Britain is a major player in the Middle Eastern resistance to Ottoman control of the territories that became Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Kuwait, and Jordan. The High Commissioner for Mesopotamia (the name assigned before Middle Eastern nations’ formation) is Sir Percy Cox. Bell’s correspondence shows she is highly esteemed and trusted by Cox who had appointed her as his Oriental Secretary and adviser on tribal politics of what became the nation of Iraq.

Sir Arnold Wilson (Acting Civil Commissioner in Mesopotamia.)

Sir Arnold Wilson was the Acting Civil Commissioner in Mesopotamia before Sir Percy Cox is appointed The High Commission. Bell served under Wilson as his eyes and ears in Mesopotamia during World War 1. Her familiarity with leaders in the Middle East led to the choice of King Faisal I as the Hashemite monarch in 1921. Bell became a close friend and adviser to Faisal in the governance of Iraq which aided in peace between factions of Iraq’s Sunni, Shi’a and Kurdish peoples. Bell worked closely with T. E. Lawrence (the famed “Lawrence of Arabia”) in what became the Arab Bureau that dealt with Middle Eastern nationalism and statecraft.

Lawrence of Arabia.

DIVORCE

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Strangers (A Memoir of Marriage)

Author: Belle Burden

Narration by: Belle Burden

Belle Burden (Author, former attorney, urban planner, socilite, and descendant of the Vanderbilts.)

In some respects, “Strangers” is an unrelatable example of the trauma of divorce. In other ways, it is a testament to divorces’ hardship for women and societies’ inequality. The unrelatable parts are in the difference between divorce for those who are wealthy and those who are not. What is brilliantly revealed is the trauma of divorce and its disproportionate effect on wives and mothers.

Having been married for 20 years and facing divorce is a traumatic experience whether one is rich or poor.

However, women who are not rich face a different experience when their husbands leave a marriage. In most cases, the burden of coping with divorce is more impactful for children and a wife than a husband. Often, as in the case of Belle Burden, a mother faces having to return to a work environment that discriminates against women in ways that diminish their value in society. Women often retire from the workforce when they become pregnant because of the consuming responsibility of raising a child.

As a woman, regardless of wealth, job prospects are challenged by sexual discrimination.

It is worse for women who are poor and less educated than Ms. Burden. The point that Burden makes clear (regardless of her wealth and education) is women sacrifice much of their lives raising their children while husbands are freer to explore economic success. The wealth of Ms. Burden and her education exempt her from the trials of most women in the world. Burden clearly explains the emotional impact of divorce whether one is wealthy or not. Her wealth does little to reduce feelings of betrayal and failure.

Belle Burden exemplifies the emotional toll of divorce.

Twenty years of marriage creates a bond never completely broken. For husbands the reliance they have on a wife’s care of children makes it difficult to offer the care and understanding that children need from both parents. Husbands are often inadequately prepared for relationship building that a mother has with their children. The consequence is a father’s failure to understand how to help their children deal with their parent’s separation. Those who share raising their children are less likely to have that problem, but social convention leaves most American men in the dark about how to take parental responsibility.

Divorce rates in America may be in decline but the emotional impact on parents and their children is the same.

Burden clearly explains the emotional impact of divorce in America, but her wealth diminishes the scope and reality of divorce to the majority of women who have children and are left by their partners. That is not a criticism of Burden’s book but of sexual inequality that exists in most countries of the world.

IRAN’S FUTURE?

This is a powerful story that shows the strength and importance of women in Iran despite their harsh and unequal treatment.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Lion Women of Tehran

Author: Marjan Kamali

Narration by: Mozhan Navabi & 1 more

Marjan Kamali (Author, Iranian-American novelist, born in Turkey to Iranian parents, lived in Kenya and Iran before moving to the U.S. in 1982, received a BA in English literature from U. of California, an MBA from Columbia, and MFA from NY University.)

Marjan Kamali’s book is an informed fictional view of Iran in its transition from monarchy to Islamic Republic to an unknown future, i.e., a future made more complicated by America’s invasion. Its two main characters are Ellie and Homa, two pre-school children that grow to adulthood in Tehran. It is written by an author with Iranian parents that gives some credibility to her story about women in Iran during rule by a former Shah and today’s ayatollahs.

Kamali describes an upper-class Iranian family that experiences a fall from wealth and a return to the upper middle-class during the Shah’s reign. Ellie’s mother loses her husband to tuberculosis and has to leave their upper-class home because of his death. They move to a home in a lower-class neighborhood near the beginning of Ellie’s grade-school years. Ellie’s mother is crest-fallen by her move but appears to make the best of what she seems to believe is a temporary circumstance. In their fall from wealth, Ellie meets a precocious young girl of the same age. Her name is Homa.

The ideals of communism is a preferred alternative to royal leadership by some Iranians.

Homa becomes Ellie’s friend and gives one an idea of the difference between families in the 1950s that have no wealth who might challenge monarchy for a different form of government. Homa’s father believes in communism and is imprisoned by the shah for his activity.

MOHAMMAD REZA SHA PAHLAVI (The deposed shah of Iran in 1979.)

Ellie, because of her upper-class upbringing, is initially reluctant to engage Homa but is lured into her orbit by her exuberant personality and Homa’s family’s friendliness. They become close friends despite their different economic backgrounds. What one gathers from Kamali’s story is an historical view of the circumstances of Iran before the revolution. Homa believes communism is a better form of government than rule by a King and chooses to follow her father’s beliefs. Homa is eventually imprisoned. However, her sentence includes being raped by her imprisoner. A daughter is born from that rape when she is eventually released. Iran of the 1950s is a country of the rich and poor with growing discontent with a monarchal government that seems to care little about the circumstances of the poor. An attempted coup in 1953 illustrates the rising dissent of the Iranian people.

Ellie’s mother remarries and returns to an upper-class life and Ellie loses touch with Homa. In the 1960s, Ellie pursues higher education and re-connects with Homa at a school that Homa attends because of her intelligence, her earned income from part time work, and help from her family that supports her interest in becoming well-educated. The renewed friendship becomes a focus of great changes that eventually lead to the 1979 revolution.

Kamali cleverly tells a story of three generations of women from Tehran who survive the 1979 revolution and the repression of the Ayatollahs in Iran. Ellie and Homa are the principal characters of “The Lion Women of Iran” but two girl descendants of Homa are meant to show the strength and continuity of Iran’s people. Whether Kamali’s fictional characters are real or not, the author’s point is that many Iranians are determined to have a country that is ruled better than by either a Shah or Ayatollah.

This is a powerful story that shows the strength and importance of women in Iran despite their harsh and unequal treatment.

Gender Inequality

Raising children is the responsibility of all, i.e., both mothers and fathers, and the society in which they live. The future depends on our children.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Lessons in Chemistry (A Novel)

Author: Bonnie Garmus

Narration by: Miranda Raison & 2 more

Bonnie Garmus (American author and former copywriter.)

Bonnie Garmus’s main character represents the truth of gender inequality in society. The author’s main character, Elisabeth Zott, is an example of a woman who achieves success despite gender discrimination. As an idealized character, Zott represents a brilliant woman who is smarter, more self-motivated, and confident than any other character in “Lessons in Chemistry”. Zott is a self-educated woman who overcomes the ignorance of personal and social inequality. She is an aspiring scientist who is derailed in her career by male associates who steal her research and claim it as their own. It is presumed by the research firm for which she works that her science papers come from association with her male partner’s accomplishments rather than her own work. Zott’s value is believed to be her attractive appearance rather than her intellect, personal work, and ambition.

Equal opportunity in society is a fiction.

Zott’s male partner is a renowned scientist in the same scientific research firm for which Zott is employed. They become an intimate couple with marriage on the mind of the man, but independence insisted upon by Zott. Her companion dies in an accident and Zott is left with what is an unexpected pregnancy. Alone with a child, Zott presumes she will continue to work at the research firm but is fired by the male director of the enterprise because of her having a baby out of wedlock. Zott uses what financial savings she has to create a research lab in her house, raise her child, and find another source of employment. The author illustrates how motherhood, particularly for a single woman, limit women’s opportunity in society. The responsibilities of life for a woman with child and no partner often trap women in poverty.

How Zott escapes a life of poverty is a meaningful fairy tale in Garmus’s story.

Zott is hired by a TV production manager to host a cooking show. Zott’s intelligence and experience as a chemist combine with her drive for independence to make the show a success. What Bonnie Garmus shows is the mountain for success one climbs as a single woman is steeper and more difficult than it is for men. The “Lessons in Chemistry” are that a woman’s right to think, work, and live independently are denied because equal opportunity and equal pay is thwarted by gender-related discrimination.

All in society, both male and female, need to step up to their responsibility for raising children.

The “Lessons in Chemistry” suggest men need to step up in society and take responsibility for gender inequality by providing an environment that allows women to achieve the same level of success as men–whatever that success may be to the individual. Raising children is the responsibility of all, i.e., both mothers and fathers, and the society in which they live. The future depends on our children.

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