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Facing Family, Facing Ghosts (Best of In The Fray 2006)


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In the United States and many parts of the world, December is marked by a quest for bigger and better things—gifts, bonuses, food, celebrations, decorations, vacations, even donations. Here at In The Fray we indulge by commemorating our readers’ favorite stories of 2006—all tales of ghosts, family, and image obsession.

We begin by Grappling with Ghosts, but not the kind found in a Dickens novel. These ghosts, writes Courtney Traub, are the stuff of post-colonialism, of a France brought before a mirror to confront its scarred past. Meanwhile, Penny Newbury looks at some of colonialism’s other ghosts, those of East Timor, a former Portuguese and later Indonesian colony. In An Occupation, Newbury takes us to the country’s capitol, Dili, which remains haunted by its 1999 independence referendum.

Back in the United States, the Republican Party may be haunted by Valerie Burgher’s criticism of their crackdown on sins of the flesh at the cost of the Bible’s other six sins. And with the temperature dropping, New Yorkers are sure to be haunted by A Long Walk to Work, ITF Board of Directors member Dustin Ross’s photo essay capturing the toll of last year’s transit strike on a city and its people.

From the ghosts of colonialism, politics, and transit we turn to the ghosts and goblins of family. In her review of Devyani Saltzman’s Shooting Water, former In The Fray travel editor Anju Mary Paul explores how the decisions we make as children haunt our adult relationships—and discovers room for reconciliation.

In Love without Grammar—one of the two winners of the Best of INTERACT—ITF travel editor Michelle Caswell returns to her childhood home, where she finds love in every artifact and garden gnome. And in Arrange Me, Arrange Me Not—readers’ other favorite INTERACT essay—Meera Subramanian travels to India to assess her ancestors’ tradition of choosing their children’s spouses.

Rounding out this year’s favorites are two pieces about surface-level appearances: Kimberlee Soo’s look at how an aspiring Covergirl mimics her older sister, only to discover that her elder’s life isn’t as perfect as it appears; and Secret Asian Man’s insight into How to Make the Chinese New Year Appeal to Americans.

Speaking of seducing people with images, In The Fray will be launching a new, more user-friendly design on January 1. Not only will our new virtual home be more pleasing to your eyes; it will cater to all of you activists and networkers.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote for this year’s best stories—and to those who wrote and edited them. We look forward to ringing in the New Year—and our new site—with you.

Laura Nathan
Editor
Buffalo, New York

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Gay in Egypt


The American agenda is promoting the rights of homosexuals … I am not against freedom of expression, but this abnormal phenomenon should not be presented as natural. Even if it has roots here, it is rejected by society. And by Islam.

— Mostafa Bakry, an Egyptian newspaper editor and member of parliament, quoted in today’s New York Times Magazine article about homosexuality in Egypt. The Queen Boat incident, in which police raided a floating nightclub on May 11, 2001, and subsequently detained and tortured 52 men, attracted attention in the western press about general human rights — and specifically gay rights — abuses in Egypt. Since campaigning for gay rights can be dismissed as yet another aspect of the West’s agenda of cultural imperialism, human rights groups, such as Amnesty International, have couched discussion of gay rights abuses in the broader context of human rights abuses. Despite local and international attention, raids, attempts at censorship (of scenes, for example, in the recent production of “The Yacoubian Building,”), and social trauma seem undiminished.

—Mimi Hanaoka

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In Other Words

Abraham Lincoln, U.S. president

As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands, and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for … Continue reading Abraham Lincoln, U.S. president →


As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands, and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of the war. —Abraham Lincoln, U.S. president

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In Other Words

Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine writer

I cannot walk through the suburbs in the solitude of the night without thinking that the night pleases us because it suppresses idle details, just as our memory does. —Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine writer


I cannot walk through the suburbs in the solitude of the night without thinking that the night pleases us because it suppresses idle details, just as our memory does. —Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine writer

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In Other Words

Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Roman historian

It is human nature to hate the man whom you have hurt. —Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Roman historian


It is human nature to hate the man whom you have hurt. —Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Roman historian

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In Other Words

Martin Luther King Jr., American minister and activist

Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government’s policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one’s own bosom and in the surrounding world. —Martin Luther King Jr., … Continue reading Martin Luther King Jr., American minister and activist →


Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government’s policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one’s own bosom and in the surrounding world. —Martin Luther King Jr., American minister and activist

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In Other Words

Jane Addams

Social advance depends as much upon the process through which it is secured as upon the result itself. —Jane Addams


Social advance depends as much upon the process through which it is secured as upon the result itself. —Jane Addams

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In Other Words

Saul Alinsky, American community organizer

A racially integrated community is a chronological term timed from the entrance of the first black family to the exit of the last white family. —Saul Alinsky, American community organizer


A racially integrated community is a chronological term timed from the entrance of the first black family to the exit of the last white family. —Saul Alinsky, American community organizer

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In Other Words

Susan B. Anthony, American suffragist

I declare to you that woman must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself, and there I take my stand. —Susan B. Anthony, American suffragist


I declare to you that woman must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself, and there I take my stand. —Susan B. Anthony, American suffragist

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In Other Words

Julian Bond, American civil rights activist and chairman of the NAACP

As skills and energy became more of a demand, people who didn’t have skills just got left behind, got shuttled to the side. Education didn’t keep up with their promise. Education didn’t prepare them for this new world. Jobs went overseas. —Julian Bond, American civil rights activist and chairman of the NAACP


As skills and energy became more of a demand, people who didn’t have skills just got left behind, got shuttled to the side. Education didn’t keep up with their promise. Education didn’t prepare them for this new world. Jobs went overseas. —Julian Bond, American civil rights activist and chairman of the NAACP

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In Other Words

Julian Bond, American civil rights activist and chairman of the NAACP

People who are poor who are living on the edge of poverty or who are living under poverty are tucked away some place else. I don’t see them; they don’t see me; we don’t interact; we have no relation one to the other; no physical relation. —Julian Bond, American civil rights activist and chairman of … Continue reading Julian Bond, American civil rights activist and chairman of the NAACP →


People who are poor who are living on the edge of poverty or who are living under poverty are tucked away some place else. I don’t see them; they don’t see me; we don’t interact; we have no relation one to the other; no physical relation. —Julian Bond, American civil rights activist and chairman of the NAACP

Dear Reader, In The Fray is a nonprofit staffed by volunteers. If you liked this piece, could you please donate $10? If you want to help, you can also:

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