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As we lie in bed nursing our battered and depleted psyches, we are grateful for the rich world of reading we can readily avail of for our needed rest and relief. 

Professed bookworms and curious nerds, reading is a love instilled in us early on, that has grown us into the beings we proudly are. 

At ground zero of the battle over books and censorship, national correspondent Jeff Fleischmann reports on book banning across America for the last six or seven months.  

united states of conflict

This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the American tragedy known as 9/11. The catastrophic disaster of September 11, 2001 changed New York, the people of the United States, and the world forever.

Tribute in Light - 9/11 commemorative public art installation - photo by Jin S. Lee

The recent pull out of American forces in Afghanistan has forced us all to question actions and consequences arising from this. How it has changed our world and how each of us were affected in its wake. 

near & dear

The NYTimes Op-Docs piece "From Here to Home" highlights five films on immigration and belonging. 

Writer Viet Thanh Nguyen, herself an immigrant, introduces the works with these heart piercing words: 

[T]hings happened not necessarily because we were refugees or Southeast Asian, but because we were human and did some of the same things that other Americans did. Our failures — and our successes — were due to our complicated humanity, not because of our ethnic or national origins.

To love, to laugh, to live, to work, to fail, to despair, to parent, to cry, to die, to mourn, to hope: These attributes exist whether we are Vietnamese or Mexican or American or any other form of classification. We share much more in common with one another than we have in difference.

And yet these differences — of color, religion, language, origin and so on — matter because we make them matter, or because others persuade or coerce us into believing in they matter.

Five short documentaries about the immigrant experience in America appearing in The Times’s Op-Docs series testify to both the depth of our shared humanity and the height of the walls separating us.

[O]ur entire American generation, which has the unique experience of watching the American empire peak and decline is running out of time. Our national midlife crisis, our sense of our slipping global power, can drive us to act out or to examine ourselves.

We act out by longing for enemies to conquer in the vain hope that this will restore our greatness, and we mistake immigrants and refugees for those enemies. But if we are mature enough to examine ourselves, we can both celebrate the accomplishments of American culture and also acknowledge — and maybe even atone for — its terrible deeds.

We can help to make up for these tragedies by doing two things that foes of immigration argue are incompatible: renewing our commitment to the most marginalized Americans who are already here, and welcoming the immigrants and refugees who regenerate us. But we don’t have a lot of time.

Shen Yun | no neutrality

Last night I dragged a beloved long time friend to the Shen Yun performance at Lincoln Center in NYC. Even if it was one of the coldest and blustery nights this winter we were determined to have a blast. Which we did - contrary to how the evening unfolded.

Shen Yun theatrical poster

I was fueled by memories of the Chinese acrobatic circus performances that would come to our little backwater island town. Regaling us with fireworks, Shaolin martial arts, agile performers, and exotic dancers garbed in diaphanous silk ensembles.

We would sit for a few hours mesmerized by escalating feats of balance.

Global Nomad feature | broken Boracay dreams & promises

wonder | wonder | world is pleased to crow about our beloved relative's achievement. Global Nomad CEO and travel genie extraordinaire - Lorenzo Urra. Our beloved brother/uncle.

Conde' Nast recently published an article on Boracay's over developed and unsustainable mismanagement of its local tourism which has this once pristine island paradise shut down for rehabilitation.

The article cited valuable perspectives that growing up locally provided. How being the top sought after destination has led to its demise. Quantum growth is not always a good thing after all.

Boracay is the poster child for paradise lost in the Philippines. How to kill a golden goose. What happens when perfection is overplayed. Especially when commercial greed over reaches decent bounds.

The good news is the Philippines actually has more than 7,107 islands - it's more like 7,641 now. A lot as that sounds, it is still a limited if rich resource that absolutely needs protection and preservation.

Philippine trials & tribulations

Given the recent spate of bad news coming from our homeland, wonder | wander | world proudly presents this week's pick.

6 books that will help make sense of the Philippines now

by Nash Tysmans

"If there’s one thing Trevor Noah and I agree on, it’s that we now live in a world where nuance is in short supply. The economy of ideas that runs on a currency of likes and shares forces us to make quick calls on issues, and the social nature of our networks can sometimes feel like quiet contemplation is tantamount to apathy."

These are places to start when you want to learn more about the Philippines and the issues the country currently faces:

1. “Bakwit: The Power of the Displaced” by Jose Jowel Canuday (Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2009)
2. “Tradition and Transformation: Studies on Cordillera Indigenous Culture” by June Prill-Brett, edited by Delfin Tolentino, Jr. (Cordillera Studies Center, 2015)
3. “Big Little Man: In Search of My Asian Self” by Alex Tizon (First Mariner Books, 2018)
4. The Embarrassment of Slavery: Controversies Over Bondage and Nationalism in the American Colonial Philippines” by Michael Salman (Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2001)
5. “Barangay” by William Henry Scott (Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1994)
6. “Puki-Usap” by Liv Strömquist, translated to Filipino by Beverly W. Siy (Pride Press, Anvil Publishing, 2018)

More recommended reading from Nash: 6 books to help you understand Mindanao better.

Celebrating Black History Month 2017

February is when we celebrate awareness of African Americans and their contributions to civilization.

The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of African Americans who struggled with adversity to achieve full citizenship in American society.

After eight years of stellar Black History Month celebrations with the Obamas, we get this dud from Trump's first. 

Here at wonder |wander | world we choose to celebrate all of humanity in all our glory. 

Let freedom reign!