The month of April begins with reflexions.

Editor’s Warning: mentions of death

Happening in the World: Pope Francis has formally issued an apology to a Canadian indigenous delegation for the Catholic Church’s role in the country’s residential school system. Operated for more than a century, the schools were created to isolate Indigenous children from the influence of their own native culture in order to assimilate them into the dominant Canadian culture. Despite previous delegations unsuccessful attempts to lobby Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict for an apology, this has been the first formal acknowledgement of the church’s wrongdoing. (BBC)

Happening in the US: The state of Washington has passed a bill that will create the first statewide alert system for missing Indigenous people. Bearing close resemblance to the Amber Alert, the new alert system will place messages on highway reader boards, radio and social media in the case of a missing persons report. The alert system will attempt to reduce the hurdles surrounding investigations of missing Indigenous people by facilitating communication between tribal, local and state law enforcement. (NBC)

Happening in NYC: A twelve year old boy has been fatally shot in a parked car in Brooklyn. The child, who was sitting in the backseat of his family’s parked sedan, is said to be a victim of New York City’s surge in post-pandemic violence. Although the motive for the shooting remains unclear, evidence suggests that it is likely that the boy was caught in the crossfire of proximal conflict. (NYT)

Happening in Our Community: Join the Columbia University Food Systems & Climate Symposium as they discuss how organizations and groups from all sectors are engaging with solutions to ensure that our food system can continue to provide us nutritious and plentiful food now and in the future. Interested in attending? Click here to register!

Canadian residential school protests via Flickr