The Dissonance
Amplifying Activist Voices
The Dissonance is a political publication based out of the Hudson Valley, formerly known as the 100 Days Initiative.
The First 100 Days initiative, sponsored by the Center for Civic Engagement, the Council for Inclusive Excellence, and the Human Rights Project, is focused on drawing together faculty, staff, students, and community members in a set of informal working groups that will allow us to build a shared resource on issues of particular concern in light of the campaign promises and claims of the incoming a
01/12/2021
The Dissonance's first article of the Fall 2021 semester is up! In this article Gaby Sabogal spotlights the work of Khadija Ghanizada, a student activist on Bard's campus.
udent Spotlight: Khadija Ghanizada “I just randomly wake up, and I’m like: I don’t like this. And I’m going to do something about it. And I just do it.” Khadija Ghanizada, a third year EUS major, has spent much of her time at Bard …
11/05/2021
Sarita Fleetwood Bradshaw writes about the scandals surrounding Andrew Cuomo. The Governor is under FBI investigation for misreporting death rates of nursing homes in the time of COVID. At the same time, he is facing sexual assault allegations. Despite their seriousness, the allegations and critiques of Cuomo are dying down, potentially leaving him with more unchecked power.
Andrew Cumo’s Aftermath NY Governor Andrew Cuomo has been caught in a storm of his own making. Following his meteoric rise in popularity over the first few months of the Covid-19 pandemic, when many people felt as though …
30/04/2021
In her most recent article, Gaby Sabogal writes about the COVID-19 vaccine. She discusses its inaccessibility, particularly for people experiencing homelessness, undocumented immigrants, and incarcerated individuals.
The Inaccessibility of the Covid-19 Vaccine Across the country, eligibility for the Covid-19 vaccine has been expanded to include almost everyone above the age of 16. It’s an easy headline to digest, and it makes us feel good about our count…
26/04/2021
Check out our new Op-ed by Melina Roise where she unpacks Food Security difficulties in the Hudson Valley and how to solve them. She references helpful initiatives like the Kingston Emergency Food Collaborative that are united in combatting this challenge.
Our Communities Need More than Grocery Store Donation Bins: Achieving Food Security in the Hudson Valley Melina Roise Edited by Najwa Jamal Op-Ed Dropping a can of soup into a grocery store donation bin. Giving a few dollars to a food pantry each holiday season. Hunger seems to be an inevitable …
17/04/2021
Maeve McKaig's most recent article delves into the Biden administration's plan for battling climate change. She explores the Green New Deal and the 2 trillion dollar infrastructure plan, along with the work of local initiatives like BardEATS and the Hudson Valley Sunrise Hub.
Earth Day 2021: Addressing Climate Change Nationally And Locally Use Earth Day 2021 to consider how climate change is being addressed and how we can do more, from the Biden administration’s climate action plan to local education and outreach efforts. Presi…
12/04/2021
Najwa Jamal explores the ambiguity still surrounding Bard's attempts to secure a polling site. Her article discusses the legal difficulties Bard has experienced in trying to secure an on campus polling site. She focuses on how this struggle continues to unfold after months of confusion.
Board of Election Battle: And so it continues… Triumph prevailed, or so it seemed, last semester when the Bard College Multipurpose Room (MPR) was granted an on-campus polling location. The then-newly and temporarily appointed polling site was …
22/03/2021
Our most recent article, written by Gaby Sabogal, looks into the housing inequalities that have been worsened since the global pandemic. She critiques the weak attempts that the government makes to prevent this expanding inequality, and instead praises local community efforts for trying to protect their most vulnerable members.
Housing Justice: After a Year of Covid, Where Are We Now? A recent statistic shows that New York State renters owe more than $1 billion in unpaid rent. It’s no secret that 2020 was a difficult year for monthly rent payments, with rising unemployment and m…
05/03/2021
Sarita Bradshaw writes about Kingston police reform and Rise Up Kingston's initiative to defund the police. The deadline for this reform to be submitted to the governor's office is April 1st, and Sarita goes into what Kingston has planned for their specific reform.
Next steps? Kingston, NY’s journey to police reform. It can be easy to think of New York as a Utopia, with agricultural, industrial, and artistic opportunities liveing side by side. But it’s not. Issues of racially motivated police brutality have dee…