Carissa Wyant

Carissa Wyant is a former MintPress columnist specializing in faith, race and social justice issues. She has been published in the Huffington Post, Patch.com, American City Business Journals and various local publications around the American Midwest.

No Spotlight for PTSD

(MintPress)— A week after US Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales left his post on a base in Afghanistan in the middle of the night, walked to a nearby village, and opened-fire, killing 16 unarmed civilians, then setting many of them on fire, people across the world are struggling to comprehend the soldier’s actions. The horrific […]

Carissa Wyant
By Carissa Wyant
U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Greg Rivers, 20, of Sylvester, Ga., waits to take psychological tests at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif. on Sept. 29, 2009. (AP Photo)

(MintPress)— A week after US Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales left his post on a base in Afghanistan in the middle of the night, walked to a nearby village, and opened-fire, killing 16 unarmed civilians, then setting many of them on fire, people across the world are struggling to comprehend the soldier’s actions. The horrific event is shedding

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Fighting for Amazonia: Ashaninka Tribe uses Internet to fight off Logging Mafias

(MintPress)—”We used to defend our selves by bow and arrow. But that doesn’t work anymore. Our modern weapon is the internet,” says Benki Piyako, the son of the chief of the Ashaninka in the Brazilian rainforest. “This is the only way to ensure safety on our territory.” Piyako’s homeland is the Amazon rainforest, on the […]

Carissa Wyant
By Carissa Wyant

(MintPress)—"We used to defend our selves by bow and arrow. But that doesn’t work anymore. Our modern weapon is the internet,” says Benki Piyako, the son of the chief of the Ashaninka in the Brazilian rainforest. "This is the only way to ensure safety on our territory." Piyako’s homeland is the Amazon rainforest, on the border of Brazil and

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Native Activists Arrested on Territory While Peacefully Protesting Keystone Pipeline

(MintPress)— “America is built on stolen land and was built with stolen hands. XL Pipeline equipment, anything that has to do with the destruction of Unci Maka (Mother Earth), we don’t want any part of it. They need to stay out of our territory,” Lakota activist Olowan Martinez said, after Native American activists were arrested […]

Carissa Wyant
By Carissa Wyant

(MintPress)— “America is built on stolen land and was built with stolen hands. XL Pipeline equipment, anything that has to do with the destruction of Unci Maka (Mother Earth), we don’t want any part of it. They need to stay out of our territory,” Lakota activist Olowan Martinez said, after Native American activists were arrested in South Dakota

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Teachers Give Low Marks to Job Satisfaction

(MintPress)—Teacher job satisfaction has fallen to the lowest it’s been in more than two decades, according to a national survey released Wednesday. The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher says the economic downturn in the US which fueled deep cuts to education budgets is likely to be a contributing factor to the dissatisfaction. Over the […]

Carissa Wyant
By Carissa Wyant
Photo by Lexie Flickinger/Brad Flickinger.

(MintPress)—Teacher job satisfaction has fallen to the lowest it's been in more than two decades, according to a national survey released Wednesday. The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher says the economic downturn in the US which fueled deep cuts to education budgets is likely to be a contributing factor to the dissatisfaction. Over the

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American Scholar, Activist Urges Interfaith Leadership in a Time of Global Crisis

(MintPress)—“Wars between clans and tribes, tension between sects and groups, prejudice directed at religion or nationality – those were the problems of past centuries. And whether you are reading the news about Somalia or Libya or Europe or Oklahoma, those are the problems of our time.” So says Eboo Patel, an American Muslim, scholar and […]

Carissa Wyant
By Carissa Wyant

(MintPress)—“Wars between clans and tribes, tension between sects and groups, prejudice directed at religion or nationality – those were the problems of past centuries. And whether you are reading the news about Somalia or Libya or Europe or Oklahoma, those are the problems of our time.” So says Eboo Patel, an American Muslim, scholar and social

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US Officials Want Diplomatic Relations With Iran; Media Criticized for Fanning the Flames of War

(MintPress)— President Obama met with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, just as pressures for the U.S. to go to war with Iran were mounting. However some within the U.S. government are hoping to avert a war with the Islamic Republic. In addition to Israel’s top official, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) […]

Carissa Wyant
By Carissa Wyant
Representative Keith Ellison, pictured above at a 2010 panel discussion on Strengthening America’s Security, is one a handful of politicians calling for an alternative dialogue on Iran. (Photo by the Center for American Progress)

(MintPress)— President Obama met with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, just as pressures for the U.S. to go to war with Iran were mounting. However some within the U.S. government are hoping to avert a war with the Islamic Republic. In addition to Israel’s top official, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)

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School Violence Garners Less Media Coverage in Communities of Color

(MintPress)—Classes resumed Friday at Chardon High School in Ohio, after three teens were killed by a classmate in a shooting earlier in the week. Within hours after the shooting took place, national news outlets went live with coverage, and headlines about the shooting at the suburban school, where less than 2 percent of the student population […]

Carissa Wyant
By Carissa Wyant

(MintPress)—Classes resumed Friday at Chardon High School in Ohio, after three teens were killed by a classmate in a shooting earlier in the week. Within hours after the shooting took place, national news outlets went live with coverage, and headlines about the shooting at the suburban school, where less than 2 percent of the student population

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