Opinion Editorial June, 2025: Don't You Hear the People Sing!
Most of us click or tap on news headlines that catch our attention. Often, we then realize that the words were crafted to disguise clickbait. One such headline last month was Sovereignty beats journalism. In context, it was an uninteresting (to me) news story about a horse race. Out of context, however, it was the most interesting (to me) headline of the month.
The topics of sovereignty and journalism have been very much in the news recently. Among all the things we should protect as a global community, sovereignty and journalism are two of the most important. Yet they are increasingly under threat.
A few days ago, it was the turn of King Charles III to assert the sovereignty of Canada. (Ironically, he is both the King and the Head of State of that sovereign nation.) At the beginning of May, it was the turns of India and Pakistan to rekindle their conflict over the sovereignty of Kashmir. That rekindling followed an attack which India claimed was an act of terrorism supported by the Pakistani government.
The last major attack of the same kind happened in 2019. I was in India at the time and took this month's photo there shortly afterwards. The people pictured were on the Indian side of the border with Pakistan. The event was the ceremonial closing of the border. While singing has traditionally served a role in celebration, the photo illustrates how it can also take the form of protest — in this case against a neighboring country. I have no doubt that this same scene was repeated last month.
I have written before about how "Do You Hear the People Sing?" from the stage musical Les Misérables has become a global protest song. We learned last month that not hearing the people sing can also be because of a protest. That protest will take place ten days from now in Wahington, DC when some cast members will refuse to sing at a performance of the musical.
Protest, like sovereignty and journalism, is also increasingly under threat. Last November, a bill had been introduced to parliament in New Zealand. The Treaty Principles bill would have revised that country's 1840 Treaty of Waitangi in ways that undermined the rights (including sovereignty) of its indigenous people. During the vote, three indigenous members performed a haka in protest of the bill.
The video went viral and their action garnered global support. Yet last month, they were all temporarily suspended from parliament. That punishment was criticized by many opposition members for its unprecedented harshness.
Probably, like me, you are becoming tired of keeping up to date with these kind of news stories. It is an obligation we all share with our indigenous ancestors to stem that fatigue and rise beyond it. Sovereignty should no more be allowed to beat journalism than vice versa. Otherwise, both will lose. We are dangerously close to that point in our history. If we get there, nobody will hear the people sing ever again.
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