Exposures – The Blog

That counter-narrative might begin like this: You matter—not because of your income, education, or politics—but because you are part of a shared society whose future depends on all of us. This country has been sold out by those who put profit before people—by corporations and political elites who abandoned communities while insulating themselves from the consequences. The struggle isn’t between neighbors. It’s between those who extract and those left to carry the cost. Democracy isn’t about shouting the loudest. It’s about showing up—for your neighbors, your community, and the shared spaces that hold us together. Patriotism isn’t about who you exclude. It’s about what we build together, and who we refuse to leave behind. . . . → Read More: MAGA: The Counter-Narrative

Growing up, we, as Māori, were always treated as second-class citizens. To be honest, when I served, I was a young man, and there were things that I was not aware of, but I always felt something was there, and there are things that, as I have become wiser, I have become more aware of. The Crown was happy to treat us as second-class citizens, yet when they needed us, they were happy to use us. After returning I remember my wife and I, we went to Hamilton to see her brother playing the British Isles. I went to the hotel office to change a 5-pound note, and the girl at the office complained to her manager about me being there. These small things stick in my mind, and I will never forget it. I had served for a country that did not, and still does not, respect me as a Māori. . . . → Read More: ‘If I had the choice again, I would not fight in that war’ Tā Robert (“Bom”) Nairn Gillies

But for all this support, my pregnancy added a new kind of pressure. I was only the second world leader in history to have a baby in office. The first was Benazir Bhutto. She was the first woman to lead Pakistan, and in 1990, two years into her first term in office she had a baby girl. I didn’t think the world’s eyes were on me, but I did think naysayers’ were. Those who might be waiting to say: See, you can’t do a demanding job like that and be a mother. . . . → Read More: ‘I asked Queen Elizabeth II if she had any advice for me’: Jacinda Ardern on her time as a pregnant prime minister