411 years ago, Sir Francis Bacon published The Advancement of Learning, intellectually recognized as the birth of the idea of progress. Its purpose was to argue for the amelioration of history through discovery, vaguely capsuled in the statement “knowledge is power”.
Earlier this month, the image of a five-year-old bombing survivor in Syria shook up the world, just like the Pulitzer Prize winning photography of the Napalm Girl in Vietnam did 44 years ago.
Even though both photographs are shocking, their power to shock is not. The arduous work of journalists, broadcasters, photographers, and activists has empowered millions of people to learn, rationalize, and react. And although television is still the most utilized device to follow news in the United States, the fast-paced growth of alternative sources are expanding the access and scope of information, allowing any and every individual to become an activist.
What we aspire to do at the Latin America Policy Organization is to initiate a source of dialogue to support the empowerment of our community through information. To strengthen our three functions as a discussion platform, a professional development engine, and an academic and research producer, we decided to start a blog.
This will facilitate the discussion of Latin American affairs, provide greater visibility of content for LAPO members, and further the academic engagement of students outside the classroom.
We want this blog and its purpose to be clear and well structured. Providing space for a plethora of topics does not mean decreasing our quality or objectivity. On the contrary, the openness to distinct subjects and word counts will be bounded by the impartiality and coherence of its contributors.
If you are a student at the George Washington University – either undergrad or graduate – we invite you to become a LAPO member.
Not a student? Not a problem. We still want to hear from you. Feel free to contact us with questions and comments, and if you would like to submit a blog post please do so. We will occasionally publish content from non-LAPO members, as long as it aligns with our guidelines.
We are not building a news source. We are building a dialogue. An initiative to push the GW community and any individual interested in Latin American affairs to learn, think, and share. Be it in 1605, 44 years ago, or earlier this month, empowering individuals through knowledge will continue to progress the history of humanity. Through this blog, we seek to contribute our share, and welcome you to join us!