Guest Commentator
Blackcommentator.com Guest Commentator, Matthew McDaniel, was born in Detroit but grew up on the west coast, Riverside, California but later moving to Oregon. After a couple of years inthe US Navy and a couple of years of University he settled into the construction trade until a trip to Thailand and India looking for goods to trade in 1989. In 1991 he settled in Maesai, Chiangrai, Thailand where he began shipping old trade beads back to the US. At this time he met the Akha people of both Myanmar and Thailand and began assisting them. This work grew into full fledged human rights work as the abuse by Thai police, army and forestry officials became apparent. Investigating killings and land seizures he was finally deported in 2004 for protesting the Queen of Thailand's seizure of Akha rice lands. Back in the US he filed complaints both with the UN and the International Criminal Court. Returning to Laos in 2005-2006 he smuggled his Akha wife and four children out of Thailand and arrived back in the US mid 2006 In 2006 he and his wife put together plans to travel across the US by horseback and tell the Akha story during the “Ride for Freedom”. They are now only a couple months away from reaching the UN at New York. Click here to contact Mr. McDaniel.
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Guest Commentary
Guest Commentator
As I rode into Texas, the stories began to come out of the fields. I was talking to a man. He said, “There used to be a lot of black families right over here, this section of town, all along here. But they are all gone now. But maybe they didn’t leave.” “What do you…
As I rode into Texas, the stories began to come out of the fields. I was talking to a man. He said, “There used to be…
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