The Bottom is a mostly black community in Ohio, situated in the hills above the mostly white, wealthier community of Medallion. The Bottom first became a community when a master gave it to his former slave. This "gift" was in fact a trick: the master gave the former slave a poor stretch of hilly land, convincing the slave the land was worthwhile by claiming that because it was hilly, it was closer to heaven. The trick, though, led to the growth of a vibrant community. Now the community faces a new threat; wealthy whites have taken a liking to the land, and would like to destroy much of the town in order to build a golf course.
Rwanda. The very name evokes troubling images of unparalleled violence, senseless human atrocities, and genocide. The country is best known as the scene for one of the world's worst ethnic-based conflict. Approximately 1 million people were killed in 100 days in 1994, and millions more fled the country, while the world looked on passively, watching the daily carnage of human butchery on television. Rwanda is a tiny, landlocked country about the size of Maryland, but has many names.
