Rowing Around the World
Some 3,000 years ago, migrants out of Taiwan left in large boats to make their homes in the islands of the Pacific: New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, Hawaii and Tahiti, to name a few. Their descendants multiplied, and thus the Polynesian race was born. Back in 2014, a group of Hawaiians departed their native island in a traditional Hawaiian deep-sea canoe, modeled after those that their ancestors used thousands of years earlier. Their goal has been to bring attention both to our oceans and the culture of the crew members’ native Hawaiian culture. The boat, Hokule’a, made its way into New York’s harbor on Wednesday for World Oceans Day, where the crew was welcomed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
The name of the ship means “star of gladness” in Hawaiian, and the navigator Nainoa Thompson has called the ship “the vehicle of our [Polynesian] ancestors”. The 41 year-old canoe has stopped in about 65 ports in 14 countries since the start of its voyage, but this marks its first visit to New York City. The crew wants to build awareness about what they value, namely their Polynesian legacy and the oceans. Instead of using modern navigation charts, the crew has been using mainly the sun, stars, ocean waves and cloud movement to navigate from port to port. So far more than 200 volunteer crewmembers have rotated through the 12-crew canoe, most of them committing to five-week stints. While the crew typically uses nature to navigate its way around the world, they’ve also been using instruments to navigate more complicated places, such as New York City and the Great Barrier Reef.
Since setting sail two years ago, the crew has visited French Polynesia, the Cook Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Australia, Indonesia, Mozambique and South Africa. Later this year, they plan to visit Brazil, Cuba and Washington as well. In the upcoming year, their agenda will include Panama, Costa Rica, the Galapagos and Tahiti.
When you read in a history book about various things that were done in the past, it can be easy to trivialize their value, or not realize how monumental they truly were. For a group of tribesmen from Taiwan, who had probably never been beyond their native island, to get into canoes to traverse the largest ocean in the world and colonize the islands there, is an astounding accomplishment that is almost impossible for modern humans to comprehend. This voyage offers a perspective as to what these ancient people had done, helping us better understand the history that makes us.
Obama Reflects in Poland
This past weekend, Obama left Poland, where he was confronted with the shortfalls that have plagued his presidency in the past seven years: politics, guns, race and war. These seemed to confront him no matter where he went during his two-day stop in the Polish capital of Warsaw. Obama has said he isn’t keen to comment on his legacy, saying he’d rather leave that to history (coincidentally, the same thing Bush said as his reign winded down). Obama has said that he’s more focused on finishing his presidency, and his approval rating among Americans is the highest it’s been in years. Yet that doesn’t mean the realities of his presidency have been forgotten.
In his visit to Poland, Obama made three additional speeches decrying gun violence. He was also plagued by the awkward position of fighting racism while also championing the police, two positions that are starting to become mutually exclusive. This isn’t the first time he’s tried to balance these sentiments, although a Pew poll revealed most Americans don’t think he’s made much progress on race relations. While Obama has recognized that, he also emphasized that such change takes time.
While Obama was focused on what’s going on at home, the European leaders in Warsaw this week were desperate for reassurance from him. Europe is in a precarious position: with the rise of the far right, the weakening of the EU and the influx of refugees, it’s a region with major change. While the consequences of the Brexit vote remain unknown, Obama has urged leaders to execute a responsible divorce between Britain and the EU, and his talks with David Cameron this past weekend were tinged with an air of sadness.
In the face of staunch opposition by the GOP, the mantra of the Obama Administration has been slow progress. How this slow progress continues will be determined by the next President; if Trump gets elected, it will most likely be undone, while it will most likely continue if Clinton gets elected.
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About Nelson Lewis
An exposure to politics at a young age had a profound effect on media maven Nelson Lewis, who worked as a volunteer for numerous Republican politicians in and around his native Savannah. Nelson worked as a reporter and eventually anchor at two Savannah television stations growing up, WJCL ABC-22 and WTGS FOX-28, also recording voice teasers for airing on Fridays on WJCL-FM KIX 96 and previewing his upcoming stories, which aired on the Sunday evening news.
One of Nelson’s favorite experiences at WJCL was reporting live from the St. Patrick’s Day Parade (America’s second largest) from 1998-2000. Continuing in the spirit of his grandfather’s pioneering and trailblazing footsteps (he was the first to bring all-color television and stereo to the Savannah market), Nelson became the first person in Savannah market to bring a kid’s perspective to local news as its first youth reporter. In fact, one of the competing stations, WSAV NBC-3 hired their own youth reporter, Sean Champion, 18 months after Nelson began his reports and WJCL/TGS’s ratings dramatically increased.
Work In Political Media
While a sophomore and junior at Lynn University, Nelson Lewis hosted “Politijam”, a lively political debate show that became well known across the university campus and served as the media editor of the univeristy’s weekly EPulse newspaper. While at Lynn, Nelson was selected to represent the entire undergraduate student population as a member of Lynn University’s Academic Task Force, charged with the duty of streamlining the core curriculum of the universities.
While attending Lynn’s College of International Communication, Nelson developed a friendship with Irving R. Levine, a well-known and nationally recognized correspondent for NBC News who became the network’s first full time economics correspondent, and was the creator of the precursor to CNBC. After a 45-year career in journalism, Levine went on to become Dean of Lynn’s communication program. After finishing college, Nelson Lewis followed Levine’s suggestion and moved to Washington, DC where his first job was as a press intern for a Republican congressman, which then led to a job booking at the Fox News Channel from 2006-2010. Here, he was able to put his love of politics and interest in the Republican Party to good use.
Upon the suggestion of Mr. Levine, Nelson Lewis enrolled in the Masters of Professional Studies in Journalism (International Politics) program at Georgetown University in 2009, where a special emphasis was placed on the dissolution of America’s Fairness Doctrine and on the major player in its demise, Bruce Fein.
Nelson was honored to be invited to speak at a roast honoring Levine’s 2009 death at the National Press Club, where he spoke alongside Levine family members and contemporaries such as former Meet the Press Moderator Marvin Kalb. He subsequently wrote a letter to the editor published in The Hill newspaper eulogizing Levine as a “top-notch raconteur” who many others have tried to emulate.
From his work at Fox News, Nelson Lewis was able to take a firsthand role in the DC journalism scene, and was blessed with the opportunity of meeting entertainment, political, and academic luminaries on a daily basis, including numerous sitting and former representatives, senators, governors and cabinet secretaries. These unique experiences gave Nelson a front row seat to many historic events and gave him a firsthand experience of how the Washington system works, from how laws are created to how news is made.
Through Nelson Lewis’ work creating Her Golf Network, coupled with his extensive booking experiences in segment producing gained at America’s highest rated cable news channel and through his time performing key internships at places such as WPBT’s Nightly Business Report in Miami, where he honed his scriptwriting skills, and at WTOC in Savannah, where he provided copyediting and on-site production assistance at the 2004 Sea Island G-8 summit, have provided him with a solid foundation and understanding of the news business. His time as a reporter/anchor growing up prior to his undergraduate studies helped him get an early start at doing what he loves most, reporting.
