Some subjects are hard to look at. This is one of them. The moments before repression rarely feel like the ones that come after. They unfold slowly, sometimes politely, often bureaucratically. A security agency is reorganized. Emergency authority is expanded. Military forces acquire a greater domestic role. Political opposition is described increasingly as a threat to order rather than a legitimate part of public life. None of these things, standing alone, proves what will ha

This topic may feel heavy, perhaps even uncomfortable. The word genocide carries a weight that makes us instinctively turn away, because we associate it with the final horror: mass graves, camps, killing fields, entire communities destroyed. But by the time the killing begins, an enormous amount has already happened. People have been divided, rights have been stripped away, language has changed, institutions have participated, and cruelty that once would have been shocking ha

When we look back at times of crisis, it’s easy to see only the violence and despair. But history is also full of stories of resilience —...

HearthFinder is about building and protecting hearths, whether that means starting a new life abroad or finding ways to stay safe where you are. Part of tending the hearth is remembering history, because history has much to teach us about resilience in times of upheaval. One of the hardest but most important stories to revisit is Rwanda. A Brief History Rwanda is a small country in East Africa with a long history of farming, family, and tight-knit communities. But colonial po