by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack
UN GATE, April 5 – If one is sure of having the right message, how far to go in shutting down disagreement? In China, for example, the answer is locking up critics and erecting the Great Firewall of China.
The United Nations is similar, but different.
Central to the UN's current work in this field is Under Secretary General Melissa, headed next week to brag in two Ohio talks (see below), sure not to mention her censoring role.
But Inner City Press has a longer experience with Fleming as a censor.
Every weekday for three years, Inner City Press has written to Fleming seeking to end her Department of Global Communications' ban on its entering the UN and asking questions, as it had for years before she and Antonio Guterres decide to Sinofy the place, and ban critics.
No answer. A pro bono law firm, Quinn Emanuel, wrote to Fleming, here. No answer.
But she will apparently answer questions in Ohio: "Melissa Fleming, the Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications at the United Nations and a 1986 graduate of Oberlin College, will return to her alma mater to discuss her career and her Oberlin roots in a 4:30 p.m. lecture on Monday, April 10. The free, public event will take place in Hallock Auditorium (in the Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies, 122 Elm St.) and will be followed by a Q&A session. Titled “From Oberlin to the World: My Journey with the United Nations,” Fleming’s talk will trace her path from Oberlin, from which she earned a degree in German studies, through her current role leading the UN’s Department of Global Communications, which is responsible for informing global audiences about the state of the world and building support for the organization’s work and goals. On Tuesday, April 11, Fleming will also address the Cleveland Council on World Affairs in a program titled “How the UN is Tackling Global Crises: An Insider’s Perspective.” She will explain the role of the UN and how it is working to improve lives across the globe, and make a case for why Ohio and the UN are natural partners in the work toward a more peaceful, sustainable, just, and humane world. She will also share stories from her personal journey, which has taken her from New York, Geneva and Vienna, to emergency situations and refugee camps throughout the world."
We have appealed the ban to UN Security chief Gilles Michaud, without any answer. We'll have more on this.
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