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Letter from the Editor
We live in a digital age, an era of unprecedented technological advancement and social change. Modern technology has enabled us to communicate in more ways than ever before. Globalization has fostered the sharing of political views, ideas and cultures of nations around the world. And yet we continue to live in a world of political tensions, of religious rifts, of social inequalities and border wars. In the midst of great change, many issues seem to have remained the same. In order to better understand the concerns of the century we live in, it is of primary importance to understand the century we left behind. Our current history is inextricably intertwined with events of our past.
Welcome to the premier edition of Scrap Magazine, a magazine dedicated to the people and events of the 20th century. We have rummaged through the scrapheap of our past to unearth people of great stature and events of great significance, affecting the course of history, leading to our present.
In this issue of Scrap, we look back on the polio epidemic, when America was held hostage by this debilitating disease. No-one was safe, not even future president, Franklin D. Roosevelt. And yet, during this time of trial, we record great individual triumphs like Jonas Salk’s breakthrough vaccine and collective success like the March of Dimes polio campaigns.
The century also saw the end of segregation laws which divided the nation. Breaking free of the yoke of Jim Crow laws took decades, but brave individuals ushered the end of legal segregation. We are inspired by Jackie Robinson’s heroic struggle as he crossed baseball’s color line, from the Negro Leagues to the Majors. And one must not forget W.E.B Dubois’ valiant fight for the rights of African Americans and the Brown vs The Board of Education victory, which was an important milestone on the road to end segregation.
It is hard to believe that just a few years ago we were in a power struggle with the Soviet Union, amassing weapons of total annihilation and locked in a Cold War. The Iron Curtain divided Europe, and we lived in an age of hostility and suspicion. The two superpowers faced each other on a global stage, each unwilling to give an inch. And then, the most compelling symbol of the era of the Cold War fell... The Berlin Wall was torn down in a mighty display of people power and the world watched the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The Scrap Magazine staff greatly enjoyed its brief excursion into the 20th century. Hope you do too!
Pranay Tankala
Editor-in-chief and Staff-of-One, Scrap Magazine
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