When I joined protests against the looming Iraq invasion in 2002, my American friends thought I was being exceptionally brave because I was only here on a student visa. I laughed. I also laughed when my fellow protesters angrily chanted, “This is what a police state looks like!” at the police cars idling across the street while officers ambled around.

You have no idea what an actual police state looks like, I told my friends. In my home country, Turkey, thousands were disappeared in the two decades following the 1980 military coup.

This word does not fit the English language. Disappeared? As a transitive verb? It’s part of a language of terror familiar to many around the world. “Desaparecidos,” in Spanish. In Turkey, the distraught relatives of “kaybedilenler” hold vigils on Saturdays. In Argentina, the Madres de Plaza de Mayo on Thursdays. In Sri Lanka. Bangladesh. Chile. Belarus. Egypt. Myanmar. El Salvador. Long list.

When I told my friends back in Turkey about the things Americans did and said, they guffawed, assuming I was making the whole thing up. Come on, tell us what’s actually happening. The police just sitting back and allowing people to organize protests and publish fiery op-eds? To people in Turkey, it was inconceivable. When I stuck to my story, they accused me, only half in jest, of being a paid propagandist for the CIA.

But I had been converted. A true believer. I had become free speech-pilled, as the kids say, after 9/11 as I watched in astonishment how many spoke out, not just in dissent but sometimes in shocking, incendiary sentiments. It didn’t always make them popular, but they didn’t face government retribution at the magnitude I was bracing for.

I knew the government violated some civil rights, of course, especially when it came to Arab Americans and occasionally protesters. A 2002 report said hundreds were targeted on the pretext of visa violations. As a Middle Easterner, I expected governments to break rules and violate rights, but this wasn’t at the scale or of the nature that would effectively terrorize dissenters into silence. That’s the logic behind those that do the disappearing: the impunity, the uncertainty, the endless agony. The terror that descends like a suffocating layer of tar on everyone.

But America was different. The odds were hugely in one’s favor against government retribution for speech or protest. The First Amendment wasn’t just for show. Americans meant it. I kept protesting. We lost. The war happened. I graduated.

Now, little more than two decades later, Americans are beginning to understand that disappeared can refer to an act of force. Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts graduate student from Turkey here on a visa, believed in the American ideal of free speech, signing an opinion article in a student newspaper in support of a resolution passed by her university’s student government.

Then, about a year later there’s a video. She is walking down the street, chatting on her phone with her mom on her way to break her Ramadan fast. Twelve hours of hunger and thirst. Sixty-four days of the new administration.

There on the street, a group of people suddenly surround her. No uniforms. Hoodies and masks. One of them snatches her phone. She screams. She says she wants to call the police. She still believes they couldn’t be the police. Not in the United States. They grab her. We’d learn that for a long time, she thought they were kidnappers about to kill her. Her lawyer and her family couldn’t find her till much later.

The video ends right as they stuff her into an unmarked black SUV, and disappear her.

Zeynep Tufekci writes a column for the New York Times.

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It’s the time of year the most opinionated music fans around look forward to, the announcement of the 2025 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

From the very start nearly four decades ago, Rock Hall organizers have made it clear their definition of “rock and roll” is wide open to interpretation and that the genre was largely built by Black performers. Any combination of factors — chart success, innovation, influence, staying power — are considered for inclusion, which only fuels conversations about who does and does not belong.

And, well, I have opinions to share myself! Here’s my take on the seven inductees in the main category. (Salt-N-Pepa and Warren Zevon are among others who will be inducted into side categories.) I’ve ranked them from least- to most-deserving of one of music’s highest honors.

7. Chubby Checker

While it’s not something I personally endorse, it’s not unheard of for Rock and Roll Hall of Famers to have the stray novelty song in their repertoire. Some examples: Chuck Berry (“My Ding-a-Ling”), Todd Rundgren (“Bang the Drum All Day”), R.E.M. (“Shiny Happy People”), Billy Joel (“We Didn’t Start the Fire”) and the Beatles (most Ringo songs).

As for the man born Ernest Evans, he built his entire career on novelty songs, only one of which — “The Twist” — is remembered (barely by many) today. Checker did actually score a few more hits, including 1961’s “Pony Time,” but “The Twist” was so massive, he couldn’t help but return to it for an increasingly embarrassing string of singles that include “Let’s Twist Again,” “Twistin’ U.S.A.,” “Slow Twistin’,” “La Paloma Twist” and “Teach Me to Twist.”

It’s also not unheard of for artists to, at least initially, dismiss the very notion of the Rock Hall, from Axl Rose to Dolly Parton to Ozzy Osbourne. Chubby Checker, meanwhile, practically begged to get in. He protested outside of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2004 over the lack of airplay for “The Twist” (which was released in 1960!) and his perception that the Hall of Fame had snubbed him.

Chubby Checker may well be talented, but in no way does he deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. If organizers are thirsty to get some novelty songs represented, they’d be much better off honoring Weird Al Yankovic, who has been doing this stuff for decades.

6. Bad Company

The Rock Hall is notorious in its love of boomer rock, stooping as low as inducting Foreigner and Peter Frampton last year. I guess they can go even lower, as Bad Company is the very definition of dull, middle of the road rock that now exists only on dusty classic rock stations (but not KQRS anymore) and in commercials that have nothing to do with the song. (In 2014, a Craftsman tools ad used “Feel Like Makin’ Love”!)

My guess is that this choice is really meant to honor lead singer Paul Rodgers, a journeyman vocalist who also led Free, the Firm and the Law and spent a brief, ill-advised time touring with Queen. If that’s the case, they should have just went ahead and inducted Rodgers as a solo act.

5. Joe Cocker

To be honest, the ranks for the next few acts could easily be interchangeable. They’re all deserving for various reasons and should already be in the Rock Hall.

Singer Joe “With a Little Help from my Friends” Cocker was the first musician to play at what would become First Avenue. (Valery Hache / Getty Images)

British vocalist Joe Cocker is best known for his bluesy wail and knack for picking songs to cover. After Cocker’s 2014 death, Paul McCartney praised him for his take on “With a Little Help from My Friends”: “It was just mind-blowing (and it) totally turned the song into a soul anthem and I was forever grateful to him for doing that … He was a great guy, a lovely guy who brought so much to the world and we’ll all miss him.”

Local music fans will always have a place for Cocker in their hearts, if only because he was the first act to play what would become First Avenue way back in 1970.

4. Soundgarden

While they never quite reached the artistic peaks of peers like Nirvana and Pearl Jam, Soundgarden was one of the first grunge bands to sign to a major label, A&M Records. (The label had signed locals the Suburbs a few years prior and Trip Shakespeare around the same time as Soundgarden.)

In this Feb. 13, 2013 photo, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden performs during the band’s concert at the Wiltern in Los Angeles. (Chris Pizzello / Invision / Associated Press)

Chris Cornell was often praised for his strength as a true rock and roll singer. Unfortunately, he joined a club that includes Kurt Cobain, Michael Hutchence and Chester Bennington when he took his own life in 2017.

3. Cyndi Lauper

Brooklyn native Cyndi Lauper was a perfect fit for the early days ’80s, when MTV and music videos ushered in a new series of stars.

She filled her 1983 debut album “She’s So Unusual” with bangers, from her signature hit “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” to a savvy Prince cover (“When You Were Mine”) to a No. 3 smash about masturbation (“She Bop”).

Thanks to her kooky outfits and kookier personality, it felt like she may be a one-and-done at the time. But she returned to the charts with the likes of “True Colors,” “Change of Heart” and “I Drove All Night.” When the hits dried up, Lauper continued to record and explore any number of genres, including alt rock, jazz, blues and electronic dance music. Her farewell tour hit Target Center in December.

Lauper also found tremendous success on Broadway with her Tony-winning score for the 2013 musical “Kinky Boots.” Her long-in-the-works musical based on the film “Working Girl” is set to debut in San Diego later this year before moving to Broadway in 2026.

With her Tony, pair of Grammys (best new artist and best musical theater album for “Kinky Boots”) and Emmy (for a guest role on “Mad About You”), Lauper is a mere Oscar away from becoming an EGOT. It’s entirely possible one is within her reach, as plans are underway to adapt the “Kinky Boots” musical into a film. This woman should’ve been in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame years ago.

2. Outkast

Like Lauper, Atlanta hip hop duo Outkast’s entry into the Rock Hall is long overdue.

Starting with 1994’s “Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik,” Big Boi (Antwan Patton) and André 3000 (André Benjamin) released a series of wildly influential and utterly entertaining albums to ever-increasing audiences. The pair peaked in a massive way with 2003’s “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below,” a sprawling, two-hour masterpiece that has been certified platinum 13 times and won two Grammys, including album of the year. It also featured a song called “Hey Ya” that you might have heard.

Outkast’s follow-up, 2006’s “Idlewild,” didn’t enjoy the same success, but much to their credit, Big Boi and André 3000 chose to quit while they were still ahead, leaving one of the strongest legacies in hip hop.

1. The White Stripes

I end with another duo that set the world on fire and did not overstay their welcome.

The White Stripes emerged from Detroit in 1999 with a startlingly minimalist take on the blues that stripped the genre down to just noisy guitar and manic vocals from Jack White and primal drumming from Meg White.

Their first two albums quickly established them in indie rock circles and the rest of the world soon followed thanks to the likes of “Fell in Love with a Girl,” “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” and “Seven Nation Army.”

During their reign, it drove me crazy hearing guys — and it was always guys — lament that the White Stripes would be so much better if they added a bass player and hired a “better” drummer. As White’s bumpy post-Stripes solo career has proven, the best work of his career was in the White Stripes and Meg White not only brought out the best in him, her drum work was absolutely essential to the duo’s sound.

Given that she was notoriously shy while in the White Stripes and that she has completely disappeared in the years since, it seems unlikely that Meg White will agree to perform at the induction ceremony. I’ll leave it to Rolling Stone’s Andy Greene for the final word: “Let’s hope that Meg at least watches the Disney+ livestream and smiles when the White Stripes are inducted. Great moments don’t always need to play out in public. And Meg White doesn’t owe us anything.”

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Today is Sunday, May 4, the 124th day of 2025. There are 241 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On May 4, 1970, Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on student demonstrators during an anti-war protest at Kent State University, killing four students and wounding nine others.

Also on this date:

In 1886, at Haymarket Square in Chicago, a labor demonstration for an 8-hour workday turned into a deadly riot when a bomb exploded, killing seven police officers and at least four civilians.

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Today in History: May 1, Obama announces killing of Osama bin Laden

In 1904, the United States took over construction of the Panama Canal from France.

In 1942, the Battle of the Coral Sea, the first naval clash fought entirely with carrier aircrafts, began in the Pacific during World War II. (The outcome was considered a tactical victory for Japan, but ultimately a strategic victory for the Allies.)

In 1961, the first group of “Freedom Riders” left Washington, D.C., to challenge racial segregation on interstate buses and in bus terminals.

In 1998, Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski was given four life sentences plus 30 years by a federal judge in Sacramento, California, under a plea agreement that spared him the death penalty.

In 2006, a federal judge sentenced Zacarias Moussaoui to life in prison for his role in the 9/11 attacks, telling the convicted terrorist, “You will die with a whimper.”

In 2011, President Barack Obama said he had decided not to release death photos of Osama bin Laden because their graphic nature could incite violence and create national security risks. Officials told The Associated Press that the Navy SEALs who stormed bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan shot and killed him after they saw him appear to reach for a weapon.

In 2023, former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and three other members of the far-right extremist group were convicted of a plot to attack the U.S. Capitol in a desperate bid to keep Donald Trump in power after the Republican lost the 2020 presidential election. (Tarrio was later sentenced to 22 years in prison, but was pardoned by Trump on January 20, 2025, the first day of Trump’s second term in office.)

Today’s Birthdays:

Jazz musician Ron Carter is 88.
Pulitzer Prize-winning political commentator George Will is 84.
Actor Richard Jenkins is 78.
Country singer Randy Travis is 66.
Comedian Ana Gasteyer is 58.
Actor Will Arnett is 55.
Basketball Hall of Famer Dawn Staley is 55.
Rock musician Mike Dirnt (Green Day) is 53.
Designer and TV personality Kimora Lee Simmons is 50.
Sportscaster/TV host Erin Andrews is 47.
Singer Lance Bass (NSYNC) is 46.
Actor Ruth Negga is 44.
Golfer Rory McIlroy is 36.

AUSTIN, Texas — Anthony Markanich and Joaquín Pereyra each scored a goal and Minnesota United FC took advantage of an own goal to earn three points with a 3-0 victory over Austin FC on Saturday.

Austin midfielder Ilie Sánchez was credited with an own goal from left of the box at 22 minutes for a 1-0 Minnesota (5-2-4) lead. His mild deflection of a shot attempt by Pereyra created back spin on a ball that slowly rolled through the hands and legs of keeper Brad Stuver.

Markanich scored 13 minutes later on a header from the center of the box for a two-goal lead. Pereyra ended the scoring in the first minute of extra time in the second half with a left-footed shot from the middle position outside the box.

Julian Gressel made his Loons debut as a substitute just days after being acquired after a waiver claim. He made his entrance as a wingback, allowing Bongokuhle Hlongwane to move up the field. Gressel, 31, helped seal the clean sheet with a decisive block from inside the goal, sending Brandon Vázquez’s shot out of the danger zone.

Austin has now been shut out five times in 11 games this season, and Loons goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair earned his sixth clean sheet of the season — tied for first in MLS.

The Loons bounced back from a 3-1 loss to Vancouver last week, a setback that snapped an eight-game unbeaten streak. They will travel to face Louisville City FC in the Round of 32 of the 2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday. If Minnesota wins, the Loons will host their Round of 16 game at Allianz Field.