dreams-from-my-father

[dreams-from-my-father]

Gustav Klimt. Reclining Nude Facing Right, 1914

#art #drawing #klimt #gustav klimt #nude #naked #bed #sex #porn

[dreams-from-my-father]

Why I don't love this ice bucket thing

Lately every time I log onto Facebook I’m hit with a deluge of people dumping buckets of ice water on themselves for charity.

Over the past couple of days I haven’t been able to stop myself from listing all of the reasons I think this is ridiculous every time I see a new video pop up, so instead of subjecting my like-minded friends to yet another rant, here’s a blog.

So, why am I so annoyed that a bunch of people are raising awareness via social media and donating to ALS research? Because you don’t need to waste a bucket of POTABLE water to support a charitable organization.

What is potable water and why is it obnoxious to dump it over our heads for a social media stunt?

Potable water is water that is clean/safe enough for humans to consume. The developed world uses a lot more potable water than necessary for a wide variety of things, such as washing cars and flushing toilets - the water that removes your feces from your immediate environment doesn’t really need to be clean enough to drink. For those of you who don’t know (and given the state of awareness for water issues in the US, it’s not really your fault if you were unaware), much of the water in the developing world is not treated, and therefore not potable.

In Cameroon, if I want to drink water I either need to purchase a sealed bottle, boil, or filter it. Sometimes it’s necessary to add a small amount of bleach before filtering, or to boil and filter. The water I shower and clean my house, clothes and dishes with isn’t fit to drink. So it becomes a bit irksome to see lots of people happily dumping out buckets of potable water because they can.

But as for the main reason the bucket challenge annoys me, look at the sheer amount of water being used. The one bucket you’ve just poured out is probably about a week’s worth of showers if I don’t wash my hair. It could probably wash 4-5 meals worth of dishes. It could probably cook about 10 single person meals. Or it could flush my toilet 2-3 times. It could clean all of my floors if I was for some reason inclined to wash them. And it could be used to supply me with at least a week of clean underwear.

That’s cool, you say, but we have so much water and it’s super easy to obtain, so what’s the problem?

Well, from what I understand there’s a pretty bad drought in the Southwest at the moment, so no, actually you don’t have “so much water.” Also, wasting resources because you personally have a surplus is not what all the cool kids are doing.

To provide some contrast, let me tell you how I get water in Cameroon. Living in a regional capital, I actually have a really luxurious water situation. Every couple of days the water comes on for a few hours in my kitchen, typically at a trickle, and if I have an hour or two to spare I can collect enough to fill up my water trashcan and my filter. If I use the water sparingly and strategically that can last for about a week if I need it to. I also leave a couple of buckets outside to collect rain water, and there’s a well in my compound that I can use if I need.

As running water is nowhere near close to the norm here, many of my fellow volunteers have to either go to the well or forage themselves or hire someone else to do it for them. A trip to the forage usually involves several jerrycans, a wheelbarrow, and a walk that can be as short as 30 seconds or really fucking long, depending on how lucky you are. I can say from personal experience that wheeling several jerrycans back from the forage is not an enjoyable task. Some people have to hike into the jungle and get their water from a stream and carry it home. 

So yes, when you look at all the things that bucket of water could potentially do and the effort that most of the people I know here have to put into obtaining it, it does seem kind of obnoxious to waste it on a social media stunt. Of course I can only speak for myself, and I haven’t met any Cameroonians who are familiar with the ice bucket challenge, but looking at how water is used here (for example the water from the laundry will often be used to wash the floors, and the water from the dishes or a shower will be saved to flush a toilet if the household has one), I can’t imagine that an ice bucket challenge would ever catch on here.

Although that is pretty much how everyone showers anyway, so maybe I’m not thinking creatively enough…

Speaking of creativity, let’s address the creative aspect of the ice bucket challenge. Half of the battle of changing something is raising awareness about the issue, so I see what the engineers of the ice bucket challenge were going for. They’ve done a spectacular job of getting everyone’s attention, but I maintain that you can get people’s attention in less wasteful ways.

For example, the jump into a pool/ocean/stream/other body of water with your clothes on or donate challenge. Or the plant a tree or donate challenge. Planting a tree would be a huge pain in the ass, I’d rather just donate. Adopt a kitten or donate: everyone wins! Read a book or donate - people in the US don’t read enough. Call your mother or donate. I would double the suggested amount.

The moral of this blog entry: If you want to donate to charity, that’s awesome. I salute you. Carry on. If you want to congratulate yourself for your valiant slacktivism, it would be cool if you could do that privately.

#ice bucket challenge #als ice bucket challenge #water #bertoua #cameroon #cameroun #peace corps #yaounde #africa

[dreams-from-my-father]

So my sister and I met him at OR Tambo in Joburg in May. My sister even ran after him begging for an autograph and telling him how big of a fan she is. Jeez, I was soooooooo embarrassed and so was he visibly     ( ._.) And while we were boarding our plane for Addis Ababa guess who was right behind us??? Yep Mr Bey himself. He just sad "hi" with the cutest smile ever and the sexiest voice! *_* I just got wet on the spot! In real life he is quite petite and tiny

Mos Def On Relocating, Travelling Through Africa, and Living in Cape Town:

"You’ve got to be where you feel good and effective. A place that also provides opportunity and inspiration. While moving to a new location is always the same; find a house, move in, etc., these two cities give me more of an emotional attachment. It’s a soul connection rather than a logical or rational connection, and it only makes sense to me. I see a lot of opportunities in Paris and Cape Town and I’m blessed and fortunate enough to be able to be based out there. Traveling keeps me inspired. Recently, I’ve been to Johannesburg, Morocco, Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Chile, checking out the local music and fashion industry. One of the few places I haven’t been to yet is Reykajvik, the capital of Iceland.

The world is a very dynamic place so every place is different and has its pros and cons, challenges and joys. I like being based in Africa, there’s a lot more of the continent that I’m looking forward to seeing, experiencing and working in even. Africa provides a lot of inspiration to me, almost on every level, not just as a creative, but spiritually.”

(via HYPEBEAST)

#mos def #yasin bey

[dreams-from-my-father]

[dreams-from-my-father]

#arundhati roy #poem #self #love

[dreams-from-my-father]

cynicalapathy replied to your photo

it is insane how beautiful you are

OMG *blushes all the blushes* :-)

#cynicalapathy

[dreams-from-my-father]

praisethelorde replied to your photo

I love your eyes!

thanks =)

#praisethelorde

[dreams-from-my-father]

nezua replied to your photo

Beauty.

Thank you Nezua

#nezua

[dreams-from-my-father]

The spectacle does not realize philosophy, it philosophizes reality, reducing everyone’s concrete life to a universe of speculation.

Guy Debord - The society of spectacle

#Guy Debord #debord #situationist #situationists #self #spectacle #definition #me #philosophy

[dreams-from-my-father]

Paralysis

I am the essence of chaos 

And every move is a deep and painful tear

#me #self

[dreams-from-my-father]

#lol #gif #mitt romney #2012 election

[dreams-from-my-father]

"Tomorrow" by Salif Keita

This song is about the inevitability of death. Here "tomorrow" means after this life . "Sadio" is the name of somebody who died. Nobody died and came back. Death is inevitable. Sadio, see you tomorrow (after this life). You are everyone's darling. Ousmane is at a loss since you left for your final journey. All the people of Mali are lost without you. Death is final. Fatoumata and Ba-Oumou are saying how much you mean to them. Sitting or standing, everyone is lamenting your absence. You did such a great work Sadio. Everybody remembers you still. You still live in the hearts of people. Tomorrow, Sadio, see you tomorrow. [x]

Original lyrics---------------------------------------------------------- tomorrow, only tomorrow, sadio ambe tomorrow x 2 sadio jon te i fe, Ousmane ko, ka bi fe, ka bi fe, koniete ka le te sigi sadio jon te i fe, malienw ko, u bi fe ko, u bi fe, ko ni e te ko ulu te sigi, mogo ma taa folo kanaa, saya ma son nene ma, an sayakera nene balidi tomorrow, only tomorrow, sadio ambe tomorrow x 2 sadio jon te i fe, Fatoumata ko, ka bi fe, ka bi fe, kono ete ka le te sigi sadio jon te i fe, Ba-Oumou ko, ka bi fe, ka bi fe, ko ni ete ka le te sigi mogomataa folo kanaa, say mason nenema, an mogo mataa folo kanaa, saya mason nenema, an saya kera nenebali tomorrow see you tomorrow, sadio see you tomorrow tomorrow only tomorrow, sadio ambe tomorrow English Translation---------------------------------------------------- I will not feel this way anymore. I will not remember this feeling. I will remember the emotion. I will remember the moment. It will be a memory. A recollection, a description. It will be tainted and impure. Coloured by mission, by vision, by recollection. Today... I cannot capture it. Not even just yet. I have been blemished. In thought, emotion, mission. My stomache knots and sinks. Somersaults in rebellion. The body will fight the mind. The heart estranged, must mediate... Teased and Torn Unable to do justice. Eyes mist over. Tears well in the lower lid and spill over. Brook to stream to river. Outpour, overflow. Taste them. Savour the release of Nothing and Something.

#salif keita #mali #song #music #video #me #death #peom #poetry #poems

[dreams-from-my-father]

#bodies #poem #poems #poetry #body #beauty

[dreams-from-my-father]

ppppeeerrrffeeecccctttt

Especially these ones: 

 My faves :3

Bonjour Gazel: 220. (My favourite looks from 2011)

Ok, because Tumblr won’t let me attach 12, I’ll attach 10. You’ll have to see the remaining ones on my blog!

#style #snow #swim suit #body #make up #fashion

[dreams-from-my-father]

[TW: Torture, Racism] The Reuters report says that the city is under siege because it still harbors pockets of pro-Gaddafi elements. But as usual this is a distortion and ignores firstly the fact that the tribe of Bani Walid, the Werfalla, which is also Libya’s largest tribe, has always been united ideologically as they were and remain throughout this ongoing crisis. Their position has unwaveringly been to resist the NATO-rebel insurgency, and had it not been for the unity of the Werfalla, then the militias would never be able to enter Bani Walid without heavy bombardment.

Lizzie Phelan, Libyan City Under Siege by Militias via Black Agenda Report

The same militia that erased the Black town ofTawergha and has terrorized dark-skinned Libyans and African immigrants, is threatening to attack the city of Bani Walid, which has been under artillery siege and encirclement for over a week. The NATO-backed militias claim to be targeting “pro-Gaddafi” elements.

(via jayaprada)

There is so much I would like to say but I do not even know where to start. But I would simply say in a nutshell that the Arab Spring highlighted for me how extremely dangerous and devastating Arab imperialism was for Black Africans and for this reason, I will never again support any Arab movement of liberation! NEVER AGAIN - unless they openly and actively fight anti-blackness, otherwise, they will only strive off it. This is the reason why I do not support white movement of resistance like OWS, because they do not challenge the racism at their core, so if successful, will only lead to the creation of another racist society. 

It is extremely difficult to explain Arab anti-blackness with western-centric notions of race because a lot of it has to do with colorism and anti-blackness also manifest itself through the oppression of native, indigenous African peoples. One can be Arab and black. There is no such hard rule like the one drop rule in the US that defines blackness clearly in the Arab world. But unlike in the US, the Arab slave trade of black Africans has NEVER STOPPED, outlawed or not!!! It is still widely practiced all over the middle East and in some parts of North Africa. I am posting this, Ethiopia woman lived modern day slavery at hands of Dubai couple, which happened just few days ago and this, Saudi prince beat his black sex slave to death, as a reminder that we black people are still seen as less than human and slaves in the Arab world. 

The Egyptian revolution started off with reports of massacres of Somali migrants, the Lybian revolution culminated with the mass murder and genocide of 30,000 Tawergha people, wiped out with the support of the west and I frequently see casual anti-blackness on this website with pro-Palestine partisans who have no scruples exploiting the plight of black people in Israel, as simple rhetoric device to further their anti-Israel agenda. Yet none of them will ever address the lingering anti-blackness in Palestine or the rest of the Arab world. So, as a black African, simply by self-preservation, I can not get down with this kind of savagery. 

All of this just proves two things to me. First of all, the world do NOT give a flying fuck about the lives of Black African people, I already knew this. And when I say the world, I am not only talking about white people, I am talking about the whole fucking planet, POC included. This leads me to my second point, POC solidarity is the phoniest shit ever!! THERE IS NO SUCH A THING! And I see it as even dangerous because I know that many do not expose and address Arab imperialism because of it. Because Arab people are victims of white supremacy, they somehow get a pass for the supremacist system they have imposed on black and indigenous Africans. Being unchallenged, it can only strive!! THEY ARE STILL ENSLAVING US GODDAMNIT!! IN 2012!! I cannot denounce the barbaric anti-blackness of white supremacy and not address Arab imperialism. Especially since as a black person, I will always be a million times safer in the west than I will ever be in any Arab country!!

#libya #politics #NATO #racism #werfalla #bani walid #post-gaddafi libya #propaganda #blowback #tawergha #lybia #arab #revolution

[dreams-from-my-father]

#resistance #gif #movie #film #revolution

[dreams-from-my-father]

nappyedges replied to your post: nappyedges replied to your post: So I was watching...

I don’t think we can escape capitalism either. I think it’ll run itself into the ground in 1000+ years like the Roman Empire did. We can only dismantle parts of it.

I see what you mean. I was thinking the same but meanwhile the exploitation will keep on :/

#nappyedges