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trans-advice · 4 years

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[NOTE: we changed the bullets to numbers in order to help with readability of this relatively long post. there is no other purpose for the list numbering.]

Redistribute resources to support Black trans liberation and survival! Split a donation to all the orgs listed on this page OR allocate specific amounts to individual groups. Then be sure to share this page once you're done.

**All funds donated go directly to the groups listed via ActBlue. Feel free to reach out to them if you have any questions**

Last week, many people shared that it was hard to track down a centralized place to find a list of specifically Black trans groups. This page is part of an effort to create an easier way for people to find and donate specifically to Black trans work and people right now. We know that this list is not complete, and it will be continually updated. If you have questions or would like to add an org in your area to this page, please email: [email protected].

The groups listed in this first section only accept donations through PayPal, CashApp, or Venmo. Please support their important work by clicking over to their websites here:

Trans Sistas of Color Project Detroit: Exists to uplift, impact and influence that lives and welfare of transgender women of color in Detroit.

En-Poder-Arte (Colombia) Founded by an Afro-Colombian trans woman and other trans women of color. A few months ago, they launched a community house, which provides safe housing to Black trans women and trans women of color.

F2L Relief Fund: Provides commissary support (and legal representation & financial assistance) for incarcerated LGBTQ and Two-Spirit POC in NY State.

Middle Tennessee Black and Indigenous Support Fund: A community fund for Black and Indigenous queer and trans folks living and participating in rural Middle TN, with a goal to foster wealth redistribution in its larger community, direct the funds to Black and Indigenous community members, and build the leadership of Black and Indigenous community members.

Tournament Haus Fund: Mutual Aid fund for protestors and Trans/NonBinary BIPOC in the ballroom scene in Portland/Tacoma/Seattle.

TAKE Birmingham: A peer support group for trans women of color to come together and share their narratives. Also organizing around discrimination in the workplace, housing advocacy, & support for sex workers.

Black Excellence Collective Transport for Black NYC LGBTQ+ Protestors: Raising funds to provide safe transport for Black LGBTQ+ Protestors.

Kween Culture: Provides programming towards social and cultural empowerment of transgender women of color.

Black Trans Travel Fund : A mutual aid project developed to provide Black transgender women with the financial resources to self-determine safer alternatives to travel, so they feel less likely to experience verbal harassment or physical harm.

Heaux History Project: A documentary series and archival project exploring Black and Brown erotic labor history and the fight for sex workers’ rights.

Homeless Black Trans Women Fund: Supports Black Trans women that live in Atlanta and are sex workers and/or homeless.

Reproductive Justice Access Collective (ReJAC): A New Orleans network that aims to share information, resources, ideas, and human power to create and implement projects in our community that operate within the reproductive justice framework.

Rainbow Sunrise Mapambazuko/RSM (Democratic Republic of Congo): Fights for the Promotion of the rights and equality of LGBTQ people in DRC and is today facing this covid-19 crisis which further weakens Black LGBTQ people and more particularly transgender Black women.

Compiled direct donation links for individual Black Trans folks A compilation of direct donation links to Black trans people, including GoFundMes and CashApp handles. Email address on page to add to this list.

Below are the orgs you can support through the split donation form (on the right, if you're on a computer, or below if you're on a mobile device):

For The Gworls: This fund provides assistance to Black trans folks around travel to and from medical facilities, and co-pay assistance for prescriptions and (virtual) office visits. ⁣

Black Trans Fund: The first national fund in the country dedicated to uplifting and resourcing Black trans social justice leaders. BTF seeks to address the lack of funding for Black trans communities in the U.S. through direct grantmaking, capacity building support, and funder organizing to transform philanthropy.

Nationz Foundation: Provides education and information related to HIV prevention and overall health and wellness, while inspiring the community to take responsibility for their health while working towards a more inclusive Central Virginia for LGBTQIA+ identified individuals.

Trans Justice Funding Project: Supports grassroots trans justice groups run by and for trans people, focusing on organizing around racism, economic injustice, transmisogyny, ableism, immigration, and incarceration.

Third Wave Fund: An activist fund led by and for women of color, intersex, queer, and trans people under 35 years of age to resource the political power, well-being, and self determination of communities of color and low-income communities. Includes rapid response grantmaking, multi-year unrestricted grants, and the Sex Worker Giving Circle.

Unique Womens Coalition: The first Los Angeles based supportive organization for and by Transgender people of color, committed to fostering the next generation of black trans leadership from within community through mentorship, scholarship, and community care engagement work.

Black Trans Women Inc.: A national nonprofit organization committed to providing the trans-feminine community with programs and resources to help inspire individual growth and contributions to the greater good of society to meet its mission of uplifting the voice, heart and soul of black transwomen.

Black Trans Men Inc.: The first national nonprofit social advocacy organization with a specific focus on empowering African American transgender men by addressing multi-layered issues of injustice faced at the intersections of racial, sexual orientation, and gender identities.

SisTers/Brothers PGH: A transgender drop-in space, resource provider and shelter transitioning program based in Pittsburgh, PA.

Love Me Unlimited for Life: A catalyst that helps our transgender community members reach their goals and fulfill their potential through advocacy and outreach activities.

My Sistah's House Memphis: Designed to bring about social change within the Trans Community in Memphis, by providing a safe meeting space and living spaces for those who are most vulnerable in the LGBTQ+ community.

Black LGBTQIA Migrant Project: Builds and centers the power of Black LGBTQIA+ migrants through community-building, political education, direct services, and organizing across borders. BLMP is providing cash assistance to Black LGBTQ+ migrants and first generation people dealing with the impact of COVID-19.

Taja’s Coalition at St. James Infirmary: Empowers their community in navigating housing, medical services, legal services, and the workplace, as well as regularly training agencies in the SF Bay Area.

Marsha P. Johnson Institute: Helps employ black trans people, build more strategic campaigns, launch winning initiatives, and interrupt the people who are standing in the way of more being possible in the world for BLACK Trans people, and all people.

Black Trans Protestors Emergency Fund organized by Black Trans Femme in the Arts Collective : Supports Black trans protestors with resources like bail and medical care.

Black & Pink Bail Fund: A national prison abolitionist organization dedicated to dismantling the criminal punishment system and the harms caused to LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV/AIDS who are affected by the system through advocacy, support, and organizing.

Black Visions Collective (MN): Black Visions Collective centers their work in healing and transformative justice principles and develops Minnesota’s emerging Black leadership, creating the conditions for long term success and transformation.

SNaPCo: A Black, trans-led, broad-based collaborative to restore an Atlanta where every person has the opportunity to grow and thrive without facing unfair barriers, especially from the criminal legal system.

Brave Space Alliance: Created to fill a gap in the organizing of and services to trans and gender-nonconforming people on the South and West Sides of Chicago, where very few LGBTQ advocacy networks exist.

Okra Project/Tony McDade and Nina Pop Mental Health Fund: Provides Black Trans people with quality mental health & therapy. Also addresses food security in Black trans communities.

House of GG: A nonprofit, founded by legendary trans activist Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, that is raising money to build a permanent home where Transgender people can come, feel safe, and be part of a growing network of Southern trans people who are working for social justice.

TGI Justice Project: TGI Justice Project is a group of transgender, gender variant and intersex people -- inside and outside of prisons, jails and detention centers -- challenging and ending human rights abuses committed against TGI people in California prisons, jails, detention centers and beyond.

Trans Women of Color Collective: TWOCC exists to create revolutionary change by uplifting the narratives, leadership, and lived experience of trans people of color.

Youth Breakout: BreakOUT! seeks to end the criminalization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth to build a safer and more just New Orleans, organizing with youth ages 13-25 who are directly impacted by the criminal justice system.

Translash: A trans-led project uses the power of individual stories to help save trans lives, shifting the cultural understanding of what it means to be transgender, especially during a time of social backlash, to foster inclusion and decrease anti-trans hostility.

TRANScending Barriers: A trans-led trans-issue focused organization whose mission is to empower the transgender and gender non-conforming community in Georgia through community organizing with leadership building, advocacy, and direct services.

My Sistah's House: A trans-led nonprofit providing first hand experience as well as field research to create a one-stop shop for finding doctors, social groups and safe spaces for the trans community, providing emergency shelter, access to sexual health services, and social services.

Dem Bois: A national organization with the mission to provide charitable economical aid for female to male, FTM, trans-masculine identified person(s) of color ages twenty-one years old and older for them to obtain chest reconstruction surgery, and or genital reassignment surgery in order to help them on their journey to live a more fulfilled physical, mental, and self-authentic life.

G.L.I.T.S: Approaches the health and rights crises faced by transgender sex workers holistically using harm reduction, human rights principles, economic and social justice, along with a commitment to empowerment and pride in finding solutions from our own community.

Emergency Release Fund: Aims to ensure that no trans person at risk in New York City jails remains in detention before trial; if cash bail is set for a trans person in New York City and no bars to release are in place, bail will be paid by the Emergency Release Fund.

HEARD: Helping Educate to Advance the Rights of Deaf Communities: Supports deaf, hard of hearing, deafblind, deafdisabled, and disabled (“deaf/disabled”) people at every stage of the criminal legal system process, up to and including during and after incarceration.

Black Trans Advocacy Coalition COVID-19 Community Response Grant: Works daily to end discrimination and inequities faced in health, employment, housing and education to improve the lived experience of transgender people.

Princess Janae Place: Provides referrals to housing for chronically homeless LGBTQ adults in the New York Tri-state area, with direct emphasis on Trans/GNC people of color.

The Transgender District: Aims to stabilize and economically empower the transgender community through ownership of homes, businesses, historic and cultural sites, and safe community spaces.

Assata’s Daughters: A Black woman-led, young person-directed organization rooted in the Black Radical Tradition. AD organizes young Black people in Chicago by providing them with political education, leadership development, mentorship, and revolutionary services.

Collective Action for Safe Spaces: A grassroots organization that uses comprehensive, community-based solutions through an intersectional lens to eliminate public gendered harassment and assault in the DC area.

The Knights and Orchids Society (TKO): Strives to build the power of the TLGB community for African Americans throughout rural areas in Alabama & across the south, to obtain our dream of justice and equality through group economics, education, leadership development, and organizing cultural work.

The Outlaw Project: Based on the principles of intersectionality to prioritize the leadership of people of color, transgender women, gender non-binary and migrants for sex worker rights in Phoenix, AZ. Ensuring our rights and health as a first step will ensure the rights and health of all sex workers.

WeCare TN: Supports trans women of color in Memphis, TN, through education, and empowerment, with the goal to ensure that transwomen of color have the same equity and quality of life as envisioned.

HEARD (Helping Educate to Advance the Rights of Deaf Communities): Supports deaf, hard of hearing, deafblind, deafdisabled, and disabled (“deaf/disabled”) people at every stage of the criminal legal system process, up to and including during and after incarceration.

Community Ele'te (Richmond, VA) To establish unity, provide safe sex awareness and education, linkage to resources, emergency housing assistance, and empower the community to make positive lifestyle decisions.

TAJA's Coalition: An organization dedicated to ending violence against Black Trans women and Trans women of color based in San Francisco

Black Trans Task Force: (BTTF) is an intersectional, multi-generational project of community building, research, and political action addressing the crisis of violence against Black Trans people in the Seattle-Tacoma area.

The Transgender District: Aims to stabilize and economically empower the transgender community through ownership of homes, businesses, historic and cultural sites, and safe community spaces.

Trans Sistas of Color Project Detroit: exists to uplift, impact and influence that lives and welfare of transgender women of color in Detroit.

Black Trans Media (Brooklyn, NY): We are #blacktranseverything storytellers, organizers, poets, healers, filmmakers, facilitators here to confront racism and transphobia trans people of the diaspora committed to decolonizing media and community education

Garden of Peace, Inc.(Pittsburgh, PA): Centers black trans & queer youth, elevates and empowers the narratives and lived experiences of black youth and their caretakers, and guides revolutionary spaces of healing and truth through art, education, and mentorship.

House of Pentacles (Durham, NC): HOP is a Film Training Program and Production House designed to launch Black trans youth (ages 18-35) into the film industry and tell stories woven at the intersection of being Black and Trans. We have a simple mission: to train the next generation of Black trans storytellers and filmmakers, to leverage our brand to get Black trans filmmakers paid projects in their communities, and to pay Black trans trainees to work on HOP projects that further the stories of Black trans people globally.

Minnesota Transgender Health Coalition (Minneapolis, MN): is committed to improving health care access and the quality of health care received by trans and gender non-conforming people through education, resources, and advocacy.

RARE Productions (Minneapolis, MN): Arts and entertainment media production company for LGBTQ people of color that promotes, produces, and co-creates opportunities and events utilizing innovative artistic methods and strategies.

Baltimore Safe Haven: providing opportunities for a higher quality of life for transgender people in Baltimore City living in survival mode.

Transgender Emergency Fund of Massachusetts: recently helped organize a Trans Resistance Vigil and March through Boston, in place of the Boston Pride Parade that was cancelled due to COVID-19.

Semillas: In Borikén/Puerto Rico, our trans, gender non-conforming and queer communities are facing many obstacles to our survival, and not only due to Mariá.

Street Youth Rise Up: Our campaign is to change the way Chicago sees and treats its homeless home free and street based youth who do what they have to do to survive.

Trans(forming): A membership-based organization led by trans men, intersex, gender non-conforming people of color, to provide resources and all around transitional support.

#donation post #trans resources #signal boost #signal boooooost #black trans lives matter

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richincolor · 4 years

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#ReadingAfrica

Catalyst Press held a #ReadingAfrica Week during the first week of December. The campaign just ended, but we encourage everyone to #ReadAfrica all year long. Here are some of the Young Adult books we’ve enjoyed and recommend:

It's Trevor Noah: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood (Adapted for Young Readers) by Trevor Noah - Delacorte

The host of The Daily Show, Trevor Noah, tells the story of growing up half black, half white in South Africa under and after apartheid in this young readers' adaptation of his bestselling adult memoir Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood.

Trevor Noah shares his story of growing up in South Africa, with a black South African mother and a white European father at a time when it was against the law for a mixed-race child like him to exist. But he did exist--and from the beginning, the often-misbehaved Trevor used his smarts and humor to navigate a harsh life under a racist government.

How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child by Sandra Uwiringiyimana, Abigail Pesta - Katherine Tegen Books

This profoundly moving memoir is the remarkable and inspiring true story of Sandra Uwiringyimana, a girl from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who tells the tale of how she survived a massacre, immigrated to America, and overcame her trauma through art and activism. Sandra was just ten years old when she found herself with a gun pointed at her head. She had watched as rebels gunned down her mother and six-year-old sister in a refugee camp. Remarkably, the rebel didn’t pull the trigger, and Sandra escaped. Thus began a new life for her and her surviving family members. With no home and no money, they struggled to stay alive. Eventually, through a United Nations refugee program, they moved to America, only to face yet another ethnic disconnect. Sandra may have crossed an ocean, but there was now a much wider divide she had to overcome. And it started with middle school in New York. In this memoir, Sandra tells the story of her survival, of finding her place in a new country, of her hope for the future, and how she found a way to give voice to her people.

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Harper Perennial

Fifteen-year-old Kambili and her older brother Jaja lead a privileged life in Enugu, Nigeria. They live in a beautiful house, with a caring family, and attend an exclusive missionary school. They're completely shielded from the troubles of the world. Yet, as Kambili reveals in her tender-voiced account, things are less perfect than they appear. Although her Papa is generous and well respected, he is fanatically religious and tyrannical at home—a home that is silent and suffocating. As the country begins to fall apart under a military coup, Kambili and Jaja are sent to their aunt, a university professor outside the city, where they discover a life beyond the confines of their father’s authority. Books cram the shelves, curry and nutmeg permeate the air, and their cousins’ laughter rings throughout the house. When they return home, tensions within the family escalate, and Kambili must find the strength to keep her loved ones together. Purple Hibiscus is an exquisite novel about the emotional turmoil of adolescence, the powerful bonds of family, and the bright promise of freedom.

Aya: Life in Yop City by Marguerite Abouet, Clément Oubrerie (Illustrator) - Drawn and Quarterly

Ivory Coast, 1978. It’s a golden time, and the nation, too—an oasis of affluence and stability in West Africa—seems fueled by something wondrous. Aya is loosely based upon Marguerite Abouet’s youth in Yop City. It is the story of the studious and clear-sighted nineteen-year-old Aya, her easygoing friends Adjoua and Bintou, and their meddling relatives and neighbors. It’s a wryly funny, breezy account of the simple pleasures and private troubles of everyday life in Yop City. Clément Oubrerie’s warm colors and energetic, playful line connect expressively with Marguerite Abouet’s vibrant writing. This reworked edition offers readers the chance to immerse themselves in Abouet’s Yop City, bringing together the first three volumes of the series in Book One.

Hope is Our Only Wing by Rutendo Tavengerwei - Soho Teen [Rich in Color Review]

For fifteen-year-old Shamiso, struggling with grief and bewilderment following her father's death, hope is nothing but a leap into darkness. For Tanyaradzwa, whose life has been turned upside down by a cancer diagnosis, hope is the only reason to keep fighting. As the two of them form an unlikely friendship, Shamiso begins to confront her terrible fear of loss. In getting close to another person, particularly someone who's ill, isn't she just opening herself up to more pain? And underpinning it all - what did happen to her father, the night of that strange and implausible car crash? Rutendo Tavengerwei's extraordinary debut takes an honest look at hope, and the grit and courage it can take to hang on to it.

This Book Betrays My Brother by Kagiso Lesego Molope - Mawenzi House Publishers [Rich in Color Review]

What does a teenage girl do when she sees her beloved older brother commit a horrific crime? Should she report to her parents, or should she keep quiet? Should she confront him? All her life, Naledi has been in awe of Basi, her charming and outgoing older brother. They've shared their childhood, with its jokes and secrets, the alliances and stories about the community. Having reached thirteen, she is preparing to go to the school dance. Then she sees Naledi commit an act that violates everything she believes about him. How will she live her life now? This coming-of-age novel brings together many social issues, peculiar not only to South Africa but elsewhere as well, in the modern world: class and race, young love and physical desire, homosexuality. In beautiful, lyrical, and intimate prose, Molope shows the dilemmas facing a young woman as she attempts to find her place in a new, multiracial, and dynamic nation emerging into the world after more than a century of racist colonialism. A world now dominated by men. There are no simple answers.

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor - Speak [Rich in Color Review]

Sunny Nwazue lives in Nigeria, but she was born in New York City. Her features are West African, but she's albino. She's a terrific athlete, but can't go out into the sun to play soccer. There seems to be no place where she fits in. And then she discovers something amazing—she is a "free agent" with latent magical power. And she has a lot of catching up to do. Soon she's part of a quartet of magic students, studying the visible and invisible, learning to change reality. But just as she's finding her footing, Sunny and her friends are asked by the magical authorities to help track down a career criminal who knows magic, too. Will their training be enough to help them against a threat whose powers greatly outnumber theirs?

Akata Warrior by Nnedi Okorafor - Viking Books for Young Readers

A year ago, Sunny Nwazue, an American-born girl Nigerian girl, was inducted into the secret Leopard Society. As she began to develop her magical powers, Sunny learned that she had been chosen to lead a dangerous mission to avert an apocalypse, brought about by the terrifying masquerade, Ekwensu. Now, stronger, feistier, and a bit older, Sunny is studying with her mentor Sugar Cream and struggling to unlock the secrets in her strange Nsibidi book. Eventually, Sunny knows she must confront her destiny. With the support of her Leopard Society friends, Orlu, Chichi, and Sasha, and of her spirit face, Anyanwu, she will travel through worlds both visible and invisible to the mysteries town of Osisi, where she will fight a climactic battle to save humanity. Much-honored Nnedi Okorafor, winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy awards, merges today’s Nigeria with a unique world she creates. Akata Warrior blends mythology, fantasy, history and magic into a compelling tale that will keep readers spellbound.

#ReadingAfrica #ReadAfrica

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sebassstian-stan · 4 years

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Christmas comes but once a year...

Under the cut are (super on time, sorry!) Christmas treats for @butlergerry, @deltslea, @dormernatali, @roerigz, @scarlettjohansssn, @shaiwoodleybv, @charliehmn, @residentgoober, @stefigerm, @bjamesjr, @apopple, @xolively & @vancityryan

~Merry Christmas!~

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

I’m especially grateful for each and every one of you this year - old friends and new - and I hope you have a happy, healthy and celebratory holiday with your families this year. Thank you for welcoming me back with open arms, and including me in your families of choice. Stay cozied up and warm with this hot chocolate kit, and use it to help wash down some homemade cozonac bread - a Romanian specialty - and the blame for my expanding Christmas waistline.

Though a lot of things have changed over the years, and I may have been MIA for a few of them - some things stay the same. I wasn’t raised with much, and feel that we all have so much... I hope you all enjoy my preferred version of Christmas giving - something homemade and from the heart, and something to put good out into the world for those who aren’t as breathtakingly lucky as the rest of us.

Lots of love,

Sebastian

_______________________________

For my new mate, @charliehmn, helping five male refugees not only receive job and skills prep to join the workforce in their new homes, but vital supplies to get them through the first few weeks so they can provide for their families

For my moonbeam kid sister, @shaiwoodleybv and the woman who can - and maybe should - kick my ass on the reg, @scarlettjohansssn, the gift of each of you sending ten girls to school for an entire year in areas like Afghanistan, the Congo and Lebanon

For the couples that not only redefine what successful, supportive marriages look like - @bjamesjr and @apopple, @xolively and @vancityryan, and @residentgoober and @stefigerm - but you all make very cute kids to boot, a vitally important baby incubator donated in each of your names to under-resourced hospitals in Africa and Asia. Each incubator on average will save hundreds of premature babies’ lives in these areas for loving parents like you all.

For the unofficial Mayor of Bayview, and the guy who always has a plan, or at least fakes it like nobody’s business @butlergerry, a water distribution and sanitation station for rural tribes who cannot source it themselves - needless to say, a vital part of the rebuilding and vitality efforts and something we take for granted. As someone who does a lot for those around them on their own, I wanted to shine that light a little brighter where I could.

For the strongest and most inspiriting woman around, @deltslea, there isn’t a way to bottle up your special magic, but providing small business training for five women in places like Liberia, where market-savvy women are often natural entrepreneurs who generate income for their families and lift the fortunes of entire communities. Sort of like the way you lift up the rest of us, doll.

For the fiercest and defacto-everyone’s mom, @dormernatali, as someone who has brought their own family together to create something beautiful, my favorite gift this year of reuniting five refugee families who have been separated during a crisis, migration or other natural disaster across Africa and the Middle East. Because of you, five families are going to find each other in this crazy world to begin healing and thriving.

For my brother, @roerigz. A lot has changed, for us as men on our own, and between the two of us as friends. Family again someday, hopefully. Though I have some regrets, coming back home and, admittedly not easy, but having the chance to work on things together - metaphorically, but also kind of literally soon enough - will never be one of them. I wanted to get you a few goofy things, because, you know, Christmas - like this shirt - but the wood brand is something I thought you might like to design for yourself to sign your work. It’s beautiful, and deserves to bear the Roerig name, or Windsong’s, if you wanted. Your affinity for fat, happy, healthy babies is something I’ve learned to start appreciating over the years too, but one that I started learning from yours. In light of that, your real gift of four mobile clinics - Gracie’s Clinic, Jason’s Clinic, Harper’s Clinic and Ryan’s Clinic - which will serve across southeastern Asia and Africa, to have there be more fat, happy babies in the world because of you all.

#gifts post #christmas 2019 #shhhh these are right on time!#roerigz #charliehmn‌#bjamesjr #apopple #xolively #residentgoober #stefigerm #vancityryan #butlergerry #dormernatali #deltslea #shaiwoodleybv‌#scarlettjohansssn

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bluboothalassophile · 6 years

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Gotham Gazette

It’s the Wedding of the Century!

By Vikki Vale

Yes, folks, that is right! It’s been announced that the Eldest Prince of Gotham has intentions to marry the mother of Gotham’s newest darling socialite (whom we have been pestering the Waynes for photos of) Mar'i Grayson, Kori Anders!

The couple’s wedding will be held in a private resort, very exclusive, and private, having secured no fly overs.

Sorry, folks, no paparazzi photos of the wedding to be either.

The wedding is set at Mountain Top Inn & Resort, in Vermont; it’s been booked entirely by the Father of the Groom; the ENTIRE Resort folks. Of course we’d expect nothing less from Gotham Royalty. Nothing but the finest for the elusive Bruce Wayne and his children.

Now, there are rumors going around about the guest lists, of which we at the Gazette can neither confirm nor deny, because we have no knowledge outside the immediate family who will be attending!

Naturally there’s the Bride to also discuss.

Model Kori Anders, who has been a sensational woman for people of color and resetting the value of social norms on beauty and self, has been involved with Richard Grayson, on and off again, for over seven years! Yes, they met in San Francisco, shortly after Kori reportedly lost he family and Jason Todd was ‘killed’, the grief spiral Richard’s life.

They reportedly met shortly before his breakup with Barbara Gordon, another Gotham love, and the pair had split amicably. Proving to maintain their friendship, as Miss Gordon is reportedly going to the wedding.

Back to Kori Anders, she and Richard met in San Francisco where it was said they formed a close relationship. The whirlwind romance has been blasted over our pages for years, and it is our honor to share their love story with you since it started.

Shortly after their meeting, and the break up of Barbara Gordon and Richard, they were reported t test out dating. Though that was dismal in the beginning, Richard was a wild one with all those past loves, and his career as a police officer in Blüdhaven, New York, were reported to interfere with the love between the couple. But love triumphs in the end folks! After Kori’s mysterious sabbatical she and Richard returned together stronger than ever!

And since had Mar'i, whom we are still dying to see.

Kori Anders is a modest model from Congo, Africa, and grew up in a small village with her mother, father, sister and brother; before she lost her family in an attack from a warlord in the local area. Since then she fled to the United States where she became a refugee and reportedly started school and working as a model. Standing at six feet four inches by the time she was twenty she quickly became a top model with her exotic beauty and refreshing personality; of which we have all come to love.

Since becoming a public figure Kori Anders has taken to speaking up for the rights for former slaves and those rescued from human trafficking, she’s large in the humanitarian circuit and takes Mixed Martial Arts in her down time. Hence her beautiful, curvy, muscular frame that has broken us out of our normal models.

In the start of her career she was attacked for being too muscular, she has since filed suits against some of the most famous and rich agents, photographers, and publishers who angled to use sex in trade for her success.

She’s also been noted to having turned down the natural career move towards acting, stating that it would interfere with her personal life and relationships, and would not be a healthy move for her.

Last March she gave birth to hers’ and Richard Grayson’s first child, named Mar'i Grayson, in honor of Richard’s late birth mother, Mary Grayson. Again, no photos have been captured of the newest member of Gotham’s elite family.

And this September Richard finally made his move and proposed; no details have been shared about the proposal, only now that Kori is sporting that ring. And lemme tell you, what a gorgeous ring, Richard is a man of good tastes.

Now, back to the wedding.

The wedding planner is a small time coordinator from Freeland, Georgia, Jennifer Pierce. Who graduated the local high school where her father was principle, before getting into business with Miguel Barragan. The out of the way reach for this small time coordinator and wedding planner’s business; Gambi’s Gambit, was to keep the wedding low profile. (OBVIOUSLY, that didn’t work well enough for us to miss the important details).

The Groomsmen cannot be confirmed, but there’s been rumors of Richard’s wild bachelors attending, and royalty even attending; it’s amazing the Justice League hasn’t been asked to run interference for the security of this wedding.

However, it can be confirmed that Rachel Roth, the newest unknown in the Wayne circle, is attending the wedding; as not a guest, but the Maid of Honor!

That’s right folks, the unknown mysterious Rachel Roth is apparently friends beyond our darling Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown and Jason Todd. It is unconfirmed if there is a budding romance between Rachel and Jason though as there’s been no confirmation to Rachel’s plus one; could this wedding be the start of another romance for Gotham’s Prince?

Another confirmation for the wedding is the major detail that I’ve saved for last.

The gown!

Rumors were flying as to whom would be hired to design such a gown for Gotham’s coming Queen, and now I have confirmation folks.

It was announced, by Kori Anders herself, that she will be wearing a Bashagha gown!

D. Bashagha!

Yes, that is right, of all the confirmations to have this is icing on the cake folks! Up and coming fashionista D. Bashagha is coming up through the ranks of famed designers, has been hired to design Kori Ander’s gown for the ceremony, the week of the wedding, and the reception! This shocking news is not complete though until there’s the statement of her designing the Bridesmaids’ gowns!

One could only wonder what fairy tail romance is in store for Richard Grayson and Kori Anders!

*Just some needed fun. @purplepenner because she’s the fabulous! Obviously!

#bluboothalassophile #fanfic #one shot #hopes for a bastard universe #hopes for a bastard #possible spoilers #vikki vale #richard grayson #koriand'r #dickkori #DickKory

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Frank Zappa’s Son Ahmet Talks Legacy, Labels, and His Father’s Inventions

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Frank Zappa, who died in 1993, is one of the least understood artists of the 20th Century, which is ironic because he was also the most prolific. Introduced to the world as a bicycle-playing artiste concrète sitting naked on a toilet, he was a harmonic genius who experimented with sonic assault weapons and visual subversions. Frank Zappa was the Nikola Tesla of music. Alex Winter’s documentary ZAPPA, which is now available to watch in the UK and Ireland on Altitude.film, clarifies many of the contradictions by highlighting Zappa’s primary focus. The Mothers of Invention bandleader was a composer.

As such, Frank was also a cultural ambassador, a hero of free expression, a hysterical satirist, and a guitar virtuoso. He was celebrated in the Czech Republic after the Velvet Revolution, and castigated by parental control mongers in America. But even Frank knew his rep enough to drop an album series called Shut Up and Play Your Guitar. It should be compulsory listening for anyone who’s ever put fingers to strings.

For the documentary, Frank’s widow Gail Zappa gave Winter unfettered access to the family vault. The son of “the Son of Mr. Greenjeans” gave him the combination. Ahmet Zappa and his sister Diva became the central scrutinizers of the Zappa Family Trust after Gail died of lung cancer in 2016. Ahmet is a film producer, author and an actor who appeared on Growing Pains, Roseanne, MadTV, and the films Jack Frost and Ready to Rumble. He is also a musician and songwriter. Like his sister Moon, he collaborated with his father, and like all his siblings, he appeared on Zappa releases. Ahmet and his brother Dweezil recorded together, and now each bring their own flavors to the soup of their father’s compositions.

Ahmet, who is an executive producer on ZAPPA, spoke with Den of Geek about the documentary, the vaults, the inventions and other family treasures.

Den of Geek: In a project like this, what kind of things do you learn about your father that you hadn’t expected?

Ahmet Zappa: Not too much on new facts. Through the process of, I guess, preserving not just the video and the audio, you just find things that you just think are awesome, new music or just different things that Frank says that it will have meaning to other people one would hope. It’s a hard way to answer that question because it was a very emotional journey. So, it was more bittersweet in that I feel so blessed to have all this media because I feel like it’s a consolation prize because I lost my mother and father. It’s not a solid replacement, it’s a blessing to have it because it makes me remember them and feel closer to them.

They were pretty forthcoming with a lot of the conversations. We were able to participate and our parents would talk to us about everything. Maybe the biggest mystery was just how many chicks my dad boned. That was surprising. That wasn’t great news, you know what I mean? But I guess it’s rock and roll. I was really naïve to think that that maybe wasn’t going on, but I learned that.

How did you react when you first saw the finished film?

I just loved it. I burst into tears. Similar kind of bittersweet reaction. It’s so emotional and the things that just kind of wrecked me were seeing Frank in pain after he had been attacked after the concert he did at the Rainbow in London. Just seeing my mother being protective of Frank, even crossing the street. Little things like that are so ingrained in how protective my mother was and remembering the effects that my dad had after that accident. A lot of back pain, it forever changed his voice because he almost died. I mean, that part really, really got to me.

Of course, the pride that I have in what an artist Frank was, the champion of artist rights. I’m so biased because I feel like I’m so inside, but I try to give good answers. For me it’s all good. I’ve known Alex for many, many, many years. When he called me up one day and was like, “Hey, how come there hasn’t been an official bio doc on your dad?”

I explained to him, “Well, lots of people have tried and it just wouldn’t go the distance because of the approach and you’d have to speak with my mother.”

I just watched Gail and Alex strike up this pretty fast and deep relationship and I was delighted that Gail felt the way I felt. It did take a lot of trust to have someone embark on telling the story about someone who’s so near and dear to you.

Gail was like, “Look, Alex, the story that you want to tell, you’re going to want and need to have full access to the vault.” That was when I knew, “Oh, this is game on. Gail’s really feeling this.”

Then when I was speaking with Gail, “Look, if we’re going to do this, we want to be able to champion and support Alex because it’s his movie.” He had director’s cut. That part was really important to Gail and I to just tell the story that you want to tell but make it an honest story. Don’t hold anything back. You have access, you have free rein.

I think that was a scary moment, but we had such faith in Alex and I love the end result. I think he did a very loving, caring job. I think that people have a great sense, when they see this documentary, of what it’s like to be a composer, the life of a composer and the extraordinary life that Frank led. I really think it’s a pretty well-rounded, awesome film. But then again, I’m biased.

Being a fan of your father’s sense of humor, I thought the documentary itself was just an elaborate scheme to get him to pay for the remastering.

The truth of the matter is we went into the vault and his jaw dropped. We’re like, “Okay, let’s start.” He didn’t have funding for the doc. He came to the house videotaping Gail. Then when we were looking at the footage of the tapes in the vault, and Alex having a bit of a background, and I was really naïve to this, to be totally honest, of, “Hey, is this media being stored right?”

It was in, as much as we could, a temperature-controlled massive room, just the shelf life of the tape itself was disintegrating. In that process, it became pretty evident that if we can’t save the media, it will be lost forever. The fan base, the gratitude that I have towards the people that came to the rescue of the media is extraordinary.

That was definitely not something that we were too aware of. Alex, having done Kickstarters and those types of campaigns, [said] “Well, maybe we should try to do this because it is so expensive to preserve that media.” Alex convinced me. Gail had passed after he was doing interviews and when we got into the nitty-gritty. Joe Travers, our vaultmeister, on a regular basis, will have to bake tapes in a Ronco food dehydrator. We’re aware of that kind of stuff falling apart, but it’s a whole other pail of fish when you’re having to transfer these tapes that we don’t even have the machines, in many cases, to even play them back on. To get the media off of it, that was a whole other stress point. I’m so grateful that we preserved what we could.

Besides the video and the audio, were there anything like screenplays or maybe the skits Frank wrote for the Saturday Night Live that were never produced?

Oh, yeah. There’s lots of stuff in there. Gail and Frank, they never really threw anything away. We’re always finding things here or there. I found early versions of this project that Frank was working on called “Christmas in New Jersey” which was pretty hilarious. A lot of elements from Thing-Fish were there and other little bits of connection.

I found a lot of his early artwork that blows me away. Cool stuff. That’ll eventually, I would hope, see the light of day. I found this amazing piece of sheet music. I think Frank must have accidentally dripped a bunch of ink all over it and he just then turned that into this awesome dude playing the Congo drums on it. It’s just crazy.

Frank’s penmanship and the way that he would even write music is beautiful to see. Then you throw in him just fucking around with some of the artwork. Even yesterday, we found some really awesome artwork on some of the old letterhead from United Mutations that Captain Beefheart was working on. This must have been at the time that they were probably working on Trout Mask Replica.

It’s kind of bananas, right? You think about someone who passed away really early at 52 and the body of work? I don’t know of another artist who really accomplished as much art as my father. Whether you like his art or not is not the point. It’s that he was just 24 hours a day. Just seemed to be this machine and he just burned the candle at both ends.

It seems that he and Prince were the only artists to ever be in trouble for having too much music.

Yeah, I kind of agree with you. When I talk about it, people are like, “Well, he’s made so much of it.” I’ve also had business dealings where people are like, “Well, there’s just so much. If you have so much, I don’t know, I’ll give you 10 cents on the dollar because there’s so much.”

You’re like, “I don’t think it works that way.”

The movie’s opening in the UK. Can you tell any difference between American and an overseas fan?

I just think Europe, overall, has just a greater appreciation of not just Frank’s music but music and art in general. They have a much longer history of appreciating the artistic endeavors of the individual. I do think that there’s a big audience out there. I’m curious, I’m excited it’s finally coming out overseas because I think people will really enjoy the film. Frank has always had a massive European audience.

The documentary opens with the Czech Republic and Frank was very surprised at his renown. Can you tell me a little bit why Zappa Music had a special classification?

I just remember, as it was happening, the people would express if you have so little money and you were going to buy music, which is kind of extraordinary, they just weren’t leaning towards, I guess, more commercial artists. There must have been a different level of attention and appreciation, I should say, for music with different time signatures and that was more exploratory versus, again, a pop record.

I think it was more the value of how much music you could get on a record and how different it was. Maybe there’s something in that mindset over there in how, again, the arts just overall have a greater level of importance. I think it’s just the greatest that they respected Frank and his music represents freedom over there which is so cool.

Do you think it was the intricacy of the music that made your father’s music so dangerous or do you think it’s how he took serious things so unseriously?

Probably all of it. I think it’s a combination of both, in my humble opinion.

The entire State Department seemed to come out to block his appointment as Czech liaison. Why did they find him particularly frightening, threatening?

Culture

None of This Would Be Happening If Frank Zappa Had Been President

By Tony Sokol

I just think that maybe his points of view, although at the time so progressive, but I think that that was maybe a massive negative, where today it’s not that. I think that Frank really changed things for the better with his points of view and expressing, to me, what just feels like common sense.

I grew up in this really progressive household and I remember people thinking that we were so odd. We were like The Addams Family because of the attention our parents would give us and the freedoms that we had and how they supported our individual creativity and all of that. When I would have friends over, they would relish that environment, but I guess the parents, it’s like, “You’ve got to work within this box,” and then Frank was not that person.

ZAPPA tells a story about your sister slipping a note to introduce herself. I was wondering if this opened up an era of collaboration with your father that might not have opened if she hadn’t done that.

I don’t think so. Maybe. But from my point of view, and, again, Moon is seven years older than me, I think for what she needed emotionally, that kind of connection, that was definitely a way to connect. At that same time, Moon was singing on that song “Jumbo Go Away” and I was in the studio singing on “Drafted Again” with Moon. Then later on she did “Valley Girl.”

I don’t know what came first because there was always so much music happening in the house. There were a handful of times where Frank would say, “Okay, I’m going to record you guys. Go get the piano.” There are tapes in the vault of us just playing music. If we had family members over that were funny or exhibited some interesting talent or something, he was like, “Hey, come down to the studio and record it.” He was really present in that way if you got his attention.

Did he watch you practice, monitor your musical progress or give you tips?

I wanted a drum set. He was like, “Ah.” I really was always interested in the drums. Then weirdly he was like, “Why don’t you play the saxophone?” He let me play around on some of the instruments. There weren’t really any kind of restrictions in that way.

I guess the most interesting musical conversations I had with him was over doo-wop. He would play me a lot of his favorite doo-wop records. He was like, “Can you sing like this?” The super falsettos. We were actually talking about doing some doo-wop music and I was going to do some vocals. This is when he was really sick and working overtime and getting as much time as he could. That’s a bummer that we never got to get in the studio and work on that stuff.

That’s when he told me about the fun story. Gail loved Howlin’ Wolf and so did Frank. I was like, “Well, what else do you guys like?” That’s when they started playing me doo-wop and talked about The Persuasions. What an incredible story that is.

Are there any other rock documentaries that you appreciate now having finished ZAPPA?

Yeah, there’s lots that I appreciate for different reasons. One that was really interesting to me just because I’m a big fan of his, but the Harry Nilsson doc I enjoyed. I just love him. I still wish that they would have collaborated. Maybe they did. Maybe I’ll discover that. I love Harry Nillson. His music is kick ass.

What’s happening with The Bizarre World of Frank Zappa?

What’s happening with the world of touring on the planet? We were getting ready to go out again. It’s an expensive show. It’s really technologically intense. It’s costly to ship everything around. You got to be really specific and careful with the routing and also mindful of the band. How many days can you play? We were getting ready to go back out again. Yeah. Just the state of the world.

We were going to do the Zappa Band and King Crimson. We had announced that even. That got pushed. We have every intention of picking both of those things up again.

They’re very different experiences. The Bizarre World is a multimedia extravaganza. When the guys are just playing, they’re playing a bunch of shows. I love those guys. I love all the musicians that played with Frank. Just a shitty situation with COVID.

When we can, we try to do things that help the music community in need. That’s been a lot of my focus when possible to do what we can to give back.

When you’re auditioning musicians to play, do you make them go through musical acrobatics?

For Frank’s music, yeah. You have to play it right. For me, the kind of music I write, it’s not anywhere near as challenging as the stuff Frank was working on. I mostly work with people that worked with Frank. They get it right.

Joe Travers is incredible. Scott Thunes is incredible. Honestly, they can speak to it a lot better than I can as musicians. They worked in the capacity, Scott is the scoremeister in prepping the band and running rehearsals. That’s more of, as an example, someone more qualified than me is the one who’s going to be able to explain if someone’s doing it right or wrong.

There’s lots of variations of the same songs, how they were played. So much of it is about an artist’s individual way of the groove that they lock into with the band. You might have a version of a track that is played pretty straightforward and then there’s a reggae version. You’ve got to have a tight band. Lots of rehearsing goes into pulling off the music sounding professionally played. It’s not something that you’re just like, “Yeah, I’ll meet you on Tuesday. We’ll rehearse for a couple of hours and then let’s jam.” It always takes more time with Frank’s music.

Are you more of a fan of prog music than you are of any other genre?

I certainly appreciate prog music. I have a hard time with the labels. I think people might categorize some of Frank’s music as prog. I just don’t love the name prog rock. To me it’s all rock. I love odd time signatures and I like melody, so I gravitate towards a lot of different musicians. I’m just more of a rock fan and I use that for whatever reason as an overall way to describe what I listen to.

I love heavy metal. To me it’s all rock music. Electrified instruments and interesting singers and I love that. I don’t have a bunch of rap records or hip hop. That’s not a lot of my music collection. I’m just more into people plugging in and threshing their bass, drums, guitar, and great vocalists.

I covered the “Framing Britney Spears” documentary. While I was doing it, your and Dweezil’s version of “Baby, One More Time” was on heavy rotation. How did you pick that song? As a conservator of an artist’s trust, would you have any advice for her?

I haven’t seen the doc and I don’t know. I can’t really speak to her situation. From what little I know from the TMZ-style news is that there’s, I guess, some health concerns there. None of us really know the truth unless you’re in it. I send her lots of positivity and hopefully that all gets sorted out for her.

As it pertains to the “Hit Me Baby, One More Time” track, I was working on Ready to Rumble. It was a wrestling movie. They wanted me to have that song in the film. The music supervisor on the film [Mike Flicker], mentioned the Britney Spears track and I was like, “Oh, that’s so funny. I had won Say What Karaoke.” I was working at MTV and someone dropped out of participating. I was hosting something else up there and they were like, “Oh my god, would you consider getting into this and doing a Britney song?”

I was like, “Yeah, sure. Do you have a crazy outfit?” So, I put on a wig and some sparkly spandex thing. I was like, “Hey, check it out. If you want, I can do a version like this.” Then I was like, “Hey, Dweezil, do you want to do this track?” That’s really how it came about.

I just watched the Miami Vice episode with your father in it last night.

The worst stunt double of all time was him jumping in the water. The cut is just so bad. It’s not my favorite performance of his. I don’t know if he was really comfortable in those situations, or, maybe he was. I know he wasn’t winning a Daytime Emmy or Nighttime Emmy for that performance.

How do you choose which of your father’s music comes out?

We listen to the fan base and have internal conversations and try to think about, “What period haven’t we explored?” Because we’re always uncovering new things, so there might be, “Oh, look, we just found this track on this record or on these tapes.” It’s a pretty natural, holistic, organic way of picking to be honest. We’re always listening for new things and listening to the fan base.

Do you have a favorite performance or favorite period of your father’s?

The ’70s, really. I was born in ’74, so that music and that time and that band I was always around. That’s my earliest music that was being played for me. I was raised on that. I’m just partial to the rocking ’70s.

We know a lot of things that Frank enjoyed just from his songs. We know that he likes B-movies because of cheapness. What are some of the things he enjoyed which might come as a surprise?

He loved animation. We had talked about that. Maybe that will surprise some people. We made recently this beer called “Why Does It Hurt When IPA” where we gave all the proceeds to the music community in need. So, people will ask, “But Frank didn’t drink.” I think people would be surprised to know that he did enjoy beers. He had his favorite ones. He didn’t have a beer or a glass of wine every day, but certainly there were occasions where he would.

He liked Peter Jackson’s movies a lot. He loved Terry Gilliam, though. His favorite is Time Bandits. Brazil might be one of his all-time favorite movies. That was a must watch, right up there with The Brainiac which is not directed by Terry Gilliam. That was a Mexican horror film that was played a lot in our house.

I read that you and your father talked about holograms before they were even a thing. Can you tell me how that conversation brought you into the work with Eyellusion?

Frank talked about it even in his book The Real Frank Zappa Book. He wanted to start his own hologram business and started in earnest developing, trying to launch his business. As a kid, just talking to me about his thoughts and the benefits and getting something like that going.

One aspect was, “Hey, there’s going to be a show that’s out there touring of the music with these holograms, but I’m here in LA and I don’t have to travel.” There’s that. Or the show could go out and he could be home working. That was like, “Whoa!” It felt like the holodeck on Star Trek in what he was describing and how far he was going.

He was even talking about being able to broadcast in the atmosphere. Having some kind of projection system that he was trying to figure out the specifications of that with some people from, I guess, military friends on my mom’s side of the family. Lots of forward-thinking concepts that people at the time must have imagined, “That’s so far out.” Then fast forward to today with displays and with different software and machinery and all of it really became a possibility.

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I was really excited and inspired to try to work on something that Frank really wanted to have happen. I have lots of audio of him talking about, singing about holograms, making references to holograms. He loved animation. It was really fun to put that show together.

ZAPPA is available on on-demand platforms in the U.S. and the UK at Altitude.film.

The post Frank Zappa’s Son Ahmet Talks Legacy, Labels, and His Father’s Inventions appeared first on Den of Geek.

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pope-francis-quotes · 6 years

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25th December >> Pope Francis’ "Urbi et Orbi" Christmas Message and Blessing to the city of Rome and the world. On Christmas Day Pope Francis prays for world peace and gives his "Urbi et Orbi" blessing Pope Francis has appealed for peace and for a world in which children across the globe may be able to hope for a future of justice, security and joy. The Pope's words came on Christmas Day as he addressed the city and the world during his traditional "Urbi et Orbi" message from the Central Loggia of St. Peter's Basilica. Please find below the full text of the Pope's message: Dear Brothers and Sisters, Happy Christmas! In Bethlehem, Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. He was born, not by the will of man, but by the gift of the love of God our Father, who “so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). This event is renewed today in the Church, a pilgrim in time. For the faith of the Christian people relives in the Christmas liturgy the mystery of the God who comes, who assumes our mortal human flesh, and who becomes lowly and poor in order to save us. And this moves us deeply, for great is the tenderness of our Father. The first people to see the humble glory of the Saviour, after Mary and Joseph, were the shepherds of Bethlehem. They recognized the sign proclaimed to them by the angels and adored the Child. Those humble and watchful men are an example for believers of every age who, before the mystery of Jesus, are not scandalized by his poverty. Rather, like Mary, they trust in God’s word and contemplate his glory with simple eyes. Before the mystery of the Word made flesh, Christians in every place confess with the words of the Evangelist John: “We have beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14). Today, as the winds of war are blowing in our world and an outdated model of development continues to produce human, societal and environmental decline, Christmas invites us to focus on the sign of the Child and to recognize him in the faces of little children, especially those for whom, like Jesus, “there is no place in the inn” (Lk 2:7). We see Jesus in the children of the Middle East who continue to suffer because of growing tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. On this festive day, let us ask the Lord for peace for Jerusalem and for all the Holy Land. Let us pray that the will to resume dialogue may prevail between the parties and that a negotiated solution can finally be reached, one that would allow the peaceful coexistence of two States within mutually agreed and internationally recognized borders. May the Lord also sustain the efforts of all those in the international community inspired by good will to help that afflicted land to find, despite grave obstacles the harmony, justice and security that it has long awaited. We see Jesus in the faces of Syrian children still marked by the war that, in these years, has caused such bloodshed in that country. May beloved Syria at last recover respect for the dignity of every person through a shared commitment to rebuild the fabric of society, without regard for ethnic and religious membership. We see Jesus in the children of Iraq, wounded and torn by the conflicts that country has experienced in the last fifteen years, and in the children of Yemen, where there is an ongoing conflict that has been largely forgotten, with serious humanitarian implications for its people, who suffer from hunger and the spread of diseases. We see Jesus in the children of Africa, especially those who are suffering in South Sudan, Somalia, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and Nigeria. We see Jesus in the children worldwide wherever peace and security are threatened by the danger of tensions and new conflicts. Let us pray that confrontation may be overcome on the Korean peninsula and that mutual trust may increase in the interest of the world as a whole. To the Baby Jesus we entrust Venezuela that it may resume a serene dialogue among the various elements of society for the benefit of all the beloved Venezuelan people. We see Jesus in children who, together with their families, suffer from the violence of the conflict in Ukraine and its grave humanitarian repercussions; we pray that the Lord may soon grant peace to this dear country. We see Jesus in the children of unemployed parents who struggle to offer their children a secure and peaceful future. And in those whose childhood has been robbed and who, from a very young age, have been forced to work or to be enrolled as soldiers by unscrupulous mercenaries. We see Jesus in the many children forced to leave their countries to travel alone in inhuman conditions and who become an easy target for human traffickers. Through their eyes we see the drama of all those forced to emigrate and risk their lives to face exhausting journeys that end at times in tragedy. I see Jesus again in the children I met during my recent visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh, and it is my hope that the international community will not cease to work to ensure that the dignity of the minority groups present in the region is adequately protected. Jesus knows well the pain of not being welcomed and how hard it is not to have a place to lay one’s head. May our hearts not be closed as they were in the homes of Bethlehem. Dear Brothers and Sisters, The sign of Christmas has also been revealed to us: “a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes” (Lk 2:12). Like the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph, like the shepherds of Bethlehem, may we welcome in the Baby Jesus the love of God made man for us. And may we commit ourselves, with the help of his grace, to making our world more human and more worthy for the children of today and of the future. Christmas Greetings of the Holy Father following the Message Urbi et Orbi I offer a warm greeting to all of you, dear brothers and sisters from throughout the world gathered here in this Square, and to all those who in various countries are joined to us by radio, television and other communications media. May the birth of Christ the Saviour renew hearts, awaken the desire to build a future of greater fraternity and solidarity, and bring joy and hope to everyone. Happy Christmas!

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canadachronicles · 7 years

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“Bismillah hir rahman ir rahim.

In the name of God, the most merciful, the most beneficent.

Good afternoon. Bonjour. Assalaam-u-alikum. Pa khair raghlai.

Mr. Prime Minister and Madame Gregoire Trudeau, Mr. Speaker, members of the House, members of the Senate, distinguished guests, my parents Ziauddin and Toor Pekai, people of Canada — thank you so much for the warm welcome to your country.

This is my first trip to Canada, but not my first attempt. On October 22, 2014, my father and I landed at the Toronto airport, excited for our first visit to your wonderful country.

We soon learned that a man had attacked Parliament Hill — killing a Canadian soldier, wounding others and threatening leaders and civil servants in the building where I stand today.

Canadian security professionals advised us to reschedule. With sorrow in our hearts, we headed back to England, promising to return to Canada one day.

The man who attacked Parliament Hill called himself a Muslim — but he did not share my faith. He did not share the faith of one and a half billion Muslims, living in peace around the world. He did not share our Islam — a religion of learning, compassion and mercy.

I am a Muslim and I believe that when you pick up a gun in the name of Islam and kill innocent people, you are not a Muslim anymore.

He did not share my faith. Instead, he shared the hatred of the man who attacked the Quebec City mosque in January, killing six people while they were at prayer.

The same hatred as the man who killed civilians and a police officer in London three weeks ago.

The same hatred as the men who killed 132 school children at Pakistan’s Army Public School in Peshawar.

The same hatred as the man who shot me.

These men tried to divide us and destroy our democracies, our freedom of religion, our right to go to school.

But you refuse to be divided. Canadians — wherever they were born and however they worship — stand together. And nothing proves this more than your commitment to refugees.

Around the world, we have heard about Canada’s heroes.

We heard about the members of First United Church, here in Ottawa, who sponsored newlyweds Amina and Ebrahim Alahmad. A few months later the Alahmads had their first child — a little girl named Marya. The church decided to raise more money to bring Ebrahim’s brother and his family to Canada — so Marya could grow up with her cousins.

We heard about Jorge Salazar in Vancouver, who came to Canada as a child refugee, fleeing violence in Colombia. As a young adult, he’s working with today’s child immigrants and refugees, helping them adapt to their new country.

And I am very proud to announce that Farah Mohamed, a refugee who fled Uganda and came to Canada as a child, is Malala Fund’s new CEO. A Canadian will now lead the fight for girls’ education around the world.

Many people from my own country of Pakistan have found a promised land in Canada — from Maria Toorpakai Wazir to my relatives here today.

Like the refugees in Canada, I have seen fear and experienced times when I didn’t know if I was safe or not. I remember how my Mom would put a ladder at the back of our house so that if anything happened we could escape.

I felt fear when I went to school, thinking that someone would stop me and harm me. I would hide my books under my scarf.

The sound of bombs would wake me up at night. Every morning I would hear the news that more innocent people had been killed. I saw men with big guns in the street.

There is more peace in my home of Swat Valley, Pakistan today, but families like mine — from Palestine to Venezuela, Somalia to Myanmar, Iraq to Congo — are forced to flee their homes because of violence.

I am humbled to accept honorary citizenship to your country. While I will always be a proud Pashtun and citizen of Pakistan, I am grateful to be an honorary member of your nation of heroes.

I was also so happy to meet your Prime Minister this morning. I am amazed by his embrace of refugees, his commitment to appointing Canada’s first gender-balanced cabinet and his dedication to keeping women and girls at the centre of your development strategy.

We have heard so much about Prime Minister Trudeau — but one thing has surprised me: people are always talking about how young he is.

They say:

“He’s the second-youngest prime minister in Canadian history!”

“He does yoga!”

“He has tattoos!”

While it may be true that he is young for a head of government, I would like to tell the children of Canada: you do not have to be as old as Prime Minister Trudeau to be a leader!

I used to think I had to wait to be an adult to lead. But I’ve learned that even a child’s voice can be heard around the world.

Young women of Canada, step forward and raise your voices. The next time I visit, I hope I see more of you filling these seats in Parliament.

Men of Canada, be proud feminists. And help women get equal opportunities as men.

And to the leaders of Canada in this room today: though you may have different politics and priorities, I know each of you is trying to respond to some of our world’s most pressing problems.

I have travelled the world and met people in many countries. I’ve seen firsthand many of the problems we are facing today — war, economic instability, climate change and health crises. And I can tell you that the answer is girls.

Secondary education for girls can transform communities, countries and our world. Here’s what the statistics say:

If all girls went to school for 12 years, low and middle income countries could add $92 billion per year to their economies.Educated girls are less likely to marry young or contract HIV - and more likely to have healthy, educated children.The Brookings Institution calls secondary schooling for girls the most cost-effective and best investment against climate change.When a country gives all its children secondary education, they cut their risk of war in half.

Education is vital for security around the world because extremism grows alongside inequality — in places where people feel they have no opportunity, no voice, no hope.

When women are educated, there are more jobs for everyone. When mothers can keep their children alive and send them to school, there is hope.

But around the world, 130 million girls are out of school today. They may not have read the studies and they may not know the statistics — but they understand that education is their only path to a brighter future. And they are fighting to go to school.

Last summer, on a trip to Kenya, I was introduced to the bravest girl I’ve ever met.

At age 13, Rahma’s family fled Somalia and came to Dadaab — the world’s largest refugee camp.

She had never been inside a classroom — but she worked hard to catch up and, in a few years, graduated primary school.

At 18, Rahma was in secondary school, when her parents decided to move back to Somalia. They promised she could continue her education.

But when her family returned to Somalia, there were no schools for her to attend. Her father said her education was finished and that she would soon marry a man in his 50s — a man she did not know.

Rahma remembered a friend from the refugee camp, who had won a scholarship to a university in Canada. She borrowed a neighbour’s Internet connection and contacted him through Facebook. Over the Internet, the university student in Canada sent her $70.

At night, Rahma snuck out of her house, bought a bus ticket and set out on an eight-day trip back to the refugee camp — the only place she knew she could go to school.

Through the Sustainable Development Goals, our nations promised every girl she would go to school for 12 years. We promised that donor countries and developing countries would work together to make this dream a reality for the poorest girls in the world.

I know that politicians cannot keep every promise they make — but this is one you must honour. World leaders can no longer expect girls like Rahma to fight this battle alone.

We can gain peace, grow economies, improve our public health and the air that we breathe. Or we can lose another generation of girls.

I stand with girls, as someone who knows what it’s like to flee your home and wonder if you’ll ever go back to school.

I stand with girls, as someone who knows how it feels to have your right to education taken away and your dreams threatened.

I know where I stand. If you stand with me, I ask you to seize every opportunity for girls’ education over the next year.

Dear Canada, I am asking you to lead once again:

First, make girls’ education a central theme of your G7 Presidency next year.

Second, use your influence to help fill the global education funding gap. You raised billions of dollars and saved lives when you hosted the Global Fund replenishment in Montreal last year. Show the same leadership for education.

Host the upcoming replenishment of the Global Partnership for Education, bring world leaders together and raise new funding for girls to go to school. If Canada leads, I know the world will follow.

Finally, prioritize 12 years of school for refugees. Today only a quarter of refugee children get secondary education. We should not ask children who flee their homes to also give up their dreams. And we must recognize that young refugees are future leaders on whom we will all depend for peace.

The world needs leadership based on serving humanity — not based on how many weapons you have. Canada can take that lead.

Our world has many problems, but we don’t need to look far for the solution — we already have one.

She is living in a refugee camp in Jordan. She is walking five kilometres to school in Guatemala. She is sewing footballs to pay enrolment fees in India. She is every one of the girls out of school around the world today.

We know what to do — but we must look inside ourselves for the will to keep our promises.

Dear sisters and brothers, we have a responsibility to improve our world. When future generations read about us in their books or on their iPads or whatever the next innovation will be, I don’t want them to be shocked that 130 million girls could not go to school and we did nothing. I don’t want them to be shocked we did not stand up for child refugees, as millions of families fled their homes. I don’t want us to be known for failing them.

Let future generations say we were the ones who stood up. Let them say we were the first to live in a world where all girls can learn and lead without fear.

Thank you.”

Malala Yousafzai, who became an honorary Canadian citizen, is an incredibly inspiring young woman. Her speech before both Chambers of the Canadian Parliament yesterday was very important, very poignant, and often funny. She encourages people to take a stand, to lead, whether or not they think they are old enough to be leaders, to pursue the quest of equality for all, all around the world fearlessly, but also enthusiastically. Sometimes, the world seems a very dark place, the loudest voices are those spurting hate, and you read about people dying in Syria, about terrorists driving cars or trucks into crowds, about mass shootings, bombings, camps were LGBTQ people are tortured in Chechenya, people starving in Sudan…and it’s easy to get discouraged, to be demoralized by the enormity of the work we still have to achieve before the world is actually a fairer, better place. Then, I would recommend you listen to Malala. This tiny 19-year-old Pakistani woman, who survived being shot, who defies the thousands death threats she’s received, believes we can actually make change; she herself is inspired by young girls she’s met through her travels. It gives me hope.

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performingtheartsrp · 7 years

Photo

We received a fantastic application for Joe Hart, and we’re truly excited to welcome Sil into our family. Please take a moment to go over the New Member Checklist, and send in your account within 24 hours.

OOC:

NAME: Sil

PREFERRED PRONOUNS: They/them

AGE: 19

TIMEZONE: GMT +2:00

ACTIVITY LEVEL (1-10): 5-7/10, because I work a few days a month and am a full-time university student.

OLD ROLEPLAY ACCOUNTS: RFP

ANYTHING ELSE: RFP

IC:

CHARACTER’S NAME: Joseph Abraham Hart, Jr.

CHARACTER’S BIRTHDAY: 28th of May, 1992

CHARACTER’S SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Bisexual, but gravitates more towards women (is not aware of his attraction towards men yet)

SHIPS: Joe/Quinn, Joe/female, Joe/chemistry

ANTI-SHIPS: Joe/no chemistry

MIDGAME SHIPS: Joe/Quinn, Joe/Mercedes, Joe/Kurt, Joe/Blaine (I have more than two, sorry)

CHARACTER TWEETS:

@thatjoehart: I still cannot believe the Lord has blessed me to play Jesús Martinez in the new ABC series #PerformingTheArts!

@thatjoehart: I suppose that the crayon lines on my wall made by my little brother could be considered modern art…

@ thatjoehart: “How blessed is he who considers the helpless; the Lord will deliver him in a day of trouble.” Getting this tattooed tomorrow!

BIOGRAPHY:

On the 28th of May, 1992 a little baby boy was born in Sumiton, Alabama. He was baptized Joseph Abraham Hart, Jr. and was the first son of Joseph Hart, Sr. and his wife, Rebecca. His parents were both 21 years old when they had him and had both just completed their missionary training. That is why the young family didn’t stay in Alabama for long. When he was only six months old, his parents up and left for Congo where they lived for two years to preach the gospel. There, his little sister Sarah was born just before they packed up and moved again.

In the beginning of the year 1995, they left Congo to go to Brazil. He and his family lived there for five years and welcomed three new children into the family: in January of 1996 his brother Elijah and in December of that same year, his second brother Solomon was born. In 1999, his mother gave birth to his new sister, Ruth. Joe, as he was called by his parents to avoid confusion, loved Brazil. He loved his friends and soaked up the Portuguese language like a sponge. He became as fluent as his friends and helped his father translate his sermons from the time he was six. He also acted out the Bible stories his father told the people of the villages and that is when the seed for his love for acting was planted. He continued to do this for several years and got increasingly better at it. He is still fluent in Portuguese to this day, but that isn’t the only language he learned throughout his childhood because soon, they’d move again.

He considered Brazil his home until he was seven. Then he was told they had to go again, that his parents were to go to India. He had cried silently when they left their village, the village he had always known as home. His little sister Sarah was upset too, so his father reprimanded him. He was a boy; he wasn’t supposed to cry. He was supposed to be strong and be there for his younger siblings. He had to make them feel safe, so he dried his tears and did what he was told. “Thou shall not disobey your parents” is what the Bible says, so that is what Joe did.

His time in India ended up being quite interesting as well. His family lived there from March of 2000 until May of 2002. Joe learned quite a bit of Hindi in his time there but he didn’t make friends that easily. He knew that any day, they could move again. He knew that the attachment would only lead to heartache. Instead he became more focused on his faith, which honestly was the only constant in his life. He had always just gone along with what his parents said, the words they quoted at him. When he was nine, he started to read the Bible for himself, making notes and writing down his interpretations in a little brown notebook. It took him until he was twelve to finish the Bible and then he started again, rewriting and correcting his notes.

When he was twelve and read the last page of the Bible he was in a completely different place than when he read the first page of said book. He was in Chile now and they were packing up to move back to Alabama. He now had two more brothers, named Isaac and Jeremiah who were twins and about a year old. His parents had gotten weary of the travelling and wanted a quiet life back at home in Alabama. Joe wasn’t sure what to make of it. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to move back. He’d hoped they’d go back to Brazil and this America which his parents spoke so fondly of, he had absolutely no affinity for whatsoever.

His father became a door-to-door Bible salesman and his family could barely make ends meet. His mother was a housewife and cared for Joe and his six siblings, but it weighed heavily on her. Normally, his father was around to help but now, he was on the road six days of the week. That is why Joe stepped up and helped his mother out with the children. He did the preparations for dinner, he changed diapers, potty-trained the boys, disciplined his siblings when necessary and gave them the necessary religious guidance they needed. He also did pretty much all the ‘dad’ stuff. He went fishing with his siblings, taught them how to throw a ball and made his little sisters feel like princesses. He started caring a little less for his siblings when he went to a public high school for the first time, when he was around 16. He was tired of being locked away in his house. He wanted to make some friends, get a taste of what life was like and boy, what a taste he got.

During the first day of his sophomore year, which was his first school day, he walked around with his mouth agape. He couldn’t believe how some boys and girls were openly kissing (read: making out!), how short the skirts of certain girls were and how low cut tops were. He couldn’t believe the curse words he heard and how so many people took the Lord’s name in vain. He almost didn’t want to go back to that place again, that place full of sinners! He talked it over with his father, over the phone, who told him Jesus preferred the company of sinners for a reason. That did change his mind and he decided to go back. He still considers that to be the best decision of his life.

He went back and discovered that those people he had gaped at, that he had prayed for so they would not go to hell were not all that bad. They may not all believe the same things he believed, but they were kind, giving and open to him. His best friend, Alex, taught him how to play the guitar and another classmate, Lisa always saved a seat for him in the classes they shared together. The three of them became inseparable until the end of Senior year. The trio discovered that they had a common interest in acting and joined the afterschool drama club. They put on a few plays and even a self-made musical.

Joe wasn’t aware of it, but he was the best student in the drama club. His teacher approached him though, telling him to take acting classes. When Joe explained his family’s financial situation, the teacher offered to teach him privately for free. He taught him how to sing and act and laid the foundation that would eventually lead Joe to Los Angeles because now, Joe had a very clear goal in life. He wanted to act and perform.

After senior year, Joe started working as a cashier in a local grocery store. He was intelligent but had not gotten a scholarship and there was simply no money for college. He had a plan though. He’d save up enough money to pay for a plane ticket to Los Angeles and to make sure he could live off his savings for a few weeks. He trusted that the Lord would care for him and would lead him to where he was supposed to go.

It broke his heart to leave his family behind and move to Los Angeles but he felt that he had to do it, that there was something great waiting for him. His parents told him to follow his heart and what the Spirit guided him to do. They had once been risk takers and travelers too, and they loved that their eighteen-year-old son was so much like them.

His first months in Los Angeles were tough. There were nights where he had no place to sleep and days that he didn’t eat but he auditioned for everything he could… He prayed three times a day, a practice that kept him going. He was about to give up though, tired of the rejection and the emptiness of his existence… and then it happened. He landed his first role in a Christian movie. He played a son of Noah in a movie aimed at children, to explain to them the story of The Ark. He worked for the same Christian movie company until about two months ago. It allowed him to make a name for himself as a Christian actor and it paid enough so he could rent an apartment with three other Christian guys he knew from church.

It was one of those friends who told him that there was a chance to audition for a part in a mainstream TV series. It was called Performing the Arts and considering they were looking for an actor who could sing as well, Joe would be a perfect fit. Joe decided to just give it a try, not thinking that he’d land anything. He couldn’t believe it when he was cast as Jesús Martinez. He almost cried when he got the call to tell him that he’d gotten the role of Jesús Martinez, but not for the reasons you might think. He was afraid. He would be playing a character who was openly bisexual and the child of a lesbian. He didn’t know how that was going to go over with his fans and family. He wasn’t even sure how he felt about it! He’d always seen homosexuality in all its forms as impure and against God. How was he going to play this character in an honest and true fashion? What would he do if the script told him to do something that he considered immoral, such as kissing a man? He could have declined it; he knew that but the same feeling that he got about going to Los Angeles came over him. He had to do it.

This decision had some consequences though. His father hasn’t spoken to him since he found out and the Christian movie producer he worked for made it very clear that he will never star in another film of theirs again. Everything is riding on this role now. Joe must make sure that this role makes it possible for him to break into the mainstream entertainment business because where he came from has nothing more to offer him…

YOUR CHARACTER’S HEAD CANON FOR THEIR CHARACTER: Joe’s head canon for Jesús is that he is a great dancer, in addition to being a great musician. He has always hidden behind his guitar because it makes him feel safe but also because dancing was something his father disapproved of. He saw it as too feminine and not as something that his son should be doing. When he’d been caught trying to pirouette when he was ten years old, his father had made him feel so embarrassed that he hasn’t danced since that moment. At least not with the door unlocked. He dances every day, before and after school in his room and has gotten very good at it. Joe hopes that one of the other characters in the series will stumble upon Jesús dancing and convince him to take lessons and develop his talent more.

#accepted #joe hart rp

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larryspecificrecs · 7 years

Text

2015: Jan. ~ Jun.

✔ July ~ December 2015 || all fests/exchanges || other years

Top 30 longest AU fics

1. Four's Company by vampire_angel_z | @nobody-at-all-really [E, 275.6k]

The alpha triplets need a mate. Louis is too perfect to be true. ~ 2015.05

2. All Tired Talk by @reedytenors [M, 268.6k]

In which Harry is the dying front man of a dying rock band, Zayn has finally given up holding his hair back in dingy bathrooms, Niall and Liam are holding up the fort, and Louis comes along with eyes the color of the sky to remind Harry that there is still more life to live. ~ 2015.02

3. Gods & Monsters by Velvetoscar | @mizzwilde [M, 201.3k]

The instructions were simple: seduce and destroy Harry Styles. Not once did they discuss the option of Louis actually falling in love. So, naturally, that's exactly what he did. ~ 2015.03

4. Lets Go To Dinner and Not Eat Anything. by Nicolasgrimshaw [T, 191.1k]

Louis is one of the 25% of males who suffer from anorexia. He's obsessed with calories and constantly working them off. Harry is also one of the 25% of anorexic males. He's obsessed with being able to see his collar bones and balancing a ruler on his hipbones. Louis is brand new to the path of recovery and since he and Harry are the only males in the hospitals program they have the honors of rooming with each other. Maybe if they can't fall in love with food, they can fall in love with each other. ~ 2015.06

5. Right By Your Side by mezziedemo [M, 154.4k]

Marine Biologist Harry Styles works at SeaWorld Australia and conducts dolphin therapy sessions for people suffering trauma or fear of water. He loves his job and his life in Australia, but it all gets turned upside down when a beautiful blue eyed boy from the UK is sent down under for therapy after a near drowning incident. Louis Tomlinson dived into the river to save his sister without a second thought to his own safety. When he almost drowned trying to save her, the after effects are severe. After a particularly bad panic attack, he is referred to a program in Australia, where he finds himself in the care of the prettiest boy he's ever seen. Can they maintain the professional boundaries required to get Louis well again, or will their desire for each other be too hard to fight? ~ 2015.06

6. Serendipity, Actually by somethingsilly | @landansquitebig [M, 143.1k]

AU where Harry truly believes in Destiny and Louis just happens to cross his path at the right moment. Featuring a world with the size of a stamp, Liam as the best friend ever, Niall as a social butterfly who knows everyone and Zayn who always knows what's going on. ~ 2015.04

7. Unbelievers by isthatyoularry | @isthatyoularry [E, 136.8k]

It’s Louis’ senior year, and he’s dead set on doing it right. However, along with his pair of cleats, a healthy dose of sarcasm and his ridiculous best friend, he’s also got a complicated family, a terrifyingly uncertain future, and a mortal enemy making his life just that much worse. Mortal enemies “with benefits” was not exactly the plan. ~ 2015.06

8. Let's Fall in Love in a Place You Want to Stay by embro [?, 134.1k]

A George of the Jungle / Tarzan AU where Louis is a model who meets Wild Man Harry in the Congo. He was raised by apes and barely speaks a word of English and turns Louis' life upside down. ~ 2015.05

9. Wild And Unruly by 100percentsassy & gloria_andrews | @100percentsassy @gloriaandrews [E, 123.6k]

Harry is a cowboy sitting on the biggest oil reservoir in Wyoming, and Louis is the paralegal assigned to pressure him into selling his land. ~ 2015.05

10. Marking Up The Atmosphere by acidveins | @harryendous [E, 119.1k]

At the age of twenty, Harry deals with things expected to occur at his age: student loans, instant meals, electricity bills, and the constant, incessant presence of never ending coursework. That, and the job of raising his six year old daughter and avoiding the charm of a young, successful, and very off-limits Louis Tomlinson. ★ 1D Big Bang round 3

11. nobody shines the way you do by wildestdreams | @softasurcheek [E, 115.3k]

Louis pretends to be Harry’s boyfriend to help him win back his douchebag ex-boyfriend, but things don’t go according to plan. ★ 1D Big Bang round 3

12. The Galaxy's Edge by thecheshirepussycat | @the-cheshire-pussy-cat [E, 113.9k]

In which Louis is a bounty hunter with a messed up past. Harry is a prince who just wants to prove himself. Niall and Zayn have too many things to figure out together. And Liam just wants to take care of his family. Things never quite go as they are planned during a simple rescue job. ~ 2015.05

13. Crazy and Infectious by Star55 | @star55 [E, 101.8k]

A 17/25 age difference story in which we flash back to find out just how Louis and Harry actually got together. ~ 2015.02

14. Butterfly Gun by eravain [M, 100.3k]

1940's AU. Even after six years apart, they can't forget their shared wartime childhood. ~ 2015.04

15. nocturne in silver and blue by tinyweirdloves | @tinyweirdloves [E, 97.5k]

louis is a fallen star and harry brings him home. told over the course of fourteen years. ★ 1D Big Bang round 3

16. Who Painted the Moon Black by throughthedark | @haroldsmodellegs [E, 95.6k]

Hunger Games AU where Louis Tomlinson is district six's victor from the 69th Hunger Games and Harry Styles is district seven's victor from the 72nd Hunger Games. ~ 2015.01

17. Baby..Baby? by bottomlouiswriter | @bottomlouiswriter [M, 91.2k]

Louis and Harry are just a normal couple. Well if Louis being able to get pregnant even being a guy, and Harry already having had impregnated Louis resulting in their 10 month old son Alexander. They both have busy lives, Harry being at uni studying music and photography while also maintaining a job to support his family, and louis is a stay at home dad to Alexander. Everything is changed when Harry gets a life changing job offer and things start changing, quite quickly. Oh, and did I mention that Louis pregnant again. ~ 2015.04

18. You are the Only Exception by MrsStylinson | @lovehoperomance [T, 91k]

Louis is 21 and a serial Casanova and Harry is the 17 year old heartbreaker who won't leave him alone who chooses to ignore this fact. Louis just might be falling in love with the ridiculously eager boy but Harry might just get tired of always giving chase. ~ 2015.06

19. Chasing the High by Rearviewdreamer | @all-these-larrythings [M, 90.7k]

Louis is a therapist in a rehab facility and Harry has been court ordered to stay there for six weeks. ~ 2015.03

20. Just Say You Love Me, Just For Today by NiamJenn1994 | @meloveniall1994 [M, 87.1k]

A Parent Trap Au ~ 2015.05

21. No Matter Where You Are by Redworks [T, 85.9k]

AU where Louis makes a lot of mistakes but Harry loves him anyway. ~ 2015.04

22. electing strange perfections by lightofathousandstars | @scrunchyharry [E, 84.7k]

Back for the summer from university, 19-year-old Louis is faced with a massive problem: their new gardener is quite possibly the most gorgeous man he's ever met. Over the course of the summer, Louis and a 25-year-old Harry will learn that love can be found where you least expect it. ~ 2015.02

23. for now (and forever) [M, 88.2k]

Louis is going into the Army, Harry is going nowhere, and there's nothing like a little identity fraud between friends. ~ 2015.02

24. leave it to the breeze by hattalove | @hattalove [E, 81.4k]

a great british bake off au in which louis cares about winning and winning only, harry is made of sunshine and rainbow sprinkles, and niall sticks his nose into other people's business. also featuring liam as louis's best friend-slash-concerned mother, and zayn as a macaron connoisseur. ★ 1D Big Bang round 3

25. More Than Meets The Eye by Kathyyjane [T, 78.8k]

Harry Styles is use to being pushed around by the football team, so he expects nothing else from new kid Louis Tomlinson, who just happens to be a jock. Will Harry learn that not everyone is the same, that everyone has secrets, and that sometimes there is more to a person than what meets the eye? ~ 2015.04

26. Want You More Than A by TheCellarDoor | @donotdialnine [M, 77.5k]

Falling in love with your step-brother’s best friend is a disaster enough. When he happens to be the boy everyone loves and you’re a nerd who wears sweater vests and cries during rom-coms, it takes it to a whole new level. ~ 2015.01

27. You Drive Me Round The Bend by TheCellarDoor | @donotdialnine [M, 77k]

In which Louis is a spoilt rich kid who’s always on the phone while he drives and Harry is a struggling musician making his way down the mountain. It’s just a matter of time before they crash and burn. ~ 2015.06

28. May We Stay Lost On Our Way Home by LoadedGunn | @loaded-gunn [E, 74.2k]

On March 31st, Harry Styles disappears. Though many speculate, only two people know where to find him: Niall, his former guitarist, and Zayn, who follows where Niall leads.The fact the biggest boy band in the world broke up two weeks earlier might be related to the disappearance. The fact Harry meets a fairy named Louis in the woods is a whole other matter. ~ 2015.04 From Fairy Fic series

29. To Him Who in the Love of Nature by wayfared | @charrysoda [M, 71.4k]

after Louis' delicate world comes crashing down upon him, he takes off for the loneliest place he can think of. But, in the midst of the whirling snow, there's always a warm fireplace to come home to. ★ 1D Big Bang round 3

30. Blue as a glacier by kitundercover | @kitundercover [E, 71.3k]

Skiing AU. Harry is the famous singer who's decided to have a go at skiing between tours. Louis is the snowboarder who makes the mistake of taking the lift with him. They go from there. ~ 2015.05

#one direction #larry stylinson #larry fanfic #larry fic rec #monthly review #2015 #2015 review

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dncrnthedark · 7 years

Text

This Woman’s Rebuke

I’ve seen this post floating about and I can’t ignore it any longer. I’m Sending my response to this post out to the world in hopes it is understood. Thank you.

The original post is in black. My response is Italic.

To the marchers......you do not represent me. Yup, actually, the Women’s march does represent several of my concerns. I am not a "disgrace to women" because I don't support the women's march. I wouldn’t tell anyone that they are a disgrace for not agreeing with something but if you feel the need to assume, go ahead.

I do not feel I am a "second class citizen" because I am a woman. Good for you for not feeling that way. I’m glad that no one has made you feel that way in your life.

I do not feel my voice is "not heard" because I am a woman. Again, I’m glad no one in your life has made you feel like you were not heard. Many cannot say the same.

I do not feel I am not provided opportunities in this life or in America because I am a woman. What opportunities have you attempted to take advantage of? Have you progressed and been paid equally for doing the same job as the men in your field? If so, that is rare and excellent for you. Most are not so lucky. I know of brilliant, well qualified women who work doggedly in their field and still do not get the promotion, job, or pay that the men do, who are either as or less qualified as the women.

I do not feel that I "don't have control of my body or choices" because I am a woman. Good, however, that’s probably because you’ve never been in a situation where the law has forbidden you access to the proper medical care and procedures to save your life. You’ve probably never needed an abortion because you were raped or because your life was in danger if you carry a child to term. You’ve probably never lived in an area of America or any other country where you needed something against the law so were reduced to a back alley, dangerous procedure that opened you up to disease or death.

I do not feel like I am "not respected or undermined" because I am a woman. That’s good for you. You’ve never had to deal with a male dominated corporation overlooking you because women are not as smart as men, or a man taking credit for work that you did.

I am not a "victim" because you say I am. I’ve said no such thing. I just pray you know when you’re a victim without someone else pointing it out for you.

I AM a woman. Many of us are! I can make my own choices. Yes, but will your choices be honored and within the parameters of the law? There are countries where your choices can get you killed. I can speak and be heard. By who? Will your words be something that makes a difference? Or will your words fall flat on the floor of the House and Senate? I can VOTE. Will your vote count? And, there are countries where you cannot vote BECAUSE YOU ARE A WOMAN. What would you do if you lived in one of these countries? Oh never mind…as a woman your rights wouldn’t matter. I can work if I want. Yes, but will you be paid what you deserve for your work? Will you be given the same opportunities as other co-workers? Can you advance? Will you be judged on merit or gender? I control my body. To a point. Until the head honchos tell you that what you want or need is against the law. If men had abortions, there would be grants and clinics and coupons. Instead, women are shamed for making a very difficult and personal decision. And that’s where those decisions should live: with the person. What about accountability? Why is all of the ownership for the unwanted pregnancy placed on the mother? Why isn’t the father shamed and told to keep his sperm under control? Because that’s absurd?? Ahem… I can defend myself. As a woman, I would hope you could defend yourself. Could you defend yourself against a man twice your size? Are you prepared to sacrifice your life in defense of your life? And defend yourself how, I wonder, with words? Against your husband who feels like beating you or your children? Against the man who threatens to kill you because he has a bad temper? I can defend my family. Again, from what? Laws? Abusers? Harsh words? Are you defending what matters like food, water, shelter and access to education? Or are defending this reality show that American lives have become? Are you paying attention? There is nothing stopping me to do anything in this world but MYSELF. First, is this even a proper sentence? And if you are trying to do something that legislation has stated is not for a woman to do, then I guess something other than yourself is stopping you. I do not blame my circumstances or problems on anything other than my own choices or even that sometimes in life, we don't always get what we want. I take responsibility for myself. Please tell this to the child in the middle of sex traffic ring. I’m sure he or she would love to understand how it’s their choice to be there. Or the young woman who is beaten by her father and brothers after being raped on her way home because she brought shame to the family.

I am a mother, a daughter, a wife, a sister, a friend. I am not held back in life but only by the walls I choose to not go over which is a personal choice. You are a lucky person who lives a blessed life. As a blessed individual, one could only hope that you would see past your own walls and realize that we marched so that ALL women, in America, and in ALL countries could be as blessed as you. Some do not have as much to fight for as others, but together we can make a difference for ALL.

Quit blaming. Take responsibility. I could say the same to you. I have taken responsibility, but more than that: I take action. Actions which keep the door from being slammed in my face forcing me back into the kitchen.

If you want to speak, do so. But do not expect for me, a woman, to take you seriously wearing a pink va-jay-jay hat on your head and screaming profanities and bashing men. The pink hats actually came from a woman who wanted to do more than just “show up”. She starting knitting hats because she wanted to draw attention to her statement and for the sheer purpose of staying warm. She made the beanies with little ears on them in reference to the lude remarks from the Trump video about grabbing women’s genitals. The idea took off and went global to show solidarity. Also, it was recorded around the world that it was the most peaceful protest ever held. No arrests. The core of this march was Peaceful Protest. Not sure where the whole bashing men thing came from. Making women heard and empowered neither takes away or lessens a man’s equality or power. And if your belief is that feminism is intended to take from men, you need to do some research. If you have beliefs, and speak to me in a kind matter, I will listen. But do not expect for me to change my beliefs to suit yours. Respect goes both ways. I absolutely respect that, and expect the same from you. I don’t expect you to do anything you don’t want to do, just like I don’t expect to be told to sit down and shut up because you don’t want to hear or see it. If you want to impress me, especially in regards to women, then speak on the real injustices and tragedies that affect women in foreign countries that do not that the opportunity or means to have their voices heard. We just did, I’m sorry if you didn’t get that message. Saudi Arabia, women can't drive, no rights and must always be covered. Only three small issues with what’s happening in this country. China and India, infanticide of baby girls. Afghanistan, unequal education rights. Democratic Republic of Congo, where rapes are brutal and women are left to die, or HIV infected and left to care for children alone. Mali, where women cannot escape the torture of genital mutilation. Pakistan, in tribal areas where women are gang raped to pay for men's crime. Guatemala, the impoverished female underclass of Guatemala faces domestic violence, rape and the second-highest rate of HIV/AIDS after sub-Saharan Africa. An epidemic of gruesome unsolved murders has left hundreds of women dead, some of their bodies left with hate messages. Or the 7 year old girls being sold or married off to 60 year old men, Or the millions of women sold and bought into sex trafficking. And that's just a few examples. ALL reasons why we march on. This was GLOBAL, not local. Women march for all women around the world.

So when women get together in AMERICA and whine they don't have equal rights and march in their clean clothes, after eating a hearty breakfast, and it's like a vacation away that they have paid for to get there... This WOMAN does not support it. This woman didn’t quite understand the message the women of America were bringing. But that’s ok, I’m not here to change her views, merely to state mine.

I also want to address something else I’ve seen. This blatant disrespect toward the celebrities that have spoken out about the election and about the March. We are founded on freedom of speech. There is also freedom of the press. Yes, celebrities have a unique position where they have the ear of more people than you or I or any of the other average Joes around town. Why, because their job is to entertain us, does that mean that they can’t speak their mind like anyone else? Many celebrities are brilliant, well-educated individuals who, like most of us, are concerned for our country and the world. I’m not a politician, does that mean I can’t speak out about politics? I’m not a doctor, does that mean I can’t speak about healthcare? If I’m a celebrity, does that cancel out my brain function to only one specialty? No. No it does not. AND even if it did, I would still have the RIGHT to speak about what I felt needed to be said. It is YOUR choice to not listen. You don’t like what I have to say, turn off the TV, turn the channel, read a book. Google “The Constitution”. What you do is your choice. What I do is my choice. What the celebrities do is their choice. And thank GOD and our soldiers for providing us an environment where we have some freedom to make those choices.

One more time for the cheap seats. We march on for those who do not have the luxury of making their own choices.

#women's march

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bharatiyamedia-blog · 5 years

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Congo's Ebola epidemic inflicts heavy toll on kids

http://tinyurl.com/y6co5aa6 BUTEMBO, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) – Eight-year-old Kennedy Muhindo was operating a excessive fever and racked by abdomen ache and diarrhoea. A well being employee sporting Ebola safety gear enters the Biosecure Emergency Care Unit (CUBE) on the ALIMA (The Alliance for Worldwide Medical Motion) Ebola therapy centre in Beni, within the Democratic Republic of Congo, April 1, 2019. REUTERS/Baz Ratner Well being employees advised him he had Ebola however his first thought was for his sister who had been battling the virus. “How is my large sister doing?” he requested well being employees many times at an Ebola therapy centre on the outskirts of Butembo, a serious buying and selling hub set amid volcanic hills in japanese Democratic Republic of Congo. Employees stated they didn’t have the guts to inform him that 9-year-old Lareine had died. “His sister was his finest pal,” stated Desy Shabani, who gives psycho-social assist to the sufferers. “To have misplaced the dearest individual in his life… I requested myself, ‘What is going to this baby do?’” The Ebola outbreak in Congo – the second-largest on file – has inflicted an unusually heavy toll on kids. Greater than 1 / 4 of the confirmed and possible instances recognized as of early April had been kids beneath 15, in comparison with 18% within the final main outbreak in West Africa in 2013-2016, in response to figures compiled by the World Well being Group. The illness can progress quickly, crippling the immune system and shutting down important organs. Younger kids and infants are particularly weak. Their small our bodies are much less effectively outfitted to deal with excessive fluid loss introduced on by widespread signs resembling diarrhoea, vomiting, fever and bleeding, stated Daniel Bausch, an infectious illness specialist on the London College of Hygiene and Tropical Medication. Greater than two out of each three kids contaminated on this outbreak have died in contrast with simply over half the adults, the WHO stated. As of Might 26, the dying toll stood at 1,281 folks, together with a minimum of 541 who had been beneath 18. Fatality charges are highest for youngsters beneath four who died at a charge of round 80% in West Africa, in response to a research revealed within the New England Journal of Medication in 2015. Greater than 11,000 folks in all died in that outbreak. The contents of the storage room on the Butembo therapy centre attest to the age of lots of the sufferers. Alongside blankets and spare garments stand cabinets filled with child method and neon-coloured plastic rattles within the form of little bears. Within the metropolis centre, small coffins wrapped in flowery plastic had been stacked outdoors a carpenter’s store. An worker lamented the frequency of orders. GLOVES AND BODILY FLUIDS Ebola instances would sometimes be divided roughly equally between female and male sufferers. However on this outbreak, ladies and ladies account for 58% of instances, down from a peak of 62% in December, the WHO stated. The explanation extra ladies and youngsters have fallen sick stays a little bit of a thriller. However specialists suspect it could be as a result of the Beni space, the place the outbreak started in August, was additionally battling malaria on the time. Malaria may cause extreme issues in pregnant ladies and youngsters, requiring therapy at medical services the place they threat publicity to undiagnosed Ebola sufferers, stated Mike Ryan, who heads the WHO’s well being emergencies programme. “Transmission throughout the healthcare setting has been a significant component driving this outbreak,” Ryan stated. “Sadly, ladies and youngsters have been the unwitting victims of that actuality.” Healthcare requirements in Congo fluctuate extensively because of lack of oversight over a system that features many unregistered personal clinics and conventional healers working out of their properties. The virus is transmitted by means of contact with contaminated bodily fluids. However well being employees working outdoors of presidency hospitals don’t all the time observe pointers to forestall cross-contamination, in response to Congo’s well being ministry. “It means at instances they don’t change gloves or don’t use single-use ones or just they don’t use gloves in any respect,” stated Jessica Ilunga, a ministry spokeswoman. “They don’t sterilise their tools, they usually don’t decontaminate beds, they usually don’t change sheets.” Anselme Mungwayitheka stated he and two different well being employees at a non-public clinic in Beni caught Ebola from a lady and her new child who had been contaminated whereas within the care of a conventional healer. “We didn’t have a lot tools on this facility,” stated Mungwayitheka, who now works at an Ebola therapy centre in Beni he credit with saving his life. “After we obtained sufferers, we simply needed to placed on protecting gloves. After caring for them, we needed to take away the gloves, however the affected person had touched nearly all of the doorways.” A key a part of the Ebola response effort includes decontaminating well being services, educating well being employees on easy methods to shield themselves and their sufferers, and persuading residents to hunt therapy at specialised centres. However these efforts have been hindered by outbreaks of violence and a deep distrust of outsiders. That is Congo’s tenth Ebola outbreak, however it’s the first within the densely populated provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, the place militias perform sporadic raids from hidden strongholds within the tropical forest. Ladies and youngsters are sometimes the primary to be displaced by the bloodshed. “ALL OF THEM COULD HAVE DIED” On the Ebola therapy centre in Beni, a metropolis of a number of hundred thousand with shut ties to neighbouring Uganda, 5 members of the identical household of farmers had been being handled for Ebola in late March. Three had been kids. Marcela Kaswera, 45, stated she had despatched her kids to their older brother within the village of Biakatu after their hometown of Oicha was attacked by members of an Islamist militia. “On March 20, it was a Wednesday, my son known as me,” Kaswera recalled. “He stated, ‘Mama, I’m coming again to Oicha as a result of Ebola has touched Biakatu, and many individuals are dying.’” After they returned, her 7-year-old son was feverish. He died in her arms at a hospital, the place he posthumously examined constructive for Ebola. In fast succession, Kaswera’s 13-year-old son, 2-year-old daughter, grown-up son, daughter-in-law and grandson all developed signs of the virus and had been transferred to the therapy centre run by the Alliance for Worldwide Medical Motion. “Now I can thank God as a result of they’re steady,” stated Kaswera, who had travelled 30 kilometres (19 miles) on the again of a bike taxi together with her husband to go to their sick relations. “If it was simply me with out medical doctors I believe all of them might have died.” Slideshow (12 Photographs) On the night of Feb. 27, unknown assailants attacked the centre in Butembo the place Kennedy was being handled, setting fireplace to some buildings and automobiles. Listening to gunshots, one of many different sufferers took the boy and fled by means of open fields into town. They spent the evening on the man’s house and returned the subsequent day. “He was actually scared,” recalled Shabani, standing on a walkway outdoors a line of tented cubicles, the place folks with suspected Ebola waited for check outcomes. Kennedy was discharged lower than every week later. He’s now again in school and performs soccer with a gaggle of kids on the steep, muddy streets close to his house, bordering lush farmland. Further reporting by Djaffar Al Katanty in Butembo and Beni, Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, Kate Kelland in London and Giulia Paravicini in Brussels; Modifying by Alexandra Zavis and Anna Willard Our Requirements:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Source link

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positivedevelopment · 6 years

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Weekly Roundup July 30 to August 5

LATEST SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION ON CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT LINKS CONFLICT PREVENTION AND CHILD PROTECTION

“The UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2427 on July 9, during the Council’s annual Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict (CAC), held under the presidency of Sweden.”

“Put forward by the Permanent Mission of Sweden, Resolution 2427 had 98 co-sponsors, marking a significant increase from previous CAC resolutions. The resolution commits the Council to taking concrete action in response to grave violations committed against children in conflict, and addresses several points included in Watchlist’s messaging. Specifically, the resolution emphasizes the importance of integrating child protection into conflict prevention and conflict resolution strategies, calling on Member States, UN entities, and other relevant actors to include child protection provisions – especially those related to release and reintegration of children formerly associated with armed forces and groups – into all peace negotiations, ceasefire and peace agreements, and provisions for their monitoring.”

Read the full Resolution 2427 (2018) HERE

South Sudan - Child Soldiers International

“Building on the success of our work in DR Congo, we will be talking to girls who have returned from armed groups, their communities and child protection organisations in South Sudan, then developing a Practical Guide which will advise communities on steps they can take to support the girls’ return to civilian life.”

________________________________________________________________

Amarula Raises Global Awareness About Elephant Conservation on World Elephant Day

“Amarula, the best-selling South African cream liqueur, announced today the start of their awareness and fundraising campaign in Canada to save the African elephant. In partnership with the renowned conservation group, WildlifeDirect, Amarula will be launching the 2018 "Don't Let Them Disappear" campaign in various countries globally, including South Africa, the United States, Brazil and Germany. The campaign aims to raise awareness in protecting the world's declining African elephant population.”

Retweet To Help Make Sure Elephants Don't Disappear Starting August 6, the @AmarulaElephant Twitter account and hashtag, #AmarulaTrust, will be launched, giving a voice to the elephant ice sculpture, who will share its story in real-time, spreading the word about the disappearance of its brothers and sisters in Africa – before itself disappearing. With the help of Canadians, Amarula Canada will be donating $1 for each of the first 10,000 retweets on World Elephant Day, to the Amarula Trust's impactful global conservation efforts, in partnership with WildlifeDirect.

Loewe Partners With Kenyan Craftspeople For Elephant Conservation

“To put an end to poaching, Loewe has partnered with Samburu craftspeople on a limited-edition, embroidered range of its tan, mini elephant shaped bags.”

“All sales proceeds will be donated to the Elephant Crisis Fund to support the Knot On My Planet Campaign — a project that involves celebrities, influencers, and brands to raise funds for initiatives aimed at stopping poachers and ivory traffickers.”

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theaterformen-blog · 6 years

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Nora Nottmie in Goma, Kongo (1994)

– see English version below –

Wir schreiben das Jahr 2015. An der türkischen Küste wird ein Junge gefunden, der auf der Flucht vor dem Islamischen Staat im Mittelmeer ertrank. Er ist etwa drei Jahre alt und wird mit seinem tragischen Tod ein mediales Spektakel hervorrufen, das polarisierender und vielleicht auch unmoralischer nicht sein könnte. Doch um an diesen Punkt zu gelangen, muss ich noch weiter zurückreisen, in die Mitte der 90er. Hier finden Consolate Sipérius’ leibliche Eltern, ihre Geschwister, Nachbarinnen und Nachbarn, Freundinnen und Freunde den Tod durch Maschinengewehre. Sie ist Zeugin und die einzige Überlebende. 1994 in Zentralafrika. Hier arbeitet Ursina Lardi für eine NGO im Kongo, in Ruanda und in Burundi. Ich werde durch diese drei Länder reisen und Dinge sehen, die so gräßlich sind, dass sie vielleicht nur durch Verdrängen oder Zynismus zu kompensieren sind.

Kaum in Goma angekommen, steigen mir die Gerüche von Petroleum und algenhaltigem Wasser in die Nase. Vor mir ein riesiger See, der Lake Kivu. Um mich herum viele Menschen, die meisten jung, weiß und Mitglieder einer europäischen NGO. Sie sind voller Tatendrang und wollen helfen, wo sie nur können. Darunter Ursina, 19 vielleicht 20 Jahre alt, aus Zürich. Zwei Jahre will sie hier bleiben und mit den „Teachers in Conflict“ Hilfe leisten, indem sie Unterricht gibt. Sie lebt in einem Hotel, das von der Organisation gestellt wird.

Gemeinsam leben und erleben wir Goma, versorgen die in der Zeltstadt ankommenden Menschen und können doch immer wieder zurückkehren - in das Hotel, in einen Augenblick der Ruhe und vermeintlicher Sicherheit, nur für uns selbst.

Wir müssen Wälder nach ihrer Notwendigkeit kategorisieren. Welcher wird abgeholzt, damit wir Feuerholz haben, welcher bleibt stehen, der Umwelt zur liebe? Das Holz transportieren wir auf einem Laster und bitten die Menschen, uns beim Abladen zu helfen.

Nachts hören wir klassische Musik, Bach, Beethoven, Hauptsache laut. Denn mit der Nacht kommen die Schreie. Sie wehen über das Land und brüllen uns das ins Gesicht, wovor wir täglich die Augen verschließen. Und auch hier übertönen wir das unfassbare Leid einfach mit Musik und denken nicht an die Leichen, die im Lake Kivu schwimmen, aus dem wir täglich für duschen wie auch kochen unser Wasser beziehen. Vielleicht meiden wir es eine Weile, uns zu waschen und vielleicht kommen wir auch plötzlich eine längere Zeit ohne einen Schluck Wasser aus. Doch bald rückt auch dies in den Hintergrund und stört nur noch in der Nacht, wenn Albträume uns aus dem Schlaf reißen.

Dass uns hier jederzeit alles um die Ohren fliegen kann, hat uns niemand erzählt. Und als es uns dann tatsächlich um die Ohren fliegt, werden wir evakuiert und nach Ruanda gebracht. Dass es auch hier nicht sicher ist, müssen wir selbst herausfinden, was wir tun werden – auf die härteste und schrecklichste nur denkbare Weise. Wir sind nicht ausgebildet und vollkommen überfordert. Auch hier werden wir evakuiert. Der Kampf zwischen den Tutsi und den Hutu ist nun unausweichlich, sie fallen bereits in unsere Zeltstadt ein, die über die Dauer der Zeit tatsächlich zu einer Stadt geworden ist. Es gibt Kinos, Radiostationen, Friseursalons. All das wird ohne Vorwarnung zerschossen. Die Maschinengewehre im Anschlag, ein Versprechen der Freiheit im Gepäck, das niemals eingehalten werden wird, wird das Lager eingenommen. Während das Flugzeug abhebt, das die NGO-Mitglieder in Sicherheit, zurück nach Europa bringen soll, schauen wir zurück. Noch bevor das Flugzeug die Wolken erreicht, bin ich wieder in meiner Zeit. Wir wurden auf unserem Weg aus dem Lager nicht aufgehalten. Mir wird klar, dass hier Leben gegeneinander aufgewogen wurden und dass diejenigen, die die Waffen und damit die Macht besitzen, nicht zwangsläufig mit tatsächlichen Maschinengewehren auftreten, sondern aus der Ferne die Fäden ziehen. Ich werde das Gefühl nicht los, dass wir mit unserer vermeintlichen Hilfe viel mehr zerstört als gerettet oder gar zum Positiven gewendet haben. Denn wer sind wir, die wir meinen unseren moralischen Kompass auf eine fremde Kultur übertragen zu können? Wer sind wir, die wir Zivilisation, Freundschaft und Diplomatie lehren wollen und doch nur Waffen liefern?

Nora Nottmie in Goma, Congo (1994)

We write the year 2015. A young boy who drowned in the Mediterranean trying the escape Islamic State is found on the Turkish coast. He is around three years old and his tragic death unleashes a spectacle in the media that couldn’t be more polarising or perhaps more unethical. But to get to this point, we have to travel further back, to the middle of the 90s. It’s then that Consolate Sipérius’ biological parents, her sisters and brothers, neighbours and friends are killed by machine guns. She witnesses this and is the only survivor. 1994 in Central Africa. There, Ursina Lardi works for an NGO in the Congo, in Rwanda and in Burundi. I will travel through these three countries and see things that are so horrific that maybe they can only be compensated for with suppression or cynicism.

As soon as I arrive in Goma, the smells of petroleum and water full of algae hits my nose. In front of me, a huge lake, Lake Kivu. So many people around me, most of them young, white and members of a European NGO. They are burning with desire to do something and want to help wherever they can. One of them is Ursina,19 maybe 20 years old, from Zürich. She plans to stay for two years and help by teaching with “Teachers in Conflict”. She lives in a hotel provided by the organisation.

Together we live in and experience Goma, taking care of the people arriving in the tent city and yet we can always go back – back to the hotel for a moment of peace and apparent safety, just for us.

We have to categorise forests according to their necessity. Which forest should be cut down so we have firewood, which stays standing for the sake of the environment? We transport the wood on a lorry and ask the people to help us unload it.

At night, we listen to classical music, Bach, Beethoven. As long as it’s loud. Because at night the screams start. They drift over the land and scream into our faces what we try to look away from every day. And here too we simply drown out the incomprehensible suffering with music and don’t think about the corpses floating in Lake Kivu, where we get our water for showers and cooking from every day. Maybe we can avoid washing for a while or suddenly be able to go a longer time without a gulp of water. But soon this too retreats into the background and only bothers us at night, when nightmares wake us abruptly from our sleep.

No one told us that everything could suddenly blow up in our faces here at any time. And when it does actually blow up, we get evacuated and brought to Rwanda. We have to find out for ourselves that it’s not safe there either, which we do – in the harshest and most horrible way imaginable.

We’re not trained and completely in over our heads. We get evacuated from Rwanda too. The conflict between the Tutsi and the Hutu is now inevitable, they’re already descending on our tent city, which by now really has become a city. There are cinemas, radio stations, hairdressers. All that is shot to pieces without warning. Machine guns ready and aimed, a promise of freedom in their bag that will never be kept, the camp is taken over.

As the airplane lifts off to bring the NGO workers back to safety, back to Europe, we look back. Before the airplane reaches the clouds, I’m back in my own time. We were not stopped on our way out of the camp. I realise that lives here are weighed up against each other and that those who have the weapons and therefore the power, don’t necessarily come with actual machine guns, but rather are pulling the strings from far away. I can’t shake the feeling that we’ve done more harm than saving or even good here with our aid. Because who are we to think we can force our moral compass on a foreign culture? Who are we, the ones who preach civilisation, friendship and diplomacy and yet just deliver weapons?

Translation: Anna Galt (Bochert Translations)

#stageblogger #stageblogger18 #theaterformen #theaterformen18 #nora nottmie #congo #mitleid #goma #compassion #milo rau #ursina lardi #consolate siperius #theater #festival #festival theaterformen #sommer #braunschweig #hannover

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catching-fire-analysis-blog · 6 years

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Violence and War: Dystopian Societies Today

The Mockingjay symbol

Peacekeepers in Catching Fire drag a man from the crowd to shoot him.

Sudanese troops

Sudanese citizens running in terror.

By: Erik Espinoza Jr

Our society today is filled with hope, even over little things. We hope our favorite team wins the championship, we hope the character we love survives in the movie, and we hope we get what we asked for for Christmas. However, not every society is like ours. There are some whose idea of hope is much different from ours; they hope for another drink of clean water, they hope for their next meal, they hope to live to see another day. That is going on right now, today, in places where controlling authoritarian governments are in charge; places where people are deprived of food and basic needs. This is why Catching Fire has a significant message to us today. Catching Fire displays an oppressive government that fears rebellion of it’s citizens, as well as shows the consequences of war and the effect that it has on the people involved. First of all, a background of the story in Catching Fire. It is the sequel to the first book, The Hunger Games, written by Suzanne Collins. These books are based on a dystopian society where war destroyed the world we know today. The country is now separated into twelve districts, where the job of the district is based on geography. This society is run by one president, President Snow. He runs an authoritarian government. Seventy-five years before Catching Fire, a thirteenth district rebelled, causing a huge war. The most shocking part of this story is what is called The Reaping: two children, ages 12 to 18, are chosen from each district to fight to the death until a lone victor survives. This is done as a reminder of the rebellion, and to threaten the districts against another rebellion. President Snow continues as an intelligent, ruthless dictator throughout the Catching Fire book as he throws previous victors back into the Hunger Games. This includes the main characters Katniss and Peeta, who won the first Hunger Games together and therefore defying the Capitol. They know that this time they will not be allowed to survive. The loved ones of Katniss and Peeta, and anyone else who seems as if they just might rebel against the Capitol, suffer threats and harsh violence. Many questions that arise with dystopian books and movies like Catching Fire: Why do these stories matter? How do they relate to society today? Do they depict what our future may actually look like? Look no further, because I will be answering all of these questions. The oppressive government of The Capital is similar to that of authoritarian governments today. In Catching Fire, The Capital is run by the authoritarian President Snow. He makes the rules as he pleases, and changes them to fit his needs. This is shown when he changes the usual rules of the games to have only victors being put into the games that occur in Catching Fire. This is extremely relevant to many countries in the world today because many are run by cruel dictators. One example is Sudan, which is currently run by an authoritarian President as well. His name is Omar al-Bashir, and the country has been at war for most of his presidency. It was in the midst of a civil war when he began his presidency, and although he signed a peace deal for it, there has still been another civil war waging. al-Bashir has been accused of genocide, various crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Sudan currently has a freedom house score of 7, which is extremely high and is evidence to the oppressive government. Although we do not face this type of government in America, countries with people just like you and I are stuck in a society like this. To them, the horror that is the society in Catching Fire is the reality that they face everyday. Catching Fire reveals the consequences of war that occur today. Many people are harmed and manipulated, such as the characters Cinna, Mags, and Wiress. These are just a few of the tragic deaths that occurred in this text. The two main characters, Katniss and Peeta, have to give a speech to each of the children’s districts that were killed in the last Games. The government forces them to do this, to show the districts the power that they have, and to shove the ones who won in their faces. This is used as a tactic to further control the districts, and basically turn their fear into submission. During one of the speeches, a man delivers a symbol of rebellion to Katniss and Peeta. He is shot on sight in the middle of the crowd just for this. This is a violent act of war, in response to the impending rebellion that was building up. Unfortunately, this is a common consequence that occurs in violent, war-stricken and rebellion plagued countries. Sudan is yet again a real life example to show the relevance of this. The country is currently in the midst of a civil war, and the consequences of it are becoming apparent. Sudan has had a long history of revolutions, to the point where citizens are more scared of another revolt than they are of the unstable, so-called democracy that they live in. Either way, the country is in a state of violence. Women face violence that is twice the global average, experiencing rape, sexual abuse, domestic violence. 65% of women in Sudan interviewed reported some form of sexual violence. It has been increasingly worse, while the perpetrators are not punished. This is exactly what occurs in Catching Fire, when the Peacekeepers continue to kill and harm citizens of Panem, but receive no repercussions. In these books, readers mourn the loss of characters when they die due to the violence of the war, but in real life there are people mourning the loss of loved ones every single day because of real war. Living in America, we may not see it but it is a real problem. Again, these are people just like you and I, who are being tortured, kidnapped, raped, and murdered. One woman was gang-raped by government soldiers after she left her camp for firewood. This is why the story in Catching Fire should resonate with you, because it represents global issues and brings these problems to the limelight. Lastly, Catching Fire shows us real emotions that people face everyday. Love, sorrow, hope, all of these are timeless and will be felt forever by people. Hope is a huge theme in Catching Fire, as the mockingjay becomes the symbol for hope in Panem. As Katniss and Peeta travel around the districts, Katniss begins seeing the mockingjay symbol in various places, hinting at thoughts of rebellion. She has given the country something to hope for, because in the previous book she defied the Capitol by convincing them to allow both her and Peeta to survive the Games. Citizens see this, and begin to believe that they too can defy the Capitol. This breaks a small part of the Capital’s armor, allowing the districts’ hope to shine through to the other side. Small revolts began breaking out and little symbols pop up here and there to show this; there is an uprising in District Eight, a young man and women display the three fingered salute that has come to represent rebellion as well, and Katniss and Peeta are taken off stage due to a chaotic crowd. All of these add fuel to the fire of hope that is spreading through the districts. Furthermore, the sorrow of Katniss when she loses Cinna, her beloved stylist that helped her fight back against the Capitol, is so strong the reader can feel it radiating off of the pages of the book. This feeling is felt intensely when citizens in Sudan lose loved ones, due to the violent acts mentioned earlier. One young man has suffered the loss of his brother, sister, and mother and has been forced the create makeshift graves rather than the traditional ones he would normally use. This is just a small peek inside the reality that Sudanese people are facing. They feel this sorrow, and it can either lead them to want a better world or push them into a further hole that they think they cannot get out of. Love comes through this as well, as people are more focused on their loved ones in a time of war than usual. Katniss is desperate to save her family members; in one chapter the Capitol uses her love against her to make her think they are torturing her loved ones. She ends up using this love to direct her energy into fighting the Capitol, knowing that if she wins she will be able to save them. In a time of war, people realize the impending risk of death to anyone, and many use love to fuel their hope. In Sudan and any other war stricken countries, love remains a prominent factor in a citizen’s will to survive, as well as the reason that many are willing to sacrifice anything to save the ones they care about. It is important to notice and understand the connection that dystopian books like Catching Fire has with our world today. While we may not see the carnage, starvation, violence, and chaos of war in our everyday lives, it is a real issue that has occurred throughout human history and will continue through the rest of our history. Sudan is not the only country in war today; Iraq, Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, and more are currently facing civil wars similar to the one that ended the previous society in Catching Fire. Unfortunately, this is a sad recurrence in mankind’s history, and the finish line is not visible. While there may not be a simple solution, a significant change can be made by helping provide these countries citizens with hope. After all, Suzanne Collins said that, “hope is the only thing stronger than fear”.

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