woh-battameez:

“A group of Muslims was detained Wednesday at Orlando Sanford International Airport, apparently because of a misunderstanding over an Islamic cleanliness ritual, authorities said. The captain of Allegiant flight No.625 from Allentown, Pa., radioed ahead and asked airport police to meet the plane when it landed about 8:30p.m., said Larry Dale, airport director and commander of its 11-member police force. Members of the group were lingering in the lavatory and asked for a cup, arousing suspicion, Dale said. An FBI agent was interviewing three men late Wednesday, but it appeared that the travelers were detained because of a religious custom dictating cleanliness and that they would be released. “In today’s world, we’d rather be cautious,” Dale said.”

—

Muslim family questioned: Muslim family detained at Orlando Sanford International Airport over bathroom ritual - Orlando Sentinel

Detained over a lota. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN ANY OF US. 

(ccing woh-battameez)

OH GOD Ub THIS WILL BE ME! IN A FEW MONTHS! Okay, I don’t travel with a lota but oh god what kind of world do we live in! JESUS. 

It’s going to break my heart if they won’t let me infiltrate the first world with my squirt bottle. 

WHO KNOWS WHERE THAT SQUIRT BOTTLE HAS BEEN OKAY. IT’S THE FIRST WORLD FOR A REASON. :P

duskandshiverrrr:

iamgwenslongroadhome:

duskandshiverrrr:

duskandshiverrrr:

Now I’m imagining Lucy Liu walking into every beloved franchise and being like

“Sorry, but you need to leave.”

“Lucy Liu, I can’t leave. I’m Robert Downey Jr. The reason that Iron Man works is because I ACTUALLY AM TONY STARK.”

“Well, now, I am. You need to leave.”

“Lucy Liu, you can’t be all nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring!”

“I can’t? Watch me.”

“But Lucy, you aren’t even *from* the UK…or a teenager! The casting call for Harry Potter clearly states you have to be bo-“

“Avada Kedavra! Anyone else have objections? No?”

“But Lucy Liu, I don’t know how you expect to play Batman.”

“Not only will I play Batman, but my parents won’t die.”

(Source: duskypants)

innovateafrica:

You must have heard of the viral video created by Invisible Children (IC), a U.S. organization that has launched a one-year campaign (expires December 31, 2012) to eliminate Joseph Kony, the head of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group in Northern Uganda that has been embroiled in civil conflict with the Ugandan government for 25+ years. The LRA has admittedly used atrocious tactics such as abductions to engage children in conflict, using boys as soldiers and girls as sex slaves. Needless to say, Kony and LRA must go. That’s where my agreement begins and ends with Invisible Children’s work. I appreciate the organization’s commitment to the issue and can see its good intent, but I strongly question the group’s approach, strategy, and work. Below are some of the reasons why.

Lack of context and nuance: in the video, the founder of Invisible Children tells his young son that Kony is a bad guy and he must go. Daddy will work on making sure he is caught. He goes on to state later, “if we succeed, we change the course of human history.” Such a humble undertaking! Simply, a long socioeconomic and political conflict that has lasted 25+ years and engaged multiple states and actors has been reduced to a story of the good vs bad guy. And if a three-year-old can understand it, so can you. You don’t have to learn anything about the children, Uganda, or Africa. You just have to make calls, put up flyers, sings songs, and you will liberate a poor, forgotten, and invisible people. 

This approach obviously denies realities on the ground, inflates fantasies abroad, and strips Ugandans of their agency, dignity and humanity- the complexity of their story and history. The work, consequence, and impact are all focused on Uganda, but the agency, accountability, and resources lie among young American students. Clearly a dangerous imbalance of power and influence; one that can have adverse lasting effects on how and what people know of Uganda. It reduces the story of Northern Uganda, and perhaps even all of Uganda, into the dreaded single narrative of need and war, followed by western resolve and rescue. As we have seen from the past, without nuance and context, these stories stick in the collective memory of everyday people for years in their simplest forms: Uganda becomes wretched war. Whatever good IC may advance in raising more awareness on the issue or even contributing to the capture of Joseph Kony, it can never do enough to erase this unintended (I hope) impact.

Invisible to whom: these children have been very visible to their communities for years. After all, they’re somebody’s child, brother, sister, friend, niece, nephew, or neighbor. They’ve been visible to the shopkeepers and vendors in town who protected them. They’ve been visible to the family members who lost them and the community that cared for them. It’s because they’re so visible that Concerned Parents Association opened its doors in the 1990’s, after LRA abducted about 200 girls from a secondary school dormitory, to advocate for and bring to international light their plight. It’s because they’re visible that young people, including returnees from abductions, started Concerned Children and Youth Association. They’re visible to the people that matter, but apparently not to IC.  The language we use in social change often denotes the approach we take, even if subconsciously. Since the children appear to be invisible to IC, then perhaps it’s clear why they’re represented as voiceless, dependent, and dis-empowered.  

The dis-empowering and reductive narrative: the Invisible Children narrative on Uganda is one that paints the people as victims, lacking agency, voice, will, or power. It calls upon an external cadre of American students to liberate them by removing the bad guy who is causing their suffering. Well, this is a misrepresentation of the reality on the ground. Fortunately, there are plenty of examples of child and youth advocates who have been fighting to address the very issues at the heart of IC’s work. Want evidence? In addition to the organizations I list above, also look at Art for Children, Friends of Orphans, and Children Chance International. It doesn’t quiet match the victim narrative, does it? I understand that IC is a US-based organization working to change US policy. But, it doesn’t absolve it from the responsibility of telling a more complete story, one that shows the challenges and trials along side the strength, resilience, and transformational work of affected communities.

Revival of the White savior: if you have watched the Invisible Children video and followed the organization’s work in the past, you will note a certain messianic/savior undertone to it all. “I will do anything I can to stop him,” declares the founder in the video. It’s quite individualistic and reeks of the dated colonial views of Africa and Africans as helpless beings who need to be saved and civilized. Where in that video do you see the agency of Ugandans? Where in that Video do you see Jacob open his eyes wide at the mere possibility of his own strength, as Jennifer Lentfer of How Matters describes here? Can we point out the problem with having one child speak on the desires, dreams, and hopes of a whole nation? I don’t even want to mention the paternalistic tone with which Jacob and Uganda (when did it become part of central Africa by the way?) are described, not excluding the condescending use of subtitles for someone who is clearly speaking English.

How many times in history do we have to see this model to know that it doesn’t work? Even if IC succeeds in bringing about short-term change (i.e. increased awareness or even the killing of Kony) it won’t eliminate Northern Uganda’s problems overnight. It won’t heal and sustain communities. In this era of protest and the protester, we have seen that change is best achieved when it comes from within. Let Ugandans champion their own, IC!

Privilege of giving: that was quite a 30-minute production? Where did they get the resources? How do they have that reach? Well, in the nonprofit world, the one thing that we have to learn, especially as Africans, is that privilege begets privilege. The IC video is another reminder of the ways in which privilege infiltrates the social justice world and determines the voices and organizations that are heard; simply those that can afford to be heard. There are several local organizations that could offer a nuanced and contextualized perspective on and solutions to the Northern Uganda conflict. They don’t have IC’s reach. They simple weren’t born into the world of financial, racial, social, and geopolitical privilege IC members are.  

Lack of Africans in leadership: Invisible Children’s US staff is comprised exclusively of Americans, as is the entire Board. How do you represent Uganda and not have Ugandans in leadership? Couldn’t the organization find a single Ugandan? An African? Did it even think about that? Does that matter to current staff and board members? I understand that IC’s main audience is American and its focus is on American action. However, when your work and consequence affect a different group of people than your target audience, you must make it a priority to engage the voices of the affected population in a real and meaningful way, in places and spaces where programs are designed, strategies dissected, and decisions made.

Clearly, I think people should work across borders to address global issues. Obviously, there is a role for Americans in this issue. The problem here is the lack of balance on who speaks for Uganda (and Africa) and how. We need approaches that are strategic and respectful of the local reality, build on the action and desires of local activists and organizers, and act as partners and allies, not owners and drivers. When it comes to Africa, we have seen the IC approach play out time and time again, whether it was Ethiopia in the 1980s, Somalia in the early 2000s to date, Darfur in 2004, or now. History is on our side and it shows that these types of approaches often fail. At some point, we have to say enough is enough. Africans, raise your voice! Now and into the future.

For more on the IC campaign, please read:

http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/africa/horn-of-africa/uganda.aspx

http://ericswanderings.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/invisible-children-and-joseph-kony/

http://www.how-matters.org/2012/03/06/good-guys-bad-guys/

Image courtesy of http://www.invisiblechildren.com/our-story

woh-battameez:

What is so “horrific” about living in a house that is made from mud and may or may not have a bathroom?

Because “People with no bathrooms are dignified too!” is hardly a rallying social justice cry :P

In the summer of 2000, Alberto Adriano, a man of Mozambican descent, was brutally murdered by three Neo-Nazis in Dessau, Germany. Being 14 at the time, I remember hearing about the death in the news. But being a teen rather uninterested in currents affairs, what has really stuck with me are the memories of the musical response to this man’s cruel death.

 Brothers Keepers, a collective of German Hip-Hop artists released a song called “Adriano (Letzte Warnung)” in response to Adriano’s death, the surge in racism, rise in Neo-Nazism at the time. For me that song is exceptionally powerful, and I don’t remember ever hearing such a political, aggressive, anti-racist  song play on TV or the radio. Like ever..

I find it hard to imagine that a song like that could be released in 2012, and get the kind of attention that this song did when it came out. It just seems so…in your face. Perhaps it was possible because they were responding directly to Neo-Nazis and not say, white people in general. (Although, I totally read it as being addressed to white people in general as well…) But I don’t know… In contrast to this, another song was released by Sisters Keepers, the female equivalent, that was less angry and more conciliatory against racism. But that’s for Part II.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AQkTBqufpQ&feature=related

Here’s a transcript I found for this song. I’ve posted the lyrics below and included a translation below each German verse in italics. The translation is mostly quite clumsy, because rhyming! The brackets contain the name of the rapper/singer.

(Torch:)
Jetzt ist die Zeit, hier ist der Ort
Heute ist die Nacht, Torchmann hat das Wort
Denk’ ich an Deutschland in der Nacht
bin ich um meinen Schlaf gebracht –
mein Bruder Adriano wurde umgebracht
Hautfarbe schwarz. Blut rot. Schweigen ist Gold
Gedanken sind tiefblau. Ein Bürger hat Angst vor seinem Volk.
Ein Wintermärchen aus Deutschland. Blauer Samt.
Als Kind schon erkannt: ich bin hier fremd im eigenen Land
Operation Artikel 3 – da habt ihr gelacht!
Jungs, das ist mein Leben das ha’m wir uns nicht ausgedacht
In all den Jahren in denen wir Airplay verschwendet haben
Man könnte denken, wir Rapper hätten nichts zu sagen
Doch es rächt sich, ihr werdet sehen, es holt uns ein!
Einigkeit macht stark – Adriano starb allein.

Now is the time, this is the place
Tonight is the night, Torchman has the word
When I think of Germany at night
I’m kept from sleeping
My brother Adriano was killed
Skin colour black. Blood red. Silence is golden.
Thoughts are dark blue. A citizen is scared of his people.
A fairy tale out of Germany. Blue Satin.
Something I recognized as a child: I’m a stranger in my own country
Operation Article 3 - you laughed then!
Boys, that’s my life, we didn’t invent it
In all these years in which we wasted air play
You’d think we rappers have nothing to say
But it’ll get revenge, you’ll see, it’ll catch us up!
Unity makes strong - Adriano died alone.

(G.E.R.M:)
Hängt dein Leben auf einmal am seidenen Faden,
dann blitzen die Warnsignale über die bebenden Leiterbahnen
Die Zeit ist reif, wenn Köpfe keine Preise mehr haben.
Wir müssen aufhören zu labern und auf jeden Fall
strategisch verfahren:
den Feind beobachten und dann ganz langsam enttarnen
Wörter sind wie der Wind und laut sprechen die Taten
Wir werden nicht warten, graben Löcher mit Spaten.
Seid euch im Klaren: das Karma, das wird euch beraten.

When your life hangs on a thread, the warning  signs flash over the quivering circuits
The time is ripe, when heads no longer have a price
We need to stop talking and definitely proceed strategically:
Watching the enemy and then slowly reveal ourselves
Words are like the wind and speaking out like the actions
We’re not going to wait, digging holes with spades
Just be clear, Karma will advise you

(Xavier Naidoo (Refrain):)
Dies ist so was wie eine letzte Warnung
Denn unser Rückschlag ist längst in Planung
Wir fall’n dort ein, wo ihr auffallt
Gebieten eurer braunen Scheiße endlich Aufhalt
Denn was ihr sucht ist das Ende
Und was wir reichen sind geballte Fäuste und keine Hände
Euer Niedergang für immer.
Und was wir hören werden, ist euer Weinen und euer Gewimmer

This is something like a last warning
Because our retaliation is already being planned
We’ll be there where you are
Putting a stop to your your brown* shit
Because what you’re looking for is an ending
And what we’ll stretch out are balled fists and not hands
Your downfall is forever
And what we’ll hear is your crying and your whimpers.

(*note: brown here refers to neo-nazis; a reference to the nazi uniforms)

(Tyron Ricketts:)
Denk’ ich an früher war der Widerstand noch eher müde
Heut gibt’s genügend Brüder mit der rechten Attitude
Geben sich Mühe um den Sprung zur Macht zu schaffen,
indem sie VWL, BWL, Jura zur Berufung machen.
In allen Sprachen, den Erleuchteten gefriert das Lachen.
Ist das Erwachen die Veränderung im Jahr des Drachen.
60 Millionen Sklaven von denen es 8 Millionen schafften.
Die besten sind jetzt unter euch; ich hoffe für euch zu verkraften.

When I think about the past, the resistance was rather tired
Today there are enough brothers with the right attitude
Making the effort to make the jump to power,
By studying Economics, Business Admin, and Law to make their careers.
In all languages, the laughs of the enlightened freeze
Will change be awakened in the year of the Dragon?
60 million slaves from which 8 million made it
The best of them are among you, I hope for you, you cope.

(Sékou:)
How many more men must die pass by the public eye
On both sides of the atlantic watch the panic multiply
Walk on by we divided supposed to coincide.
Side line observers disturbers trying to stay alive
I realised at a young age lifes design maze like
But its amazing the way hate spreads when its been raised right
Without day light the truths often hard to swallow
Why we sending out our love to Amadou and Adriano

(Afrob:)
Ich rapp’ für meinen Bruder, denn ich könnte auch das Opfer sein.
Falscher Ort, falsche Zeit – da hilft dir auch nicht tapfer sein
Wieviel Blut muß fließen in innerdeutschen Krisen
Alter, schau die letzen Jahre haben das mir zu oft bewiesen
Dass die Menschen sich erheben, wenn die Leute nicht mehr leben
Doch dann ist es zu spät, ihr solltet öfters drüber reden
Also sag wie ist das möglich? Mal ist es doch tödlich/Gerechtigkeit,
denn nicht nur Adriano hat es nötig.

I rap for my brother, because I could have been the victim too
Wrong place, wrong time, being brave is no help
How much blood has to flow in internal German crises
Dude, looking at the last years have often proven to me
That humans rise up when people are  no longer alive
But then it’s too late, you should talk about it more often
So how is it possible? Sometimes it’s deadly. Justice.
Because Adriano isn’t the only one who needs it.

(Refrain)

(Adé (Bantu):)
Seventh Sunday after Easter a fellow brother’s executed in his prime
Adriano’s crime: wrong place, wrong time
I can still hear the voice of anguish fading through the night,
It was an unfair fight!
3 versus 1, God they caught him by surprise
Xenophobia’s on the rise, victims get dehumanised
Procedures standardised as the lands Germanised
Names become numbers while death is trivialised

(Don Abi (Bantu):)
Why oh why, why oh why,
I can feel the mob crawling
I can hear the horns calling
You’ve taken the life of an innocent man
Another blood stain on this barren land
Father and brother

(Refrain)

(Denyo77:)
Zu viele Promis machen politische Promo-Gigs
Ich hoff’ der Track hier ist’n Dildo der die Zone fickt
Ich will nicht mehr erzählen zum national Befreien
Ich sage K, sage Z, sage Nazis rein
Ich will nicht labern, denn ich kenn’ mein Vaterland
Macht es mich krank wie Masern, dann verspür’ ich Tatendrang
Ich fühle mich eingeengt und will statt Prominenz
Und statt gro’er Fans, Nazis die wie Poster hängen

Too many celebrities make political promo-gigs
I hope this track is a dildo that fucks with the scene
I don’t want to say more about national liberty
I say K, say Z, say Nazis come in
I don’t want to talk, because I know my Fatherland
When it makes me ill like the measles, I feel the need for action
I feel restricted and instead of wanting prominence
And fans, Nazis that hang like posters.

(Samy Deluxe & D-Flame:)
Ich hörte schon im Kindergarten Weiße zu mir Nigger sagen
Die Klischees nicht hinterfragen, jetzt Brüder niederschlagen
Wir fordern mehr als gleiche Rechte, wir wollen endlich Frieden haben,
neue Ziele haben und nicht das Image von Dealern haben.
Im Landtag diskutiert man über einen Antrag
Und währenddessen plant der nächste Nazi seinen Anschlag
Die Schandtat wird bedauert, doch was ich mich dann frag:
“Warum steht schon wieder ne schwarze Familie am Grab?”
Das ist der Alltag, die Justiz verdammt hart
Jungs in Abschiebehaft sind am schwitzen wie im Dampfbad
Man merkt die Führung hat Macken
Nach all den rüden Attacken, müssen wir Brüder bestatten,
da einige lieber hassen. Die ganzen miesen Drecksratten
können ihre Lügen wegpacken. Da sie genügend beschatten
Können die die Typen verknacken.
Zeit sich zu wehren, statt zu ignorieren.
Das war’s von Flame und mir: Free Mumia!

I already heard whites call me nigger while in pre-school
Not questioning cliches, now beating down brothers
We’re demanding more than equal rights, we finally want to have peace,
To have new goals, and not to have the image of dealers.
In parliament they’re discussing a motion
While in the meantime the next Nazi is planning their assault
The outrageous act is regretted, but what I ask myself is:
“Why is another black family standing by a grave?”
This is the daily grind. The law, damn hard
Boys held in deportation custody sweat like in a sauna
One can tell that the leadership has defectsb
After all these rude attacks, we must bury brothers ecause some prefer to hate.
All of these miserable rats can pack away their lies,
Because they spy enough, so they can prosecute these guys
Time to defend ourselves instead of ignoring it
That’s it from Flame and I: Free Mumia!

(Refrain)

(Ono:)
I’m holding my ones and when it gets dark I’m blasting my guns
When I bury my claws into your flesh taking my time
Streets daily felony, gradually I put something out treasury
Why measure me, rock your shit faithfully and get it on and rotatin’
Silly frictions exaggerated hard rocks manipulated
We pick it up and do it up, know your future like it’s on your rear view
Nothing really matters now because we consume unseen like Bobby Digital

(Chima:)
Alter deine Gesinnung ist ‘ne Farce
und wir zwo wissen, dass Dir das klar ist:
wenn Dein Mob denn mal nicht da ist
und Du in den Spiegel starrst,
der dein Elend zeigt.
Hier, deine Seele muß am Arsch sein, wenn Du Umstände beklagst
und Kanaken dafür jagst –
du Has’ – ich brauch’ deinen Job, deine Alte, all die Probleme nicht.
Was macht dich blos so stolz? Geh’ tief in dich und schäme dich!
Vergess’ die Ethnien-Kacke
und dann zeig’ Flagge!
Adriano lebt in mir – und du kriegst nichts gebacken. Heil!

Dude, your attitude is a farce
And we both know, that you’re aware:
When your mob isn’t there
And you stare into the mirror that shows you your wretchedness
Here, your soul must broken, when you complain about your circumstances
and chase [slur for ethnic minorities, like wog] because of it
You ass, I don’t need your job, your girl, your problems
What makes you so proud? Look inside yourself and feel ashamed!
Forget this ethnic shit
And then show the flag!
Adriano lives within me, and you don’t understand anything. Heil!

(Ebony Prince:)
Mit allen nötigen Mitteln, Selbstverteidigung
gegen jede Beleidigung, 85% der Menschen bleiben dumm,
treibens bunt, verbreiten Schund. Die meisten schweigen.
Drum sei’s, dass wir das Ruder schnappen und reißen’s ‘rum.
Ich brauch’ nazibefreite Zonen, Party und geile Show
doch find’ kein’ Ruh’ vor denen, die behaupten,
arisch besteigt den Thron.
Konservative Leitkultur hat’s für die Rechten klar gemacht,
denk’ ich an Deutschland, werde ich um meinen gerechten Schlaf gebracht.

With all possible means, self defense against every insult.
85% of people stay dumb, go too far, spread bullshit. Most are silent.
That’s why we’re grabbing the paddle and turning it around
I need a Nazi free zone, party, and awesome show,
But I’m not getting any rest from those who say that Aryans will claim the throne.
Conservative cultural identity has made it clear for the Right
When I think of Germany, I’m kept from my just sleep.