A gentleman values discretion
I leave it up to you whether I am gentleman, pervert or perverted gentleman.
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Quote reblogged from AfricanS Against Appropriation
[TW: rape] I asked the Congolese women; ‘give me the 5 major issues affecting Congolese women today’. Rape was number 4. Political participation was number 1. Economic empowerment was number 2. Domestic violence was number 3. And they qualified it; the rape you see is because we don’t have women in high places to effect the change that needs to be done. No.2, if we were economically empowered, we wouldn’t be in abusive relationships and will know how to handle ourselves.
But outsiders expected rape to be number 1 because that’s the global image of Congolese women. One Congolese woman asked where people got the idea that rape was their major problem. Someone answered her “if you don’t say so, the West won’t give you aid”.
Congolese women wanted to show their fellow sister how they’ve been sustaining their children and communities in midst of the violence they lived in. By the time the white people arrived, they changed their tune: ‘help, I’ve been raped. I’ve been abused’.
They’ve figured you all out. That’s the stories you white people want to hear. You travel to cry. So they will make you cry. The media never goes into any community to pick stories of how you survived and what positive things are happening. A pressman once asked me if I’ve been raped during the Liberian war and when I answered no, he passed the mike over my head. So the easiest thing for those who need media attention or aid is to talk about their personal history and say they were raped.This is a similar situation across the globe for migrants who wanted papers after war; every time they went to the US consulate and told the truth, they were denied. When they went and told a sad story, the counselor cried and granted them their papers.
Western media and charity need to portray AfricanS as helpless and meek because that is the global image of Africa they want to sustain.
(via thisisnotafrica) -
Post reblogged from AfricanS Against Appropriation
I have to start off by saying it was a tough decision to make. I’ve never left my my friends and family to embark on a journey to a place where I knew no one. But my world as I knew it was too tiny and there’s so much out there I didn’t know of.
I visited Europe last month and stayed in this place next to what they call the Eiffel Tower. I loved it. such a strange architecture to symbolize the exotic beauty and power of its people. With my small backpack and my Nikon D7000 camera, I set off futher to explore Europe.
I took pictures along the way. there was a Tomato Festival going on at the time and I managed to get tickets to see a Bull Fighting! The sight was alarming and facinating all at once- a sport to symbolise the raw energy and passion that European people had were shown through this bull fighting. Beautiful!
I went to a shelter and saw some homeless people begging on the streets. It is such a shame how enriched, yet, so poor Europeans are. My heart weeps for Europeans; their courage and strength to survive is inspiring.
There were loud music playing and people in the streets all looking happy and joyful because they were celebrating ‘OktoberFest’, a day to mark their love of beer and to show that even Europeans have good things to celebrate in life to distract from their everyday pain. I was aware of my privilege so I asked to join this festival incase I upset the natives. What a blast!
I took so many pictures (will post on Facebook later) of the children dancing and smiling but some elders complained about this, they didn’t seem comfortable with a complete stranger touching their young children and taking photos of them to later put on the internet.
I suppose to them, I am a stranger in the midst but it was so joyful having pictures to show back home of my experiences! I am sure they won’t mind in the end. And the children were such wonders! They were so curious about my clothes (I don’t think Europeans have ever seen Nigerian clothes in their life, it must have been so strange for them to view my own culture! It just reminded me of how deprived they were)
After I stopped at the Leaning Tower of Pisa (a great art of their sort!) I went back to Arba Airport near Helsinki (after I spent a day at Trafalgar Square, pics coming soon) and borded my flight back home, having grown up a little from viewing European Life.
I am currently saving up to get a tatto of Europe on my shoulder , with a love heart located at the center to represent Belguim. As the Europeans say:
Τα καλά πράγματα έρχεται σε εκείνους που περιμένουν
Peace my friends <3
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Photo reblogged from AfricanS Against Appropriation
Christina Mavuma: Why she kicks ass
- She is a trans activist from Botswana who is apart of the Rainbow Identity Association (RIA), and works with Health Lens; a program that provides services to primary care practices and gives independent physicians an opportunity to engage in meaningful change. It has been described as a movement of change, helping to reshape the role of primary care, and to sustain the cognitive art of medicine.
- Her project is looking into transgender women and health care system. She was motivated by the fact that most trans women here cannot get formal jobs and therefore cannot afford private health care.
- “So many trans women find it difficult to access health care from the state clinics or hospitals, as the doctors and nurses there are discriminatory and very judgemental, most painful thing is there are not knowledgeable to trans issues. Even though the services are available they are not user-friendly to the LGBTI community and matters worse for the transgender community as the medical cards are genderised blue card for boys and pink card for girls and this card is given to you after you produce identity card.”
- The intended outcome of this project is to have doctors and nurses to treat all people with respect including trans or intersex people. It is meant to start dialogues between the doctors and the trans community.
- She is also involved with The Exchange Program, which is a partnership between Gender DynamiX in South Africa and SIPD in Uganda. This program is aimed at capacitating emerging transgender activists in South Africa and the East African region. Participants get together twice annually to discuss relevant, burning issues on the agenda for the region.
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Photo reblogged from AfricanS Against Appropriation
Yvonne Fly Onakeme Etaghene: Why she kicks ass
- She is an Ijaw and Urhobo Nigerian performance activist, poet, dancer, essayist, playwright, actress mixed media visual artist, video blogger and workshop facilitator.
- She uses her poetry to chisel a verbal sculpture of her soul for listeners while addressing issues of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, war, imperialism, love, self-esteem and family.
- She has self-published three collections of poetry, toured nationally and performed in over 30 u.s. cities.
- She was interviewed by and is a Contributing Writer to None on Record: Stories of Queer Africa, a sound documentary project that collects the stories of QLGBT Africans from the African Continent and the Diaspora.
- Her one woman show, Volcano’s Birthright{s}, debuted in May 2009 in New York City. Her performative work can be found at: www.youtube.com/AfrocrownDiva.
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Photoset reblogged from AfricanS Against Appropriation
Captain Amsale Gualu Endegnanew made history by becoming the first female captain at Ethiopian Airlines.
Congrats!
YAUSSSSSSSS
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Post reblogged from AfricanS Against Appropriation
Oh, wait. I forgot. Those people have actual problems.
I’m from a “third world country” and to add to that I’m from a very conservative predominantly Muslim country. I’m about to drop a BOMB SHELL on you, bro.
There are gay people. There are genderqueer people. There are trans* people. But they can’t be open about it for the most part because they may even be shunned by their own family. We are all products of our society and there is ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with exploring yourself and your feelings and your identity.
If it’s safe and you can share it why the fuck not? Because if someone has the audacity to put a name to their identity then we can’t deal with poverty or racism?
No shut up.
Also here are some more fun facts:
- We have internet!
- We have sex!
- I had a pet cat!
- I was a specialized education teacher! (And I’m a woman! WHAT!)
- We had feminism!
- We had hardcore and punk and rap shows/Music scene!
- Cable TV!
- Parks and playgrounds!
- Medical care!
- Cell phones!
- ALL THIS AND MUCH MUCH MORE.
All this and I’m still worried about silly things like racism, sexism and cissexism! And I still think you’re ridiculous and have made absolutely zero points!
I’m sorry you think we’re too primitive to know about gender identity.
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Photo reblogged from AfricanS Against Appropriation
![thalamtnafsee:
peopleinislam:
People in Islam: Nawal el Saadawi — Egyptian feminist, author, and women’s rights advocate.
Among the most controversial and outspoken women of the century, Nawal el Saadawi has been an interesting search. An Egyptian feminist, socialist, and author, Nawal has been accused of apostasy for her “radical” ideas of Islam with regards to fundamentalism, women’s rights, and religion. Despite the fact that many of her books have gone banned by Egypt’s ex-President Anwar Sadat, she has found motivation to battle against the claims that have been presented upon her. And with that, for many Arab feminists, she is an ultimate inspiration.
According to sources, Johannesburg’s Mail & Guardian describes her as “One of Egypt’s most outspoken women [and] the new Salman Rushdie.” And since she began to write over 25 years ago, El Saadawi’s books (27 in all) have concentrated on women, particularly Arab women, their sexuality and legal status, and because of this, she is understood as successful.
To visit her facebook, like here. To visit her official website, click here. To read an one on one interview with Nawal, read here. And to read more about her, click here.
I know I’m going to get a lot of ish for this, but I’m ordering a few of her books soon, and I know for a fact that it wont come to disappoint.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8f5krHwVQ1rstv3zo1_500.jpg)
People in Islam: Nawal el Saadawi — Egyptian feminist, author, and women’s rights advocate.
Among the most controversial and outspoken women of the century, Nawal el Saadawi has been an interesting search. An Egyptian feminist, socialist, and author, Nawal has been accused of apostasy for her “radical” ideas of Islam with regards to fundamentalism, women’s rights, and religion. Despite the fact that many of her books have gone banned by Egypt’s ex-President Anwar Sadat, she has found motivation to battle against the claims that have been presented upon her. And with that, for many Arab feminists, she is an ultimate inspiration.
According to sources, Johannesburg’s Mail & Guardian describes her as “One of Egypt’s most outspoken women [and] the new Salman Rushdie.” And since she began to write over 25 years ago, El Saadawi’s books (27 in all) have concentrated on women, particularly Arab women, their sexuality and legal status, and because of this, she is understood as successful.
To visit her facebook, like here. To visit her official website, click here. To read an one on one interview with Nawal, read here. And to read more about her, click here.
I know I’m going to get a lot of ish for this, but I’m ordering a few of her books soon, and I know for a fact that it wont come to disappoint.