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Understanding the Problems America Faces is the Key to Solving Them
Once a year we get a physical with our local doctor to check up on our overall well being. Every four years we elect a leader to head our nation. When we run out of toilet paper we go to the local store and pick up some more. All of these things share a common denominator, that paired with collaborative fostering will be the key to attempting to solve the current societal issues. That common key factor is trust. We trust that our doctors will adequately give us care to the best of their abilities. We trust our officials to represent our various interests. We trust our stores to have toilet...
FAWAKA with You(th): “Deaf people are equal to hearing people, we just don’t get the same opportunities”
During these challenging times it’s more important than ever that Every Child has equal access to information and medical services. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the Surinamese government responded by translating relevant information in multiple languages and also having a sign language interpreter present during press conferences. All of UNICEF’s communication material and interventions are also developed as inclusive as possible: multiple translations and using subtitles and sign language interpreters during events and infomercials. The sound of words like ‘social distancing’, ‘COVID-19’...
Menstrual Rights: World Leaders Accelerate Investments on Menstruators Urgently
The United Nations Women Organisation has just recently celebrated it’s Tenth birthday from the date of its establishment, 2 July 2010. According to the organisation, “we have worked to place women’s rights, priorities and voices on critical global agendas. But there is still much work to be done before we can achieve gender equality, and all of us have a role to play ” As a South African Activist for Menstrual Health, Founding Director, Chief Executive Officer and Campaign Leader of Team Free Sanitary Pads, attaching great empathy as well as resilience from a grassroots perspective, I relate...
The Cheerharan
Sometime ago in the previous month, I was watching the ‘Draupadi Cheerharan scene’ from the epic Mahabharata. But my mind was somewhere else: why was someone not doing anything? Why did she receive silence when she pleaded in front of at least a hundred people? The culture has been in trend since so many centuries and is unfortunately being continued till now, till this date, till this very minute. Long story short, I want to say that students don’t get sex education in schools but gain access to free porn, it cripples their minds and they don’t understand how to deal with it. They start to...
Black and Beautiful!
Black lives matter! Present we have the darkest of days, Everyone is fighting a battle in their own ways, Together with COVID-19, black lives matter is a trending case, Unacceptable is the prejudice they bare and violence they face. White or black, dark or light, Colours from light of souls, has led to fights, Human race has crossed the verge of divides, Colours are not for differences but a souls pride. Just because they are not fair, They feel inferiority and difference in air, They are left out as if humanity disappeared, But their skin is what they wear with flare. Beauty is not defined by...
A girl is born...
A GIRL IS BORN…. Like a beginning of journey, a new dawn To create a new history a girl is born A world of her own, a deep ocean to dive She’s alone a daughter, a sister, a mother and a wife She cooks, she plays, she helps, she cries To bring happiness to family how hard she tries She’s vulnerable at times and fierce too She unconditionally loves and cares too Siblings’ friend, parents’ pride Children’s heaven and someone’s bride How fragile yet so strong To rock all the roles, a girl is born Eyes full of dreams, mind full of passion Every girl is a unique sensation Yet few hearts still mourn...
How social media is helping combat racism
The recent homicide of George Floyd sent shock ripples across the globe. Can police brutality really take this heinous form? How can the color of the skin be a determinant of someone’s character? Mass protests broke out in no time with the slogans of ‘Black Lives Matter’ and Floyd’s parting words “I can’t breathe”! Several people stood in solidarity, and soon anti-racism posts began to flood social media. A #blackouttuesday movement came up on Facebook-owned platform Instagram, with many well-known pages – from brands to influencers and organizations to celebrities, registering their protests...
Minorities Around the World
Our world has become increasingly globalized, diverse and rich in ideologies and practices. Countries around the world include communities and societies within their national identity, enriching the diversity of their population. But when so many different groups of people are embedded in society together, beliefs of superiorities and minorities come into place. The culturally rich beliefs and principles of groups develop the foundation of diversity and heritage in our world. While each group is different, one thing that’s common among minority groups is the fact that, more often than not...
Muslims, to unite or to divide
Happy, innocent, and carefree, and like all children of their age, the children of the middle east and north Africa (MENA) region were full of dreams, hopes, and expectations that were all buried with the beginning of the war. Now we know that war is one of the worst tragedies that can affect humans but sad enough, war has become an inevitable part of many children especially those living in the MENA region. Why does this mainly happens to countries in the MENA region? Why does it mostly target the Muslim communities? Is it because those countries are rich in petroleum? Well, that may be one...
What Inmates Truly Need
In the current state of federal and state prisons, prisoners are in more harm than good. Personally, I view the state of prisons to be of no good to neither inmates nor workers. Truthfully, the ideology of confining a person inside a cell for a discrete amount of years has riddled the justice system of countries across the globe. After "serving" this immense waste of time, criminals are plunged into a world unfamiliar to them. They are likely to commit even more time or end up negatively impacting their communities rather than creating positive change. The only way a person can truly change is...
Males & Females: 2 Sides Of The Same Coin
Have you heard of the term, "two sides of the same coin"? Humanity has two sides, just like a coin. If a coin has one side, it wouldn't be anything of value or anything at all. Humanity, like coins have two sides: males and females. Just like a coin, if humanity, for example, only had the male gender, it would all be meaningless without their female counterparts. In every living organism, males and females are integral. They all have an equal role to fulfill in creating life and leading the way for others to follow suit. So, if, among the 100%, 50% are males and 50% are females, equality...
A South African woman's survival guide: How to not get killed
In South Africa leaving the house as a woman, whether it is day or night, you need to continually be on full alert. So, here is a guide to not get killed. Before you move, do a thorough check; so in front, check, rearview, check, left, check, right, check, oh yes blind spots, check; and then only you can move. Continually monitor and screen the men around you, you can do this by asking yourself these questions; Are they walking too fast? Was their stare longer than usual? Does he look like the type that would…? Where might he be going? Could he be a predator? Why are this vehicle's windows...
What The 1992 New York City Police Riots Tell Us About Policing Today
In September 1992, former New York Mayor David Dinkins expressed support for a civilian review board in conjunction with the New York Police Department. The purpose of said review board would be to provide checks and balances to the police department and review complaints of officer misconduct. In response to Dinkins proposal, thousands of NYPD officers gathered in front of the city hall building and blocked traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge to protest the board. Later reports of the event confirmed that officers could be heard chanting racial slurs and were seen drinking. After the demonstration...
The Million Man March: How To Stay Resilient in Times of Struggle
On October 16, 1995 the streets of Washington DC were filled with black and brown bodies gathered at the National Mall. Organized by local chapters of the NAACP and the National African American Leadership Summit, an estimated 400,000 to 850,000 people were in attendance. At the same time, women were organizing the Day of Absence, where African-Americans were encouraged to stay home from work and school. The purpose of these demonstrations was to express discontentment with the way politicians in the 80s and 90s largely ignored black issues, and even subjected the economic troubles of the...
When the Streetlights Come On: A Poem on Standing up to Inequality
When the streetlights turn on And the asphalt is empty Who has really gotten to go home? Because while the bodies are no longer present And the feet no longer march forward Some hearts still walk to the sounds of sirens To them, the art of activism Is the art of survival Should a lone rabbit cease to worry about the lurking fox Just because the fox has concealed himself? There is no better time to worry about the race As when the commentators have lied about who is in first place When the squares come down And the news turns to disturbed illusions of peace Who has really gotten to go home...
75 years of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
We know more about ballistic missiles and war weapons than we know about peace on earth. The onset of August 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the horrific Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing of 1945, memories of which are still fresh in the minds of the people who witnessed and suffered it. It was the fateful morning of 6th and 9th August when citizens woke up to clouds of smoke and not sunshine, an experience that took the entire world by storm, a day when people were separated from their loved ones, a day that went down in every history textbook, an event that still makes headlines and a day...
Belated Nelson Mandela Day (Honoring Nelson Mandela)
On the 18th of July, it was Nelson Mandela Day. On this day, every year, on Mandela's birthday, all of us across the globe honor his efforts, efforts that ended apartheid which was a system where white people were treated better than black people in his country, South Africa. On this day, I couldn't help but wonder how he was so dedicated to his cause that even while imprisoned for 27 years for fighting for his people, he continued fighting for black people in peace. He REFUSED to give up on his race's unfair treatment and was dauntless for 27 TEDIOUS YEARS IN PRISON. In South Africa, black...
The Colours of Colourism; A Deeply Rooted Global Concern
With the recent developments of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, the world has witnessed a systematic commencement of raging voices against the issues of Colourism and Racism globally. As we know, Colourism finds its origins in slavery which led to an internalised continuum of colour-based bias against ‘Non-whites’ for over 300 years now. On the other hand, Racism is an uninterrupted history of systematic deprivation. In both literal and practical meanings, it is entirely different from what colourism means. The former leads to an overarching prejudice towards ‘outsiders’ whereas the latter...
The Change Lies Within Us
Thousands of people are marching, marching for freedom, marching for unity, marching for each other. Rallies are being held to educate and inform. Rubber bullets and tear gas are being launched into crowds of protesters by police, when all the protesters are trying to do is make a change. A change so that everyone in this world can feel free and fearless. All we want is for our voice to be heard, and for a change to follow that. You would think there would be a change by now, but there isn't. People are fearing for their lives when they go out for a run or go to the park. These are basic human...