Unity Matters
United we stand, divided we fall. How good will it be if we support all? Isn't it better not to get into a brawl? It just hurts and builds hatred's wall. Let's come together and make a call; stop discrimination to befall.
United we stand, divided we fall. How good will it be if we support all? Isn't it better not to get into a brawl? It just hurts and builds hatred's wall. Let's come together and make a call; stop discrimination to befall.
It is without debate that all that we are and yet to become is largely due to our community’s loving hand over our lives. “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu,” is a famous African quote meaning, “I am because we are.” As one is for all and all are for one, community is the glue that keeps us hand-in-hand all throughout life. Before delving any deeper into the notion of community, let us first define community. From my vantage point, community is a force of love that binds all of humanity together. Community are the trees, the mountains, and the stars when they smile at you. Community are your parents...
She is Black. . Beautiful. . .Magical. . .Intelligent. . .Resilient. . .Loving. . .Creative. . .Powerful. . .Influential. . Yes, she's Black, but thatis not all what she is. What makes the difference?!. How can we discriminate against her?!. So what if the skin colour of a person is white or brown or black??!. . What?!. . Define her byher inner strength, her talents, her thoughts, her perspective, her dreams, her vision and not with the colour of her skin. A rose is a rose, even if it is "black" or red or pink. If you yet find her race as her limitation, then understand, that it is YOUR...
Please stop, when is it going to be enough? How many lives have to be taken away for this to stop? In Mexico 10 women die every day because of their gender and 1 out of them is a child. We walk on blood and we are surrounded by the lost souls from women that have been brutally killed. Women that travel by public transportation get harassed, men ejaculate on their shoulders, they rip their underwear off, between others. We have different wagons for women to have a safe space, but plenty of men do not care and they come into the wagon and this systematic harassment happens every day. When can...
Shorts are too reveling and longs are to kitschy; skinny is too much and loose is too conservative. Growing up in a society where pajamas are too informal for going out and suits are much too body hugging. There is so much chaos, chaos in our society, chaos in our heads, and chaos in our hearts. Every time I walk to my closet I have to take a check list for filling in all the criteria before putting on my outfit. After walking out of my room my mom makes sure whether I am wearing a appropriate clothes of not, simply because she cares. I don’t know! For me caring is nurturing the human rather...
The second article of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child ensures the right not to be discriminated against – in any way. This includes the right to not be discriminated against for one’s sexual orientation or gender identity. As COVID-19 continues to spread across the world, hundreds of thousands of people have contracted the virus, and every community has been affected. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) youth often face additional challenges, which may include staying home with unsupportive family, restrictions on their self-expression, concerns about the future, and lack of...
The silence is suffocating.......we must speak up! Sexual and Gender-Based Violence is a cancer deeply rooted in my society and fueled by the culture of silence. Children being a vulnerable group are not spared by this cancer. It is experienced in the form of rape and other forms of sexual abuse, child marriage, FGM/C etc. More often than not these heinous acts are perpetrated by persons close to the victim, who the victim generally trusts, mostly family members. The Gambia has laws against sexual and gender-based violence. Some of these laws are quite progressive; the Sexual Offenses Act 2013...
Dedicating his 67 years fighting for social injustice, apartheid, making staunch efforts against racism, getting triumph by setting up democracy, his long -ought victories made him a global icon. Nelson Mandela - a light which has lit up the world of many black lives suffering racism - this man has indeed changed the world mystically. Mandela, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, became a powerful symbol of resistance for the rising anti-apartheid movement, repeatedly refusing to compromise his political position to obtain his freedom. In May 1994, Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa’s...
"If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break And the water gonna come in, have no place to stay" Led Zeppelin 1971 Over the summer of 1926, the central Mississippi basin was pummelled by heavy rains. By September, the Mississippi's tributaries in Kansas and Iowa were swollen to capacity. On the morning of Good Friday, April 15th 1927, the Memphis Commercial Appeal wrote, "The roaring Mississippi River, bank and levee full from St. Louis to New Orleans, is believed to be on its mightiest rampage. . . . All along the Mississippi considerable fear...
We have always stressed the importance of smiling at the face of our friends and distant neighbor and helping others. And we are fully aware of the love we feel when we help older people or when we play with little boys, but what made me remember these words again is that I no longer see any effect of it on reality! Perhaps what inspired me to write this article is that we are aware of the importance of the individuals to society, and that they cannot grow apart from their community. They need friends and family to stand with them in pain and joy, but what we do today is very different from...
Culture is our structure, which we live with no fracture. In it we look in good future, for all human creature. The mixture of our features, gives us perfect picture. The texture of our culture, doesn't need any fixture. One who doesn't practice his culture, consider him a premature in nature/ CULTURE IS OUR SIGNATURE.
*This article was originally written and published in July 2016 at UNICEF Voices of Youth’s former website. It has since been moved here. In my hometown we often talk about the unappreciated and underrated treasures of our country. I frequently find myself in such conversations, and the one that led me to write this post was about Göbeklitepe, a pre-historic site in Southeastern Turkey. Known to be “the oldest temple of the world”, Göbeklitepe is dated back to Pre-Pottery Neolithic A Period (c. 9600–7300 BC). The peculiarity of the Göbeklitepe site lies in that it contradicts what the studies...
Since 1992, every year on December 3rd, we celebrate the International Day for Persons with Disabilities to promote and raise awareness of the rights of persons with disabilities. I have heard some people say that this is a work that should be done daily and that, as such, having one specific day to mark it becomes counterproductive. Although I understand where those comments are coming from -in the sense that the struggle for inclusion is never-ending-, I believe the observance of this day helps us draw international attention to our situation and brings a new opportunity to advance our...
Gen Z— comprised of those ages seven to 22 in 2019— has been characterized as an emerging generation of changemakers, one that is more accepting of diversity and more active in the face of inequity. We are also the generation that grew up with the internet at our fingertips and the ones who now use social media as a platform to promote justice. One movement that spread like wildfire on the Internet in 2014 was the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls calling for the rescue of 276 Nigerian girls kidnapped by the terrorist organization Boko Haram. Millions of people and even high profile figures like...