izzy's playlists!
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KIROKAZE
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"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
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Sweet Seals For You, Always
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The Bright Sessions
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@nomadizing-blog
Stories are important. They keep us alive. In the ships, in the camps, in the quarters, fields, prisons, on the road, on the run, underground, under siege, in the throes, on the verge—the storyteller snatches us back from the edge to hear the next chapter. In which we are the subjects. We, the...
PRESENTE Toni Cade Bambara March 25, 1939 - December 9, 1995. Remembering and Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Black Feminist Writer, Teacher, Organizer, Mother, Filmmaker, Cultural Worker Extraordinaire on the 74th Anniversary of her birth.
(Toni and Aishah Shahidah Simmons in...
I have always loved everything about you. Even what I didn’t understand. And I have always known that, at heart, I would have you no different. But most people don’t know how to love. Nothing is enough for them. They must have their dreams. It’s the only thing they do well. Dreaming. They dream up obligations. New ones every day. They long for undiscovered countries, fresh demands, another call. While some of us are left with the knowledge that love can never wait. A shared bed, a hand in yours, that’s the only thing that matters. The worst thing of all is fear. The fear of being alone.
Albert Camus (via hellanne)
Revolution begins with the self, in the self - Toni Cade Bambara
LOVE: the thing which we never feel the need to define
I say, as bell hooks, and Scott Peck suggest, LOVE should be, must be defined. We might not have a satisfactory definition. Our definitions might be too narrow or too broad. But we must begin to define it. I am personally disturbed by all the craziness that passes for "LOVE" in our homes, communities, the world. It is probably one of the most frequently misused, abused, not to mention dangerous terms out there. Here's a definition I've been meditating on for the past few months:
LOVE:
As the will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth:
1. The behavior is defined in terms of the goal or purpose it seems to serve--spiritual growth.
2. The process of extending one's self is an evolutionary process. When one has successfully extended one's limits, one has then grown into a larger state of being. Thus the act of loving is an act of self-evolution even when the purpose of the act is someone else's growth. It is through reaching toward evolution that we evolve.
3. Love includes self-love with love for the other. Since I am human and you are human, to love humans means to love myself as well as you.
4. The act of extending one's limits implies effort. One extends one's limits only by exceeding them, and exceeding limits requires effort.
5. The word "will" attempts to transcend the distinction between desire and action. Desire is not necessarily translated into action. Will is desire of sufficient intensity that is translated into action. The desire to love is not itself love. Love is as love does. Love is an act of will--both an intention, and an action. Will also implies choice. We do not have to love. We choose to love.
(Excerpt above found in The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck, p. 81-84)
When Audre Lorde made that much quoted yet often misunderstood cautionary statement warning us that “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house,” she was urging us to remember that we must engage in a process of visionary thinking that transcends the ways of knowing privileged by the oppressive powerful if we are to truly make revolutionary change. She was, in the deep structure of this statement, reminding us that it is easy for women and any exploited or oppressed group to become complicit in structures of domination, using power in ways that reinforce rather than challenge or change.
bell hooks in essay “feminist theory: a radical agenda” (via daniellemertina)
"When I write about liberation, it does not always come from a place of love and compassion. Often, it is anger and bitterness that moves me. My energy is spun from a longing for justice, and even revenge. I do not dream of unity and communion. I dream of a separatist paradise, where forgiving and forgetting is the biggest crime. A place for survivors of abuse and neglect, whose communities notions of transformative justice were silence. When I write about liberation, I am thinking of a place where the façade of equality and collectivism is done away. I am imagining a community where we can acknowledge that the importance of our opinions vary as much as our positionalities. I am not imagining a place where we center the most marginalized. I am imagining a place meant for the most marginalized." - Hel Gebreamlak, Black, first generation Eritrean american, trans and multiply disabled writer, organizer and educator living in Seattle.
This past week, the UNDP released its annual Human Development Report, which includes the Human Development Index (HDI), an aggregate measure of how well countries are doing across education, health, and income indicators. The HDI combines the data and ranks countries by their overall “development,” which ranges from “Very High Development” to “Low Development, ” assigning each country a numerical value from 1 (Norway) to 186 (Niger).
"I believe in the complexity of the human story and that there’s no way you can tell that story in one way and say, This is it. Always there will be someone who can tell it differently depending on where they are standing; the same person telling the story will tell it differently. I think of that masquerade in Igbo festivals that dances in the public arena. The Igbo people say, If you want to see it well, you must not stand in one place. The masquerade is moving through this big arena. Dancing. If you’re rooted to a spot, you miss a lot of the grace. So you keep moving, and this is the way I think the world’s stories should be told—from many different perspectives.”
Beyonce Says "Bow Down"
Social Media is abuzz with news of Beyonce's new song "Bow Down"
I am not a Beyonce fan. But, I do not have a dislike of her either. But, as the controversy has resulted in OP in Washington Post and the Huff, I figured it is worth a look. I pulled up the lyrics.
Here is the first verse:
I know when you were little girls You dreamt of being in my world Don’t forget it , don’t forget it Respect that, bow down bitches I took some time to live my life But don’t think I’m just his little wife Don’t get it twisted, get it twisted This my shit, bow down bitches
Sounds to me that Beyonce might be referring to younger women in the game. Though I particularly find the last few lines quite interesting, where she says "I took some time to live my life, but don't think i'm just his little wife" "This my shit, bow down bitches"
In the last few years, Beyonce not only officially married Jay Z, but also had a child. Seems to me that that can cause a disruption in anyone's identity. Beyonce is attempting to reclaim her throne, on which she was the strong independent woman who ran the world, and who ran Pop culture in particular. That she has decided to come out with this song can be response to rumors that she is now just a wife and/or a response to how she feels inside about her new reality and expanded identities. It cannot be easy being married to a man as powerful as Jay Z. I can understand Beyonce's concern of being overshadowed and losing her image under the umbrella of wife and motherhood. After all, this is not a concern reserved only for women as powerful as Beyonce. While I emphatize with the factors which compelled Beyonce to release this song, I wish the message had been different.
Beyonce could have still affirmed her womanhood, autonomy, her strength, fame, and even greatness without demeaning women to "Bow Down" to her. This is such a typical response in such patriarchal context.
Feminists have done quite a lot to raise our conscious to the importance of solidarity between women and how patriarchal logic make us work against each other. For Beyonce's young and old fans and listeners alike, I wonder what message this song sends about female solidarity and relationships.
Here is Rahiel Tesfamariam piece:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/therootdc/post/beyonce-sabotages-her-female-empowerment-efforts-with-bow-down/2013/03/19/a3102820-909e-11e2-9abd-e4c5c9dc5e90_blog.html
Who are the Oromo & What do the Oromo Want?
Geographically speaking, the Oromo people inhabit much of what is now Ethiopia, some parts of Northern Kenya, and Somalia. In the Horn of Africa, they are the single largest ethnic group as they also are in Ethiopia. The Oromo have an elaborate cultural, social, and political heritage and tradition which has historically guided their way of life.
Prior to the annexation of their lands and their violent incorporation into modern Ethiopia, the Oromo are said to have organized themselves in a confederacy under an egalitarian system called Gaada http://oromopress.blogspot.com/2011/12/review-of-oromo-democracy-indigenous.html.
The mainstream historians of Ethiopia, majority of whom were from the Northern ethnic groups have written that country's history in such a way that not only excludes and makes invisible Oromos and other Southern peoples but also denies their immense contribution to the creation of Ethiopian empire. Of course, as with the logic of 21st century empire, we cannot call an empire what it is these days. But, go back to the old constitution and the evidence is there.
Oromo people's experiences within Ethiopia is still largely unexplored and unwritten about, though historians, both Oromo and others have made major progress in this area in the last 30 or so years. Without them, I probably would not be here, writing this note. Still, there is much work to be done, stay tuned as Ethiopian history is written to reflect its truly complex nature.
At the annual Oromo Studies Association Conference in 2012, one of the founders of OSA, Bonnie Holcomb, a scholar and activist who has been advocating for Oromo people for more than 30 years, presented the key note speech in which she posed this question "What do the Oromo want?"
I am sharing some of her responses here because they capture what the Oromo people need, want, more than deserve and are fighting for. People tend to often politicize and dismiss Oromo questions out of ideological rigidity and unquestioned loyalty to Ethiopia, but if they were not blinded by all of these things and their unfounded fears, they would realize that this is not just politics, this is about life, about dignity, about people's right to have control over their fate. Amilcar Cabral understood this deeply when he said “Always bear in mind that the people are not fighting for ideas, for the things in anyone’s head. They are fighting to win material benefits, to live better and in peace, to see their lives go forward, to guarantee the future of their children.”
Again, what do the Oromo want?
The Oromo want dignity, self-expression, self-governance. their voices to be heard. sovereignty. They want to live together at peace with their neighbors, who themselves also live in freedom exercising their own sovereignty. The Oromo want friends and allies across the world who will work with them to protect their forests from decimation, their water from pollution, their animals from starvation, their minerals from exploitation, their sons and daughters from capture. Protection from dispossession of their ancient homelands. Control of their own story. Security. freedom of communication. The Oromo want to be part of the global conversation. They want to form their own association. They want to form their own associations. They want to dance without fear.
The rest of Holcomb's speech can be found here:
http://ayyaantuu.com/horn-of-africa-news/oromia/what-do-the-oromo-want-looking-back-and-looking-forward-on-oromo-studies/
On Fear
I realize that if I wait until I am no longer afraid to act, write, speak, be, I'll be sending messages on a Ouija board, cryptic complaints from the other side― Audre Lorde
Fatuma Abdullahi is one of those women from the Horn of Africa who never fails to blow me away with her courage, wisdom, determination, grace and humor, not to mention intellect and beauty. In future posts, I will be writing more about her and other Horn women who are equally inspirational. For now, here is her latest post, don't forge to check out the comments section, it shows you the kind of context in which she is doing her work. I am proud to know women such as Fatuma.
Don't they look magnificent?
The photographer is well appreciated--wherever s(he) maybe.
Found in African Arts Museum, Washington, D.C.
The Oromo peoples located in North East & East Africa (Ethiopia, northern Kenya, and parts of Somalia). Their native language is Oromo (also called Afaan Oromoo and Oromiffa), which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. The Oromo believe in a supreme creator called Waaqa, who is almighty and omniscient. The worship of Waaqa includes offerings as well as prayers. Peace is a fundamental concept asked for in prayers, every morning and evening the Oromo pray for peace for the nation.
Ancestral Voices: Esoteric African Knowledge
Website
"Many people tell us, Ethiopia does not have an ethnic issue, but what explains the fact that more than half of the prisoners across Ethiopia are Oromo men and women? How can we explain the fact that being an Oromo alone can warrant suspicion and undue harassment from the Ethiopian government? A lot of Ethiopians try to talk about unity, but only on their terms. Unity happens between equals, so when they force their identity on me it is not unity: it is domination. "
