Apr 4, 2023
"The most violent element in society is ignorance." Emma Goldman.
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"The most violent element in society is ignorance." Emma Goldman.
When we are caught up in fear and anger, we miss what is happening in plain sight. We lose track of why schools are underfunded or roads are
"Today it’s university faculty, immigrants and civil servants on the enemies list. Tomorrow, it could be you.
Anyone who challenges power can be transformed into a threat with frightening speed."
It is time we see these tactics for what they are and recognize who the real enemies are: not our neighbors, classmates or coworkers, but those who profit from division, anger and confusion."
Yes, I wear a mask, and so?
Every day, I face the same situation: people questioning why I wear an FFP3 mask when I’m outdoors. Allow me to shed some light on this. I suffer from really severe allergies whose reactions can be life-threatening, and I am not allergic to just pollen. Unfortunately, there’s no medication or therapy available to completely prevent these allergic reactions. Photo by cottonbro studio on…
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On Ignorance And Looking Away
This is a journey that has only just started for me and I already feel like I'm running into concrete walls.
“You're doing this to spite me” and “You don't know what you're talking about” and “You're not the morality police” and “This is my personal choice” and “Don't mess with my freedom”.
Granted, it is hard to hear. It doesn't sound pretty but guess what; it isn't. I'm not telling you how to live your life, all I ask is that you let me speak long enough to give me a chance to explain how I want to live mine.
The fact that you are taking personal offense in me telling you about my research, shows me that not only there really is an issue, but that you know there is. You just find it too uncomfortable to think about. Too horrid a thought to realize its reality. Those documentaries aren't staged and you know it. The facts and studies aren't made up and you know it. It is unhealthy and even dangerous to consume animal products and you know it. It's perfectly safe to not only live but thrive on a whole food plant based diet and you know it.
So what is it? Why are you so aggressively trying to defend yourself when I never attacked you in the first place? If your conscience wasn't bugging you, would you feel the need to forbid me from bringing up animal abuse ever again under your roof?
Because you choose not to know.
And all you achieve is frustration where an open mind is needed, and resentment where there could be a conversation. But since I am forbidden to speak up about this, I suppose trying would be treading water.
You say you want your freedom. Your freedom of thought, speech, and choice, and you say this is non negotiable. But the freedom of one person ends where it begins to compromise that of another. Forbidding me from speaking up will not silence me. Forbidding me from speaking up will not make any of the data less factual, it will not make any of the animals suffer less. Yes, it is your life. Yes, it is your choice. But you're not just choosing eating meat over eating plants; you're choosing ignorance over education. You're choosing your own carelessness over not only the lives of innocent animals, but the environment, as well as major human rights issues and to top it all off, you choose ignorance over your own health- and as your child, that worries me.
I would never try to take away your freedom, and I honestly don't think I could if I tried.
You showed me you don't care, and you like it this way. I will accept that, because I have no other choice, but I certainly won't respect you for it.
None of this would be an issue if you just listened. But whether you do or not, I'll still have something to say.
So go on then, silence me. I would really like to see you try.
Read Aliyah Korneagay’s thoughts Photo by Peter Devito
May,6,2018
Well, this blog might not get very far.
According to recent news, Net Neutrality, the set of rules that protect our Internet rights and freedoms, is on the line. The principle that enables online freedom to publish, access, and receive any content you wish might be impacted on December 14th, 2017. If Congress votes to change the bill, millions of Americans’ safety, First Amendment rights, and access to information would be affected.
Almost since President Trump took office, his FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has been pushing for Net Neutrality to be reconsidered on Capital Hill. Millions of Americans have spoken up, on social media and directly to our government officials, requesting that the bill stay the same. Pay has ignored these messages and insists that Net Neutrality limits innovation and economic growth. But what he’d really be doing, if he manages to get the bill off the board, would be clearing away regulations that prevent telecom giants, like Verizon or Comcast, from controlling what content users obtain. Right now, companies can’t pick what websites and services get to us faster, for censorship or economic reasons. They aren’t allowed to slow down or speed up their own content or sites to stifle a competitor. The general fear, and the reason for Net Neutrality, is that if they could, they would. Booming businesses could profit off of the violation of our constitutional rights, if Ajit Pai’s mission succeeds.
You can say and view and do whatever you want online. All the information and opportunity on the planet is at your fingertips, because of Net Neutrality. Heck, while writing this I had to research the details of what’s actually been going down lately. How? Net Neutrality. Social media, websites, applications, databases - so much would be effected, and not for the better. A lot of people who use the Internet to make a change, marginalized communities standing up for their rights, all these people could be silenced. For money.
We owe it to Net Neutrality, the result of millions of activists in 2015, that America is as safe, informed, and free as it is now. Hey, it’s the reason I’m able to run this blog - using my voice to talk about what I believe in, which not everyone out there can do.
There’s still time. In just days, on December 14, the bill will be voted on. Send this to friends, contact government officials and politicians, take action now. While it isn’t too late.
World Water Day is celebrated internationally on March 22. Declared by the UN 25 years ago, this day annually focuses on our most important resource: water. But damaged ecosystems, water pollution, and climate change are hurting the supply. The 2018 theme for World Water Day is how we can use natural solutions to solve modern-day challenges. Replanting forests and protecting water-based ecosystems will balance the water cycle. Recycling and reusing wastewater can provide energy and water to urban areas. Solutions are everywhere, and its time we started looking for them.
We use water in our homes to drink, cook, and clean with. But 95% of water is used outside the home, for agriculture, industry, and textiles. The rising population in our developing world requires more water than ever. In a decade, we might need twice as much water as Earth can supply.
In places like Cape Town, South Africa, droughts are breaking records held for over a century. The city awaits “Day Zero,” when, likely this summer, it will shut off it’s taps. My youth choir has the chance to travel on international goodwill tours every other summer. Last August, we traveled to South Africa, spending two out of our three weeks in Cape Town. The drought had been going on for years at that point; shower times were limited to two minutes, and every public building we performed in had signs reminding us to conserve water. When “Day Zero” comes, Cape Town’s schools, libraries, and homes won’t have running water. Until it rains, residents will have to get their water by other means. I don’t want to think about such a catastrophe happening here in Boston.
So what can you do? Water woes are endless, and go way beyond a few plastic bottles. But here’s some small steps (shameless plug lol) to help you conserve our most important resource.
Buy less. As goods travel around the world, so does the water that made them (metaphorically, of course). Buying one less shirt or cooking pot can save up to 700 gallons on another continent. By changing your habits, you can have a global impact.
Flip the Switch. Water is used to prepare coal, extract oil, and build solar panels. The energy that lights your homes is the top user of water, after agriculture. So conserving electricity is a double pat-on-the-back for you.
Go (Part-time) Vegetarian. A single burger uses up to 600 gallons of water. Taking meat off the menu one or two days a week will cut down on your water footprint (so to speak). So if you’ve grown up in an Italian household like mine where vegetarianism will get you disowned, no problem: a part-time no-meat diet will do.
& Now the Basics… Turn off the faucet overtime you brush. I know you’ve heard it before, but you can save up to 4 gallons every time you brush. Thats almost 3,000 gallons a year.
Today, over 2 billion people are living without clean drinking water at home, and over half of them draw from contaminated sources. 663 million people spend countless hours each day trekking and queuing to distant sources, effecting their health and education. Since our actions have a direct impact on the global supply, celebrate your World Water Day by spreading the word about these issues and the many ways to solve them.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (simplified form):
We Are All Born Free & Equal. We are all born free, with our own thoughts and opinions. We should all be treated the same.
Don’t Discriminate. These rights are everybody’s, regardless of our differences.
The Right to Life. We all have the right to our lives, and to live in freedom and safety.
No Slavery. Nobody has the right to subject us to slavery. We cannot make another person our slave.
No Torture. Nobody has the right to hurt or to torture us.
You Have Rights No Matter Where You Go. I am a person just like you.
We’re All Equal Before the Law. The law is the same for everyone, and it must treat us all fairly.
Your Human Rights Are Protected by Law. We can all ask for the law to help us when we are not treated fairly.
No Unfair Detainment. Nobody has the right to put us in prison or send us away from our country without good reason.
The Right to Trial. If we are put on trial, it should be in public. The people who try us shouldn’t let anyone tell them what to do.
We’re Always Innocent Till Proven Guilty. Nobody should be blamed for doing something until it is proven. When people say we did a bad thing we have the right to prove it is not true.
The Right to Privacy. Nobody should try to harm our good name. Nobody has the right to come into our home, read our letters, or bother us or our family without a good reason.
Freedom to Move. We all have the right to go where we want in our own country, and to travel as we wish.
The Right to Seek a Safe Place to Live. If we are frightened of being treated badly in our own country, we all have the right to go to another country to be safe.
Right to a Nationality. We all have the right to belong to a country, and to be granted citizenship.
Marriage and Family. Every grown-up has the right to marry and raise a family if they choose to. Men and women have the same rights when they are married and when they are separated.
The Right to Your Own Things. Everyone has the right to own things or share them. Nobody should take our possessions from us without a good reason.
Freedom of Thought. We all have the right to believe in what we want to believe, to have a religion, and to change it if we wish.
Freedom of Expression. We all have the right to make up our own minds, to think what we like, to say what we think, and to share our ideas with others. The Right to Public Assembly. We all have the right to meet others and to work together peacefully to defend our rights. Nobody can make us join or leave a group if we don’t want to.
The Right to Democracy. We all have the right to take part in the governance of our country. Every grown-up should be allowed to choose their own leaders and to vote.
Social Security. We all have the right to affordable housing, medicine, education, and childcare. We all have the right to enough money to live on and medical help if we are ill, old, or disabled.
Workers’ Rights. Every grown-up has the right to do a job, to have a fair wage for their work, and to join a trade union.
The Right to Play. We all have the right to rest from work and to relax.
Food and Shelter for All. We all have the right to a good life and necessary goods. Mothers, children, people who are old, unemployed or disabled, and all people have the right to be cared for. Everyone should have access to what they need to have a good life.
The Right to Education. Education is a right. Primary school should be free, so that all young people can get an education. We should learn about the United Nations and how to get along with others. Our parents and guardians can choose what we learn.
Copyright. Copyright is a special law that protects one’s own artistic creations and writings; others cannot make copies without permission. We all have the right to our own way of life, and to enjoy the good things that art, science and learning bring.
A Fair and Free World. There must be proper order so everyone can enjoy rights and freedoms in their own country, and anywhere else.
Responsibility. We have a duty to others as well as ourselves, and we should protect others’ rights as well as our own.
No One Can Take Away Your Human Rights.
In December of 1948, the United Nations officially adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as Resolution 217 at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris, France. It was created to ensure safety, security, and freedom for all people. At the time, there were 58 members of the UN. 48 voted in favor, with zero opposed, while eight abstained and two didn’t vote. The articles were drafted by representatives from all over the globe, from all backgrounds, and the document has been translated into over 500 languages since.
The United Nations was founded after WWII, in 1945, to ensure that such a horrific conflict would never again occur. In San Francisco, CA, 51 countries gathered to sign the Charter, officially creating the United Nations. Out of the 247 existing countries and territories, 193 are currently part of the UN. It’s objective is to protect everyone’s human rights, support sustainable development, and provide humanitarian aid and resources. Since then, it’s members and volunteers have been working with governments worldwide to maintain international security and peace.
Each of these rights is important, and serves a purpose to benefit the lives of all people. Everyone is entitled to each of them, and is therefore an equal of everyone else. We’re all a part of the larger human race, and must respect and be kind to each other regardless of who we are and where we come from. Our differences make us who we are, and what makes this planet, 7 billion strong, so diverse and beautiful. It’s our job to give back to others.