#sylvana simons

[winds-of--fortune]

Pals, elections will be held in the Netherlands on the 17th of March. And we need your attention.

Cause these are gonna be the most important elections in a very long time. Maybe the most important ever. Contrary to popular belief, because Dutch people love to present themselves as sooo progressive, the Dutch parliament has been dominated by right-wing (extremist) parties for the past decades. Racism is so entrenched in our culture. We literally still have blackface parades throughout the country every single year. We still have colonies in the Caribbean. There are actual nazi's in our parliament. Poverty numbers are rising, homeless numbers are rising, and the covid measures are absolute shit. Our country is like heaven to multinationals because they can evade taxes so easily. The progressive image of our country is total bullshit. Shit has to fucking change. And we have the opportunity to do that.

One of the parties taking part in this election is an outspokenly intersectional anti-racist, anti-capitalist party. It is completely built up of activists. The party is called BIJ1

Meet the Black feminist politician shaking up Dutch politics

Sylvana Simons’ party will stand in the 2021 Dutch general election. ‘We’re activating people who’ve never felt politicians speakin

The candidates for this party are actual activists and revolutionaries.

Most polls are showing them getting a seat in the parliament. We need them there desperately. We need these voices to be heard. BIJ1 is growing every day, and we need to organise and mobilise the left to build resistance against our government. They are powerful, and they are dangerous. So please pay attention, and spread the word about BIJ1. We need your solidarity.

[brianelstak]

[npr]

Sylvana Simons got her start as a soul music VJ on the Dutch version of MTV. She went on to anchor the evening news in the Netherlands, and performed on the local version of Dancing with the Stars.

Simons, 45, is black and was born in the former Dutch colony of Suriname, in South America. Her family moved to the Netherlands when she was just one. She's spoken out against the Dutch Christmas tradition of Black Pete, in which Santa's helper is often played by a white person in blackface.

That prompted someone to make a satirical music video about her, in which dancers in blackface sing, "Oh Sylvana, why don't you pack your bags and leave this country." After that, someone photoshopped pictures of her face onto old archive photos of lynching victims from the American South.

"I've also received emails and written letters in which people described how they would like to see me killed, raped, burned alive," Simons told reporters in a rare interview in early December. "It's been an ongoing thing for the past two years."

So Simons filed a police complaint, quit her media job — and went into politics.

With The Far-Right Rising, Dutch Create Their Own Parties For Immigrants

Photo: Robin van Lonkhuijsen /AFP/Getty Images

[ithelpstodream]

Sylvana Simons, the first ever black female party leader of a European political party.

“Racism, sexism and Islamophobia are widespread, not just in the Netherlands but in most parts of Western Europe. I was tolerated when I was an entertainer. But you can’t be black, female, politically involved and try to shape the society you live in without angering some people.

When I started speaking out one of the first comments was that I didn’t “know my place”. I’ve known my place my whole life! If you are not white, heterosexual and male, this country suggests you have to be treated differently.

When you’ve gained wealth through slavery and colonialism, you will build courts, police and judiciary based on that system. The problem is when you say such things out loud it sounds as if everyone is being racist on purpose all the time. That’s not true, but the way the society is shaped is racist and divisive.

We want to represent all of Dutch society and our list of candidates alone shows we are truly reflecting the Netherlands. We have equal numbers of men and women. We have gay, lesbian, and transgender candidates. We are normalising what is already normal in society.

We are a new and unconventional voice in society. We are emancipating people and politics.”

[deepdrearn]

Sylvana Simons: 'Bondgenoten, voed jezelf met schoonheid'

Columnist en oud-politicus Sylvana Simons wapent zich tegen de machtshonger van politieke leiders en mannen met te veel geld. Hoe? Met solid

"Ik laaf me aan filosofische gesprekken met gelijkgestemden, al dan niet vergezeld met een goede fles montepulciano en melige lachbuien. Ik focus op al die mensen die juist in deze tijden bevestigen dat er zoveel goeds en moois is op de wereld. Moois dat aandacht, steun en waardering verdient. Al was het maar, zoals ik eerder in OneWorld schreef, omdat wij – vrouwen, trans personen, mensen van kleur, mensen met een beperking, klimaatactivisten, moslims en anderen die gemarginaliseerd en misbruikt worden – het ons niet kunnen veroorloven bij de pakken neer te zitten of slechts als toeschouwer of commentator aan de zijlijn te blijven staan. Het is juist nu van levensbelang actief speler te zijn. En de spelregels zijn duidelijk: verwacht het ergste. Bereid je voor. Vul je bron. Handel wanneer nodig. Beweeg in solidariteit."

[eltjedoddema]

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Eltje Doddema

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[arutai]

Sylvana Simons by Wendelien Daan

[eltjedoddema]

#BIJ1 De partij BIJ1 doet volgens Sylvana Simons ’recht aan onze kleurrijke stad (Amsterdam)’. Ze stelt op te komen voor ’radicale gelijkwaardigheid’ en wil ’geen genoegen nemen met oppervlakkige of cosmetische verbeteringen’. Dat wil ze doen met een club activistische aanhangers........