#worldalmighty

[shangharry]

WorldAlmighty 2016 New Years’ wishes

This question is massive, so I’ll probably forget a million things, but under the read more are some things that I find particularly important.

I hope 2016 will be filled with more victories for the LGBTQ community. One of my happiest memories of 2015 was the day the Supreme Court voted in favour of marriage equality. That was a massive step forward, but thinking about the long long list of countries where marriage equality still doesn’t exist and the struggles LGBTQ people face every day makes my heart hurt.  

I hope Europe will find a way to deal with the refugee crisis. The amount of racist and xenophobic comments I’ve been hearing all around me for the last couple of months has been truly astounding. The refugee crisis led politicians, celebrities and some of my friends to show their true colours and boy, were they ugly. But I’ve also seen some wonderful initiatives, some of which I was lucky enough to be a part of. I hope to see more of those in 2016 and more civil conversations between people with different opinions regarding refugees.

I hope that in 2016, more people will speak up on issues regarding race, gender and sexuality. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of celebrities that spoke about these issues in 2016 – seeing celebrities supporting feminism or tweet about #BlackLivesMatter or supporting the trans community is great and I hope that’ll continue this year.

As for the fandom, I hope that Rainbow Direction will continue going strong in 2016. There might not be any concerts to attend this year, but what Rainbow Direction has meant to the fandom in the last two years has been incredible and I hope they’re able to continue spreading their message.

I hope to see more of the boys’ support for charity and whatever issues they deem important. Their support for the LGBTQ community has been amazing in 2015, as were the charity events they attended and/or organized. Those are the moments I’m most proud to call myself a fan and I have no doubt we’ll see more of that in 2016.

Above all, I hope both the boys and the fandom find their peace in 2016. 2015 was a pretty intense year for all of us and I hope the boys and the fans take this year to reflect on everything that has happened in the past five years so that we can start 2017 re-energised. I can’t wait. :) 

[rainbow-styles]

I wish...

For this new year I wish that the fandom left aside all these toxic discussions. Obviously this upcoming months will be hard since the boys wont be around that much so we dont need to make things harder!! 

[takemehomefromnarnia]

Action1D Video OUT NOW!

Thank you to all of you who:

submitted to Action1D

submitted LGBTQ+ related videos

participated in our LGBTQ+ action week with action1dproject

submitted something about diversity/intersectionality, hosted by our sister project worldalmighty

You’ve all done an amazing job and together, we created a voice of tens of thousands that can’t be unheard! 

To change, to a better world!

[worldalmighty]

Hi everyone!

Our launch “1 Thing” campaign, in collaboration with TMHFN/Rainbow Direction, came to a close a week ago along with the end of Ramadan. So first of all, we want to say a massive thank you to every single person who participated in any way: writing posts, sharing them, and reading them! We are very grateful, and we hope that you enjoyed learning a bit about the different cultures represented by the individuals that make up our fandom.

We received submissions from a range of places including Basque Country, Bolivia (the most popular post - about the flower Harry picks in the Between Us fragrance commercial!), Canada, China, Corfu, Denmark, Finland, Indonesia, Lebanon, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, Turkey (x), and the USA (x).

And it was fantastic to see how many different facets of your cultures you chose to share: religious celebrations, unique landscapes, urban legends, special dishes, healthcare systems, beautiful poetry, pop culture references... Thank you again for your contributions! We are currently preparing an educational article on Intersectionality, and we will also be continuing to support Action 1D: see our previous post here to get involved in this great initiative and watch this space for more to come....

Finally, please feel free to send us any ideas or feedback as we continue to build the World Almighty project!

[worldalmighty]

TAKE ACTION WITH 1D: OUR WORLD

Today as part of Action 1D, the boys have asked you to “show and tell where in the world you live”.

Videos of where we spend our daily lives - whether at home, somewhere in town, or outdoors - can send a powerful message, demonstrating the global reach and diversity of this fandom.

Please join us in sending videos that show what your daily life is like, or show something people from other parts of the world might not know about on where you live...and be as creative as you’d like!

HOW: Upload your videos here - then if you post the individual link(s) to your video(s) on your blog and tag them with #worldalmighty, we will share them too!

Here are a few examples:

from Orizaba, Mexico

from Texas, USA

from Amman, Jordan

Action 1D is an opportunity for us to call upon world leaders to set ambitious goals to fight poverty, inequality and climate change, since the 2015 Millennium Development Goals are set to expire. World Almighty and RainbowDirection/Takemehomefromnarnia see this as a chance for all of us to make a real difference in the world.

It is important for our leaders to hear from voices representing all of our different identities, so that they can set and implement goals that are inclusive of all ethnicities, religions, genders, orientations, etc because discrimination leads to inequality, poverty and the slowing of sustainable development for all.

You can also still take part in the previous actions - wearing rainbows if you’d like: I Want To Live In A World Where… Record a short video talking about your experiences and show support for inclusiveness, equality and eradication of discrimination on all grounds. Celebrate. Show that we can make a difference if we come together. Record a short video of you and/or your friends celebrating!

[harryhateslouis]

1Thing about Finland

The Finnhorse

So, this may not be the most obvious choice for 1Thing about Finland, but I will (hopefully) give a satisfactory explanation to this. Because yes, I have a real reason behind this, this is not just me being a giant horse nerd (I am that too though).

The Finnhorse is my 1Thing because it is the perfect symbol for Finnish national identity.

The Finnhorse is the only native Finnish horse breed and it is said to be the fastest and most versatile coldblood breed in the world. The characteristics of the Finnhorse are the same that are considered to be ideal in a Finnish person - they are brave, honest, sincere, and hard-working. Even though they are relatively small in size just like our country is small in terms of population, both are a lot stronger than they look.

The Finnhorse has had a major impact throughout the country’s history. It's been said that Finland would not be an independent country without the Finnhorse and our independence is something that is extremely important to us. In the past, Finland was ruled by both Sweden and Russia and these eras have left their marks on our country.

“In the late 19th century, Finland was going through a period of national awakening. Finland had long been under the command of other nations, but now, as a grand duchy of Russia, Finland had more freedom to govern its own issues. The people started to cherish and value uniquely Finnish traditions. This period of time created a new concept of being a Finn, and the Finnish horse was thought to reinforce the national identity. This was the beginning of breeding the Finnish horse towards being a breed of its own.

The Finnhorse as a breed came to existence only a decade before Independent Finland; thus it is understandable that the struggles of early Finnish independence are closely connected with the Finnhorse. Even the actual birth of the Finnhorse as a breed was accomplished due to the awakening of national identity.

The Finnhorse belonged to every part of the life of the Finns: it stayed beside its master in times of happiness as well as of grief. It was during these early decades of independence when the status of the Finnhorse as a part of Finnish national identity was established.” (x)

Finland declared itself independent in 1917 and this led to a civil war between opposing political parties. However, the real tests to our independence were the Winter War (during the WWII) when the Soviet Union invaded Finland and later the Continuation War (1941-44) between the Soviet Union and Finland (with the help of Nazi Germany). This was when the Finnhorse was needed the most.

“During the history of breeding Finnish horses, the main aim has been to develop a good breed for agriculture and forestry, but compatibility as a war horse has also been taken into consideration. The army needed draft horses as well as riding horses, and the Finnhorse certainly proved its worthiness when the Winter War began in 1939. One of the chief roles of the Finnhorse as a war horse was to pull heavy artillery pieces, and its strength and ability to move quickly made it extremely well suitable for this task. The Finnhorse was also irreplaceable when helping to transport supplies and troops in combat areas where no roads existed. The Finnhorse managed to cope with harsh weather conditions, hardships in the forests and occasionally irregular care.

When the Continuation War began in 1941, the Finnish army had more motor vehicles than during the Winter War, but the need for horses was still great.” (x)

Finland managed to retain its independence and almost all Finns recognised that the Finnhorse had been one of the reasons why Finland had survived the hardships of war.

“On Finnish independence day, 6th of December, we want to thank those over 130 000 Finnish horses who served the soldiers in our wars, hoping that no person, animal or any creature should ever go to war.” (x)

[andletsgocrazytogether]

Okay, this may seem like an odd addition to #1thing but give me a minute to explain. In 1976, Sylvester Stallone released Rocky, a small independent film he wrote and starred in. The plot revolves around a small time, ameteur boxer who is offered the opportunity to take on the heavyweight champion of the world. Naturally the movie features many training sequences, but none better, nor more famous, than Rocky running through the streets of Philadelphia and eventually up the steps of the Art Museum (seen above). The scenes are some of the best in the film, showcasing Rocky’s grit and determination as well as the signature (now famous) Rocky theme music. 

Rocky was a huge hit, made a ton of money and went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture. To this day, the movie and the music have been embraced by the city of Philadelphia. All of our sports teams use the theme during games, encouraging fans to cheer loudly, as can be seen here. But even more amazing than the music and the story has been the ongoing tradition of running up the Art Museum steps. On any given day, you can be standing outside the museum, or even along the parkway, and see people just take off and sprint up the stairs, cheering with arms held high when they reach the top. 

This phenomenon has been captured in the book Rocky Stories by Michael Vitez, a pulitzer-prize winning writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer. (with photographs by Tom Gralish) For a year these two men sat on the steps and watched countless people, every day, run up. They asked them for their stories and were blown away by the reasons behind their runs and by how far some had traveled for this experience. Whether they are running for luck, to celebrate a victory or just to say they did it, there is nothing more American than this statement of dedication, hard work and independence. 

"In our increasingly homogenous world of strip malls and chain restaurants, there are still a few authentic and unscripted experiences left. One of them takes place every day on the towering steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where strangers flock from across town and across the globe. Two extraordinarily talented journalists, Michael Vitez and Tom Gralish, have captured this uniquely American phenomenon with whimsy, poignancy, and utter charm. Rocky Stories will steal your heart and restore your faith in the power of shared human experience." —John Grogan, author of Marley & Me

[worldalmighty]

I saw on the first post that you could volunteer? What kind of work would you be doing as a volunteer for the project? xx

Hi! Thank you so much for being interested in volunteering for World Almighty and our 1Thing Campaign.

Since we are a new project, the main help we need at this point is in spreading the word. We would be grateful for volunteers who would be keen to reblog and ask their friends/followers to both share posts and partipate in the campaign by submitting. The Twitter account for the project has just been set up, so we would be happy to have some active tweeters onboard too!

Also, we would really welcome volunteers’ ideas about what WA and 1Thing can do next - honest, constructive and creative input (the more innovative the better) is always so helpful. As a volunteer, you would be in regular contact with our core team and it would be a collaboration and conversation for the duration of the 1Thing Campaign and beyond.

Please get in touch if you want to be involved! It’s early days (there’s more in the pipeline, coming soon…), so you could make a real impact in building/shaping the project as a volunteer :)