Seasons Greetings and Best wishes for just and peaceful 2012

Seasons Greetings and Best wishes for just and peaceful 2012

12/22/2011 04:53:00 PM reflections

"I simply decided I had enough money"

Social economists say that two crucial human wants that do not obey the Law of Diminishing Returns: Power and Wealth.

For most things in life, the more you have of it the less you desire it or the less it becomes productive for you. Our quest for power and wealth tend not to obey this rule. Human desire to accumulate power and wealth appears simply insatiable. But every once in a while, comes a remarkable person who forces us to rethink our assumptions about human nature.

This week, after much digging, The New York Times unmasked 80-year-old Charles F. Feeney as the anonymous donor who gave Connell University a $350 million donation to construct a new technology-based satellite campus in New York City.

A self-made billionaire who co-founded Duty Free Shoppers Group in the 1960s, Charles Feeney  has been donating quietly and anonymously to universities, hospitals and charitable foundations for much of his lifetime. In 2009, he gave $125 million to build a new medical center for the University of California-San Francisco that would treat women, children, and cancer patients. Over the course of the last decade, he's given more than €46m to the University of Limerick in Ireland. Hs total donations for Cornell over the years -- not counting the latest $350 million -- exceed $600 million.

Even more remarkable is Mr. Feeney’s steely resolve to give anonymously and without the publicity and self-adulation that is often associated with philanthropy. He is reluctant to do press interviews or even pose for a publicity photograph. According to The Atlantic Wire, “Nearly every profile makes note of how unimpressed Feeney is with what his wealth can buy him, noting that he flies coach, wears a $15 watch, and doesn't own a house or a car.”

When asked why he decided to give everything away, Feeney replied, "I simply decided I had enough money."

Now, that is something you don’t hear every day: “I simply decided I had enough money.”
The world desperately needs more Charles Feeneys.

Meet Charles Feeney, Cornell's $350 Million Donor (The Atlantic Wire)
Cornell Alumnus Is Behind $350 Million Gift to Build Science School in City (New York Times)

"I simply decided I had enough money"

12/21/2011 11:18:00 AM Development, media, Tributes

Beaver or bear? The Battle over Canadian National Identity

This lighthearted story about the debate over replacing the beaver with the polar bear as Canada’s national emblem was one of the most read stories on the BBC website this week.

Apparently the rest of the world is as concerned as some of us about the efforts currently been pushed on several levels to reshape Canadian national identity. Canada’s unilateral decision to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol marks a radical departure from the values of moderation and tolerance that the country has long been known for. These values are part of the reasons why some of us, chose to make this country home. It is a source of grave concern that these values seem to be slipping away.

"In a world of eagles, bears, dragons and other fearsome beasts, surely we need more, not less, of the beaver."

Beaver or bear? Fur flies over Canadian sense of identity (BBC)

Beaver or bear? The Battle over Canadian National Identity

12/18/2011 05:54:00 PM politics

"Dignity is more important than bread"

Time Magazine has declared “the Protester” the person of the year for 2011. It is a fitting choice. 2011 was indeed the year of the protester. From Cairo’s Tahrir square to New York’s Zuccotti Park, ordinary citizens protesting against political repression and economic inequities took to the streets to voice their complaints. They found an ally in technology. Facebook and tweeter were the vectors of their protestations.

Street protests have always been a part of social ferment. What makes these noteworthy is their efficacy. Sit tight dictators were forced to abdicate and nervous corporate oligarchies have been forced to take note. "Massive and effective street protest" has moved from being an oxymoron to become the reality of our internet age.

But what struck me most about the Time Story was the discussion of the life the 26-year-old street Tunisian vendor Mohamed Bouazizi whose self-immolation on December 17 2010 set off an unrelenting wave of street protest across the Arab world. Mohamed Bouazizi has become the unlikely martyr and icon of the year of the Arab Spring and the age of “effective street protest.” It is a compelling story:

“On a Friday morning almost exactly a year ago, he set out for work, selling produce from a cart. Police had hassled Bouazizi routinely for years, his family says, fining him, making him jump through bureaucratic hoops. On Dec. 17, 2010, a cop started giving him grief yet again. She confiscated his scale and allegedly slapped him. He walked straight to the provincial-capital building to complain and got no response. At the gate, he drenched himself in paint thinner and lit a match.”

I have heard some question whether this aggravation was enough to warrant self-immolation. That is a matter for debate. However, we must never underestimate dehumanizing effects of humiliation and indignity. Bouazizi set himself on fire not because he was starving or homeless. He went to that extreme length because he was tired of a life of humiliation, dehumanization and indignity. Perhaps for him, setting himself on fire was a means of escape and the ultimate statement of defiance.

Bouazizi’s mother puts it succinctly, “My son set himself on fire for dignity." Her 16-year-old daughter Basma, put it even better: "dignity is more important than bread."

Time Magazine: The Protester

"Dignity is more important than bread"

12/14/2011 06:06:00 PM human rights

Dutch Apology for the Massacre at Rawagede (Indonesia): How not to do State Apology

On December 9, 1947 Dutch military forces deployed in the village of Rawagede in colonized Indonesia committed an unspeakable crime.

In their fight to maintain Dutch colonial rule and suppress the Indonesian Republicans seeking independence for their country, they killed nearly all the males in this remote Indonesian village. Almost 500 men were rounded up and summarily executed, in many cases right before their families. The widows recall that it was left to the women and children in the villages to bury the corpses of their slain husbands, brothers and children. Rawagede became a village without men.

Although the Dutch army and state acknowledged that the massacres occurred, no one was ever prosecuted or convicted for the massacres. A 1948 United Nations report described the killings "deliberate and merciless."

Since the publication of the report there have been pressures on Netherlands to officially apologize for the massacres and pay compensation to the victims and survivors. None has been forthcoming. The best that the people of Rawagede got was statement that the Netherlands "deeply regrets" the massacre.

Finally on the sixty-fourth anniversary of the massacres, the Dutch government through its ambassador to Indonesia formally apologised for the massacres. It was a terse public statement which included the words that the survivors had waited for over six decades to hear: "On behalf of the Dutch government, I apologise for the tragedy that took place in Rawagede on the 9th of December, 1947."

But the apology came only after some survivors successfully sued the Dutch government for the massacres and a court in the Netherlands ordered the government to pay compensation over the killings. Only 9 relatives are still alive and each will receive a paltry Euro 20,000 ($27,000) compensation.

The apology is welcome since its better late than never. But for the traumatized people of Rawagede, it provides only cold comfort. The apology is too little too late. State apologies for historical crimes and injustices are notoriously difficult to get. In this case, the belated apology from the Netherland seems to have been driven more by insular legal and public relations considerations rather than a genuine sense of national contrition for the massacres. The Dutch apology is a classic example of how not to do state apology.

For more on the debate over state apology for historical crimes see a recent book to which I contributed:

Mark Gibney, Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann, Jean-Marc Coicaud and Niklaus Steiner, eds., The Age of Apology: Facing up to the Past (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania University Press, 2008).

Dutch Apology for the Massacre at Rawagede (Indonesia): How not to do State Apology

12/10/2011 07:04:00 PM human rights, war and peace

Subversive Art: “Exit through the Gift Shop”

I saw this movie by chance. I was recently on a transatlantic flight and it was one of the few movies available that sounded interesting. The title certainly caught my attention. “Exit through the Gift Shop” is a comedic documentary about the subversive underground world of graffiti artistes centred on the character of an eccentric French immigrant shopkeeper in the US who immerses himself in that world. It is a hilarious and somewhat irreverent insight into a shadowy dissident subculture of graffiti street art.

The movie was produced by Banksy, the enigmatic and faceless graffiti artiste who has gained a global reputation for his satirical street art and subversive epigrams done in a distinctive stenciling technique.

The movie which was nominated for an Academy award comes highly recommended. Some of Banky’s works certainly make you think about the power of Art as an agent of socio-political commentary.

Subversive Art: “Exit through the Gift Shop”

11/24/2011 10:36:00 PM arts and culture, media

7 Billion Reasons to Wage Peace

Something in the news caught my eye this week. The United Nations reported that the World population hit 7 billion this year and would hit 10 billion by 2100. That’s a lot of people!

At 7 billion, the world’s population has tripled from what it was in 1930. In just 90 years, we will have 50 per cent more people on this planet than we did at the beginning of the century, competing for the same food, water, space and attention.

Whether we like it or not, we will all have to learn to share, compromise and negotiate to survive as more and more people compete for limited resources. The waste, profligacy, over consumption and gaping inequalities of our world are simply unsustainable. The problem is not so much the lack of resources. There is more than enough in this world to meet everyone’s basic needs but not everyone’s greed.

To wage peace, we have to first wage war. But not the kind on war on each other that we have become accustomed to. We have to wage war on the injustice, inequities and dispossession that are often at the roots of conflict and violence. We now have 7 billion urgent reasons to do so.

7 Billion Reasons to Wage Peace

11/22/2011 07:47:00 AM human rights, war and peace, world

"How to Write About Africa"

This article by the Kenyan author BINYAVANGA WAINAINA was originally published in the Journal "Granta." The scathingly ironic article captures the often unspoken truth about much of what is written and published about Africa in the West.

"How to Write About Africa"

Always use the word ‘Africa’ or ‘Darkness’ or ‘Safari’ in your title. Subtitles may include the words ‘Zanzibar’, ‘Masai’, ‘Zulu’, ‘Zambezi’, ‘Congo’, ‘Nile’, ‘Big’, ‘Sky’, ‘Shadow’, ‘Drum’, ‘Sun’ or ‘Bygone’. Also useful are words such as ‘Guerrillas’, ‘Timeless’, ‘Primordial’ and ‘Tribal’. Note that ‘People’ means Africans who are not black, while ‘The People’ means black Africans.

Never have a picture of a well-adjusted African on the cover of your book, or in it, unless that African has won the Nobel Prize. An AK-47, prominent ribs, naked breasts: use these. If you must include an African, make sure you get one in Masai or Zulu or Dogon dress.

In your text, treat Africa as if it were one country. It is hot and dusty with rolling grasslands and huge herds of animals and tall, thin people who are starving. Or it is hot and steamy with very short people who eat primates. Don’t get bogged down with precise descriptions. Africa is big: fifty-four countries, 900 million people who are too busy starving and dying and warring and emigrating to read your book. The continent is full of deserts, jungles, highlands, savannahs and many other things, but your reader doesn’t care about all that, so keep your descriptions romantic and evocative and unparticular.

Make sure you show how Africans have music and rhythm deep in their souls, and eat things no other humans eat. Do not mention rice and beef and wheat; monkey-brain is an African's cuisine of choice, along with goat, snake, worms and grubs and all manner of game meat. Make sure you show that you are able to eat such food without flinching, and describe how you learn to enjoy it—because you care.

Taboo subjects: ordinary domestic scenes, love between Africans (unless a death is involved), references to African writers or intellectuals, mention of school-going children who are not suffering from yaws or Ebola fever or female genital mutilation.

Throughout the book, adopt a sotto voice, in conspiracy with the reader, and a sad I-expected-so-much tone. Establish early on that your liberalism is impeccable, and mention near the beginning how much you love Africa, how you fell in love with the place and can’t live without her. Africa is the only continent you can love—take advantage of this. If you are a man, thrust yourself into her warm virgin forests. If you are a woman, treat Africa as a man who wears a bush jacket and disappears off into the sunset. Africa is to be pitied, worshipped or dominated. Whichever angle you take, be sure to leave the strong impression that without your intervention and your important book, Africa is doomed.

"How to Write About Africa"

11/14/2011 11:24:00 AM africa, history

Taking Liberties: Historicizing 20th Century Human Rights in the English Speaking World

A Research Workshop presented by McMaster University, Department of History and the L.R. Wilson Institute for Canadian History, 1-2 March 2012.

Research Brief

In 2004 Mark Mazower noted that while the history of human rights in the 20th Century could be written as a triumph of civilization over barbarism, it must also be seen as a campaign imbued with politics, cynicism, and state interest. As he points out, we need to understand the political struggles and conflicts of interest that led to the emergence of human rights on the international arena as they had a profound role in the actual definitions of human rights that have largely triumphed. But not only were such struggles fought out in the international arena, or at the highest level of state policy making, they were also to be found at the level of civil society and amongst a variety of activist individuals and advocacy organizations within societies.

Taking Liberties: Historicizing 20th Century Human Rights in the English Speaking World

11/13/2011 09:29:00 PM education, human rights

Viewing of the Month: Amélie

I do not consider myself a movie aficionado but every once in a while I delight in foreign movies to extricate myself from Hollywood’s stranglehold on our collective psyche. Old Iranian and Russian movies hold a particular fascination. But it is the 2001 French film “Amélie” that recently got me enthralled.

A romantic comedy film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, it is the story of a reticent and quirky Parisian waitress who, confronted by her conflicted life, sets out to change the lives of those around her for the better. In so doing, she manages to transform not just the lives of others but unwittingly her own life too.

The movie reminds me so much of the equally remarkable film by the Italian director Roberto Benigni, “Life is Beautiful” which tells the story of a Jewish Italian whose resilience and fertile imagination helps his family survive a Nazi concentration camp. Both films are must sees and come highly recommended.

Viewing of the Month: Amélie

11/10/2011 07:25:00 PM arts and culture

Guy Fawkes: The Face of Anonymity and Defiance

I have always wondered what the real story is behind the ubiquitous “V for Vendetta” mask that has become synonymous with the Occupy Wall Street protests in the US and around the world. The mask has come to represent the anonymity of an amorphous and leaderless grassroots movement. Apparently there is a fascinating history behind the mask.

The mask is a representation of Guy Fawkes who was part of a group of provincial English Catholics that planned a failed assassination attempt against King James I in 1605. Guy Fawkes who was in charge of the gunpowder that had been stockpiled to blow up Westminster palace was eventually captured, tortured and committed suicide before he was due to be executed. For centuries, Fawkes has been reviled for treason in Protestant England and his effigy is often burned on a bonfire.

It is a fascinating story. I find it ironic that the image of a man despised for treason at home has become a universal symbol of people power in the twenty first century. The Guardian of London provides and interesting expose on this iconic image.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/04/occupy-movement-guy-fawkes-mask

Guy Fawkes: The Face of Anonymity and Defiance

11/09/2011 08:37:00 PM arts and culture, history, human rights

Brazil Notes: The Diversity Paradox

Still on my trip to Brazil…

While in Brazil I had the opportunity to attend the annual national academic conference of social scientists in the country. It was a gathering of the crème de la crème of the Brazilian academe.

The conference was held at a scenic resort-style hotel in the serene town of Caxambu in the western part of the country. It is a delightful and breathtaking city with green flowing hills and natural spring rivers. I was told that in the old days, the town was a holiday resort for kings and princes of the Brazilian monarchy who spent their vacations in the lush, calm and relaxing greenery of Caxambu. Given the beauty of Caxambu it is no wonder that the intellectuals of Brazil chose to continue the tradition.

One of the first things that struck me upon arriving at the conference venue was how unrepresentative the faces at the conference were of the Brazilians I had seen and met in the streets of Sao Paulo. This was a very "white" group with very few black, coloured or aboriginal faces. Not even in my years in Scandinavia did I encounter such a racially monolithic gathering at an academic conference. This was definitely not my image of Brazil. Where are the intellectual Peles, Ronaldinhos and Anderson Silvas that Brazil on the map in sport?

So, I asked Dr. Valter Silverio of the Federal University of Sao Carlos (one of the few “colored” faces at the conference) why the Brazilian intellectual community was so unrepresentative of the racial diversity of the larger society. Dr. Silverio should know. He is one of the key academics involved with studying and monitoring Brazil's new affirmative action policy in the universities. He explained that although Brazil has always prided itself as being a racial democracy, racial inequalities are a historical reality. However, racial politics has not always resonated in the country as they have in the US.

As elsewhere in Latin America, the focus has historically been on class inequalities rather than racial inequities. However, in the past decade, the Brazilian government has taken decisive steps aimed at redressing the gaping racial and class imbalance in the educational sector with its affirmative action policies at the university level.

These policies, Dr. Silvero explains, have sometimes been controversial. But on the whole, they have set in motion the mechanisms for addressing lingering historical inequities in the country's ivory towers. Brazil has chosen not to go with the race-essentializing American affirmative action model. Rather it has developed a uniquely Brazilian model that takes into consideration both race and class inequalities in the country.

For me, it is another example of a country’s unique and creative approach to addressing its social challenges.

Brazil Notes: The Diversity Paradox

11/09/2011 07:38:00 PM Development, politics

In Solidarity....

The Corrupt fear....

The Honest support....

The Heroic join.....

In Solidarity....

11/04/2011 02:26:00 PM human rights, politics

Brazil Notes: The “Zero Hunger Program”

Still on my visit to Brazil…

One of the most intriguing discoveries I made during my stay in Brazil was finding out that the country has a ministry dedicated to the prevention of hunger. The ministry is called "The Ministry of Social Development and Fight Against Hunger (MDS)." As far as I know Brazil is the only country that has a cabinet level minister whose principal assignment is to fight against hunger.

The ministry was created in 2004 with a mission to promote social development and fight against hunger with the aim of “fostering inclusion and citizenship, ensuring food and nutritional security, a minimum citizenship income and integral assistance to families." This mission statement reflects the country's decision of placing the fight against hunger and social exclusion as a priority in the national agenda. My hosts tell me that the Ministry's mandate is to ensure that all Brazilians irrespective of race, class or economic statues get three square meals a day. They call it the “Zero Hunger Program.”

According to the Ministry, its social policies are integrated in a system of social protection and promotion that currently benefits about 65 million people in situation of poverty, through its several programs, such as: the Bolsa Família Program of conditional cash transfer; the Continuous Cash Benefit (BPC), the Program of Acquisition of Food of the Small Landowner (PAA); the Cisterns Program; the Program of Integral Attention to the Family (PAIF); and the Program of the Eradication of Child Labor (PETI), among others.”

“By prioritizing social investments, Brazil has achieved significant results in reducing poverty and inequality, and has improved access to food, education, health and infrastructure services. Between 2003 and 2006, 14 million people escaped poverty, entailing a 31.4 per cent decline in the country’s poverty levels.”

The rest of the world is taking notice of Brazil’s fight against hunger. According to a 2009 ActionAid report, Brazil ranks first among developing countries in the fight against hunger. The report assessed 29 developing countries on the basis of legal commitment to the right to food, investment in agriculture and social protection, and performance on hunger and child nutrition. Brazil came in first, ahead of China, Ghana and Vietnam.

Brazil Notes: The “Zero Hunger Program”

11/04/2011 01:16:00 PM Development, human rights, politics, world

Brazil Notes: An Alternate Model of Development

For the past two weeks I have been in Sao Paulo, Brazil as a guest speaker of the "Centromere de Estudo de Cultura Contemporanea" (Centre for the study of contemporary culture). It is my first time in Brazil and I must say that it has been a revelation. In the next few weeks I will be blogging about my random observations of Brazilian society and culture.

Before vising Brazil, I had heard a lot about the social and political changes initiated by the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva but visiting the country gives one a real sense of the impact of these changes.

Lula's policies have been credited with creating the conditions for the greatest reduction of the number of people living in poverty in the recent history of Latin America. Brazil is doing in Latin America what China is doing in Asia. With more people moving up the social ladder and with more purchasing power, the Brazilian economy is booming even at a time of global recession. Evidence of the resurgence of capitalist consumerist culture can be seen everywhere from the new city metro line systems to the sprawling American style malls springing up across the city.

The interesting thing about the Brazilian development model as I see it is that the triumph of the capitalist consumerist property model has not been allowed to run a mock as has been the case elsewhere. Great care has been taken to put in place social safety nets to ensure the rights and welfare of the poorest and most vulnerable in the society are protected. Call it capitalism with a conscience.

I ask my host, Dr. Rosanna Reiss of the University of Sao Paulo which of the government’s many social policies she thinks has had the most profound impact on Brazilian society. "Clearly the Bolsa Família program" She says. The Bolsa Família is the $150 cash transfer to poor families throughout brazil. " These cash subventions have transfomed the lives of many ordinary people across the country.” They enable the poorest families to invest in education and gain financial security.

When the grants were first proposed, there was the familiar concern that it would lead to the "indolence and dependency of the poor on the nanny state." However, documented evidence shows the contrary. The funds have had an empowering effect of the country's poorest. My hosts tell me of anecdotal evidence of Bolsa Família program recipients requesting government agencies to discontinue payments to them when their economic situation improve. This challenges the arguments that state welfare programs inevitably foster dependency among the poor.

A true test of the humanity of any society is how well it treats the least of its members. Brazil provides an alternate development model for Latin America and the rest of the developing world. The problem as the Brazilian example shows is not necessarily free market capitalism but the virulent form of avaricious corporate capitalism that currently dominates the global political economy. There is, I think, a place for conscientious and regulated free-market economics that seeks as its goal, not only the unending accumulation of economic surpluses in ever fewer hands, but rather doing the greatest good to the greatest number of people while providing safety nets for the most vulnerable in the society.

Brazil Notes: An Alternate Model of Development

11/04/2011 12:00:00 PM Development, human rights, politics, world

Reading of the Month: "The Death of the Liberal Class"

My reading for the month has been “The Death of the Liberal Class,’ by Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Chris Hedges. In it he makes the argument that the “liberal class” which has historically been at the forefront of championing social reforms for the poor and middle class is increasing becoming irrelevant.

Hedges point accusing fingers at five specific groups and institutions in America for failing Americans and allowing for the creation of a “permanent underclass.” These are the Democratic Party, churches, unions, the media and academia.

Hedges argues that for motives ranging from self-preservation to careerism, the “liberal establishment” purged radicals from its own ranks and, as a result, lost its checks on capitalism and corporate power.

Although the book is essentially about American politics and societies, I find the that some of the questions it raises bear universal relevance. Hedges indictment of the academia and its complicity in the corporatization of the global socio-political space is one that I think resonates with many observers. League universities, he argues have become essentially, vocational schools. There has been a “kind of withering of the humanities” in which the liberal education that would normally ask broad questions and challenge structure and assumptions has become corporate. Academic departments now carry the burden of raising their own funds. “This is pretty hard to do if you’re in the classics department,” Hedges notes.

Hedges also faults the “purging within economics departments and business schools of people who challenged what I call the utopian vision of globalization — the idea that somehow the marketplace should determine human behavior and guide human activity.”

Not everyone will agree with the Hedges' blanket indictments in this book, but I think it makes for very thought provoking reading. The books comes highly recommend.

Reading of the Month: "The Death of the Liberal Class"

11/04/2011 11:58:00 AM education, politics

2011 Nobel Peace Prize winners: A Timely Tribute to Women Peacemakers

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakul Karman, who have fought tirelessly to organize women for peace and human rights, share the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.

In awarding the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize to these outstanding women, the Nobel Prize Committee has accorded long overdue recognition to the role of women as peacemakers.

I am one of those who strongly believe that women are crucial to bringing peace and justice to our troubled world. Women are often the most affected by conflict and injustice– they are victims of abuse and rape; they bear the burdens when husbands and chidden are lost to war. For them the cost of war and conflict are painfully real. It is no wonder therefore that women are key to sustainable peacebuilding.

This year's Nobel Peace Prize winners prove this.

Apart from being Africa's first elected female head of state, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has worked to bring peace and stability to Liberia’s war ravaged society. In a continent were patriarchy rules supreme she serves as a role model for millions of African women. She has pursued policies aimed at empowering women, children and the most vulnerable in her country.

Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee has “mobilised and organised women across ethnic and religious dividing lines to bring an end to the long war in Liberia, and to ensure women's participation in elections. She has worked to enhance the influence of women in West Africa during and after war." She organized a group of Liberian woman in 2002 to put pressure on the warring parties to end the country's brutal civil war. “They were the mothers, wives and sisters of the men doing the fighting and their victims.”

Yemeni journalist and activist Tawakul Karman, founded Women Journalists Without Chains in 2005. In a country notorious for political repression and state sanctioned human rights violations, she has been a voice and advocate for human rights and freedom of expression. Defying traditional restrictions on women in Yemen's conservative political space, Ms Karman has led rallies in the continuing protests against the rule of President Ali-Abdullah Saleh. She has done all this without repudiating the basic social and cultural values of her society.

These women are models of resilience and commitment to the course of peace and human rights.

Congratulations Ladies.

2011 Nobel Peace Prize winners: A Timely Tribute to Women Peacemakers

10/09/2011 01:05:00 AM Development, human rights, war and peace

In Solidarity....

The Corrupt fear....

The Honest support....

The Heroic join.....

In Solidarity....

10/03/2011 03:20:00 PM human rights, world

The True Price of Fashion

A BBC story highlights the price others pay to make us look fashionable.

Jeans with a distressed, already-worn look are made by blasting them with sand. Apparently, this can give factory workers an incurable lung disease.

One garment factory worker in Bangladesh states: "I have difficulty breathing... When I return from work I feel so tired. My eyes are in pain from all the dust... I know the effects this is having on my health, but I continue to do it because I need to feed myself and my family."

Makes me wonder: What is the real price of fashion?

Sometimes, the true price of fashion is not the just the sticker price we pay at the store but the health and well-being of the many of the world’s poorest.

Read the BBC story HERE

The True Price of Fashion

10/01/2011 09:34:00 PM Development, human rights

International Peace Day 2011

Today, September 21, is International Day of Peace ("Peace Day").

It was established by a United Nations resolution in 1981 to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly. The first Peace Day was celebrated in September 1982. In 2002 the General Assembly officially declared September 21 as the permanent date for the International Day of Peace.

The day provides an opportunity for all of us, individuals, organizations and nations to create practical acts of peace. On this day, we are reminded to take a take the pledge to end intolerance.

We can't resolve all the many conflicts that plague our world in one day, but we can in our various little ways do more to promote tolerance and inclusiveness wherever we live.

http://internationaldayofpeace.org/

International Peace Day 2011

9/21/2011 04:28:00 PM war and peace, world

10th Anniversary of 9/11: Remembering all the victims

As the United States and the world commemorate the tenth anniversary of the attack of 9/11, the focus has been on the 3,000 people who died in the attacks in the US on that day. These were the direct causalities of 9/11 and it is proper to remember them on this solemn anniversary. However, we must not forget that these are not the only victims of 9/11. The tens of thousands of innocent civilians who have died in the “global war on terror” triggered by 9/11 are also indirect victims of the attack. According to some estimates, as at 2007, the civilian casualties (“collateral damage”) in Iraq since the invasion is over 200,000. In Afghanistan, the figure is over 50,000.

The 10th anniversary of that terrible attack offers us an opportunity to honour the memory of all the innocent victims by working for peace and inclusiveness in our communities.

10th Anniversary of 9/11: Remembering all the victims

9/11/2011 10:32:00 PM war and peace, world

... If only it were that simple

9/04/2011 09:29:00 PM war and peace

What are Human Rights?

The german non-profit organisation /e-politik.de/ has released an animated video about human rights. It is a simple and easy to follow primer on the meaning of human rights. It is a great educational resource for teaching and explaining human rights. The clip is licensed as Creative Commons and can be used, shared and embedded.

What are Human Rights?

8/30/2011 11:19:00 AM education, human rights

Pondering the Future of Libya

My Commentary on the Libyan Crisis on China Radio International

Click here to listen

After nearly six months of tug of war between NATO-supported Libya rebels and the government forces, the situation in Libya changed dramatically this week as the rebels advanced into Libyan capital Tripoli with little resistance. Although the whereabouts of Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi is still unknown，the International society is starting to prepare for the post-Gadhafi era, as leaders from France and Britain are calling for a meeting next week to discuss a road map for Libya's democracy. So is the Gadhafi regime already collapsed and who will take the leadership of the country? And how will the turmoil in Libya affect the whole African continent?

Ni hao, you're listening to People In the Know, bringing you insights into the headline news in China and around the world, I'm Zheng Chenguang in Beijing. In today's program, we are taking a look at the latest situation in Libya.

We are joined by Dr. He Wenping, Director of the African Studies Section at the Institute of West Asian and African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Dr. Bonny Ibhawoh, Professor of African and Global History, Centre for Peace Studies at McMaster University in Canada.

Pondering the Future of Libya

8/23/2011 01:15:00 PM africa, human rights, war and peace, world

Syria: Recharging a Revolution

From Syria comes an interesting story about the resilience of the demonstrators demanding change in that country. Much of the organising for demonstrations had been done by young people using the internet. As in other countries that have witnessed the uprisings of the Arab Spring, Facebook and Twitter have been the instruments of the Syrian demonstrations.

Opponents of the regime are using their mobile phones to organise and broadcast images of the regime brutality and ruthless. Images that would otherwise remained unseen outside Syria. The Syrian authorities have been doing it best to shut down access to the internet. Their latest step is to cut off power to “restive” parts of the country in the hope that the organisers would be unable to charge their cell phone batteries. But for every problem, there is a solution. The demonstrators and citizen journalists of Syria to whom we owe most of the news coming out of the country these days have found a way out.

One Syrian activist described the ingenious ways they have devised to recharge their cell phone batteries.

"We have a glass of water and two Duracell batteries. We put it for one hour in this glass, then we use the USB and we put it just in the water. And... that gives us two hours or three hours charge to talk."

I initially wondered if this was scientifically possible but my colleagues who have better knowledge of Chemistry that I do say it is possible.

Talk about recharging a revolution.

You can read the original NPR story here

Syria: Recharging a Revolution

8/10/2011 11:46:00 PM human rights, politics

Somali famine 'one of the most urgent humanitarian crises in the world'

Somali famine 'one of the most urgent humanitarian crises in the world'

7/21/2011 09:26:00 PM africa, human rights, world

Spare a thought and a Dime for the Starving in Somalia

It is now official. The United Nations has formally declared the crisis unfolding in the horn of Africa a Famine and a “humanitarian tragedy of unimaginable proportions.” Famine is defined as an acute starvation affecting greater than 30 percent of the population. In the case of Somalia, nearly half of the population is severely malnourished and under threat of starvation. The most vulnerable of these are women and children. Here are some troubling facts:

• The draught in the horn of Africa is the worst in 60 years. Experts believe that changing global weather patterns have made draught more common in this region.
• The UN estimates that 10 million people in the region are at the verge of starvation. That is about the population of Denmark and Sweden put together.
• Insecurity and political instability have worsened the draught making an already chaotic region even more chaotic. Somalia has had no effective government since 1991 - over two decades. Rival warlords and al-Shabab, the Taliban style Islamist movement which controls most of the country, have denied humanitarian agencies access to the worst affected areas in the interior of the country.
• Masses of refugees are fleeing to Northern Kenya and Eastern Ethiopia which are also draught affected regions. The UNHCR estimates that about 1,500 people are arriving at overcrowded refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia.

What can we do?

• Donate: Humanitarian agencies such as the UNHCR, UNICEF and OXFAM all say that the donor response to this crisis has been particularly poor. The global economy is in recession and there is donor fatigue, particularly when it comes to humanitarian crises in Africa. But we cannot afford to turn our backs on the mass of women and children who face certain starvation in a world of plenty. Below are links to the websites of humanitarian organisations where you can make your donations. Please Act.

• Push local and international leaders to find a long term political solution in Somalia. Unless a political solution is found that will bring peace and stability to the country, it will continue to have a destabilizing effect on the region. The menace of Somali pirates in the high seas and the threat it poses to international commerce is a reminder of the international repercussions of the chaos in Somalia. The international community must do more to support the current United Nations and African Union backed transitional government of Somalia. Write to your local political representatives in your country to push your governments to support international initiatives aimed at finding a lasting solution in Somalia. It is in our hands.

Donate To:

• UNICEF
• UNHCR
• Red Cross
• The Humanitarian Coalition
• Oxfam

Spare a thought and a Dime for the Starving in Somalia

7/20/2011 10:12:00 PM africa, human rights, world

PFC2: A Theme Song for Peace and Justice

Readers of this blog will know that I am a big fan of the musical Group “Playing for Change.” Playing for Change is an initiative that digitally brings together musicians from all over the word to create beautiful and empowering music aimed at bringing positive change to the world. Their videos have become a YouTube sensation.

Playing for Change just released its second album “PFC 2.” All the tracks are delightful. As I did with the first album, I am posting below my favorite tack in the new album. It is titled “Gimme Shelter,” an adaptation of the classic Rolling Stones track of the same title. I think of it as a theme song for peace and justice in our world. Enjoy!

Oh, a storm is threat'ning

My very life today

If I don't get some shelter

Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away

War, children, it's just a shot away

It's just a shot away

Ooh, see the fire is sweepin'

Our very street today

Burns like a red coal carpet

Mad bull lost its way

War, children, it's just a shot away

It's just a shot away

War, children, it's just a shot away

It's just a shot away

The floods is threat'ning

My very life today

Gimme, gimme shelter

Or I'm gonna fade away

War, children, it's just a shot away

It's just a shot away

I tell you love, sister, it's just a kiss away

It's just a kiss away

PFC2: A Theme Song for Peace and Justice

7/10/2011 06:10:00 PM arts and culture, media, war and peace

Independent South Sudan: Between Promise and Fear

It was delightful to watch on TV, the celebrations that greeted the declaration of South Sudan as an independent nation – the world’s newest nation. Given the history of this troubled region and human suffering that has come with decades of civil conflict in which over a million people have died, the independence of South Sudan is a welcome development for the region. South Sudan becomes the 193rd country recognized by the UN and the 54th country in Africa.

The promise of a new society and the vision of peace and stability are palpable. The leaders of the country have worked to put in place the rudiments of a new nations – a new national flag; new national anthem, new currency and new political structures.

The people of South Sudan, many of whom have spent decades as refugees in neighboring countries, are returning home in droves in the hope that their new nation will provide them with the security and opportunities for decent livelihood that has long eluded them. I share in their hope and aspirations.

But it may not quite yet be complete “Uhuru” (Freedom). Amidst the hope, aspirations and celebrations are significant huddles that still confront the new nation. While some of these challenges are the unusual difficulties associated with forging news nations, some are unique obstacles. Here are what I consider the top four challenges confronting the new nation.

1. Managing citizen expectations and aspirations: We must not expect miracles. Given its history, progress in the new nation will likely be slow and painstaking. Years of war and neglect have ensured that the physical, social and institutional infrastructure in South Sudan are grossly inadequate. The new country joins the community of nations as one of the least developed in the world. Yet, for millions of South Sudanese, there are great hopes and expectations. These must be prudently managed. The leaders of South Sudan must strive to avoid the mistake of many post-colonial African leaders who promised their countrymen the sun, the moon and the stars after independence. The aspiration bar was set so unrealistically high that it was impossible to attain.

2. Managing the Oil Wealth: The new country is rich in oil which must also be prudently managed. First, the new government of President Salva Kiir Mayardit must work with Sudan (where most of the oil infrastructure are located) to come up with a revenue sharing agreement that is satisfactory to both sides. Next, oil revenue must be managed to serve the needs of the people rather than remain in the hands of a narrow oligarchy as is the case in some other oil-rich African countries.

3. Managing civil tensions and maintaining the Peace: The fragile peace that has allowed for the independence of South Sudan must be proactively maintained. Peace must be pursued both between South Sudan and her neighbors and within South Sudan. Recent reports of fighting in border areas between the north and south are troubling. There is real possibility of renewed conflict and for this reason the UN Security Council’s decision to keep in place the peacekeeping force for South Sudan is a wise one.

4. Negotiate Citizenship: A new law passed by the National Assembly in Khartoum has withdrawn Sudanese citizenship from all southerners. South Sudan is likely for reciprocate. This is bound to create more problems than it solves. Many South Sudanese have lived their whole lives in the north and vice versa. There must be a way to allow people on either side to feel a sense of national belonging, whatever side of the border that they choose to make their home. Citizenship must not become an instrument of ethnic exclusion and alienation.

An African proverb states: “A person is never blinded by a thrown stone that he can see coming.” Here is hoping that the people of Sothern Sudan and the international community see these “stones” and work toward avoiding them.

Independent South Sudan: Between Promise and Fear

7/10/2011 05:46:00 PM africa, politics, world

Obama and the Politics of Race: Between Irish-American and African-American

Below is an insightful article that appeared in The Irish Times on the occasion of President Obama's visit to Ireland. The author is obviously addressing contentious questions of race and Irish self-identity. But I think it bears broader relevance to the politics of race not only in Ireland and the United States but elsewhere in the world.

It is a reminder that even with the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States we really still cannot talk about a post-racial era. Much has changed; but much still remains to be done to create a world where men and women are judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin.

Obama not just another excuse for blarney
Fintan O'Toole
The Irish Times - Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Claiming Obama as our own could be an exercise in self- aggrandisement – or it could help construct a new Irish identity

JAMES AUGUSTINE Healy, bishop of Portland, Maine from 1875 to 1900, was one of the great wave of Irish prelates who built the Catholic Church in America. He was typical of the Irish clerics whose phenomenal energies turned the church into the institution that integrated the Famine Irish into American society. He was one of the bishops who concelebrated the High Mass at the inauguration of the great temple of Irish America, St Patrick’s in New York.

I’m looking at a picture of Healy as I write. His head is erect, his eyes have the proud, steady gaze of a prince of the church. His skin looks a little dark, but if you didn’t know anything about him, you’d assume that’s just because the print is poor. A 19th century Irish Catholic bishop could not possibly be black.

But Healy was – as black, that is, as Barack Obama. He had been born in Macon, Georgia, in 1830, the son of an Irish-born planter Michael Healy and a slave woman, Mary Eliza Smith. This was not the usual story of a slave owner exploiting his chattel – Michael and Mary Eliza saw themselves as a married couple. But James Augustine Healy inherited his mother’s legal status – he was born a slave. He escaped his fate only because his father sent him north to be educated.

Healy’s story is fascinating for many reasons, but especially because it involves two disappearances. He survived and thrived by making no reference to his African ancestry and presenting himself merely as Irish. There were some murmurs about his “indelicate blood”, but he relied on the obvious fact that an Irishman could not be black. But then he disappeared again – out of Irish-American history, a victim of the reverse assumption – that a black man could not be Irish. Only with the Civil Rights movement in the early 1960s was Healy rediscovered – as a black hero. You’ll find him, for example, in a popular book called African-American Heroes and Heroines . You won’t find him in most standard histories of Irish America.

And yet there are lots of people who look a bit like Barack Obama but are as much Irish-American as the obvious Micks he surrounds himself with, the Daleys and Donilons and Bidens. You find them in micro-histories of neighbourhoods rather than in the big narratives.

In the Lower East Side of Manhattan either side of the Famine, for example, Irish and blacks lived, worked and played cheek by jowl. You can catch glimpses in the records of the marriages and children that resulted: William Moore, a black labourer and his Irish wife Winifred, with their 12-year-old son and two-year-old daughter. John Baker, a black carter, and his Irish wife Julia. John DePoyster, a black labourer, and his spouse Bridget, sharing a house with John Francis, a black man from Virginia, and his wife Susan from Ireland. But all of the kids of these unions became “black” and their descendants became “African-American”. Irish America, as it came to be imagined, had no place for them.

Which brings us to yesterday’s Obama jamboree and the word that everyone preferred not to mention – race.

Did Obama come here because he desperately wanted to see Moneygall? No he didn’t. He came here because most white men don’t vote for him, because he’s the target of insidious racism and because being a little bit Irish helps to shore up his political defences. What’s all the “birther” madness but a badly coded suggestion that a black man can’t be truly “American”? What was that odious creep Donald Trump getting at when he wondered aloud how Obama got into Harvard?

There’s a toxic sludge of racism buried just beneath the surface of American political correctness. A day’s coverage of his Irishness was Obama’s clever, cool, non-confrontational way of messing with the racists’ heads.

This is perfectly fine with me – if it helps Obama undermine the bigoted headbangers, we should trace his ancestry back to Cúchulain and Queen Medb. But it does pose the question of what’s in it for us, beyond another visit from a political celebrity. It can be about one of two things – the usual slice of Paddywhackery or something that might make a bit of difference to the way we construct Irish identity in the future.

Claiming Obama can be just another exercise in pathetic Irish self-aggrandisement – another American president to add to “our” collection. This is nonsense – Obama’s chosen ethnic identity is that of an African-American. There’s something crass about any attempt to muscle in on that. But there is another way to claim Obama or rather to acknowledge what it means that he has some Irish heritage – to learn that “Irish” is not a racial category.

So who was the visit for? For Obama, of course, and I hope it did him some good. But more than that I hope it’s for the kids I saw the other morning, the sweat gleaming on their beautiful dark skin, one hand holding their daddy’s, the other balancing the hurleys they had over their shoulders.