Category Archives: Feminism

Last native tribal speaker dies in U.S. state | News , International | THE DAILY STAR

The last person to have spoken the Klallam language from birth and the eldest member among the Klallam tribes of the Pacific Northwest has died in Washington state at the age of 103, family and tribal members said.

Hazel M. Sampson was the last person who first learned Klallam, then learned English as a second language, said Lower Elwha Klallam tribal member Jamie Valadez, who teaches the Klallam language and culture at Port Angeles High School.

Her death on Tuesday changes the dynamics of the culture, Valadez told the Peninsula Daily News in a story Thursday.

“In the U.S., this is happening all over Indian Country,” Valadez said. “They carry so much knowledge of our culture and traditions. Then it’s gone.”

via Last native tribal speaker dies in U.S. state | News , International | THE DAILY STAR.

Rebel with a Cause: Question Everything. | Rebelle Society

This is how the world must be changed, by questioning everything. We dismantle our ideas about ourselves so that we may understand others more fully. We honor ourselves by honoring each other. We question our thoughts to access the truth. We can change the world by opening up and letting go.

Perhaps you don’t believe me, perhaps you believe things are fine the way they are, that your life is as it needs to be. True, the present moment is perfect as it is, we must learn to be with things as they appear — but how many moments are you using to celebrate being alive?

For peace to exist, we must first practice peace with ourselves, we must be peaceful. For love to exist, we must first practice love with ourselves, we must be loving. If you really want to overthrow the system, put on your motorcycle jacket and start meditating.

Decide, commit, manifest. Rebel with a cause.

via Rebel with a Cause: Question Everything. | Rebelle Society.

Sexual harassment leads Egyptian women to martial arts – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Sexual harassment leads Egyptian women to martial arts – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East.

For her part, Asra Saleh, who works in marketing, told Al-Monitor that she will join the campaign because she gets harassed daily. Saleh has filed several harassment claims but was forced to retract many of them because of societal pressure. And the police often do not treat her claims seriously. Despite that, she thinks that filing a harassment claim is very important, in addition to martial arts training for women, because they allow the girls’ voices to be heard.

Azza Kamel, president of the Centre for Appropriate Communication Techniques for Development (ACT) and a feminist activist, said in an interview with Al-Monitor that she welcomed the spread of those campaigns because women should be able to defend themselves at any time. “These campaigns are not new. The Shoft Tahrosh campaign had previously trained girls and conducted awareness campaigns that attracted volunteers to warn that harassment is a crime and is rejected by society,” Kamel said.

It should be said that self-defense is the best way to deal with sexual harassment, which has become a real threat to the moral fabric of Egyptian society. Harassment in Egypt is getting worse, and it is especially acute during demonstrations. Sexual harassment should not be tolerated, especially in light of the slow government action against it and the state’s preoccupation with fighting terrorism in Egypt and ignoring social problems, of which sexual harassment is one of the worst.

Reham Mokbel
Contributor, Egypt Pulse

Reham Mokbel is a political science researcher at the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies. She is based in Cairo and is a freelance reporter for Deutsche Welle. Reham has a BA from the faculty of economics and political science in the English section at Cairo University and is preparing a master’s in international relations.

Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/02/anti-sexual-harassment-campaigns-egypt.html#ixzz2sJR0c3OL

Afghan Women’s Writing Project | Like a Breeze

I was a child like a breeze—beautiful and fresh

I was born during war where people try to escape

I gave smiles with my small lips to other’s smiles

I was a morning breeze entering houses with happy families

I was not powerful enough to cure their pain of losing loved ones

But the wind before every rain shakes all trees

Now this little breeze is a wind

Like a child who grows into a teenager

The wind’s voice can be heard before it comes to the forests and cities

But no one knows my voice, no one clearly hears it.

I am a beautiful wind before the rain.

I do not yet have enough power to support poor people

Or help the flower buds from begging on the streets

I do not have power to bring the flower bud to the master gardener

But I am now a wind, and I will become a powerful young storm

That lifts up the innocent, like seeds growing in the dirt

The young storm is beginning

It will hug every poor and orphaned child

And paint a beautiful picture of life with all the colors of nature.

After that storm ends, will rise a beautiful rainbow.

Farida Fa., age 16

via Afghan Women’s Writing Project | Like a Breeze.

An Open Letter From Dylan Farrow – NYTimes.com

What’s your favorite Woody Allen movie? Before you answer, you should know: when I was seven years old, Woody Allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim, closet-like attic on the second floor of our house. He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother’s electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me. He talked to me while he did it, whispering that I was a good girl, that this was our secret, promising that we’d go to Paris and I’d be a star in his movies. I remember staring at that toy train, focusing on it as it traveled in its circle around the attic. To this day, I find it difficult to look at toy trains.

via An Open Letter From Dylan Farrow – NYTimes.com.

Me being quietly a part of a tree. | Rebelle Society

How I wish we could be forever young, in that summer light.

With our secret language, and the envy of our older sisters. Although often jealously spying on us, they never did uncover our magic world. The dragons we searched out, the adventures we took, the summer buzzing around us unnoticed. But, I am sure my soul absorbed the essence forever: bumble bees and all shades and nuances of green in that old apple yard. Time lost in joy.

via Me being quietly a part of a tree. | Rebelle Society.

Alicia Silverstone Supports Peace Silk – Look to the Stars

Alicia Silverstone Supports Peace Silk

\”According to PETA, 3,000 silkworms are killed to make every pound of silk,\” says actress Alicia Silverstone.

This is because the silkworms are gassed, steamed or boiled before they emerge from their cocoons as moths. Preventing the moths from cutting through the cocoons allows manufacturers to harvest long, single strands of silk.

Silverstone supports peace silk, the process by which the silkworm is allowed to live out its full life cycle.

“Peace silk is woven by hand by fair trade producers in India,” says Silverstone. “This cruelty-free silk is sourced from the cocoons of the wild Eri moth. The process does not involve touching or harming the moths, nor does it require keeping them in captivity. Rather, their cocoons are collected from the forest after the moths emerge and fly away.”

via Alicia Silverstone Supports Peace Silk – Look to the Stars.