Category Archives: Viva!

Jane Marchant: A Century of Progress – Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics

When President Franklin Delano Roosevelt won a landslide reelection in 1936, his New Deal political reforms brought forth the Chicago Housing Authority. Chicago’s first three housing projects opened in 1938, with space for 2,378 white families. In 1939, engineers, plumbers, steam fitters, and structural-steel workers broke ground on a forty-seven-acre property that would cost nearly nine million dollars and shelter 1,662 black families. The Homes were segregated in accordance to the federal “Neighborhood Composition Rule,” which required housing developments to mirror the racial composition of the neighborhood they were being built in. Named after the renowned black journalist and social reformer, the Ida B. Wells Homes were composed of two-to-four-story buildings; the community even had space for vegetable gardens. Some 17,544 applications were received, including my great-grandmother’s. Jean miraculously received a housing assignment and she held her head high as she walked through Chicago’s South Side, her three adolescents in tow. They were tired, they were poor, and it was 1941. They had essentially been homeless for a decade when they entered 684 East 39th Street. Between Cottage Grove to the east and South Parkway (now Martin Luther King Drive) to the west, their home had its own kitchen and bathroom. Sisters Norma and Barbara shared a bedroom; their brother, Robert, had his own room; and Jean slept downstairs on the couch. Rent was thirty-six-dollars per month – if one had it. Sometimes, payment arrangements could be made, or neighbors chipped in to help. The Homes were a community and a respite for families during the Depression. Jean’s children took free dance, music, and art lessons at the Abraham Lincoln Center. Norma tapped her pillow at night, practicing her imaginary piano. Barbara dreamed of becoming a professional ballerina. Robert wanted to be a cowboy, like his heroes on the radio. An enumerator from the Sixteenth Census of the United States marked Jean, Norma, Barbara, and Robert Galvin as “Negro” in his wide logbook. The enumerator asked Jean if she worked, to which she replied she had no income. She told the enumerator she’d been married to the same husband since she was eighteen-years-old.

Source: Jane Marchant: A Century of Progress – Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics

Has It Always Been So Violent?

All was safe and prosperous for about 200 years….then the murderous horde that the world called the Mongols entered into the Middle East….the grandson of Genghis Khan entered into Mesopotamia in 1250 and set about massacred the citizens, plundered the country’s riches, wrecked irrigation canals, flatten most cities and left the countryside totally barren….this effected the region terribly.

After the Mongols destruction the region suffered constant economic depression so the once noble civilization gave way to the rivalry of the tribal or clan based existence….and existence that continues to this day.

In Saner Thought

This is the post that all have been dreading for days……one of the Professor’s historical perspectives.

In my attempts to explain or at least help people understand the Middle East I am always confronted with the same explanation…..”those people have always been a violent bunch”…..or something along those lines….

Let me begin this post with…of course there has always been violence but that can be said about any region of the planet and as always something changed somewhere for the present day to be happening…..

I was fortunate enough to study Middle East studies while in school….so I hope that this short and concise history lesson will answer your questions….if not I can provide reading material if one cares to check out my conclusions….

In the begin there were wandering peoples that came together to form the first settlements and the beginning of civilization.  A natural progression was that these…

View original post 696 more words

Leonard Cohen – Anthem (w/lyrics) London 2008 – Peace for the Soul

There is a crack A crack in everything That’s how the light gets in. We asked for signs and the signs were sent: the birth betrayed the marriage spent Yeah the widowhood of every single government signs for all to see I can’t run no more with that lawless crowd Ah but they’ve summoned, they’ve summoned up a thundercloud and they’re going to hear from me.

Source: Leonard Cohen – Anthem (w/lyrics) London 2008 – Peace for the Soul

The Cleansing of Mosul

How crazed are they? See how “we do this because we can” gone nuts and demonstrates not power but stupidity.

Gates of Nineveh: An Experiment in Blogging Assyriology

As the focus has shifted to Palmyra, relatively little media attention has been paid over the past several months to ISIS’ continued destruction of cultural sites in and around Mosul. Nevertheless, ISIS’ campaign to eliminate anything it perceives as being opposed to its ideology has continued. Over the past few months, many structures previously left untouched have been destroyed.

The Southwest Palace of Sennacherib

Situated atop the ancient tell of Kuyunjik, the Southwest Palace was one of the first buildings of Nineveh to be excavated by Austen Henry Layard in 1847. The palace contained the famous Lachish siege reliefs now preserved in the British Museum.

Over a hundred reliefs were left in situ and the palace was preserved as a museum. Some of the reliefs were broken or looted in the 1990s.

Left: Image taken by Digital Globe/ASOR on May 2, 2016 showing the Southwest Palace missing its roof but with reliefs still in place. Right: Image taken by Digital Globe/ASOR on May 9, 2016 showing the reliefs are gone and most internal walls have been destroyed. Left: Image taken by Digital Globe/ASOR on May 2, 2016 showing the Southwest Palace missing its roof but…

View original post 1,424 more words

Despite Life’s Storms…Committed #poetry #haibun

penned in moon dust

forest path

*

One day from Japan to Guam, a P-3 crew of 12 flew into a tempest. In the face of death, some grasped for metal others crumpled straws; I held to confidence in my God. For hours we were tossed like a mere play thing; it seemed impossible that a craft could hold together against such force. As the storm lifted and just above the ocean we drifted, we beheld the most glorious image. All of nature awakened beneath a glorious, golden halo: Whales blew plumes of water, dolphins played on the surface, flying fish pirouetted in a dance with the waves.

*

eye of the storm

man clings to any hope

nature’s beauty emerges

I can’t paraphrase what the journey committed to God is like. For each pilgrim it is different. But this one thing I can say – no matter the sorrow, no matter the pain when the storm…

View original post 44 more words

Life’s A Beach… #poetry #summer

some summertimes r better than others summers

penned in moon dust

 plans for picnic takes a child’s mind

whole wheat  slathered with mayo

fresh turkey, lettuce, tomato

a pickle happily on the side

*

golden potato salad, olives and egg

savory tastes never sweet

in my favorite penguin bowl

no one’s looking, sneak a taste

*

where did my picnic manners go?

I look for right utensils and plates

blue and white check for occasions

tied up in a red ribbon bow

*

grab the basket, can’t be late

2 many memories,  meld just 1

run down 50 stairs

I’m hurrying please wait

*

singing songs in the back seat

new Mustang with the top down

wind whips our hair in a tangle

anticipating a day at the beach

*

Orange disk Frisbees fly

sand castles lose the seige

caught in the  sea’s undertow

too sunny a day to cry

*

Hungry, I crunch mayo and sand

those pebbles (like ants ) unwelcome…

View original post 69 more words

Unnerving Radicalism

“How hard is that to be understood by anyone who perpetuate such environment of extremism that includes racism , oppression, segregation , inequality ,injustice nad on top of it all occupation and then expect people to behave kindly and calmly ..

People need to be given reasons to live in order to hold on to life…. take this away from them by taking away their dignity, pride, honor, freedom and add on that oppression ,suppression, injustice and racism , with restrictions that surround them from all directions and limit their resources to normal lives… the result is the secret recipe that we call radicalism .. that becomes easy to transform into a violent prescription .”

نادية حرحش

the title may not have to deal with the content. I actually have no idea what the content is going to be about . but these two words have been on the tips of my thoughts for the last days . The amount of things we are seeing here in the U.S by far has been so overwhelming , I feel the need to unnerve myself should be the first to be addressed . I am too occupied with food, places we are seeing ,and of course the wonderful group of women that I even forgot what we are doing here .

We are actually here to work on strategies to unnerve radicalism …

While all what has been happening is worth a lot of reflection and discussion in terms of the thoughts and means that have been addressed and discussed . a persistent thought never left my head since…

View original post 685 more words

Can Farm-to-Table Tortillas Help Sustain Mexico’s Corn Heritage? | Civil Eats

Mexico, particularly the southern state of Oaxaca, is known as the birthplace of corn. “Mexico has been producing corn for 12,000 years,” Gaviria says. The country has as many as 59 landraces, or locally adapted, traditional varieties of corn, according to Martha Willcox, Maize Landrace Improvement Coordinator at CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center), who has helped Gaviria with his project. “Maize is the culture in Mexico,” she says. “Everyone eats maize every day, and there are 2000 culinary applications.” Within those 59 landraces, Gaviria says there are “tons of varieties” of corn, including many colors such as white, blue, red, and yellow. “There is a huge amount of diversity in the landraces,” Willcox says. Masienda sources its corn from Oaxaca, whose corn varieties are among the most rare and diverse in Mexico. Gaviria buys the corn from the region’s smallholder farmers who have been growing these corn varieties for generations. “These farmers are custodians of a very precious commodity,” says Alan Tank, former assistant vice president of the National Corn Growers Association and an adviser to Masienda. “The value it represents to them and to the world is nothing short of phenomenal.” As an Iowa farmer, Tank appreciates the value of Mexico’s corn heritage. “Being part of family farm, I understand the need for biodiversity and preserving it,” he says. Provides Needed Income to Farmers The average size of the smallholder farms range from about 2 to 12 acres. Oaxaca’s farmers are poor with 62 percent of the population living below the poverty line. Masienda’s purchase of the farmers’ excess corn—most of the corn they need for food—provides the farmers with income they would not otherwise receive. “We are providing a fair price to the farmers for growing the corn and having a big impact on rural communities there,” Gaviria says. “It’s a way to provide markets with good prices for farmers who have continued to grow these landraces,” Willcox says. This year Masienda is working with 1200 farmers after starting with 100 in 2014. Willcox and CIMMYT helped Gaviria identify the best corn varieties, connect with the farmers, source the corn, and pay the farmers. Masienda imports 10 to 15 different landraces. According to the company’s website, this is the first time in history these corn varieties have been available outside of the remote, indigenous communities of Oaxaca. Masienda supplies corn to about 100 restaurants, mostly in the U.S. with a few in Canada. One of those restaurants is Taquiza in Miami, Florida. Owner and chef Steve Santana uses blue and white bolita corn varieties to make masa flour, which is then made into tortillas and chips. Santana is enthusiastic about Masienda’s corn. “Visually it’s really cool looking, and the flavor is unmatched,” he says. Santana could buy much cheaper U.S. domestic corn but he prefers the heirloom varieties. “I like knowing that farmers are getting treated well throughout the supply chain,” he says. “We are preserving a little history; this is pure food in its natural state.”

Source: Can Farm-to-Table Tortillas Help Sustain Mexico’s Corn Heritage? | Civil Eats