Category Archives: Viva!

(2/3) “We met because of a wrong number. But we ended up…

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(2/3) “We met because of a wrong number. But we ended up speaking for a few minutes, and at the end of our conversation, he asked if he could call again. Soon he was calling me every day. It never felt romantic. I never felt that he had bad intentions. It just felt like he needed someone to talk to. He would tell me every little detail about his day. We’d talk for hours. Those phone calls were the highlight of my days. I was a refugee too. I was also lonely. So I’d sit in my room and wait for the phone to ring. Eventually we met in person. But I’m seven years older than him. I never once expected him to mention marriage. But then one day he asked if he could come speak to my family.”

(Amman, Jordan)

(1/3) “I was studying Literature and French Philosophy when…

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(1/3) “I was studying Literature and French Philosophy when the war came. I wanted to be an Arabic teacher. I didn’t want to be a soldier. I didn’t want to kill anyone. I had no interest in religion or politics. But all the young men were being forced to join the army, so when it came time to renew my papers, I ran. I only packed a small suitcase. I was planning to stay in Jordan for maybe a month until things calmed down. But when a month passed and the war hadn’t ended, I thought: ‘Maybe two months.’ Then: ‘Maybe three months.’ But after three months my mother told me that our house had been destroyed. She sent me a picture on the phone. Everything was rubble. There was nothing to go back to. But I had nothing in Jordan. I’d run out of money. I didn’t know anyone. I was homeless. I felt so alone that I wanted to kill myself. Then one day I tried to call a friend’s phone but a strange voice answered.”

(Amman, Jordan)

As I left my inlaws’ house this evening, I saw MSNBC queuing up a press conference with the…

As I left my inlaws’ house this evening, I saw MSNBC queuing up a press conference with the California Council on American-Islamic relations, where they were expected to denounce the actions of the San Bernardino shooters today.

I’m still waiting on the one from the GOP and the Evangelical Christian right-wing, anti-choice lobby regarding Friday’s mass shooting at Planned Parenthood.

Is that one scheduled yet?

It’s funny now, after nearly three years of… – One Costume A Day

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It’s funny now, after nearly three years of working on this project, I find that whenever I’m upset, I become strongly, almost viscerally compelled to paint my face. After learning of the San Bernardino and Savannah shootings yesterday, this is what came out. Go be a force of beauty in the world today. And then call your senator, your representative, and support your local organizations working for stricter gun control laws.

The Little Giant – Johnny Griffin – in this phenomenal ballad from the Village Vanguard 1981. You have…

The Little Giant – Johnny Griffin – in this phenomenal ballad from the Village Vanguard 1981. You have to hear the solo in a good sound system to appreciate the nuances in the breathy solo he takes at 4:40. People use to see him as a speed freak, but it’s a gorgeous introspective solo.

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10,000 Afro-Brazilian women march against racism

Activists from across Brazil gathered in the country’s capitol this month to participate in the Black Women’s March and draw attention to the discrimination and disproportionate levels of violence that Afro-Brazilian women face.

Young Black women with natural hair pose for a picture.

Participants from the Natural Hair Empowerment March in Salvador pose for a photo. November is Afro-Brazilian culture month in Brazil. Image by Marco Musse.

Over the past decade, violence against Afro-Brazilian women has significantly increased, while violence against White women has been in a slow decline. Scary facts like these have motivated Brazilians to take action and cultivate a vibrant anti-racist community with close ties to the #BlackLivesMatter movement in the US. A year ago I wrote about a similar march, protesting police violence against Afro-Brazilians (trigger warning):

The violent policing of low-income communities of color speaks closely to what is happening in Ferguson, reminding us that though racism looks different throughout the Americas, the legacies of slavery and white supremacy continue to threaten Black and brown lives in similar ways. In Brazil, about 2,000 people are killed by law enforcement every year, most of them Black or dark-skinned, many of them women. And in the same way that state violence against young men has a color, in Brazil, six in ten women murdered are Black. Last month, Joana Darc Brito was shot in a favela in Rio de Janeiro and died en route to the hospital.  Maria de Fátima dos Santos and her daughter Alessandra de Jesus were executed in an ally. Claudia Silva Ferreira was shot by law enforcement back in March, and died after falling out of their car and being dragged for two blocks.

This year’s march was cut short when a white man calling for President Dilma’s impeachment and military intervention in Brazil shot a firearm into the air, dispersing march participants and exemplifying the violence Afro-Brazilian women face daily.

See more images from the march.

Header image by Vinicius Carvalho