On Tuesday I started exploring the religious history of the Rastafari. Today I will complete this look into the Rastafari, looking at their traditions and ceremonies.
Ganja
For Rastas, smoking cannabis, usually known as "herb", "sinsemilla", or "ganja", is a spiritual act, often accompanied by Bible study. Rastas consider it a sacrament that cleanses the body, mind, and heals the soul. It also exalts the consciousness, facilitates peacefulness, brings pleasure, and brings them closer to Jah. Many will often burn "the herb" when in need of insight from Jah when facing difficult life decisions. The burning of the herb is often said to be essential "for it will sting in the hearts of those that promote and perform evil and wrongs." On a side note by the 8th century, cannabis had been introduced by Arab traders to Central and Southern Africa, where it is known as "dagga" and many Rastas say it is a part of their African culture that they are reclaiming. (this word Dagga has been creeping into many reggae songs of late). Ganja is sometimes also referred to as "the healing of the nation", a phraseology adapted from Revelation 22:2.
Many anthropoligist point to the migration of many thousands of Hindus from India to the Caribbean in the 20th century which may have brought this culture to Jamaica. Many academics point to Indo-Caribbean origins for the ganjah sacrament resulting from the importation of Indian migrant workers in a post-abolition Jamaican landscape. Dreadlocked mystics, often ascetic, known as sadhus, have smoked cannabis in India for centuries.
According to many Rastas, the illegality of cannabis in many nations is evidence that persecution of Rastafari is a reality. They are not surprised that it is illegal, seeing it as a powerful substance that opens people's minds to the truth — something the Babylon system, they reason, clearly does not want. They contrast it to alcohol and other drugs, which they feel destroy the mind.
They hold that the smoking of cannabis enjoys Biblical sanction, and is an aid to meditation and religious observance.
Among Biblical verses Rastas quote as justifying the use of cannabis:
* Genesis 1:11 "And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so."
* Genesis 1:29 "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb-bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat."
* Genesis 3:18 "... thou shalt eat the herb of the field."
* Proverbs 15:17 "Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith."
* Psalms 104:14 "He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man."
* Revalation 22:2 " the river of life proceeded to flow from the throne of God, and on either side of the bank there was the tree of life, and the leaf from that tree is for the healing of the nations"
According to some Rastafari and other scholars, the etymology of the word "cannabis" and similar terms in all the languages of the Near East may be traced to the Hebrew "qaneh bosm" קנה-בשם, which is one of the herbs God commanded Moses to include in his preparation of sacred anointing perfume in Exodus 30:23; the Hebrew term also appears in Isaiah 43:24; Jeremiah 6:20; Ezekiel 27:19; and Song of Songs 4:14. Deuterocanonical and canonical references to the patriarchs Adam, Noah, Abraham and Moses "burning incense before the Lord" are also applied, and many Rastas today refer to cannabis by the term "ishence" — a slightly changed form of the English word "incense". It is said by tradition, that cannabis was the first plant to grow on King Solomon's grave.
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The Law
In 1998, Janet Reno the Attorney General of the United States, gave a legal opinion that Rastafari do not have the religious right to smoke ganjah in violation of the United States' drug laws. The position is the same in the United Kingdom, where, in the Court of Appeal case of R. v. Taylor [2002] 1 Cr. App. R. 37, it was held that the UK's prohibition on cannabis use did not contravene the right to freedom of religion conferred under the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
On January 2, 1991, at an international airport in his homeland of Guam, Ras Iyah Ben Makahna (Benny Guerrero) was arrested for possession and importation of marijuana and seeds. He was charged with importation of a controlled substance. The case was heard by the US 9th Circuit Court November 2001, and in May 2002 the court had decided that the practice of Rastafari sanctions the smoking of marijuana, but nowhere does the religion sanction the importation of marijuana. Guerrero's lawyer Graham Boyd pointed out the court's ruling was "equivalent to saying wine is a necessary sacrament for some Christians but you have to grow your own grapes."
In July 2008, however, the Italian Supreme Court ruled that Rastafari may be allowed to possess greater amounts of cannabis legally, owing to its use by them as a sacrament.
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Rasta Vocabulary
Some Rastafari learn Amharic, which some consider to be closest to the original language of humanity. Others do it because this was the language of Haile Selassie I, and they feel it furthers their identity as Ethiopians. There are reggae songs written in Amharic, and most "root and culture" reggae songs get translated into by Rasta elders.
But all Rastas assert that their original African languages were stolen from them when they were taken into captivity as part of the slave trade, and that English is an imposed colonial language. Their remedy has been the creation of a modified vocabulary and dialect known as "Iyaric", reflecting their desire to take language forward and to confront the society they call Babylon.
Some examples of "Rasta talk" are:
"I-tal", derived from the word vital and used to describe the diet of the movement which is taken mainly from Hebrew dietary laws.
"Overstanding", which replaces "understanding" to denote an enlightenment which places one in a better position.
"Irie" (pronounced "eye-ree"), a term used to denote acceptance, positive feelings, or to describe something that is good.
"Upfulness", a positive term for being helpful
"Livication", substituted for the word "dedication" because Rastas associate dedication with death.
"Downpression", used in place of "oppression," the logic being that the pressure is being applied from a position of power to put down the victim.
One of the most distinctive modifications in Iyaric is the substitution of the pronoun "I-and-I" for other pronouns, usually the first person. "I", as used in the examples above, refers to Jah; therefore, "I-and-I" in the first person includes the presence of the divine within the individual. As "I-and-I" can also refer to "us," "them," or even "you," it is used as a practical linguistic rejection of the separation of the individual from the larger Rastafari community, and Jah himself.
Rastafari say that they reject "-isms". They see a wide range of "-isms and schisms" in modern society, for example communism and capitalism, and want no part in them. They especially reject the word "Rastafarianism", because they see themselves as "having transcended -isms and schisms." This has created conflict between some Rastas and some members of the academic community studying Rastafari, who insist on calling this faith "Rastafarianism" in spite of the disapproval this generates within the Rastafari movement. Nevertheless, the practice continues among scholars, though there are also instances of the study of Rastafari using its own terms.
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The Ital Diet of the Rastafari
Many Rastas eat only very limited types of meat in accordance with the dietary Laws of the Old Testament; they do not eat shellfish or pork. Others abstain from all meat and flesh whatsoever, asserting that to touch meat is to touch death, and is therefore a violation of the Nazirite vow. A few make a special exception allowing fish, while abstaining from all other forms of flesh. I have personally witness fierce fights over the eating of fish, and many songs "debate" this contention. However, the prohibition against meat only applies to those who are currently fulfilling a Nazirite vow ("Dreadlocks Priesthood"), for the duration of the vow. Many Rastafari maintain a vegan or vegetarian diet all of the time. Food approved for Rastfari is called ital. The purpose of fasting (abstaining from meat and dairy) is to cleanse the body in accordance to serving in the presence of the "Ark of the Covenent".
Usage of alcohol is also generally deemed unhealthy to the Rastafari way of life, partly because it is seen as a tool of Babylon to confuse people, and partly because placing something that is pickled and fermented within oneself is felt to be much like turning the body (the Temple) into a "cemetery".
In consequence, a rich alternative cuisine has developed in association with Rastafari tenets, eschewing most synthetic additives, and preferring more natural vegetables and fruits such as coconut and mango. This cuisine can be found throughout the Caribbean and in some restaurants throughout the western world.
Some of the Houses (or "Mansions" as they have come to be known) of the Rastafari culture, such as the Twelve Tribes of Israel, do not specify diet beyond that which, to quote Christ in the New Testament, "Is not what goes into a man's mouth that defile him, but what come out of it". Wine is seen as a "mocker" and strong drink is "raging"; however, simple consumption of beer or the very common roots wine are not systematically a part of Rastafari culture, many Rastas will only drink roots wine. Separating from Jamaican culture, different interpretations on the role of food and drink within the religion remains up for debate. At official state banquets Haile Selassie would encourage guests to "eat and drink in your own way".
Dreadlocks
The wearing of dreadlocks is very closely associated with the movement, though not universal among, or exclusive to, its adherents. Rastas maintain that locks are supported by Leviticus 21:5 ("They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in the flesh.") and the Nazirite vow in Numbers 6:5 ("All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.").
It has often been suggested (e.g., Campbell 1985) that the first Rasta locks were copied from Kenya in 1953, when images of the independence struggle of the feared mau mau insurgents, who grew their "dreaded locks" while hiding in the mountains, appeared in newsreels and other publications that reached Jamaica. However, a more recent study by Barry Chevannes has traced the first Hairlocked Rastas to a subgroup first appearing in 1949, known as Youth Black Faith. Man with thick locks.
There have been ascetic groups within a variety of world faiths that have at times worn similarly-matted hair. In addition to the Nazirites of Judaism and the sadhus of Hinduism, it is worn among some sects of Sufi Islam, notably the Baye Fall sect of Mourides, and by some Ethiopian Orthodox monks in Christianity, among others. Some of the very earliest Christians may also have worn this hairstyle; particularly noteworthy are descriptions of James the Just, "brother of Jesus" and first Bishop of Jerusalem, whom Hegesippus described as a Nazirite who never once cut his hair. The length of a Rasta's locks is a measure of wisdom, maturity, and knowledge in that it can indicate not only the Rasta's age, but also his/her time as a Rasta.
Also, according to the Bible, Samson was a Nazarite who had "seven locks". Rastas argue that these "seven locks" could only have been dreadlocks, as it is unlikely to refer to seven strands of hair.
Locks have also come to symbolize the Lion of Judah (its mane) and rebellion against Babylon. In the United States, several public schools and workplaces have lost lawsuits as the result of banning locks. Safeway is an early example, and the victory of eight children in a suit against their Lafayette, Louisiana school was a landmark decision in favor of Rastafari rights. More recently, a group of Rastafarians settled a federal lawsuit with the Grand Central Partnership in New York City, allowing them to wear their locks in neat ponytails, rather than be forced to "painfully tuck in their long hair" in their uniform caps.[33]
Rastafari associate dreadlocks with a spiritual journey that one takes in the process of locking their hair (growing hairlocks). It is taught that patience is the key to growing locks, a journey of the mind, soul and spirituality. Its spiritual pattern is aligned with the Rastafari movement. The way to form natural dreadlocks is to allow hair to grow in its natural pattern, without cutting, combing or brushing, but simply to wash it with pure water.
For the Rastas the razor, the scissors and the comb are the three Babylonian or Roman inventions. So close is the association between dreadlocks and Rastafari, that the two are sometimes used synonymously. In reggae music, a follower of Rastafari may be referred to simply as a "hairlocks", "dreadlocks" or "natty (natural) dread", whilst those non-believers who cut their hair are referred to as baldheads.
As important and connected with the movement as the wearing of locks is, though, it is not deemed necessary for, or equivalent to, true faith. Popular slogans, often incorporated within Reggae lyrics, include: "Not every dread is a Rasta and not every Rasta is a dread..."; "It's not the dread upon your head, but the love inna your heart, that mek ya Rastaman" (Sugar Minott); and as Morgan Heritage sings: "You don't haffi dread to be Rasta...," and "Children of Selassie I, don't lose your faith; whether you do or don't have your locks 'pon your head..."
Rasta purists also sometimes refer to non-Rasta dreadlocked individuals as "wolves," as in "a wolf in sheep's clothing," especially when they are seen as trouble-makers who might potentially discredit or infiltrate Rastafari.
The Foundation
Before Garvey, there had been two major circumstances that proved conducive to the conditions that established a fertile ground for the incubation of Rastafari in Jamaica: the history of resistance, exemplified by the Maroons, and the forming of an Afrocentric, Ethiopian world view with the spread of such religious movements as Bedwardism, which flourished from the 1890s to the 1920s. These groups had long carried a tradition of what musician Bob Marley referred to as "resisting against the system."
Marcus Garvey
Rastas see Marcus Mosiah Garvey as a prophet, with his philosophy fundamentally shaping the movement, and with many of the early Rastas having started out as Garveyites. He is often seen as a second John the Baptist. One of the most famous prophecies attributed to him involving the coronation of Haile Selassie I was the 1927 pronouncement "Look to Africa, for there a king shall be crowned," although an associate of Garvey's, James Morris Webb, had made very similar public statements as early as 1921. Marcus Garvey promoted Black Nationalism, black separatism, and Pan-Africanism: the belief that all black people of the world should join in brotherhood and work to decolonise the continent of Africa — then still controlled by the white colonialist powers.
He promoted his cause of black pride throughout the 1920s and 1930s, and was particularly successful and influential among lower-class blacks in Jamaica and in rural communities. Although his ideas have been hugely influential in the development of Rastafari culture, Garvey never identified himself with the movement, and even wrote an article critical of Haile Selassie for leaving Ethiopia at the time of the Fascist occupation. In addition, his Universal Negro Improvement Association disagreed with Leonard Howell over Howell's teaching that Haile Selassie was the Messiah. Rastafari nonetheless may be seen as an extension of Garveyism. In early Rasta folklore, it is the Black Star Liner (actually a shipping company bought by Garvey to encourage repatriation to Liberia) that takes them home to Africa.
Robert Athlyi Rogers
Although not strictly speaking a "Rastafari" document, the Holy Piby, written by Robert Athlyi Rogers from Anguilla in the 1920s, is acclaimed by many Rastafarians as a formative and primary source. Robert Athlyi Rogers founded an Afrocentric religion known as "Athlicanism" in the US and West Indies in the 1920s. Rogers' religious movement, the Afro-Athlican Constructive Church, saw Ethiopians (in the Biblical sense of all Black Africans) as the chosen people of God, and proclaimed Marcus Garvey, the prominent Black Nationalist, an apostle. The church preached self-reliance and self-determination for Africans.
Fitz Balintine Pettersburg
The Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy, written during the 1920s by a preacher called Fitz Balintine Pettersburg, is a surrealistic stream-of-consciousness polemic against the white colonial power structure that is also considered formative, a palimpsest of Afrocentric thought.
Leonard P. Howell
The first document to appear that can be labelled as truly Rastafari was Leonard P. Howell's The Promise Key, written using the pen name G.G. [for Gangun-Guru] Maragh, in the early 1930s. In it, he claims to have witnessed the Coronation of the Emperor and Empress on 2 November 1930 in Addis Ababa, and proclaims the doctrine that H.I.M. Ras Tafari is the true Head of Creation and that the King of England is an imposter. This tract was written while Howell was jailed on charges of sedition.
Haile Selassie I
Emperor Haile Selassie I, whom some of the Rastafarians call Jah, was crowned "King of Kings, Elect of God, and Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah" in Addis Ababa on November 2, 1930. The event created great publicity throughout the world, including in Jamaica, and particularly through two consecutive Time magazine articles about the coronation (he was later named Time's Person of the Year for 1935, the first Black person to appear on the cover), as well as two consecutive National Geographic issues around the same time. Haile Selassie almost immediately gained a following as both God and King amongst poor Jamaicans, who came to be known as Rastafarians, and who looked to their Bibles, and saw what they believed to be the fulfilling of many prophecies from the book of Revelation. As Ethiopia was the only African country to be free from colonialism, and Haile Selassie was the only black leader accepted among the kings and queens of Europe, the early Rastas viewed him with great reverence.
Over the next two years, three Jamaicans who all happened to be overseas at the time of the coronation, each returned home and independently began, as street preachers, to proclaim the divinity of the newly crowned Emperor as the returned Christ, arising from their interpretations of Biblical prophecy and based partly on Haile Selassie's status as the only African monarch of a fully independent state, with the titles King of Kings and Conquering Lion of Judah.
The Four Founders: Archibald Dunkley, Joseph Hibbert, Leonard Howell, Robert Hinds
First, on 8 December 1930, Archibald Dunkley, formerly a seaman, landed at Port Antonio and soon began his ministry; in 1933, he relocated to Kingston where the King of Kings Ethiopian Mission was founded. Joseph Hibbert returned from Costa Rica in 1931 and started spreading his own conviction of the Emperor's divinity in Benoah district, Saint Andrew Parish, through his own ministry, called Ethiopian Coptic Faith; he too moved to Kingston the next year, to find Leonard Howell already teaching many of these same doctrines, having returned to Jamaica around the same time. With the addition of Robert Hinds, himself a Garveyite and former Bedwardite, these four preachers soon began to attract a following among Jamaica's poorer classes, who were already beginning to look to Ethiopia for moral support.
Leonard Howell
Leonard Howell, who has been described as the "first Rasta", became the first to be persecuted, charged with sedition for refusing loyalty to the King of England George V. The British government would not tolerate Jamaicans loyal to Haile Selassie in what was then a British colony. When he was released, he formed a commune which grew as large as 2,000 people at a place called Pinnacle, at St. Catherine in Jamaica.
He was charged with "Hatred and revenge on the Whites, the negation, persecution and humiliation of the government, and legal bodies, and the raising up of the blacks."
Visit of Selassie I to Jamaica
Haile Selassie I had already met with several Rasta elders in Addis Ababa in 1961, giving them gold medals, and had allowed West Indians of African descent to settle on his personal land in Shashamane in the 1950s. The first actual Rastafarian settler, Papa Noel Dyer, arrived in September 1965, having hitch-hiked all the way from England.
Haile Selassie visited Jamaica on April 21, 1966. Somewhere between one and two hundred thousand Rastafari from all over Jamaica descended on Kingston airport having heard that the man whom they considered to be God was coming to visit them. They waited at the airport smoking a great amount of cannabis and playing drums. When Haile Selassie arrived at the airport he delayed disembarking from the aeroplane for an hour until Mortimer Planno, a well-known Rasta, personally welcomed him. From then on, the visit was a success. Rita Marley, Bob Marley's wife, converted to the Rastafari faith after seeing Haile Selassie; she has stated that she saw stigmata appear on his person, and was instantly convinced of his divinity.
The great significance of this event in the development of the Rastafari movement should not be underestimated. Having been outcasts in society, they gained a temporary respectability for the first time. By making Rasta more acceptable, it opened the way for the commercialisation of reggae, leading in turn to the further global spread of Rastafari.
Because of Haile Selassie's visit, April 21 is celebrated as Grounation Day. It was during this visit that Selassie I famously told the Rastafari community leaders that they should not immigrate to Ethiopia until they had first liberated the people of Jamaica. This dictum came to be known as "liberation before repatriation."
Walter Rodney
In 1968, Walter Rodney, a Guyanese national, author, and professor at the University of the West Indies, published a pamphlet titled The Groundings with My Brothers which among other matters, including a summary of African history, discussed his experiences with the Rastafarians. It became a benchmark in the Caribbean Black Power movement. Combined with Rastafarian teachings, both philosophies spread rapidly to various Caribbean nations, including Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica, and Grenada.
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Commentary
by Black Kos Editor, Sephius1
Today's inventor is another after my own heart. He's an engineer, computer scientist, and all around intellectual. His name is Philip Emeagwali.
The early life of Philip Emeagwali seemed destined for poverty in his native land of Nigeria. He was the oldest of nine children and his father, who worked as a nurse's aide, earned only a modest income. As a result, at age 14, Philip was forced to drop out of school in Onitsha. Because he had shown such great promise in mathematics, his father encouraged him to continue learning at home. Every evening, Philip's father would quiz him in math as well as other subjects. He would ask these questions in a rapid-fire manner, prompting Philip to think quickly on his feet. Eventually, Philip was tasked to answer 100 question in an hour, which to his father's delight, he succeeded in. Unable to attend school, Philip instead journeyed to the public library, spending most of his day there. He sped through books appropriate for his age and moved up to college-level material, studying mathematics, chemistry, physics and English. After a period of study, he applied to take the General Certificate of Education exam (a high-school equivalency exam) through the University of London and he passed it easily.
Having achieved this success, he decided to apply to colleges in Europe and the United States and at age 17 was offered a scholarship by Oregon State University in the United States. He began his studies at Oregon State in 1974 and received a Bachelor Degree in Mathematics in 1977. He then moved to the Washington, D.C. area and received a Master's Degree in Environmental Engineering from George Washington University in 1981 and a second Master's Degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Maryland in 1986. During the same period of time he received another Master's Degree from George Washington University, this time in Ocean, Coastal and Marine Engineering. He worked for a period of time as a civil engineer in Maryland and Wyoming, but his real success was yet to come.....Read more
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This Week's News by dopper0189, Black Kos Editor and Managing Editor
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Project Brotherhood says it welcomes men of all races but pays special attention to black men Chicago Tribune: South Side clinic seeks to make black men feel welcome.
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In and out of work for almost a decade, Hubert Key had minimal to no means to pay for medical insurance. But eight years ago, he learned about Project Brotherhood, a health clinic that pays special attention to African-American men on the South Side.
"I heard about what they offered and checked it out. When I found out that my (blood) pressure had been high, they quickly educated me on what to do to keep it even," said Kay, 59. He has been going to the clinic for eight years and was there recently to get a physical for what he hopes will be a new job in the maintenance field.
Project Brotherhood, housed inside Woodlawn Health Center at 6337 S. Woodlawn Ave., provides basic health care to the men regardless of their race or ability to pay, though it bills itself as "A Black Men's Clinic." It also offers a safe, comfortable atmosphere to talk about a wide range of health and social issues confronting black men.
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But here's why Ntozake Shange's choreopoem deserves a better director. The Root: Great Cast for 'Colored Girls'.
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I'll be the first to admit that I'm no Tyler Perry fan. When I first heard that Mr. Madea would be adapting For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf, I stomped around the office, gnashing my teeth and muttered, "Tyler Perry must be stopped!" News that he wanted to cast Beyoncé didn't help with the agitation.
I took comfort in knowing that at least Madea wouldn't be making an appearance in Ntozake Shange's seminal, Tony Award-winning choreopoem, which debuted on Broadway in 1976. At least.
Now I can take comfort in knowing that Beyoncé won't be making an appearance, either.
This week, Perry announced--drumroll--his official, Beyoncé-free cast: Whoopi Goldberg, Janet Jackson, Jurnee Smollett, Phylicia Rashad, Kimberly Elise, Mariah Carey, Kerry Washington and Macy Gray.
And I'm not (too) mad at him. They're all talented women. Macy Gray's demonstrated her thespian chops in Domino and Idlewild. (And was her whole spacey, drugged out, 1990s stage persona an act, too?) Mariah Carey surprised us all, post Glitter, by proving in Precious that she could act, too.
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Hats off to Regina Carter. New York Times: Finding Her Groove in Africa and a Violin.
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Regina Carter bookended her first set at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola on Tuesday night with duologue, plucking or bowing her violin alongside the Malian kora player Yacouba Sissoko. The graceful symmetry of their exchanges came with a transparent subtext. Ms. Carter had landed at the club with a new agenda: to put a personal spin on African folk music, as she does throughout her forthcoming album, "Reverse Thread" (E1), due on May 18. Presenting Mr. Sissoko as a partner was a way to signal her intentions.
Not that those intentions were veiled elsewhere in the set. Ms. Carter, leading Reverse Thread, a band that also included the accordionist Will Holshouser, the bassist Chris Lightcap and the drummer Alvester Garnett, seemed grounded in her material and clear about her mission.
There are aspects of "Reverse Thread," the album, that suggest a palatable world-music composite, ready-made for NPR. But in her deft interactions with the band, Ms. Carter put together the most balanced and satisfying performance I’ve heard from her over about a dozen years.
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New York Times Lens Blog: A quite bridge to young victims
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For more than seven years, Ms. Furrer has been involved with a project so draining that she has had to seek medical help. Photographing young victims of sexual abuse in South Africa would be difficult for anyone, but Ms. Furrer, 41, is herself a victim of sexual abuse.
"There’s just no way that you can do a project like this and not be deeply, deeply affected on every level," she said. "Emotionally, spiritually, physically."
As part of her project, which will be published as a book this fall, Ms. Furrer has spent much of her time observing interviews conducted by the South African police with children who reported abuse. She often posed a few questions of her own, sitting on the floor so children didn’t feel threatened or obliged to speak. If they cried, she held their hands.
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Race Talk: Social Media Activism: Adding to the Haitian narrative.
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A survivor of a natural disaster has a voice and shouldn’t be subjected to pity and judgment. If we can help Haitians share their stories through social media, we will all benefit. It’s a form of media that is completely participatory and open to all, said Tara Conley, founder of Media Make Change.
Media Make Change, a media justice organization, launched a new outreach program, Project Haiti Speaks. They want to provide multimedia support to relief organizations on the ground and provide a multimedia platform for volunteers, workers, citizen journalists and survivors so their stories can be told. Conley stresses the significance of Haitians telling their own stories for the primary reason that sound bites about this disaster will have long-term implications.
"We always have to consider how mainstream media filters the stories of others particularly in the context of a natural disaster," Conley said. She said we need to ask ourselves, "How are Haitian citizens being portrayed? Who’s telling their stories? What is the historical and political context of the crisis itself?"
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Exactly one week before international donors meet to help Haiti, the president has asked Congress for $2.8 billion in aid funds. Miami Herald: Obama ask congress for $2.8 Billion for Haiti.
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President Barack Obama is asking Congress for $2.8 billion in aid for earthquake-wracked Haiti, jump-starting a global push to raise billions of dollars for the country's reconstruction.
The request comes a week before international donors meet at the United Nations to plot how to finance a reconstruction effort that has been pegged at $11.5 billion over the next 18 months.
The funds will lay ``the foundation for the continued recovery and reconstruction in Haiti,'' said Moira Mack, a White House spokeswoman.
Aid organizations, which had pressed for $3 billion, welcomed the news.
``That is a substantial opening salvo in terms of Haiti's reconstruction and renewal,'' said Mark Schneider, a Haiti expert and former U.S. official who coordinated the response to Hurricane Mitch in 1998.
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A group of international campaigners has launched an online petition against Ethiopia's huge Gibe III dam project. BBC: Web campaign against Ethiopia Gibe III dam.
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The group wants to put pressure on Western donors and banks not to fund the dam, saying it would destroy the livelihoods of some 500,000 people.
The dam is on the Omo River, which flows from southern Ethiopia into Lake Turkana in northern Kenya.
Ethiopia's government says the dam is needed to generate enough electricity for its population and to sell abroad.
Construction work is under way on the dam, which would be Africa's second largest hydro-electric dam, providing some 1,800 megawatts of electricity.
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A conversation with Dolen Perkins-Valdez about "Wench," her recent historical novel about enslaved mistresses, the writer Touré's controversial comments about slaves sexing their way to freedom and what it all says about interracial relationships today. The Root: The Truth About White Masters, Black Mistresses and Touré.
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Several weeks ago, Gawker reported that while defending interracial marriages, the writer and commentator Touré let out a stream of bizarre tweets that praised raped slaves for seducing their white masters:
"Many, many, many of our great grandmothers were raped in slavery. But surely a few of them were loved and surely some ... were cunning and brilliant enough to use their bodies to gain liberation thus fooling massa ... Of course most were raped, we know that, but some were sharp enough to trade that good-good for status or liberation.
"They are absolutely not hos. They're sexually heroic. They're self-liberating by any means necessary."
Initially, Touré deleted the tweets and tried to blame his "cousin" for commandeering his Twitter account, but eventually he reportedly apologized. At the not-so-gentle urging of the blog, What About Our Daughters, MSNBC, which employs Touré as a part-time contributor, just released a statement distancing the network from his comments.
But was there any truth in his comments? A literary scholar and expert on slave narratives by training, Dolen Perkins-Valdez is in a unique position to be able to clear things up. She recently published Wench, an exhaustively researched fictional account of the true story of the enslaved black women who visited an Ohio resort with their white masters. (The resort grounds now have a historical marker on the campus of Central State University.) During a stop on her book tour, she spoke to The Root about the relationships between masters and their favored, enslaved mistresses. Their status? It's complicated.
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Yes folks, black Republicans are acting just as crazy as their white brethren. Miami Herald: Black candidate Corey Poitier calls Obama `Buckwheat'
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In the midst of delivering an impassioned speech decrying President Obama's health care reform, GOP congressional hopeful Corey Poitier veered dangerously off-script.
``Listen up, Buckwheat -- this is not how it is done!'' Poitier blurted out.
The apparent comparison of the nation's commander-in-chief to a 1920s Our Gang and The Little Rascals character -- a character seen as demeaning and offensive by many African Americans -- sent a jolt of notoriety through Poitier's previously-unknown campaign.
``The press has run amok with this, and turned me into a racist,'' said Poitier, who is himself black. The candidate complains CNN never bothered to interview him before running its own version of the story. ``I've never seen Buckwheat as a disparaging character. People love Buckwheat.''
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Friday Wake Up Music! Bobby McFerrin "Don't Worry, Be Happy"