If your mother tongue is not the language you write now, what caused you to switch languages? ( and hello uwu )

Questions for the mun. A series of questions for the mun / the person behind the muse(s)

hi ;u; so, fun fact: my native language is actually arabic!

i'm originally from egypt; my father's side of the family is egyptian and sudanese with a smidge of moroccan and algerian mixed in. my mother's side is american, so when my father passed away when i was about 13 or so, i moved here to the states and learned proper english. ergo, i have been speaking it ever since (and for abt half my life now LMAO), and i'm in the process of getting final paperwork in order to recieve my master's degree in humanities, with special emphasis on art, philosophy and literature.

Safia Elhillo, from Home Is Not a Country; “Boys”

[Text ID: “the ways i sometimes want both to be looked at / & to disappear”]

Weekend Edition: Short Stories, Part 2

Here are more collections of short stories for you to enjoy when you finish your exams. See Here for You to learn how to check out materials from wherever you are. 

And, of course, OCL wishes you the best of luck on your finals. You’ve got this!

In the Small Hours of the Night: An Anthology of Sudanese Short Stories including works by Aan Merdéka Permana, Absurditas Malka, Dadan Wahyudin, Déni A. Fajar, Déni A. Héndarsyah, Érwin Wahyudi, Fitria Puji Lestari, Héna Sumarni, Lugiena Dé, Mamat Sasmita, Mulyana Surya Atmaja, Nina Rahayu Nadéa, Usép Romli H.M., and Yus R. Ismail ; translated and with an introduction by C.W. Watson

In the Small Hours of the Night, a collection of 24 Sundanese short stories, is the first collection of its kind ever to be translated into English. The stories deal with a variety of subjects, ranging from everyday-politics where corruption is rife to stories of village life and the trials faced by villagers forced to confront the waves of modernization. There are also stories which deal with the significant historical events of the last seventy years and finally--as one might expect, since the Sundanese are known for the frankness with which they describe sexual attraction--there are also stories of love.

The Nose and Other Stories by Nikolai Gogol

The tales collected in The Nose and Other Stories are among the greatest achievements of world literature. They showcase Nikolai Gogol's vivid, haunting imagination: an encounter with evil in a darkened church, a downtrodden clerk who dreams only of a new overcoat, a nose that falls off a face and reappears around town on its own.

Contemporary Chinese Short-Short Stories: A Parallel Text 

This book presents Chinese short-short stories in English and Chinese, integrating language learning with cultural studies for intermediate to advanced learners of Mandarin Chinese and students of contemporary Chinese literature. Each chapter begins with a critical introduction, followed by two or more stories in parallel Chinese and English texts; each story is followed by a vocabulary list, discussion questions, and a biography of the author. The chapters are organized around central concepts in Chinese culture such as li (ritual), ren (benevolence), mianzi (face/prestige), being filial, and the dynamics of yin and yang, as well as the themes of governance, identity, love, marriage, and change. The stories selected are short-shorts by important contemporary writers ranging from the most literary to everyday voices. Specifically designed for use in upper-level Chinese language courses, Contemporary Chinese Short-Short Stories: A Parallel Text offers students a window onto China today and pathways to its traditions and past as they gain language competence and critical cultural skills.

Other Moons: Vietnamese Short Stories of the American War and Its Aftermath In this anthology, Vietnamese writers describe their experience of what they call the American War and its lasting legacy through the lens of their own vital artistic visions. A North Vietnamese soldier forms a bond with an abandoned puppy. Cousins find their lives upended by the revelation that their fathers fought on opposite sides of the war. Two lonely veterans in Hanoi meet years after the war has ended through a newspaper dating service. A psychic assists the search for the body of a long-vanished soldier. The father of a girl suffering from dioxin poisoning struggles with corrupt local officials. The twenty short stories collected in Other Moons range from the intensely personal to narratives that deal with larger questions of remembrance, trauma, and healing. By a diverse set of authors, including many veterans, they span styles from social realism to tales of the fantastic. Yet whether describing the effects of Agent Orange exposure or telling ghost stories, all speak to the unresolved legacy of a conflict that still haunts Vietnam. Among the most widely anthologized and popular pieces of short fiction about the war in Vietnam, these works appear here for the first time in English. Other Moons offers Anglophone audiences an unparalleled opportunity to experience how the Vietnamese think and write about the conflict that consumed their country from 1954 to 1975—a perspective still largely missing from American narratives.

Chala Vahi Des (Preface from 2017 for a book I've barely started)

I wrote the following piece a year ago with a plan for a photobook with various poems and short stories to accompany the photos. Many things have changed since then, like my mind about whether this should still be a photobook or should instead just be a novel or memoir, and, despite the title of my blog, I have yet to make that much progress on it. I figured that if I make some of the completed portions public to allow free-flowing criticism or comments, then maybe I'd be more motivated and directed towards creating something that makes remote sense. So the excerpt contained within this post starts from the beginning with a preface of the book. Some initial parts of this preface may be provocative, and if you happen to be outraged by my first two paragraphs, I implore you to just continue and finish it, because it's likely you won't by the end of it. Enjoy the reading!

​2017 has been a year of mishaps. And despite the Trump-era chaos that embodies 2017, it’s not the reason for my dissatisfaction with the year, it’s just a supplement. More than anything, 2017 has been a year of losing some friends and even more battles. A year of bad days and even worse grades. A year of people whom I thought might not ever leave, leaving. A year of sitting and watching as one lived their dreams out in Madrid, another preparing to spend the summer in London, another in India, and DC, and lots and lots in California, and so on. And after watching all this, I'm still in Texas. Texas has been a trap. I've felt stuck, enclosed, like I should be somewhere other than this state. It's like a star dies every time you try to positively represent a state that hits the fan at least once a day. You put a smile on your face ready to go to class and breathe the fresh Texan air around you and then you find out your friend's been arrested for possession of marijuana. He’s facing jail time, contributing to Texas’s shiny “7th highest incarceration rate in the country” honor. A star falls. You lift your head up again, though, trying to take on the next day. Now your friend's pregnant. Just another statistic that puts Texas at #3 on the teen pregnancy rate ranking. A star falls. Move on, keep going. You made it to Social Problems class for once. The topic of the day is child marriage, and you learn that Texas has not yet banned child brides. Another star falls. Well, it can only get worse. And it does when your local public health official couldn't save a mother from dying while delivering her baby. Texas has now become the state whose 3 largest cities are among the top 4 cities with the highest uninsured population, and the maternal mortality rate is 30 per 100,000 births. And you can't do anything about it. I looked these all up, obviously, to feed the already-growing animosity I had towards Texas. I've been finding myself in dilemma after dilemma. Stuck in a state where my gay friends are denied service at restaurants. In a state where seeking women's health services means enduring lines of berating, threatening protestors. In a state where guns are second to Jesus and affordable health care is the spawn of Satan. In a state where Terry Jones is considered a freedom fighter and Malcolm X a terrorist. In a state where refugee labor runs the economy yet it's the first of 50 to deny refugee entry. In a state where mosque burnings are frequent and Qur’an burnings even more frequent. In a state where, because I’m Pakistani, I’m not good for anything if it’s not giving someone surgery or fixing their computer or enduring hate crimes as a gas station clerk. I’ve found myself in the dilemma of wanting to leave. Wanting to venture far out from the remote thought of Texas. Seattle, Portland, Santa Barbara, somewhere with coasts where your feet don’t get tangled in algae every 3 seconds and festivals where you burn 40-feet wooden statues instead of religious sites. Wanting to join my lost friends to all their aforementioned locations, where people that look like me and talk like me can be expected to be the first them the world had seen instead of what their parents’ friends would make of them. ​But I couldn’t. I’d had three years. I went to California but came back. I went to Canada but came back. To Boston. DC. Spain. I could have made myself disappear in any of those places but I came back for something more than the fact that I could provide for myself here, or be provided for by my parents. Being stuck sucks because once you escape you feel uncomfortable, unaware, scared. But being stuck also feels great, because it forces you to make what you can of your resources. It’s not a feeling of homeliness vs. unhomeliness; it’s something bigger. There must have been something I enjoyed about myself in Texas. And I found it being stuck here in the year of mishaps. For every burnt mosque I found, I found a Jewish temple willing to rebuild it. For every Qur’an a zealous pastor tried to burn there was a hero on a skateboard who snatched it from the fire. I found my joy in the South Asian enclaves of DFW and Houston and, yes, surprisingly, Amarillo, where I’ve tasted some of the best chicken karahi and chicken tikka and fried paneer of my life. I found my joy in a dorm room where a Pakistani, Indian, Bangladeshi, Sudanese, Iraqi, Saudi, Palestinian, Jewish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Mexican and American group of friends set aside their differences because that’s what they’ve had to do their entire lives to make friends. I found joy in the rolling hills and the red canyons and the greenbelts and the blue holes and the cornfields and the wind farms and the riverbeds of this prolific state. I found joy in the fact that being one of the only kids of Pakistani descent in my school only meant being one of the first to do something spectacular for those that came before and those who will come after. And I, surprisingly enough, found lots of joy in Texas blue grass music. Studying literature, I became fascinated with the concept of identity, namely that of diasporic identity. And I missed a major aspect of diasporic identity when it finally came to me determining my own. An identity is one that the identity-seeker creates and the heritage embraces, and vice versa. In other words, I had to accept my identity internally as well as in accordance with my surroundings. All my surroundings. That is what I failed to do since I became sentient. I am American; my country claimed me as its citizen. I am Pakistani, my parents made sure to pass that heritage down to me as I grew up. But almost always, I am only one of those at a time. Other times, I am neither. Rarely was I ever both. In America people ask, “So what are you? Where are you from?” In America, I am presumably not American. I’m Pakistani. But my Urdu has become broken, my knowledge of Pakistani politics has almost zero value, when I go to my parents’ homeland I’m told not to talk to people because they’ll know I’m American. Because when I’m in Pakistan, I’m American. But I’m not both at the same time until I meet other people who experience the same thing. So I’ve come to terms with making that part of my psyche flexible. Some parts of my identity I’ve claimed, but they haven’t claimed me, and vice versa. But by being stuck here yet finding that joy in things, I’ve found that reciprocity in Texas. I am a Pakistani-American Texan. I bask in chicken tikka and American patriotism and southern hospitality all at once. I find solace in the red-pink sunsets across the Amarillo sky, relaxation in the swims in the Barton Creek greenbelt, excitement in SXSW and ACL and all the other musical acts Austin offers, meditation in the 6000-foot deep Palo Duro Canyon, reflection in the icy grasps of Texas’s historic blizzards and the chokehold of its historic floods and the sweaty embrace of its heatwaves. I find inspiration in the ones that get out and give back—in Beyoncé, in Cary Fagan, in Hakeem Olajuwon, in Wes Anderson, in Rick Husband, in Matthew McConaughey, and so many more. I can attribute Texas's setbacks to the many negative experiences I've had my entire life: bullying, Islamophobia, drought, isolation. Yet it would be wrong to discredit the places and people in Texas that have put a genuine smile across my face the past 18 years. I find being Texan to be a challenge every day, but I find that every day I complete that challenge it brings me closer to claiming the place as my own. Every day I mourn a fallen star for every time a Texan or a group of Texans screws something up, but every day I also find a Texan or group of Texans who have stayed long enough to pick up those fallen stars. And that’s the Texan I’ve become. Not one who turns their face away from a dire situation just to be free from Texas’s setbacks, but one who stays long enough to fix those setbacks and free Texas of dire situations. “Chala Vahi Des” is a song by a group of musicians who met in Rajasthan, India to record an album called Junun. The album featured Urdu, Hindi, Hebrew and English singers, who sought to turn the borders that were being fought over in Rajasthan into a place for ghazal, the “poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain." “Chala Vahi Des” literally means “let’s go to that country,” and I found it fit to use such a phrase as the title of this book to invite others into my personal Texan heritage, which spans much broader than state politics and rodeos and southern accents. This book is meant to acknowledge Texas’s fallen stars, celebrate the reignited ones, and illuminate entirely new ones as we progress. It’s somewhat sad and realistic to say that I’ll eventually leave Texas, but before I depart I hope to go so far as encapsulate the glamorous yet rigorous upbringing that I and many others have had for the past 20, 30, 40-something years of our lives here. -Ali Haider Fort Worth, TX

Publications

“Despite the welcome news of [...] additional [Temporary Protected Status] designations, many Venezuelan nationals, Burmese nationals, and stateless people who last resided in Venezuela or Burma are currently in removal proceedings. This practice pointer addresses common questions that arise for practitioners representing TPS-eligible individuals who are in removal proceedings or facing potential removal proceedings, hold dual nationality, or wish to seek asylum.” - Temporary Protected Status: Navigating Removal Proceedings, Dual Nationality, and Asylum. CLINIC. 24 March 2021.

“Our challenge is to continue to think ahead and to aim for real and lasting change even in such times of crisis. During the past year, alongside our emergency programs and appeals to the Israeli authorities for urgent assistance to asylum seekers, we insisted on pursuing long-term solutions. We understood, for example, that despite all the difficulties, this year was a good time to focus on pushing for the opening of Centers for the Prevention of Domestic Violence for asylum seekers and their families. We also saw an opportunity to raise awareness to the situation of asylum seekers’ children: for the first time they were talked about, in the Knesset and elsewhere, not as a separate group but alongside other at-risk children in Israel who have been excluded from online learning.” - 2020 Annual Activity Report. Aid Organization for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Israel (ASSAF). March 2021.

“[This article] shows that the risks of migration within the Horn of Africa are often well known, thanks to strong migrant networks and improved mobile communications. Indeed, migrants may be better informed of the risks of the journey than they are about their prospects of securing a good living upon arrival. However, rather than discouraging people’s migration, high risk may open up new possibilities. [...] These findings challenge common assumptions about risk and decision-making, and suggests that some migrants may move because of, rather than in spite of, the risks involved. It also calls into question initiatives that seek to deter migration by raising awareness about the risks of the journey.” Extreme Risk Makes the Journey Feasible: Decision-Making amongst Migrants in the Horn of Africa. Oliver Bakewell and Caitlin Sturridge. Social Inclusion. 2021.

“The Commission has since then deployed a rapid investigation mission to Aksum from February 27 to March 5, 2021. Previous attempts by [the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission] to access the city were impeded by the security situation and related issues. The rapid investigation mission spoke to survivors, 45 families of victims, eyewitnesses and religious leaders in the city. It also conducted a focus group discussion with over 20 residents of the city and spoke with local Kebele officials as well as medical personnel of Saint Mary and Aksum Referral Hospitals. The mission also obtained material evidence including video, audio and photographs, from families of victims and relevant authorities.” - Investigation into Grave Human Rights Violations in Aksum City: Report on Preliminary Findings. Ethiopian Human Rights Commission. March 2021.

“This paper assesses the Danish Frederiksen-government´s legislative proposal to externalize asylum processing and refugee obligations from Danish territory. A challenge with this task is the absence of much information in the proposal. Several crucial questions remain unanswerable, including: Where the extra-territorial facilities are to be located; who has responsibility for them; which authorities Denmark will collaborate with; which standards the asylum processing will be exported to; the domestic or geopolitical context of the host country; how the hosts will treat minorities, and many more.” - Danish Desires to Export Asylum Responsibility to Camps Outside Europe: AMIS Seminar Report. Martin Lemberg-Pedersen, Ahlam Chemlali, Zachary Whyte and Nikolas Feith Tan. Centre for Advanced Migration Studies. 19 March 2021. 

“Leaving South Sudan, however, is not enough to guarantee their safety and also poses a range of other challenges to the [Human Rights Defenders (HRDs)]. Even when HRDs cross a border, they can still be – and have been – targeted. Testimonies from South Sudanese refugee HRDs collected in this report paint a picture of persistent cross-border harassment and the targeting of dissenting voices by the South Sudanese government, primarily by the National Security Service (NSS) intelligence agency, which is directly controlled by the Office the President of South Sudan.” - No Refuge: South Sudan’s Targeting of Refugee HRDs Outside the Country. Frontline Defenders. March 2021.

“The Tigray war has created a humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray regional state. Thousands have been killed and about a third of Tigray’s 6 million population (of which more than 150,000 of them have fled to neighbouring Sudan) have been displaced since the brutal conflict started early last November when the Prime Minister ordered a military offensive after the TPLF attacked a federal army base in the southern region. An estimated 3.8 million of Tigray’s roughly six million population now requires emergency food aid, and hundreds of thousands are reportedly facing starvation due to government refusal to let humanitarian organisations access the region during the initial stages of the war.” - The Political and Humanitarian Repercussions of Ethiopia’s Tigray War. Abdinor Hassan Dahir. TRT World Research Centre. 2021.

“This report, which is undertaken pursuant to the Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD) 2019-2022 Strategy and Workplan, seeks to enhance the evidence base on planned relocation cases undertaken within countries. It provides: (1) a global dataset of 308 cases of planned relocation identified from English language peer-reviewed scholarly articles and grey literature; and (2) an analysis of characteristics across 34 of the identified cases. These two related outputs serve as a foundation for future efforts to augment knowledge and data on planned relocation, and to promote approaches to policy and practice that mitigate risk and protect people from harm.” - Leaving Place, Restoring Home: Enhancing the evidence base on planned relocation cases in the context of hazards, disasters and climate change. Erica Bower and Sanjula Weerasinghe. Platform on Disaster Displacement and the Andrew & Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW Sydney. March 2021.

“In 2017, things began taking an even more terrible turn for Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other predominantly Muslim peoples in the region. Since that time, an estimated one million or more people have been arbitrarily detained in ‘transformation-through-education’ or ‘vocational training’ centres in Xinjiang, where they have been subjected to various forms of torture and ill-treatment, including political indoctrination and forced cultural assimilation. This mass detention campaign combined with systematic repression have prevented Uyghur parents from returning to China to take care of their children themselves and made it nearly impossible for their children to leave China to reunite with them abroad.” - Hearts and Lives Broken: The Nightmare of Uyghur Families Separated by Repression. Amnesty International. 2021.

“Over the past seven years, hundreds of Syrian men, women and children who sought safety in Lebanon have been arbitrarily arrested, detained and subjected to torture or other ill-treatment, as well as a wide range of violations of the right to fair trial. Arbitrary detentions of Syrian refugees on suspicion of terrorism-related crimes continue, even though the alleged crimes relate to events that took place more than six years ago.” - “I wished I would die”: Syrian refugees arbitrarily detained on terrorism-related charges and tortured in Lebanon. Amnesty International. 2021.

“[T]he level of violence experienced by women and girls who take part in demonstrations in Mexico and the escalating violence against them by the authorities create a particularly dangerous environment for feminist demonstrators and those protesting against gender-based violence who do not belong to feminist collectives or women’s groups, in which they are at risk of various human rights violations.” - Mexico: The (R)age of Women: Stigma and Violence Against Women who Protest. Amnesty International. 2021.

“In the first five months of FY2021, encounters (apprehensions or expulsions) of unaccompanied alien children (UAC) at the US-Mexico border with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are approaching a level close to that for all of FY2020.” - Increasing numbers of unaccompanied alien children at the southwest border. Congressional Research Service. 25 March 2021.

“The United States has long guaranteed the right to seek asylum to individuals who arrive at our southern border and ask for protection. But since 20 March 2020, that fundamental right has been largely suspended. Since that date, both migrants seeking a better life in the United States and those seeking to apply for asylum have been turned away and ‘expelled’ back to Mexico or their home countries. These border expulsions are carried out under a little-known provision of US health law, section 265 of Title 42, which the former Trump administration invoked to achieve its long-desired goal of shutting the border.” A Guide to Title 42 Expulsions at the Border. American Immigration Council. 29 March 2021.

“Protected entry procedures are visa pathways that authorise asylum seekers to safely cross international borders for the purpose of accessing protection under international refugee or human rights law. The ‘primary focus’ of these procedures is to provide a safe and orderly means of crossing international borders.” - Research brief: Protected entry procedures. Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law. March 2021.

Faith Ringgold's Art Featured Around the Country and Abroad #JACBA Newsletter 21Jul2017

Professor Emerita Faith Ringgold Featured in 'Soul of a Nation'

Featuring more than 150 works by over 60 artists, many on display in the UK for the first time, Soul of a Nation will be a timely opportunity to see how American cultural identity was re-shaped at a time of social unrest and political struggle.

Soul of a Nation will showcase this debate between figuration and abstraction, from Faith Ringgold's American People Series #20: Die 1967 and Wadsworth Jarrell's Black Prince 1971 to Frank Bowling's Texas Louise 1971 and Sam Gilliam's April 4 1969. A highlight will be Homage to Malcolm 1970 by Jack Whitten, who was awarded the National Medal of Arts by Barack Obama in 2015, which will be going on public display for the very first time.

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Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky by Faith Ringgold 1993 Awardee

'It Remains Relevant - History Repeats Itself' Faith Ringgold discusses the importance of art

AT THE time I made American People Series #20: Die, all hell was breaking loose across parts of the United States.

There were riots as people fought for their civil rights.

Not much of this was being recorded in the press or on the TV news, but I saw the violence myself, and felt I had to say something about it.

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Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power, review

Benny Andrews's Did the Bear Sit Under a Tree? is one of a number of punchy message-driven works that set the scene: the Stars and Stripes rolled back to reveal an angry black man waving his fists both at the Flag and the viewer.  If the execution is none too subtle, with the figure rendered in rough-hewn sacking-relief with a zip for a mouth, Andrews wanted to reflect the "raw" aesthetics of his background in rural Georgia.

Faith Ringgold's Die creates a frantic pattern of wild-eyed, bleeding black and white people in which it's impossible to tell who's stabbing or shooting who, all in a compelling pop-expressionist style that isn't revisited in the exhibition or, it seems, the artist's own work.

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Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky by Faith Ringgold 1993 Awardee

Soul of a Nation - Art in the Age of Black Power, exhibition review: Pride and prejudice. This ambitious and energetic show charts 20 years of the struggles that formed the modern black artistic identity in America

Tate Modern's Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power is a trip through 20 years of black artists in the US experimenting with what black art could possibly be.

Benny Andrews worked with Bearden in another group, the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition. In Did the Bear Sit Under a Tree? (1969), a black protester shakes his fist at the American flag, which is meant to protect him, but is seen closed-off in its own cold space.

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Delivering Justice: W. W. Law and the Fight for Civil Rights, written by Jim Haskins, illustrated by Benny Andrews 2006 Awardee

Spencer Museum exhibitions highlight African-American story quilts

The Spencer Museum of Art recently opened two evocative exhibitions that highlight African-American quilting traditions.

To complement this exhibition, Earle curated "Narratives of the Soul," which presents significant African-American quilts from the Spencer Museum's collection, as well as regional and national loans. One highlight of the exhibition is the art museum's "Flag Story Quilt" by renowned artist Faith Ringgold. Ringgold will give the keynote lecture for the Quilt Convention on Wednesday, July 12, at the Lied Center.

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Find out how to choose the right book during at A.K. Smiley Public Library presentation

On Sept. 7 an upcoming adult literacy event when author Francisco Jimenez will speak at the Contemporary Club at 6 p.m. Jimenez, is the author of "The Circuit" and "Breaking Through," autobiographical stories about his life as a child of migrant workers and his love of education.

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The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child by Francisco Jiménez 1998 Awardee

Poetry Sunday: Lauren Wolk Local NPR for the Cape, Coast & Islands

Lauren Wolk reads her poem "Shopping for Bras."

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Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk 2017 Awardee

The Vibrant Art Of Roxbury's Ekua Holmes Recalls The Harlem Renaissance

The exhibit mostly displays Holmes' paintings for the children's books she has recently illustrated, including her works on Fannie Lou Hamer, titled "Voice of Freedom" and "Out of Wonder, Poems Celebrating Poets." The Hamer book, produced with writer Carole Boston Weatherford, garnered a children's book trifecta: The Caldecott Honor Book, The Robert F. Sibert Honor Book and the John Steptoe New Talent Coretta Scott King Award.

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Birmingham, 1963 by Carole Boston Weatherford 2008 Awardee

Carlsbad Museum opens children's books illustration exhibit

The exhibit, "Childhood Classics: 100 Years of Original Illustration from the Art Kandy Collection," is open through Sept. 30 to allow for class field trips to view illustrations from children's books.

The exhibit, which originally opened in California, features original illustrations from Dr. Seuss' "Cat in the Hat", Garth Williams' "Stuart Little," "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak and Floyd Cooper's "Jump! From the Life of Michael Jordan."

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Ruth and the Green Book by Calvin Alexander Ramsey with Gwen Strauss and illustrated by Floyd Cooper 2011 Awardee

THE PEN TEN WITH CARMEN AGRA DEEDY

In this week's interview, we speak with Carmen Agra Deedy, author of The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet!, a children's book-illustrated by Eugene Yelchin-about a rooster who insists on singing despite the mayor's no-singing laws. Deedy discusses young readers, surveillance, and the use of humor when confronting difficult realities.

What is the responsibility of the writer of children's books?

To respect the intelligence of young readers and never, ever, lie to them. They will love you for the former and crucify you should you ignore the latter.

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The Yellow Star: The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark by Carmen Agra Deedy 2001 Awardee

Meigs ancestor became renowned author

The fame of the Rodgers family of Perryville and Havre de Grace extends far and wide with Commodore John Rodgers being the top echelon of that pyramid of fame.

If one were to trace the lineage of Meigs and Rodgers families for a bit, one will arrive at another Meigs of note who, sadly, hasn't reached the level of fame and recognition as her male ancestors with their impressive military careers. This ancestor was Cornelia Meigs, an author of fiction and biography, a teacher and historian of note and a critic of children's literature. Truly she was an astounding woman who contributed greatly to children's literature as a whole.

She would leave Bryn Mawr to teach writing at the New School of Social Research in New York and was the lead editor and a writer of "A Critical History of Children's Literature," published in 1953. The book was called landmark in the field of children's literature studies. It was later revised under Meigs' critical eye and reissued in 1969.

She would write over 30 fiction books for children, two plays, two biographies and several books and articles for adults.

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Jane Addams: Pioneer of Social Justice written by Cornelia Meigs 1971 Awardee

Books raise awareness, sensitivity to suffering

Today's reviewed books help create a more sensitive awareness of this global problem that promotes empathy, and that's a very good thing because if we were among the 65.6 million displaced people in the world, we'd surely want others to be empathetic toward our plight and offer us help.

"A Long Walk to Water" by Linda Sue Park

Alternating narratives of two young people living in Sudan, this book is based on the true story of the life of Salva Dut, who, at age 11, was separated from his family and village during yet again another battle in the Second Sudanese Civil War. Against all odds, Salva's journey of many years, walking from one refugee camp to another, across Africa to Ethopia, to Kenya and back to Sudan, demonstrates enormous courage, hope and the will to survive.

The second voice in "A Long Walk to Water" is young Nya, who walks for eight hours every day simply to fetch water. How and why their lives intersect is both profound and moving.

An important work in many regards, "A Long Walk to Water" not only raises an awareness of the suffering of others, but in so doing, helps readers develop compassion, empathy and a deeper appreciation of those things many of us take for granted.

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A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story by Linda Sue Park 2011 Awardee

When My Name Was Keoko by Linda Sue Park 2003 Awardee

Thoreau Bicentennial Gathering: Celebrating the Life, Works, and Legacy of Henry David Thoreau

PEN New England presentation of Thoreau Prize for Nature Writing to Sy Montgomery (Sy Montgomery, a naturalist, author and scriptwriter who writes for children as well as adults)

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Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World by Sy Montgomery 2013 Awardee

Western Washington University and the Whatcom County Library System chosen as site for 2018 Arbuthnot Lecture

The 2018 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture featuring Naomi Shihab Nye will be held in the spring of 2018.

Sylvia Tag, Curator of The Children's Literature Interdisciplinary Collection, noted that, "Naomi Shihab Nye spreads hope and light through her poetry and prose. Western Washington University and the Whatcom County Library System are honored to host the Arbuthnot Honor Lecture, and invite her particular brilliance to illuminate our diverse and word-hungry communities."

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Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye 1998 Awardee

Sitti's Secrets by Naomi Shihab Nye, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter 1995 Awardee

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Since 1953, the Jane Addams Children's Book Award annually acknowledges books published in the U.S. during the previous year. Books commended by the Award address themes of topics that engage children in thinking about peace, justice, world community and/or equality of the sexes and all races. The books also must meet conventional standards of literacy and artistic excellence.

A national committee chooses winners and honor books for younger and older children.

Read more about the 2017 Awards.

Afro-Czechs on visibility, racism and life in the Czech Republic (Part One)

Register at https://mignation.com The Only Social Network for Migrants. #Immigration, #Migration, #Mignation ---

New Post has been published on http://khalilhumam.com/afro-czechs-on-visibility-racism-and-life-in-the-czech-republic-part-one/

Afro-Czechs on visibility, racism and life in the Czech Republic (Part One)

It's ‘incredibly important to be aware of your own identity’

Black Lives Matter slogan on the facade of a theater in downtown Prague. Photo taken on June 14 by Natalia Marshalkovich, used with permission.

Long invisible, Afro-Czechs, one of the smallest communities in the Czech Republic, are gradually emerging and speaking their minds in public. This post is the first in a two-part series looking at their struggle for recognition in the central European country. Until the fall of Communism in 1989, Black Africans and Afro-Czechs had no visibility in the public space, even though hundreds of them had been living in the central European country. In reports and documents covering the period 1918-1948 when Czechoslovakia was a capitalist democracy, there are a few mentions of Black Africans and African Americans serving in the army, or playing jazz in Prague bars. When Czechoslovakia became part of the Socialist block in 1948, it actively engaged in Cold War competition between Moscow and the West, and gave diplomatic support to African independence movements, even supplying weapons to various guerilla armies on the continent. Some newly independent countries become priorities as bilateral relations intensified –Angola, Benin, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Zambia were among these. Hundreds of students from Africa were given grants to move to Czechoslovakia, where they learnt Czech or Slovak, and graduated, mostly in science, technology, military science and medicine. A special university was created in Prague from 1961 to 1974 to accommodate their needs. While many returned to their home countries, a few married locally, or had children with Czech and Slovak women, giving birth to the first generation of Afro-Czechs.

The emergence of Afro-Czechs

As communism ended in 1989 and the country joined the European Union in 2004, Czech society started discussing issues of discrimination and ethnic diversity that had been banned for four decades, since Socialist ideology claimed it had eradicated racism, despite appalling treatment of the Roma community. Since then, three segments of society have contributed to a partial integration of Afro-Czechs: civil society, media and art. A number of NGOs advocating for a better knowledge of African culture, and support to Afro-Czechs have emerged and contribute to cross-cultural dialogues. The second area is media, where a number of Afro-Czechs act as role models. One of the most famous names is Lejla Abbasová, a Czech citizen of Sudanese heritage, who presents popular TV shows. Czech-Ghanaian Rey Koranteng is a presenter on TV Nova, a private station that enjoys the largest share of the national audience.

Martin Kříž. Photo used with permission.

Martin Kříž is an Afro-Czech Sinologist, who makes regular appearance on Czech media and on the BBC. He shared his views with Global Voices (GV):

Posledních asi deset nebo patnáct let přestává být otázka identity otázkou zevnějšku. Vzpomínám si nicméně, že v dobách kdy naše česká společnost ještě nebyla tak otevřená, a to zejména před rokem 1989 a když jsme my v mládí hledali kam sám sebe vrazit, tak tehdy skutečně to bylo jiné. Mluvit v české společnosti o komunitě Afro-Čech�� je zatím ještě předčasné. Ve většině měst se stále jedná o jednotky nebo maximálně desítky takových lidí zcela odlišných společenských zájmu a směřování. Ale první vlaštovky se již objevují na facebookových skupinkách.

In the past 10 to 15 years, the question of identity is no longer based on external appearances. I remember, though that when our Czech society was not so open, particularly before [the fall of communism] in 1989, and when we were young and wanted to hang out somewhere, it was really different. It is too early to speak of an Afro-Czech community, in most cities there are just one or maybe ten Afro-Czechs, who each have very different interests and priorities. But we do see the first signs emerging, in Facebook groups.

A third field where Afro-Czechs have distinguished themselves is the arts, where singers, dancers and writers have established their names, sometimes internationally. Probably the most prominent example is Czech-Nigerian modern dancer and choreographer Yemi Akinyemi Dele, who has worked with global stars such as Kanye West. Czech-Angolan singer Ben da Silva Cristóvão (known as Benny Cristo on stage) is a successful artist who was selected in 2020 to represent the Czech Republic at the Eurovision song contest with his song Kemama: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wROqCHLnbko?feature=oembed&w=650&h=366] Another Czech-Angolan dancer and singer is Madalena João, who sings in Czech, English and Portuguese, sometimes with her brother Daniel, who raps. Here she explains her sense of what it means to be an Afro-Czech to GV:

Můj tatínek studoval veterinární fakultu v Brně, a v té době se seznámil s maminkou. Bavili se v českém jazyce, který tatínek uměl a umí dodnes. Afročeška je Češka s africkými kořeny, tedy koluje ve mně v žilách i africká krev, hlavně v těle rytmus, a jsem za to ráda. Teď si uvědomuji více, v tomto věku, že to má své výhody. V Angole, kde jsem žila 9 let, jsem mluvila hlavně portugalsky, a vlastně dodnes doma s tatínkem a bratrem jinak nemluvím.

My dad was studying in Brno [the second largest city in the Czech Republic] at the faculty of veterinology, where he met my mother. They spoke Czech, a language my father is fluent in to this day. An Afro-Czech is a Czech person with African roots, thus it means I have African blood, rhythm in my body, and I am happy for that. Now I am more aware that it has its advantages. In Angola, there I lived for nine years, I spoke mostly Portuguese, and to this day this is the language we use at home with my dad and my brother.

Here is one of Joao's songs, “Vím, že jsi” (I know you exist) where she sings with popular Czech rapper Skipe, about visibility and relationships: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d25Z1oN92pM?feature=oembed&w=650&h=366]

Cover of Obonete Ubam's latest book “Kalangu Africká moudrost na každý den” (Kalangu African wisdom for every day). Photo by Filip Noubel, used with permission.

Literature is also a field where prominent Afro-Czechs are making a mark. The term Afroczech was cornered by Czech-Nigerian writer and activist  Obonete Ubam, who spent seven years in Nigeria and wrote a book in which he narrates how he embraced his heritage, and eventually became the chief in his native Anaang ethnic group. He released in June a new book called “Kalangu African Wisdom for Every Day” (Kalangu Africká Moudrost na Každý Den) to bring African culture closer to Czech readers and is currently about to release a new book about the history of Afro-Czechs. Here is what he told GV:

Myslím si, že se Afročeši jako komunita teprve formují. Afročeši jsou v Českých zemích zhruba od konce druhé světové války. Nejdříve se jednalo o potomky amerických vojáků osvobozujících Západní Čechy. Po nich jsme přišli my, potomci afrických a kubánských studentů. Většinou jsme o sobě vzájemně ani nevěděli. Mnozí z nás pak hledali odpovědi na otázky týkající se vlastních kořenů a kulturní identity, až do dospělosti. Je zajímavé, že právě tato generace vyprodukovala ty, momentálně nejvýraznější osobnosti mezi Afročechy. Nyní dospěla třetí, zatím nejpočetnější generace Afročechů a jejich život je naprosto jiný než byl ten náš. Otevřené hranice jim navíc umožňují se i vzájemně stýkat. To je pro povědomí o vlastní identitě nesmírně důležité.

I think the Afro-Czechs are just beginning to form their community. They have been present here roughly since the end of WWII, as descendants of US soldiers who liberated the Western parts of the country. Then came us, the descendants of African and Cuban students. We usually didn't know about each other, and we looked for answers about our roots and cultural identity much later in life. It is interesting that this is the generation that produced the most prominent Afro-Czechs. Now the third and largest generation is coming up, and their life is very different from ours. Open borders mean they can meet, which is incredibly important to be aware of your own identity.

< p class='gv-rss-footer'>Written by Filip Noubel · comments (0) Donate · Share this: twitter facebook reddit

16th World Congress on Public Health Rome, 2020

16th World Congress on Public Health Rome, 2020

Midwifery crisis in Africa: the introduction of the human resources information systems

 Authors: Silvia Ussai Researcher, Francesca Palestra

 Keywords

Midwife, work capacity, information system

 Background

 Each year, 2.7 million newborns die during their first day of life: a number that equals the entire population of Namibia. In many low- and middle-income countries women are encouraged to give birth in clinics and hospitals so that they can receive care from skilled birth attendants such as a midwife, who is trained to manage normal pregnancy and childbirth.

 Researchers estimatea 56% of maternal, fetal and neonatal deaths reduction in case of midwife assisted delivery.

 The 73 African, Asian and Latin American countries, represented in the State of the World's Midwifery (SoWMy) 2014, suffer from 96% of the global burden of maternal deaths, 91% of stillbirths and 93% of newborn deaths. However, these Statesface a critical shortage of health professionals, particularly nurses and midwives. This article describes the Human Resources for Health (HRH).

The abstract urges countries to invest in education and training in midwifery is to strengthen health service delivery and to achieve health equity for the poor.

Investments in education and training in midwifery with agreed international standards can generate, as evidenced by a pilot study from Bangladesh, up to 16 times the return on investment.

According to the 2006 World Health Report, 57 countries were in severe health workforce crises, with 37 of these in sub-sahara region—a region with only 3% of global health workforce, despite contributing about a quarter to the global disease burden.

 Methods

Authors propose an integrative review involving a mapping exercise of the literature. The search included peer reviewed research and discursive literature published between 2000 and 2020 on healthcare workers capacitation.

Results

 Research shows that steps to recognize and support this working relationship require multipronged approaches to address imminent training, resource and infrastructure deficits, as well as broader health system strengthening.

 Central Africa Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Liberia, Madagascar, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Tanzania all experience a midwife density per 1000 population lower than 1.

A shortage of skilled and qualified healthcare workers remains one of the major bottlenecks toward the availability of accessible high-quality healthcare also in Botswana.

Specific midwifery strategies and economic analyses will enable countries to fill the gap in their national health work force.

 Improved service provision may be associated with development of supervision systems like the introduction of a human resources information system to help mobilise domestic resources.

 This review also looks at the level and the relative importance of each revenue.

 Conclusion

 Given issues such as shortages and poor retention of human resources for maternal and newborn health service delivery in particular settings, international communities should focus on strengthening capacity of community midwives for home births as a realistic measure.

Our findings set the ground for future research investigating healthcare workforce issues and support evidence-based planning for health human resources. Information systems may contribute to the development of national and local policies in the country, which address the human resources needs of the health care system to meet regional and national demands.

 References

 World Health Organization. The World Health Report 2006—working together for health. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2006.

 Chen L, Evans T, Anand S, Boufford JI, Brown H, Chowdhury M, Cueto M, Dare L, Dussault G, Elzinga G, et al. Human resources for health: overcoming the crisis. Lancet. 2004;364(9449):1984–1990.

 Dovlo D. Migration of nurses from sub-Saharan Africa: a review of issues and challenges. Health Serv Res. 2007;32(3):1373–1388.

 Dawson A, Brodie P, Copland F et al, Collaborative approaches towards building midwifery capacity in low income countries: a review of experiences. Midwifery2014 Apr;30(4):391-402.

Kinfu Y, Dal Poz MR, Mercer H, et al. The health worker shortage in Africa: are enough physicians and nurses being trained? Bull World Health Organ. 2009 Mar;87(3):225-30.

 Bergen N, Hudani A, Asfaw S et al. Promoting and delivering antenatal care in rural Jimma Zone, Ethiopia: a qualitative analysis of midwives' perceptions. BMC Health Serv Res. 2019 Oct 21;19(1):719.

 Nakano K, Nakamura Y, Shimizu A et al. Exploring roles and capacity development of village midwives in Sudanese communities. Rural Remote Health. 2018 Oct;18(4):4668.

 Asamani JA, Chebere MM, Barton PM et al. Forecast of Healthcare Facilities and Health Workforce Requirements for the Public Sector in Ghana, 2016-2026. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2018 Nov 1;7(11):1040-1052.

2019 Reading Goal Outcomes

Goal: 52 Books in 2019, no romances, no rereads

Result: 61

Summary: This was a year of fantasy, with the Throne of Glass series as hands-down the best one. I almost entirely read fiction, so will try for more non-fiction in 2020. 

1. Reader, I Married Him - Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre, by Tracy Chevalier.

Short stories again, dipping my feet in the water of getting the reading habit up and going again. I read this entire book over the course of various subway rides.

2. Ahead of the Curve, by Joseph H. Ellis.

A business investing textbook that Ryan wanted me to read. Pretty interesting, nice explanation of the fundamentals, but limited applicability as it only pertains to certain cyclical industries.

3. Anya’s War, by Andrea Alban Gosline.

A lovely young adult story set in 1940s Shanghai in the Jewish community there, all the refugees fleeing Europe. Didn’t know about all the Jews who lived in China. They later left for the US.

4. The Silver Swan, by Elena Delbanco.

Father and daughter famous cellists, story about love, loss, legacy, and genius.

5. Redeeming Love, by Francine Rivers.

A very Christian novel, based on the Biblical story of Hosea. It was quite a moving story, but now I want to read some of her secular novels, just to see the difference. It was one of the books on my Kindle, recommended to me by Nicole.

6. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, by Dai Sijie.

Two adolescent boys sent to rural China for re-education during the Cultural Revolution. Translated from the French.

7. Tarnsman of Gor, by John Norman.

A sci-fi novel about a planet like Earth on the other side of the sun. The first in the series. Found this in our Edinburgh Airbnb.

8. Dear Mr. You, by Mary-Louise Parker.

A collection of letters to all the men in her life. I liked most the ones to the uncle of her adopted Ethiopian daughter, and then one at the very end to the oyster picker who picked her father’s last meal.

9. Lady of the Snakes, by Rachel Pastan.

A look at life as a female academic, trying to find the balance between her career and her family. I wonder if I ever feel as passionately about something as the protagonist, who is dedicated to a single famous author in Slavic literature, and his wife who is secretly the real author. The whole book made me remember the feminist comic about the mental load in a family.

10. Trespassing Across America, by Ken Ilgunas.

One man’s journey through the middle of America as he followed the path of the Keystone XL pipeline, and his reflections on the environment, our role, travels, midwestern folk, and long walks. Very gentle reading, and I definitely was surprised by some of the research that he has done about the history of the Great Plains. I didn’t realize what a drain on the US economy the farmers are, and that they are basically welfare farmers.

11. Bakhita, by Veronique Olmi.

The sorrowful story of one of the modern saints, a Sudanese slave who came to Italy. The story of her life, with the backdrop of colonization, slavery, and the world wars.

12. Plenty, by Alisa Smith and J. B. Mackinnon.

The two authors decide to maintain a 100-mile diet for a year. Interspersed with recipes every chapter, and alternates between their voices. A delicious and thoughtful journey, that made me want to leap into the kitchen and start canning and pickling.

13. Assassin’s Blade, by Sarah J. Maas.

Collection of short stories leading up to the first Throne of Glass novel.

14. Throne of Glass, by Sarah J. Maas

15. Crown of Midnight, by Sarah J. Maas

16. Heir of Fire, by Sarah J. Maas

17. Queen of Shadows, by Sarah J. Maas

18. Empire of Storms, by Sarah J. Maas

19. Tower of Dawn, by Sarah J. Maas

20. Kingdom of Ash, by Sarah J. Maas. This was one of the best high fantasy series I have read in a long time. Epic battles, intrigue, loss, love, courage, everything. I kept rereading my favourite sections for the rest of the year.

21. Haiku Love, The British Museum, by Alan Cummings.

Beautifully illustrated by mostly woodblock prints, I took photos of my favorites, from mainly the new love section.

22. My Last Love Story, by Falguni Kothari.

A cancer love story revolving around a love triangle in a Gujarati diaspora community.

23. Unaccustomed Earth, by Jhumpa Lahiri

Haven’t read anything by Lahiri since Interpreter of Maladies, so I’m glad to jump into more short stories. Fantastic, as expected.

24. The Grift, by Debra Ginsberg.

Fortune telling and human weakness.

25. A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J. Maas

26. A Court of Mist and Fury, by Sarah J. Maas

27. A Court of Wings and Ruin, by Sarah J. Maas.

I liked the Throne of Glass series better, but this was still good. There is one more novelette but it is supposed to be a bridge to a new spinoff series, and I would rather just wait for everything to be out and binge read them all at once. So I will stop here with this series.

28. Radiance, by Grace Draven.

29. Night Tide, by Grace Draven

30. Eidolon, by Grace Draven

31. In the Darkest Midnight, by Grace Draven.

Another epic fantasy, but in the end Draven is a bit heavier on the romance.

32. Master of Crows, by Grace Draven.

Series unfinished and hard to get a hold of.

33. A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara.

A devastating novel about friendship and trauma and New York City. Unforgettable. I read Veasna’s copy which has been making the rounds in our circle of friends and leaving us all ashes in its wake.

34. Graceling, by Kristin Cashore

35. Fire, by Kristin Cashore

36. Bitterblue, by Kristin Cashore

Another young adult fantasy series, again a pretty good one. This seems to be the theme of this year.

37. Look Who’s Back, by Timur Vermes.

A satire on the media focused world we live in, through the eyes of Hitler who woke up in the modern world.

38. Crazy Rich Asians, by Kevin Kwan

39. China Rich Girlfriend, by Kevin Kwan.

Both are fun and fluffy reads. I can see why they became so popular.

40. Before She Sleeps, by Bina Shah.

Dystopian, Handmaids Tale, with a South Asian setting and characters.

41. When Churchill Slaughtered Sheep and Stalin Robbed a Bank, by Giles Milton

Lovely collection of historical anecdotes.

42. Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles.

The American civil war was so bloody. I think Americans would have a better understanding of war if they fought wars on their own lands again.

43. The Hundredth Queen, by Emily R. King

44. The Fire Queen, by Emily R. King

45. The Rogue Queen, by Emily R. King

46. The Warrior Queen, by Emily R. King.

The premise was such a good one, and it was fun to be able to read fantasy in a South Asian setting, but the writing was flat and the characters annoyingly indecisive. They all seem to stumble from predicament to predicament, reacting endlessly but never able to do anything properly. By the second book I just wanted the story to end.

47. The Place of Shining Light, by Nazneen Sheikh.

A moving thriller about trying to smuggle an ancient Buddha statue from Afghanistan into Pakistan, and the stories of the people along the way of the journey.

48. Grave Mercy, by Robin LaFevers

49. Dark Triumph, by Robin LaFevers

50. Mortal Heart, by Robin LaFevers.

A fun trilogy set in historical times, with three different female protagonists who are also trained as assassins by a convent. Found it through a list of books recommended as similar to the Throne of Glass series, but it was different enough to still be enjoyable and not compared in my mind while I was reading.

51. Queen Song, by Victoria Aveyard

52. Steel Scars, by Victoria Aveyard

53. Red Queen, by Victoria Aveyard

54. Glass Sword, by Victoria Aveyard

55. King’s Cage, by Victoria Aveyard

56. War Storm, by Victoria Aveyard.

Again, this is a series I found because of my suffering from Throne of Glass withdrawal. The story is interesting enough, and decent attention to detail and logic with a lot of the action/battles. The protagonist did start to get on my nerves as annoyingly helpless and indecisive, but then the author started changing the points of view in the last couple of books, and some of the other characters found the protagonist as annoying as I did, so that was refreshing to read and gave me the stamina to finish the series. There are a few more novellas but I’m not interested/invested enough to find them. I’ll stop here.

57. Pick-up, by Charles Willeford.

Good old fashioned American crime novel from the 60s with a few unexpected twists.

58. Notes on a Banana, by David Leite. Memoir on food, love, and manic depression. The highs/manic parts sound blindingly productive. Glad for him that he sequestered himself during the whole AIDS thing. Wish there were some recipes, I might go look at his blog.

59. The Young Elites, by Marie Lu

60. The Rose Society, by Marie Lu

61. The Midnight Star, by Marie Lu.

A refreshing series with a true anti-heroine. You despise her so much almost throughout the series.

Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih

Genre: Post-Colonial / ‘Serious’ Literature (Sudan, 1966)

Grade: B+

 A Post-Colonial book like this one is trying to process how life can continue once the colonizers have left physically, but not psychologically.

 What a novel! The best way that I can describe it is to say that it is an Arabic or Sudanese response to European colonial oppression, but in a sexual and fun way. Do you remember Indiana Jones and all of those Victorian adventure novels where a European or American goes to the ‘deepest heart of Africa/the jungle’ to get something? Well, this book is the opposite of those old adventure stories. This is the story of two people from the innocent and wholesome village societies of Sudan slowly being poisoned and corrupted by the influence of the west.

 Both of the men (Mustafa & the narrator) in this story went to Europe for their schooling but only Mustafa was aware of his status as the ‘other’ so early on in his trip to Europe. He was aware that the same otherizing view that caused some Europeans to look at his accent and dark skin as menacing or strange, would also seen tempting and exotic to a certain type of female and draw them to him. Mustafa decided to play up on their views and liberally quote from Arab poets and decorate his place with masks and ostrich feathers even though he liked to read the same European writers as they did. Still, why did he murder that woman? Why did he go to a village in Sudan he’d never been to before? What happened that night on the Nile River during the flood? Why was the narrator so obsessed with finding out the truth about Mustafa?

 I first found out about this book from the YouTube review show Better Than Food Book Reviews. I got the book for my local library and I am proud of myself for reading such a difficult book because this is the kind of book I would normally intend to read but never actually follow through and read. I found the story very interesting but it is a challenging book. It’s dreamlike, inasmuch as you float in and out of the narrative throughout the book in a very peaceful way. It’s almost like how people always say that life flashes before your eyes before you die. I found it really cool to be able to read a book from Sudan written in Arabic (translated expertly) that subverts the pious and oppressive/domineering western view of practicing Muslims. If you want a short (139 pages) but complex read from a culture we don’t often hear firsthand accounts from, I urge you to check out this book.

 https://www.amazon.com/Season-Migration-North-Review-Classics/dp/1590173023/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1507255242&sr=1-1-catcorr

Safia Elhillo, from Home Is Not a Country; “Haitham”

Here it is. Some of it anyway.

I’m talkng about the 2018 Pirelli Calendar.

For this the 45th edition of the famous calendar, British photographer Tim Walker applied his unmistakable style to one of the classic stories of British literature: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

His inspiration came not only from Lewis Carroll’s fantastic story, but most importantly from the illustrations that Carroll himself had entrusted to John Tenniel for the first edition of 1865.

In Tim Walker’s 2018 Pirelli Calendar they become 28 shots consisting of 20 different and extraordinary sets for a new unique Wonderland.

”Alice has been told so many times”, Tim Walker said, “and I think I wanted to go back to the genesis of the imagination behind Lewis Carroll so that you could tell it from the very beginning again. I wanted to find a different and original angle”.

In order to convey his idea of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland , Walker has portrayed a cast of 18 personalities, both established and upcoming, including musicians, actors, models, and political activists.

It features Sudanese-Australian model Adut Akech, Ghanaian-British fashion model and feminist activist Adwoa Aboah, Senegalese-German model Alpha Dia, Beninese-American actor and model Djimon Hounsou, South Sudanese-Australian model Duckie Thot, Gambian women’s rights activist Jaha Dukureh, British model King Owusu, American rapper and singer Lil Yachty, Mexican-Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o, British supermodel and actress Naomi Campbell, American actor, television personality and singer/songwriter RuPaul, American actress Sasha Lane, American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, record producer and entrepreneur Sean “Diddy” Combs, American model Slick Woods, South African model and lawyer Thando Hopa, American actress, comedian, author and television host Whoopi Goldberg, British model Wilson Oryema and British fashion stylist, designer and singer Zoe Bedeaux.

Together they form an all-black cast, for the second time after the 1987 Pirelli Calendar in which British photographer Terence Donovan shot five beautiful black women, including a then sixteen-year-old Naomi Campbell and model, writer and activist Waris Dirie.

To realise his calendar, Walker collaborated with two eminent artists in their own right: Shona Heath, one of Britain’s leading creative directors and set designers, and the fashion icon Edward Enninful who was the stylist behind this year’s elaborate costumes.

Shona Heath was responsible for creating the striking sets and installations which allowed for the creative storytelling in this depiction of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland .

Elements of the tale which are today part of our collective imagination have been turned upside down, for example: the white rabbit has become a black rabbit while the Queen’s red roses have been painted in black by the Playing Cards.

“I was always trying to find something to turn on its head, question what the story meant and what was the important bit, and how far could it diversify. We’re still making a very clear message that is very true to the story, actually,” Heath said.

Commenting on his contribution to this year’s calendar, Enninful who recently became both the first male and first black editor of British Vogue said. “It is very important that the story of Alice be told to a new generation.

Her adventure in Wonderland resonates with the world we live in today; obstacles we have to overcome and the idea of celebrating difference.

“Growing up in London I often lived in a fantasy world of fairy tales and detective novels. Alice was always one of my favourite characters.

“I always felt I was with her on the journey through Wonderland, and all of these extraordinary characters became my friends . . . well all but the scary Queen and her beheaders . . . To see a black Alice today means children of all races can embrace the idea of diversity from a very young age and also acknowledge that beauty comes in all colours. Culturally we are living in a diverse world. Projects like this remarkable Pirelli Calendar demonstrate that there is still hope in what sometimes feels like an increasingly cynical reality”.

Alice, no longer a child, is played by a model of unearthly beauty (Duckie Thot) whose personal history, as the child of Sudanese refugees who moved to Australia, makes her an ideal modern incarnation of Carroll’s restless and rootless heroine.

What goes on behind the scenes, the photo shoots, the stories and personalities of the 2018 Pirelli Calendar, can all be found on the calendar website here, where visitors can explore the history of more than 50 years of The Cal through films, interviews, photographs and previously unpublished texts.

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Shooting Alice for the The Cal Here it is. Some of it anyway. I'm talkng about the 2018 Pirelli Calendar. For this the 45th edition of the famous calendar, British photographer Tim Walker applied his unmistakable style to one of the classic stories of British literature: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

We need to talk about culture appropriation: why Lionel Shriver’s speech touched a nerve

Is it OK for white scribes to take on a black spokesperson? The assert that followed the American novelists address in Brisbane has shed new light on one of cultures hottest debates one that has hundreds of years of backstory and has sounded through literature, rap, stone and Hollywood movies

Lionel Shriver knew she was going to annoy beings. Inviting a renowned iconoclast to speak about community and belonging is like expecting a great grey shark to balance a beach ball on its nose, she articulated. She then used her keynote speech at the Brisbane columnists festival to tear into the debate that novelists most particularly grey writers are guilty of cultural appropriation by writing from the point of view of references from other culture backgrounds.

Referring to occurrences in which members of student authority at an American university faced impeachment after attended a tequila party wearing sombreros, and reports of a ban on a Mexican eatery from making out sombreros, the author of We Necessity to Talk About Kevin announced: The moral of the sombrero scandals is clear: youre not supposed to try on other people hats . Yet thats what were paid to time, isnt it? Step into other folks shoes, and try on their hats.

The response was instant. Sudanese-born Australian social activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied, who was attending the event, walked out and then rapidly wrote a comment part which was contended that Shrivers speech was a celebration of the unfettered exploitation of the experiences of others, for the purposes of the guise of fiction.

The argument is one of the most parted yet in a conversation that has a long record across literature, music, arts and rendition. While story might be the catalyst for this discussion, in the eyes of Abdel-Magied and others the issues are deeply rooted in real-world politics and a long history.

The image of the blackface singer creator of 1830s America the lily-white musician decorated up to look like a caricature of an African-American person and play-act comic skits is perhaps the most oft-invoked illustration of culture appropriation from record. The ethnic dynamic of minstrelsy was complex it was performed by African-American and Anglo actors alike but while African-American performers often sought to gain fiscal insurance from these best practices and in some cases use their scaffold to counter negative public stereotypes of themselves, white-hot performers reinforced those stereotypes. This produced within a society which continues to be has not been able to abolished bondage, and in which the political ability dynamic was very much racialized. As the civil right crusade thrived, so did criticism of white people attempting to exploit the pictures and events of people of colour for social and financial gain.

This pattern is recurred of all the countries, particularly in places that experienced colonisation and slavery, such as India, Australia and South Africa. As students, creators, activists and writers of emblazon fought to gain access to mainly grey institutions and public seats, and gained visibility in the cultural globule, they began to criticise the inaccurate images of themselves they construed created by and for the profit of others.

The issue has been heavily explored within the establishments but has reaped momentum in popular culture over the past decade. It underpins criticism of, among other things, Iggy Azaleas sonic blackness, Coldplays myopic construction of India in their music videos, and Miley Cyruss dance moves. Director Cameron Crowe lately apologised for casting Anglo-American actor Emma Stone as a part-Asian reputation in the 2015 movie Aloha not the first time a grey performer has been thrown to play a reputation from a different ethnic background in mainstream cinema. The proof has been assisted particularly by the feminist parish focus on intersectionality crudely the idea that discrimination takes on different forms depending on the hasten, class and/ or gender of the person or persons subject to discrimination.

The charge of culture appropriation is not confined to fiction, but at the moment thats perhaps the most heatedly raced terrain . In March, Harry Potter author JK Rowling was accused of proper the living institution of a marginalised people after a tale produced to her Pottermore website drew upon Navajo narratives about skinwalkers. Shriver herself mentioned the case of vehicles of grey British scribe Chris Cleave, whose novel The Other Hand is partly narrated by the character of a teenage Nigerian girl. In principle, I admire his firmnes, Shriver replied. She then went on to item reviewer Margot Kaminskis concerns that Cleave was manipulating the character, that he ought to be taking special care with representing its own experience that was not his own.

Shriver took aim at the proposal that an scribe should not use a reference they created for the service of a plot they saw. Of trend hes using them for his patch! she suggested. How could he not? They are his personas, to be operated at his caprice, to fulfil whatever purpose he cares to apply them to.

What borderlines around our own lives are we mandated to remain within? questioned Shriver. I would argue that any floor you are able to draw yours is yours to tell, and trying to push the boundaries of the authors its own experience is part of a fiction columnists job.

While it seems obvious that novelists of myth will endeavour to write from perspectives that are not their own, numerous writers of quality bicker there is a direct relationship between certain difficulties they face trying to make headway in the literary industry and the success of grey scribes who illustrate people of colour in their myth and who go on to build a successful literary profession off that. The difference between cultural illustration and cultural rights appropriation, by this logic, lies in the grey novelist telling storeys( and therefore taking producing possibilities) that would be better suited to a novelist of colour.

Some writers argue that it works in reverse, more. In an phenomenon for the Guardian in November last year, Booker Prize-winning author Marlon James told publishers too often pander to the white-hot wife( the majority of members of the book-buying public ), making writers of colouring to do the same. In a Facebook post responding to novelist Claire Vaye Watkins widely circulated essay On Pandering, James used to say the kind of storey favoured by publishers and bestows committees abode suburban white woman in the middle of ennui knowledge keenly observed epiphany pushed columnists of colour into literary conformity for fear of losing out on a journal deal.

Speaking to Guardian Australia, Indigenous Australian author and Miles Franklin winner Kim Scott adds its crucial to listen to the expressions of marginalised people who may not be given enough space to tell their own floors. Fibs are provides; theyre about reform and opening up interior macrocosms in the interests of expanding the shared nature and the common sense of community. So if theres many articulations telling we need more of us addressing our tales, from wherever theyre saying that, then that needs to be listened to.

Omar Musa, the Malaysian-Australian poet, rapper and novelist, told Guardian Australia: There is a history of stereotypes being continued by lily-white the authors and very, exceedingly reductive narrations. Beings are just generally much more cautious of that.

Musa supposes grey scribes should read, support and promote the operational activities of the novelists of emblazon before attempting to encroach on that cavity themselves, if that is something they want to do. But he admits he experiences the issue difficult; the suggestion that writers shouldnt move outside the boundaries of their own experiences comes into direct conflict with what he sees as the purpose of fiction: to empathise with and understand other families lives.

If youre going to write from someone elses perspective, Musa says, its important to shun stereotypes, especially if you want to move the specific characteristics rich and flawed as a good character should be.

Australian columnist Maxine Beneba Clarke. There are two schools of thought about[ culture appropriation] I dont know what the answer is but I can understand both views. Photograph: Nicholas Walton-Healey

Musa has his own experience of writing across the cultural subdivide. His first novel, Here Come The Dogs,was told from the perspective of a reference with a Samoan background. Musa answers consenting criticism is a crucial part of this process: There will be people who will tell you that maybe you didnt quite get this right, and you just have to cop that flack.

Maxine Beneba Clarke is an Australian-based novelist of African-Caribbean descent. Her memoir The Hate Race was prompted by a flow of racial insult; her accumulation of short narratives, Foreign Soil, was published to great acclaim after she won the Victorian Premiers Literary award for anunpublished manuscript in 2013. I think there are two situations in which Ive written outside of the African diaspora, she mentions. In both cases the latter are parts of short fiction and the process of writing them took several years, simply because of that consultation.

Beneba Clarke conceives consultation is all-important, but so is examining your own impulse to write from the perspective of another. What does it mean to be a writer “whos not” national minorities writer and wanting to change your literature? How do you do that? I think that was the opportunity for conversation that was missed[ in Shrivers speech] … How do we feel about writing each others stories and how do we go about it? Whats the respectful practice to go about it?

In some ways it comes down to personal ethics, she answers. Whether you feel you are doing no damage; whether you feel you are doing it sensitively; and, I believe, whether the publisher or the reader been agreed that you have done it sensitively.

Helen Young from the University of Sydney English department speaks fiction can have a very real impact on marginalised people. Individual journals have an impact on individual lives, but representation overall composes a seat and an environment in which people can feel like its OK to be who they are.

The politics of representation is a huge question in the science fiction and fantasy worlds very, speaks Young. This was exemplified by the recent expeditions against a comprehended leftwing bias in the Hugo gifts, in which disgruntled rightwing science fiction and fantasy columnists bickered the awards were being diminished by what the hell is experienced as the tendency of voters to opt studies simply about racial prejudice and exploitation and the like over traditional swashbuckling adventures.

Referring to the JK Rowling occurrence, Young suggests precisely because imagination is often to be considered as escapist, doesnt symbolize those stories dont stuff, or that authors should not treat different sources of their brainchild with respect. Theyre still the lived, hallowed narrations of living cultures, she supposes. Theyre the beliefs of real parties. So if from a western view you go, oh well, its just myth, I can do whatever I like with it, thats a problem.

Kate Grenville said she find writing Indigenous attributes was beyond her when she wrote The Secret River. Image: Sarah Lee for the Guardian

In some respects, the dirt seems to be changing. When Kate Grenville wrote her highly acclaimed historic romance about colonial Australia, The Secret River, in 2005, she shunned writing from the standpoint of Indigenous characters because she felt it was beyond her. Speaking to Ramona Koval on ABC radio, she alleged: What I didnt want to do was step into the heads of any of the Aboriginal attributes. I think that kind of appropriation … theres been too much of that in our writing. In her tale The Lieutenant, the sequel to The Secret River, nonetheless, Grenville did go into outlining more rounded Indigenous reputations, but only after deep and careful involvement with the historical records upon which her characters were based.

All the writers who spoke to Guardian Australia say they believe that considering the question of cultural appropriation is decisive, but the tenor of that discussion matters. They say that making a mockery of marginalised peoples concerns about image and appropriation does not constitute a constructive debate.

Scott, who has previously suggested a postponement on grey columnists used to describe Indigenous Australia, speaks lily-white columnists could use fiction itself to explore the tension about representation. Even the desire to occupy the consciousness of the other, that can be explored in story.

For Musa, the transformation needs to go beyond volumes: You probably cant have a change in literary culture without a change in the whole culture of the two countries, he says.

On the question of progress, in Australia at least, Beneba Clarke replies: “Theres” two institutions of was just thinking about this: that Australian literature is not diverse enough for Anglo-Australian novelists to be even considering writing from other cultures, and the other school of thought is, well, how do we change literature then, given that most of our writers are Anglo-Australian? Are we locking ourselves into an inevitably whitewashed world of literature?

And I dont really subscribe to either thought; I dont know what the answer is but I can understand both positions. But I think what I perfectly cant understand is disregard for any kind of consultation and an inability to understand when people of colour are outraged.

Such articles has been amended to clarify that the Hugo awardings are voted on by the public.

Read more: www.theguardian.com

The post We need to talk about culture appropriation: why Lionel Shriver’s speech touched a nerve appeared first on caredogstips.com.

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Using hip hop to battle South Sudanese marginalisation in Melbourne

Hip hop has come out of Black communities in North America, from around the late 1970s. The genre was an underground counter-culture movement, which addressed issues such as racism, police violence, drug use and poverty. Hip hop was largely inaccessible for middle class White Americans, in that it employed the use of Black vernacular English, the musical style itself was new and radical, and the venues in which it was played were mostly Black. As the movement grew and gained support from outside the African-American community a decade later, hip hop remained a Black dominated art form, and many Black hip hop artists have been able to put their messages about marginalisation and oppression of the Black communities in America out into the public in a big way. This publicity has contributed to public awareness of inequality and the mutual appreciation of the genre has contributed to breaking down race barriers in the US. Hip hop music has created accessible avenues for marginalised and disadvantaged Black youth, especially from the ghettoes of North America, to pursue artistic careers in a racist society which excluded or exploited Black artists. The success of hip hop music in the maintenance of Black artists’ ownership of their own music in such an environment is partially due to it’s counter-culture origins. Hip hop began outside of the acceptable conventions of music according to the (White dominated) Western music industry.

Marginalisation of Black communities and devaluation of Blackness is also a huge issue in contemporary Australia. With Australia’s history of attempted Aboriginal genocide which extends into the present day indirectly through the unjustifiably large number of Black deaths in custody[1] which are only increasing, to the disparity in health conditions and living standards for Aboriginal Australians and Non-Aboriginal Australians. Media representations of Blackness provide a surface level representation of the ways in which Blackness is devalued in Australia. South Sudanese are portrayed in Australian media as outsiders, violent and unwilling to adapt to Australian society[2]. There are four main representations of South Sudanese-Australian people in Australian Media: as refugees; (male) perpetrators of violence; (female) victims of violence; and as “recipients of Australia’s generosity”[3]. All of these identities are constructed as alien to Australia. Large numbers of media reports conflate South Sudanese people with violence, suggesting that South Sudanese have an intrinsic violent nature[4]. In addition, media representing ‘Sudanese violence’ reports included instances and footage of violence committed by people from backgrounds other than Sudanese, as well as reporting of Sudanese ‘gang violence’ in cases where South Sudanese are the victims of violence perpetrated by other races including White people[5][6]. This demonstrates that these media representations are inaccurate constructions. Further, these representations are used as justification for discriminatory policy such as the 40% cut in the numbers of African asylum seekers accepted by Australia. The Minister for Immigration stated that this cut was because African asylum seekers “don’t seem to be settling and adjusting into the Australian life as quickly as we would hope”[7]. Beyond negative constructions of Blackness, there is an absence of South Sudanese Australians portrayed in any type of every-day, normal, or positive representations[8]. Alex Hargreaves calls these portrayals, such as soap operas and game shows, ‘genres of conviviality’[9], and people from non-English-speaking backgrounds are not portrayed in soap operas as normal, every-day people[10]. This adds to the construction of Sudanese Australian’s as strangers, different, and not regular Australians[11].

In a Dialogue Theatre performance (an explanation of Dialogue Theatre process can be found here) by 5 members of the Melbourne South Sudanese community in March 2017 at Metrowest, Footscray, a few key concerns of the community were discussed. The actors generated the content of the performance through discussion and workshops with each other, and attempted to capture different viewpoints within their community to present a holistic view of different concerns. The actors conveyed concerns about the negative representation of South Sudanese in Australia as intrinsically violent and unwilling to contribute to Australian society. The actors represented the ripple effects of police violence and targeting of young South Sudanese in Melbourne, which has been documented in the literature[12]. They represented in their performance the frequency of beatings their children experienced at the hands of the police, to the extent where children had normalized this occurrence and did not want to ‘make a big deal’ of it. The actors also represented the contradiction of the Australian legal system felt by some parents, which threatens to remove their children if they employ physical discipline, yet ‘law enforcers’ such as the police, regularly physically assault their children[13]. Furthermore, policy makers and media have attributed alleged South Sudanese violence and supposed South Sudanese law-breaking to the inability of South Sudanese parents to effectively discipline their children[14]. The significant difference in Australian and South Sudanese family legal systems and practices means that South Sudanese parents can find themselves unable to implement parenting techniques which do not conflict with Australian law[15]. While some South Sudanese parents have altered their parenting styles to accommodate for the new host culture and legal practices with significant success[16]. However, this approach exacerbates one of the other central concerns represented by parents in the Dialogue Theatre performance: the fear that children will lose their South Sudanese culture, and the need to preserve and practice their culture to prevent this.

This tension was partially represented by the central conflict of the performance. (A conflict map representing the key concerns of each character can be found here). A young rapper requests to perform at a community fundraiser event. However, his request is rejected by older generations who condemn hip hop as a bad influence, and instead want the fundraiser to only involve traditional Dinka music and dance. When he and his friend conspire to perform hip hop regardless, a public conflict breaks out. However, hip hop music and programs have the potential to address many of the issues highlighted by these actors, including concerns of cultural corruption.

A potential solution to the structural problem of negative media representations is the development of community hip hop programs in the Melbourne South Sudanese community. For the characters Chol and Mow, a central concern was promoting a positive image of South Sudanese communities and spreading accurate information. Hip hop programs facilitate communication between migrant and host cultures across language barriers as well as communication barriers as a result of trauma[17]. While many messages conveyed in mainstream American hip hop involve drug use, hyper-sexualised video clips and law-breaking, contemporary South Sudanese Melbourne rappers are trailblazing their own genres of hip hop which promote positive representations of their communities[18], such as Melbourne’s Ur Boy Bangs. If supported by the community and provided with sufficient resources, a hip hop community could mobilize young South Sudanese to promote positive representations of their communities. One such example is the organisation Desert Pea Media, who have produced many indigenous hip hop videos from remote areas in order to “create important social and cultural dialogue”[19]. Another example of the ways in which music and arts programs can assist in countering the negative portrayal of South Sudanese in mainstream media is the project Good Starts Arts. This project provided young Sudanese Australian women an opportunity to rewrite inaccurate, racist reporting on the murder of, Liep Gony[20]. The project provided complexity to the reductive construction of Sudanese Australians by the mainstream media[21].

Hip hop music provide positive Western representations of Blackness for young South Sudanese within a new alienating culture[22]. In Awad Ibrahim’s article titled ‘Becoming Black: Rap and Hip-Hop, Race, Gender, Identity, and the Politics of ESL Learning’, he discusses the way in which Black migrants from mostly Black countries to countries where Whiteness is common and normalized, are suddenly placed in a context where they are primarily viewed as ‘Black’, and “the antecedent signifiers become secondary”[23]. They “enter a social imaginary … in which they are already constructed, imagined and positioned and thus are treated by the hegemonic discourses and dominant groups, respectively, as Blacks”[24]. In the face of negative or absent representations of South Sudanese and in Western media, positive representations of Blackness are extremely important[25]. Some of the strongest positive Western representations of blackness can be found in rap and hip-hop[26].

Hip hop programs assist young South Sudanese in the acculturation process[27]. For young people who have experienced trauma and war, it can be much harder to integrate into a new society for a number of reasons, but “both the literature and Sudanese refugees themselves highlight refugee recovery as primarily a social process”[28]. Creative music projects and music programs have been shown to greatly assist social integration, building social networks and re-creating social identities[29] [30]. DIY (do-it-yourself) hip-hop is one way for young (ex)refugees to create opportunities, produce and construct meaningful identities and to promote and spread positive messages to other African (ex)refugee youth[31]. Creating visible identities which other South Sudanese and African (ex)refugee youth will be able to recognise and identify reduces their risk of isolation and builds social networks to bridge the severe lack of support networks for young African refugees arriving in Australia[32].

The development of hip hop communities are excellent ways to mobilize young South Sudanese (ex)refugees. In the South Sudanese Dialogue Theatre performance, the character Tudi expressed concerns that young South Sudanese do not want to come to community meetings or events, thus reducing their participation and involvement in South Sudanese culture. This is a major issue identified by the character Adut, who wants South Sudanese children to learn about and participate South Sudanese culture. While Tudi expresses that he does not want to sing in Dinka, this does not prevent hip hop programs being run in conjunction with older generations who can provide cultural content. There is also potential for strengthening of inter-generational relationships with reciprocal resource sharing in this way. Ibrahim discusses the benefits of hip hop on ESL learning, and one of the issues identified within the Dialogue Theatre was the increasing language barrier between parents and children.

Hip hop programs run by South Sudanese and African (ex)refugees should receive more funding in Victoria due to the proven outcomes. The success of the Dialogue Theatre format in generating dialogue and strengthening relationships between younger and older generations of South Sudanese in Melbourne has demonstrated some of the benefits of collaborative arts programs for combatting some of the adversity the South Sudanese community faces in Melbourne. Furthermore, funding and support should be provided for South Sudanese hip hop performances, including addressing the gap in high quality musical criticism for South Sudanese hip hop.

 [1] Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody1998, Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation

[2] Nunn, C 2010, ‘Spaces to Speak: Challenging Representations of Sudanese Australians’, Journal of Intercultural Studies, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 183-198.

[3] Nunn, et. al., p.186

[4] Nunn, et. al.

[5] Nunn, et. al.

[6] Windle, J 2008, ‘The racialisation of African youth in Australia’, Social Identities, vol. 14, no. 5, pp. 553-366

[7] Andrews 2007 cited in Windle et. al., p.553

[8] Nunn, et. al.

[9] Nunn, et. al., p.184

[10] Nunn, et. al.

[11] Nunn, et. al.

[12] Windle, et. al.

[13] Levi, M 2014, ‘Mothering in transition: The experiences of Sudanese refugee women raising teenagers in Australia’, Transcultural Psychiatry, Vol. 51, no. 4, pp. 479-498.

[14] Levi, et. al.

[15] Juuk, B 2013, ‘South Sudanese Dinka customary law in comparison with Australian family law’, ARAS, vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 99-112.

[16] Levi, et. al.

[17] Marsh, K 2012, ‘The beat will make you courage: The role of a secondary school music program in supporting young refugees and newly arrived immigrants in Australia’, Research studies in Music Education, vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 93-11

[18] McCulloch, S 2013, ‘Portrait of Riak’, un Magazine, vol. 7, no. 2, viewed 21 April 2017, http://cargocollective.com/scottmcculloch/Portrait-of-Riak

[19] Finlayson, T 2017, ‘About Desert Pea Media’, Desert Pea Media, viewed 21 April 2017, http://www.desertpeamedia.com/desert-pea-media/

[20] Nunn, et. al.

[21] Nunn, et. al.

[22] Ibrahim, AEKM 1999, ‘Becoming black: Rap and hip-hop, race, gender, identity and the politics of ESL learning’, TESOL Quarterly, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 349-369.

[23] Ibrahim, et. al.

[24] Ibrahim, et. al.

[25] Ibrahim, et. al.

[26] Ibrahim, et. al.

[27] Marsh, et. al.

[28] Westoby, P 2008, ‘Developing a community development approach through engaging resettling Southern Sudanese refugees within Australia’, Community Development Journal, vol. 43, no. 4, p. 486.

[29] Ibrahim, et. al.

[30] Marsh, et. al.

[31] Wilson, M J 2011, ‘Making space, pushing time: A Sudanese hip-hop group and their wardrobe-recording studio’, International Journal of Cultural Studies, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 47-64.

[32] Wilson, et. al.

Safia Elhillo, from Home Is Not a Country; “The Stranger”

Safia Elhillo, from Home Is Not a Country; “An Illness”