a woman among warlords

“I’m not telling you to vote for me, but to vote for those without blood on their hands.” -Malalai Joya

Malalai Joya is a powerful Afghan political leader and activist, who is working strongly to better the rights of women in her country.  As could be expected Joya has faced a countless number of negative responses, as well as threats to her life.  In this clip she is trying to raise awareness to Afghan women and encourage them to vote in the upcoming election.  I think that what Joya is doing is a powerful and amazing contribution to the evolution of Afghanistan-she has changed the way women are involved in politics (regardless of the risks raised for her own life).  However, I think that often Joya’s views are very extreme, an attribute which she uses much to her campaign advantage-particularly in the States-but I think that this is also something which puts her cause at a disadvantage.  Often, it seems, the most revolutionary change has come from a subversion of power and though this may come from a place of naivety-Joya seems to underestimate the strength that can often come from camaraderie  in high ranks.

I think that often causes such as Joya’s can work as an infiltration into modern everyday life, which can then spread to a form of revolution-rather than an ‘uprising’ which can strain the emotional balance of a country.  For example within this clip when Joya asks the women to take a day off of work in order to vote-it made me wonder the necessity of this extreme.  What is done in these situations, how women’s liberation in Afghanistan is approached dictates the future for many generations.  I think that Joya has a solid understanding of what needs to be done, but sometimes her approach is severe-however it may be that this is simply the method of approach  that is necessary at this time in the movement.

what is….human rights?!

Through this class, Jennifer Browdy’s CP Human Rights-I feel that I am gaining, or at least attempting to, an understanding of what Human Rights means to me. I think that the process of this understanding in accordance to the individual, concerning Human Rights, is extensively varied and often difficult to categorize whatsoever. I think that the problem with this is that there are no particular set or rules which surround the idea of Human Rights, sure theres the Declaration of Human Rights but it seems that this is only a rigid foundation upon which beliefs can be set.  I think that the ultimate identification of a Human Right’s is rooted in [our] society’s understand of GOOD and EVIL.

It seems that there are multiple aspects to where this origin of understanding lies-but how far back does it go exactly?  Its not that I’m religious, because I’m not, but it seems that the record of Adam and Eve-the tree of knowledge and basically the  beginnings of ‘man’- can be where  we begin with good & evil, with Human Rights.  But is it as complicated as that?  As we talk about different aspects of Human Rights in class often mention of religion arises, but usually it is in  the obstruction of a Human ‘Right’ (such as the struggle with religious affiliation and FGM)-a motive for war, or religion as an attribute to one of the many activists we have looked at.   Does this mean though that our modern interpretation of Human Rights is theologically rooted?  And if so then how does that facet work in collaboration with individualized moral concepts as well as familial lessons on good and evil?  It seems that this might be where the vagueness linked with Human Rights and our collective understanding is descended and thus forth fragmented.

I am trying to understand where my personal understanding of Human Rights, my levels of empathy, my concept of ultimate good and evil (and so on and so forth) come from.  With this I am continuing on my path of a scholarly approach to Human Rights-while at the same time keeping this continual question in mind.

inquiry blog #2 water & land-grabbin’

The following article found on Common Dreams, http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/03/07-3, shows a connection to issues of water to modern day colonialism, which is embodied through land-grabbing. I have explored ideas on issues of colonialism in other classes and I feel that this is a struggle which can be approached through the lens of human rights advocacy. It seems that the issues are often straining particularly for native peoples who are often forced into positions of submission by colonizers. I think that water is often incorporated and easily substituted for the definition of ‘land’ especially within the following analysis of the Common Dreams’ article and an article entitled Chiapas and the Global Restructuring of Capital by Ana Esther Ceceña and Andrés Barreda.

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The weighing tide of economic greed and control has swept indigenous people into and beneath its strong undercurrent. This has resulted in the displacement and destruction of numberless natives, particularly in Ethiopia. “Ethiopia is one of the hungriest countries in the world with more than 13 million people needing food aid, but paradoxically the government is offering at least 3m hectares of its most fertile land to rich countries and some of the world’s most wealthy individuals to export food for their own populations.” The deed of denying ones’ country and therefore people of sustainability results in a multitude of tragedies. Among them is the result in a great suffering for the lower class, of which native people make up the majority; as well as an enactment of de-composure of unity among the population which is also a further division of the social class in Africa.
This method of colonization which has been projected onto Africa, by its own government, is a meal worm which is eating its way through Africa’s potential apple of satisfaction. The land grab that Africa is struggling with is largely a product of individual greed, even from those native to Africa, such as Ethiopian-born Sheikh Mohammed al-Amour, who is one of the 50 richest men in the world, “His Saudi Star company plans to spend up to $2bn acquiring and developing 500,000 hectares of land in Ethiopia in the next few years.” The limited recognition to sustainability is being further illuminated by this illustration of a native who is buying land for profit with no regards to the detrimental effects that are wrought upon Africa and the population outside the individual.
As could be assumed, this struggle is not exclusive to Africa and is in fact found in Chiapas Mexico where there is forced indigenous labour for the benefit of a profiteer with no results for the people. “When the channels for exchange with the rest of the world are interrupted and the ecological balance is broken, as occurred with the conquest of Mexico, not only is the relationship between humans and nature altered, but the environment itself suffers from changed, depending on the magnitude of the impact.” This is to say that the effects of ‘land-grab’ upon Mexico, Africa, etc. is not only producing a strenuous situation for that natives, but also for the land itself. It is ironic then that many of the areas used for profit throughout both Mexico are the most biodiverse in the world, and the product inspiring much of the conflict in Africa is to be used for biofuel.
Though this tool of land-grabbing may not be new in colonialism’s history, but it is a novel disruption among the native peoples who are effected. The extent of destruction reaches beyond a taking of land, it is also harmful to entire communities, ecosystems, and cultures. Nyikaw Ochalla who is an indigenous Anuak of Ethiopia says; “The foreign companies are arriving in large numbers, depriving people of land they have used for centuries. There is no consultation with the indigenous population. The deals are done secretly. The only thing the local people see is people coming with lots of tractors to invade their lands.” The fragmentation of a people in the pursuit of profit has its ultimate embodiment through these mentioned acts. The entire depletion of a native is birthed firstly through the invasion of their property, then in the need to work for the profiteers in order to live, and then the steady infiltration of colonization which continues until the native is nothing but a cog in the wheel of economic progress.
There are alternative views as to a ‘resolution’ of land-grabbing, which in a large-scale perspective seem worthless without the consent to change by the profiteer, distributer and consumer. Rodney Cooke who is the director of the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development advocates for a potential future in this business, “I would avoid the blanket term ‘land-grabbing.’ Done the right way, these deals can bring benefits for all parties and be a tool for development.” While in contrast, the chief executive of Emergent Asset Management Susan Payne says, “…Many of the deals are widely condemned by both western non-government groups and nationals as ‘new colonialism,’ driving people off the land and taking scarce resources away from people.” The idea of a ‘new colonialism,’ is a slightly ignorant phrasing, since these demonstrated methods of colonialism have been in circulation for thousands of years. It seems that the only direct solution to this timeless conquest is either a successful uprising of the native people or the unlikely submission of the land-grabbers themselves.

A Long Way Gone

“Every time people come at us with the intention of killing us, I close my eyes and wait for death. Even though I am still alive, I feel like each time I accept death, part of me dies. Very soon I will completely die and all that will be left is my empty body walking with you. It will be quieter than I am.”
-Beah, 70

I stutter for fear of sounding cliche-but what Ishmael Beah has written is a raw re-telling of his time as a boy soldier in Sierra Leone. Beah’s narration surpasses many literary giants that I have personally encountered thus far and climbs into something of a greater emotional capacity. I think that it is stories such as Beah’s which unite all aspects of Human Rights- there is the personal role which Beah embodies, the insight and wisdom which he shares with the reader matched with the exposure of repeated Human Right’s violations, is an account nothing short of heart-opening. In Beah’s story I think he exposes areas of outbreak in Sierra Leone which violate many basic rights of equality, well-being ect. beyond that of the destruction of recruitment of young boys into the military. I think that Beah also opens the door to better understanding physical and mental destruction unleashed on human beings from other human beings-a social cannibalism which is hard to understand for many-and hard to curb for many more.

I think that the attraction to wholeness in Beah’s story comes from the hospitality, respect, and care that so many have shown in times of hardship-particularly towards Beah and therefore particularly exposed to the reader. One moment in the memoir which struck as an exposure of human understanding and universal connection was in the [inital] times which Beah spoke one on one with the Lieutenant-on the topic of Shakespeare, there are many aspects of universality within this dialogue.

I think that particularly through stories such as Beah’s one is able to understand simplistic yet destructive struggles which many are faced with: that including food, water, shelter, ect. It seems that many of these basic needs inspire comfort in a regard-that is to say that the boys are comfortable in a way-in their familial military units, with the red cross, Beah at his Uncle’s home in the city, ect. I think that food/water are two crucial aspects in providing somewhat of a level of this comfort. This seems to be a core consideration for the importance of these life-source and particularly the topic on which I wish to dwell: water.

inquiry blog (#1)

This is my first official inquiry blog and for this project I am going to be documenting the planning, preparation, and understanding of an event called Walk for Water which I am helping to put on in the Great-Barrington area.  This event is being planned in collaboration with the Barka Foundation and all proceeds from the event will go directly to the Barka Foundation… The Barka Foundation is working with communities in rural Burkina Faso who have limited and strenuous access to the most basic of human rights-WATER!  The money that is raised from this event, and from the many other efforts that this amazing NGO puts out goes directly towards providing the people of Burkina Faso with the means in which to supply themselves with water, as well as other ways by which to begin sustainable living in the bush of Burkina.  More detailed information can be found at the foundation’s website:

The specific goal of this event, Walk for Water, is to raise money for a well-building initiative in Farda-a small rural province/town(?) in Burkina. The struggles with beginning to work with a group as small as Barka grows apparent as time passes-it is interesting to see the struggles to maintain basic ideals of human rights, while at the same time knowing that the swindles of grassroots organizations are apparent as ever. It is a wonder that these occurrences exist, particularly in the respect that so often those with their hearts in the right place are manipulated by others who are only looking to widen their own pockets. This is not to speak poorly of the Barka Foundation in particular, this is to heed a general forewarning, mostly for myself.

Back to the event and the focus for my quest to understand aspects of human rights and the aim to magnify the ultimate lack of respect and rights that are in existence throughout the world…be that through understanding the true values of an NGO, making the idea of clean water possible…ect!

The Great Barrington Walk for Water is planned to take place on April 18, we will be walking 6 miles through Great Barrington, to signify the distance which the women of Burkina must walk each day in order to gather water. We will end the walk with a celebration, filled with speakers musicians, food, ceremonies, ect,ect. We hope to end at either Lake Mansfield or somewhere on the Simon’s Rock Campus so that we have enough room to fit the amount of people that we hope will come to this gathering.

The Walk for Water is also scheduled around Live Earth’s Run for Water:

…Which is also taking place April 18. These events, the event which I am involved in particularly is planned not only as a fundraiser, but also as a way in which to raise Community Awareness-uniting in the respect of Global Community, which is what I think the link from NGOs, small groups, big organizations are ultimately trying to establish (if it is in fact what they are trying to establish…) Which is why I feel that the support and efforts facing such events are imperative, not only for the local community-but also for the greater community which exists beyond a 50 mile radius.

calling the ghosts

through the 1996 documentary ‘calling the ghosts,’ the journey of  a few women’s stay in the omarska camp is remembered and released.  in this documentary there is a process which is unveiled for not only the viewer but also the women shown speaking about their experiences: the way in which the women allow for themselves to share the most personal aspects through the lens of time.  throughout the film i found myself focused on what goes on in the process of recollection…how it is that something which can seem one way (such as the torture and abuse towards these women) after survival and ‘overcoming’ in a way what has happend.  it seems that in parts this the film picks up in parts what it is that has actually happened at omarska, but a lot of basic information was left to this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omarska_camp

it seems that the problems of the women who have left this concentration camp are deeply rooted not only in what they had seen in omarska itself-but also their individual experiences building up to the point of their torture…

in the film one of the woman re-accounted seeing a man with cuts across his neck and a broken collarbone  tighten his shirt collar as he walked past a group of women she was among-saving both his own dignity and albit prideful-attempting to shelter these women of what had been done to him (although all the women at omarska were tortured on a very near equal level).  i thought this was interesting though because no matter the victim/predator status there are always elements of humanity-glimpses at emotions which are uniting facets in many regards to society/culture/humans… but it seems that often when that is ignored there is a struggle which is met and has to be dealt with and that struggle is seeing someone as a lesser being-not as whole/pure/valuable as you…

what is often difficult for me to understand in the face of such deeply ingrained and intense issues, such as those raised by the documentary, or the whole of my readings and viewings lately, is that there is constantly the underlying question of what makes up right and wrong for people…i understand that there are the instinctual answers to that question and in many regards it would sound almost stupid to ask if human torture or rape or war were “bad” things…because they are right?  but then in thinking about it, there are those who choose to partake in these actions, the guards and supervisors  at omarska still had hearts and emotions…same as those they were torturing, right?  and while in certain aspects i understand that this is a  very basic humanitarian question and i am bordering on the edges of nieve when asking it…but i think that there are many core elements and issues which can be addressed and possibly solved through remembering this crucial element… how it could be done i don’t know.

“is it Hutu and Tutsi or Tutu and Hutsi?” [quote courtesy: joint chiefs of staff at the pentagon]

the following article discussed can be found at the following link:

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200109/power-genocide

“In the three days during which some 4,000 foreigners were evacuated, about 20,000 Rwandans were killed.  After the American evacuees were safely out and the U.$. embassy had been closed, Bill and Hillary Clinton visited the people who had manned the emergency-operations room at the state department and offered congratulations on a “job well done.”"-Bystanders to Genocide

what is voiced throughout this 2001 article from the atlantic seems to be an undercurrent carried over from the first post.  the solution to this havoc and sense of miscommunication or corrupted interactions (among countries-among staff-and so on and so forth) seems to be a collected in the ignorant and dissatisfactory ways in which the situation in Rwanda was approached [particularly by the u.s].  however despite this, the power (after-shock as well as original destruction) is faced with a entirely biased method of dealing with situations-of natural or man-made disasters.  therefore what is done and produced within and following these scenarios is not that which comes from any genuine expression of empathy, humanity, ect-rather simply acts in the effort to look wholesome (understanding, productive, so on) in the face of the public.  

as the previous post touched upon-i think that this article raises points of 1) the racism and cultural segregation which still thrives especially in the hearts and minds of the elite-2) lack of understanding of different societies stems from the  position that most, particularly in western society, originate from ignoring almost all that is not beneath the nose and 3) almost all of these ‘problems’ have the opportunity to dissipate from a concept as simple as education.  

in many cases involving more than one country (and even in the case in which it is a single country/place) the most promising method in which to resolve or better understand the goings on is through learning.  as the concept of what education means-particularly to us as a nation is dependent.  it seems that had there been communication and even abstract forms of education between the u.s. and rwanda following the genocide there could have been a better if not overall reaction-if not simply a better foundation to build off of…

in the role of a student/teacher-in general the teacher holds more authority over the student and it continues this way until the are equal (for example in teacher/teacher circumstances) which is why it is by no means my intention to illuminate that there should be power roles embodied by for example the u.s. while other countries i.e. rwanda are limited to lesser areas in the metaphoric ‘student’ role.  and i am simply restating this for my own clarification as well as for fear that this thought is not illuminated by previous statements.  what rather-in a more clearer sense i am attempting to propose is  that there is a constantly switching role of teacher/student between countries in communication-especially in the wake of tragedy.  what however i understand often occurs is that there is a imbalance in this possible positions of shared power and experience-and further in the exploration of this idea-if there is this shared teaching amongst people perhaps unity can easier seep through and provide mechanics to change.