Author: mara.ahmed

Bernie Sanders leads Donald Trump by widest margin of all 2020 candidates

but nobody likes him and he’s not electable…

Senator Bernie Sanders leads President Donald Trump by the widest margin of all the candidates in the Democratic Party’s 2020 race when Americans are asked to choose in a face-off against the Republican incumbent, according to a poll. More here.

Rochesterian advocates for equity despite facing racism, sexism, and ableism

the incredible luticha doucette <3

Noelle C. Evans: Luticha Doucette is the equity coordinator at Rochester City Hall. Currently, she’s working on the Race Equity and Leadership Initiative (REAL) for city government. REAL is part of a program with the National League of Cities aimed to address structural racism through policy and civic engagement.

She says that while there are conversations in Rochester around racial equity, like REAL, there isn’t as much visibility for disabilities.

“Disability is often put to the wayside. And you can’t separate the two. I’m not disabled on a Sunday, right? I’m disabled 24/7 just like I’m black 24/7,” she says.

For Doucette, she says a mix of sexism, racism, and ableism — which is discrimination against those with disabilities — put her in a life-threatening situation a few years ago when she was having health complications. More here.

parasite – my review

‘parasite’ is hard to love. it’s a dark comedy full of grift and grotesquerie. the characters are complicated – neither heroes nor villains – and so they don’t offer the kind of clarity or predictability that we expect from american films. as a piece of art, the film is a masterpiece of meticulous structure, powerful performances, blunt metaphors, and unapologetic political commentary. class struggle, the lack of worker solidarity, climate change, the violent and precarious nature of capitalism, and the vulgar society/culture it spawns are all addressed sharply in the film. it’s a bold questioning of south korea’s neoliberal restructuring (IMF-style) and its present-day hyperconsumerism. bong joon-ho has much to say and i cannot wait to hear more.

Rosalie “Daystar” Jones – Using art to carry tradition forward

The beautiful Rosalie M. Jones who choreographed and performed for The Injured Body: A Film about Racism in America <3

Rebecca Rafferty: Jones has had an active and impressive career as a pioneer of what she called Native Modern Dance, which draws inspiration from Indigenous inter-tribal dance as well as the modern dance she studied in her postgraduate days at Juilliard (where she hung out with the legendary Martha Graham).

She was born on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana. Her mother was Chippewa and her father was a Welsh-Canadian railroad worker who crossed the border at 18 and met her mother on the reservation.

“I think because the both of them had hard childhoods and really no opportunities for formal education, they wanted to give that to me,” Jones said. “So consequently, I was encouraged from the very beginning to get college degrees, university degrees, and pursue my own talents and ideas for my lifetime work.” More here.

An evening to remember

This evening a fabulous friend organized a dessert extravaganza at her home, baked exquisite cakes, made flan and even kulfi (for real?) and invited some of the beautiful women I am blessed to call my friends. They are poets, writers, artists, photographers, dancers, choreographers, curators, lawyers, journalists, feminists, activists, professors, philosophers, counselors, storytellers, community leaders, my sisters. I wrote about each of them because I wanted them to know what they mean to me. It was emotional. I had to focus hard in order to keep my voice steady. The beauty around me was overwhelming. Thank u Sabina for joining us, and thank u Amanda, Annette, Debora, Erica, Kristin, Lauren, Liz, Lu, Mariko, Pamela, Reilly, Sady, Sejal, Smriti, and Yvonne for being who u are. Love u all <3

Tamil rapper Arivu’s fiery ‘Sanda Seivom’ takes on CAA-NRC

The song’s video was published on the Therukkural YouTube page on Pongal day along with the message: “In solidarity to the CAA protests happening all over the country and to the students who are sacrificing their valuable time and energy for a secular society and to save the constitution of India.”

The lines “Who am I? Who are you? Who is your grandfather? Will NRC dig out all of that?” take jibes at the National Register of Citizens (NRC) that was implemented in Assam and which the Indian government intends to extend to the rest of the country in due course. The song has powerful lines on citizenship, equality and discrimination based on one’s religion.

“Come forward Tamizha, let us fight! In the streets, let us fight. United as one, let us fight. If our rights are taken, let us fight!” In his latest song ‘Sanda Seivom’, Tamil rapper Arivu whose album Therukkural released last year, calls for Tamil people to unite against the discriminatory… More here.