United Nations Map of Women in Politics 2020 Created by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UN Women, showing global rankings as of January 1, 2020 Source: UN Women
Praise to the women of our world on this International Women’s Day 2021!
Praise to the women of our world who grow and reap our food crops with little or no pay.
Praise to the women of our world in the health care services who risk their lives daily, fighting to save the lives of our loved ones stricken with COVID-19.
Praise to the women of our world left alone to care for children suffering from debilitating diseases and mental illness.
Praise to the women of our world who sacrifice their dreams and talents to raise their children or care for aging and sick parents.
Praise to the women of our world who struggle to eke out an existence doing low-paid essential work.
Praise to the women of our world who support, defend, uplift, and empower other women and girls.
Praise to the women of our world who, despite the challenges of married life, continue to hold their families together within a loving and nurturing environment.
Praise to the women of our world who work in all levels of our local and national government to bring about the changes we need for a more just and equitable world.
Excerpt from Former President Barack Obama’s Eulogy honoring Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland:
[T]here is nothing weak about kindness and compassion. There is nothing weak about looking out for others. There is nothing weak about being honorable. You are not a sucker to have integrity and to treat others with respect…
“The cost of doing nothing isn’t nothing,” [Elijah] would say, and folks would remember why they entered into public service. “Our children are the living messengers we send to a future we will never see,” he would say, and he would remind all of us that our time is too short not to fight for what’s good and what is true and what is best in America.
Two hundred years to 300 years from now, [Elijah] would say, people will look back at this moment and they will ask the question “What did you do?” And hearing him, we would be reminded that it falls upon each of us to give voice to the voiceless, and comfort to the sick, and opportunity to those not born to it, and to preserve and nurture our democracy.
It is so easy to disparage others when we are in a privileged position of wealth and power. In such positions, we can lose touch with our shared fragility as human beings. We can forget that the labor of millions of invisible human beings sustains our lives. Immersed in our comforts and luxuries, we can believe we belong to an invincible special breed.
In October 2017, I featured the work of the young immigrant Salvadoran poet, Javier Zamora, who holds a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) now up for review by our Congress. Following that post, another Salvadoran immigrant, who blogs under the name Koyote the Blind, started following my blog. Our president’s disparaging remarks about his country has struck a deep wound.
Ruins of Tazumal – pre-Columbian Mayan archeological site in Chalchuapa – El Salvador
In his blog post, “I come from a shit-hole,” on Thursday, January 11, he wrote:
I am Salvadoran, even if the term was imposed by Spain. I am American, even if the US thinks they own the name. I am güanaco, even if you think it’s an insult.
I am not Mexican. Mexicans call me “cerote”–a piece of turd.
Today, Trump agreed with them. Today, he said he didn’t understand why liberals want to bring people from those shit-hole countries.
I am a piece of turd from a shit-hole country in the backyard of Ronald Reagan.
Yet, I am here. And I come from the Land of the Jewel, Cuzcatlan, the last bastion of resistance.
I am here to stay, and to change this land, this entire continent, into what it truly is: the mother land in the process of awakening.
You may see in me a turd from a shit-hole country, but I see in you and me and all the true silver light of the empty mind, the freedom from the past, the glory of the New Sun that heralds the coming of the True Human Being. I am here to share that future with you, my reader, without hatred in my heart, without resentment, and without any names to hurl back at you.
Whether we live on the African continent, El Salvador, Haiti, Norway, or the United States of America, we are all human beings with short life spans in the grand scheme of death and rebirth of interconnected cycles of life on Planet Earth. What makes our insignificant lives meaningful is not our material trappings, but rather the way in which we touch the lives of others we meet along our journey. The greater our influence and power, the greater our responsibility to do good in the world.
East Indian Cane cutter – Guyana
Photo by John Gimlette (2013)
In honor of Guyana’s fiftieth Independence anniversary on May 26th, my Poetry Corner April 2016 features an excerpt from the poem “Sugar” by Guyanese poet and award-winning short story writer Ruel Johnson. His work largely focuses on social and political issues facing Guyana. In the long, multi-sectional featured poem, he addresses the legacy of colonialism on the enduring divide between the two major ethnic populations: the descendants of African slaves and East Indian indentured laborers.
In section 1—stalk, Johnson recalls his boyhood days growing up in the capital. Sugarcane was a sweet treat. His imagery of his mother whacking the stalk along the joints with her best knife takes us into the canefields. The sweet juice comes at a great price. Continue reading →
Unknown Pianist Performs John Lennon’s “Imagine”
Tribute to victims of terrorist attacks – Paris – France – November 13, 2015
This past week has been a difficult one for me. Today, November 15, I said goodbye to a couple and their six-year-old daughter: my dear friends and neighbors for the past six years. They are moving to another state to be close to the wife’s family. A victim of the toxic fumes and dust damaging his lungs, in the aftermath of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, the husband and father now faces a battle to keep breathing.
Unlike those who sought vengeance and war against the “barbaric” enemy, this man did not fill his heart with hatred for those responsible for taking away the life he once had. Instead, he and his wife raised their daughter with a bounty of love. At eighteen months old, on recognizing me, she ran towards me with her arms open in flight. Since then, she has been my joy and gardening companion. She and her parents welcomed me into their hearts and lives.
Today, my heart is heavy with loss. Though far away, they will remain close to my heart.
On Friday, November 13th, came the news of the attacks on Paris in France, leaving 129 dead and 352 injured. I feel the pain of the people of Paris who have lost a loved one during these attacks. I mourn their loss.
I feel the pain and desperation of millions of refugees from across Africa and the Middle East who have also lost loved ones, as well as their homes and means of livelihood, and have turned to Europe for a safe refuge. The attacks on Paris – allegedly carried out by jihadists posing as refugees – now place their lives in even greater jeopardy.
Following the 9/11 attacks on New York City, our government initiated what has now become an endless War on Terror. How does one fight terror with more terror? It beats me. Over the past fourteen years of terrorizing our enemies with our military might and raining bombs, we have created what I consider our “Terrorist Beast.” Created with deception, lies, and greed, this Terrorist Beast feeds on our hatred and acts of violence in its hunting grounds.
France’s President Francois Hollande called the recent attacks on Paris an “act of barbarism.” How easy it is for us to demonize our enemies as barbaric! Warfare is barbaric, no matter which side wields the weapon. Will France and its allies continue to feed this Terrorist Beast with more bombs and boots-on-the-ground?
Lest we risk losing touch with our shared humanity, I highly recommend that you set aside time to watch the three-part series of the documentary film, HUMAN. It’s producers give us a remarkable opportunity to listen to and reflect upon what it is to be human as expressed by other humans across our diverse planet.
The fate of humanity rests in our hands. Let us not allow the powers that be to continue stoking our fears and sabotaging our lives.
Nell Vera Lowe Williams (1918-2006)
Jamaica – 1940s
Photo Credit: Finding Samuel Lowe
On August 1, 2015, I met author and entrepreneur Paula Williams Madison at the Leimert Park Book Fair in Los Angeles. What a surprise to learn that our grandfathers were both Hakka Chinese immigrants to the Caribbean!
Born in Harlem, New York, to Jamaican immigrants, Madison is the youngest of three siblings. Her memoir, Finding Samuel Lowe: China, Jamaica, Harlem, recounts her quest to find her maternal Chinese grandfather. At the heart of her riveting journey is her mother, Nell Vera Lowe Williams.
My connection with Nell Vera Lowe was immediate and intense. I saw the multitude of Caribbean women who fight against all odds for their place in the sun, raising their children to become achievers. I saw my mother. I saw myself. Continue reading →
My friend Marcella Capasso, a freelance food stylist, is a soft-spoken, unassuming person and mother of a six-year-old daughter. Those photos of mouthwatering food in cookbooks, magazines, menus, and product labels have all been styled. For photo shoots, she buys and prepares the food or beverages, and then arranges it for the camera. Over the years I’ve known her, she has shared artisan bread, exotic fruits, green vegetables, and fresh flowers used in her various photo shoots. I’ve also enjoyed some of the dishes she has prepared as recipe tester for magazines.
Born in Idaho, where she attended Boise State University, Marcella moved to New York in search of her dream career. Beginning in 1998, her job as bookkeeper for Ross Whitaker, a top New York photographer, exposed her to the discipline needed for success in the business and introduced her to food styling. Following advice from food stylists, she went back to school; this time, to a culinary arts school for essential cooking and baking skills. Continue reading →
Has your life been changed by a record-breaking climatic event? Have you lost your home or means to support yourself and family because of climate change? Are you concerned about global warming and climate change? Are you frustrated with the inaction of our political and industrial leaders?
If you’ve answered “yes” to any of the above questions, here’s an opportunity to take action, to do your part. This coming weekend of September 20-21, 2014, let’s show up at the People’s Climate March in a city near us.
“The People’s Climate March is an invitation to anyone who’d like to prove to themselves, and to their children, that they give a damn about the biggest crisis our civilization has ever faced” said Bill McKibben, climate author and environmentalist turned activist, and co-founder of 350.ORG, a global climate movement.
In the United States, the major event will take place in New York City where the United Nations Climate Summit 2014 is scheduled for September 23. Heads of State and Government, together with leaders from business and civil society, are invited to announce significant and substantial initiatives to help move the world toward a path that will limit global warming (UN Press Release No. 6418 dated 11 August 2014).
“The race is on, and now is the time for leaders to step up and steer the world towards a safer future,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Extreme climatic conditions affect all aspects of our lives: health, economy (jobs), education, and the security of our families. The longer we delay to build cleaner, low-carbon economies, the more expensive it will become. The number of people worldwide facing hunger and malnutrition will catapult.
Learn more about how we got here and the consequences of ignoring climate change. Watch the documentary film, Disruption, produced by 350.ORG and released on September 7, 2014.
Over 1,000 organizations have pledged support for the People’s Climate March; over 300 colleges and universities are expected to attend. The world will be watching. For information about events in or near your location, go to the People’s Climate website.
We need ACTION, not more words. Join the People’s Climate March.
Faces of the People of Guyana
Guyana National Junior Squash Team – August 2012
Photo Credit: Guyana Times International
We are a complex species, living in a complex world of our own design. Except in small rural communities and suburban enclaves where people know each other by name, our urban centers have become too large for us to know everyone. In many cases, we don’t even know or chat with our neighbors.
In order to meet the needs of a nation’s population, policymakers rely upon a critical planning tool: the national Population and Housing Census. Such a comprehensive population count is not only costly but also a colossal operation. For about 150 developing countries, home to 80 percent of the world’s population, help comes from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Undertaken every ten years and in compliance with the United Nations’ mandate for the 2010 Global Round of Censuses, Guyana held its Population and Housing Census on 15 September 2012. In June 2014, the Guyana Bureau of Statistics released its Preliminary Report of the nation’s 2012 Census. All population figures are not yet available; factors affecting changes since the 2002 Census have not been fully analyzed. Continue reading →
Untitled Painting of Wind Moving Clothing – Watercolor by Bannon Fu
California – USA
Photo Credit: Bannon Fu
Why is it that some paintings grab our attention more than others? This was just a painting of clothes blowing in the wind, similar to the one in the above photo by the same artist. The artist chose female dress wear, of colorful and diverse shapes, as his subject. In a world of washing machines and clothes dryers, it seems a lifetime ago since I hung laundry on a line to dry.
“It’s beautiful,” I told the woman seated at the table in the booth at the Affair of the Arts 2014 held in Culver City during the weekend of June 7 & 8.
She rose to join me, standing in front of the largest painting in the collection on display. “It’s my father’s work,” she said. “It’s all about the wind.” Continue reading →
