Feed a Child South Africa | Problematic Advert

In the name of charity is it ever alright to depict a black child as a dog belonging to a white owner who is fed scraps off food to throughout the course of the day? Even if the message is to state that many children eat worst than dogs. This is what This is Africa is asking.  Take a look at the advert by Feed a Child South Africa. It just screams wrong, wrong, wrong. If this is how white South Africans see the indigenous Black populations poor children, what do they think of the rest? The advert is in one of the most poor tastes I have seen in a long while. I just wonder if poor white children are depicted in this way in South Africa. It is just bad really. The could have done this ad by showing a well fed dog and a child with an empty bowl at a dinner table to sat on a porch. If this is the box they are in, this charity needs to think outside of it.

Read the article on This is Africa here.

Bring Back Our Girls

 My heart bleeds for the parents of the missing school girls kidnapped whilst sitting or preparing to take their final exams. About 234+ girls were kidnapped. Some are said to have been sold as brides to rebels in neighbouring countries. The islamist group responsible have been very boastful of the fact they have done such a horrible crime. They are against western education for some reason and may have done more kidnappings. Social media users have been highlighting their plight for the past week and the mainstream media and international governments are now paying closer attention. Both the UK and USA have extended their hand to offer help. 40 girls are said to have escaped but the rest still remain missing and their lives are at risk whilst in the hands of their captors or worst forced marriage and conversion to the islamic faith.

The Root has a very good synopsis of events and some background info you can read it here.

CNN also gives a very good breakdown of events with updates to read you can click here.

Please keep the girls and their families in prayer! 

We remember Stephen Lawrence

20 years ago today Stephen Lawrence and his best friend Duwayne Brooks were set upon by a gang of white boys intent on causing harm to anyone based on the colour of their skin. Stephen and Duwayne being black males became their target. Sadly Stephen was unable to get away from the brutal and fatal attack and died. The police were deemed as not treating the case seriously at the time and even treated the surviving victim as a criminal. 

The Macpherson report came out years later after the murder and the first trials and told the UK what the Black community already knew and experienced. There was institutional racism in the police force. However still today some things have not changed. Stop and searches of non-whites have increased. Black people are stopped 1 in 10 times and yet only a small proportion are actually ever charged with a crime. The UK has a long way to go indeed. The comment sections of certain newspapers are filled with folk saying it is time to let it go and move on. However all his murderers are not behind bars. So the fight must continue.

At the time of his untimely passing Stephen was a student with dreams of becoming an architect. His family have set up a charity The Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust that raises funds to help young people achieve their dreams in the same industry. 

Today a memorial service was held at St. Martins In the Fields Church in London in remembrance of Stephen. 

Issues with the Kony 2012 video

Over the last few days I have watched many Ugandans and non Ugandan people discuss the flaws in the Invisible Childrens charity status, motives and context of their video. The crux of the critique says that Kony is not in Uganda and has not been for years. He may be dead but that is not confirmed. Also there are many grass roots organisations in Uganda that is making changes spearheaded by locals. Also Uganda has newly discovered oil which the west may be after and not peace in the land. This video below was a very interesting critique from a Ugandan blogger.

KONY 2012 - Invisible Children

We are aware of the many wars taking place around the world. Especially if there is oil or natural resources in place Western governments make sure we know about it and the next thing you know there is an international war taking place. But what about the countries who  hold no strategic place in the world or those with no voice. The Kony 2012 campaign by Invisible Children want to give these children a voice and ask the world governments to step in and do something for the good of mankind. Imagine being a child having to run away in the dark of night to prevent yourself from becoming a child soldier. Children are being forced to kill and girls are used as sex slaves. 

Now I was skeptical reading about this because it was the usual American (European) heading to Africa to act as saviour. However I feel if Africa and her people continently and diaspora can use such people in the right way she could benefit. These children are being given a voice they did not have before. Let us not just sit back and complain about what a different race is doing. Maybe we should be pro-active and if many are already pro-active, get them heard. Better a solution then a problem.

I wish the campaign all the best. I also hope that all the other wars that are going on get as much spotlight time for change as well. Let us hope Joseph Kony is captured. Africa deserves peace and progression their own way.

KONY 2012 is a film and campaign by Invisible Children that aims to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice. (source)


Jezebel has a critique of the campaign that is worth reading. You can read the article here. 

Judge Mathis views on Troy Davis execution

I saw this and found what he had to say interesting.

Quote of the day - Tariq Jahan

Tariq Jahan lost his son last night as he amongst others put themselves forward to defend their communities against the rioters and looters that have been gripping the UK. In is grief he asks for peace and that all races unite for the better of the community. 

"Today we stand here to plead with all the youth to remain calm (and) for our communities to stand united. This is not a race issue.
"Blacks, Asians, whites - we all live in the same community. Why do we have to kill each other?
"I lost my son. Step forward if you want to lose your sons. Otherwise, calm down and go home."
(source)

UK Riots

I am still in shock regarding the current events gripping the UK. A peaceful protest exploded into a riot in Tottenham, London. The riot turned into looting and as such has spread across London and across the UK. The media are blaming social media platforms such as Twitter Facebook and Blackberry messenger. There is something deeper going on here. This video was brought to my attention which puts an interesting perspective on the whole youth revolt shall we call it( although quite clearly there are middle age people amongst them).

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Rio Ferdinand appeal for murdered friend

I saw this on Mad News Blog and thought it was worth sharing on here. Hopefully they will catch the people who did this.

French police man handle African women and children

I was browsing World Star HipHop when I came across this video. It is so painful to watch. The people in the video have been living in the street after being evicted from their tower block council homes so that they can be demolished and replaced with a new housing project.  Surely these ladies with babies and some heavily pregnant as you can see would not just decide to sleep on the street.

This incident occurred on July 21, 2010 in La Courneuve, France. The protest had been going on since 8 July 2010. The police are shown dragging mothers away knowing that babies are tied to their backs. In one scene you could see a baby almost squashed under its mum. Some of what I have read so far says that the government had offered very short term hotel housing, however the protests and squats developed out of a need for a more long term solution. The were only being offered 3 to 12 nights in a hotel. I thought these so called civilised countries in the west would have thought ahead of themselves and re-housed people before making them homeless.

I would love to know more about these ladies plight. Especially since the French government and police have tried to keep all cameras out. There is definitely more to this story.

This video gives some commentary below. There is some bias and the repoter comes across very flippant.


Read more here on CNN and check out MediaPart who filmed the footage. The site is in French but google can translate for you.

Has Justice Prevailed

A young man went to his mum’s home for lunch one day. As a result he disturbed two burglars and a struggle ensued. The results of which led to one of the burglars who were both armed, passing away. The police treated the victim as the criminal and placed him on a charge. Today Omari Roberts was due to stand trial for the murder of an armed burglar in his mothers home. What if his mum was at home at the time? I can only imagine what harm these boys would have tried to do to her.

This is what Omari had to say about the incident and the charges he was facing

"The past year for me has been a nightmare. It's been very stressful. I haven't wanted the events to happen as they have happened.

"I have been taken away from my family. I have had restrictions to what I can do. I am overwhelmed that the charges have been dropped but it still hasn't sunk in yet." (read more here)

English law is very fickle. From what I understand if someone attacks you providing you let them beat you up you can press charges. If you defend yourself your attacker can by law now have charges put against you. This seems to be the same ethos used by the police in this case. But is his right? This reminds me of the Tony Martin Case where he shot and killed burglars on his remote farm. He was found guilty of murder and the surviving burglar tried to sue him for loss of earnings.

There needs to be a balance and if someone goes to someone else’s home with the intent to take what is not theirs, they should face a stiffer penalty. I pray and hope Omari is still able to continue with his building career or anything positive in his life.

Your thoughts?

Missing – Audrey Nyanor 18 months old

I was reading Mad News Blog when I came across this story. A young toddler named Audrey Nyanor was given to a stranger or simply the wrong person by the Metropolitan Police in error. Her mum was arrested on immigration grounds and arrangements were made for family and friends to collect the little girl. However a woman who claimed to be a friend of the mum turned up and took her. Police say the details matched who they thought was coming for her.

In the Guardian article it shows that it took just ten minutes between the stranger arriving and being handed the girl. Now Audrey is missing. The lady who took her knew information about who was supposed to collect her. But ten minutes. Surely her mum should have been allowed to identify the woman before the hand over.

Audrey was last seen wearing pink trousers, pink coat and a multi-coloured pink and white hat. She is of Ghanaian heritage.

Anyone with information should call the incident room on 020 8721 4906 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Update - Audrey has been found safe and well at an address in Harlesdon North London. Police have arrested a woman in her 30s. This is such good news for her family who can now go onto enjoy Christmas together. 

He will do it again – Oprah tells Rihanna

I was just catching up on one of fave blogs I love to read. Even when I cannot be bothered to read there are celeb photo’s galore.

Anyway I saw this clip posted on SandraRose about Oprah giving Rihanna a warning. In the clip Oprah stresses the need for counselling and healing. Then stresses further “If a man hits you once, he will hit you again!”

Oprah points out that 1 in 4 American women and girls are victims of domestic abuse. According to Womens aid uk 1 in 4 women will fall victim to such abuse at least once in their lifetime. That is a lot of women. What is worst is that 2 women a week are dying at the hands of abusive partners or by their exe’s.



Just have a look at this article. A man was convicted of hammering to death his ex girlfriend and her two children. Her daughter was a rising star who appeared on Young stars in their eyes.

The saddest thing is love can be over blind. I know many friends who forgive and carry on with their abusive partners. I suppose unless you are in that situation you can never truly know what it is like. I have already told my husband and his ignorant friends if he was to ever try that 999 is my best friend on speed dial.

If you are in the UK need some advice check out the following links:

Home Office Domestic Abuse site

Women's Aid

Refuge

shaquanda cotton

i came across this blog as i was browsing my favourite site bnv.

here is a 14yr old girl convicted of a crime for shoving past someone at school. She is from Paris in Texas. I think that speaks volumes

please visit her blog

http://www.freeshaquandacotton.blogspot.com/