'Black Masculinit(ies)y' and Domestic Violence

As the recent passing of a long protracted, groundbreaking Law Against Domestic Violence is widely celebrated in Angola, while R&B artist Chris Brown is on his way to perform in that country, I found particularly fitting an article entitled “Why Black Men Should Become Feminists”, by Symeon Brown, from which I’ve taken the following excerpts:




Benjamin Zephaniah, the poet who famously turned down the Queen's honour to maintain his own, paused when a white audience member at a talk he was giving asked him: 'Why do you never talk about your father?'
For the first time that evening, at the Keats Poetry Festival held against a backdrop of million pound homes in Hampstead, north London, to a largely female audience, the poet's joviality departed. He then shared how he had first been introduced to rhythm and blues through the fists his father used against his mother. In hushed silence, the audience heard how Zephaniah’s second brush with violence was when he picked up a knife to defend her. But, in an ugly twist of irony, he confessed how he went on to reproduce this violent behaviour against women himself.

Zephaniah recalled with honesty: “I noticed I had the same rhythm as my father until one day I thought, ‘what am I doing?’ I stopped and had to unlearn what I had learnt.” The healing he has undergone is clear from his sincere declaration of support for women and his role as a champion of women’s rights.

Zephaniah once stated: “No nation is free of chauvinistic, violent men, and no one should need to run from them. The ‘system’ should deal with them, and if the system can't, change it.”




Days earlier at another event, the great Nigerian playwright and former Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, also called for an end to the global inequality between men and women. With two prominent black male thinkers advocating equality for women, is it a sign that black men are becoming feminists?

The F-word is a scary one to many black men and some black women too. Feminism, fairly or unfairly, is seen as white, middle-class and a set of beliefs that pits men and women against each other. However, feminism is a broad church of ideologies and views.

But the basis of both radical and moderate views is a recognition that relationships between men and women need to change. Relationships between today’s young men and young women certainly need to.




Zephaniah’s public declaration of healing was as powerful as R&B singer Chris Brown’s decline after he was found guilty of assaulting his then girlfriend Rihanna. Both men were victims themselves when, as children, they watched their mothers being beaten and as men both reproduced what they saw as children. But while Zephaniah was able to privately heal through a mixture of introspection and positive self-criticism, Chris Brown’s public exposure led his agents to do what they had to: protect the brand, rather than the man.

In this digital age of Twitter, putting up a front is a luxury celebrities can no longer afford. In March, we saw how Chris Brown flew into a rage, ripping his shirt and trashing his dressing room, after an interviewer pressed him about the incident. You do not need to be a regular Bossip reader to guess that underneath the tattoos, there is a broken boy who has not exorcised his demons.

Chris Brown needs to unlearn his understanding of how men and women relate to each other. It would have been impossible for him to do this when the two contrasting public reactions to his violation - those who began a public witchhunt against him and those that blamed Rihanna – were both wrong. Neither response allows for the road to Damascus moment that Benjamin experienced. The latter marginalised him, and the former excused his accountability.





[Full article here]







[video from here]





[Mama - Hugh Masekela]

I wrote this song in 1995 when my wife had assured me that after five years of her refusing to come back to live in South Africa with me, she was finally leaving New York City, packing up her goods, zipping up her boots and coming home to her roots where I was waiting for her. However she told me otherwise when we met in Paris in July of that year. My addiction to alcohol and drugs was beginning to peak and one night after I returned from France, I got very zonked at the piano, feeling very sorry for myself and this song was sent to me. We recorded it the following year on the "Notes of Life" album when I was beginning to hit rock bottom. A year later, I went to England for recovery and I am so glad I did, because I am now enjoying my third year of sobriety after 44 years of addiction. Needless to say, my wife never came back; we finally said goodbye at the end of 1997. This song is a sad reminder of my most irresponsible years and down time. I will never wish anything like that on anybody, especially myself.

Hugh Masekela





Posts Relacionados:


The Gender Debate: Reality Bites from The Youth

O Execravel Puto Pe' Descalco

The Burden of The Black Woman

O CIDADAO EM ANGOLA

De Assassinos a Sangue Frio...

O "Crime de Lesa-Patria"...

Coitado!

Um Passo em Frente?

Mensagens de JC

A Orgia

Dinheiro, Dinheiro Para Que Te Quero?

A Proposito dos Monologos da Vagina

Kwando a Diferenca...

Kwao 'Amabilis' e' o Homo Angolensis...

Epifania

Terra Queimada

...AND RAISE BEAUTY TO ANOTHER LEVEL OF SWEETNESS

As the recent passing of a long protracted, groundbreaking Law Against Domestic Violence is widely celebrated in Angola, while R&B artist Chris Brown is on his way to perform in that country, I found particularly fitting an article entitled “Why Black Men Should Become Feminists”, by Symeon Brown, from which I’ve taken the following excerpts:




Benjamin Zephaniah, the poet who famously turned down the Queen's honour to maintain his own, paused when a white audience member at a talk he was giving asked him: 'Why do you never talk about your father?'
For the first time that evening, at the Keats Poetry Festival held against a backdrop of million pound homes in Hampstead, north London, to a largely female audience, the poet's joviality departed. He then shared how he had first been introduced to rhythm and blues through the fists his father used against his mother. In hushed silence, the audience heard how Zephaniah’s second brush with violence was when he picked up a knife to defend her. But, in an ugly twist of irony, he confessed how he went on to reproduce this violent behaviour against women himself.

Zephaniah recalled with honesty: “I noticed I had the same rhythm as my father until one day I thought, ‘what am I doing?’ I stopped and had to unlearn what I had learnt.” The healing he has undergone is clear from his sincere declaration of support for women and his role as a champion of women’s rights.

Zephaniah once stated: “No nation is free of chauvinistic, violent men, and no one should need to run from them. The ‘system’ should deal with them, and if the system can't, change it.”




Days earlier at another event, the great Nigerian playwright and former Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, also called for an end to the global inequality between men and women. With two prominent black male thinkers advocating equality for women, is it a sign that black men are becoming feminists?

The F-word is a scary one to many black men and some black women too. Feminism, fairly or unfairly, is seen as white, middle-class and a set of beliefs that pits men and women against each other. However, feminism is a broad church of ideologies and views.

But the basis of both radical and moderate views is a recognition that relationships between men and women need to change. Relationships between today’s young men and young women certainly need to.




Zephaniah’s public declaration of healing was as powerful as R&B singer Chris Brown’s decline after he was found guilty of assaulting his then girlfriend Rihanna. Both men were victims themselves when, as children, they watched their mothers being beaten and as men both reproduced what they saw as children. But while Zephaniah was able to privately heal through a mixture of introspection and positive self-criticism, Chris Brown’s public exposure led his agents to do what they had to: protect the brand, rather than the man.

In this digital age of Twitter, putting up a front is a luxury celebrities can no longer afford. In March, we saw how Chris Brown flew into a rage, ripping his shirt and trashing his dressing room, after an interviewer pressed him about the incident. You do not need to be a regular Bossip reader to guess that underneath the tattoos, there is a broken boy who has not exorcised his demons.

Chris Brown needs to unlearn his understanding of how men and women relate to each other. It would have been impossible for him to do this when the two contrasting public reactions to his violation - those who began a public witchhunt against him and those that blamed Rihanna – were both wrong. Neither response allows for the road to Damascus moment that Benjamin experienced. The latter marginalised him, and the former excused his accountability.





[Full article here]







[video from here]





[Mama - Hugh Masekela]

I wrote this song in 1995 when my wife had assured me that after five years of her refusing to come back to live in South Africa with me, she was finally leaving New York City, packing up her goods, zipping up her boots and coming home to her roots where I was waiting for her. However she told me otherwise when we met in Paris in July of that year. My addiction to alcohol and drugs was beginning to peak and one night after I returned from France, I got very zonked at the piano, feeling very sorry for myself and this song was sent to me. We recorded it the following year on the "Notes of Life" album when I was beginning to hit rock bottom. A year later, I went to England for recovery and I am so glad I did, because I am now enjoying my third year of sobriety after 44 years of addiction. Needless to say, my wife never came back; we finally said goodbye at the end of 1997. This song is a sad reminder of my most irresponsible years and down time. I will never wish anything like that on anybody, especially myself.

Hugh Masekela





Posts Relacionados:


The Gender Debate: Reality Bites from The Youth

O Execravel Puto Pe' Descalco

The Burden of The Black Woman

O CIDADAO EM ANGOLA

De Assassinos a Sangue Frio...

O "Crime de Lesa-Patria"...

Coitado!

Um Passo em Frente?

Mensagens de JC

A Orgia

Dinheiro, Dinheiro Para Que Te Quero?

A Proposito dos Monologos da Vagina

Kwando a Diferenca...

Kwao 'Amabilis' e' o Homo Angolensis...

Epifania

Terra Queimada

...AND RAISE BEAUTY TO ANOTHER LEVEL OF SWEETNESS

Desculpe Senhora Ministra, mas... [Actualizado]*

*FINALMENTE... perante isto, OS PARABENS SAO DEVIDOS!






[Perante isto, os parabens ficam adiados... embora com alguma esperanca em face disto.]

Lei contra a violência doméstica foi aprovada

A proposta de lei contra a violência doméstica mereceu, ontem, a primeira
aprovação dos deputados, durante a discussão e aprovação do documento na generalidade.

O projecto de diploma, que se enquadra no programa do Executivo que visa a harmonização das famílias e o combate à violência doméstica, foi aprovado por unanimidade. Os 159 deputados presentes na sala votaram a favor. O documento aguarda, agora, pela discussão e aprovação pelos deputados na especialidade.

Com a proposta, o Ministério da Família e Promoção da Mulher, a quem coube, em nome do Executivo, a iniciativa legislativa, pretende dar maior celeridade processual no tratamento de situações de violência doméstica. O documento, composto por 45 artigos subdivididos em seis capítulos, visa também colmatar a inexistência no Código Penal da punição de crimes específicos como é o da violência doméstica.

Durante a apresentação do projecto de lei, a ministra da Família e Promoção da Mulher, Genoveva Lino, lembrou que o combate à violência doméstica tem estado nas preocupações do Executivo, particularmente do Chefe de Estado, José Eduardo dos Santos, tendo apelado aos parlamentares que aprovassem a lei.

Com este diploma, disse, pretendemos adequar no sistema jurídico, de forma clara e específica, os vários instrumentos nacionais, regionais e internacionais, como a Declaração Universal dos Direitos Humanos, de 1948, a Declaração de Viena e o Programa de Acção da III Conferência Mundial sobre os Direitos Humanos de 1993, a Plataforma de Acção de Pequim da IV Conferência Mundial sobre a Mulher, de 1995, e a Declaração dos Chefes de Estado ou de Governos da SADC sobre o Género e Desenvolvimento, de 1997.

Acrescenta-se ainda a estes instrumentos jurídicos a Declaração sobre a Prevenção e Erradicação da Violência contra a Mulher e a Criança em aditamento à Declaração sobre Género e Desenvolvimento, de 1998, a Convenção sobre a Eliminação de todas as Formas de Discriminação contra as Mulheres, de 1979, e o Protocolo da SADC sobre Género e Desenvolvimento de 2008.

[Aqui]

...Depois disto, so' tenho a dar-lhe os PARABENS!

Post Relacionado:

Dividendos dos "Afectos"

ADENDA


DESCULPE SENHOR BISPO...

O Bispo de Menongue diz que, na sua diocese, a Família está doente.
Dom Mário Lukunde lamenta o reduzido número de fiéis que celebram o Matrimónio na Igreja, além de famílias cujos esposos não frequentam a Igreja por estarem separados.
“A nossa família também anda doente. É muito difícil ver na igreja casal ou família: pai, mãe e filho. Praticamente a gente só vê a mãe e os filhos, os maridos não aparecem” – disse.
“Muitos casais estão separados, muitas mulheres foram deixadas com os filhos. Então quando se fala de família é a mulher com as crianças – acrescentou.
O prelado fala também em crise de casamentos na região.
“Também há uma crise de celebração de matrimónio, não existe, sobretudo os jovens. Queremos ver se através de casais activos conseguimos pescar os outros, ajuda-los a levar uma verdadeira vida de casado” – frisou.
A diocese de Menongue tem na implementação do catecumenato em toda a província do Kuando Kubango como principal projecto para 2011.
“Estamos a celebrar o congresso dos catequistas, esta celebração vai ter várias etapas, o que tínhamos para o ano 2000 era a implementação do catecumenato” – referiu ainda.
“Devemos passar pelas comunidades a explicar as fases do catecumenato e as acções que têm que ser realizadas. Vamos atacar isso já no primeiro mês de 2011” – acrescentou.

[Aqui]

MAS...

... Ja' lhe ocorreu que nem todas as familias angolanas sao verdadeiramente catolicas, mesmo depois de terem cumprido o "catecumenato" e de se terem casado oficial e monogamicamente pela Igreja Catolica?

... Que talvez algumas delas estivessem "mais unidas" e "menos doentes" se lhes fosse permitido pela sociedade pontificada pela Igreja Catolica guiar as suas condutas privadas e vidas sociais de acordo com as normas e padroes das suas culturas ancestrais, ou, mui pragmaticamente numa "sociedade doente" como a angolana, segundo as suas proprias opcoes filosoficas e etico-morais individuais e/ou familiares?

... Que o que mais tera' contribuido para a aparentemente completa erosao dos valores e principios que constituiam o cimento da secular uniao familiar foi a ideologia do regime com o qual a Igreja Catolica parece agora tentar (r)estabelecer uma especie de Concordata?

De qualquer modo, votos de Boa Sorte na sua missao de tentar "recolher as suas ovelhas negras de volta ao seu rebanho"!

[First posted 15/12/10]

*FINALMENTE... perante isto, OS PARABENS SAO DEVIDOS!






[Perante isto, os parabens ficam adiados... embora com alguma esperanca em face disto.]

Lei contra a violência doméstica foi aprovada

A proposta de lei contra a violência doméstica mereceu, ontem, a primeira
aprovação dos deputados, durante a discussão e aprovação do documento na generalidade.

O projecto de diploma, que se enquadra no programa do Executivo que visa a harmonização das famílias e o combate à violência doméstica, foi aprovado por unanimidade. Os 159 deputados presentes na sala votaram a favor. O documento aguarda, agora, pela discussão e aprovação pelos deputados na especialidade.

Com a proposta, o Ministério da Família e Promoção da Mulher, a quem coube, em nome do Executivo, a iniciativa legislativa, pretende dar maior celeridade processual no tratamento de situações de violência doméstica. O documento, composto por 45 artigos subdivididos em seis capítulos, visa também colmatar a inexistência no Código Penal da punição de crimes específicos como é o da violência doméstica.

Durante a apresentação do projecto de lei, a ministra da Família e Promoção da Mulher, Genoveva Lino, lembrou que o combate à violência doméstica tem estado nas preocupações do Executivo, particularmente do Chefe de Estado, José Eduardo dos Santos, tendo apelado aos parlamentares que aprovassem a lei.

Com este diploma, disse, pretendemos adequar no sistema jurídico, de forma clara e específica, os vários instrumentos nacionais, regionais e internacionais, como a Declaração Universal dos Direitos Humanos, de 1948, a Declaração de Viena e o Programa de Acção da III Conferência Mundial sobre os Direitos Humanos de 1993, a Plataforma de Acção de Pequim da IV Conferência Mundial sobre a Mulher, de 1995, e a Declaração dos Chefes de Estado ou de Governos da SADC sobre o Género e Desenvolvimento, de 1997.

Acrescenta-se ainda a estes instrumentos jurídicos a Declaração sobre a Prevenção e Erradicação da Violência contra a Mulher e a Criança em aditamento à Declaração sobre Género e Desenvolvimento, de 1998, a Convenção sobre a Eliminação de todas as Formas de Discriminação contra as Mulheres, de 1979, e o Protocolo da SADC sobre Género e Desenvolvimento de 2008.

[Aqui]

...Depois disto, so' tenho a dar-lhe os PARABENS!

Post Relacionado:

Dividendos dos "Afectos"

ADENDA


DESCULPE SENHOR BISPO...

O Bispo de Menongue diz que, na sua diocese, a Família está doente.
Dom Mário Lukunde lamenta o reduzido número de fiéis que celebram o Matrimónio na Igreja, além de famílias cujos esposos não frequentam a Igreja por estarem separados.
“A nossa família também anda doente. É muito difícil ver na igreja casal ou família: pai, mãe e filho. Praticamente a gente só vê a mãe e os filhos, os maridos não aparecem” – disse.
“Muitos casais estão separados, muitas mulheres foram deixadas com os filhos. Então quando se fala de família é a mulher com as crianças – acrescentou.
O prelado fala também em crise de casamentos na região.
“Também há uma crise de celebração de matrimónio, não existe, sobretudo os jovens. Queremos ver se através de casais activos conseguimos pescar os outros, ajuda-los a levar uma verdadeira vida de casado” – frisou.
A diocese de Menongue tem na implementação do catecumenato em toda a província do Kuando Kubango como principal projecto para 2011.
“Estamos a celebrar o congresso dos catequistas, esta celebração vai ter várias etapas, o que tínhamos para o ano 2000 era a implementação do catecumenato” – referiu ainda.
“Devemos passar pelas comunidades a explicar as fases do catecumenato e as acções que têm que ser realizadas. Vamos atacar isso já no primeiro mês de 2011” – acrescentou.

[Aqui]

MAS...

... Ja' lhe ocorreu que nem todas as familias angolanas sao verdadeiramente catolicas, mesmo depois de terem cumprido o "catecumenato" e de se terem casado oficial e monogamicamente pela Igreja Catolica?

... Que talvez algumas delas estivessem "mais unidas" e "menos doentes" se lhes fosse permitido pela sociedade pontificada pela Igreja Catolica guiar as suas condutas privadas e vidas sociais de acordo com as normas e padroes das suas culturas ancestrais, ou, mui pragmaticamente numa "sociedade doente" como a angolana, segundo as suas proprias opcoes filosoficas e etico-morais individuais e/ou familiares?

... Que o que mais tera' contribuido para a aparentemente completa erosao dos valores e principios que constituiam o cimento da secular uniao familiar foi a ideologia do regime com o qual a Igreja Catolica parece agora tentar (r)estabelecer uma especie de Concordata?

De qualquer modo, votos de Boa Sorte na sua missao de tentar "recolher as suas ovelhas negras de volta ao seu rebanho"!

[First posted 15/12/10]

Diabetes: A Breakthrough?

Last week, after some while, I went to see my doctor. While waiting, I picked up one of the only two magazines available in the waiting room – I don’t know if also because of the current economic crisis or for some other reason, this was the first time for about a decade and a half that I found the surgery totally devoid of the usual lots of newspapers and magazines on current affairs, fashion, glamour, etc., made available there to patients and visitors.

Of the two available magazines – one about buses and other about I didn’t know what until I passed through the title, Balance, and the cover to find out that it was about diabetes, I picked the latter. It was the first time I ever came across a publication specific and substantial about this disease. So, I browsed through it and read some bits and pieces until I was called to see the doctor.

I hadn’t seen her for a few months, even though in the meantime I have received occasional letters from the surgery asking me to go there to test for something or another – lately I simply couldn’t bring myself to go there unless for a reason of my own and of force majeure, occupied as I have been with many troublesome issues in my life these days…

She asked me whether I came to see her because I just generally felt that I needed to do a check up now that I’ve reached a ‘certain age’, or because of some specific concern. I responded “both”, but my specific concern was also unspecified: over the last few months I’ve been losing weight for no apparent reason. She immediately offered to do an instant diabetes check because some people tend to start losing weight when they contract diabetes. And so, the diabetes test was done, but didn’t reveal anything abnormal. That test is now to be followed by a general check-up.

That was in the morning of that day. Then, in the afternoon, I came across this news:

A parasitic worm is providing a breakthrough in the development of a diabetes cure, with molecules from the worm proving to regulate the immune system...

[Here]

Now that I’m no longer so concerned about possibly having diabetes, I am glad that lots of other people, like Randy Jackson, author of the beautifully titled book Body with Soul, which I read about in the magazine Balance, will find some hope in this news.

I just wish it could have been news about a breakthrough on Sickle Cell Disease...

P.S.: I just found out as well that cinnamon can be good for Type 2 diabetes as it is believed to have a regulatory effect on blood sugar. It can also help arthritis sufferers when mixed with honey.

Last week, after some while, I went to see my doctor. While waiting, I picked up one of the only two magazines available in the waiting room – I don’t know if also because of the current economic crisis or for some other reason, this was the first time for about a decade and a half that I found the surgery totally devoid of the usual lots of newspapers and magazines on current affairs, fashion, glamour, etc., made available there to patients and visitors.

Of the two available magazines – one about buses and other about I didn’t know what until I passed through the title, Balance, and the cover to find out that it was about diabetes, I picked the latter. It was the first time I ever came across a publication specific and substantial about this disease. So, I browsed through it and read some bits and pieces until I was called to see the doctor.

I hadn’t seen her for a few months, even though in the meantime I have received occasional letters from the surgery asking me to go there to test for something or another – lately I simply couldn’t bring myself to go there unless for a reason of my own and of force majeure, occupied as I have been with many troublesome issues in my life these days…

She asked me whether I came to see her because I just generally felt that I needed to do a check up now that I’ve reached a ‘certain age’, or because of some specific concern. I responded “both”, but my specific concern was also unspecified: over the last few months I’ve been losing weight for no apparent reason. She immediately offered to do an instant diabetes check because some people tend to start losing weight when they contract diabetes. And so, the diabetes test was done, but didn’t reveal anything abnormal. That test is now to be followed by a general check-up.

That was in the morning of that day. Then, in the afternoon, I came across this news:

A parasitic worm is providing a breakthrough in the development of a diabetes cure, with molecules from the worm proving to regulate the immune system...

[Here]

Now that I’m no longer so concerned about possibly having diabetes, I am glad that lots of other people, like Randy Jackson, author of the beautifully titled book Body with Soul, which I read about in the magazine Balance, will find some hope in this news.

I just wish it could have been news about a breakthrough on Sickle Cell Disease...

P.S.: I just found out as well that cinnamon can be good for Type 2 diabetes as it is believed to have a regulatory effect on blood sugar. It can also help arthritis sufferers when mixed with honey.

A Kika foi embora... [*]

... Foi juntar-se 'a Tia!

Deixou-me este 'ultimo adeus' ha' pouco mais de uma semana:

From: Maria Emilia Ramos
To: ANA PAULA SANTANA
Sent: Tue, 7 June, 2011 23:27:20
Subject: RE: UM APELO A JUSTICA!

Querida primota!

Eu infelizmente continuo doente, um belo dia acordei com flu ou bronquite e pioram ainda mais o meu problema das dores cronicas que obtive com as crises que tive ao longo dos anos.

[...]

Um forte e grande abraco de tirar o folego e outro beijo pra ti tbem, logo depois d te recuperas do grande e forte abraco.

Kika Maria Emilia Faria Da Silva Ramos

[She was a Real Warrior! A True Marvel of Nature! She 'Kicked Ass'!...
Mbuta Muntu will take good care of her from now on...]

*Raising Sickle Cell Anaemia Awareness


A Kika sofria de anemia de celulas falciformes. Era dessa doenca genetica (que tambem me afecta, embora de forma menos grave - enquanto a da Kika era do tipo SS, a minha e' apenas do tipo AS) que originava o problema das dores cronicas resultantes das crises que teve ao longo dos anos que ela mencionava na sua mensagem acima.
A principal razao que me leva a considera-la uma verdadeira warrior foi a forma estoica como ela sempre enfrentou a sua condicao de saude ate ao fim.
Ao amor, dedicacao e cuidados dos pais dela - que, tendo perdido o seu primeiro filho rapaz nos primeiros meses de vida devido aquela doenca, foram capazes de literalmente 'correr mundo', para tanto viajando com ela, desde que nasceu (tao pequenina, minuscula mesmo, que o primeiro nome que os pais lhe comecaram a chamar foi "Mosquit(a)o", de onde mais tarde derivaria o diminutivo "Kika"), para varios paises, em busca dos melhores especialistas e tratamentos e, se possivel, da cura definitiva (que, infelizmente, ainda nao existe) - ficou a dever-se em grande medida a sua sobrevivencia por pouco mais de quatro decadas, quando a sua expectativa de vida sempre foi tida como bastante mais reduzida.
Mas, tambem em boa parte gracas ao seu estoicismo, amor a vida e joie de vivre, a Kika conseguiu ate’ sobreviver aos seus infelizmente malogrados pais.

Ela foi-se embora nas vesperas da observacao do Dia Mundial da Anemia Falciforme, 19 de Junho, data escolhida pelas Nacoes Unidas para chamar a atencao (raise awareness) para essa doenca que, em 2008, declarou um problema de Saude Publica prioritario em varios paises, incluindo Angola.

A Kika deixou na parede do seu quarto um poster sobre as actividades do Sickle Cell Awareness Month 2011.

Em nome da familia, e especialmente da falecida Tia Celeste, gostaria de expressar aqui a profunda gratidao e apreco a todos os amigos e profissionais que acompanharam e ajudaram a minorar o sofrimento da Kika (e da sua irma mais nova, Ginga Luia, que lhe sobrevive) em varias fases da sua vida, dentre os quais destacaria, em Angola, o Dr. Bernardino.

... Foi juntar-se 'a Tia!

Deixou-me este 'ultimo adeus' ha' pouco mais de uma semana:

From: Maria Emilia Ramos
To: ANA PAULA SANTANA
Sent: Tue, 7 June, 2011 23:27:20
Subject: RE: UM APELO A JUSTICA!

Querida primota!

Eu infelizmente continuo doente, um belo dia acordei com flu ou bronquite e pioram ainda mais o meu problema das dores cronicas que obtive com as crises que tive ao longo dos anos.

[...]

Um forte e grande abraco de tirar o folego e outro beijo pra ti tbem, logo depois d te recuperas do grande e forte abraco.

Kika Maria Emilia Faria Da Silva Ramos

[She was a Real Warrior! A True Marvel of Nature! She 'Kicked Ass'!...
Mbuta Muntu will take good care of her from now on...]

*Raising Sickle Cell Anaemia Awareness


A Kika sofria de anemia de celulas falciformes. Era dessa doenca genetica (que tambem me afecta, embora de forma menos grave - enquanto a da Kika era do tipo SS, a minha e' apenas do tipo AS) que originava o problema das dores cronicas resultantes das crises que teve ao longo dos anos que ela mencionava na sua mensagem acima.
A principal razao que me leva a considera-la uma verdadeira warrior foi a forma estoica como ela sempre enfrentou a sua condicao de saude ate ao fim.
Ao amor, dedicacao e cuidados dos pais dela - que, tendo perdido o seu primeiro filho rapaz nos primeiros meses de vida devido aquela doenca, foram capazes de literalmente 'correr mundo', para tanto viajando com ela, desde que nasceu (tao pequenina, minuscula mesmo, que o primeiro nome que os pais lhe comecaram a chamar foi "Mosquit(a)o", de onde mais tarde derivaria o diminutivo "Kika"), para varios paises, em busca dos melhores especialistas e tratamentos e, se possivel, da cura definitiva (que, infelizmente, ainda nao existe) - ficou a dever-se em grande medida a sua sobrevivencia por pouco mais de quatro decadas, quando a sua expectativa de vida sempre foi tida como bastante mais reduzida.
Mas, tambem em boa parte gracas ao seu estoicismo, amor a vida e joie de vivre, a Kika conseguiu ate’ sobreviver aos seus infelizmente malogrados pais.

Ela foi-se embora nas vesperas da observacao do Dia Mundial da Anemia Falciforme, 19 de Junho, data escolhida pelas Nacoes Unidas para chamar a atencao (raise awareness) para essa doenca que, em 2008, declarou um problema de Saude Publica prioritario em varios paises, incluindo Angola.

A Kika deixou na parede do seu quarto um poster sobre as actividades do Sickle Cell Awareness Month 2011.

Em nome da familia, e especialmente da falecida Tia Celeste, gostaria de expressar aqui a profunda gratidao e apreco a todos os amigos e profissionais que acompanharam e ajudaram a minorar o sofrimento da Kika (e da sua irma mais nova, Ginga Luia, que lhe sobrevive) em varias fases da sua vida, dentre os quais destacaria, em Angola, o Dr. Bernardino.

KA(U)SAS

"NAO PARTAM A MINHA CASA!"

Dizem eles mui oportunamente (... mais uma geracao kruxifikada?...), em nome de alguns que se diz ja' estarem a ser realojados - aqui.

Tomara eu ser 'filha legitima da patria' e parte da 'mui impoluta prata da casa' o suficiente para poder desejar que todo o esforco, energia e imaginacao dispendidos em kampanhas como esta pudessem ter sido empregues na minha causa, bem mais simples, objectiva, incisiva e meritoria:

"DEVOLVAM A MINHA CASA!"

"NAO PARTAM A MINHA CASA!"

Dizem eles mui oportunamente (... mais uma geracao kruxifikada?...), em nome de alguns que se diz ja' estarem a ser realojados - aqui.

Tomara eu ser 'filha legitima da patria' e parte da 'mui impoluta prata da casa' o suficiente para poder desejar que todo o esforco, energia e imaginacao dispendidos em kampanhas como esta pudessem ter sido empregues na minha causa, bem mais simples, objectiva, incisiva e meritoria:

"DEVOLVAM A MINHA CASA!"

Celebrating African Women!

[More Here and Here]


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Celebrating Afrika's Beaut(ies)y With Pride

"O Testamento!..."

[More Here and Here]


Related Posts:

Celebrating Afrika's Beaut(ies)y With Pride

"O Testamento!..."

World Oceans Day

TAKE ONE




When I wrote this or this, I had already enjoyed that front beach all surrounded by Table Mountain views, where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet, before. But never at around this time of the year when it turns into a dreadful place that totally confirms what artist/entrepreneur Ha Schult says on 'take two' of this post bellow: "the oceans of our planet are the biggest garbage dump"!

So, if I may suggest, Blouberg would be a prime location for a Beach Garbage Hotel… Another such location that I can think of is Luanda and, more specifically, the island of Mussulo!

TAKE TWO




"I created the Beach Garbage Hotel because the oceans of our planet are the biggest garbage dump," the artist Ha Schult told the AFP news agency of his five-bedroom Madrid lodging built from rubbish, which opened today as part of the International Tourism Fair. Around one-third of the items used to construct the temporary accommodation came from discarded items found on the beaches of Europe; other building materials originated in dumps and flea markets. The point of the project was to draw attention to the huge amount of waste generated by mass tourism, especially on beaches, said Rose Piqueras, a spokeswoman for the hotel.
Rome is known as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, with unforgettable architecture and an atmosphere that can’t be found anywhere else. Lately, though, it’s become a real dump. German artist Ha Schult constructed a temporary hotel in the city to highlight the sad state of Europe’s beaches. The hotel, part of Corona’s Save the Beach campaign, is constructed of garbage collected from the shoreline.

[More Here]

TAKE ONE




When I wrote this or this, I had already enjoyed that front beach all surrounded by Table Mountain views, where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet, before. But never at around this time of the year when it turns into a dreadful place that totally confirms what artist/entrepreneur Ha Schult says on 'take two' of this post bellow: "the oceans of our planet are the biggest garbage dump"!

So, if I may suggest, Blouberg would be a prime location for a Beach Garbage Hotel… Another such location that I can think of is Luanda and, more specifically, the island of Mussulo!

TAKE TWO




"I created the Beach Garbage Hotel because the oceans of our planet are the biggest garbage dump," the artist Ha Schult told the AFP news agency of his five-bedroom Madrid lodging built from rubbish, which opened today as part of the International Tourism Fair. Around one-third of the items used to construct the temporary accommodation came from discarded items found on the beaches of Europe; other building materials originated in dumps and flea markets. The point of the project was to draw attention to the huge amount of waste generated by mass tourism, especially on beaches, said Rose Piqueras, a spokeswoman for the hotel.
Rome is known as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, with unforgettable architecture and an atmosphere that can’t be found anywhere else. Lately, though, it’s become a real dump. German artist Ha Schult constructed a temporary hotel in the city to highlight the sad state of Europe’s beaches. The hotel, part of Corona’s Save the Beach campaign, is constructed of garbage collected from the shoreline.

[More Here]