text:
Meet Kyrgyzstan, a Haven for Central Asian Reporters Amid Love and Strife · Global Voices
Eurasianet

Central Asia political map. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
The following is a partner post from EurasiaNet.org written by Zukhra Iakupbaeva, an author from Kyrgyzstan who also writes for Global Voices. Republished with permission.
In a rough neighborhood for journalists, Kyrgyzstan is a relative safe haven. Over the years, reporters from various parts of Central Asia have made their homes there — often for safety and professional growth, other times for more personal reasons.
The Reporters Without Borders press freedom index for 2016 tells a clear story. Central Asia is not hospitable territory for the free flow of information and independent journalism. Nations like Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan languish at the bottom of the list, alongside such places as North Korea and Ethiopia. Meanwhile, media outlets in Tajikistan have long endured pressure, but repression has intensified since late 2015 and has prompted the flight of dozens of journalists.
The stories of three journalistic migrants from various spots in Central Asia are illustrative of how Bishkek has established itself as the chief destination for those seeking creative and intellectual freedom.
Diana Rakhmanova, a 27-year-old journalist from Tajikistan, said a visit to Kyrgyzstan in 2010 to attend a three-month course organized by German broadcaster Deutsche Welle completely changed her understanding of journalism.
“What shocked me most when I was in Bishkek were the ordinary educated people interested in politics, who had access to information from state officials. State officials are the ones who are afraid of journalists, and there was an active use of social networks,” Rakhmanova told EurasiaNet.org as she sipped coffee in one of Bishkek’s many cafes.
A lucky break enabled Rakhmanova to get to know a local journalist who offered her a job in Bishkek, where she returned a year after her course. She had to make tough adjustments, she said. “I could not remember any of the Kyrgyz surnames and had no clue whatsoever about parliamentary factions,” she said.
Her ethnic Tatar background helped her get to grips with some aspects of the language. “I understand when people reply to me in Kyrgyz when I have asked my question in Russian. This is because I know Tatar very well; my family back in Tajikistan speaks it freely.”
Occasionally, regional tensions have created bureaucratic hassles. “One time I was not allowed to cross the Kyrgyz border from Kazakhstan because of a border shooting incident in a disputed section of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border,” she said. “I am also a citizen of Russia, so the Russian passport helped me get across that time.”
Rakhmanova said she had no plans to return to Tajikistan.
“I do not want to go back to Tajikistan because I wouldn’t be able to get used to a lack of freedom of speech,” she said. “And I have a family here, a husband and a one-year-old son.”
In other cases, family matters and relationships sometimes trump professional motivations for journalists.
Elyor Nematov, a 28-year-old photojournalist from the city of Bukhara in Uzbekistan, said his friends were surprised when he decided to move to the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. He explained that he wanted to be nearer to his fiancee, who lived in the Kyrgyz capital, and only later discovered opportunities to hone his skills as a documentary photographer.
Nematov said that back in Uzbekistan it was not his work, but his Bahai faith that caused him problems.
“When I was a student, police suspected I could be an extremist because I am a Bahai. In Tashkent, police detained me for 15 days because I supposedly resisted them when they were conducting an anti-extremism special operation. In fact, they were recording me and I asked them to show me their documents and explain to me why I was being arrested,” he said.
Nematov embraces a relaxed philosophy about where he lives. “I do not feel borders, my base is Kyrgyzstan, but I am reporting on Central Asia,” he said.
Like Rakhmanova, Nematov has no immediate plans to leave Kyrgyzstan. Instead, his dream for now is to set up a documentary photojournalism hub in Bishkek that would support people doing his line of work across all of Central Asia.
The most unforgiving place in Central Asia for independent-minded reporters and researchers is Turkmenistan. The very few people there who have dared to dabble in independent journalism have found themselves on the receiving end of intimidation, arrests and physical assault.
Olga, 33, came to Bishkek from Turkmenistan in 2001. She now works as a political analyst at a Bishkek educational institution and writes occasional commentary pieces on human rights, education, and oil and gas issues in Turkmenistan.
Olga first traveled to Kyrgyzstan as a student. “I spent almost the whole time of my freshman year at the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek in the library. I would read avidly, it was such a pleasure,” Olga told EurasiaNet.org, requesting she be identified only through a pseudonym.
The mid-2000s were a dark era for learning in Turkmenistan. In February 2005, the late President Saparmurat Niyazov decreed that provincial libraries were useless since most villagers did not read anyhow. In line with that reasoning, Niyazov ordered the closure of almost all of the country’s libraries with the exception of a few larger ones and student libraries.
This and other policies engineered to ensure Turkmenistan’s isolation from the world led Olga to understand that her options would be limited at home. “I remained in Kyrgyzstan because it was difficult to find a job [relevant to my qualifications] in Turkmenistan,” Olga said, adding that she was limited by not knowing Turkmen. “Oil and gas companies, which were flourishing at that time, would have been the most likely option, but I was looking more at the area of social development.”
Asked if she had plans to ever return to Turkmenistan, Olga said she preferred not to think about it, and is focusing instead on her further studies and her six-year-old son. The sense of freedom instilled in her by her experiences in Kyrgyzstan would be hard to reconcile with the pervasive repression in Turkmenistan.
To underscore how challenging the environment is back home, Olga recalled that when Kyrgyzstan’s revolution unfolded in 2005, she was a student at the American University of Central Asia. Her parents received a call from the security services. “They [security agents] were interested to know if I was involved in the revolution,” she said.

author: Eurasianet


text:
She’s Still in School, But This Slovenian Journalist Just Took Down a High-Powered State Official · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Lea Majcen. Photo: Facebook
Journalist Lea Majcen is an overnight celebrity in Slovenia, after stumping government official Tilen Smolnikar with basic interview questions about his work as head of the country's renewable energy sector. A day after the interview, the Slovenian Infrastructure Ministry promptly dismissed Smolnikar.
On Feb. 16, Smolnikar headlined a public hearing on financing for renewable energy sources, such as windmills in Brdo near Kranj. Afterwards, Majcen tried to conduct an interview, but Smolnikar failed to answer nearly a dozen rudimentary questions about the hearing and renewable energy.
Speaking later to Croatian TV RTL, Majcen said her media outlet decided to air the interview as a matter of public interest, as it was clear that Smolnikar lacks basic knowledge in his supposed area of expertise.
Samo smo koristili najjače oružje novinara, a to su pitanja. Prvo sam mislila da je nervozan, jer i mene nekada uhvati nervoza pred kamerom, ali mi je onda sve jasnije bilo da nema pojma. Onda smo odlučili ovdje u redakciji da se to nekom državnom dužnosniku koji prima ogromnu plaću to ne smije dešavati, jer su stvarno bila osnovna pitanja.
We used only a journalist's strongest weapon: questions. At first I thought he had stage fright, because I sometimes get nervous in front of the camera. However it became clear that he's just clueless. When I came back to the newsroom, we decided to air the interview because this is unacceptable for state official who receives a huge salary. The questions were really very basic.
Majcen has only been in television journalism for six months, when she joined Channel A as a junior correspondent. She is still a university student, as well. Majcen claims that Smolnikar was earning 2,400 euros a month as a state employee.
The government dismissed Smolnikar on Feb. 17, causing a small media firestorm throughout the former Yugoslav region. News outlets in Croatia, Bosnia, and Macedonia reported the story as a rare example of political accountability in action.
Internet users throughout the region have also praised Majcen's feat. Dunja Mijatović, the OSCE's representative on freedom of the media, also shared the news:
Slovenija /Novinarka Lea Majcen sa samo nekoliko pitanja smijenila političara s funkcije / Radio Sarajevo https://t.co/u54iiqrFQ2
— Dunja Mijatovic (@Dunja_Mijatovic) February 22, 2017
Slovenia: Journalist Lea Majcen managed to dismiss a politician from his function with several questions only (Radio Sarajevo reports)
Though some reports claim Smolnikar was fired, it turns out that he was merely demoted to another position inside the Infrastructure Ministry.
Reacting to the interview, many Slovenians have demanded more accountability and responsibility from their government.
Koliko vodij imajmo na raznih ministrstvih, ki so kot Tilen Smolnikar ?
..naduti lenuhi polni egota z 2.500 € plače..?
— duje santiago (@dujeSantiago) February 24, 2017
How many managers do we have in our different ministries, who are like Tilen Smolnikar?
…Overblown, full of ego with salaries of 2.500 euros..?

source: news-globalvoices

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Filip Stojanovski


text:
St. Petersburg Stands up for St. Isaac’s Cathedral · Global Voices
Zoia Barzakh

St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Source: Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0.
More than three weeks have passed since activists first gathered to protest the city of St. Petersburg's decision to hand over control of the iconic St. Isaac's Cathedral to the Russian Orthodox Church. But despite a variation of the blood libel against protest organizers and pressure from authorities to stand down, St. Petersburg activists continue to stand up for St. Isaac's.
On February 12, several protests were held in support of the status quo—keeping the cathedral under the management of a museum that Soviet authorities established in 1928. Activists wore blue ribbons and formed a “blue ring” around the cathedral. (Protesters have worn blue ribbons to demonstrations since 2006, when they turned out in opposition to the construction of “Gazprom-City,” a towering building named for state natural gas behemoth Gazprom that would have dominated the city's skyline; the blue symbolized the St. Petersburg sky, unobstructed by skyscrapers.)
After the protests were held, Boris Vishnevsky, one of the organizers, wrote on Facebook:
Rally at Saint Isaac's Cathedral. Source: Wikimedia Commons, CC 2.0.
Мы показали, что встать плечом к плечу вокруг Исаакия может, как минимум, 2 тысячи человек – с умными и светлыми лицами, разного возраста, разных взглядов, но объединенных одной идеей защиты Исаакия и протеста против самодурских действий власти и ее катастрофического неуважения к людям.
Борьба продолжается. Нас много, и будет еще больше.
Правда и справедливость – на нашей стороне. Мы победим!
We have shown that at least 2000 people can stand shoulder-to-shoulder around St. Isaac's – clever and bright individuals of different ages and different views, but united by the same aim of protecting of St. Isaac's and protesting against the despotic actions of the government and its disastrous lack of respect for people. The struggle continues. There are a lot of us, and there will be even more. Truth and justice are on our side. We will win!”
In fact, reports suggest that at least 3,000 people gathered around St. Isaac’s on February 12: they managed to form four circles around the building, and the event culminated in a dance around the cathedral. Diana Kachalova, an opposition journalist from St. Petersburg and the editor of the newspaper Novaya Gazeta, took part in the event. In an article first published on Facebook, Kachalova described the scene:
Знаете, как это бывает в театре? Смотришь спектакль – хороший…и актеры стараются, а не берет за душу. И вдруг в какой-то момент, иногда совершенно непонятно почему, по залу пробегает искра и начинается искусство, которое пробирает до мурашек…Потому что стоять одному в пикете – это смело, но закрыть собор таким щитом – немаленький сигнал тем, кто принимает решения.
You know how it happens in the theater? When you're watching a performance, it is good…and the actors are doing their best, but it just doesn’t strike home. And then at some point, sometimes it is unclear why, but a spark runs through the hall and the art begins sending goosebumps down one's spine… Because to stand alone in a protest is brave, but to surround the Cathedral with a living shield – it is a rather strong signal to those who make decisions.”
Still, not all St. Petersburg citizens have opposed the transfer. Shortly before the February 12 protests, rectors from several St. Petersburg universities wrote a letter asking St. Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko to speed up the transfer, which is scheduled to happen in two years:
Мы считаем, что процесс передачи должен быть завершен в ближайшее время, чтобы воспрепятствовать так называемым оппозиционерам и политиканам, а по сути, провокаторам, которые используют вопрос об Исаакиевском соборе как повод для нагнетания напряженности в обществе и сеяния религиозной розни. В их интересах поставить под сомнение правовые и моральные основания передачи собора Церкви и затормозить выполнение решения, чтобы продолжать публичные акции, направленные на оскорбление чувств христиан.
We believe that the transfer process should be completed in the near future in order to stop the so-called opposition and politicians, who are in fact, despicable provocateurs who use the St. Isaac's Cathedral issue as a pretext to increase tension in society and sow religious discord. Their aim is to question the legal and moral foundation of the of Cathedral’s transfer to the Church and to slow down the implementation of the decision in order to continue public actions aimed at insulting the feelings of Christians.
The Russian Orthodox Church hasn’t stayed silent either: The head of the Church, Patriarch Kirill, used the opportunity to compare the current battle to the destruction of churches and the murder of priests by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution: “The destruction of temples and the mass killing of believers was one of the most terrible times in our history. Now the peace surrounding the churches that have been returned must become a symbol of reconciliation and mutual forgiving.”
Meanwhile, Vitaly Milonov, a deputy from St.-Petersburg who is infamous for his aggressive anti-gay rhetoric, decided to turn back the clock 2,000 years: Milonov claimed that the ancestors of Boris Vishnevsky and Maxim Reznik—both Jewish leaders of the protests—had boiled Christians in pots and fed them to wild animals.  Needless to say, the opposition condemned Milonov's quasi blood libel: Vishnevsky’s Facebook friends organized a flash mob in which the participants dressed as Vishnevsky and Reznik wearing different Roman garments. A particularly humorous depiction showed the two oppositioners as Romulus and Remus in the famous statue of the Capitoline she-wolf.
But this ridiculous episode wasn’t Milonov’s only bizarre act in defense of the transfer. On February 12, Milonov organized a kind of sacred procession around the cathedral. Despite not being an ordained priest, he managed to assemble several priests and faithful Christians, the number of whom was immediately multiplied by pro-Kremlin media, around St. Isaac's. Though videos of the procession show that only a few hundred protesters joined Milonov, the Ministry of Inner Affairs reported that there were 8 000 participants at the event.
Fortunately, news media captured video of the procession, so you can judge for yourself:

author: Zoia Barzakh


text:
Why Singapore Changed the Name of Its New World War II Exhibition · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The World War II gallery was initially called Syonan, the name of Singapore during the Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945. CC 3.0.
To educate younger generations about the horrors of war, particularly the bitter experience of thousands of Singaporeans during the Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945, Singapore's government opened a new exhibition on Feb. 16, which it initially named “Syonan Gallery: War and Its Legacies.”
A day after the opening, however, the government changed the gallery's name to “Surviving the Japanese Occupation: War and Its Legacies.”
Many people reminded the authorities that “Syonan-To,” which means “light of the south,” was the name used by the Imperial Japanese Army when it occupied Singapore during World War II. Many felt the decision to revive the name was an insult to thousands who suffered during the Japanese occupation.
What's in a name? Plenty, when it's Syonan Gallery. Is it meant to be the title of an exhibition or a gallery space? https://t.co/c7zOofbNCc pic.twitter.com/rE40Kdmvm5
— ST Opinion (@STopinion) February 18, 2017
The National Library Board, which operates the gallery, explained why it chose the name Syonan:
The new name of the gallery reminds us how brittle our sovereignty can be, as Singapore lost not only its freedom but also its name during the Japanese Occupation.
But writer Tan Wah Piow questioned why the gallery was opened on the anniversary of Japan's invasion of Singapore:
It is even more bizarre to time the opening of the Syonan Gallery on the day Japan conquered Singapore. To complete the joke, the Singapore government might as well invite the lunatic fringe of the Japanese ultra-right to officiate the opening of the museum.
Vernon Chan urged the government to broaden the theme of the World War II gallery:
Why is the image of the surrender to the Japanese more prominent in our historical memory than the image of the Japanese surrender?
How about stressing the importance of treaties and allies in a multipolar world?
How about honouring our allies from the war – including the communists, KMT, British, Australians, and Americans who jointly pooled their resources to liberating Malaya and Borneo?
How about recognising that in a world war, territory can be lost and regained – and the “fall of Singapore” should be balanced with the “liberation of Singapore”?
Veteran journalist P N Balji wrote that the issue demonstrates how the government has failed to understand the sentiment of the country's older population:
It points to one disturbing fact: that the people running the government machinery are losing touch with an important segment of society. Older citizens are a vote bank the government will ignore at its own peril.
After hearing the criticisms raised by many citizens, Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim apologized for using the name Syonan. He also announced that the gallery will be given a new name:
Far from expressing approval of the Japanese Occupation, our intention was to remember what our forefathers went through, commemorate the generation of Singaporeans who experienced the Japanese Occupation, and reaffirm our collective commitment never to let this happen again.
This was never our intention, and I am sorry for the pain the name has caused.
I have reflected deeply on what I heard. We must honour and respect the feelings of those who suffered terribly and lost family members during the Japanese Occupation
After this announcement, the name Syonan was already removed in front of the museum:
Syonan Gallery's name change will upset fewer people https://t.co/5SL06CJKl5 pic.twitter.com/FMHXyoxvJA
— The Straits Times (@STcom) February 19, 2017
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also confirmed that the gallery will no longer be called Syonan:
Many Singaporeans of all races suffered terrible atrocities during the Japanese Occupation, or had family members who did.
My colleagues and I honour and respect these deep feelings. So we have renamed the exhibition to bear witness to these painful memories.

author: Mong Palatino


text:
911 for Donbass: Meet the App That Will Keep Ukrainians Updated About Military Attacks · Global Voices
Anna Poludenko-Young

Source: Vyacheslav Abroskin, Facebook.
An app that informs users about military attacks and lets them contact law enforcement in seconds will soon go live in Ukraine—and, its creators hope, reduce casualties among civilians in the war-torn eastern regions of the country.
For nearly three years, the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts that compose the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine have been shaken by a bloody war between the Ukrainian government and Russian-backed separatists that has left more than 10,000 soldiers and civilians dead and displaced nearly 1.8 million people.
But it's the 2.7 million people who still live there who are expected to benefit from the new “Active Citizen” app.
“The main function of the new app is to inform people about bombings and emergency incidents. It will also allow citizens to let police about know about offenses and attach photographic evidence to their messages,” said Vyacheslav Abroskin, the chief of police in Donetsk region, in a Facebook post.
Currently, Ukraine's Unified Analytical Service Center (UASC) responds to “102 calls”—the Ukrainian equivalent of 911. Once Active Citizen is launched, UASC will be able to receive and process messages sent from tablets and smartphones as well. The only requirement is that Active Citizen users fill out a short registration form in advance: “…the user will send an “SOS” message, which will go directly to our UASC center. People there will very quickly process your message and dispatch police to where you are, having located the device from which the message was sent,” wrote Abroskin.
WIFI and mobile internet are widely available in many parts of Donetsk and Luhansk, as are smartphones and tablets, meaning many residents of Donbass stand to benefit from Active Citizen.
Similar apps exist in other countries and even in other major Ukrainian cities. For example, the AMBER alert system in the U.S. sends out alerts about child abductions over the radio, Internet and TV. Active Citizen will be similar to existing warning apps, though it will have fewer functions because of UASC's technological limitations—at least for the time being. The bombing alert will be sent only to those who have downloaded Active Citizen, and the UASC will only process SOS requests sent through the app.
Still, Active Citizen's creators haven't said when they expect the app to be made available: “For now, it is just a pilot (trial) project. At this stage, it will have a limited functionality,”Abroskin said.

author: Anna Poludenko-Young


text:
Daughter of Slain Russian Opposition Leader Writes Him a Letter Two Years Later · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Boris Nemtsov with his daughter, Zhanna. Photo: Facebook
Two years ago, Boris Nemtsov, a former Russian deputy prime minister who’d become a leader of the political opposition, was shot and killed in Moscow. He was 55 years old, and four bullets to the head, heart, liver, and stomach killed him as he crossed the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge, in view of the Kremlin.
On Sunday, a day before the second anniversary of Nemtsov’s murder, thousands of marched in Moscow to celebrate his life and mourn his loss. At the spot of his death, on the walkway of the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge, activists have maintained a makeshift memorial, in lieu of an official plaque, which the city has refused to install. Municipal workers regularly clear out the flowers, candles, and photographs, but Nemtsov’s supporters always restore the memorial as soon as the clean-up crews have gone.
On Monday, one of Nemtsov’s four children, Zhanna Nemtsova, published a letter to her father on Facebook. Zhanna lives in Germany today, working as a reporter for Deutsche Welle. She left Russia in June 2015, saying she’d received death threats. Below is a full translation of her letter to her late father.
Письмо отцу
Нет ни единого дня, чтоб я не думала о тебе. И я могу совершенно определенно сказать, что спустя два года ты ,мой отец- для меня главный и самый любимый человек в моей жизни. Таковым ты был при жизни и таковым остался после своей трагической гибели.
Эта потеря стала для меня совершенно неожиданной и я до сих пор не могу смириться с твоей гибелью. Этого не должно было случиться, но это случилось. Внезапно и навсегда.
Я неверующий человек, но тем не менее я надеюсь, что придет день, когда мы с тобой поговорим обо всем на свете.
Но сейчас тебя нет среди нас. Ты обладал магической силой, ты притягивал к себе совершенно разных людей и делал это не из надобности. Просто так получалось.
Тебе нравилось общаться, тебе нравились люди и ты страстно любил жизнь. Часто бывало так, что кто-то не соглашался с тобой, не одобрял твою деятельность,но тебя это не так волновало. Само человеческое общение было ценностью. Ты совмещал в себе невероятное: верность принципам и понимание тех, кто думал и поступал по-другому в силу разных причин.
Папа, я знаю, что ты не хотел и не думал, но ты стал героем. Героем нашего времени.
Твое имя стало именем нашей страны, которые вписано в нашу историю твоей жизнью и твоей кровью. Ты знаешь, как мало мы можем сделать, но мы делаем все что можем, чтобы реализовать то, во что ты верил и за что тебя убили. Я хочу, чтобы ты знал, а ты сомневался- для меня большая честь и везение быть твоей дочерью. И я надеюсь, что я хотя бы частично оправдала твои ожидания.
Жанна
A letter to my father
There’s not a single day I don’t think of you. After two years, I can say with absolute certainty that you, my father, remain the central and most beloved person in my life. It was true when you were alive, and it’s still true, after your tragic death.
This loss was completely unexpected for me, and I still can’t come to terms with your death even now. It should never have happened, but it did happen. It was sudden and it was forever.
I’m not a religious person, but I nevertheless hope there will come a day when you and I can talk about all the things in the world.
But now you’re no longer with us. You had a magical power. You attracted absolutely different kinds of people, and none of it was out of necessity. It just worked out that way.
You loved to talk to people; you loved people; and you had a passion for life. Oftentimes, someone didn’t agree with you, or they didn’t approve of your work, but it never really worried you. It was the human interaction that you valued. You managed to combine something incredible: faith in principles and an understanding of people who thought and acted differently for different reasons.
Dad, I know you didn’t want it, and didn’t think you’d become a hero, but you were a hero of our time.
Your name has become the name of our country; it’s now written with your life and your blood into our history. You know how little we can do, but we’re doing everything we can to accomplish what you believed in — what they killed you for.
I want you to know (even though you doubted it) that, for me, it’s a great honor and a wonderful stroke of luck to be your daughter. And I hope that I at least partly lived up to your expectations.
Zhanna

author: Kevin Rothrock


text:
Iran’s Ahmadinejad, Whose 2009 Reelection Was Mired in Fraud Allegations, Gives Trump Advice · Global Voices
Mahsa Alimardani

Ahmadinejad penned a open letter of advice to Donald Trump. Image from Mamlekate‘s Telegram.
Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, most notable for being the president whose reelection was tainted by irregularities, which in turn sparked the Green Movement of 2009, penned an open letter offering his advice to US President Donald Trump on February 27.
The letter starts with Arabic dua (or Islamic prayer), asking for the prophesied Mahdi to appear faster (the redeemer of Islam in Shiite scripture). Ahmadinejad, who has somewhat of a habit of writing letters to US presidents and acknowledges as much, then tells Trump that he sees his election as a change in the American status quo.
Later on in the letter he urges Trump to respect other nations, embrace diversity and put a stop to aggressive policies of dominance towards other countries:
۲- متاسفانه دولت های متوالی آمریکا ، خود را برتر از دیگران پنداشته ، پیشرفت این کشور را در عقب نگه داشتن دیگران ، برخورداری و رفاه مردم آمریکا را در فقر دیگران ، عزت و بزرگی آن را درتحقیر دیگران و امنیت آمریکا را در ناامنی دیگران جست و جو کرده اند.
اگر همه دولت های دنیا از همین منظر به عرصه بین المللی بنگرند و بر همین مبنا عمل کنند، نتیجه چه خواهد شد؟ باور من این است که مردم آمریکا نمی توانند با این سیاست ها و عملکردها همراهی کرده و به دنبال تحقیر و فقر و ناامنی دیگران و تصرف ثروت آنان باشند.
هرگاه مردم آمریکا از ورای فضای غبار آلود رسانه ای ، از این سیاست ها و رفتارها مطلع شده اند، بلافاصله آن را محکوم کرده و از عاملان آن ها اعلام برائت کرده اند.
اگر به دنبال اصلاح اساسی و ماندگار هستیم ، باید به همه ملت ها و فرهنگ ها ، اراده و منافع آنان احترام بگذاریم. باید در شادی ملت ها شاد و در غم آنان شریک باشیم. باید به دنبال برابری و برادری میان ملت ها باشیم و به حقوق ملت ها احترام بگذاریم و از برتری جویی و تلاش برای سلطه بر دیگران خودداری نماییم.
Unfortunately, consecutive US administrations have assumed arrogance toward others, seeking progress of the state by holding others back, pursuing possession and welfare of US people at the expense of others’ poverty, questing after honor and grandeur by humiliating others, and searching for US security in the insecurity for others… It’s my belief that the American people cannot support such policies and performances, and cannot pursue the humiliation, poverty and insecurity of others, and cannot seize others’ wealth… If we are pursuing fundamental and sustainable reforms, we need to respect all nations and cultures, as well as their will and interests. We need to share the happiness of nations, as well as their sorrow. We need to seek equality and brotherhood among nations and respect nations’ rights, as well as avoid arrogance and efforts toward domineering others.
It's not the first time a top Iranian figure has publicly criticized the Trump administration's policies for being discriminatory, such as the controversial travel ban against seven Muslim-majority countries. The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has previously characterized Trump as doing “the job for us in revealing [the] true face of America.”
Iranian social media has been brimming with commentary about Ahmadinejad's letter since it was published.
Ahmadinejad, who is apparently not content with the 8 years of damaged he caused Iran, wrote a letter to Donald Trump. https://t.co/phIkK6EE0y
— Arash Karami (@thekarami) February 26, 2017
Since Trump's election, many Iranians have been offering sympathy to Americans, relating the eight years of poor leadership under Ahmadinejad to the Trump administration (see 4:04 in the parody video “America First…but what about Iran?”).
A trending post on Persian language twitter pinpointed the former president's strange letter-writing habit:
این علاقه به نامه نگاری با رئیس جمهورهای آمریکا و سایر کشورها طبیعی نیست… #احمدی_نژاد pic.twitter.com/fLQB268UPL
— آقای تور لیدر (@MrTourGuide) February 26, 2017
This interest in writing letters to presidents of the US and other countries is not natural…
That's a reference to Ahmadinejad's other letters to world leaders, such as the one he wrote to former US President Barack Obama in 2016 telling him he had failed to deliver on promises to mend ties with Iran:
It is with great regret that your explicitly announced undertakings … including your public as well as written announcements to mend ties with the Iranian nation, and to make compensation for about sixty years of oppression and cruelty by different American governments against the Iranian nation, were never fulfilled.
The above letter came on the tails of the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal, signed under the leadership of Obama in the US and Iran's moderate President Hassan Rouhani. Ahmadinejad was alluding to the injustice he saw in a US court ruling that Iran's US-held assets should be paid to the families of the victims of the 1983 bombings on the US Marine Corps barracks in Lebanon, which killed 241 US servicemen. Hezbollah, a Shi'a Islamist militant group and political party based in Lebanon that is supported in large part by the Iranian government, was responsible for the bombing.
The 2016 letter was meant to undermine the achievements of the Rouhani administration in completing a nuclear deal, which was embraced popularly across Iran, as it brought relief from sanctions and an open door to many economic opportunities. Nuclear sanctions against Iran intensified under Ahmadinejad's presidency, while nuclear negotiations failed to progress between Iran and the other nations involved under his leadership.
This new letter to Trump can perhaps be seen as another attempt by the former president to try to undermine President Rouhani, especially as Iran nears the May 2017 presidential elections. In September 2016, Ahmadinejad announced he would not join the race, after being warned by the Supreme Leader that his candidacy would cause polarization and harmful divisions in Iranian society. While also banned in 2013 from running for re-election, Ahmadinejad campaigned for the election of his former chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei. Mashaei however was not able to make it past the Guardian Council‘s vetting of the final list of presidential candidates. For 2017, it is believed Ahmadinejad will partake in a similar effort for his former vice president, Hamid Baghaei.

author: Mahsa Alimardani


text:
New Immigration Policies Convince More Japanese Americans to Engage in the Radical Act of Remembering · Global Voices
PRI/PRX's The World

Participants in a 2002 event in New York hold signs representing each of the 10 World War II-era Japanese American concentration camps. Tsuya Hohri Yee holds the sign for Manzanar, where her family was incarcerated during the war. She says President Donald Trump’s immigration orders have hit her hard. Credit: Courtesy of Tsuya Hohri Yee
This story by Natasha Varner originally appeared on PRI.org on February 17, 2017. It is republished here as part of a partnership between PRI and Global Voices.
Tsuya Hohri Yee’s family was once imprisoned by the US government. They were deemed a national security threat because of their ancestry. That’s why President Donald Trump’s executive order that targets refugees and certain immigrants hit hard.
“The news landed like a ton of bricks and my heart sunk realizing that other communities were to face what we faced 75 years ago,” Yee says in an email.
Yee is a 41-year-old New Yorker. Her Japanese American family members were among the 120,000 civilians of Japanese ancestry who were incarcerated in camps without trial or just cause during World War II. The imprisonment came by way of an executive order signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942.
Trump’s order, signed January 27, banned refugees and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the US. It triggered a heated debate and, in its hasty implementation, chaos at airports. While some embrace the ban as a necessary step in protecting American national security, others are contesting its morality and legality in courtrooms across the country.
Yee felt something different.
“With this order came swift resistance with thousands showing up to reject the ban — something that didn't happen for our community,” she says. “It's been inspiring to see people showing up and acting in new and collaborative ways.”
Yee, a fourth-generation mixed-heritage Chinese Japanese American, is co-chair of the New York Day of Remembrance Committee. The group is dedicated to preserving the story of Japanese American incarceration, and working to prevent other groups from suffering similar injustices.
“At its core, we understand the need for vigilance, the responsibility we all have as a group targeted by racism so specifically, to speak out and never forget,” says Yee. “We embody the reality that such a terrible thing could happen — it did.”
Yee is not the first in her family to use the memory of Japanese American incarceration as a springboard for activism. Her grandfather, William Hohri, was a civil rights activist and one of the lead plaintiffs in a 1983 class action lawsuit against the US government for injuries suffered as a result of World War II incarceration.
“He set the tone for our family in our position toward the internment — it was wrong, we should speak out about it at every opportunity,” says Yee.
Tsuya Hohri Yee’s great uncle Sohei Hohri served as another source of inspiration. While incarcerated during World War II he volunteered at the Manzanar Children’s Village, an orphanage where parentless Japanese American children were imprisoned. He went on to become a beloved artist and librarian in New York, before passing away last year. Credit: Courtesy of Tsuya Hohri Yee
And generations of her family have done just that. Yee’s mother, Sasha Hohri, worked alongside activists Yuri Kochiyama, Akio Herzig-Yoshinaga and Michi Weglyn, and others to organize incarceration survivor testimonies for the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians.
The stories they helped collect ultimately led President Ronald Reagan to sign the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which granted monetary compensation and an official apology to those whose lives were upended. The law acknowledged that Japanese American incarceration was motivated by “racial prejudice, wartime hysteria and a lack of political leadership,” not sound national security policy.
This month, Yee and her family are marking the 75th anniversary of the executive order that changed their lives. And they are joined by thousands of other Japanese Americans for whom the act of remembering their community’s wartime incarceration is itself a radical act.
Laura Hibino Misumi, 29, and Jessica Yamane, 28, know well the importance of that remembering. After watching Trump surrogate Carl Higbie call Japanese American incarceration a precedent for a Muslim registry on Megyn Kelly’s Fox News show last November, they felt they needed to reclaim that history and stand in solidarity with Muslim Americans.
They coauthored “We Remember,” equal parts open letter and call-to-action, to bring the Japanese American past into the present: “We remember having to sell a lifetime’s worth of the American Dream to the junkman for pennies on the dollar. We remember carefully packing beloved belongings to be stored in churches and bathhouses, promising a return that would never come.”
“We remember lining up for the buses, child seen sitting on luggage, tag in lapel, apple in hand, not knowing where we were going.”
“In a matter of months, all of us Nikkei had been forcibly removed from the West Coast.”
“In the name of national security. In the furtherance of war.”
They close with a challenge: “How can we use our histories to thread together narratives of resistance and how can we elevate these dialogues from words to action?”
“A lot of pieces written about incarceration and other atrocities are written using the phrase, ‘Never forget,’” says Misumi, a Yonsei, or fourth-generation Japanese American. “‘Never forget’ is powerful, but the course of history has shown us that people do forget, and more importantly, many never even really knew enough to forget.”
“I felt like for those of us who do remember, and who do have a personal connection to these events, it’s so important to have the remembering be an active thing. To remember is an act of resistance.”
Laura Hibino Misumi and Jessica Yamane met at their orientation for Northeastern University School of Law. Here, they are making manju at a traditional Japanese New Year’s Celebration they attended together during their time at Northeastern. Years later, they stay close even though they’ve moved to New York and Los Angeles, respectively. Credit: Courtesy of Laura Hibino Misumi
Members of Misumi’s family were temporarily incarcerated at Tanforan and Santa Anita detention centers, followed by longer stays at Topaz, Gila River and Rohwer concentration camps. Her parents met in the 1960s when they were both organizing in Japantown in San Francisco. They, like Yee’s mother in New York, later worked together to organize survivors to testify in support of redress.
Yamane describes herself as 100 percent Chinese, 100 percent Japanese and 100 percent American. Her grandfather served in the 100th infantry battalion during World War II. His best friend died in his arms on the battlefield, and he was one of only three men from his original company to return to the US. He suffered “intense psychological trauma” and, as a result, spoke very little about his past.
“I’ve learned what I know from side comments made in passing, and I’ve held onto these anecdotes for dear life trying to connect the pieces,” Yamane says. “I like to imagine that my ancestors would be proud of me. I like to imagine that the life I’ve chosen was born out of those seeds of resistance my ancestors unwittingly planted.”
After the presidential election, connecting those historical dots has been even more important to Hunter College professor Jennifer Hayashida. When her “Nation, Self, and Asian Identity” class met for the first time after the November election, her students felt defeated. Some were even crying, Hayashida says.
But Mine Okubo’s classic graphic depiction of her incarceration experience was the next reading on the syllabus. The students were so moved by the parallels between Okubo’s story and present-day politics that they wanted to act.
In early December, her class travelled to Trump Tower in Manhattan and stationed themselves in the lobby as part of a “Learn As Protest” series of read-ins. Set against austere marble walls and Christmas decor, the class began to read in unison, bringing to life the pages of Okubo’s spare descriptions of loss and indignities in California’s Manzanar concentration camp.
“We were close to freedom and yet far from it. The San Bruno streetcar line bordered the camp on the east and the main state highway on the south. Streams of cars passed by all day. Guard towers and barbed wire surrounded the entire center. Guards were on duty night and day.”
A Trump Tower security guard mistook their words for chanting. Hayashida says he “couldn’t seem to wrap his mind around the fact that these Asian American students could be doing anything but engaging in what he saw as religious protest.”
The students were asked to move multiple times, but they kept reading as they walked. They eventually ended up on the sidewalk across the street from Trump Tower, where passersby stopped to listen and ask questions.
For many of Hayashida’s students and generations of Japanese American activists, remembering has indeed been radical act.
“I’m not sure how the protest itself really impacted onlookers in the lobby of the building or, later on, in the street, but I can say with confidence that it truly transformed some of the students,” Hayashida writes in an email. “Especially those who had never previously participated in any kind of social protest and who may have seen themselves more as bystanders rather than active participants in history.”
This piece was written in collaboration with Densho, a Japanese American public history non-profit based in Seattle, where Natasha Varner writes and blogs.

author: PRI/PRX's The World


text:
Obama, Japan’s Fiery Start to Spring · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Bonfire at Omizu Okuri festival in Obama, Fukui Prefecture. Photo by Nevin Thompson
For one night each year for at least the past 1,250 years, crowds gather at a lonely temple in the hills above Obama, a small fishing and farming town on the Japan Sea, to prepare for the arrival of spring with fire and water. Jinguji, a temple in Obama, is home to the Omizu Okuri (“the sending of the water”), when sacred water is sent from Obama to the ancient imperial capital of Nara, 90 kilometers to the south.
This year the festival in Obama occurs on March 2, and it's supposed to take ten days for the water to somehow wind its way to Nara. The ceremony blends Buddhist and Shinto rituals, as well as that of Shugendo, an ancient form of mountain worship long practiced in the hills around Obama. The festival features a lot of fire, and makes for stunning photographs:
Japan's imperial capital was located in Nara for most of the eighth century. The city was Japan's center of government and religion, and many satellite temples were established in Japan's provinces. Jinguji in Obama marks the site of one of these temples, and has been “sending” water to Nara's great Todaiji Temple each March for more than a millennium. According to Wikipedia:
The water [at Jinguji, in Obama] is actually drawn into two pots, one pot containing water from the previous year, and another that contains the water from all previous ceremonies. From the pot of water that holds the water of the current year, a very small amount of the water is poured into the pot which holds the mixture of water from all of the previous ceremonies. The resulting water mixture is preserved each year, and this process has taken place for over 1,200 years.
As part of the ceremony, a bonfire is lit on the grounds of Jinguji in Obama, before a procession bearing torches and the water itself marches up into the hills and towards the headwaters of the Onyu River, where the Omizu Okuri ceremony will be completed by pouring the water into the stream.
Omizu Okuri festival in Obama, Fukui Prefecture. Photo by Nevin Thompson
Generally speaking, the fire is intended to purify the water and the festival participants, in order to help make a clean start at the start of spring.
Omizu Okuri festival in Obama, Fukui Prefecture. Photo by Nevin Thompson
As a result, the festival in the hills above Obama attracts hundreds of people each year.
Omizu Okuri festival in Obama, Fukui Prefecture. Photo by Nevin Thompson
Many of the participants in the ceremony are local villagers from neighborhoods around Obama, and are dressed in traditional white garments common to Shugendo practitioners.
Omizu Okuri festival in Obama, Fukui Prefecture. Photo by Nevin Thompson
The participants in the procession to the headwaters of the Onyu River must wear masks and cowls to protect themselves from the shooting sparks of the massive torches.
Omizu Okuri festival in Obama, Fukui Prefecture. Photo by Nevin Thompson
Omizu Okuri festival in Obama, Fukui Prefecture. Photo by Nevin Thompson
Omizu Okuri festival in Obama, Fukui Prefecture. Photo by Nevin Thompson
It's debatable whether the water will actually travel from Obama to Nara. There are several mountain ranges in the way, as well as Japan's largest lake, Lake Biwa. The Omizu Okuri festival is meant to be more of a symbolic celebration of the start of spring.

author: Nevin Thompson


text:
Palestinian Journalist Describes Days of Torture, Mysterious Injections by Palestinian Intelligence · Global Voices
Marwa Fatafta

Sami al-Saai has previously been arrested by Israeli authorities for “incitement” on Facebook. Photo credit: the journalist's Facebook profile
The Palestinian Authority (PA) is facing accusations from rights groups of subjecting Sami al-Saai, a news editor and a reporter, to “brutal” torture.
Al-Saai was arrested by Palestinian Intelligence Services on February 2, 2017 in his hometown, the West Bank city of Tulkarem, when he was summoned for investigation. He was charged with ‘inciting sectarian strife‘ in Facebook posts. On 8 February a court ordered his release on bail. Al-Saai paid the bail, but was not released. He was instead transferred to Jericho Prison.
After spending 20 days under arrest, Al-Saai was released on 22 February from Jericho prison where he says he was tortured by Palestinian Intelligence Services.
Under Palestine's Basic Law, any person accused of a crime is innocent until proven guilty. The law further guarantees that “Crime and punishment shall only be determined by the law” and that “punishment shall be imposed only by judicial order” (Article 15).
Al-Saai works for the local and independent Al Fajer Al Jadeed TV, where he reports on local political developments in the governorate of Tulkarem. In 2016, in a project unrelated to his work at Al Fajer Al Jadeed, he submitted a series of reports on Palestinian political prisoners in Israel and the West Bank to Hamas, the militant Islamist movement that governs the Gaza Strip and is the main political rival to the nationalist Fatah party, which controls the Palestinian Authority. Al-Saai suspects that this work was the pretext for his arrest.
Reports about al-Saai's torture first surfaced after his mother visited him in prison, where he told her that he was tortured each day and told to confess to crimes he never committed. She said that her son was beaten and hung from door frames and windows. He was forced to stand for very long periods of time, deprived of sleep for days, and confined in a very small cold cell with no mattress or blankets. Al-Saai also told his mother that he was injected with an unknown drug four times a day.
Speaking to local media, his wife had warned that he might die of torture. “Open a funeral house for me, you will hear about my death soon,” al-Saai told his wife in a distressing message delivered through his mother.
The Palestinian Public Prosecution flatly denies these reports, saying it inspected the detention site in Jericho and found no evidence of torturing detainees there.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate also denied that al-Saai was tortured. The Syndicate said in a statement that when a group of its members visited al-Saai in detention, he confirmed to them that the news about his torture was only false rumor. Al-Saai retracted his statement later after his release, explaining that he was afraid to speak up because he was under threat.
Shortly after his release, he spoke out about what had actually happened to him in prison in a phone call with Fadi Arouri, a Palestinian photojournalist from Ramallah and one of the most followed commentators on Facebook in Palestine. Al-Saai told Arouri:
They would tie my hands to the back with a rope, tie that rope to a longer one, and hold me and hang me from the ceiling of the cell…They tied me with a rope, with my hands to the back, and dragged me while telling me to walk like a dog
Al-Saai also said that authorities opened his Facebook account and read his conversations with other people, and that the central investigative office of the Palestinian Intelligence Services offered him “protection, money and a promising career in media in exchange for his confession.”
The Journalists’ Syndicate, whose vision is to defend “Palestinian Journalists’ professional, economic, social and human rights and supporting freedom of expression in Palestine,” has yet to react to al-Saai's new revelation. In its previous statement, the syndicate asserted that the journalist's arrest was not related to his media work, nor is it a case of press freedom violation, and that journalists, by virtue of their job, are not exempt from abiding by the law.
In his conversation with Arouri, al-Saai explained that he had worked on a four-month project submitting reports with a list of Palestinian political prisoners in Israel and in the West Bank city of Tulkarem to Hamas. While he was in prison, Palestinian intelligence services accused him of receiving funds to recruit new members for Hamas. Al-Saai denied these accusations and noted that there is no law that forbids journalists from working with political organizations.
Al-Saai has previously been arrested for his online posts. Last year, the Israeli authorities arrested and charged him with ‘incitement’ on Facebook. He was sentenced to nine months in jail, and was released in November 2016.
Whether al-Saai's arrest by the PA this time was related to his work as a journalist or not, the torture of Palestinian prisoners, including journalists and activists, at the hands of the Palestinian Authority is a serious issue. Human Rights Watch documented numerous cases where Palestinian journalists were detained, harassed and tortured for expressing their criticism of the PA, or for their affiliation with its rival party Hamas.
The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) documented 134 cases of violations of media freedoms in 2016 in the West Bank by the Palestinian Authority and in Gaza by the Hamas government. This includes, among others, summons and interrogations, detentions and arrests, prevention of coverage, physical assaults, equipment confiscation, and raids against journalists’ homes or media institutions.

author: Marwa Fatafta


text:
The Story of a Gay, Black Man From the Outskirts of São Paulo Who Became a Filmmaker · Global Voices
Agência Mural

Valter Rege on the roof of his home where he makes his videos for his YouTube channel called “Energia Positiva.” Photo: Vagner Vital/Agência Mural, published with permission
This post by Vagner Vital was originally published by Agência Mural. It is republished here as part of the partnership between Global Voices and Agência Mural.
At six years old, Valter Rege realized his life wouldn't be an easy one. Amid insults like “monkey” and “faggot,” he lost teeth when he fell and hit his mouth on the sidewalk curb after being pushed by some other boys. He realized that being gay and staying alive would be a challenge, although he wasn't able to say for sure the meaning of that word used instead of his name as he was chased away and beaten.
Condemned for who he was, Valter Rege found his means to fight back and speak through his camera. He created the YouTube channel “Energia Positiva” (Positive Energy) – a motto he had tattooed on his right arm – where he discusses, among other issues, black empowerment. The rooftop where he makes his videos is just one of many in the poor neighborhood of Vila Clara, in the south of São Paulo, where he has his own outdoor studio.
The hanging laundry next to two water tanks are evidence of the space's other uses. “I'm not ashamed of making my videos up here and showing the place I call home. This is my reality,” he says. “The rooftop represents the outskirts [of the city].”
The 32-year-old, standing at 1.62 meters tall (about 5 feet, 4 inches) and featuring a big smile, splits his time between the YouTube channel and fulfilling another dream. With the help of his workmates, he's written a script that has received a grant from the Brazilian Ministry of Culture to be produced as a short film called “Preto no Branco” (Black on White). The movie, which doesn't have a release date, will be Rege's professional debut.
It tells the story of a young black man (played by actor Marcos Oliveira) who is accused of theft after bumping into a woman in front of a mall. After being taken to the police department, his innocence is called into question due to hate and racial discrimination.
In one of those coincidences in which art imitates life, Rege was once stopped by a woman who shouted at him as he was getting out of the bus to work: “Thief! You're a thief! You stole my cell phone!” Startled and confused, he replied it wasn't him and simply kept walking towards the building where he works.
“I wish I had stared right into her eyes and said she can't accuse people like that, but I was scared. I was afraid of being beaten or afraid of the cops who could treat me unfairly,” he says. The woman called the police, who shortly afterward knocked on the door of the company where he works. Luckily, the company security guard didn't match the description of the wanted man with Rege, and both the police officers and the woman left.
“There was a boom of vigilantes back then. I feared that someone would come after me when I was alone,” he says. “It's sad when you go through that in your childhood and you realize that it still continues after you become an adult.”
Shooting the short movie “Preto no Branco.” Photo: personal archive, published with permission.
During his childhood, he lived with his parents and two sisters in a slum, in the middle of the mansions of the Moema neighborhood, one of the wealthiest of São Paulo. His family shared the only two bathrooms available with 30 other families.
At 10, he couldn't understand why he wasn't allowed to play with the kids who lived in the mansions and luxury buildings, where the mothers from the slum usually worked all day long. The increase in the cost of living in the vicinity made his family move to Vila Clara in the city's outskirts. Adjusting to life there wasn't easy. The VCR and the TV became his faithful friends.
He started to identify himself as a black person in his teenage years, after being exposed to movies. “Back in Moema, whenever I saw a black person in the street, I would cross to the other side. The cinema encouraged me to come out to get to know my new neighborhood, to see other black people and to recognize myself as one,” he said.
In one of his YouTube videos, Rege returns to the street where he lived in Moema and points out the differences between the two places he's lived as well as the importance of building up his self-esteem and pride about his neighborhood.
His first script, written at 13, began to come alive through his home movies which were recorded with an 8mm camcorder he bought thanks to his first job as a courier. He worked as a courier for a bookshop and served in the Air Force as a soldier until he got a scholarship to study radio and television at Universidade Belas Artes. There he learned the basics of producing more professional material, and he released “Quero ser Beyoncé” (I want to be Beyoncé), a medium-length movie about women's empowerment that was shown at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil.
Shortly after, he brought another project to light in the form of a book called “Sempre Amigos” (Friends Forever) – published by Multifoco – in which he tells the story of Eduardo, a young homosexual man who is discovering his sexuality and learning to accept himself.
“I wanted to show with this book how important it is to be who we are, and also urge parents to read it because being yourself is not matter of choice,” he says. “I always try to learn something good from bad experiences. That's positive energy to me.”
The boy who lost his teeth as a child for being black and gay doesn't believe in meritocracy. From on top of his roof or between the hanging laundry and water tanks or at the movie theater, he is demonstrating the importance of empowerment with pride. “We, as blacks, gays and from poor communities have to stay strong. And we are,” he says.

author: Agência Mural


text:
What Does Trump’s Presidency Mean for Brazilians? It’s Complicated. · Global Voices
Jessica White

A pro-Trump protest was held in São Paulo in October 2016. A screenshot The Intercept Brazil's report. Click to view.
President Donald Trump's anti-immigration discourse and crackdown on undocumented immigrants has contributed to increased levels of uncertainty among communities of Latin American origin in the United States. Among Brazilians, there have been mixed feelings: some have felt fear and sorrow, while others say Trump has their support.
The US is home to approximately one million Brazilians, and up to 70% of them could be undocumented. A number of them, however, seem to be in favour of an administration that could directly harm them, not to mention Brazilians in Brazil who also profess their approval of Trump.
Since last year, a number of social media pages showing Brazilian support for Trump have sprung up. On Facebook, the group “Brasileiros com Trump” (Brazilians with Trump), with more than 3,000 likes, regularly shares news and memes — in both Portuguese and English — in support of the new United States president. On Twitter, with a much smaller following, the account “Brazilians for Trump” has also been actively retweeting stories from alt-right –short for “alternative right,” which refers to a loose collection of far-right ideologies — media outlets.
Many young Brazilian nationals or people of Brazilian origin living in the US have shown their support for the Republican Party (Trump's political party). William Johnston II, a 20-year-old business student and the son of two Brazilian immigrants, is the first generation of his family to be born in the US. Although he doesn't fully support all aspects of Trump's policies, he is however, a strong supporter, as he explained in a tweet:
I don't 100% agree with the ban, but I do agree with the extreme vetting process. We have to know who and what we are letting in!
— William Johnston II (@WillyJDeuce) January 29, 2017
In a story published by Veja, a Brazilian media outlet, Marinho Nobre, a Brazilian musician who has lived in New York for more than three decades, said he was was very happy with the election result. “Trump's ideas are radical, but they inspire change. And people want change”, he said, while also expressing his support for the wall on the Mexican border and the expulsion of “radical Muslims connected with terrorism.”
Beatriz Coppola, a 28-year-old student who lives in Miami, forms part of an upcoming group of young, conservative Brazilians in the US. In an interview with BBC Brasil, she said she voted for Trump and continues to support and defend him, stating that:
“Ele não é contra imigrante, ele é contra o imigrante ilegal”
He is not against immigrants, he is against illegal immigrants.
Brazilians in the US, like Florida-based Neylor Silva, have taken to social media to openly criticise Brazilian Trump supporters. He wrote on Facebook:
Conheço uma meia duzia por ai …….. que realmente esqueceram que um dia chegaram aqui e ficaram por um tempo ilegal , depois de algum tempo Deus concedeu o privilégio de legalizar nesse país maravilhoso dai com a legalização veio a doença de alzheimer. Quero ver agora se vão admitir que fizeram besteira votando em um Racista da pior qualidade. Vocês querem América great again???? Trabalhem duro e mude os planos.
I know about half a dozen people here, who have truly forgotten that one day they arrived here and lived here illegally. After some time, God granted them the privilege of becoming legal in this wonderful country, hence, alongside this legalisation came their Alzheimer's disease. Now, I want to see if they will admit that they screwed up by voting for a racist. Do you want America great again???? Work hard and change their plans.
Donald Trump has seen support not just in the diaspora, but also in Brazil itself. A pro-Trump protest took place in São Paulo in October, during which at least three protesters were detained by police.
Following the announcement of the construction of Trump’s $120 million hotel in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilians have in fact spoken of how much of a privilege it would be to have a project from his organization in their country. This project, however, remains unfinished and construction has been on hold since December 2016. The Trump Organization chose to drop their support for the project in the weeks following the election result, with recent reports pointing to possible corruption among the project's investors. A few months later, the Trump name was removed from the building itself, and the 170 rooms still remain unfinished.
One possible answer to such support might be Brazilian identity. Many Brazilians who support Trump see him as marginalising “Latinos” as a monolithic group, but many Brazilians don't identify as being Latino. Research from 2015 has found that only 4% of the interviewed Brazilians said they identified with being “Latin American”, compared to the average of 43% in other six countries in the region.
Brazil also has its share of politicians who have been widely compared with Donald Trump. In the most recent municipal elections, São Paulo elected a businessman with little political experience. João Dória is the former host of Brazil's own “The Apprentice” TV show, and the majority of his supporters reside in some of the city's poorest suburban areas. His assets of 170 million Brazilian reais are a far cry from the lives of those who elected him.
As is the case with Trump, his distance from reality, lack of political experience and wealthy businessman attitude haven't prevented him from winning votes. With corruption, economic downfall and political turbulence overpowering Brazil at the moment, the idea of a fresh start has turned out to be very attractive. In an interview with the Financial Times newspaper, construction worker Orlei Rodrigues said:
I voted for Dória mainly because he is new to politics […] Who knows, maybe he will be different from most of them who only want to profit from the municipality.
Trump has also been compared to Jair Bolsonaro, a Brazilian congressman who has been elected into the Chamber of Deputies, and is also a potential candidate to Brazil's 2018 presidential election. Bolsonaro himself is known for his openly racist, sexist and homophobic rants. A survey from last year conducted by Datafolha of 2,779 people found he was the leading candidate among 23% of Brazil's richest. He also has a giant social media following, with almost 4 million likes on his official Facebook page.
He celebrated the outcome of the US election by taking to social media to declare: “The victory goes to the man who fought ‘everyone and everything’:
Parabéns ao povo dos EUA pela eleição d @realDonaldTrump .Vence aquele q lutou contra “tudo e todos”. Em 2018 será o Brasil no mesmo caminho
— Jair Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) November 9, 2016
Congratulations to the people of the USA for the election of @realDonaldTrump. The man who fought against “everything and everyone” has won. In 2018, Brazil will be on the same path.
The ongoing Brazilian support for Trump is a potential result of deep discontent and a loss of faith in a country where, according to an article from March 2016 by Joao Augusto de Castro Neves (director of the Latin America department of consultant company Eurasia Group) and Bruno Koltai Reis (director of Eurasia Group office in Brazil), there are many political, social and economic issues:
From a political perspective, the country is dealing with a presidential impeachment process, a massive corruption scandal reaching the entire political class, and recently faced an unexpected wave of protests on the streets of Brazil's largest cities, with millions of citizens decrying the unresponsive – and occasionally irresponsible – political class. Those events have led the political system to a state of near-paralysis, and emphasize the political class’ incapacity to respond effectively to the many challenges that the country currently faces.
With Brazil still experiencing political turmoil, slowing economic growth and a deepening recession, a large number of Brazilians have moved to the United States, many of whom are thought to be residing there illegally. In an article named “Brazilian Immigrants in the United States” published by the US-based think tank MPI (Migration Policy Institute), economic, political and social crises together with changes in US immigration policy have “shaped the nature and scope of the Brazilian flow to the United States”.
Trump has instilled a sense of fear for many Brazilian migrants who strongly oppose his presidency. Rafaela Rangel, founder of a 4,000-member-strong Facebook group called “Brasileiras de Nova York” (Brazilians of New York), has played a crucial part in supporting Brazilian women living in the US, bringing them together to form support networks. She said:
“todas estão desesperadas pedindo para organizar uma palestra […] que é real e o que é boato, e qual a melhor maneira de se proteger, estando aqui com ou sem papéis”
Everyone is desperately asking to organize a talk […] what is the best way to protect yourself, whether you are here with, or without papers

author: Jessica White


text:
‘El Caracazo’ Riots Are Still at the Center of Venezuelan Debate 28 Years Later · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

Photo: Francisco Solórzano. Shared by Bernardo Londoy on Flicker through a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Licence (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
February 27, 1989 and the week that followed, dates which are seared in the memories of many Venezuelans, are widely considered a watershed moment in modern Venezuelan history. It was then that a series of riots, looting and shootings took place, leaving hundreds dead, in what became known as El Caracazo or El Sacudón, a name that has been loosely translated as ‘“the Caracas smash” or “the big one in Caracas”.
The riots grew out of protests in Caracas in response to government policies that would have translated into a steep increase in prices for gasoline and public transportation.
February 27 marked the 28th anniversary of El Caracazo, bringing with it so much discussion that it was one of the main trending topics in Venezuela's Twitter. People shared memories of the riots, and pro-government and opposition users traded barbs, saying El Caracazo was either the beginning of today's political divisions or the awakening of a popular movement against oppression:
28 años del estalllido social “El Caracazo” Movimiento popular que surgio en rechazo a las medidas economicas impuestas!! #27FPuebloRebelde pic.twitter.com/uoYhme0V2Y
— lili’ (@lilidiaz8) February 27, 2017
28 years [have passed since] the social explosion [known as] El Caracazo. A political movement born out of rejection of imposed economic policies. #27FebruaryRebelPeople.
El Caracazo no fue un estallido social, fue una oportunidad manipulada para que la anarquía abonara el terreno para sembrar el chavismo!
— David ® González (@drg2000) February 27, 2017
El Caracazo wasn't a social explosion. It was an manipulated opportunity so anarchy could prepare the field to sow chavismo.
The background, causes and consequences of El Caracazo are still today an important topic of discussion and study. Given the influence of the riots on Venezuela's contemporary history and crisis, the collective site “Caracas Chronicles” devoted a series of posts remembering, explaining and analyzing the “1989 spasm of chaos that changed Venezuela forever.”
Three posts of the series have been devoted to explaining what El Caracazo was, and the place it has in today's political discourse. In them, Rafael Osío Cabrices and Cynthia Rodriguez put together references and testimonies that try to understand the before, during and after of the riots:
[Former Venezuelan president Carlos Andrés Pérez] ran on a promise to make Venezuela great again, after five years of economic decline and corruption scandals […] Those who voted for him expected another consumerist orgy like the one Venezuela enjoyed during his first administration in the 70s. It wasn’t to be. Though oil prices were about the same that in 1977, the national debt was twice the size of the international reserves, and there were many more people around.
Many of ex-President's Carlos Andrés Pérez measures were highly controversial, but the one that set fire in the streets was the elimination of gasoline subsidies. As mentioned above, this made gasoline and public transportation costs rise dramatically, provoking protests in and around the capital:
We call it El Caracazo because the capital was the main theater and the main source of victims. However, starting at noon on Feb. 27 the contagion reached dense commercial areas in [cities surrounding the capital]. Police, [the National Guard] and DISIP [the National Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services] were unable to stop violence also there […] By the morning of Feb. 28, looters were at ease in western and central Caracas. Clearly outnumbered, the [Metropolitan Police] seemed paralyzed, thus the riots spread. No political leader was conducting the violence. Some streets and avenues in Central and Western Caracas were blocked by barricades or burning buses and trucks. It was a feast of rage and also joy, desperate poverty and pragmatic opportunism. Police and soldiers were there, but doing nothing; they were waiting for orders. Meanwhile, from the barrios in the slopes of the mountains surrounding the Caracas valley, the poor descended in masses. Finally, the prophets of disaster were right: “el día en que bajarán los cerros” [the day the slums will come down to the city] had come.
The series also presents a comprehensive analysis on one of the reports produced by PROVEA, a Venezuelan NGO that promotes human rights and documents violations. Their work with victims of El Caracazo has brought to light new findings on abuses committed by the police and the military:
Most deaths during this period were caused by high caliber bullet wounds located from the waist up, occurring at night during the curfew. According to reports by victims’ relatives, the military tactic prevalent in popular areas of Caracas […] was indiscriminate fire against apartments and houses, many of which were completely destroyed, in response to a few snipers.
About the number of deaths, the report says:
The official figure of 276 fatalities was reported by the then Prosecutor General, although that institution hadn’t made an exhaustive investigation on the matter. Official secrecy, limitations imposed on the press and severe repression, prevented casualties from being appropriately counted and recorded.
On the other hand, we’re left to wonder if the final count has any relevance, considering the unacceptable death pattern, regardless of whether the pattern caused a thousand, ten or even only one victim. The Venezuelan Constitution doesn’t allow the suspension of guarantees that protect the right to Life and yet, there’s a persistent sensation that the suspension of some guarantees was taken by the various security forces as a licence to kill. A captain was recorded by a news outlet saying: “Soldiers have been killed here and when that happens, we intensify our work… [killing] isn’t hard, because we’re already indoctrinated, accustomed and psychologically prepared.”
The people's reactions, the confrontations with the police, the human rights abuses and the confusing narratives around El Caracazo continue to be a dividing topic in today's Venezuela, in particular to those who see the current political and economic crisis as connected to the days that followed February 27.
Gianmarco Greci, writing in his part of the series “Confronting El Caracazo,” argued that it's such a painful and confusing part of the country's history that one must either try to understand it or just not think about it at all:
The responses break down into two overarching narratives: on the one hand the estallido social [a social explosion] narrative of a shortsighted people who did not understand much needed reforms and opted instead for savage chaos. On the other, the despertar de un pueblo [a people's awakening] narrative which politicizes the events as inchoate Chavismo, the awareness-creating moment of a massive political movement against imperialist neoliberalism. Two readings, two Venezuelas.

author: Laura Vidal


text:
Indian Student Activist Faces Death Threats After Standing Up to Right Wing · Global Voices
Vishal Yashoda Manve

Image: Gurmehar Kaur / Twitter
Threats of violence, gang rape, and physical attacks are making news in India, after a 20-year-old student activist from New Delhi's Lady Shri Ram college launched the #StudentsAgainstABVP protest.
Gurmehar Kaur started the campaign after a recent altercation between protesters and the right-wing student group Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad  (ABVP), which has ties to Hindu nationalist organizations.
On Feb. 21, a conference titled “Culture of Protest” was scheduled to take place at Delhi's Ramjas college. The event was supposed to feature comments by activists Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid, both known for supporting the “Free Kashmir” movement, but the speeches were canceled in response to major protests by members of the right-wing student group ABVP, who vandalized the college in retaliation for inviting to campus a man accused of sedition in 2016.
After ABVP's demonstrations, students, teachers, journalists, and activists staged a counter-rally in support of the invitations to Khalid and Rashid. Things got violent when ABVP members showed up and started fighting with demonstrators. According to reports, several activists were injured, and some women were threatened with rape.
In protest, Gurmehar Kaur posted a photo with the following message on Facebook on Feb. 22:
“I am a student from Delhi University. I am not afraid of ABVP. I am not alone. Every student of India is with me. #StudentsAgainstABVP”
She also wrote:
The brutal attack on innocent students by ABVP is very disturbing and should be stopped. It was not an attack on protestors, but an attack on every notion of democracy that is held dear in ever Indian's heart. It is an attack on ideals, morals, freedom and rights of every person born to this nation. The stones that you pelt hit our bodies, but fail to bruise our ideas.
This profile picture is my way of protesting against the tyranny of fear. If you are a student in any Indian university, in any Indian state and you wish to protest against ABVP then take a similar selfie and make it your profile picture. Use the hashtag #StudentsAgainstABVP and copy paste this message along with it.
It's time for every student of India to unite! Jai Hind! Jai Democracy!
With this, the #StudentsAgainstABVP campaign was off. Soon students across India started changing their profile pictures, on social media, to protest against the violence.
@NSUIJMI strongly condemn the attack on university discussions and stand in solidarity with #DU. #StudentsAgainstABVP pic.twitter.com/ZC3Dp7Uzzv
— Laraib Ahmad Neyazi (@LaraibNeyazi) February 23, 2017
Students across the nation wants peace & unity in the campuses. Lets avoid extremism & follow the path of Gandhi ji #StudentsAgainstABVP pic.twitter.com/R2scnqR4lw
— NSUI (@nsui) February 23, 2017
We strongly stand with @mehartweets and condemn shameful atrocities of ABVP.#StudentsAgainstABVP pic.twitter.com/m7coGeuCHN
— Sideeque (@iamsideeque) February 27, 2017
I am a student of #DelhiUniversity and we don't want hooligans in our campus. I am with @MeharTweets.#StudentsAgainstABVP
— Yuvraj Singh Chauhan (@iYuvrajChauhan) February 27, 2017
Supporters praised Kaur's initiative:
Very brave of #GurmeharKaur to take on the #ABVP goons! sadder to see ppl like sehwag & hooda trivializing the issue!
— Shravan (@Shravz) February 27, 2017
Kaur hasn't won over everyone, of course, and some Internet users are adapting her hashtag to convey the opposite message:
Dear AISA, the truth doesn't remain hidden for long!
The neutral students of DU have started to raise their voice #ABVP #Ramjas pic.twitter.com/JLDObGJXP1
— Diksha Verma (@DikshaaVerma) February 24, 2017
Below, you can find a video of Gurmehar Kaur “talking” about peace between Pakistan and India. Her father was killed in the India-Pakistan War.
Kaur has come under fire for saying in the video, “My mother held me back and made me understand that Pakistan did not kill my dad, war killed him.”
Internet users like Anand Ranganathan have defended her against what they call attacks by trolls:
Here is the complete text of what @mehartweets said in that video. Shown in red is the part-sentence that was taken out to troll her. pic.twitter.com/Tj0KSex67o
— Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) February 26, 2017
Indian Home Minister Kiren Rijiju is the latest to join in the controversy, asking on Twitter about Kaur, “Who's polluting this young girl's mind?”
Who's polluting this young girl's mind? A strong Arm Force prevents a war. India never attacked anyone but a weak India was always invaded. https://t.co/gXHkAGi9sh
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) February 27, 2017
Another lawmaker from the ruling BJP, Pratap Simha, compared Kaur to the terrorist Dawood Ibrahim.
pic.twitter.com/NaG4xVrT2B
— Pratap Simha (@mepratap) February 26, 2017
Kaur's supporters counter that she has a right to free speech, which they argue has “deteriorated” lately in India, thanks to state officials and right-wing activists who they say are too quick to slap a “sedition” label on all political dissent.
So, @mehartweets welcome to measuring the effectiveness of your public message in bulk hate messages. Bullies panic when confronted.
— Nastik Vidyut (@Vidyut) February 26, 2017
Don't call me a Martyrs daughter if that bothers you. I never claimed anything otherwise. You can call me Gurmehar.
— Gurmehar Kaur (@mehartweets) February 26, 2017
Hats off to you for standing your ground, @mehartweets. A strong young woman like you gives us hope for India's future. https://t.co/tSNmMtoNvf
— Anna MM Vetticad (@annavetticad) February 26, 2017
Not surprising that “nationalists” mock @mehartweets for one pic out of an entire series. Their vision as always is limited by their hate. pic.twitter.com/SCzRL76Jf7
— SamSays (@samjawed65) February 26, 2017
Kaur has received rape and death threats on social media from individuals calling her an “anti-national” agent. She filed a complaint on Feb. 27 with the Delhi Commission for Women, identifying several Twitter accounts that have been threatening her.
Why is it that ‘nationalists’ routinely resort to rape threats when confronted? https://t.co/kwKFzyKMIS
— Rohini Singh (@Rohinisgh_ET) February 26, 2017
Aakar Patel, head of Amnesty International India, said in a statement:
The events at Ramjas College are a shameful reminder of how intimidation and threats continue to restrict free speech on university campuses.

author: Vishal Yashoda Manve


text:
South Africans Share Funny Things They Believed While Growing Up · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Lightning hitting the ground. Some children in Africa are led to believe that lightning will struck them if they are wearing red. Creative Commons photo by Wikipedia user Jessie Eastland.
A humorous hashtag, #ThingsIBelievedInAsAChild, has been trending in South Africa, under which people are publishing a number of funny and superstitious beliefs they had when growing up.
Here's a selection of some of the tweets appearing under the hashtag.
“Divinity” had to be very careful when eating an orange, because:
#ThingsIBelievedInAsAChild
If you swallow an orange seed, an orange tree starts growing in your stomach
— Divinity ?? (@CAN_Divine) February 17, 2017
“Big Boss” believed whistling had to be done during the day:
#ThingsIBelievedInAsAchild
Never whistle at night, it brings bad luck.
— Big Boss (@Thee_Psychic) February 17, 2017
Levi thought height was tied to jumping:
If someone jumps a leg over you, you won't grow tall unless they unjump you ???#ThingsIBelievedInAsAChild
— Levi The-Truth (@Levi_Scary_T) February 17, 2017
How does the TV work?:
#thingsibelievedinasachild people who are on TV are actually inside TV pic.twitter.com/vZeZb8drqo
— Oa Matatiele (@Paballo65M) February 17, 2017
If you see a hearse passing by:
#ThingsIBelievedInAsAChild that if you see this car, you must hold a hair strand till it passes by???or else pic.twitter.com/obL5MiW1Kr
— noluthando (@KgabuNoluthando) February 17, 2017
You had to wear your “Sunday best” on, well, a Sunday:
I can only wear new clothes on a Sunday and not during the week #ThingsIBelievedInAsAchild
— Zinhle Mashiloane (@ZeeMach) February 17, 2017
“#Avantgardehipster” believed:
#ThingsIBelievedInAsAchild
Was told albinos don't die but they just vanish
Till now i haven't seen obituary of an albino ??
— #Avantgardehipster (@1real_bill) February 17, 2017
One user shared the following photo to accompany his tweet:
#ThingsIBelievedInAsAChild
Eating too much will make me fit & strong. pic.twitter.com/V21ZTXhNQL
— ®Azee (@TheRealAzee_RSA) February 17, 2017
Say what?:
I genuinely believed that testicles were eggs#ThingsIBelievedInAsAChild
— Zanel Ndzume (@Zanel_zn6) February 17, 2017
Where do babies come from?:
#ThingsIBelievedInAsAChild Babies were bought not born
— Luvuyo Mkonqo (@LMkonqo) February 17, 2017
How can the refrigerator light turn on by itself?:
That there was a tiny man that turned on the light in the fridge whenever i opened it. #ThingsIBelievedInAsAChild
— theREALone (@Babs_2by4) February 17, 2017
How do you spot rich folks?:
#ThingsIBelievedInAsAChild if you had this at home, you were rich people?? pic.twitter.com/XPwHRsn1rY
— #See_Yowa_Life?? (@IraguhaHerbert) February 17, 2017
If you don't want to be toothless all your life…:
After removing a tooth, if you don't throw it on the roof you'll never grow another one to replace it #ThingsIBelievedInAsAChild
— JoyLiladzani M (@Liladzani1) February 17, 2017
“DJASH” thought:
#ThingsIBelievedInAsAChild
All toothpaste are called colgate
All bleach products are Jik
All soaps are either called Lux or Sunlight!
— #SayMyNameBaby (@DJASH_214) February 17, 2017
Jik, Colgate, Lux and Sunlight are popular products in Sub Saharan Africa.
Check the weather report before you wear red:
#ThingsIBelievedInAsAChild don't wear red if there's a thunder storm … lightning might strike you real quick
— ig: ms_yazlee (@Yazmiin_Yawlee) February 17, 2017

author: Ndesanjo Macha


text:
The Face of Resistance: Are You Listening? Podcast · Global Voices
Sahar Habib Ghazi

You might be thinking, wait a minute. I thought this podcast was called The Week That Was at Global Voices. You’re right. We’ve revamped the name to Are You Listening?, a sort of wink at Global Voices of yore when our tagline was ‘The world is talking, are you listening?’ But don’t fret. It still takes a look at some of the stories that have recently come out of the Global Voices newsroom.
And in this episode, we take you to India, Japan, Australia, Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago to introduce you to the Face of Resistance in a globalized world.
Specifically, we dig into the history of Princess Leia's famous hair buns and explain why women in more than 30 Indian cities rallied; we tell you about a commercial in Australia that asks, “aren't we all boat people?” and introduce you to an Afghan resident of Okinawa, Japan, who gets caught in a vicious game of fake news and fear of “Muslims“. We wrap with a personal essay by our Trinidad-based managing director Georgia Popplewell who narrates how unnerving and difficult it is to enter the US as a foreigner.
In this episode, we featured stories by Vishal Manve, Nevin Thompson, Gabriela Garcia Calderon and Kevin Rennie, and we featured Creative Commons licensed music from the Free Music Archive, including Please Listen Carefully by Jahzzar (CC BY-SA 4.0); Anniversary Song by Blanket Music (CC BY-NC 3.0); Day Bird by Broke For Free (CC BY 3.0); Parody 3 and Chords by David Szesztay (CC BY-NC 3.0); We Always Thought the Future Would Be Kind of Fun by Chris Zabriskie (CC BY 4.0); and Perceptible Shift by Andy G. Cohen (CC BY 4.0).
The feature image used in this story is an edited version of a photo by Flickr user Marx Dixon, taken in Washington DC, during the Women's March on January 21, 2017. CC BY 2.0.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | RSS

author: Sahar Habib Ghazi


text:
‘Daughters of the Forest’ Documents How Education Empowers Young Women in Rural Paraguay · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón

Full-moon night at Mbaracayú Forest Nature Reserve. Image on Flickr by user Jose A. Huertas (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
The Mbaracayú forest is located at a remote spot in Paraguay, formed by the upper basin of the Jejuí river and the Mbaracayú Forest Nature Reserve. The place is a sanctuary for a number of endangered species and a hotspot of biodiversity.
But for people living around the area, daily life can be a challenge. Going to school, for instance, is not easy, not only because children have to make their way there by cutting through the thick vegetation that takes over the roads, but also because of a lack of resources for education as well as the prejudices society has against women.
In 2008, Moises Bertoni Foundation, the body that manages the natural reserve, established the Mbaracayú Educational Center as an initiative to offer quality education for teenage girls living in and around the reserve. It offers high school technical degrees in environmental sciences.
This is the focus of the 2015 film “Daughters of the Forest,” directed by San Francisco, California-based Samantha Grant. The documentary will be shown at the 10th Annual Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival, to be held in March 23-27.
Global Voices contributor Mary Avilés held an interview with director Samantha Grant about the movie and its goals.
Global Voices (GV): What is “Daughters of the Forest” about?
Samantha Grant (SG): Daughters of the Forest tells the powerful, uplifting story of a small group of girls in one of the most remote forests left on earth who attend a radical high school where they learn to protect the threatened forest and forge a better future for themselves. Set in the untamed wilds of the Mbaracayú Reserve in rural Paraguay, this intimate verité documentary offers a rare glimpse of a disappearing world where timid girls grow into brave young women even as they are transformed by their unlikely friendships with one another. Filmed over the course of five years, we follow the girls from their humble homes in indigenous villages through the year after their graduation to see exactly how their revolutionary education has and will continue to impact their future lives.
GV: What is the main message of “Daughters of the Forest”?
SG: The main message of the film is that if you give young women a chance by giving them an education, they can become valuable, contributing members of society because unlike the young men who receive an education and often end up taking their education to seek their fortune elsewhere, young women do not leave their home communities. Also, if you focus the education you are giving to these young women on the environment and the importance of preserving ancient forests, they will come up with innovative and productive ways of fighting deforestation — something that is not just a local problem. The devastatingly rapid and relentless deforestation of the forests of South America by international agricultural conglomerates is something that the entire world should be concerned about.
GV: What made you decide to make this documentary?
SG: I was originally brought on to the project as a cinematographer because I was young, female, and Spanish fluent, and those were the minimum requirements necessary in order to connect with this community of young Spanish speaking girls. The producer of the film, who found out about the story when he did a previous profile of Martin Burt (the founder of the school) found me through his network of contacts and after a brief phone conversation I signed up for what I thought would be a fun and relatively short assignment. Then I met the girls, who are simply amazing. After a few days of shooting it was clear that my role was more than simply ‘cinematographer’ so the producer and I had a conversation and decided that I would have a bigger role. Over the course of the years we followed the girls, my role eventually grew to Director. Taking on a project that someone else has started is always a tricky thing to do, and this project was not without its challenges, but I decided to commit to this larger role as the Director because I believe in the project and I believe in the girls. Also, as a documentary filmmaker it's not often that you get the chance to tell an uplifting and inspiring story, so I jumped at the chance.
GV: What surprised you the most about their stories?
SG: What surprised me the most about these girls is how similar they are to all the other teenage girls here in the US. Despite the fact that they have grown up with such different circumstances than the majority of girls in the US, these girls are just the same as any other teenage girl you might run into in the US. They have the same hopes, dreams, fears and desires. They put pictures from magazines of teen heartthrobs next to their beds. They love to dance and listen to pop music. They giggle and gossip and watch TV. They like dressing up, wearing makeup, and now that they are at a school with satellite internet, they love keeping up with friends on Facebook.
GV: Did you face any challenges during the production of the documentary?
SG: The process of making this film was exceedingly challenging — but then again every documentary has its challenges. That's what I love about this line of work — it's never boring and I am always asked to solve problems I could never have dreamed about when we started. Like when we were out on a shoot and a massive hurricane swept across the region and all the roads were washed out. We hunkered down in a shack and I used my raincoat to protect my camera. We ended up getting out that night, but there were a few hours there when our crew was planning to sleep in a pile on the wet dirt floor of this family shack until the roads were repaired. We simply enjoyed watching the rain and snuggled up with everyone there –including the family pigs and chickens who were brought inside for the storm. The intense heat, the unpredictable weather, the lack of infrastructure and reliable roads, and the intermittent supply of electricity all combined to make this quite an adventure from the production perspective, but the difficulties we faced in production were offset by the sheer magic of the place. And showing off this beautiful setting, a place most people will never have the opportunity to get to in their own lifetimes, is also one of the goals of the film.
GV: How long did it take you to make the documentary?
SG: About seven years. We started shooting with the girls in their home villages before the came to the school, then followed them for all three years of their time as students, and then went back a year after they graduated to see how their education had impacted their lives if at all. The last two years were spent fundraising and editing and now distributing. I'm thrilled to say that the film had a national broadcast on [American public broadcaster] PBS. It's also part of the Women of the World initiative, supported by the Ford Foundation and [US government agency] USAID which means that the film will not only broadcast internationally in 12 countries, but it will also be shown on the ground to rural communities using a mobile screening setup, in places that have been identified as ‘social change countries’ poised to accept a shift in the role of women and girls in their society. The hope is that this story can help these folks to see that girls can take on leadership roles if they are only educated and given a chance.
GV: Where we can watch the documentary?
SG: The documentary is touring the festival circuit right now and we will be starting our Campus and Community Screenings tour that will bring the film to college campuses and community centers around the US. If you are interested in setting up a screening, please contact us at info@gushproductions.com.

author: Gabriela García Calderón