Actress, photographer and filmmaker Esther Anderson created the blueprint of this film in 1973 as a kaleidoscope portrait of Bob Marley and the Wailers in Jamaica. Shooting intimate scenes with a prototype Sony video camera, Esther carefully constructs the union between Reggae and Rasta that launches the international career of the Wailers. Writing songs with Bob Marley and creating the image for the band, Esther's original vision created a radical change of perception and consciousness both musically and socially around the world. Now, in collaboration with architect and filmmaker Gian Godoy, Esther revisits the making of the legend in modern Jamaica
New This Year! Finalists and winners will be announced on this website via Online Video on Friday, July 1 at 2 p.m. EST
First Prize Novella and First Prize, Second Prize and Honorable Mention in each category published in 2011 Press 53 Open Awards Anthology, October 2011
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Mail your entry and reading fee to:
Press 53 Open Awards
PO Box 30314
Winston-Salem, NC 27130-0314
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By entering the Press 53 Open Awards Writing Contest, writers give Press 53 permission to publish the entered work or works in the Press 53 Open Awards Anthology and to list the author’s name in the Press 53 Open Awards Anthology and on the Press 53 website. Author retains copyright to the work or works entered and published. Press 53 is granted a one-time right to publish the work or works in the Press 53 Open Awards Anthology.
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HOW TO ENTER:
Cover Sheet: Include a cover sheet for each entry (3 poems equals one entry) with your name, address, telephone, e-mail, and category with word count and the title of the work(s). NOTE: This is a blind read; your name must appear ONLY on your cover sheet and NOT on your manuscript pages, otherwise your entry will be disqualified.
Poetry: submit 3 poems (10 pages max), single-spaced. Note: 3 poems equals one entry. Poetry will be judged on the collective strength of all 3 poems.
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Mail entry and payment to: Press 53 Open Awards, PO Box 30314, Winston-Salem, NC 27130-0314. All submissions are recycled, so an SASE is NOT necessary. Winners will be notified by phone or by email. Results will be posted online and announced via online video on July 1, 2011.
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All entries in each category must be postmarked by March 31, 2011. Press 53 has the right to extend deadlines if deemed necessary. Multiple entries are accepted and a single payment for all entries is preferred. Simultaneous submissions and previously published pieces are accepted so long as any previous publishing agreements do not prohibit Press 53 from publishing the work in Oct. 2011. Work may be withdrawn from the contest prior to July 1, 2011, but reading fees will not be refunded.
WINNERS ANNOUNCED:
The judges’ decisions will be announced on this website and via online video on this website on Friday, July 1, 2011 at 2 p.m. EST. No SASEs for results, please. Entrants may check this website for winners or email us for a list of winners on or after July 1, 2011.
PRIZES:
First Prize in each category will receive the Press 53 Open Award (a beautiful, personalized, etched-glass award), publication in the 2011 Press 53 Open Awards Anthology, two complimentary copies of the 2011 Press 53 Awards Anthology, and a winner's discount on unlimited additional copies to sell on his or her website and at readings.
Second Prize in each category will receive a certificate, publication in the 2011 Press 53 Open Awards Anthology, one complimentary copy of the 2011 Press 53 Awards Anthology, and a winner's discount on unlimited additional copies to sell on his or her website and at readings.
Honorable Mention in each category will receive a certificate, publication in the Press 53 Open Awards Anthology (First Prize only in Novella), one complimentary copy of the 2011 Press 53 Open Awards Anthology, and a winner's discount on unlimited additional copies to sell on his or her website and at readings.
All other finalists in each category, including Honorable Mention in Novella, will be listed by name in the Press 53 Open Awards Anthology and will receive one complimentary copy.
Special Mention is given to writers who are multiple finalists in one of more categories. Since this is a blind read, it is possible for one writer to be a finalist two or more times in the same category.
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All of our final judges are industry professionals in the writing or publishing fields. Preliminary judges include teachers, editors, and published writers. All entries will be read blind, meaning the manuscripts will not show the writer’s name. The judges' decisions are final. Due to the number of entries received, comments from judges are not possible.
ELIGIBILITY:
The Press 53 Open Awards Writing Contest is open to writers anywhere in the world who write in English. Press 53 employees and family members are not eligible. Writers who have published full-length books with Press 53 are not eligible. Writers whose work appears in anthologies published by Press 53 are eligible. Judges have agreed to disqualify any work that, for whatever reason, they may recognize. Use your best judgment when entering. Previously published pieces are accepted so long as any previous publishing agreements do not prohibit Press 53 from publishing the work in Oct. 2011. Simultaneous submissions are fine so long as the author notifies Press 53 by July 1, 2011, that the entry is accepted elsewhere and is no longer available for consideration.
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Reading fees are non-refundable. Entries postmarked after deadlines will not be considered. Entries received with author's name appearing anywhere on the manuscript will be disqualified. No refunds will be made. Work withdrawn from the contest will not receive a refund. All manuscripts will be recycled, not returned. All submissions must be original works.
QUESTIONS:
Please direct all questions to Press 53 publisher/editor Kevin Morgan Watson at kevin@press53.com.
Cash prize: $500 for the winner Two $100 prizes will be awarded to runners-up 10 additional finalists will be listed on our website All entries will be considered for publication
You may submit groups of 3-5 poems per submission. Make sure to include your name, contact information, and title only on a separate cover letter. Include the title of the work on every page of the manuscript. Your name or any other personal information must not appear on the manuscript. NO MANUSCRIPTS WILL BE RETURNED.
Deadline for submissions March 31st, and winners will be announced on our website.
Entries can be submitted either online at http://yemassee.submishmash.com/ or mailed to Yemassee Pocataligo Poetry Contest Department of English University of South Carolina Columbia, SC. 29208
Check must be made payable to: Educational Foundation/English Literary Magazine Fund.
More Details
Mailed manuscripts must be typed and accompanied by an SASE, and page numbers should be included on all pages. We do not accept published works or works that have been accepted for publication elsewhere. While we do allow simultaneous submissions, please notify us that the entry is being simultaneously submitted elsewhere. Note that no refunds will be issued for submissions that are withdrawn. We also allow multiple submissions in the contest, with a separate reading fee and SASE for each entry.
Yemassee • Department of English • University of South Carolina • Columbia, SC 29208 yemasseejournalonline.org • editor@yemasseejournalonline.org
Each year So to Speak offers a fiction, nonfiction, and poetry contest. Past judges have included Claudia Emerson, Jennifer Lauck, Marie Howe, Sharon Mehdi, and Lucy Corin.
Winners in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction are awarded $500, 2 complimentary issues, and publication in the journal. The three finalists are also featured in the journal.
Fall 2011 SHORT FICTION CONTEST
We will begin reading for our Fall 2011 Short Fiction Contest January 1, 2011. To enter, submit a manuscripts not exceeding 4,500 words (with double-spaced and numbered pages) and a cover letter through our Submission Manager. The reading fee is $15 and can be paid through our Submission Manager.
All entrants will receive a free copy of our Spring 2011 issue.
Deadline: March 15, 2011
Judge: TBD
Spring 2012 POETRY CONTEST
To enter, submit up to 5 poems (not to exceed 10 pages) and a cover letter, through our Submission Manager. The reading fee is $15 and can be paid through our Submission Manager.
All entrants will receive a free copy of our Spring 2011 issue.
Deadline: October 15, 2011
Judge: TBD
Spring 2012 NONFICTION CONTEST
We welcome submissions of personal essays, memoir, profiles, and other nonfiction pieces not exceeding 4,500 words. Manuscripts should be double-spaced with numbered pages and include a cover letter. To enter, submit through our Submission Manager. The reading fee is $15 and can be paid through our Submission Manager.
All entrants will receive a free copy of our Spring 2011 issue.
10:00pm PJ Crowley, the US state department spokesman, has issued the statement below about the Algeria protests.
"We note the ongoing protests in Algeria, and call for restraint on the part of the security services. In addition, we reaffirm our support for the universal rights of the Algerian people, including assembly and expression.
"These rights apply on the internet. Moreover, these rights must be respected. We will continue to follow the situation closely in the days ahead."
9:30pm The Associated Press agency reported that hundreds of demonstrators have clashed with police in the eastern Algerian city of Annaba on Sunday, as the opposition announced another major anti-government rally next weekend.
5:30pm Reuters news agency has reported that Algerian opposition groups said on Sunday they would follow up the protest they held this weekend by calling a demonstration in the capital every Saturday until the government is changed.
Several hundred protesters, inspired by revolts which overthrew entrenched leaders in Egypt and Tunisia, defied a police ban and protested in Algiers on Saturday.
"We will continue to march until the regime steps down. Each Saturday we will maintain the pressure,"said Mohsen Belabes, a spokesman for the RCD opposition party which helped organise the protest on Feburary 12.
4:00pm Elias Filali, an Algerian blogger and activist, reported that the Police has intervened using tear gas to disperse protesters and to remove tens of families who illegally occupied new built homes overnight in the capital Algiers in place called "Ouedou chayeh".
"They were removed by force and their belonging thrown out of the windows onto the streets, the families who occupied the homes have been living just near by in the slums for years living in desperate conditions. One of the reasons to why people protest around the country is the lack of housing
3:47pm Elias Filali, an Algerian blogger and activist, said Ali Yahia Abdennour, a senior figure and human right activist, 'we should continue protesting every Saturday in the same square, we will gather momentum as we progress we want our dignity back, yesterday the police has brutally beaten many protesters amongst them a pregnant women, old ladies, a journalist, young men and women, we should carry on protesting until we get our rights, "he said.
12:20pm YouTube footage posted on Saturday allegedly shows Fodil Boumala, a prominent Algerian journalist, being arrested. The video could not be independently verified:
6:45am Internet intelligence authority Renesys, says in a new blog post that it has no evidence that Algeria's internet has been shut down.
Algeria typically has about 135 routed network prefixes in the global routing table, and our data show that they are all still routed and relatively stable. Traceroutes inbound confirm that sites hosted in these prefixes are still alive, and spot checks of websites hosted in Algeria show that most are up and functioning normally."
6:35am Michael Binyon, a foreign affairs specialist for The Times newspaper in London, tells Al Jazeera that while Yemen's government may face pressure, the situation in Algeria is different:
4:44am Al Jazeera's Bhanu Bhatnagar reports on the thousands of people that joined pro-democracy demonstrations in Algiers, the Algerian capital, on Saturday:
In the early days and fragile state of the post-Murabak revolution, here’s something we’ve really got to keep an eye on.
On Friday morning in the West, after Mubark stepped down and the worldwide excitement was fever-pitch over the victory of the Egyptian democracy protesters, this uncredited image — originally posted by Al Jazerra in this Egypt live blog — was re-posted and tweeted by several not-insignificant U.S. bloggers and media names. The motivation for plugging the photo, in the snippets that accompanied it, alluded to its iconic quality combined with the homage paid to the spirit of those Arab youth courageously seeking a new Egypt. In most instances where I saw it, the title of the link doubled as a caption: “Broken bones, not spirit.”
I’m not an art historian or a even a Middle East historian so I can’t speak to the classical quality and references of the image. (Maybe some of you can.) The way the lights in the buildings shine like stars in the sky, however, combined with the near-silhouette of the palm tree, the man spreading the blanket like a tent, and also the way the photo accentuates the robe-like folds in the person’s shirt far left, the image seems to evoke the desert and a biblical frame, and the wanderer/seeker as much or more than it says anything about modern, urban, downtown Cairo. Add to that the etherial light emanating from behind this man’s left shoulder, as well as the dramatic quality (is it day? is it night?) of the light on this chest and face, and the photo feels near mystical. Combine all these elements with the eyes cast skyward and the hand reaching up in an almost spiritual gesture and this young man is nearly deified. (If you’re thinking the image is too celestial or near-religious to be true, I was also thinking about some photoshopping going on here.)
Here’s what concerns me, however. If the image of Allah is never to be shown, the religious pull starts to feel decidedly Christian. Just close your eyes for a second, put long brown hair and a beard on this young man, and tell me you don’t see Jesus? Reinforcing that sense are other hand gestures, the man far left clasping his hands together before his face and especially the two fingers together on the main figure’s right hand strongly reminiscent of holy Christian gestures, including the sign of the cross or the judging Christ. Then, there is also a body of similar imagery of Jesus wandering in the desert.
Mostly though, I’m struck by the quick, strong and instinctive reaction to this laden photo at the very instant the Egyptian political clouds parted, the image speaking not just to an idealization of the events in Egypt, necessarily, but also as an inclination to recognize them through a more Christian lens.
—-
Note/Credit: As background on the picture itself, the photo — according to the Al Jazeera link – was sent in by a journalism student @ghazalairshad from Tahrir Square. As best I can tell, Ghazala did not post the photo directly anywhere but did retweet someone else who linked to the photo. I have written to Ghazala, a student at American University in Cairo, for more information on the photo.
Update:
Ghazala writes: “Shot by me during the evening prayer on February 5th in Tahrir Square.”/ “Believe me, if I had the time to Photoshop or Lightroom, I would have, but I just did a minor level adjustment in iPhoto & put it up on Facebook for the hundreds of worried friends & family back in the US to quiet them down for a bit.
Egyptian novelist Ahdaf Soueif reflects on the determination of Egyptians, after the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak, to rebuild their country and reclaiming their national identity.
I have friends on anti-depressants who, over the last 20 days, forgot to take their pills and have now thrown them away. Such is the effect of the Egyptian Revolution.
On Friday night, Egypt partied. Chants and songs and drums and joy-cries rang out from Alexandria to Aswan. The defunct regime was only mentioned in reference to "we want our money back".
Otherwise, three chants were dominant - and very telling: One - "Lift your head up high, you're Egyptian" - was a response to how humiliated, how hopeless we'd been made to feel over the last four decades.
The second was: "We'll get married, We'll have kids," and reflected the hopes of the millions whose desperate need for jobs and homes had been driving them to risk their lives to illegally cross the sea to Europe or the desert to Libya.
The third chant was: "Everyone who loves Egypt, come and rebuild Egypt."
We have a lot to learn very quickly. But we're working. And the people, everywhere, are with us”
Ahdaf Soueif
Newborn revolution
And on Saturday, they were as good as their word: they came and cleaned up after their revolution.
Volunteers who arrived on Tahrir [Square] after mid-day found it spick and span, and started cleaning up other streets instead. I saw kids perched on the great lions of Qasr el-Nil Bridge buffing them up.
I feel - and every parent will know what I mean - I feel that I need to keep my concentration trained on this baby, this newborn revolution - I need to hold it safe in my mind and my heart every second - until it grows and steadies a bit. Eighty million of us feel this way right now.
Eighty million at least - because the support we've been getting from the world has been phenomenal. There's been something different, something very special, about the quality of the attention the Egyptian revolution has attracted: it's been - personal.
People everywhere have taken what's been happening here personally. And they've let us know. And those direct, positive and emotional messages we've been receiving have put the wind in our sails.
We have a lot to learn very quickly. But we're working. And the people, everywhere, are with us.
Tuesday 8 February
Egyptians young and old took part in the anti-government protests
In the week before the protesters achieved their goal, Ahdaf Soueif reflected on some of the humorous and poignant moments in Cairo's Tahrir Square.
What is happening on the streets and squares of Egypt is extraordinary; it's nothing less than millions of people re-finding their voice - and using it.
They're using it to demand the removal of Hosni Mubarak and his regime - with everything that that regime entails: the corrupt cabinet, the fraudulent parliament, the mutilated constitution and the brutal emergency laws.
And this common, over-arching demand is being given increasingly creative and individual expression.
'Depart!'
The atmosphere on Tahrir Square is like - well, imagine a fair, where the product under scrutiny is politics, economics, governance, history and the law.
The demonstrators vowed to stay in Tahrir Square until Mr Mubarak stepped down
Circles of people sit on what's left of the grass to talk, friends stroll arm-in-arm discussing, marchers go by chanting and singing, bands play old protest favourites and new-minted anthems.
People carry home-made placards with their own messages.
The most common, of course is "Irhal!" ("Depart!"). But with the days passing, I've seen more impatient ones like "Irhal, my arm's hurting", "Irhal, I really need a shower", "Irhal, I can't find another joke", "Irhal means leave", and others.
One man has outlined a huge airliner on the ground with used paper cups and keeps everyone out of its outlines because the plane's ready to whisk Mubarak away.
One thing that Tahrir has already given us is a sense of who we are”
Ahdaf Soueif
A huge sheet of plastic pockets has been hung up and the pockets are speedily filling with caricatures.
This revolution is so organic, so personal, so real, it has exploded reservoirs of creativity in everybody taking part.
Each person coming to the square brings something: medical supplies for the field clinics which are still treating the people damaged by Mr Mubarak's police and thug militias, blankets for the thousands spending the night, cartons of water, biscuits.
Teams of young volunteers collect litter. The resulting piles are labelled "National Democratic Party".
This is not to say that all is well with us.
The government has, for the moment, withdrawn its police and its thug militias and the army sits on the periphery of Tahrir Square - to protect us.
Protesters slept on the tracks of the tanks to prevent the army from moving them
But the army has now put up barbed wire to narrow the entrances and exits and they're trying to move their tanks further into the square.
When the young people lay down in front of the tanks Sunday night, they fired volleys of shots into the air and dragged away three young men and beat them. The situation was diffused when a well-liked public figure intervened.
This is what we older revolutionaries are doing - putting everything we have at the service of the brave young people who have cleared a space from which we can all join the effort to reclaim our state.
Tahrir has become our civic space where leftists and liberals and Muslim Brotherhood discuss and sing and eat together.
The other cities and towns of Egypt have sent popular delegations.
The consensus is that the consensus will come out of Tahrir.
And one thing that Tahrir has already given us is a sense of who we are.
'Revolution'
People are actually articulating: "They said we were divided, extreme, ignorant, fanatic - well here we are: diverse, inclusive, hospitable, generous, sophisticated, creative and witty."
Ahdaf Soueif addressed the crowd of demonstrators in Tahrir Square in early February
In Philip Pullman's Northern Lights, the aim of the evil guys is to sever children from their spirits so releasing the energy needed by the government.
Well, that's a brilliant metaphor for what we feel has been happening to us in Egypt.
We were being deliberately severed from everything we hold dear, in the service of keeping the region subservient to American and Israeli interests.
And the only Egyptians to gain anything by this were the members and cronies of the regime who amassed spectacular wealth at the material, moral and emotional expense of their fellow-citizens.
On Sunday in Tahrir, Christian masses were celebrated and Muslim prayers were said.
We all prayed together for the young people killed by the regime since 25 January and before.
Later, there was a wedding, and later still magicians and acrobats and small camp fires.
This enormous revolution that is happening in our streets and our homes is the Egyptian people reclaiming their state, their heritage, their voice, their personality.
Be with us.
Ahdaf Soueif is an Egyptian novelist and political and cultural commentator, who lives with her children in Cairo and London.
What is being suggested in Cairo now is nothing short of a mental house-clearing [Evan Hill]
When Egypt awoke on Saturday morning after an all-night, nationwide party, it was for many citizens the first day in living memory without Hosni Mubarak as president.
In 18 days, revolution uprooted a regime that had ruled the country with ruthless tenacity for 30 years.
While the upheaval has opened the door to political and economic reform, its most lasting effect may be the opening of the Egyptian mind.
With the army on the streets and the old order in flames, the wall of cynical humour and pessimism erected by Egyptians as psychic protection against the crushing weight of their corrupt government seemed to split apart and crumble.
Suddenly, anything was possible.
Later in the evening, a fight erupted between protesters and army officers attempting to restore traffic near Tahrir Square, the heart of the revolution. Old fears returned.
But for a time on Saturday, the Tahrir Square reality – the universe where Egyptians banded together, separated their rubbish into organic and non-organic bins, and outlasted the "pharaoh" – became the new normal.
'We have no excuse now'
As dawn broke, all-volunteer teams of street sweepers wearing rubber gloves and cotton masks struck out along Cairo's decrepit boulevards, sweeping dust and debris into trash bags.
Where once it was commonplace to see Cairenes chuck wrappers and used food cartons with abandon, it was now impossible to drop a cigarette butt without a stern reprimand.
In and around Tahrir Square, civilians painted over and scrubbed away anti-government graffiti that peppered every surface, from the walls of the old campus of the American University in Cairo to the armour of parked tanks.
In Abdel Moneim Riad Square, near the Egyptian museum, where pro- and anti-government crowds had hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails at each other in deadly combat on February 2, men and women now formed human chains to prevent passersby from smudging the curbs they had just painted in thick black-and-white stripes.
But the effort goes beyond rubbish pick-ups and street sweeping.
What is being suggested in Cairo now is nothing short of a mental house-clearing - a complete overhaul in the way the average Egyptian has learned to do business in a society that has been smothered beneath nepotism and emergency law for decades.
One flyer being distributed on Saturday put it this way:
"Today this country is your country. Do not litter. Don't drive through traffic lights. Don't bribe. Don't forge paperwork. Don't drive the wrong way. Don't drive quickly to be cool while putting lives at risk. Don't enter through the exit door at the metro. Don't harass women. Don't say, 'It's not my problem.' Consider God in your work. We have no excuse anymore."
Young Egyptians who had been visiting Tahrir Square for days - or living in it – now left to buy cleaning supplies and paint thinner and set off to tidy the streets between the square and the nearby parliament building, where protesters had been camping for two days.
The sense of newfound pride was contagious.
The barricades make an appearance
At the southwest corner of Tahrir Square, facing the approach from the parliament building on Kasr al-Aini Street, the feel-good mood came to a crashing halt after the sun set.
The army had been working all day to remove barricades along side streets, and suddenly traffic began flowing toward the square.
Drivers honked their horns in celebration, but the protesters reacted quickly and angrily.
Filling the air with the grind of metal on concrete, they threw up the barricades that they had taken down just a day earlier.
Click here for more of Al Jazeera's special coverage
Barriers pilfered from traffic police, sheet-metal walls ripped out of a nearby construction site, and tipped-over phone booths all rolled back into place.
Angry men stared out from behind their defence as crowds encircled soldiers in the nearby intersection.
One officer argued with the protesters. "The government has granted all your demands," he said.
His tone was that anyone left in the square must have ulterior motives, and anyone who doesn't want this country to get back on its feet is a traitor.
Division set in among the protesters. Some argued in favour of the army, some argued that the occupation of Tahrir Square should continue.
The latter group pointed out that the 30-year-old emergency national security laws in place since the assassination of Anwar Sadat, Mubarak's predecessor, were still effective.
Alaa el-Din, a resident of Giza from the outskirts of Cairo, wearing a white galabeya, prayer cap and headwrap, said he loved the army but wanted democracy and freedom.
"Our demands have been 90 per cent met, but 10 per cent remain," he said. "We reject the new government."
El-Din was referring to the Egyptian cabinet and parliament, both of which have, in Egypt's short post-Mubarak life, largely remained unchanged, and which the army has signaled may remain until new elections can be held.
In addition to the dissolution of the government and the end of emergency law, many protesters also continue to demand the release of all political prisoners.
The fate of hundreds of demonstrators arrested since the revolution began on January 25 remains unclear.
Sayed, a man who was arguing with el-Din, argued that such demands could not be met "all at once".
He worried that division in Egyptian society would expose it to the risk of US invasion, and mentioned Iraq and Afghanistan.
Elsewhere, tension rose between the protesters and army.
'We're in charge'
The hardcore of Tahrir Square, those who have camped and fought in its 55,000 square metres for more than two weeks, have grown accustomed to their own civilian government.
That does not please the army.
In the intersection near the barricade on Kasr al-Aini Street, an officer approached a civilian who had taken over traffic police duties, angrily demanding to know what he was doing.
The civilian explained that he had been nominated to manage the intersection. The officer told him: "There are no more neighbourhood checkpoints or civilian brigades, we're in charge now."
Suddenly, a squad of soldiers in ballistic helmets and camouflage pushed their way into a small side path between the barricade and the fenced-off pavement – where negotiations between the army and civilians were being held – and began to dismantle the barricade.
They quickly knocked down the metal walls and dragged the debris to the side, motioning urgently for the traffic to begin passing through.
The protesters reacted immediately, swelling into the street to prevent the cars from moving forward.
In the glow of headlights, they shook their fingers at the drivers and laid their hands on the cars' hoods.
The soldiers approached to move the protesters out of the way, and a shoving match ensued – a rare physical confrontation between the army and the protesters, who have throughout the revolution chanted: "The people and the army, hand in hand!"
The confrontation simmered down without violence or an arrest. The army officers stood their men to the side as the protesters conferred.
One man kissed a lower-ranking soldier on the cheek.
Officers diverted oncoming traffic away from the square, where hundreds of thousands of people continued to celebrate and wave Egyptian flags, oblivious to the conflict a few hundred metres away.
Questions asked
In the discussions around the ruined barricade, it became clear that protesters were anything but united, and certainly confused about the future of a country where every familiar – and threatening – institution appeared to be falling, one by one.
A tall young man advocating for a continued demonstration in Tahrir Square was badly outnumbered by those who insisted the job was done.
"Is the army going to stay until the elections?" the young man asked.
"If they don't, who will protect us?" another responded.
Inside the square, the celebration continued; on its fringes, the questions hung in the air.
This afternoon I received this photo of Maggie, an Egyptian Christian friend who is a documentary filmmaker. When I asked her if I could post the photo on my blog, she sent me this email in return.Maggie wrote:
The Arabic sign says “Ahmed (a Muslim name) and Mina (a Christian name) hand in hand.” The Arabic literally says “one hand.” The name of the young woman with whom I am standing is Nariman. Much to my shame, I had never talked to a woman with a niqab (total head cover) before. Although I have been going to Tahrir regularly, last Sunday was different. And even though Tahrir is where the Egyptian revolution is taking place, I am convinced that there are personal revolutions happening there daily. A man with a beard [signifying a Muslim] stood next to me and told me, "This is the first time I have heard Christians pray." He offered me dates and sang “Bless our country” with us. One of the Muslim Brotherhood members in Tahrir said, "I can honestly say that today is the first time that I've ever met a Christian brother. We hugged and kissed and I cried because I've never felt so close to another Egyptian who wants the same things that I do.” People may disagree on how representative these [relational transformations] are, but surely we agree on how wonderful and irreversible these personal revolutions are.My friend has spoken with one member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Tahrir and the man was so apologetic of what he has always called Westernized [Christian] girls in jeans. He said that they were the first to rush to his aid when he was injured and to provide him with first aid and water. He too has had a personal revolution and promised never to misjudge these young people again. It was truly heartwarming to hear.I am grateful for the many personal revolutions that we all experience there every day we go. In Arabic the word “Tahrir” means liberation, but it is a present continuous verb. Tahrir—liberation— is the work of every day and it may never be over. Sorry for the long email...but I just wanted to give context to the photo. Much love, pray for Egypt. Maggie
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In Alexandria, Egypt, on July 27, 2010, riot police surround supporters of Khaled Said, one carrying a poster with his picture, after the trial of the two Egyptian policemen, Mahmoud Salah and Awad Ismail, who beat him to death and said he’d choked on a bag of marijuana. His murder inflamed youth rage against police in Egypt, sparking protests that led to the overthrow of the 30-year dictatorship of President Hosni Mubarak. – Photo: Nasser Nasser/AP
“The Youth Revolution” has become the term widely used to describe Egypt’s recent uprising, despite the diversity of its members. Although people of all ages and various social backgrounds have taken part in one way or another in the revolt, the uprising has been widely attributed to the youth primarily because of their Jan. 25 Internet initiative.
The Khaled Said Facebook group, which was formed to commemorate the 28-year-old who died at the hands of Egyptian police, had taken the initiative to declare Jan. 25 a day of Egyptian revolt to condemn police brutality. Following their steps, several bloggers, Facebook and Twitter users, as well as activist groups and associations, quickly adopted their call. Although few believed it could actually happen, the initiative snowballed to become Egypt’s largest uprising in its modern history.
Khaled Said, who was beaten to death by Egyptian police afraid he’d reveal a video showing them stealing seized marijuana, now symbolizes Egyptian youth rage at police brutality. The Facebook page “We are all Khaled Said” was the first to call for a rally Jan. 25 in Tahrir (Liberation) Square.
Hoping to create a form of representation for themselves, many young activists have banded to form a coalition called “The Revolution’s Youth.” Groups involved include the April 6 Youth movement, Justice and Freedom, Muslim Brotherhood youth, ElBaradei’s campaign, the Popular Democratic Movement for Change (HASHD), The Democratic Front and Khaled Said Facebook group administrators. The coalition has 14 group representatives in total and a general assembly with a few hundred members.
The group representatives include Ahmed Maher and Mahmoud Samy from the April 6 Youth movement, ElBaradei supporters Ziad Alimy and Abdel Rahman Samir, Islam Lotfy and Mohamed Abbas from the Muslim Brotherhood, Shady Ghazali Harb and Amr Salah from the Democratic Front Party and from the Youth for Justice and Freedom, Khaled Sayed and Mostafa Shaki.
Additionally, Wael Ghonim, one of the founders of the Facebook group “Kolona Khaled Said” (“We are all Khaled Said”), as well as independent activitsts Naser Abdel Hamid, Abdel Rahman Faris and Sally Moore, are also members.
According to Ahmed Ezzat, a HASHD and coalition member, the coalition is still expanding and intends to include other young and diverse political trends that have been part of Egypt’s political sphere over the past few past years.
“Although it started with only these groups, we hope it expands to include all the other young activists, including young members from the Karama party, Labor party, Kifaya and all others, including independent bloggers and Internet activists,” says Ezzat.
This is Khaled Said after his fatal police beating June 6, 2010.
Not claiming that they are talking on the uprising’s behalf, the coalition was formed with an aim to provide representation for the young who have played a role in political life in Egypt and have contributed to the current revolt. However, the uprising has taken its own path, independent of these groups, and, according to many of their members, the coalition only aims to articulate its demands and keep them at the forefront of public consciousness as Egypt prepares for change.
Google Inc.’s marketing manager Wael Ghonim (left), on Tuesday hugs the mother of Khaled Said, a young 28-year-old businessman who died June 6, 2010, at the hands of undercover police, setting off months of protests against the hated police. Ghonim, who set up the “We are all Khaled Said” Facebook page, which now has 76,010 fans, became a hero for demonstrators after he was detained on Jan. 27, two days after the protests began at Tahrir Square in Cairo. He was held for 12 days. According to the Washington Post, “Said’s mother and sister have been among the demonstrators who have attended daily protests in central Cairo since the movement began.”
Although diverse in vision, the coalition’s groups have long agreed on basic demands, which they believe will lead to a more democratic Egypt, and have worked cooperatively in recent years to push for these common goals. The groups’ common requests have included an end to police brutality, the abolition of emergency law, free and fair elections, constitutional changes and an end to Mubarak’s 30-year rule.
The coalition’s stand was not to engage in any negotiations until President Mubarak stepped down. While many coalitions claiming to represent the revolt involved themselves in such talks with government bodies, the coalition of the Revolution’s Youth insisted on its primary demand before any details are discussed.
Not satisfied to turn civic affairs back over to the government and walk away, youth returned on Saturday, the day after their historic victory, to clean up their revolution “headquarters,” Tahrir Square. These are the sharp rocks that were hurled to protect the square from invading Mubarak supporters, many the hated police without their uniforms. – Photo: Bassam El-Zoghby
In Tahrir Square, the coalition set up its own stage in front of the Mogama’a building, with speakers and microphones, through which it transmitted its views and latest developments to the public. The stage was also used for young people to perform their music and poetry.
The coalition’s main challenge now is to sustain an organized body in which the thousands of young Egyptians who took to the streets can be represented.
Police brutality drug case sparked Egyptian revolution
“We are all Khaled Said” is a popular saying in Egypt among the country’s insurgents. Said waskilled on June 6 by Alexandria police who claimed he choked on a bag of marijuana. The grisly truth that he’d been beaten to death instead fueled the campaign to oust President Hosni Mubarak.
Shortly after Said had accidentally received a video of police stealing seized marijuana on his computer, he was accosted by authorities in an Internet cafe, where police repeatedly smashed his head on a marble table. Two officers charged with Said’s murder escaped from jail during the recent uprising and are currently at large.
“The youth now feel that through this revolution, they have avenged Khaled’s death,” says Ali Kassem, Said’s uncle. “Khaled’s soul gets more peace every day thanks to the effort and determination of the youth to bring down this corrupt government.”
People & Power reveals the story behind the unprecedented political protests in Egypt. Over the course of a remarkable fortnight, People&Power has been filming exclusively behind the scenes with a core group of young activists.
This story originally appeared on CelebStoner.com. It begs the question, what could the U.S. youth overthrow who say, “We are all Oscar Grant”?
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Carmen Rubin has been putting her thoughts on paper for as long as she can remember. She learned early in life that music and words have power and she embraced the importance of both.
Rubin, who grew up in San Francisco, said she has always been fascinated with how stories are told. Whether communicated through a book, song, dramatization, an instrument, a simple sound, dance or conversation, her love for storytelling compelled her to write children’s books.
Rubin’s first book in what will be a series about the adventures of a young girl named Ashti – named after Rubin’s daughters, Ashleigh and Ashanti – is titled “Ashti Meets Birdman Al.”
The colorful book, illustrated by Simon Stewart and Robert Muhammed, focuses on the importance of jazz music and its place in today’s early education.
Rubin describes the main character, Ashti Freeborn as a multiracial 9-year-old girl. Her family consists of her Jewish grandmother, Earth Mother Freeborn, her mother, a world-renowned singer who is the color of coffee, her father, a business man who is the color of coffee when milk is added, and her sister, who is a culinary artist and the color of the sun.
'Ashti and Birdman Al' cover
Ashti is home-schooled and meets weekly with a colorful array of home-schooled friends. Her best friend is her pet frog, Mr. Dunkin, named for his love of basketball and the River Dance he breaks out into when he sees a good basketball dunk! When he’s not watching a game, he is sure to stir up a little bit of mischief, like leaping into someone’s glass of water when they are not looking.
Carmen believes her character Ashti is important for today’s children. “Ashti is a trailblazer and has a distinct message – SERVICE – which specifically educates children to be concerned about others,” she says. This message applies to children all over the world and Ashti is the catalyst for a service-oriented “movement” among young children.
Ashti’s adventures come from her family’s everyday experiences. One day’s travel can have her in the city, crocheting at a senior citizens’ home with her big sister, while the next day could have her in Mexico making a pot of gazpacho (soup) with friends, as her mother is singing to raise money for that country.
She, along with her friends and her pet frog, are fun, interesting, and they teach children how to be hands-on in their communities – like when they all participated in a “Graffiti Day” or when they helped raise money for instruments for children in need. In addition to that, children learn simple lessons like getting along with others, respecting people and differences, being good to the earth, and self-appreciation.
'Ashti and Birdman Al' story page
In “Ashti Meets Birdman Al,” Ashti and her mother befriend an elderly and talented jazz musician, “Birdman Al” – likened after singer, Al Jarreau – who enjoys singing to the birds in the park. He explains to them that he is concerned because not enough children are exposed to that genre of music. He is also worried about music programs being cut from schools due to lack of funding. Birdman Al inspires Ashti and her mom to organize a community event that will keep music alive and very well in the schools.
The book was released in 2009 and resides in homes, bookstores and libraries across the world. It has also received positive reviews from people in the music industry who acknowledge the value of the story and its vivid presentation that engages children and adult readers alike.
In writing the story, Rubin, who is a singer, drew on her passion for music and her experience of growing up singing and listening to all kinds of music in her home. She explains that music was also her means to remove herself from the challenges of being the child of divorced parents, a teen mother, and the caretaker of her siblings. She spent time writing down her thoughts, feelings and memories, always imagining that they would one day become a composed song.
'Ashti and Birdman Al' resource page on jazz musicians
Rubin splits her time between two places she calls home, New Jersey and California. While teaching in New Jersey, she was concerned when the school she taught at was in danger of losing its music program. In addition, when searching the radio dial for her favorite jazz stations, it struck her that jazz music was also fading away when she realized those stations no longer existed.
Rubin decided that she wanted to preserve this genre of music and teach children about jazz and other forms of music. She decided that a series of appealing children books was the best route to take. “Teach the children and everything remains preserved”, says Rubin.
Rubin explains that music not only helped protect her from the pain she experienced in her life, it helped steer her toward making better choices in her life, such as going to college when her teen peers were choosing welfare and selling drugs as their only option. She hopes that through teaching children about music, she can help save other children and inspire them to take their pain and turn it into a promising future.
'Ashti and Birdman Al' resource page on musical instruments
When creating “Ashti,” Rubin honored not only her daughters, Ashleigh, 24, and Ashanti, 14, but other people who have made a difference in her life.
For instance, when Rubin was about to give birth to her first daughter, Ashleigh, a midwife who went by the name of Earth Mother Freeborn brought Rubin peace in what was a very chaotic atmosphere. “Earth Mother’s spirit was so calming, and somehow, I knew that no matter what challenges I would face as a teen mother, I felt that everything would be all right.”
Although Earth Mother Freeborn has since passed away, Rubin honored her by naming her first fictional daughter Ashti Freeborn. Rubin said the name also symbolizes Ashti’s free spirit.
Another person Rubin honored in her book is her grandfather, Adlert “Robby” Robinson, who is a minister in a church in Dallas. Robinson started what he called the “Peppermint Candy Club,” which is a club about sharing love. He would give children a piece of peppermint candy while bestowing each child with a title and giving them a mission to pass on that love and kindness to other children. She hopes they pass that love on to others as well.
'Ashti and Birdman Al' author and illustrators page
Rubin also draws on her family’s day-to-day experiences in writing her books. “I don’t have to make anything up; my family provides a lot of material,” she laughs. She said her family is her biggest support system.
“My family knows my story and sees what I have done with my life. They feel a sense of pride and a call to be better at what they do,” said Rubin.
“I hope that this story will introduce children to music, specifically jazz music, jazz musicians past and present, and to instruments and the many different sounds of music they can create. I would also like the children to gain an awareness as to how important music is to society and to our everyday living,” Rubin said.
“As I visit with students at different elementary schools across the nation, I hope to impart upon parents, school administrators and teachers how vital it is to society as a whole to include music education as part of their school district’s regular curriculum.”
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KPFA News report with Milton Allimadi and Michael Kirkpatrick broadcast Aug. 22, 2010
KPFA 94.1 reports on the involvement of Uganda in the war in Iraq and the recruitment of Ugandans by military contractors. – Video: Ann Garrison
Ugandan recruits hoping to work as private security guards in Iraq undergo basic firearms training in Kampala, Uganda. – Photo: Max Delaney, CS Monitor
Last week the Pentagon proclaimed that the last U.S. combat forces had left Iraq. This after an armored unit drove out of the country and crossed the border into Kuwait. However, there will still be 50,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.
An Iraq veteran turned war critic, Camillo Mejia, said that 4,000 U.S. troops who are leaving Iraq will be replaced by 7,000 employees of private military contractors. Other observers say the U.S. has long outsourced the Iraq occupation to troops from some of the world’s poor nations, such as Uganda, Angola, India and Bangladesh, and that many of the mercenaries due to replace other U.S. troops will also come from those countries, especially from Uganda.
The New York City-based Black Star News publishes many critics of U.S. foreign policy in Africa, and Black Star’s Ugandan-American Editor Milton Allimadi is among the most outspoken critics of U.S. use of Ugandan mercenaries, elsewhere in Africa and in Iraq.
“This is not surprising,” declares Allimadi. “It’s a disturbing development and something needs to be done to really stop this because Ugandans are being victimized by the dictator, Yoweri Museveni, and now in collusion with the United States government.
“And another reason why this is very disturbing: It’s an extension of what the U.S. has been doing for a couple of years now with respect to Uganda – outsourcing of torture of people interdicted by the United States to Uganda. And this was well documented in a report by Human Rights Watch that has not garnered sufficient attention.
“The report is called ‘Open Secret: Illegal Detention and Torture’ by the Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force in Uganda. It was published last year, April 8, 2009, and it says that the United States provided not only training, but also $5 million for Ugandan security agents to torture individuals detained in Uganda, which is illegal according to the Leahy Amendment, an amendment by Sen. Patrick Leahy, which prohibits U.S. cooperation or funding or training for any government that is torturing its individuals or committing human rights abuse.
“It needs to be investigated by the Senate and by Congress.”
In Kampala, former Ugandan soldiers fill out application forms for jobs with the Dreshak company in Iraq. Ugandan security guards make $600 to $1,000 per month over a year-long contract in Iraq, reports Middle East Online, far less than the $15,000 that Western recruits are paid but 20 times the average income in Uganda. – Photo: Middle East Online
Black Star News contributor Michael Kirkpatrick has traveled in Northern Uganda, the wartorn home of the indigenous Acholi people, and written about Blackwater, Dreshak and KBR’s recruitment in refugee camps, otherwise known as Internally Displaced Persons or IDP camps, which he first observed in 2007.
“Back in 2007, I traveled to Northern Uganda at the invitation of some Acholi friends of mine,” says Kirkpatrick. “This was an opportunity for me to see how that part of the country was rebuilding after a 20-year rebel insurgency.
“While I was there, I met a young woman who was there from the British High Commission, and she was studying a local language in the city of Gulu, which is the largest city in Northern Uganda. And she was there to learn this obscure tribal African language because she needed to train translators in Iraq. Well, I thought this was odd, that the Acholi language was being spoken in Iraq.
“Well here what I learned was that there were Acholi, young Acholi men, being recruited by military contractors to go to Iraq and they obviously needed translators because these young men did not speak English, so they needed translators in Iraq to be able to instruct and direct these military contractor employees.
“I’ve come to learn even since then that the recruitment of Ugandans is a very common practice by these military contractors. There are a lot of things going on in East Africa that require the U.S. presence there. And currently, right now, there are recruiting stations in the capitol city of Kampala and there are regularly long lines of Ugandans waiting to get jobs.
“For Ugandans, this isn’t an act of fighting Al Qaeda. This isn’t an act of justice or spreading democracy in the Middle East. For them it is purely an economic issue. They need the jobs; they need the money. From my point of view, we are exploiting a desperate people. We’re bribing them with money to carry weapons into a war that is not theirs.”
Asked whether recruiting stations belong to private military contractors or the U.S. military, Kirkpatrick responded: “They are private. They are not U.S. military. They are not manned or stationed by U.S. military. But believe me, the U.S. military is paying their bills.”
Kirkpatrick also says that private for-profit companies do not have to report casualties or open their accounting books to anyone.
Lincoln tried to deport slaves to British colonies
US president Abraham Lincoln, known for his campaign against slavery, wanted to send many of the American slaves to British colonies in Caribbean, according to British archive documents. Here’s a report from msn.com.
Academics Phillip Magness and Sebastian Page claim that documents uncovered in British archives show that Lincoln was rather less enamoured by the prospect of a racially-united America than is often assumed, the Daily Mail reported. The 16th US president is revered for winning the American Civil War (1861-65) and bringing an end to slavery.
Historians have earlier conceded that he proposed sending some of the freed slaves to new colonies, but they have dismissed it as a ruse designed to placate racist voters in the unified America.
However, evidence from the British legation in Washington that has turned up at London-based National Archives show that Lincoln was serious about black colonisation until his assassination in 1865.
According to Magness and Page, just after Lincoln announced the freedom of America’s four million slaves with his historic 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, he authorised plans to set up freedmen’s settlements in what is now Belize and Guyana.
And even as black soldiers were dying for the Union cause and a mission to send 453 freed slaves to colonise a pest-ridden island off Haiti met with a disastrous small pox outbreak, Lincoln was secretly authorising British officials to recruit hundreds of thousands of blacks for a new life on the sugar and cotton plantations of Central America.
Documents show Lincoln personally met agents for the then-colonies of British Honduras and British Guiana and authorised them to go into the camps of the recently-freed slaves and find recruits.
Lincoln also considered a plan to get thousands of black soldiers out of the way after the civil war by sending them down to Panama to build a canal.
The new evidence, contained in a forthcoming book ‘Colonisation After Emancipation: Lincoln and the Movement for Black Resettlement’, is causing ructions in the US over the legacy of its most revered president.
However, Page, a Fellow of The Queen’s College, Oxford, insisted that it was wrong to conclude Lincoln was a racist.
The documents also show that Lincoln’s plans were foiled, largely because of the reluctance of the British government who feared the pro-slavery South might win the Civil War and sue Britain for its lost slaves.
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