controversies
It seems every time one racially-charged incident ends, a gender or religious controversy takes its place; Ruminate on the issues dividing our nation and world.
Why The Court Ruled The Way It Did In the Dreadlock Hair Case
ZV, a minor and her parents wear dreadlocks. They do so outside of any adherence to religion. Her school has an unwritten policy of ‘no braids, no beads, no locking of hair’. Placement at the school is dependent on adherence to this policy. Reason: parents do not wash their dreadlocked children’s hair, “in a timely manner, and the hair gets junjo” (mildew) and has created serious lice infestation issues in the past prompting administrative intervention.
By Donna Mattis5 years ago in The Swamp
As a Heterosexual Black Male in America how can I Follow a Movement that does not Reflect me?
I would not say that I totally disagree with policies supported by the Black Lives Matter movement. But as a black man in America how can I follow a movement on my behalf that does not fully reflect me? The rate at which black men witness inequality and injustice in this country is higher than any other demographic.
By MINORITY ALLIANCE ORGANIZATION5 years ago in The Swamp
Now What?
Now what? Changes we can make following George Floyd’s death We ask for peace and it’s quiet. We scream for justice and we’re silenced. We go for a simple walk, yet we have to run and hide. We live in the same house, yet we’re treated like guests. We do nothing wrong, yet we get framed. We do the same things as everyone else, yet we’re not treated the same. We can’t breathe— we can’t even get some air. We have had enough, and not enough has changed. Now what?
By Karim Fall5 years ago in The Swamp
I got more backlash for this photo than anything I’ve put online in 14 years.
In my 14 years online I’ve posted naked self-portraits that have been banned from Flickr, I've outraged activists with an ad campaign of stuffed animals which got pulled from a Hong Kong metro, and I've angered Italian Christians when I staged a scene of the Virgin Mary giving birth.
By Natalie Lennard5 years ago in The Swamp
Planning and traffic rules madness
Planning and traffic rule madness. A political recipe for disaster. The politicians appear to have abandoned control over a vital aspect of national life. They have been duped into allowing left wing ecology propaganda, to replace common sense and rational evaluation, they will pay for this at the ballot box.
By Peter Rose5 years ago in The Swamp
Homeless Is Where The Hatred Is
Things are cooling down and I'm struggling against a lack of will to do anything. The joys of watching corruption burn have given way to disgust as white extremists of the right and left become the focus of the Black Lives Matter movement, at least as far as the media dictates. On a smaller scale, our personal problems are far from over. These things only happened a few weeks back and the only thing that seems to have changed is a drop in the temperature:
By J. Gonzalez-Blitz5 years ago in The Swamp
More than Mattering
Black Lives Matter; we hear this sentiment daily and absorb the message to the fullest extent (well, those who care and believe so). I am so damn sick of hearing my life matters. I know my life matters, and everyone else's too. The problem is that Black lives do not just matter; they are vital. Not only did most of the United States get its infrastructure from the Black lives stolen from Africa, but we built this country for free, might I add. So please spare me the niceties. Black lives are of utmost importance. We equally enrich the environments we inhabit.
By Brandon Lee5 years ago in The Swamp
Dear South Asian People: We (Black People) Are NOT The Problem.
It is only Thursday, and yet this week alone has felt like a lifetime. Between the shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old unarmed Black father who was shot in front of his kids 7 times in the back on Sunday, or the Republican National Convention which started on Monday and has spewed hatred and fear of Black people to their primarily white Anglo base all week, this week has been soul-suckingly long already. There have been protests raging in the United States, NBA players have announced they are boycotting (striking technically) the games that were scheduled to be played and MLB and MLS teams are following suit, standing in solidarity with their athletic colleagues. And in the midst of all of this, Black people are facing another all-too familiar attack from another marginalized and racialized group of people, who have suffered similar traumas due to colonialism, white supremacy, racism and the class system. As some of you in the Black community have heard, there is a popular Indo-Caribbean restaurant that is frequented by us and recently, the manager of one of the locations who happens to be a family member of the owner of the restaurant made some extremely racist and ignorant comments on social media regarding the current state of affairs between law enforcement and the Black community. His comments have caused backlash and quite a stir, some calling for complete boycotts of their businesses both here in Toronto and in Trinidad & Tobago. As someone who has Indo-Caribbean friends, I really wanted to take a moment to address some of the history and foundation of where this stems from. It’s roots are deep in the very white supremacist, racist and anti-Black rhetoric we are currently witnessing.
By Whitney Smart5 years ago in The Swamp
The Baalei Teshuva Project: Finally Breathing
I was raised in a very secular Soviet household. I went to a Jewish day school for about three years, where I never had help with my homework. My grandma barely remembered Yiddish. Even though she’d speak to me in Yiddish and I understood fluently, my mom didn’t want her to speak to me in Yiddish. She didn’t want me going back to the roots.
By Naomi Grant5 years ago in The Swamp
Thug(s)
I remember very distinctly the first time a white person used the term "thug" to me and I knew they really meant "N*****." I was working for a Fortune 500 company in their Supply Chain division as a budding manager. I had built out and ran a home delivery program for this company and managed a P&L of about $30 million dollars annually. It was the most stressful yet rewarding time of my life. I had received Executive Leadership awards from my senior leadership team and had been recognize company wide for my contributions. Exceptional customer service skills have always been one of my strongest attributes and I prided myself on being able to negotiate and manage tough customer service situations. There were many a time where my company president sent me issues to resolve and trusted me implicitly to make decisions on what the right course of action was. I said all this not to brag in any way, but more to provide context of my work ethic and standing at this particular point in time at this company. I was well respected and had worked my ass off to be so.
By Whitney Smart5 years ago in The Swamp
