Latifa Ibn Ziaten, a grieving mother, tells young French people that integration is the key

This great lady will be visiting our school on Monday March 9th 2015.

This brave mother lost her son when Mohamed Merah killed him a few years ago. Instead of collapsing she took action and becale an activist against radicalisation.

Now she visits middle schools and high schools in France to talk to young people about integration, brotherhood, religion, family, and the need to integrate to play a part in society.

Here is a video explaining her story and showing her action:

Grieving mother turned activist against radicalization – The National – CBC Player.

Yusor Abu-Salha, crime victim, expressed herself on being an American

▶ Yusor Abu-Salha Blessed To Be American – YouTube.

This young girl, her husband and her sister were killed recently by a neighbor. The inquest is not over so we don’t know yet if this was a hate crime against Muslims or a neighborhood killing. Either way, their deaths are a sad blow to the community of Chappel Hill they belonged to.

Yusor Abu-Salha had spoken in an interview of what being an American women felt like for her. Here are extracts of this interview:

Grammy Awards tributes to “Black Lives Matter” Movement

At the Grammy Awards ceremony, several artists paid tribute to the “Black Lives Matter” movement, which honours the memory of young Black men who were killed in the past months or year. Here is a short mashup of these tributes :

Black Lives Matter Movement at the Grammys | Billboard.

Pharrell Williams’s song “Happy”, which won three awards, was sung to a background of young Black men wearing hoodies, like 17-year-old Trayvon Martin who was killed as he was peacefully walking near his sister’s home after buying candy and soda. Trayvon’s killer was not convicted. A “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” demonstration was done during his performance. Williams thus payed homage to late 18-year old, unarmed Michael Brown who was shot by the police in August 2014.

Pharrell Williams hands up

Beyonce sang the gospel song “Precious Lord Take My Hand” to a backing choir of Black men in white suits, their hands up in the same homage gesture.

US-MUSIC-GRAMMY AWARDS-SHOW

Prince made a statement, saying “albums matter, like books and Black lives matter”, refering to the Black Lives Matter movement.

 prince-Grammy awards

 

Stop using the R-word!

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Here is what famous athlete Kasey Studdard has to say about being in Special Education for Learning Disabilities as a child:

“I was teased, ridiculed, and isolated.”

“It wasn’t for a lack of intelligence, but I simply couldn’t comprehend things in the same ways the other kids did.”

“Though I often nodded my head to signal that I understood, I did not.”

“Kids can be very mean…” ““Ha-ha, you’re in the RETARD class now!,” they mocked. “Kasey’s so stupid, they had to kick him out of our class,” they teased.”

“In my early teens, to my surprise, I found that I could do things on the court and on the field that other kids could not. Sports became my salvation.”

“Unfortunately, I couldn’t live solely on sports fields. That meant years and years of remedial coursework, time spent before and after school, and countless late nights just to keep up. My mother always made sure the work got done — and for that I will be eternally grateful.”

“it wasn’t the hard work that impacted me most growing up. It was the other students, my special education classmates — the ones with severe mental and physical disabilities who had it far worse than I did — who taught me more about life than any lesson plan ever could. For them, the struggle wasn’t just about self-esteem or fitting in or being “normal,” it was about survival itself.”

“That’s why I have always stood up for the less-fortunate.”

“Whenever I saw a disabled or disadvantaged child at one of our training camps, I would always take time to greet them with a smile and a hug, and to ask how they were doing .”

“I was one of the lucky ones — with sports providing salvation just in time — but everyone deserves an opportunity to shine.”

spread-the-word-badge-photo

Here is a video showing how the R-word (“retarded”) can be as offensive as any other insult against minorities.

https://youtube.com/R-word

You can take the pledge to stop using this mean word!

http://www.r-word.org/

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Plus-sized model shows curves look good in Sports Illustrated Magazine

Whereas swimsuits models are usually very slim, this size 14-16 model, Ashley Graham, shows that curvy women can look great in bikinis too. This ad was accepted in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated Magazine. It’s good to see that women can be allowed to show some curves and that all sizes can be beautiful!

▶ Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition features ad with plus-sized model for first time – YouTube.

Tens of thousands march across to protest police killings of Black citizens

People in New York City and Washington DC have protested yesterday against police violence which recently killed several Black persons.

Those marches show young and old, Black and White, together in their demands for more equality and less violence by the police.

Click on this link to read the article and watch what CBC News reporter describes:

Eric Garner, Michael Brown: Tens of thousands across U.S. protest police killings – World – CBC News.

Watch Malala Yousafzai’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech

“Malala Yousafzai, a 17-year-old Pakistani girl, gave an incredible speech as she accepted her Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway on Wednesday after becoming an icon of the fight for children’s education rights. She just became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate in history, and her speech shows her spectacular wisdom...’I tell my story not because it is unique but because it is not,’ she said. ‘It is the story of many girls. Today, I tell their stories too. I have brought with me some of my sisters from Pakistan, from Nigeria, and from Syria who share this story…This award is not just for me. It is for those forgotten children who want education,’ Yousafzai said. ‘It is for those frightened children who want peace. It is for those voiceless children who want change. I am here to stand up for their rights, to raise their voice.'” – Business Insider

via ▶ Watch Malala Yousafzai’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech – YouTube.

“I Can’t Breathe” congressman’s tribute to Eric Garner

Wednesday night, a grand jury in New York City refused to indict police officers in the killing of Eric Garner, a man who died after officers used an illegal chokehold on him. The decision set off protests across the country.Some in Congress have already expressed their solidarity with Garner.

Hank Johnson, the sponsor of legislation to curb police militarization, made a moving tribute to Garner, including the phrase, “I can’t breathe” between each statement—the phrase  Eric Garner said as he was being strangled, and which has since become a rallying cry for protesters.

“Buy Nothing Day”

buy nothing

Buy Nothing Day (BND) is an international day of protest against consumerism. In North America, Buy Nothing Day is held on the Friday after U.S. Thanksgiving; elsewhere, it is held the following day, which is the last Saturday in November.

The first Buy Nothing Day was organized in Canada in September 1992 “as a day for society to examine the issue of over-consumption.” In 1997, it was moved to the Friday after American Thanksgiving, also called “Black Friday”, which is one of the ten busiest shopping days in the United States.  Soon, campaigns started appearing in the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, Austria, Germany, New Zealand, Japan, the Netherlands, France, and Norway. Participation now includes more than 65 nations.

Muslim prayer in American national cathedral

Muslim prayer in American cathedral

The Washington National Cathedral, considered the United States’ “national prayer house,” hosted a Muslim service Friday, the first such event in the sanctuary’s history.

Muslim prayer rugs were laid and “the Arabic call to prayer echoed among the vaulted stone arches,” which the dean of the cathedral, the Very Rev. Gary Hall, called “a beautiful sacred language in a beautiful sacred space,” according to The Washington Post.

Welcoming the worshipers, director of liturgy Rev. Canon Gina Gilland Campbell said, “Salaam, shalom, peace. You are all so very welcome here.” She also used the occasion to issue an impassioned call for interfaith understanding, saying, “Let us stretch our hearts and let us seek to deepen mercy for we worship the same God.”

Christian and Muslim leaders also spoke about the need for religious dialogue and harmony, including South Africa’s Muslim Ambassador to the U.S. Ebhraim Rasool, co-organizer of the event. Rasool used the sermon, or Khutba, to call for the protection of Christians in the Middle East, as well as greater Muslim tolerance for other religions, saying: “I think that we must return to the Muslim prophetic tradition in which the Prophet, may peace be upon him, invited Christians to his own mosque that he established in Medina – and said to them, you can pray here.”

Islam is the third-largest religion in the United States, behind Christianity and Judaism, and with at least 2.6 million adherents, constitutes approximately 0.8% of the country’s population.