Women's Voices Now is a non-profit organization that was founded in January 2010 and is based in New York City. Their mission is to “empower women and give voice to the struggle for civil, economic and political rights.” Currently, they’re accepting submissions for a film festival, "Women's Voices from the Muslim World: A Short-Film Festival." They are taking submissions up until Nov 1, 2010, but they are already posting some films on their website. Go and watch them... great storytelling!
Isaiah's Story from 31Films on Vimeo.
I am usually nervous to post when I am reading a book by Hirsi Ali (I just finished her latest memoir, Nomad). Yet I can see the great irony of my fear to speak out when that is one of the things I admire most about her. Truth be told, she has profoundly influenced my love for Muslim women. When I read her first memoir, Infidel, in 2007, it broke my heart with a heavy compassion for women world-wide, as- to me- she was a snapshot, a single portrait of a reality lived out by millions of women. (Let me clarify, though, that I fully recognize her story is one story and I do not pretend to apply it to every Muslim woman in the world.)
I am drawn to read Hirsi Ali's books because of her experience as a woman, her experience as a refugee, her experience as a thinker, and her experience as a participant in both Eastern & Western worldviews. She has a unique insight into a large portion of the issues facing modern society. To listen to her reason & grapple with reality is fascinating. I stand by that. To read Hirsi Ali's book is to engage in thought-provoking discussion over today's powerful social dichotomies.
First, In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan. This book was just what I was looking for in my (previously blogged about) effort to shake up my food patterns. I learned a lot of undesirable information about the modern food industry. And I am letting all the bad news simmer in my mind and hopefully redirect some of my choices. Things like... the way we commercially grow plants now has even affected the end product by taking out "nutrients" that have things the food industry doesn't want and injecting "nutrients" they want to increase. All in all, it affects the overall product, even of something you think is unchangeable-- like produce. "...You now have to eat three apples to get the same amount of iron as you have gotten from a single 1940 apple." (p. 118) Although really technical and prone to over-informing, this book was super helpful for me to learn how to navigate the modern food industry and the choices we now have in our supermarket.
Next, Under the Overpass, by Mike Yankoski. I randomly stumbled onto this book when looking for resources to learn about homelessness and social support systems affecting the poor. It just popped up in a Barnes & Noble search and caught my eye. What drew my attention was that it was written by a Christian man who set out to live on the streets, (with the homeless as one of their own) in 6 different American cities to see not only what life was like but also what social services (and churches in particular) were doing (or not doing) to impact the homeless community. The author wanted to experience it all while looking through the lens of his faith. It was certainly an interesting perspective and premise. As his journey unfolded, I was both moved by & found myself mourning for the church & its people-- at its triumphs & failings in loving the poor and treating people with compassion.
Finally, Tea with Hezbollah, by Carl Medearis & Ted Dekker. I recently heard Carl speak at a conference in Austin and he mentioned this latest book. His verbal description was so normal-person-thought-process-spoken-out-loud that is just caught my attention. He said something like: you know how the Bible says we are to love our neighbor? and goes further even to say, we should love our enemies? that that's Jesus' commands for his followers? well, I thought- in order to love our enemies we need to go and actually meet them, get to know them. so we set out to do just that. we traveled to the Middle East and sat down with some of the "bad guys" (from America's perspective) and just wanted to see what would happen... wanted to learn about them as people. in hopes that we could tell all you, and that it would help you love them as Christ loves them. That's all he said. And I bought it... and the book... and have really enjoyed just reading their travelogue of what it was like to visit some of my absolute favorite places in the world (the Middle East) and sit down with some of the most intimidating men of power and ask: "when was the last time you cried?" and "what makes you laugh?" The authors humanized these men for their readers. And that goes a long way in softening our hard hearts toward the call to love our enemies.
Over the years, there have been a few food products that I learn a simple fact about... and that simple fact leads me to quit cold-turkey eating that food forever.
Now, after 24 operations, Mr. Ghanimi has a reconstructed face as well as political asylum in the United States. On July 4, his wife and three youngest children joined him in New York after a three-year separation.
But the euphoria of their reunion quickly dissipated as the family began to reckon with the colder realities of their new life. Mr. Ghanimi, 50, who has not been able to work because of lingering pain, is supporting his family on a monthly disability check of $761, food stamps and handouts from friends. They are crammed into one room they rent in a two-bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, in a city whose small Iraqi population is scattered. And Mr. Ghanimi’s wife and children do not speak English, deepening their sense of isolation."
The article continues with several other people's stories and some very interesting journalistic facts about the situation. I highly recommend you read it.
In bangkok recently i was having dinner with a friend working with the poor and oppressed. we got to talking about our distaste for american materialism and how it distances americans from the world at large. at a certain point, doesn't it seem like the stuff we buy becomes almost unethical? let's face it, the american dream is unbiblical; god does not desire for us to work independently towards comfort and success and retire in our pile of stuff. non-christians get this too. the stuff we accumulate insulates us from the suffering of others and makes the realities of the world- war, death, disease- seem more remote. but where to begin?
Wandering through Barnes & Noble today, I stumbled across a table labeled "Required School Reading." I asked the employee nearby and he confirmed these were for high school students. Although I recognized some of the same classics from when I was in high school, I was surprised to realize I didn't even recognize a majority of the titles. Fascinating! So I had them print me a copy of the list (all 175 books*) so I could maybe-- someday (HA!)-- catch up on what the educational field is requiring young people to read these days. (You can click on each title to link straight to the description on barnesandnoble.com.)
"The numbers of AIDS deaths in the U.S. and Western Europe plummeted just as the numbers of AIDS deaths in Africa were exploding. With the falloff of mortality in the northern hemisphere, the public engagement with HIV/AIDS diminished. ... The wealthy nations lost interest, once they understood they had escaped the worst." (p. 190-191) No wonder I started hearing about AIDS less and less.
Now imagine what that means for families in Austin who need to qualify for low income social services!
For Fareed Zakaria, the great story of our times is not the decline of America but rather the rise of everyone else—the growth of countries such as China, India, Brazil, Russia, South Africa, Kenya, and many, many more. This economic growth is generating a new global landscape where power is shifting and wealth and innovation are bubbling up in unexpected places. It's also producing political confidence and national pride. As these trends continue, the push of globalization will increasingly be joined by the pull of nationalism—a tension that is likely to define the next decades.
With his customary lucidity, insight, and imagination, Zakaria draws on lessons from the two great power shifts of the past five hundred years—the rise of the Western world and the rise of the United States—to tell us what we can expect from the third shift, the "rise of the rest." Washington must begin a serious transformation of global strategy and seek to share power, create coalitions, build legitimacy, and define the global agenda. None of this will be easy for the greatest power the world has ever known—the only power that for so long has really mattered. But all that is changing now. The future we face is the post-American world.
