Tag Archives: 5: Excellent

Nationality + Migration

Interregional News | Jamaican

US-based Jamaican writer wins Britain’s top literary prize
  • Novelist Marlon James has become the first Jamaican writer to win Britain’s prestigious Man Booker Prize.
  • He captured the award with his work A Brief History of Seven Killings, an epic crime novel weaving together multiple stories around the attempted assassination of Bob Marley in 1976.
  • James’s first novel, John Crow’s Devil, was published in 2005; he currently lives in Minneapolis and teaches at Macalester College.

Read more:
“Marlon James, Jamaican Novelist, Wins Man Booker Prize” (The New York Times)
“Marlon James wins the Man Booker prize 2015” (The Guardian)
Amazon: A Brief History of Seven Killings

(Image Credit: Bryan Derballa/The New York Times)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

U.S. News | Native Americans

Indigenous Peoples Day begins catching on in U.S. cities as replacement for Columbus Day
  • Cities in a potpourri of states including Washington, California, Texas, Minnesota, and New Mexico eschewed celebrating Christopher Columbus to focus instead on the contributions and achievements of indigenous Americans.
  • The movement to change the national holiday saw its first significant victory in 1990, when South Dakota renamed the holiday to Native American Day.
  • Columbus’s status as a national hero has been increasingly dismantled as historians have brought to light his writings, persecution of indigenous Americans, and initiation of a series of events that led to the deaths of millions of native inhabitants of the American continents.

Read more:
“Indigenous Peoples Day Celebrated in Cities Across the U.S. Instead of Columbus Day” (BuzzFeed News)
“Indigenous Peoples Day celebrated in Lawrence” (The Kansas City Star)
“Denver City Council unanimously decides to recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day” (KDVR FOX 31 News)

(Image Credit: Elaine Thompson/AP, via BuzzFeed News)

Gender, Nationality + Migration, Sexual + Gender Minorities

Global News | LGBT Ugandan Women

Ugandan LGBTI rights activist wins “Alternative Nobel Prize”
  • Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera, a Ugandan lesbian, won the International Right Livelihood Award, known informally as the “Alternative Nobel Prize.”
  • Nabagesera has won recognition for challenging anti-gay activity through legal challenge, including suing a tabloid that had published the names of suspected LGBT individuals as well as the Minister of Ethics for violations of LGBT advocates’ freedom of assembly.
  • She is also the founder and executive director of LGBT rights charity Freedom & Roam Uganda.

Read more:
“Ugandan gay rights activist wins Right Livelihood Award” (Deutsche Welle)
“Ugandan gay rights activist wins ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’” (PinkNews)
Right Livelihood Laureate: Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera

Race + Color + Ethnicity

Ecuador News | Afro-Ecuadorians

Ecuador government passes resolution to include Afro-Ecuadorian history in textbooks
  • As Ecuadoreans around the country celebrate National Day of the Afro-Ecuadorian People, the government announced the new education measure to foster inclusion of Afro-Ecuadorians in the nation’s history.
  • Afro-Ecuadorians number more than 600,000 in the country, but continue to face discrimination and economic difficulty.
  • The National Day of the Afro-Ecuadorian People began with the 1997 congressional declaration of the National Day of the Black Ecuadorian, symbolized by celebration of fugitive slave leader Alonso de Illescas and Afro-Ecuadorian history and culture.

“On this day we have to remember all the contributions we have made as a people and bring it, together with our history, to the rest of the people because many don’t know it, which enables a lot of forms of discrimination.”

Read more:
“Ecuador to Include Afro-Ecuadorean History in Textbooks” (teleSUR English)

(Image Credit: El Telegrafo, via teleSUR)

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Germany News | Arab Immigrants

Germany prints constitution in Arabic for new arrivals
  • Germany has printed an initial 10,000 copies of an Arabic translation of the first 20 articles of its constitution to help support the integration of the more than 800,000 expected to find refuge in the country by year’s end.
  • Adopted in 1949, the “Basic Law” outlines the most critical political and social features of Germany’s democracy, including secular governance, freedom of religion, and other basic individual freedoms.
  • German Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel also noted refugees would have to accept the sexual and gender equality and the prohibition on anti-Semitism in the country.

Read more:
“Germany prints its constitution in Arabic for refugees” (Deutsche Welle)
“Germany prints its constitution in Arabic for refugees to learn” (Reuters)
Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany

(Image Credit: Lukas Barth/Reuters)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

Australia News | Indigenous Australian

Indigenous lawyer earns Australia’s most prestigious legal title
  • Having just been announced among the new class of silks, Australian barrister Anthony McAvoy is believed to be the only Indigenous lawyer with the title in a country with an estimated 15 Indigenous barristers.
  • Taking silk is a merit-driven process allowing lawyers to add the initials SC (Senior Counsel) or QC (Queen’s Counsel, a Commonwealth title) after their name, designating senior authority.
  • One of 26 who were awarded the status in New South Wales, McAvoy specializes in native title rights.

“For many years there were hardly any practitioners coming through and unless you have practised as a solicitor, making it at the Bar is very difficult. …Without the number of law graduates coming into the practice of law, the numbers would always be low.”

Read the full story at The Australian.

Gender

Pakistan Feature | Women

Video

Keeping on Trucking

Shamim Akhtar, 53, has become the first woman granted a heavy vehicle license in Pakistan. Radio Free Liberty/Radio Europe profiles the single mother who took up truck-driving in order to support her family and the challenges she faced on the road to her licensing.

Watch the full Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty feature on YouTube.

Race + Color + Ethnicity

Bolivia News | Indigenous

Bolivian volunteers translate Facebook into endangered language to help preserve indigenous culture
  • A group of 15-20 volunteers organized the work through Jaqi Aru, an El Alto-based virtual community dedicated to promoting the use of Aymara, Bolivia’s second most widely spoken indigenous language.
  • Facebook requires that at least 24,000 words be translated in order for a language to be added to the options for public use, which the group says it has achieved.
  • Aymara is included in UNESCO’s list of the world’s most endangered languages, leading Jaqi Aru to promote its presence and use through Internet destinations like Wikipedia and social media.

“Si no trabajamos hoy por nuestra lengua y cultura, será tarde recordar mañana lo que somos y siempre viviremos inseguros de nuestra identidad”

Translation: “If we don’t work for our language and culture today, tomorrow it will be too late to remember what we are and we will always live unsure of our identity.”

Read the full story at El País (in Spanish).

Age, Race + Color + Ethnicity

South Africa Feature | Black Children

Playing with Blackness

Image Credit: Leonardo Angelucci/AFP/Getty Images, via The Guardian
Image Credit: Leonardo Angelucci/AFP/Getty Images, via The Guardian

Childish Trading and Manufacturing founder Maite Makgoba hopes her Mommpy Mpoppy doll will help change the way young black South African children look at themselves. In a market overwhelmed by whiteness, her dolls feature dark skin and natural-looking hair, giving black children an opportunity to insert images of themselves into their play fantasies. The Guardian takes a look at the toy and the uphill market challenges Makgoba faces.

Read the full feature at the Guardian.

Religion + Belief

C.A.R. Feature | Muslims & Christians

Connecting the Living through the Dead

Image Credit: Laurent Correau/RFI
Image Credit: Laurent Correau/RFI

Situated in the Boeing neighborhood of the Central African Republic capital Bangui, a Muslim cemetery that was long the stronghold of Christian anti-balaka militants found itself in need of repair. RFI highlights how the situation provided a unique opportunity for the city’s Christian community to help their Muslim brethren clear not only the weeds of the burial plots, but the divisions between their communities as well.

« Nous sommes en train de désherber sur le cimetière musulman de Boeing. Je suis un chrétien. Ce qui m’a poussé à venir travailler, main dans la main avec les musulmans, c’est la cohésion sociale. Si nous sommes réunis, c’est parce que nous voulons que la paix revienne dans notre pays et pour éviter les problèmes qui se posent encore dans notre pays »

Translation: “We’re pulling weeds in Boeing’s Muslim cemetery. I’m a Christian. What pushed me to come to work, hand in hand with Muslims, is social cohesion. If we’re gathered, it’s because we want peace to return to our country and to avoid the problems that still come up in our country.”

Read the full feature at Radio France Internationale (in French).

Nationality + Migration

France News | Americans & Britons

Three Americans and one Briton receive France’s highest honor for role in subduing train attacker
  • French President François Hollande awarded the four men the Legion d’Honneur at a reception at the Elysée Palace.
  • The men were a part of a group that subdued the gunman on a train bound for Paris with more than 550 passengers reported on board.
  • A French-American, who was shot and remains hospitalized, and an additional unnamed man also assisted and will receive their honors at a later date.

Read the full story at BuzzFeed News.

(Image Credit: Pool New/Reuters, via BuzzFeed News)

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity

China News | Ethnic Minorities

1 Comment
China includes ethnic Han for first time in national multicultural athletic festival
  • The National Traditional Games for Ethnic Minorities opened on Sunday, with 6,240 athletes from 31 provinces and ethnic groups competing in traditional sports.
  • Han participants were allowed for the first time limited participation with ethnic minorities including Huis, Zhuangs, Uyghurs, Yis, and Miaos and representation from Mongolia, Tibet, and Taiwan.
  • The 17 competitive events in the quadrennial festival include camel ball, bamboo drifting, dragon boat racing, and stilt-running.

Read the full story at the South China Morning Post.

(Image Credit: Xinhua News Agency, via the South China Morning Post)

Health + Ability

U.K. Feature | Autism

Video 1 Comment

The Autistix

Led by three members with disabilities along the autism spectrum, The Autistix are a U.K. indie band putting a spotlight on some of the great musical talent in the autism community. The Guardian profiles the group, their supportive families, and their sound.

View the video from the Guardian on YouTube.

Gender, Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

U.S. News & Feature | Nonbelievers of Color

Arian Foster: Freethinking in the NFL

Image Credit: Josh Goleman/ESPN
Image Credit: Josh Goleman/ESPN

NFL running back Arian Foster, currently playing for the Houston Texans, has come out as a freethinker and nonbeliever, one of very few professional players to have ever professed nonbelief. With little to no separation between church and field in the NFL, Foster sits down with ESPN to share his experiences being out to teammates, the evolution of his belief, and the ubiquity of Christianity in football.

Read the full profile at ESPN.

Nationality + Migration, Religion + Belief

India Perspectives | Jewish Indian

Jewish in India

Nathaniel Jhirad shares his perspective on growing up Jewish in India, a country where the religions of the world often find themselves in close quarters. From Muslim-majority Jewish schools to overlapping calls to prayer, Nathaniel offers an optimistic view on interfaith relations in the world’s second-largest nation.

Read Nathaniel’s story at Forward.

(Image Credit: Nathaniel Jhirad, via Forward)