Gender Equality: Why We Must Achieve It

"Men embracing children" (Athens 2010)

            “What is destined for the men themselves will not be realized, if men don’t get over their gender jitters.” 

             (Late Desmond Browne, Liberia)

On December 10, 2012 a Study Circle on gender equality will be held in London. As facilitator of this gathering, my hope is that a movement will be created to launch study circles on gender equality worldwide at the village and community level and in the corporate setting.

PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION LEADS TO SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION

A Study Circle is self-directed collaborative learning about spiritual concepts and how they may be applied to everyday real life conditions. These participant-centered group gatherings are lead by a facilitator (not an expert) and are intended as sustainable and reproducible on any scale, large or small.

Our session on gender equality in London falls under the over-arching theme of 'promoting the well-being of humanity'.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS HERE and WHAT YOU RE DOING IN YOUR FAMILY, COMMUNITY, OR WORKPLACE.

DEVELOPED or DEVELOPING?

There've been numerous debates about the language of "developing" vs. "developed" referring to the distinctions between nations based on their relative wealth and poverty. Here,  Hans Rosling and Gapminder World has translated data into infographics demonstrating that what we might think about human progress has dramatically changed according to many indicators. As troubled as we are as a species, as chaotic as world affairs are at the moment, it's time to change our thinking toward a language of  collaboration and a recognition of our interdependence. Our most promising 'Gross World Product' from here on out, will be our ability to focus on our mutual nobility, women, men and children alike.
What language works in your backyard?




www.bit.ly/O0oJvl

DISCUSSION or CONSULTATION?

In a recent blog/discussion on the international aid community (Jennifer Lentfer at < http://www.how-matters.org/2012/10/15/the-ego-and-international-aid/comment-page-1/#comment-36077>and human ego, I wrote:
"One of the problems , in my experience (in about a billion different types of mtgs. with different people around the world)is the lack of true consultation skills and experience as a preparation for both leadership and problem-solving, in or outside the aid community. Yes,the ego is ever-present, but the absence of consultation principles is glaring. When such skills are learned and practiced by groups over time, I have seen miracles!"

In your experience, what is the difference between dialogue, discussion, and consultation? Pick one, practice them all, and the world will change.

Gender Alarm: The Unstoppable Voices of girls and women

Gender equality is the only sure path to global peace, but it is proving to be a rocky and threatening road. Girls and women everywhere confronting gender hatred and the consolidation of these narratives as a global community are meeting with backlash from traditionalists, male haters of women's progress, and those who refuse to accept change and social justice for all.
There is a welcoming sign in two stories in the news this week. The first is the compelling courage of Malala Yousafzai, the 14-year old Bangladesh girl who was shot by the Talaban for attending school and encouraging other girls to do the same as their human right.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19893309
There is also the story of Australia's PM Julia Gillard, who spoke out vehemently in their Parliament on histories of misogyny and gender discrimination in social and political life.
http://gawker.com/5950200/australian-pm-julia-gillard-unleashes-awesome-blistering-speech-over-oppositions-sexismhttp://gawker.com/5950200/australian-pm-julia-gillard-unleashes-awesome-blistering-speech-over-oppositions-sexism
I see consonance, courage, and a call to action on standing the dangerous ground of gender equality.
How does it look from where you stand. And, by the way, where DO you stand?

Young leaders in Aussieland, Crowdfunding, Ending poverty. The pride of our planet!

The wonderful wise feminist Cynthia Enloe wrote the Preface to my book, "Women, war, and violence: Personal perspectives and global activism. Read her Metta Center interview on why the world should take women seriously. Photo/interview courtesy Metta Center/Stephanie Van Hook

http://www.internationalpeaceandconflict.org/profiles/blog/show?id=780588%3ABlogPost%3A772417

Children Come fFirst! # 1 Global Priority: Official Won't Back Down Trailer

UNICEF - Ethiopia - In Ethiopia, more HIV-positive mothers deliver babies free of the virus

High maternal mortality rates in Ethiopia mean that giving birth outside of hospitals for 90% of women is life-threatening. Addressing the problem with a 'Whole Systems' approach like this begins to empower women with education, confidence, and medicine and protects their children. With targeted funds and more clinics/centers, such programs could be replicated elsewhere. Societies' growth and prosperity is prevented without a baseline commitment to girls' and women's health, mental and physical.

UNICEF - Ethiopia - In Ethiopia, more HIV-positive mothers deliver babies free of the virus

 As one Kenyan mother said: "I want to bring every good thing to one child before I have another."
Population control can mean women (and girls) being able to control their own reproduction.
Listen in on Wed. 11 July to the live-streamed Summit on Family Planning from the UK. Making contraception, condoms, or other preventative sex methods available is a way of educating choice into our lives. Smart women, smart families, smart power !

http://www.londonfamilyplanningsummit.co.uk/

IS POVERTY REALLY DECREASING?

This recent World Bank report says poverty is decreasing across the globe. Yes, China's poverty/ prosperity story is a big part of the statistical picture, but what about consistent reports that food crises and land grabs are devastating some of the more pristine regions of the world?
While the graph depicts the quantitative story, there is a qualitative story that underlies these numbers. The bumper sticker on my car reads 'No farms, no food'. As the EU and other global players buy up land in Africa to grow biofuels for more efficient cars, this "Green Dream" only benefits the richer nations of the world. As the land is 'grabbed', local food produce is unaffordable for locals.
How "Green" is your dream now, Europe? Starvation, hunger, malnutrition, and transactional sex for food are now part of your hallowed dream, my friends.

20120303_WOC674.gif (GIF Image, 595 × 385 pixels)

"For development to occur it is necessary that there be a movement of search and creativity having its  seat of decision in the searcher, that this movement occur not only in space, but in the existential time of the conscious searcher.”

-Paulo Friere, Pedagogy of the Oppressed


These young women in Buchanan City, Liberia are workshopping their own conscious search for a better life. Despite the increasing deterioration of society everywhere, much of the world is also rethinking,  rebuilding, and reuniting. As more and more civil society, grassroots organizations, interfaith groups, and many community-based organizations come together to demand social justice and equal rights, we can see the tiny glimmerings of peace. But la lucha continua-the struggle continues. Share projects underway in your neck of the woods.

Getting Men to the Gender Equality Table

Once again, a recent study on yet another form of GBV(gender-based violence) is garnering media attention. Breast-ironing, a cultural practice that inhibits the growth of breast tissue in young girls, is highlighted in a report by the Feinstein international Center (May 2012). Kudos to this study (and blog) which adds to the existing research /media exposure on gender-based violence and the evidence base being created about GBV as the world's most serious public health crisis. Also, RENATA-the Aunties Assoc.-is a good start. The practice of BI also exists in parts of Guinea Bissau, Benin, Guinea, Togo, and Chad. The surgical mutilation of the body has existed since ancient times and,unfortunately, also remains a central component of sexuality, self-image, and identity in upper-income ("developed") nations. Social pressures and cultural practices that harm or violate the rights of children need to be abolished, no question, and in whatever country. However, re-educating girls and boys (group education) on their nascent equality is the best grass-roots approach since the demands/entitlements of male sexuality and authority are at the heart of this, and other forms of,  violence against girls. Men and fathers are being drawn into activism at the local level as they have been on other related family issues in many parts of the world. Policy and institutional change are also occurring slowly. See 'What Men Have to Do With it" (Instituto Promundo/ICRW)

Sunday Easy Rider

Sunday mornings...the bike ride to the beach nearby my house in Boston. Welcome to the renewal of my Sunday commentary---SER(Sunday Easy Rider). The world may be in chaos, but the beach beckons all, the dog walkers, the elder Asian Tai Chi faithfuls, the lovers walking, the tan-seeking man who rides his bike to the beach collapsing into the diamond-glistening sand, the family dad helping his daughter build a sand castle. If you are a "water baby" you get the obsession-anything to be near the ocean. When I lived in land-locked Johannesburg for a year, I regularly rose at 4 or 5AM, hopped in the car, and drove the 7 hrs. to Durban just to smell the ocean, to see the sun transform the wave-capped ocean into day-twinkling stars, ebbing and flowing. If you had the misfortune of being in the car with me, you had only one potty-stop. Sorry. I needed to get their fast!
The reality is that genocide despots Charles Taylor (Liberia) and Ratko Miladic (Bosnia) are being tried at the Hague as the International Criminal Court confronts these  war criminals; several others are being lined up around the world and it seems we're finally getting the hang of making the bad guys pay for evil. Women and children have been some of the most vulnerable targets of war-related violence. This is one of many scenarios that reasserts the human struggle for social justice, punishment for immoral and illegal activities globally, and a war-weary species that desperately seeks a peace-loving future. One of the central shifts underway is the active repression of a level of masculine aggressiveness socialized into our national cultures and the even more active pursuit of feminine perspectives, voices, and activism arising from women and men everywhere from civil society agencies to the halls of government. Our globalizing identities seek a higher level of humane performance in all of our dealings, public and private. The long-term demand from traditional masculinity for sex trafficking, war as the ubiquitous problem-solver, and so many unexamined behaviors rooted in gender imbalances is asking us to re-examine 6000 of human evolution to remake our species, to think and do life differently. It's about time. Go to the beach and think about it.... I'll be back next Sunday. Meanwhile, speak your peace.....

"Morningsong for a Tillian King-Rodney Revisited

Our beloved Rodney King is a recovering alcoholic and, seemingly, a forgiving man. As welcome as that is, violence and racism remain from then  until now. As they say, don't believe the hype from CNN. The real story is persistent poverty, vulnerability to racial profiling, and systematically underdeveloped schools for predominantly minority children and youth. Last evening we joyously consumed "Fela", the play about Nigeria's Fela Kuti. The play was fabalicious; the message, a cautionary tale, again, about violence and the state. At one point in the play, miniature coffins of those  killed in Nigeria's political violence were stacked and, appropriately, Trayvon Martin's coffin
topped the pile. My poem "Morningsong for a Tillian King" written in commemoration of the Rodney King incident, will be performed this fall, a collaboration with artist colleagues.

Our beloved world is consumed with deepening violence.
Tell us what you're doing to eradicate violence.


http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/28/us/rodney-king-profile/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

Crossing the Gender Line-Egypt and the world

Recently, my keynote comments at Texas Tech University (4-13-12) included "  the problem of the 21st century is the challenge of the gender line". There's nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. From Egypt's gender struggles and the renewed contempt for women's humanity and citizenship there, to stories of increased violence against women in the form of forced sterilization, or the 'war on women' in US politics, no/low access to health care or political participation, or the daily confrontation with prejudice & brutality, women are saying 'there's no turning back'. This is a battle and it IS about power, ignorance, and 'keeping things tidy for men' so that they never have to change and grow into better men. How juvenile!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17820809
In this BBC interview, Mona Eltahawy tells it like it is. The "Arab Spring" will fail if women don't take their rightful place in societies around the world, whatever their status, whatever the deal.
Moral courage is what we women do best. It will be our gift to the future, but its' energies will atrophy if we don't use them. Do the right thing.

In my closing keynote remarks, I quoted writer Sherri tepper: "

“Some of us went to the brides in India, and the girls being cut, and the mothers told to kill their baby daughters. Some went among women who were alone, teaching them to join together, for there is hope in two women, help in three women, strength in four, joy in five, power in six, and against seven, no gate may stand. Some even went among men to tell them that a battle was coming, to explain that it is not male god against male devil, nor is it female against male; it has nothing to do with gender but with dominion.”

Speak out!

So here we go again, unnecessary violence! I wear my hoodie in solidarity with Mr. and Mrs. Martin b/c were I them, I would be inconsolable as a parent. In these moments there is no 'hierarchy of oppression' whether in Baghdad or Florida. These are all our children and we are leaving them a dreadful legacy of discrimination-as-usual. We are in the midst of that "dangerous course", one marked by the cultures of violence of our age. And beyond race, the Trayvon murder is, to me, a horror story about a man and a boy and the war on our children in every nation in the world. We seem to give them up to violence much too easily. Either it's sending them off to war to kill other people's children, ensnare them in human trafficking, or watch them kill one another as if each human life were expendable. Where is our sense of shame?

From an unlikely source-Charlotte Bronte-these thoughts are offered: " “Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education; they grow firm there, firm as weeds among stones.” Many Americans who are aware of the extent of racism in U.S. culture know that 'Trayvon Martin cases' recur on a daily basis in almost every state and throughout the world, to both young men and women. I remember my father having a strong aversion to the police b/c his was the era of the 1930's when lynching and Emmett Till's murder (1955) were fresh realities, even in Cambridge(MA), the city of his birth and where I was raised. Douglas Blackmon's conscience-crushing Pulitzer text Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans From the Civil War to WWII(2009) described the illegal bondage of Black citizens about which my Dad knew from 'the grapevine'. Dad has passed away a few years before the Rodney King incident (1991) but it would have broken his peace-loving, boogie-woogie heart to have watched the infamous Holliday videotapes of excessive force by the LAPD.  And James Byrd's 'lynching-by-dragging' murder (Texas 1998) would have sent him over the edge. I am skipping over the bad parts-all of the other unknown, young men of color (and other ethnics) whose mortality arrived too soon for them to grow into men. The murders of Vincent Chin and Matthew Shepherd, however, would have equally tested his faith in American society. Indeed, I was more than lucky to be raised by such a lover of humanity, one who regularly brought home strangers of every race to our family table for a meal.

Our work to eliminate prejudice is oil-rigg deeper, requires that we're man and woman enough to go to darker places within ourselves to redeem our country's destiny and our children's futures. No joke. The 'mutual understanding, amity, and sustained cooperation' required to eradicate race hatred and the war on our children is a lifetime commitment, not a media frenzy that activates our momentary shame. 

What was absent from Zimmerman was this: freedom from fear...

People- not systems- will gradually transform the world

[A]ny agency whatever, though it be the instrument of mankind's greatest good, is capable of misuse. Its proper use or abuse depends on the varying degrees of enlightenment, capacity, faith, honesty, devotion, and highmindedness of the leaders of public opinion."-'Abdu'l-Baha




This quote got me thinking about the current frenzy for world change. Everywhere, civil society is awakening, online causes are proliferating, violence, conflict,  and natural disasters continue unabated, and governments are being toppled. The moral and ethical center of human existence is not only being scrutinized, but is being manipulated by powerful forces within a very dysfunctional human family. The pressure and complexity of human problems can be overwhelming, even to individuals and institutions who look like they know what they're doing.


In the moment it is tempting to get out there, jump into the fray, and do what you think is good.

Things to think about:
1-Take a good look at your spiritual assets; without them (spiritual qualities), you're just like the next person;
2-"Fact" before "Act"; Be informed and get ALL the facts before you choose your path;
3-Consider your 'humanity before humanitarianism', meaning take a personal accounting of who you are as a human being before you wander aimlessly into 'do-gooderism'
4- Count the blessings of being able to serve others. Its' rewards are endless!

Haiti and the African Union-Uniting the African Diaspora

As an observer to the African Union for years, the Western hemisphere's most impoverished nation -Haiti-will finally become a formal member in 2013. What are the advantages to Haiti? From the 'Arab Spring' to 'Occupy', the worlds' people are in the grip of revolution. Only two years after the earthquake(2010) and devastating hurricane (2004), and decades of systematic  impoverishment, is the Martelly regime doing good by Haiti? More than 200,000  children work as 'restavecs' (unpaid household servants) and gender inequality is swelling.

http://www.bet.com/news/global/2012/02/07/haiti-to-join-african-union.html

The 'Arab Spring moves to Sudan

In Sudan this past Friday, the Bashir regime police forces stormed the University of Khartoum in a pre-emptive move to stop a student demonstration planned for today. The 'Arab Spring', like other revolutions, is a movement of the citizenry to exercise their universal right of protest. 300 students , arrested in Khartoum this weekend in the night while sleeping, were interrogated, jailed, and later released. They join students throughout the Arab world who have become the vanguard in helping to shape the future of global governance based upon equality and justice. this is a human wildfire that cannot be stopped.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201202180112.html

Civil society movement will revolutionize everyone!

Global unrest, street protests, and citizen activism are happening everywhere as broad social movements that express civil discontent about social and economic inequalities, and lead to revolution and change. From every level of society around the world, our world is changing. Change is inevitable, healthy, and life-enhancing. In my travels on and offline, I am interacting and working with people-in villages, on webinars, on projects, in cities. As conflicts mount, as traditional power is challenged, we're all feeling a greater interdependence. Average citizens are using collective action to demand social transformation through innovative uses of technology and social networking, anti-violence campaigns, civil society alliances, and community organizing as forms of civic participation. From Occupy Wall Street/Occupy Together and the ‘Arab Spring’, climate change to immigration reform, widening economic inequalities, to the new learning modalities of the Digital Age and Open Courseware that democratizes education, we all are caught in the mix. We ALL have skin in the game.  Social movements aim to raise human consciousness, improve the quality of life for all, and challenge political repression or economic crisis through grass-roots movements that resist government crackdowns and confront corporate greed. It is an exciting time to be alive!

Check in with your projects, your commitments, your new circles of co-workers rebuilding society everywhere. Meanwhile, view this episodic cartoon on development in South Africa-using art for civil and political awareness.

http://cdrablog.net/2012/02/13/civil-society-at-the-crossroads/

Racism and Development

In the 1994 Cairo Conference on Population and Development [Consumption], Chief of Women's organizations, Bisi, Ogunkele stated at a CNN panel that preceded the conference "If the rich nations of the world do not share their wealth with the poor, the poor will share their poverty with the rich". 'Lower-income'/'Developing Nations' demanded that he conference's focus on 'development' be renamed 'population and consumption. Their position was that the 'west'/'developed nations' were over-consuming the planet's resources as rapidly as the 'Developing nations' were overpopulating. Time for a truce and a new approach some 18 yrs. after that conference? The reality is that poverty and its minions have spread globally, despite some increases in some measures (e.g, literacy and disease prevention in some settings).

Where are we to focus our attention? What new directions, principles, or approaches can we imagine?

In the current climate of global chaos, financial collapse, environmental degradation, and widening gaps between wealth and poverty, we have much to ponder, to confront in ourselves , and much t to change. The global development community is a cauldron of individuals, motives, and practices that are unsustainable in their current configuration and worldview. We have been focusing, wholeheartedly, on poverty reduction, "the poor", and the alleviation of problems associated with the lack of material resources. We might shift our attention to 'wealth reduction', a strategy that requires personal reflection and overcoming the fear of living with less. But the latter reveals that living with less is better for human contentment and better for the environment.
Various impact assessments and research studies have provided adequate testimonials to the links between literacy, income, and longevity-even 'happiness'-  as one set of indicators of 'quality of life'. 'How Matters' has been blogging about race and development and has been brave enough to raise the spectre of the "R" word-racism http://www.how-matters.org/2012/01/17/the-elephant-hasnt-left-the-room/

To what extent is racism embedded in those constructions of the haves/have not gap and how to resolve this global crisis, esp. in our approaches to local and international development in every country?

These are critical questions we discuss in my "Globalism, racism, and human rights" course at a US university and in my "Changing Ourselves" workshop -'Games People Play'. In mid 20th c. social psychologist Gordon Allport wrote the classic, "The Nature of Prejudice". Among other research insights, he stated that a person is more likely to admit they're a liar, cheat, or thief than admit to being a racist. Being a 'racist', of course, makes everything more personal than discussing 'racism'.
Join in and share both your thoughts and what you are doing to eliminate all forms of prejudice in your own life and work. Don't be shy!

Restoring Dignity: A Toolkit for Religious Communities to End Violence Against Women | Soul Beat Africa

The religions of the world have a major role to play in restoring peace and equal rights. The nobility and dignity of every human being
hinges on our ability to end the prevalence of gender-based violence. Churches, mosques, temples and every religious fellowship, in their access to
vast populations might use this toolkit to launch campaigns and build programs in their communities to raise consciousness and alter the thinking
of individuals. Violence, in all of its forms, in both peacetime and wartime calls into question the very soul of a family or a nation and marginalizes
its prospects for success. Religious practice, if it calls itself righteous, cherishes women and girls and supports a better quality of life for them.
Men play a major role in these efforts. Since men dominate in clerical roles in most traditional religions for the moment, mens' involvement in
raising the standards of human behavior and modeling true manhood are essential starting points for achieving equality.

Restoring Dignity: A Toolkit for Religious Communities to End Violence Against Women | Soul Beat Africa

Rio rallies for YARAN-imprisoned Iranaian Bahai's

Brazilians in Rio are supporting the awareness campaign of Iranian Baha'is imprisoned for their Faith. The Baha'i prisoners, currently referred to as the seven "Yaran", have been imprisoned for several years in an effort to wipe out this religious community. Around he world, men and women of peace, social justice, and freedom are is being mobilized. In the US, the "Education Under Fire" campaign being toured with actor, Rainn Wilson, is calling attention to the additional violation of the right to an education being denied to Iranian Baha'i youth. In an effort to provide Rio has diligently mobilized its' citizens to respect religious diversity. For three centuries, the Baha'i Faith in Iran has suffered on-going persecution. With the establishment of the UN Declaration on Human Rights, the persecution of the religious rights of citizens means that Iran has been a relentless violator of those rights and ignores its obligations as a member of the family of nations. Baha'is are only one of the oppressed minority communities in Iran.

Peace building, transformation and the arts

 Learn about the tools and projects of artists and performers around the world from Peru to Serbia.

http://youtu.be/q0Xj8eELbcg

Making it happen: Kiva and the global family makes biz work

Focusing on partnership and equity in economic ventures.
http://www.westnorthmedia.com/projects/2912564

Cape Verde's Pires wins Mo Ibrahim Prize for African good governance

Way to go! Along with Botswana and Mozambique, Cape Verdean governance, economy and 80% literacy
rate bodes progress for the small African archipelago. Independent from Portugal since the 1970's, more Cape Verdeans
reside outside the country than inside. This award now recognizes the insistent work done by this country to move to the company of newly middle-income nations in Africa.


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203633104576622643418381176.html

Nobel Peace Prize shared by Liberian and Yemeni leaders

In an effort to shed light on non-violent activism, the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to these women leaders.
Few women have received the NPP since its inception in the last century. Focusing on the world's most troubling public health crisis - gender-based violence - alerts the international community to the role that women have and continue t play at both the grass-roots and policy level in CEDAW- THE Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.
We applaud the international community for acknowledging the struggles of women peace-makers.
What's your view?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/08/world/nobel-peace-prize-johnson-sirleaf-gbowee-karman.html?_r=3&hp

Bolivian President Evo Morales up for Nobel Peace Prize

 Who will receive the Nobel Peace Prize this Friday?
http://bcove.me/4vsgq949

Development Experts Present at Boston Baha'i Center TODAY!

Come hear Dr. Cecil Cook and New Dawn Associates founder Crispin Perberton-Pigott present their
views on spiritual solutions to working in international development.

TODAY, October 2 at 3pm, Bosotn Baha'i Center, 595 Albany St.,  3-5pm.

Fear of education/learning=freedom

 In Iran, members of the Baha'i Faith who are educators are being imprisoned. Why? Is there a link between true liberty, training the human intellect, and the growing needs for higher education training in every nation? Why would any nation that seeks true prosperity for all of its citizens, use religious prejudice to persecute professional educators? In "educators Under Fire", actor Rainn Wilson speaks for educational freedom. There is a link between knowledge and freedom- a universal human right.

http://vimeo.com/29493907

Sunday Easy Rider

Not a great bike day, but I note the quieted city as we move into autumn. As the world moves in and out of disaster and progress, turmoil and reconciliation, remember what moves the world -love- as 13th century poet, Rumi might say: "I went to the doctor. 'I feel lost, blind with love. What should I do?' Give up owning things and being somebody. Quit existing. " (Rumi, #1886, 'We Are Three', 1987)

Thoughts from the late Ralph Bunche on the Palestine-Israeli struggle

As history watches as Palestinians seek UN recognition this month, remember former UN Under secretary, Ralph Bunche. In fact, in 1936, long before the launch of a distinguished career, Bunche wrote: "And so, class will some day supplant race in world affairs. Race war will then be merely a side-show to the gigantic class war which will be waged in the big tent we call the world." Receiving the Nobel Peace Prize (1950) for his mediation of the Israeli-Arab/Palestinian struggle, Bunche was a political scientist and diplomat who was a central player in the writing of the UN Charter and worked with Eleanor Roosevelt on the UN Declaration of Human Rights. He was one of the most highly ranked American diplomats and, as a person of color, also mediated conflicts in Yemen, Cyprus, and the Congo. In fact the membership of numerous African and Asian states in a  post-war mid-2oth century UN was made possible by Bunche who helped to dismantle the old African and Asian colonial systems as they took their eventual place in the UN as independent states.
Despite a prestigious career, Bunche confronted racism in the U.S. throughout his life.

Remember his words in these perilous times:
"May there be, in our time, at long last, a world at peace in which we, the people, may for once begin to make full use of the great good that is in us."
-Raplh Bunche

"Fly Girls" /Season of Peace campaign, Boston

 Are we remembering that ending violence and creating peace is a 365-day job?
Boston's "Fly Girls" work towards ending the cycles of abuse among young girls and women.

http://www.bostontenpoint.org/programs.php

Clever commentary on Global violence at post 9/11 commemorative time

What has the persistent focus on the 'war on terror' produced? The 'Jihad vs McWorld' position expressed by Barber points to our massive global inequalities in the basic needs of life. We find ourselves in the midst of either affluence or poverty creating entrenched divisions in human societies.

When we speak of poverty reduction, we need to speak simultaneously about 'wealth reduction'. The UN Conference of the 1990's on (over) population and over consumption was expressed in comments by Bisi Ogunkele , then Chief of Women's organizations in Nigeria. She stated: 'If the rich nations of the world are not willing to share their wealth with the poor, the poor will share their poverty with the rich.' So here we are, after several millennia, still preoccupied with a global war industry as our primary means of achieving peace by physical force and violence. Not so clever for such a clever species that claims to be enlightened. Listen to this clever blogger on the subject of the inutility of the 'war on terror' and speak your piece:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/simon-cohen/the-war-on-error_b_956333.html

Remedies (Spoken Word)

Farmageddon Trailer

In Gaza, poverty forces children to choose between survival and school

RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms

Time-lapse, collaborative speed painting

A world without art? I don't think so! Check out this  video as students at 'Artists for Humanity' (Boston), demonstrate the power of art, the  impact of unity. One of the instructors-"Problak" featured here and at the end of the video.
http://youtu.be/q2xYZ5xhxbM

Signs of the moral and spiritual degradation of society?

 Today's revelations on financial scandals at Oxfam in both Haiti and Pakistan confirm our worst fears that trust has eroded across the planet. The people of Haiti and the people of Pakistan, both poor and disaster-ridden sites, deserve better--a better kind of human being! Trustworthiness, honesty, and a shared vision are some of the qualities we need in every nation. What's your view?

http://www.devex.com/en/blogs/the-development-newswire/twin-scandals-at-oxfam-haiti-mission-chief-resigns-pakistani-flood-aid-embezzled

2011 Elections Test Peace in Liberia

Tunisian Election Law Gives Women Equal Chance | Womens eNews

Turbulent change or peaceful transition---either way, all benefit from equality-women, men, and nations.
Time will tell which nations of the world will move on the path of peace which leads to prosperity.


Tunisian Election Law Gives Women Equal Chance | Womens eNews

'Made' in America? or "We" too )still) sing America?

 http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/08/11/movies/100000000992277/on-race-and-hollywood.html

What happened to america's sense of destiny, a progressive society? The late Langston Hughes poem "I Too Sing America" foretells that 'nobody' will tell me to eat in the kitchen..and 'they'll see how beautiful I am...and be ashamed. Sorry, little has changed as George suggests in this clip from "The Maid". Successive ethnic immigrant groups from low-income classes still have to 'eat in the kitchen', are not seen as 'beautiful', and few people are ashamed at the living/working conditions of newly arrived immigrant groups, more specifically communities of color. I am not comforted by the fact that not everyone has a 'sense of shame' because it is often the sense of shame that triggers the conscience to be more aware, more open, more ethical, and therefore, more conscientious about issues of equality. Thus, a society and an entertainment industry that still, even with a brilliant, highly educated , and influential African American First Lady, still continues to reward women of color  when they are subservient. Is the film trying to 'humanize' white women or Black women? Or is this still the troubled and scary conversation between White women and women of color that everybody's avoiding? What do you think?


As a member of a future-oriented, pragmatic religion-The Baha'i Faith- founded on eliminating all forms of prejudice as the cultural work we need to do in this era, here's the deal. There are three(3) and four(4) sets of behaviors that have to change in ourselves, respectively as 'black' (non-dominant) and 'white'(dominant) individuals for a racism-free society. Governments exist to control the outward expressions of intolerance, nothing more. If you're 'Black', the transformation tasks are to 'show the warmth of your response, your readiness to forget the past, and your ability to wipe out every trace of suspicion that may linger in your heart.' If you're 'White', the transformational agenda is to 'abandon usually inherent and at times subconscious sense of superiority, correct a tendency to reveal  a patronizing attitude toward members of the other race, the need to persuade (the other race) through intimate, spontaneous, and informal association them of the genuineness of their friendship and the sincerity of their intentions, and to master their impatience with any lack of responsiveness on the part of a people who have received for so long a period such grievous and slow-healing wounds.' (Shoghi Effendi," The Advent of Divine Justice").
Ok, Hollywood and you moviegoers! Hattie McDaniel already got the Oscar for playing a maid decades ago. No more games. Let's get with the spiritual program and change our world.

SADC Gender Protocol 2011 Barometer

SADC Gender Protocol 2011 Barometer

How do we measure wealth and poverty?

Pushing forward the 'welcoming partnership'-the equality of men and women is not for 'the foolish or faint of heart'.In
many countries we take our rights for granted. One of the surest means for monitoring progress on equity and equality is 'bean-counting' because data forces citizens and elected officials alike to face the scope of inequality and its cause squarely. But numbers only tell part of the story-the quantitative. Different indicators used measure different results.
SADC scores second only to Nordic countries in the representation of women in Parliament-a critical achievement towards recognition of women's intelligence, nobility, and greater powers of leadership during times of crisis, compared
to men. Yet those of us committed to equality for all realize the hard road ahead. Improving the quality of life for everyone, with a special focus on the most vulnerable groups-women, children, elders, the disabled-is a 'no-brainer' if we believe in and work for global peace and security.
SADC (Southern African)countries are making headway despite competitive disadvantages that include age-old patriarchal systems (male-dominated regimes of power),customary laws, and despite comparatively lower poverty levels
and greater public health challenges. They score second only to So what do they have that described their progress?
SADC uses both the SGDI + the CSC (Citizen score card). Between the two tools for measuring progress toward gender equality the report offers a few insights:
" Across the board, citizens score their governments more harshly than the SGDI. For example Seychelles gets 79% in the SGDI but 61% in the citizen scoring exercise."
In this case, countries that have NAPS(National Action Plans) that include other indicators (e.g., GBV(gender-based violence) show up differently and, according to SADC, here is why:
" Nine SADC constitutions provide for the promotion of women and seven have other provisions that relate to gender equality. But contradictions between customary law and statutory law abound where these are outlawed by the Constitution."
In my work in Liberia, a West African country, I am proud to say their President and Parliament have pushed forward a National Action Plan. This plan directly addresses gender inequality and GBV through citizen education, law, and policy.




Weigh in on your thoughts and experiences with the worlds' most important goal-the equality of men and women.

Zara Solar Ltd, Tanzania, Affordable rural solar pv energy - Ashden Awar...

Innovations in solar technology for rural citizens may mean that even if the lights go out in the west, people in rural areas may still have sustainable access to electricity. This Israeli innovator is making inroads into affordable universal access and allowing rural citizens to own their own inexpensive natural technology. The sun is the way to go!

Human Rights

Reducing men's "Gender Jitters" in Developing Nations!

Fiercely confronting men's "gender jitters" in a 3 hr marathon (1 of many).

If gender equality is to be achieved in Liberia, men at the grass roots level must be willing, informed, and 'welcoming partners' in advancing the principle and practice of the equality of men and women. By the time I finished talking, answering questions, dodging bullets from misanthropes, you better believe these men are taking this subject more seriously. There are a number of earnest supporters already, but this is traditional Africa and our work is cut out for us.

Buchanan City

Arriving in Buchanan City to a family welcome and office! This morning interviewed by Radio UNMIL (UN Military in Liberia) on gender equality broadcast across Liberia. Later interview w. "The New Democrat" newspaper about the critical issues/gender equality. This is all big and controversial news here. In response to journalist, Paul Harry's last question I shard the importance of the world-embracing Teachings of Baha'u'llah and that Baha'is around the world join them in working toward the equality of men and women as a universal goal!

This is election season. Chatter everywhere, newz stories attacking candidates left and right, and gearing up for safe elections as we watch closely the unfolding electoral process in Nigeria. Liberian Prez hosted visiting Malian Prez and announced that, thanks to many interventions, malaria rates have gone down in Liberia. However, other newz coverage on the situation in Cote d'Ivoire across border southern Liberia is not good. Thousands of refugees crossing the border being chased by new regime military in retaliation against dethroned Gbagbo forces; rise in GBV in these refugee camps as many girls/women forced to engage in transactional sex for food. Liberians have run out of goodwill for these border crossers and UNHCR is doing their best to keep up w. the demand for food and shelter in the camps.

Meanwhile, as the world collapses in many of the world's hotspots, we carry on here in Buchanan City so that the new College and Gender Studies Program may one day be a 'city on the hill'. In preparation for my coming these very together men have formed themselves into a group calling themselves "The Honorable Men" to show their willingness to support the uneasy transition toward equality and their support for the women. This completes a self-organizing principle method in community engagement in which community people define their own reality in working toward common cause. Last August when I was here the 'Wise Women' and 'Learning Women' came into being. Bravo for them!!! Keep us in your prayers...and stay tuned.

[D]air Travel- I dare you to travel..

Four airports and on my 3rd plane en route to Monrovia, arriving tonight. Am arriving just dayz after President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has left Buchanan City on her national tour. Am searching for sins of progress since my last trip in August '10. Nuri dispatched me from Boston w. her magic cupcakes from her bizness, "thesweettrooth" (thesweettrooth@gmail.com), and I am attracting every man within inches in all airports across the globe.

The US State Dept. has published its Human Rights Report (2010) on Liberia. There is a great deal of work to be done throughout this country left w. little infrastructure, following the 14-yr war. I return for training, evaluation, and community engagement work with Grand Bassa Community College. This foto portrays an example of one of the few remnants of colonial architecture, once considered palatial. Ask questions, make comments, stay tuned.....

As I depart--Follow my Fulbright work in Africa's oldest Independent nation-Liberia

Once again, I am about to experience  Transportation on Liberia's impassable roads. Follow this blog, ask questions, and view my fotoz. As a Fulbright Specialist, I collaborated with Grand Bassa Community College, establishing the first Gender Studies Program and Women's Resource Centre at a Liberian college. This trip--Interviews, evaluation, and participatory training on how understanding gender assists in development. Stay tuned.....

http://allafrica.com/stories/201104211063.html

Literacy Among Sub-Saharan African Women - Zunia.org

For those of you up for the next exciting travel sequel "Liberia Rebuilding" 2011, revisit this blog daily.
For every challenge, there is an opportunity. So read about the educational challenges and opportunities
as we travel to Grand Bassa Community College in Buchanan City and see thier achievements for yourself.

READ-Literacy Among Sub-Saharan African Women - Zunia.org

Atlas of Birth

A Global mapping of maternal health/mortality Atlas of Birth

Share the Story: Volunteering for the MDGs

Queen Rania addresses Millennium Campus Conference 2010

Housework or homework for girls ?

UNIFEM's video on Promoting Gender Equality and Empowering Women - Zunia.org

Women, peace & empowerment in Liberia UNIFEM's video on Promoting Gender Equality and Empowering Women - Zunia.org

GenderCC - Women's Voices on Climate Change: South Africa

Considering Women's experiences in policy-making for climate change

- Zunia.org

Report on women's peace and security worldwide- Zunia.org

Global Action Atlas - You Can Change the World

Global Action Atlas - You Can Change the World

Breakaway videogame-anti-violence campaign 4 boys and men?

share Can young men be educated to help end violence against women? This video game says 'yes'. Play it 4 free and share yr. thoughts.

PRAY THE DEVIL BACK TO HELL - trailer

For Educators : Center for Global Development

For Educators : Center for Global Development

- Zunia.org

- Zunia.org

- Zunia.org

- Zunia.org

African First Ladies Sign Declaration to End Maternal and Child Malnutrition :: News :: The Rockefeller Foundation

African First Ladies Sign Declaration to End Maternal and Child Malnutrition :: News :: The Rockefeller Foundation

Plan USA | Because I am a Girl | Invest In Me

Turning a House Into a Home

Turning a House Into a Home

RSA Animate - Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us

August 28,2010

..And the rains came,pelting us w. its blessings. Fortunately, no floods as in China and Pakistan. Kid UN offices allowing this communique as I have no internet. Attended Flag Day celebration in Buchanan City on Tuesday as the guest of the Governor Julia Duncan Cassels and spoke from the podium with a sty-in-school message. My Fulbright workshops with the Wuse Women and Leraning Women were well-rcvd. and I am surrounded by the greatest in Liberian hospitality. We eat, lunch and work together and I am becoming a great fan of chuck rice and stewed barricuda and grouper fish. I have a fan base of young women students who are really on the ball. Last evening I addressed 65 men (mostly Christian pastors)and the Ass't Governor asking them to commite themselves to supporting gender equality. We will see what the men of Liberia are made of!This morning we begin thw two-day curriculum seminars for faculty, staff, and women leaders to begin the first stages of a 'white paper'-a gender studies curriculum which will accompany the women's center. There is talk of making gender Studies 101 a required course for ALL students and most seem to be on board with this proposal. The men had great questions, important concerns, some about feeling displaced by what they felt might become a women-dominant process. I assured them that the principles of the equality of men and women guarantee our metaphor that man and woman are like 'two wings of the bird-if one of the wings is icapacitated the bird won't fly.'
May the blessings of the good God of the Universe keep us all on the road to peace!

Buchanan City-Part II

Welcome to the world of spotty internet access,bucket showers, and a moodly electrical grid. A bucket shower is a refreshing bucket of water from a lge. vat in the bathrm that you pour over yrself after soaping up, taking water conservation to new heights.Try it to be in touch w. most of the world, and eco-friendly.Have been introduced to the county Sch Supt.,Hon. Julia Duncan Cassell,women leaders throughout Buchanan, and church and business leaders, all of whom are participating in our workshops, seminars, and meetings. Several men's groups are being integrated into our planning/schedule b/c the boys are feeling left out. And let's face it, girls, we can't move forward on the equality of men and women unless we work together. During our planning for developing a gender studies program and women's ctr.at the newly chartered Grand Bassa Community College, a need had emerged to separate the women's sessions based on age. Seems the younger women have issues they want to raise that they're reluctant to share in the presence of older women. So we've split the sessions, calling the younger women- "Learning Women"- and the mature ladies-"Wise Women".
The prospects for girls and women here are bleak but that's why many of us are here contibuting women's empowerment projects at all levels. For those of you following news for The Fast Project, I have just rcvd. the go-ahead fr. the Supt. to join w.a 'learning women's' group-"Girls of Destiny" who will help implement the project in 3 schools selected by the Supt. As soon as I hear fr.the Honorary Consul in ATL (+ "100 Black Women"), we may expect aid in reaching KC for the personal care products.
Yesterday we were taken to the fabulously serene Princess beach for the entire Sunday afternoon, crashing waves, young people playing beach games,blissful. This mostly coastal nations' beaches are yet undiscovered territory by the developers.
Stay tuned for my next internet access.

Buchanan City, 19 August

Awakening,one peers thru the mosquito netting as a light breeze gives its last breath to the curtains. My Boston insects have been domesticated;Liberian insects do as they please. For just pennies almost, mosquito netting holds off malaria in the developing world and the disease could be reduced, if not eradicated if we in the wets were more generous w. our pennies. Arriving last nite I'm welcomed by a rainy season that lasts from April to November and, accord. to President Sirleaf-Johnson, climate change has extended this season dramatically. Collected @ the airport by Dr. Zangai and his driver, Paul, we make our way fr. Roberts airport located on the Firestone Plantation and the 60 mile trip on the Monrovia-Buchanan Highway. Our 4-wheel drive passes thru bamboo, cottonwood, and rubber tree forests and past the very humble thatched roof homes of the poor. No highway lighting, no electricity on this road, but Liberia has a rainforest so pristine, it rivals the Amazon. There wld have been more of it except that the former 'African strongman'(Charles Taylor) currently on trial at the Hague, chopped down a good deal of it to fund his rebel enterprises and the 14 yr. civil war. Africa is impoverished in many places, but its lush natural richness and the resilience and enterprise of its people will win out eventually. "Ma Ellen"(as the President is known) leads her people to small victories day by day since 2006. The folk stories of Liberian women bringing the war lords to their knees to end the war thru a peace movement is documented in the film, "Pray the devil back to hell". See it if you can....But I digress. The real story is that Monrovia-Buchanan highway on which you can only drive normally for intervals of 500 ft. or so, as you bob and weave snake-like to avoid the notorious potholes w. only your headlights to guide you. And this is the second time I am leaving a little bit of "myself" off the side of the road unable to conquer the nausea. The up-and-down movement did me in and reminded me of watching Nuri as a baby in the 'jolly jumper. Not the same. I am not smiling. Stay tuned for tomorrow's continuing saga of Robin-in-the-bush as I describe a "bucket shower" and the radio programme.

Eastward toward Liberia

One of the things I like about "This Child Will be Great"(2009), the autobiography of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is her prologue.... She starts by describing her country, not herself painting it as a

wonderful, beautiful, mixed-up country struggling mightily to find itself.

If you've read it, post your comments.
I'll be blogging here w. fotoz after I arrive Friday in Monrovia. Follow me, ask questions, comment.

8 Goals For Africa

The Promise of World Peace - A Baha'i Perspective

Haiti's schools six months into crisis

UNICEF radio reports on Haitian schools six months after crisis. Our energies, time, and money are best invested in the lives of children and youth. If we want a better world, this is the road to walk. Education is the key to eliminating poverty. These global citizens of the present and future in the developing world deserve what many of us have received in the developed world. And our urban and rural school systems in the U.S. need a massive reformation. I hope American school kids will pressure their local, state, and federal governments toward revolutionizing education in the U.S.

International Day of the World's Indigenous People - Zunia.org

International Day of the World's Indigenous People - Zunia.org

The FAST Project

Providing personal hygiene products and peer health educators to improve girls school attendance in developing countries. An associate of the Tahirih Association at:
Donate to support this project.

My book release: "Women, war, and violence: Personal perspctives and global activism" (Eds. Chandler, Wang, Fuller)

Become aware of the impact of gender and violence around the world. My current work on the ground in Liberia is documented in the introduction, chapter two-"Speaking with Post-war Liberia..". The book cover features "Capoeira", a collage work featured on my web site:. Available for purchase on Amazon at

Root Capital and the Liberian Women's Sewing Project - Extended Version

The Girl Effect

Many Species. One Planet. One Future - WED 2010

May 14, 2010 - Replicating the prison conditions of the 7 Baha'i Leaders

Worldchanging: Bright Green: The Battle Against Malaria: Turning Away From DDT To Greener Weapons

Worldchanging: Bright Green: The Battle Against Malaria: Turning Away From DDT To Greener Weapons

PhilanTopic: 3rd Annual Clinton Global Initiative University Meeting

PhilanTopic: 3rd Annual Clinton Global Initiative University Meeting

ART is an investment! Buy RChandler

Art is an investment. Start your spring art collection. Purchase works by R Chandler online at DiscoveredArtists.com

Earthquake in Haiti

Photos of our friends in Haiti devastated by recent natural disaster

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/01/earthquake_in_haiti.html