Rap philanthropy may be focused on old power models of academic patriarchy

Depending on the curriculum design, programs/depts, instructors, and how the donations/finances from Dr Dre et al  are handled/invested institutionally (hopefully, as a partial endowment and scholarship fund), this could be a wise move, or a disaster. However, depending on which USC centers are the recipient(s) of such a cushy gift, the results may be academic business as usual.
Ethnic Studies units (programs/departments) have been strapped, since their inception half a century ago in U.S. higher education, for funding. The wiser units have broadened their scope, reinvented themselves intellectually, disciplinarily, globally, and pedagogically, and built partnerships with partners outside of academia. But those are few and far between. Many more are making themselves redundant. There is a trick to making the most of this level of donation for the future, despite whatever overhead the institution may charge. Internal partnerships, external "friends", and globalizing the potential impact of such an 'art, technology, and business innovation' center will
fail if it overlooks the gender and class disparities promoted by the more heavily marketed forms of rap culture which are one stream of the McWorld culture we export. It may produce a few first-rate game designers and music industry experts, but how many of these will be women and people of color? How will the philanthropy navigate the anti-Affirmative Action climate in the U.S.? What type of curriculum design, cultivated by new career pathways, will be represented in the ultimate impact of such a potentially lucrative program of learning and teaching? As a senior tenured faculty member  and gender specialist who introduced HH into the curriculum at an eastern U.S. institution in 1990 and who has served on a multimillion dollar NSF grant focused on culture and technology, we'll see if USC makes smart decisions about sustainability, resilience, and good financial planning resulting from this donation. For original blog article: http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/05/30/rap-dre-iovine/2367559/ [Photo credit: Nuri Chandler-Smith]

Syrian Holocaust and the world

The world's fate hangs daily in the balance. We have all heard this many times. The balance of power is shifting,but few of us have any idea of the spectre of challenges faced by the "leader of the free world." So , please, while you are busy criticizing a President you claim "has no backbone", remember these foreign and domestic accomplishments with citations. . Without question, resolving violence, terrorism, war mongers, corruption, greedy multinationals, the ubiquitous class struggle, human exploitation, the excessive materialism of the West, devious political interests, and old world leaders who need to revamp their countries' governance toward the rule of law and equality-MUST happen now! Mr Obama is without " wings and a halo". Problems at home in the US were allowed to deteriorate as President Obama stepped into the Office of the President, especially two financially and politically costly wars. The Syrian debacle is a holocaust which must end with UN Peacekeeping forces following a peace accord that is developed by the Syrian people themselves. It is the same in every nation for several millennium now, but we never learn until it is too late and lives are lost. Attitudes and behaviors need to transform first. Why is this so difficult to grasp?Peace negotiation skills, among other 'global citizenship skills', will eventually be taught in primary and secondary schools and, thus, our values changed in the near future. But unless you are willing to change yourself, the world outside will never change.

Doing good in the world

 "Art is the only weapon we have against the deafness of history." -Aime Cesaire

"http://art.state.gov/artistdetail.aspx?id=100864

Native Americans: Abuse and Misgusided Manhood

In traditional times in Native American culture, (male) abusers of women and children would have been punished by their peers through public beatings or banishment from the tribe. There were systems in place that worked to maintain the moral and ethical life of the community and to protect its more vulnerable members. Things have changed. The rates of sexual assault and violence against Native American women are the highest in the nation. Be a witness. Take time to view this video and make a comment.

http://current.com/shows/vanguard/92468120_rape-on-the-reservation.htm

Are we really a less violent world? NO! and Yes..

I have been tracking journalists' reports, field workers accounts around the world, everyday citizens, media of all types on and offline, and increasing  books that assert a decrease in violence around the world. Can any studied measure of violence possibly ignore the facts? There is great good being accomplished in the world that we rarely get news of in the press; that's a fact. Violence provokes the spectacle-loving, aggression-seeking desires that exist in an increasingly chaotic and unpredictable world and, in many ways, confirms our deepest fears. As 2012 ended and 2013 opened we both celebrated and mourned more-than-frequent occurrences of identifiable violence from India and China to the Ivory Coast and Connecticut. But if we look closely, just under the surface, human violence is not decreasing as Pinker and others write.That type of subjective comparative data just makes us less anxious, or does it? And what are the data anyway? What and who counts as violence and violated? Have the authors ever experienced violence over a lifetime in a personal setting, as innocents from a prison cell, or in a repressive state?

Selectively analyzing history or prehistory and comparing it to present-day forms of violence underestimates unreported and systemic violence as well as the normalization of forms of human behavior that we are reluctant to categorize as violent. Note how many acts of recent violence target children and women. Laws and policies are key guardians of deviant social behavior but what types of interventions actually reduce violence and what are the proven outcomes?

Weigh in with your experiences on the ground.

A Life Free of Violence is Our Right

TUFF LOVE on violence, manhood, and race

Men are awakening to their responsibilities in violence awareness and prevention. It starts with talk and ends with personal changes-how we think about manhood and why we must "rethink" manhood.
It's not merely a matter of playing games about who's more violent. But it is time that men 'man-up' and reexamine the key role they play in violence prevention, how socialized we all are, men and women toward complacency, what new behaviors we must demand of men, and how me are bound to redress the women who, as co-dependents, prevent and protect men from ever growing up.

In this article, Michael and Cliff have done the 'man-up' thing and put the issue under the spotlight. That harsh spotlight needs to remain on until we eliminate the threat that 'normalizing violence' plays in our societies worldwide.
As I have repeated, violence and manhood aren't just the responsibility of those who believe they are "decent men". Listen up, decent men. Let's hear more from the rest of you, not the words, but the deeds.
Read and comment:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-kimmel/the-unbearable-whiteness-_2_b_2350931.html

"A Place of lasting vision"

"A Place of Lasting vision"

These are days of challenge, struggle, and opportunity in every nation and among all people, women and men, youth, children, and elders. Before us, the challenges ask that we embark on what Black Elk called a vision quest, a life journey that will change us from who we are now to who we might become. Easy words to say; harder to make happen amidst the current chaos and insecurity in all nations. Black Elk refers to a power we can engage when we examine the power of the circle manifested in so many aspects of the natural world. There are lessons to learn for human brings in the circularity, harmony, and eternal power of nature.
This past Monday (December 10), I facilitated a Study Circle on 'Gender Equality: Why We Must Achieve It' in London, co-sponsored by Global Network 21 (a UK-based civil society group) and held at the National Baha'i Centre with great success. We hope that all who attended were enriched by these first discussions and thank you for your indispensable contributions and your generous joy. The 'welcoming partnership' has begun. Please take the concept of the Study Circle into your families, neighborhoods, and the workplace to create "a place of ritual, a place of prayer, a place of lasting vision" and report back from the new frontier!

Interdisciplinary rigor-the 'realpolitik'-Track violence with David Kobia on Ushahidi

 The violence pandemic (quantitative research in public health) has us all in what Nobel Prize author Wole Soyinka's book title calls a "Climate of Fear"(literature). Detection skills (criminal justice) for receiving and sending critical data (communication studies) on impending outbreaks (forecasting) of  violence (deviant social behavior) is now in the hands of technology (computer science) and its innovators. Listen and learn (right & left brain) about how a software tool originally developed to track election (political science) violence in 2007 is being applied to other human survival projects.

David Kobia on Ushahidi

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.