latin american princesa {LAP}

Via TakingITGlobal:

I just learned about a digital dialogue initiative from Queen Rania on YouTube. This is a women who defies stereotypes through her very existence and actions. Now she is using cyberspace to help bring down some of the stereotypes about Arabs and especially Arab women. She’s like the Barack Obama of Arab women.

Obama has shown us that while he understands that we have a lot of work to do still in terms of equality and opportunity, this country has already come a long way. Some say that his “Change” message is superficial. How much change can he really bring about? What does that mean exactly? But his campaign alone has already changed so much. Dialogue is the first step and he has instigated a serious level of dialogue. He has made people think. And think again.

Queen Rania is attempting the same. She’s a brilliant woman. I’ll be following the initiative this summer. I hope you’ll check it out too. Let’s see if some stereotypes come down on both sides.

I’m not dead. Just very busy and sick. I’ll be back soon to write about war widows, globalization and race in the Prez-Race. In the meantime entertain yourself with this musical fusion of color and cultures:

The colors, the rhythms, the passion and beauty that is Colombia. Una mezcla…que menea, que menea.

It’s a Tokyo Thing in the Post really captures some of the most fascinating aspects of Tokyo. Check out the cool videos included with the article.

I find this point particularly insightful:

A unifying thread, if there is one, is movement.

In addition to movement, what makes this city so cool is the amazing contradictions, the extremes. Non-physical movement is generated by the dynamics between all those extremes. It’s a fascinating culture and often it’s seen as cheesy by outsiders. Those people have no idea about the depth and beauty of Japanese expression.

It’s celebrity activism week here in my blog. I’ve been on a short hiatus since Time Warner took a month to show up and install Internet at my new place. At one point I got Internet on my cell, which saved my sanity, but wasn’t really ideal for reading and writing.

So now I am catching up on news and happened to be skimming through NPR’s Popular Culture category. First, Garrett caught my eye and now Pitt. Two very different looks, but well they are both sexy.

Anyways, Pitt’s New Orleans project Making It Right is intriguing to say the least. As a designer the simple beauty of the homes pleases me immensely and the environmental aspects are icing on the cake.

I hope that Pitt and the project have the staying power to make this thing work. It’s a serious, long-term commitment. Budgeting and project management will have to be creative and flexible, but tight and determined.

I also hope that out of the tragedy of Katrina, the city’s most vulnerable residents, will actually benefit from this project. In other words, that it doesn’t turn into some sort of gentrification that forces the weakest and poorest out. Finally, I hope the homes are truly functional and comfortable for the people who have to live in them and this doesn’t turn into yet another planned community failure, like projects of the past (i.e. De Bijlmer, Brasilia, etc.).

Is Pitt’s team really talking to the residents? How much input will they have in the process?

When I was 14 I fell in love with Midnight Oil. Punk and politics, a combination I can’t resist. Like me beloved Beasties this band used their success to fuel their activism and let their activism fuel their music. Peter Garrett, former lead singer, has gone into politics.

From NPR:

Garrett is the environment, heritage and arts minister in Australia’s new government.

Good-bye John Howard. Who’s beds are burning now?

I just can’t wait to say “Good-bye GW and good riddance.”

NO SLEEP TIL BROOKLYN!!!!!!!!

And turn back the clock (about) 21 years for the original video (which I am not allowed to embed, boooo).

Cute, fun awesome and politically active!! Why can’t more celebrities open their mouth and make a difference?

Via the Latin Americanist.

This is the video for “Rainin’ in Paradize” from the new album “La Radiolina”. Manu Chao believes in the power of the neighborhood (local communities) and I whole-heartedly agree.

Look around your neighborhood. What are people doing? Can you join them or inspire them?

From the NY Times:

The temptation to spin can be impossible to resist – even for royalty. This seems the lesson to be gleaned from the new WikiScanner, which revealed earlier this week that a Wikipedia article about a 2003 scandal in Holland was scrubbed clean by the subjects of the entry themselves, the Dutch royal family.

From the Pinker Tones:

Life is not all doom and gloom! Yay!

Via no snow here I found a fascinating article that helps me illustrate the importance of context to race, ethnicity and discrimination. It is also a good opportunity to introduce the black-white continuum* and the importance of recognizing (shades of) diversity on a greater scale.

In Arabs and the Racial Lessons of 9/11 Carol Chehade discusses the relationship between Arab Americans and African Americans in the U.S.

Profiled, feared, detained, assaulted, accused, interrogated, harassed, hated, and collectivized since 9-11, Arab Americans have suddenly known what it feels like to be temporarily Black.

This is no secret to Black people who already know that Arab Americans have the same type of superiority complex that European Americans do. This superiority complex is not only evident in the way we act toward Black people but in the way we choose to disassociate ourselves from their community.

Continue reading My black is not your black…