5.27.2009
5.26.2009
NO H8 - The Church Channel
While working for my friend Ky on her film Fish Out of Water earlier this year, I read through a lot of bible verses and ended up at a lot of protests. I drove to the capitol building in Madison Wisconsin to have my boyfriend wave a giant rainbow pride flag in front of its shimmering white rotunda. I've talked to theologians and furious people in front of the Renaissance hotel in Chicago. I've seen people's hopes uplifted with the onset of a new administration only to have them dashed by a multi-million dollar propaganda fueled 'popular' vote in California.
I've run through protests in a foot of snow to get footage of thousands of people marching through the streets of Chicago. I've been soaked to the skin and certainly questioned my poor choice of footwear, but I've never seen these crowds diminished as a result of terrible weather. You can't win a war if you don't come out to fight. People keep coming out to fight, but I have no idea why they HAVE to keep fighting.
The opposition's argument simultaneously makes me laugh and desperately want to choke someone. This 'storm' that's coming our way, this scare tactic that you're good conservative family values are going to be destroyed is laughable and infuriating. I can't wrap my brain around how two adults wanting to commit to a long term and responsible relationship is a bad thing. When you get down to it, that's all it is. Two people, in love, committing to each other for a lifetime. Settling down. Being responsible. Building a life together. How is that against conservative values? Also, a homosexual couple is able to adopt a child, but they can't get married? Doesn't that go against conservative values? Isn't it supposed to be the other way around? Please, someone explain this to me, their argument fails to make any sense.
No minority should be forced to defend its equal rights at the ballot box.
Wouldn't you be upset if, by popular vote, your right to riding on a bus was taken away and you had to take a different bus for people like yourself - say Irish American, or Left Handed. What if you couldn't have the same job as other people? What if your happy, stable marriage was now null and void? Wouldn't you be angry?
I may not be a gay American, but I'm an American and I'm fucking angry.
While I have so many things to be angry about these days - climate crisis, world wide lack of education(Africa/India), and huge corporations knowingly poisoning a region of people (Nicaragua)- this topic hits really close to home. This revocation of equal rights is affecting my close friends, the people I work with, and whole communities. I submit that it is an obscene failure of justice.
I don't understand how a nation that rose from the ashes of a bloody rebellion and came together to create a country based on the separation of church and state can tolerate such a clear intrusion of the former to the latter. If anyone bothered to read a true translation of the bible instead of misquoting a biased rewritten version - like quoting lines from a movie that were never said in the actual film i.e. 'Play it again Sam.'- they'd know that the bible doesn't say anything negative about homosexuals.
I'm a strong believer in people being able to think what they choose. If someone want to think that I dress like a jerk and will get no where in my life, that's just fine. But it's not ok for that person to act on those emotions in a way that can hurt me - ie punch me in the face and break my glasses. I'm hoping at this point that anyone reading this would think that the above mentioned action would 'not be cool.' The same can be true of a majority's thoughts on a minority. You may not agree with a homosexual's choice of partner in life, but it's certainly not cool to stand in the way of their pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness. Taking away this simple right is doing just that. It is not the place for the many to take away the rights of the few.
Here's your take away for today: Turn off the church channel and start talking to your neighbor. If you're old enough, think about what happened during the civil rights movement. And when you see that dude that's walking like a lady, or that chick that wears a plain white tee and a faux-hawk better than the man of your dreams, think twice before you judge. Odds are they're just trying to make it through life just like you - as happy as they can possibly be.
4.25.2009
To All Readers: How About You Chip-In for a good cause.
I'll be working on a documentary in Southern Sudan late this year or early next, but it depends on getting the funds together for the project to take flight. I NEED YOUR HELP!
Panyijiar Community Development Services s a 501 (c) 3 exempt organization in North Dakota that is meant to support and stimulate the dreams of Lost Boys of Sudan from Panyijiar. In this regard PACODES strives to improve facilities of education, community healthcare, parenting, clean water, agriculture, humanitarian, in addition to peace and conflict resolutions for the Panyijiarians in Southern Sudan. Our first goal is to construct a library for the community in Panyijar.
6.10.2008
4.10.2008
Sing me a rainbow, steal me a dream
I don't know how many people I've talked to about the need for education in Africa. The general response I've gotten is one of genuine empathy. Every time I tell someone about the thousands of children walked for thousands of miles to escape their government's genocide, I get a good response. "That's terrible," they say. Usually followed by a sympathetic face.
I tell them about the resettlement of those children in the United States. I tell them about those same children that have grown up and want to go back to their country. I tell them that they have not seen their home in ten or more years. I tell them their drive, that they work full time jobs, attend school, earn their BA, want to get their Masters degree. I tell them that they want to go home to help their communities rebuild. I tell them that their hometown has never had a library, that their children cannot read. I tell them about these Lost Boys with hope to inspire people to think about how they can change the world.
I am met by the wet blanket of apathy that has covered this country for the last twenty years. I have had the channel changed on me. People will listen only for a short period of time. I am frustrated and I am exhausted.
I don't feel that I am asking for very much. I don't feel that I'm draining the people that I talk to when I ask. I am asking for so very little. Your time, your ears, your feet. I am asking you to watch this video. I am asking you to pledge your feet. I am asking you to help me. So take a gander at this and think about it:
Here's some info from our facebook site for the event:
walkSUDAN is a community-driven, volunteer-owned movement dedicated to promoting community development in Southern Sudan and helping the Lost Boys return home. We're organizing walks in Peoria, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Fargo. Pledge Your Feet and help us build a library in Panyijiar County, Southern Sudan. This war-torn region needs our help and, through our grass-roots campaign, we can make this region a better place to live!
All proceeds will go directly to Endless Eye and PACODES, two non-profits committed to community development in Panyijiar County. The funds will be used to build a library this fall and to finance a documentary film intended to raise awareness to the lacking infrastructure in Southern Sudan (and, in turn, help us raise funds to fix the problem).
It's easy to get involved...we're only asking that you raise $40 and pledge your feet on May 24th...come walk with us from Bradley University's quad to Liberty Park on the Peoria Riverfront. This symbolic walk will represent the tragic trek the Lost Boys made, as children, to escape the violence in Southern Sudan during the Civil War. 27,000 children left their homes and families to survive...after a thousand mile journey, only 13,000 children made it to refugee camps in Kenya. We're working to help create a community and help the Lost Boys go home!
They Walked to Survive...We Walk for Them!
We are hosting walkSUDAN events in PEORIA CHICAGO MINNEAPOLIS and FARGO. If you live in the Midwest, you can make it to one of them. If you don't live in the Midwest and want to help, think about setting up a walk in you city and contact me: amanda@endlesseye.org
This is your chance to help a community in need. It is your chance to change the world.
Are you ready for change?
I tell them about the resettlement of those children in the United States. I tell them about those same children that have grown up and want to go back to their country. I tell them that they have not seen their home in ten or more years. I tell them their drive, that they work full time jobs, attend school, earn their BA, want to get their Masters degree. I tell them that they want to go home to help their communities rebuild. I tell them that their hometown has never had a library, that their children cannot read. I tell them about these Lost Boys with hope to inspire people to think about how they can change the world.
I am met by the wet blanket of apathy that has covered this country for the last twenty years. I have had the channel changed on me. People will listen only for a short period of time. I am frustrated and I am exhausted.
I don't feel that I am asking for very much. I don't feel that I'm draining the people that I talk to when I ask. I am asking for so very little. Your time, your ears, your feet. I am asking you to watch this video. I am asking you to pledge your feet. I am asking you to help me. So take a gander at this and think about it:
Here's some info from our facebook site for the event:
walkSUDAN is a community-driven, volunteer-owned movement dedicated to promoting community development in Southern Sudan and helping the Lost Boys return home. We're organizing walks in Peoria, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Fargo. Pledge Your Feet and help us build a library in Panyijiar County, Southern Sudan. This war-torn region needs our help and, through our grass-roots campaign, we can make this region a better place to live!
All proceeds will go directly to Endless Eye and PACODES, two non-profits committed to community development in Panyijiar County. The funds will be used to build a library this fall and to finance a documentary film intended to raise awareness to the lacking infrastructure in Southern Sudan (and, in turn, help us raise funds to fix the problem).
It's easy to get involved...we're only asking that you raise $40 and pledge your feet on May 24th...come walk with us from Bradley University's quad to Liberty Park on the Peoria Riverfront. This symbolic walk will represent the tragic trek the Lost Boys made, as children, to escape the violence in Southern Sudan during the Civil War. 27,000 children left their homes and families to survive...after a thousand mile journey, only 13,000 children made it to refugee camps in Kenya. We're working to help create a community and help the Lost Boys go home!
They Walked to Survive...We Walk for Them!
We are hosting walkSUDAN events in PEORIA CHICAGO MINNEAPOLIS and FARGO. If you live in the Midwest, you can make it to one of them. If you don't live in the Midwest and want to help, think about setting up a walk in you city and contact me: amanda@endlesseye.org
This is your chance to help a community in need. It is your chance to change the world.
It starts with a library
that will bring hope to a community
and a culture
ready
for
change
that will bring hope to a community
and a culture
ready
for
change
Are you ready for change?
2.27.2008
Is there anybody going to listen to my story?
I kind of lost all faith in humanity yesterday. I've spent all day attempting to get it back. I came to the realization that it is close to impossible to get any number of people to give a shit about anyone other than themselves.
Heres a decent example:
The horrific amount of violence and tragedy that occurs daily in Africa that no one cares about because there isn't oil/money/profit margin in it and the idea that 'lets just let them kill themselves off' because no one gives a shit about impoverished black people in the middle of no where (or at least very very far from the comfort of their own homes).
People can change the channel to American Idol and American's next Top Model. Our media saturated culture is both a negative and positive element in this day and age. On the downside, we can choose to not pay attention to the problems of the world. The media itself also has this choice. Where do priorities lie? Personal priorities may reside in making enough income to feed ones 'family, buying ones' family a new SUV or flat screen television, or paying off ones' family's mortgage. Media priorities could lie in avoidance of discomfort for their audience. It seems that our country's media, and government for that matter, is far more concerned with BASEBALL having it's day of reckoning in CONGRESS. I found the following in the Washington Post's online archive:
"During the course of an all-day, nationally televised hearing, the House Government Reform Committee fulfilled its goal of examining baseball's oft-criticized drug-testing program and its impact on steroid use among teenagers."
By Dave Sheinin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 18, 2005; Page A01
ITS BASEBALL! Come on!
Come one come all to bare witness to the glory of our justice system turning their focus to BASEBALL! Nothing better to do? Trying to deflect the focus from other worldly events to the crisis of athletes weeping on the stand? Shouldn't the murder of hundreds of thousands of people take precedence over the news? Brutal acts of raid and rape? No? Not interested?
For those of you who don't know what's going on across the oceans, it's more than likely not your fault. No one is presenting it to you, so I'll do my civil duty as a citizen of the world and bestow some long overdue schooling, enjoy:
The War in Darfur is a military conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan. Unlike the Second Sudanese Civil War, the current lines of conflict are seen to be ethnic and tribal, rather than religious. One side of the armed conflict is composed mainly of the Sudanese military and the Janjawid, a militia group recruited mostly from the Arab Baggara tribes of the northern Rizeigat, camel-herding nomads. The other side comprises a variety of rebel groups, notably the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement, recruited primarily from the land-tilling non-Arab Fur, Zaghawa, and Massaleit ethnic groups. The Sudanese government, while publicly denying that it supports the Janjaweed, has provided money and assistance to the militia and has participated in joint attacks targeting the tribes from which the rebels draw support. The conflict began in February of 2003.
The combination of decades of drought, desertification, and overpopulation are among the causes of the Darfur conflict, because the Baggara nomads searching for water have to take their livestock further south, to land mainly occupied by non-Arab farming communities.
There are many casualty estimates, most concurring on a range within the hundreds of thousands. The United Nations (UN) estimates that the conflict has left as many as 200,000 dead from violence and disease. Most non-governmental organizations use 200,000 to more than 400,000; the latter is a figure from the Coalition for International Justice that has since been cited by the UN. Sudan's government claims that over 9,000 people have been killed, although this figure is seen as a gross underestimate. As many as 2.5 million are thought to have been displaced as of October 2006.
The Sudanese government has suppressed information by jailing and killing witnesses since 2004 and tampered with evidence such as mass graves to eliminate their forensic values. In addition, by obstructing and arresting journalists, the Sudanese government has been able to obscure much of what has gone on. The United States government has described it as genocide, although the UN has declined to do so. In March 2007 the UN mission accused Sudan's government of orchestrating and taking part in "gross violations" in Darfur and called for urgent international action to protect civilians there.
After fighting worsened in July and August, on August 31, 2006, the United Nations Security Council approved Resolution 1706 which called for a new 17,300-troop UN peacekeeping force to supplant or supplement a poorly funded, ill-equipped 7,000-troop African Union Mission in Sudan peacekeeping force. Sudan strongly objected to the resolution and said that it would see the UN forces in the region as foreign invaders. The next day, the Sudanese military launched a major offensive in the region.
[This article is taken from Wikipedia. While it is not always a reliable source for accurate information, I have checked the stats with other sites and it is very consistent.]
Here's the point. People don't care. Its much easier to not give a shit about other's. It takes effort to care about issues. I don't see it as that much of an effort. I find it mind numbingly frustrating that people don't take that small step towards even inquiring beyond their own walls.
I think I came face to face with every negative thing about the world all at once. Here's a good one: The fact that humans can never be of one race because their governments are all too petty and self involved to see anything beyond themselves. I found myself questioning whether I went into the right field at all. Should I have been a lawyer, a doctor, an international aid representative? Can I make a difference at all? Is every action I take a futile effort? I can't allow myself to believe that and still be able to pry myself out of bed in the morning. Life would become far to difficult. So I go on, everyday, attempting to make a difference in the slightest of ways. I talk to people. I tell them things, much as I have told you when I have today. I hope you talk about it to others. I hope you dig deeper. I hope.
Heres a decent example:
The horrific amount of violence and tragedy that occurs daily in Africa that no one cares about because there isn't oil/money/profit margin in it and the idea that 'lets just let them kill themselves off' because no one gives a shit about impoverished black people in the middle of no where (or at least very very far from the comfort of their own homes).
People can change the channel to American Idol and American's next Top Model. Our media saturated culture is both a negative and positive element in this day and age. On the downside, we can choose to not pay attention to the problems of the world. The media itself also has this choice. Where do priorities lie? Personal priorities may reside in making enough income to feed ones 'family, buying ones' family a new SUV or flat screen television, or paying off ones' family's mortgage. Media priorities could lie in avoidance of discomfort for their audience. It seems that our country's media, and government for that matter, is far more concerned with BASEBALL having it's day of reckoning in CONGRESS. I found the following in the Washington Post's online archive:
"During the course of an all-day, nationally televised hearing, the House Government Reform Committee fulfilled its goal of examining baseball's oft-criticized drug-testing program and its impact on steroid use among teenagers."
By Dave Sheinin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 18, 2005; Page A01
ITS BASEBALL! Come on!
Come one come all to bare witness to the glory of our justice system turning their focus to BASEBALL! Nothing better to do? Trying to deflect the focus from other worldly events to the crisis of athletes weeping on the stand? Shouldn't the murder of hundreds of thousands of people take precedence over the news? Brutal acts of raid and rape? No? Not interested?
For those of you who don't know what's going on across the oceans, it's more than likely not your fault. No one is presenting it to you, so I'll do my civil duty as a citizen of the world and bestow some long overdue schooling, enjoy:
The War in Darfur is a military conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan. Unlike the Second Sudanese Civil War, the current lines of conflict are seen to be ethnic and tribal, rather than religious. One side of the armed conflict is composed mainly of the Sudanese military and the Janjawid, a militia group recruited mostly from the Arab Baggara tribes of the northern Rizeigat, camel-herding nomads. The other side comprises a variety of rebel groups, notably the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement, recruited primarily from the land-tilling non-Arab Fur, Zaghawa, and Massaleit ethnic groups. The Sudanese government, while publicly denying that it supports the Janjaweed, has provided money and assistance to the militia and has participated in joint attacks targeting the tribes from which the rebels draw support. The conflict began in February of 2003.
The combination of decades of drought, desertification, and overpopulation are among the causes of the Darfur conflict, because the Baggara nomads searching for water have to take their livestock further south, to land mainly occupied by non-Arab farming communities.
There are many casualty estimates, most concurring on a range within the hundreds of thousands. The United Nations (UN) estimates that the conflict has left as many as 200,000 dead from violence and disease. Most non-governmental organizations use 200,000 to more than 400,000; the latter is a figure from the Coalition for International Justice that has since been cited by the UN. Sudan's government claims that over 9,000 people have been killed, although this figure is seen as a gross underestimate. As many as 2.5 million are thought to have been displaced as of October 2006.
The Sudanese government has suppressed information by jailing and killing witnesses since 2004 and tampered with evidence such as mass graves to eliminate their forensic values. In addition, by obstructing and arresting journalists, the Sudanese government has been able to obscure much of what has gone on. The United States government has described it as genocide, although the UN has declined to do so. In March 2007 the UN mission accused Sudan's government of orchestrating and taking part in "gross violations" in Darfur and called for urgent international action to protect civilians there.
After fighting worsened in July and August, on August 31, 2006, the United Nations Security Council approved Resolution 1706 which called for a new 17,300-troop UN peacekeeping force to supplant or supplement a poorly funded, ill-equipped 7,000-troop African Union Mission in Sudan peacekeeping force. Sudan strongly objected to the resolution and said that it would see the UN forces in the region as foreign invaders. The next day, the Sudanese military launched a major offensive in the region.
[This article is taken from Wikipedia. While it is not always a reliable source for accurate information, I have checked the stats with other sites and it is very consistent.]
Here's the point. People don't care. Its much easier to not give a shit about other's. It takes effort to care about issues. I don't see it as that much of an effort. I find it mind numbingly frustrating that people don't take that small step towards even inquiring beyond their own walls.
I think I came face to face with every negative thing about the world all at once. Here's a good one: The fact that humans can never be of one race because their governments are all too petty and self involved to see anything beyond themselves. I found myself questioning whether I went into the right field at all. Should I have been a lawyer, a doctor, an international aid representative? Can I make a difference at all? Is every action I take a futile effort? I can't allow myself to believe that and still be able to pry myself out of bed in the morning. Life would become far to difficult. So I go on, everyday, attempting to make a difference in the slightest of ways. I talk to people. I tell them things, much as I have told you when I have today. I hope you talk about it to others. I hope you dig deeper. I hope.
5.31.2007
hey little bird, fly away home
house is on fire, children are alone.
Getting back stateside was a trip in itself. The culture shock was more than I could handle, being so jet lagged and on a completely wrong time schedule... So here are my issues with the United States, as follows:
America thinks that 'obesity' is a problem. People gorging themselves, living in excess, is a social problem affecting the masses. Excess in itself is personal problem. How do you explain spas and nail salons to villagers in rural Pakistan? "So you pay how much for someone to put mud on you? I can put mud on you, we have lots of mud here!" The unnessicarity of this country amazes me.
I got back to my apartment and saw all the things that I don't need. I'm donating half my clothes to charity, all the books I don't read are going to a library being built in Sudan. How little can you survive on and still be happy? It is very little. I met people in Pakistan that live in a one room house, have seven children, and do not harbor the problems I see on a day to day basis here.
The perspective gained and the faith in the west lost... I'm having trouble expressing this feeling. I am a foreigner in my own country. I feel ill at ease walking down the streets in my neighborhood. I decided when I was gone that when I come back, I should never be bored. Being a bored American is feeding into a stereotype that I refuse to be a part of. There is no reason why I should waste my time in laziness and idle whilst I am able to be alive. I've been waking up at six AM ready to start my day. I've been sewing and making box pleats in silk ribbon at 7 AM.
Coming back from this trip, I feel like a better person. Focused and more productive. This trip really affected me iin a positive way. Thank god something lit a fire under my as to do something with my endless numbered days.
Getting back stateside was a trip in itself. The culture shock was more than I could handle, being so jet lagged and on a completely wrong time schedule... So here are my issues with the United States, as follows:
America thinks that 'obesity' is a problem. People gorging themselves, living in excess, is a social problem affecting the masses. Excess in itself is personal problem. How do you explain spas and nail salons to villagers in rural Pakistan? "So you pay how much for someone to put mud on you? I can put mud on you, we have lots of mud here!" The unnessicarity of this country amazes me.
I got back to my apartment and saw all the things that I don't need. I'm donating half my clothes to charity, all the books I don't read are going to a library being built in Sudan. How little can you survive on and still be happy? It is very little. I met people in Pakistan that live in a one room house, have seven children, and do not harbor the problems I see on a day to day basis here. The perspective gained and the faith in the west lost... I'm having trouble expressing this feeling. I am a foreigner in my own country. I feel ill at ease walking down the streets in my neighborhood. I decided when I was gone that when I come back, I should never be bored. Being a bored American is feeding into a stereotype that I refuse to be a part of. There is no reason why I should waste my time in laziness and idle whilst I am able to be alive. I've been waking up at six AM ready to start my day. I've been sewing and making box pleats in silk ribbon at 7 AM.
Coming back from this trip, I feel like a better person. Focused and more productive. This trip really affected me iin a positive way. Thank god something lit a fire under my as to do something with my endless numbered days.
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