(Source: wayy-up-north)

thepeoplesrecord:

Got this in my email today:

Dear friends, 

We are elders of the Maasai from Tanzania, one of Africa’s oldest tribes. The government has just announced that it plans to kick thousands of our families off our lands so that wealthy tourists can use them to shoot lions and leopards.The evictions are to begin immediately.

Last year, when word first leaked about this plan, almost one million Avaaz members rallied to our aid. Your attention and the storm it created forced the government to deny the plan, and set them back months. But the President has waited for international attention to die down, and now he’s revived his plan to take our land. We need your help again, urgently.

President Kikwete may not care about us, but he has shown he’ll respond to global media and public pressure — to all of you! We may only have hours. Please stand with us to protect our land, our people and our world’s most majestic animals, and tell everyone before it is too late. This is our last hope:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/maasai_fb_dm_3/?bNDofcb&v=23793

Our people have lived off the land in Tanzania and Kenya for centuries. Our communities respect our fellow animals and protect and preserve the delicate ecosystem. But the government has for years sought to profit by giving rich princes and kings from the Middle East access to our land to kill. In 2009, when they tried to clear our land to make way for these hunting sprees, we resisted, and hundreds of us were arrested and beaten. Last year, rich princes shot at birds in trees from helicopters. This killing goes against everything in our culture.

Now the government has announced it will clear a huge swath of our land to make way for what it claims will be a wildlife corridor, but many suspect it’s just a ruse to give a foreign hunting corporation and the rich tourists it caters to easier access to shoot at majestic animals. The government claims this new arrangement is some sort of accommodation, but its effect on our people’s way of life will be disastrous. There are thousands of us who could have our lives uprooted, losing our homes, the land on which our animals graze, or both.

President Kikwete knows this deal would be controversial with Tanzania’s tourists - a critical source of national income - and does not want a big PR disaster. If we can urgently generate even more global outrage than we did before, and get the media writing about it, we know it can make him think twice. Stand with us now to call on Kikwete to stop the sell off:

This land grab could spell the end for the Maasai in this part of Tanzania and many of our community have said they would rather die than be forced from their homes. On behalf of our people and the animals who graze in these lands, please stand with us to change the mind of our President.

With hope and determination,

— The Maasai community of Ngorongoro District

Sources: 

• The Guardian: Maasai fury as plan to lure Arabian Gulf tourists threatens their ancestral land

• allAfrica: Land Grab Could Spell ‘The End of the Maasai’

• IPP Media: Maasai villagers frustrate efforts to vacate for Ortelo 

• The Guardian: Tanzania denies plan to evict Maasai for royal hunting ground 

• The Guardian: “Tourism is a curse to us” 

• New Internationalist Magazine: “Hunted down” 

• Society for Threatened People: Briefing on the eviction of the Loliondo Maasai 

• FEMACT: Report by 16 human rights investigators & media on violence in Loliondo

• The Endorois people (also in Kenya) were removed from their sacred land in the 1970s under similar circumstances & for similar motives (the establishment of parks for colonial tourists.)

(via anarcho-queer)

deducingneville:

whereforeartthouwolves:

hogwartskidsproblems:

That sound? It’s the sound of my heart breaking into a million pieces

I… I just noticed that both Harry and Neville are dressed similarly to their fathers during the battle of Hogwarts.

I just

I

my heart

ow

Very sneaky costume department

Very

Sneaky.

(Source: ivegotmagic, via caffeinatedfeminist)

selchieproductions:

“My name is Nixiwaka Yawanawá and I am a Yawanawá Indian from Brazil.  

I will soon be climbing a mountain in Scotland with some other supporters of Survival International, to raise awareness of the plight of the Awá tribe from Brazil. The Awá are the Earth’s most threatened tribe. Illegal loggers, ranchers and settlers are destroying their forest and chasing away their animals. They are finding it more and more difficult to hunt for food. 

The situation is particularly difficult for uncontacted Awá. They depend on the forest for their survival and are vulnerable to diseases brought in by outsiders – a common cold could kill them. Uncontacted Indians near my community in western Brazil are also facing serious threats from illegal loggers. 

I’m very excited about climbing the mountain - as I am the first Amazon Indian to climb Ben Nevis! I think it will be a great way for me to highlight the problems that my brothers the Awá are facing. 

Please help me to fundraise for Survival, a charity that is working to help my people.”

Donate here

(via bittergrapes)

(Source: sandandglass, via caffeinatedfeminist)

humanrightswatch:

UN Rights Chief: Guantanamo detention regime is in “clear breach of international law” and must be closed.

Photo: A guard walks through a cellblock inside Camp V, a prison used to house detainees at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, March 5, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Bob Strong

(via anarcho-queer)

socialismartnature:

Just say, “No,” to Monsanto and GMO!

(via seriouslyamerica)

verbalresistance:

Woolwich Fascist Backlash: Essex Fascist ‘Attacks Local Mosque With Grenade’ in Braintree [Kent Mosque also attacked]

Two fascists have been arrested for attacking mosques in south-east England as the backlash against the murder of a British soldier in Woolwich begins.

In Gillingham, Kent, a fascist ran into the local mosque and started smashing windows and bookcases. Meanwhile in Braintree, Essex, it is alleged that another fascist attacked the Islamic place of worship with a knife and explosive device.

Both the fascists have now been arrested by police.

In Gillingham, one witness told Kent Online they saw a fascist enter the mosque and start smashing glass, specifically targeting cabinets containing copies of the Qu’ran.

Officers established a protective line outside the mosque to prevent further attacks.

Meanwhile, in Essex, police have released a statement confirming that officers arrested a 43-year-old fascist in Braintree, on suspicion of carrying an offensive weapon and attempted arson.

The secretary of the mosque told Channel 4 News that the fascist burst in with two knives and tried to attack the congregation, and shouted “where is your allah now?”

Witnesses also claim the attacker threw an explosive device, believed to be a grenade or gas canister. A text [above] allegedly sent by a member of the Braintree congregation has appeared on twitter, although it has yet to be verified.

The fascist, who was arrested at 7.15pm, remains in custody.

The attacks came as a congregation of Fascist EDL members clashed with police in Woolwich in protest at the earlier murder.

As reported at the scene by IBTimes UK reporter Dominic Gover, Up to 150 Fascist English Defence League supporters clashed with police in running battles outside Woolwich Arsenal Docklands Light Railway station.

The far-right supporters had gathered in response to a call by Fascist EDL leader Tommy Robinson who had called for “feet on the street” in response to the killing.

International Business Times

(via adoseofrevolution)

crissle:

norsegays:

astrolope:

People being angry about ~dem gays~ on Target’s Facebook.

I just want to give my two cents on this and tell you a story.

A couple weeks ago, I was hired at Target. I have a job at Target. Not a big deal right?

It is a big deal because i’m a transman. 

It doesn’t take a genius to conclude that it’s hard for me, my brothers, and sisters to get a job. There are legal restraints regarding the job and if you don’t pass, it’s hard to be taken seriously at a job interview.

Right on the application, it asks what your preferred name is. It also asks if there is anything that target should know. I put the fact that I am a transman, expecting not to get a call because usually when you put that down, people will throw out the application. I got TWO interviews.

At the interview, they asked me about it. I told them I am on hormones and they told me that they didn’t care. Not in the sense that they don’t emotionally care, but that it didn’t matter. I was male and that’s all that mattered. They also told me that they give sex same couples benefits in states that do not recognize them as a married couple.

At my job orientation, I was not misgendered once. Even my supervisors who weren’t sure of my gender avoided pronoun use, which I found only happens when you’ve had pronoun training. They gave me a name tag with my preferred name and didn’t ask questions. I felt safe and respected, which is huge for a trans* person.

TLDR: Target is amazing not just for the LGB, but also the T. Shop there for the rest of your life.

This kind of thing is why I never feel too bad when I walk into Target intending to get conditioner and end up spending hundreds. 

(via robot-heart-politics)

(Source: manofinaction, via socialistexan)

(Source: piperme, via afternoonsnoozebutton)