Tawdry… books that is…

And on the list of ridiculous goes the news article entitled "Gay penguins top US list of book complaings".  The American Library Association (ALA) reported this week that the 2005 award winning book, "And Tango Makes Three", a true story about two male penguins who nurture an egg and raise it as their own baby penguin in the Central Park Zoo, has topped the list of works to receive complaints from parents and educators that the book promotes homosexuality.  Well, at least it is in good company with such "scandalous books as 

- Maya Angelou’s "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings"((insert little known trivia here- Maya Angelou was the commencement speaker for my college graduation)

-John Steinbeck’s "Of Mice and Men"

-Judy Blume’s "Forever", "Deenie", "Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret" and "Blubber" (I always knew that Judy Blume was up to no good!)

-Alice Walker’s "The Color Purple" (apparently appropriate for broadway but not for our local libraries)

-Mark Mathabane’s "Kaffir Boy" (again, I urge you, read this book, what more do you need? it’s already been banned- it must be good!)

-Shel Silverstein’s "A Light in the Attic" (apparently Shel was inciting cannibalism- he must have read "Lord of the Flies" one too many times)

-William Golding’s "Lord of the Flies" (alas, he must have written the book while gnawing on Shel’s leg)

-Aldous Huxley’s "Brave New World" (What, is it going to scare us back to 1984?!?)

-Martin Hanford’s "Where’s Waldo?" (ok, now is it the ambiguous striped shirt and near-sightedness that got this one banned?)

Now should you care to hear the argument from the other side please feel free to visit this homeschooler blogger.  I’ll end this post now rather than harp on close-mindedness of a population that is unwilling to look beyond their own comfortable existence and see that there is an entire world out there- one that is flawed and ridiculous- and that they too are part of that ever flawed and ridiculous existence.  

Tawdry… books that is…

And on the list of ridiculous goes the news article entitled "Gay penguins top US list of book complaints". The American Library Association (ALA) reported this week that the 2005 award winning book, "And Tango Makes Three", a true story about two male penguins who nurture an egg and raise their own baby penguin in the Central Park Zoo, has topped the list of works to receive complaints from parents and educators that the book promotes homosexuality. Well, at least it is in good company with such "scandalous" books as

-Maya Angelou’s "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" (insert little known trivia here- Maya Angelou was the commencement speaker for my college graduation)

-John Steinbeck’s "Of Mice and Men"

-Judy Blume’s "Forever", "Deenie", "Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret" and "Blubber" (I always knew that Judy Blume was up to no good!)

-Alice Walker’s "The Color Purple" (apparently appropriate for broadway but not for our local libraries)

-Mark Mathabane’s "Kaffir Boy" (again, I urge you, read this book, what more do you need? it’s already been banned- it must be good!)

-Shel Silverstein’s "A Light in the Attic" (apparently Shel was inciting cannibalism- he must have read "Lord of the Flies" one too many times)

-William Golding’s "Lord of the Flies" (alas, he must have written the book while gnawing on Shel’s leg)

-Aldous Huxley’s "Brave New World" (What, is it going to scare us back to 1984?!?)

-Martin Hanford’s "Where’s Waldo?" (ok, now is it the ambiguous striped shirt and near-sightedness that got this one banned?)

Now should you care to hear the argument from the other side please feel free to visit this homeschooler blogger. I’ll end this post now rather than harp on close-mindedness of a population this is unwilling to look beyond their own comfortable existence and see that there is an entire world out there- one that is flawed and ridiculous- and that they too are part of that ever flawed and ridiculous existence.

For those still unaware of the devastation in Darfur, I encourage you to visit Amnesty International’s Eyes on Darfur site which includes information about what is happening in the Sudan, satellite evidence of the destruction, and ways to take action.

In a situation mirroring the crisis in Rwanda in the 1990’s; hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed and more than 2 million have been displaced from their homes while the international community stands at the sidelines.

While civilians from Darfur seek refuge from the mass abductions, rapes, and killings they are turned away at border after border. Egypt and Israel have closed their borders to the influx of refugees. This decision has created inevitable turmoil and at times, death, when desperate refugees attempt to sneak across the border. Despite the African Union’s (AU) pleas for peace among the tribal leaders, negotiations are a stalemate while key leaders refuse to participate and countries such as Russia and China continue to back the government backed militias in the name of commerce.

You can take action by simply signing the global petition (see Instant Karma link on my main page) and telling a friend about the issue and directing them to Amnesty’s Eyes on Darfur website. For music buffs out there, purchase the Instant Karma cd with the music of John Lennon recorded by U2, Green Day, REM, Lenny Kravitz, and more internationally known artists.

Home at last after two glorious weeks in South Africa. I was desolate to return… so many good times still to be had. A very good friend shared a poem with me which reads:

We cannot hang on to this moment

even knowing it is the last moment.

Life pulls us

like a great tidal wave

sweeping us forward

dragging us into the perpetual present.

Our memories of this moment

will change and be shaped

by new desires and disappointments.

And I will forget I knew even this.

Obviously two weeks of memories can’t be revealed in a mere blog but I’ll share the highlights…

Day 1- 10 hours of flight to the UK with a quick daytrip to London with a visit to the Imperial War Museum’s Holocaust exhibit followed by a visit to the BBC’s World Office and a meeting with the BBC’s Africa correspondent. I have to admit that as an avid listener/reader of the BBC world news it was exciting to step into the news office where they made it happen. (Don’t judge me on my nerdy nature!).

Day 2- After another 10 hours of flight and very little sleep we arrived in Jo’Burg and immediately went sightseeing (mostly Dutch/Afrikans monuments… e.g. the Voortrekker Monument) which I have to admit that I remember very little of beyond the photos I took. Operating on minute amounts of sleep over the past two days took its toll.

Day 3- The day’s activities stood in stark contrast to the colonial monuments and sights of the previous day. We stepped into an informal township in Soweto and I was surprised at how different it was to my township experience in Cape Town. Should you want an indepth look of township life during the Apartheid era I strongly recomment "Kaffir Boy" by Mark Mathabane. Upon leaving the township, with children playing in the streets and grasping our hands in hopes of seeing their photos digitally immortalized, we visited Regina Mundi Catholic Church and the Hector Pieterson Museum that memorialize the tragic events of a peaceful student protest that catalyzed the apartheid revolution in 1976. I was particularly moved by the statement of Mbuyisa Makhubo’s mother (the student carrying Hector Pieterson’s body from the protest): "Mbuyisa is or was my son. But he is not a hero. In my culture, picking up Hector is not an act of heroism. It was his job as a brother. If he left him on the ground and somebody saw him jumping over Hector he would never be able to live here."

We continued the day with a trip to Nelson Mandela’s home where he lived until his imprisonment followed by a visit to the Apartheid Museum.

Day 4- Visits to Jo’Burg NGO’s including the Refugee Children’s Project, Center for Study of Violence and Reconciliation, IDASA, and a quick visit to Amnesty International’s Jo’Burg office. I won’t bore you with the details of our meetings with the NGO’s but it was interesting and compelling to hear what the organizations were doing on a grassroots and strategic level to help impact the future of SA.

Day 5- Pilanesberg National Park. Ok, ok, so not related to human rights but you have to take a break at some point! Check out the photos of the elephants, zebras, giraffes, and more!

Day 6- A short flight from Jo’Burg to Capetown and we set off for a couple of quick meetings with NGO’s including the Quaker Peace Center and the Amy Biehl Foundation.

Day 7- A little more sightseeing with a trip to the Cape Point at breakneck speed (courtesy of the worst tour guide in the world) a visit to Simonstown to see the penguins (again, I tell you, check out the photos!), and a trip up Table Mountain… though it was cold and misty it was definitely a cool experience to look over the edge of the mountain into nothingness. Unfortunately our trip to Robben Island was cancelled due to the wind factor….

Day 8- We began the day with a quick walking tour of Capetown and then an unexpected trip to Monkeybiz (thanks to yours truly) that went from a quick 20 minute delay to about an hour and a half… not my fault that the store is so fabulous that everyone wanted to buy their souvenirs there! We continued on with a trip to the District Six Museum and a tour of the township of Guguletu. We finished the day with a visit to an HIV/Aids clinic that is housed alongside a presbyterian church in the township.

Day 9 and beyond- The group departed and I met up with Ali (again, muchas gracias for your hospitality and putting up with me for an entire week!). We filled the week with a bit of human rights related issues, a theater/performance piece called Cargo, an American film not yet released in SA called The Devil Came On Horseback (I wouldn’t necessarily recommend seeing the film… a bit of an imperialistic viewpoint), and some whale watching… ok, that last part was totally touristy but much fun.

I also got some much needed rest and managed to read a few books which I heartily endorse for your reading lists, including- The Bahdad Blog by Salam Pax, Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi, and The Westing Game by Ellen Rasking for a short fun read (if you like well-written children’s books… hello… there were children’s books before Harry Potter).

So, there you have it, the cliff notes version of my trip to SA. Should you care to have your ear talked off feel free to ask me even more about my trip!

I am mere hours away from boarding a plane bound for Africa. I’m sure everyone I have come within 50 feet of within the past two months is finally glad to see me go simply so they don’t have to hear me recount my vacation plans and hear the daily countdown… little do they know that upon my return I will overwhelm them with photos of my escapades.

In case you haven’t yet heard my Africa rant here are the cliff notes: I will initially fly into England long enough to have a quick jaunt about London and then it’s off to Johannesburg where I will get to study the rise and fall of apartheid. Then it’s on to Capetown where I plan on doing all of the non-touristy things I have yet to experience since my first trip. And finally back home after two glorious weeks away from home, away from work, and away from stress!

I will you with my latest instant karma-isms as I bide you farewell: "Make it a point to be happy where you are" and "eat dark chocolate".