Norwegian photojournalist Jonas Bendiksen spent six weeks living in the slums of Nairobi, then Caracas, Mumbai, and Jakarta. His remarkable panoramic images take us inside slum families’ lives, revealing the profound human impulse to fashion not only shelter but a home…
Check out the rest at:
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/11/03/planet_slum?page=0,0
darfur from Jobin Sam on Vimeo.
So, it’s been a hot minute since I posted anything but I thought this was worthy of some shine! Stay with my friend and colleague for 2 minutes and you won’t be disappointed. Protesting seems to be a highly contested issue these days and some feel it brings nothing but wasted time, energy and words but when people protest, others (those divorced from the situation) start talking, questioning and exploring the world around them and this critical thinking is where the seeds of change are planted. The conflict in Sri Lanka has been making headlines for weeks but please DO NOT forget the suffering in Darfur. It may not be making the front page but believe me people are dying everyday.
So K’naan is about to drop a new album in 09′ and the video for a track entitled Somalia was recently released on the net! If you’re not familiar with K’naan, he is a M.C. hailing from Somalia (of course) and what separates him from other artists is the fact that he’s REAL. He defies the rules when it comes to music and that is why he is so successful. You don’t need a single on FLOW, you don’t need a video on MUCH and you definitely don’t need a billboard in Dundas Square to be making noise and sellout shows. The aforementioned are merely false senses of security and too many so-called rappers use these as measuring sticks of success (poor souls).
On the other hand, K’naan has got something different; he’s UNIQUE and his music speaks for itself. That’s why he so successful. Also, he’s got TALENT and PASSION and that’s really all you need to succeed in the music industry. That mixed with a compelling story (which K’naan has) is the formula for success (it’s not rocket science). Rappers need to do themselves a favor and lay off the auto-tune and vocoder and create their OWN sound, like K’naan did!
Now residing in Toronto, the Somali MC is following up his freshman release The Dusty Foot Philosopher, with a new album called TROUBADOUR which will be dropping in the first quarter of 09′. Much like TDFP, keep your ears peeled for more poltically driven and thought provoking lyrics mixed with array of unique production that you will be hard-pressed to find anywhere else. For more info, peep the links below!
I’m sure you’ve noticed to recent music related post and I hope you’re enjoying them. One of the advantages to having your own blog is that you can write about whatever the fuck you want. I choose not only to keep y’all up to date with Embargo Clothing but I love to highlight my favorite artists and give them some shine (whether they need it or not).
Enjoy
Well, the March 6th rally against York University’s sweatshop policy was a HUGE success and it goes to show what a group of dedicated and stubborn students (along with jugs of water and pizza) can accomplish. The event ended up getting a lot of press coverage throughout the city and that probably played a huge role in prompting Dr. Shoukri to crawl out of the cave he’d been hiding in for almost two days. In the end, the President, after 45 hours, finally agreed to meet with students and commit to changing York’s stance on sweatshops. I got a lot of nice pics of the rally and the march to the president’s office that ensued; I put some pics below, but if you wanna check out the whole album then visit my Flickr page. I should have some video footage up soon as well, but I just gotta take the time to upload them. Enjoy!
Well, the school which claims to “redefine the possible” is having a rather hard time defining their sweatshop policy. Actually, I lied, they aren’t having a hard time at all but I found the irony and hypocrisy of their “slogan” far too tempting and such an easy target. Anyways, students @ York will be taking it to the streets this coming Thursday, so feel free to come and join the cause. The info below was forwarded to me, so check it out:
The Sustainable Purchasing Coalition at York will be holding a No-Sweat (No Sweatshops) Rally on Thursday, March 6th.
Did you know York STILL does not have a No Sweat policy? Almost 8 years after the University of Toronto adopted a policy and began taking leadership on this issue, York persists on not having adequate standards for the conditions York apparel is produced under. York University has done this despite student and faculty pressure to live up to its reputation, and abide by its mission statement’s commitment to ‘global concerns’ and ‘social justice’.
The No Sweat Working Group of the Sustainable Purchasing Coalition (http://www.yorku.ca/spc_ft
/) has attempted to get change through dialogue for the past three years with no luck, and now they’re organizing a demonstration to prove to the administration that the York students, faculty and staff DO CARE. We care whether forced labour, child labour, unfair wages, discrimination, or physical, emotional and sexual abuse took place to produce YorkU clothes. If you care, please attend the demonstration and sign the petition to let the administration hear your voice! No Sweat Rally
March 6th, 2008
Vari Hall @ 1:00
416.721.3471
spcyork@gmail.com
For more information about “disaster capitalism” and and “shock”, check out this Naomi Klein interview:
A People’s History of Shock & Awe
Keeping the victims in disaster Mode
This picture is wrong on so many levels and I don’t even know where to begin. I don’t know maybe it’s just me but I find this one freakin’ hilarious for some reason. We all know all Georgy boy loves to get down when he travels to Africa; anyone remember this little gem? Anyways, you can see the sweat on his forehead as he thinks of China’s emerging presence in Africa, but he maintains that he’s cool with China’s ventures into the martyr continent of Africa. Ahh, you gotta love photo-ops.
Thanks for reading, check out the links:
Marcos in Manhattan- EZLN In NYC
Hawai’i Superferry: Resistance Movement
Candombe – Rhythm & Resistance in Uruguay
Undermining Bolivia: A Landscape of Washington Intervention
Nigeria: Kenyan Crisis And the Neo-Liberal Fallacy