lotr meme → two friendships [1/2]
let me stand at your side.
i feel that if a person were to truly embody and understand Islam
they would become much peaceful in the way they go about this world
that’s why I question lecturing imams who yell only about haram and hell
I usually have to repeat my name because it’s pretty unusual. It can sound strange to people who stumble over the pronunciation. Here’s the story: My name is Amandla and was inspired by Miles Davis’ 1989 album, “Amandla,” which means “power” in Zulu. After listening to its beautiful melodies, my mother thought to herself, “If I ever have a daughter, this is what I’ll name her.” The phrase “Amandla Awethu!” was often shouted at anti-apartheid rallies in South Africa. It means “Power to the People!” Amandla is also the title of a documentary about the role of music in the anti-apartheid movement, Amandla!: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony. I have a very cool poster that was signed by the director, Lee Hirsch. He wrote: Go Amandla!!!! Sing & Be Powerful!
Sounds like a plan!The fact she knows what this documentary is makes me love her even more.
There is a truth, a rightness and a refined estheticism in Angel Coulby’s acting that I haven’t found anywhere else.
I figured what better way to begin our “Science and Islam” series than the creation of human kind? Whether you accept that God created man or you believe this is a metaphor for his creation does not matter. The word usage is still significant regardless.
In the Quran, God reveals that the…
Which is why I fucking hate the idea that pictures of American soldiers with Afghan/Iraqi/Pakistani children are “cute” and “hopeful.” No, they are not. It’s exploitative. It hides reality.
Well wtf is going on in this picture? Is that soldier aiming a gun at the kids face?
I’m really confused as to the commentary.
You’re confused because you haven’t seen foreign soldiers invade America and pose with young American children to show a “positive image” of the war they have directly and indirectly engaged in. If it happens one day, you’ll understand “what the fuck is going on in this picture.”
Breaking down a sourceless photograph through a microblogging platform isn’t exactly the most convenient way to actually understand some concepts within a photograph, and Stonzie actually brings up a pretty good question: “The fuck am I looking at?” (which is always an important question to ask yourself whenever you stumble across a generic photo of the typical “third world child meets US soldier” or any photograph that perpetuates the third world archetype)
Tumblr really likes to attack US soldiers — don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fan of the US army nor am I fan of them occupying numerous other countries, including my own country — but they are still human beings, and they are only products of a much larger problem.You want to incite some powerful emotions? Take a photograph of a cute “third world child” standing next to the men who socialize and train soldiers to kill. To refer to Muslim people as rag heads. Show me the men who create glorified Nike-esque commercials of “what it means to be a Marine” — the men who are able to safely stay tucked away in their homes while US soldiers and local civilians die as a result of war and confusion. Would you even be able to recognize those men if they were walking down the street?
I always ask my family members in Iraq (Most of them are now refugees in Syria) what their opinions of US soldiers are. I usually get similar responses:
“They actually aren’t bad, they always give candies to children. At first, they were very nice, but they became more hostile and bitter as the war went on. We don’t blame them very much. How can you? So many of them still look like children.”
I’ll go out on a limb and say that every photo of a third world child in rags is exploitative.
Good points, Hiba. My issue is, however, with the apologists who take these photos up and and give more preference to the soldiers over there while trying to understand why they did what they did. There are American bases in Pakistan. Soldiers take photos with children in the agencies and send them back. Those photos are uploaded on mainstream media outlets where the ‘patriotism’ and ‘valor’ of the soldiers is admired. I find that disgusting. I can’t speak for the Iraqi people but the Afghans that I know who fled from their land to Pakistan and the Pakistanis near the bases all agree on one thing: These photos are hypocritical, exploitative and disrespectful to the people of the land. That’s all.
