#noiwontjustmoveon

'Still experiencing a cultural genocide'

By BBC TrendingWhat's popular and why13 May 2016

Image copyrightTWITTER/@KELLORAGS

Image captionSome have posted photos showing their disdain for how Native American symbols are used by US sports

Did you know that Native Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 havehigher rates of suicide than any other ethnicity in America? Or that a quarter of Native American children live in poverty? Or that Native American and Alaska Native women are, according to a government study, 2.5 times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than other women in the USA?

These were some of the reasons that journalist Vincent Schilling, who is Akwesasne Mohawk and editor of the Indian Country Today Media Network, created the hashtag #NoIWontJustMoveOn. It has been used in more than 15,000 tweets.

Image copyrightTWITTER

Speaking exclusively to BBC Trending, Schilling said that although many people have some awareness of historic atrocities committed against his people, there is "extensive amount of misunderstanding toward the history of Native American and First Nations people."

He added that the residual effects of colonisation meant Native Americans have also experienced "cultural genocide".

"There are still a plethora of adult Native people that have experienced being taken from their families by force, shipped off to Native residential schools - where they were subjected to being beaten if they spoke their native languages or became victims of sexual assault by school officials or were left to die if they contracted a myriad of diseases."

Schilling, who was the journalist that broke the viral story of how nine Native American actors walked off the set of an Adam Sandler comedy saying that the film was "totally disrespectful" (Sandler called the incident a 'misunderstanding'), told Trending, "I also created (the hashtag) to show we are willing to stand together to tell the world we will heal at our own pace. We will move on, when we are ready - not at the rate that someone dictates to us."

Social media users used the trend to highlight several issues still facing their community. These included caricature perceptions of Native American culture, especially long-standing debates on the use of Native American mascots in sports.

Image copyrightTWITTER

Image copyrightTWITTER

Many spoke of the high suicide rate among Native Indians in the US:

Image copyrightTWITTER

Image copyrightTWITTER

The topic of forced assimilation was bought up several times, notably with the sharing of a meme, made from this image from the Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center.

Image copyrightCARLISLE INDIAN SCHOOL DIGITAL RESOURCE CENTER

Image captionNavajo Indian, Tom Torlino before and three years after he started university in 1882

Schilling explains in an article that the 'before and after' composite photo of Navajo Indian Tom Torlino from his time at Carlisle Indian School, "is one of countless reasons why the Native community has embraced #NoIWontJustMoveOn."

The image on right of Torlino was, in the 1800s, thought to indicate that "with the proper education, Carlisle students could literally blend in with white society."

In pictures: Sesame Street's new female Afghan puppet

• 11 April 2016
 
• From the sectionAsia

There’s a new face on Sesame Street - a sassy Afghan puppet girl called Zari and she has an important message for the country's little girls.

Zari, whose name means “shimmering”, has made her television debut in Afghanistan, on a local production of Sesame Street called Baghch-e-Simsim

"Zari is female because we thought it was really important to emphasise the fact that a little girl could do as much as everybody else. So that's why a girl was a key factor in promoting empowerment and girls' education in Afghanistan," program manager Clemence Quint told AP.

The sassy, six-year-old puppet will wear a traditional headscarf. Her costumes will also incorporate fabrics and designs from all of Afghanistan's ethnic groups.

Zari is brought to life by Afghan puppeteer Mansoora Shirzad. She wished young viewers a happy World Peace Day and happy International Children's Day for an upcoming episode.

Afghanistan is still an impoverished country. Formal education is limited for many children, including prejudices against education for girls.

Two production houses worked together with Afghanistan's education ministry to develop the special Muppet
.

Family kicked off of flight because of harness. What does that have to do with their religion?

(the story so far, I could have the facts wrong but I believe this is true)  This family insisted on using a safety harness for their child which did not comply with the aircraft or airline or flight regulation safety rules.  Because of this, they were asked to leave the flight.  Now, someone please explain to me what does this have to do with religion????  NOTHING!  They were not kicked off of the flight because of the way they look, or because of their religion.  Why make false accusations???  UGH!   If I got kicked off of a flight for the exact same reason (child safety harness) could I accuse them of kicking me off of the plane because I am Caucasian or because i'm Christian???  Apparently I can because this family claimed the same thing (race and religion).

So... someone please prove to me that this has ANYTHING to do with religion.  Proof.  Not accusations, not generalizations, not theories.  

Family says they were kicked off United Airlines flight because they are Arab-American

BY CHRISTOPHER BRENNAN 

 

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

 

Updated: Friday, April 1, 2016, 11:05 AM

A suburban Chicago family of five says they were kicked off of a United Airlines flight because they are Arab-American.

Eaman-Amy Saad Shebley, her husband and their three young kids were told they had to get off a flight from O’Hare International to Washington, D.C., because of a “safety of flight issue.”

The mother posted a video of her interactions with the plane’s crew on Facebook, and said that “Shame on you ‪#‎unitedAirlines for profiling my family and me for no reason other than how we look.”

She said the incident started when she asked a flight attendant about a harness for her child’s safety seat, and the video shows a flight attendant asking her "what's going on?"

Saad Shebley says before a man who appears to be the pilot comes and decides to kick her and her family off the aircraft.

FACEBOOKEnlarge

EAMAN-AMY SAAD SHEBLEY VIA FACEBOOKEnlarge

Eaman-Amy Saad Shebley says she and her family were kicked off of a flight because they are Arab-American, though crew aboard the aircraft said that the family was booted for a "safety of flight" issue.

Her video has been viewed more than 1,500,000 times and shared on Facebook more than 30,000.

United Airlines said in a statement to WDIV that the family was removed from the planet “because of concerns about their child’s safety seat, which did not comply with federal safety regulations,” and that they were put on a later flight.

However, the family filed a complaint with the Council on American-Islamic Relations about the matter.

CAIR’s Dawud Walid said, “Unfortunately there’s a growing problem on airlines of Muslims being removed from flights when they cause no reasonable security concerns.” 

Valentine's Day in Pakistan

Question:  Can married couples celebrate Valentine's Day in Pakistan? 

Tajikistan's battle against beards to 'fight radicalisation'

By Anora SarkorovaBBC Russian Service, Tajikistan

• 21 January 2016
 
• From the sectionAsia

Image captionPolice in Khatlon say they have shaved the beards of nearly 13,000 men (file photo)

"They called me a Salafist, a radical, a public enemy. And then two of them held my arms while another one shaved half of my beard."

Djovid Akramov says he was stopped by Tajik police outside his house, along with his seven-year-old son, last month - and taken to the police station in Dushanbe where he was forcibly shaved.

He became one of hundreds of thousands of men in Tajikistan arrested in recent years for wearing a beard.

Shaving beards is part of a government campaign targeting trends that are deemed "alien and inconsistent with Tajik culture".

Earlier this week, police in Tajikistan's Khatlon region said that they had shaved the beards of nearly 13,000 men as part of an "anti-radicalisation campaign".

The BBC spoke to nine other men who described similar experiences - being detained in the street and forcibly taken to the police department or a barber shop, where they were shaved.

The government campaign is explained by the need to fight radicalisation, amid fears that Central Asia might follow the path of countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria towards extremism.

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionWomen have been told to wear traditional Tajik colours - not black

Estimates suggest that between 1,500 and 4,000 Central Asians could have joined different Islamist militant groups in Syria, as of June 2015.

The move against beards is seen as part of a broader government campaign against the adoption of Islamic cultural practices in Tajik society, and to preserve secular traditions.

According to official data, 99% of the Tajik population are Muslim. However, atheism was officially encouraged during 70 years of Soviet rule.

'Don't wear black'

The campaign against Islamic practices also affects women. There is an official ban on wearing hijabs in schools and universities - but in practice it is enforced in all state institutions.

Police say that over the past year, they have closed about 160 shops where hijabs were being sold, and convinced 1,773 women to stop wearing hijabs.

Image captionShaving beards is part of a government campaign against "alien culture"

President Emomali Rakhmon has also warned Tajiks: "Don't worship alien values, don't follow alien culture. Wear clothes of traditional colours and cut, not black."

"Even in mourning, Tajik women [should] wear white, not black," he said.

And the authorities have previously called on parents to give their children traditional Tajik names, rather than Arabic or foreign-sounding names.

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionColourful headscarves are popular in Tajikistan

It is not clear whether these policies will have an impact on preventing radicalism.

Djovid Akramov says he will not forget the humiliation he felt while being forcefully shaved at the police station.

"The worst is the impunity of the policemen, who were enjoying the opportunity to bully people," he says.

It is this kind of conduct that can prompt people to become radicalised, he says.