“‘Now when I was a little chap I had a passion for maps. I would look for hours at South America, or Africa, or Australia, and lose myself in all the glories of exploration. At that time there were many blank spaces on the earth, and when I saw one that looked particularly inviting on a map (but they all look that) I would put my finger on it and say, 'When I grow up I will go there.'” - Heart of Darkness
1. You have an issue with labels. 2. You also have an issue with grammar. 3. Race and Ethnicity are not the same thing.
Ethnicity is defined as an ethnic group is a population of human beings whose members identify with each other, on the basis of a real or a presumed common genealogy or ancestry. Your ROOTS are not in Louisiana sweet girl. Even though your family history may be.
Africa is a continent that, has in fact gave way to a tremendous amount of WORLD ANCESTRY. There are numerous people, in various countries whose ancestry is in Africa, thanks to the slave ships who made multiple stops before coming to America. But, its not Black History Month, so I digress.
Oddly enough, Raven is defining herself as a RACE, which is social construct that refers to the concept of dividing people into populations or groups on the basis of various sets of physical characteristics. Race is a man made concept which is exactly what a label is,which is precisely what she hopes to avoid.
I am a BLACK AMERICAN WOMAN who’s roots, at its core, are based in Africa. But because I am completely unable to find those roots, thanks to historical events that shall remain left unsaid, I trace it back as far as I can. Which leaves me to the post slavery and Native American history, thus making me identify as a black woman.
Moral of the story, define yourself however you want. But understand, that in defining yourself, you are in fact labeling yourself at the same time. Labels are apart of the world in which we live in. They can create a sense of commonality. They are only negative if you allow them to be. How easily we get caught up on a few things when there are billions of words we can define as.
It seems that Raven feels like labeling, in and of its self, is negative. To that I say, be bigger than the label. Be more than what people see. And what they may expect. I am Black American Woman, who’s ancestors where slaves. I am a Christian, I am educated, straight, a daughter, a friend, a dancer, and a host of other things. Nothing about that was negative. Actually seems pretty awesome.
Be the best you, whoever that is, whatever you define that as.
Unequal Scenes portrays scenes of inequality in South Africa from the air. Discrepancies in how people live are sometimes hard to see from the ground. The beauty of being able to fly is to see things from a new perspective - to see things as they really are. Looking straight down from a height of several hundred meters, incredible scenes of inequality emerge. Some communities have been expressly designed with separation in mind, and some have grown more or less organically.
During apartheid, segregation of urban spaces was instituted as policy. Roads, rivers, “buffer zones” of empty land, and other barriers were constructed and modified to keep people separate. 22 years after the end of apartheid, many of these barriers, and the inequalities they have engendered, still exist. Oftentimes, communities of extreme wealth and privilege will exist just meters from squalid conditions and shack dwellings.
Order is, at one and the same time, that which is given in things as their inner law, the hidden network that determines the way they confront one another, and also that which has no existence except in the grid created by a glance, an examination, a language; and it is only in the blank spaces of this grid that order manifests itself in depth as though already there, waiting in silence for the moment of its expression.
A hippo charges a boat on the Chobe River in Botswana. (From thisvideo.)
Hippo Facts:
Hippos can run up to 19 mph on land, and swim up to 5 mph. For reference, the fastest man alive has a maximum speed of ~28 mph and Olympic-level swimmers move at a maximum speed of 4.5 mph.
Hippos kill thousands of people every year. Like almost 3000 in Africa alone.
Hippos are very aggressive, and sometimes charge or attack for no apparent reason.
Hippos have been identified as a vulnerable species by the World Conservation Union, with an estimated population of only 125,000-150,000 in the wild.
Three Dorobo Hunters from Kenya Take Meat from 15 Hungry Lions.
Tumblr, meet the three bravest men in the world.
P.S. The leader is 65 years old. His name is Rakita (though I can’t find the names of the other two hunters with him.) Here is a short post about this hunt, and the struggles of the Dorobo people to maintain their traditional way of life. The saddest line:
“And so in our lifetime, we will see an end to this ancient lifestyle of hunting, gathering and scavenging. An accumulative knowledge that has been passed down over 1000s of years."
(gif source video…but for the love of god, don’t read the comments)
So I’ve decided to document all of my traveling and language learning on my website and on my brand new Facebook page!
Please check it out and pass it around if you find it interesting; I’ve been working really hard on writing some new posts about all of the countries I visited last summer! <3
