Walk Away

Ursula K. Le Guin’s short story “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” tells of a utopian city of complete peace and joy and harmony. Everything in Omelas is beautiful, everyone is happy. The catch is that the whole society’s happiness rests on the intense suffering of a scapegoat –a young child who must be [...]

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International Day of the Disappeared

Today, August 30, 2008, marks the 25th observance of the International Day of the Disappeared. The group Karapatan has released a 2007 Year-End Report (pdf) regarding human rights violations by the Arroyo government. In 2007 alone, there have been: 24 victims of enforced or involuntary disappearances 36 victims of frustrated political killings 69 victims of [...]

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Beautiful Music

The discussions on feminism and capitalism have been intense and somewhat discouraging (if you’re following the feminist blogs, you know where to look). So I need good news, and am thankful for this. I shared a letter earlier this week from a young Filipina teacher who was teaching music theory and guitar performance to students [...]

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Scars

justicewalks’s moving reflections on her coming medical procedure (h/t bint) had me contemplating my own body. Specifically, the four-inch scar that runs from by bellybutton down my abdomen. I thought that the scar had long healed. When my personal care physician here in the US first saw the scar, she asked if I had a [...]

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Disposable Targets

Eugenia Baja’s family began to receive worrisome text messages towards the end of 2007. First, the 25-year-old Filipina domestic worker in Riyadh said she could not send money for Christmas. Then in January 2008, Eugenia pleaded to her brother, “Please help me. Please find me.” Eugenia texted that she felt cold all the time. Hungry. [...]

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Lend a Helping Guitar

This is for readers in the Philippines. Or maybe you’re not in the Philippines but can think of a way to help. Excerpts from a letter from a young teacher and community activist: Dear Readers, I am currently teaching a guitar class at the U.P College of music as part of my thesis. My students [...]

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Run Like a Girl

In the early 1990s, seventeen-year-old Nancy Navalta burst into Philippine track and field, running the 100 meter dash at 11.44 seconds. It’s an even more amazing feat considering how green she was. Nancy had no training. She just ran on sandy beaches with a sack of rocks slung over her shoulders. Newspapers lauded this daughter [...]

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