Thursday, January 31, 2013

Resiliency




The strength of a tree lies in it’s ability to bend.

Zen Proverb

What Emancipation Actually Meant?


Abraham Lincoln and His Emancipation Proclamation,
The Strobridge Lith. Co, 1888. Source: LOC
150 years ago, President Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. In it, he announced that on January 1, all slaves in rebellious states would be “then, thenceforward, and forever free.” Today, Lincoln is remembered as “The Great Emancipator” — but the story is much more complicated.
On this episode, the History Guys set out to understand the way Americans thought about emancipation in 1862, and reflect on the ways its meanings have shifted since then. Along the way, they make stops at the Emancipation Memorial in Washington D.C., the Civil War centennial commemorations in the height of the Civil Rights Era, and the former capital of the Confederacy. And they hear the voices of former slaves themselves, remembering their first experiences of freedom.

Listen to this audio: 

backstoryradio.org/vfhradio-audio/backstory/2013/1/ThenceforwardandForeverFree.mp3

Emancipation Memorial, Washington

The Neurons that Shaped Civilization

                     


Neuroscientist Vilayanur Ramachandran outlines the fascinating functions of mirror neurons. Only recently discovered, these neurons allow us to learn complex social behaviors, some of which formed the foundations of human civilization as we know it.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

It's Time for All Children, Be Just Children!

                        



Written by Marie-Carmel Berrouët Pérodin,
dedicated to Jean Robert Cadet



REFRAIN--CHORUS


The lambi sounded Wake up

The time has come

To open eyes and hearts

To see all children equal

It's time for all children

Be just children!



God created all children

With no difference

Still a lot of children

Are mistreated

Do children ever choose

The place they should be born

Do they ever decide

Their way of life



Poverty led his parents

To hopelessness

They trusted you, gave you

Their little one
Instead of a better life

You treated him so bad

Made him work like a beast

You'll pay the price



Ti Kam's holding Jojo's hand

Same age they are

She's taking Jojo to school

She is barefoot!

When Jojo waves Goodbye

Ti Kam has a broken heart

She'd like to go to school too

She has no right

Look at the sad Lapousa

He is in pain

With Alberto on his back

His schoolbag too

The road is very muddy

Toto's shoes won't be dirty

Lapousa got the right name

This is his fate!



Adults are supposed to help 
children

The roles are upside down
What a pity!

Lapousa can't take it no more

Ti Kam soon will escape

What will be their future

Let's be serious! 



If you persist ignoring

The children rights

If you never see Ti Kam

And Lapousa

When they open their eyes

When they say that's enough

Alberto, Jojo and you

May sleep no more.