“later that night
i held an atlas in my lap
ran my fingers across the whole world
and whispered
where does it hurt?
it answered
everywhere
everywhere
everywhere.”
~Warsan Shire~
Warsan Shire (born 1988) is a Somali–British writer, poet, editor and teacher. Shire was born in 1988 in Kenya to Somali parents. She immigrated to the United Kingdom aged 1. Shire has a . As of 2015, she primarily resides in London.
Celine Dion sings L’Hymne a L’Amour in tribute to Paris attack victims at American Music Awards 2015
The American Music Awards took a sombre turn on Sunday when Celine Dion sang in tribute to the victims of Paris’s terror attacks.
The Canadian singer covered Edith Piaf’s L’Hymne a L’Amour after actor-musician Jared Leto delivered an emotional speech about the deadly events.
Leto spoke about an impromptu show his band Thirty Seconds To Mars had performed at Le Bataclan in Paris, the scene where 89 people lost their lives in the attacks 10 days ago.
He said: “Seven months later that same venue was under siege, one of a series of attacks that changed the world forever.
“Tonight we honor the victims of the unimaginable violence that took place in Paris and around the world.
“France matters, Syria matters, Russia matters, Mali matters, the Middle East matters, the entire world matters and peace is possible.”
Introducing Dion’s performance, Leto added:
“Many of us here are the sons and daughters of immigrants and Steve Jobs, the son of a Syrian immigrant, and President Barack Obama.
“The American Music Awards wanted to show its support for the people of France and the entire world.”
Antoine Leiris wrote although the terrorists had taken ‘an exceptional life’ they would ‘not have my hatred’ Rose Troup Buchanan
Thursday 19 November 2015
Paris terror attack
Husband pays touching tribute to ‘love of his life’ in defiant message to attackers
The husband of a woman killed in the Paris attacks has written a touching message to the “love of my life” and promised to raise their 17-month-old son “happy and free ”.
Antoine Leiris, whose wife Helene Muyal-Leiris was among the 89 killed in the Bataclan concert hall attack on Friday evening, posted an emotional message on Facebook.
Mr Leiris, who first met his 35-year-old wife 12 years ago, told the attackers he would “not grant you the gift of my hatred.”
In a post – shared more than 60,000 times by Tuesday morning – Mr. Leiris said in French he would raise their son Melvil “happy and free” and that responding to “hatred with anger is falling victim to the same ignorance that has made you what you are.”
Antoine Leiris lost his wife Helene in the Bataclan theatre in Paris.
His Facebook tribute to his wife and challenge to her killers has since been shared thousands of times. Mr Leiris read out the letter to BBC News in Paris.
The world was shocked when Paris was attacked by extremist on the evening of November 13 and the attacks in Beirut the day before. Humanity weeps for those we have lost in these tragic events, but it we need to look at why this keeps happening.
Russell Brand has published a video of what he thinks we need to do to end terrorism.
His ideas are great.
We must come to the understanding that we are all connected and that we share this planet with each other.
Violence is never the solution to violence, that will only fuel the flames.
If we show nothing but love to each other that will take the power away from the brutality that humans are capable of.
It is time for us to rid ourselves of these wars and unite as one on this planet. When the history of man has reached its closure will it be ridden with acts of hatred .… or will it be the story of a logical and understanding species?
~~Russell Brand Gives The Solutions To Terrorism~~
It’s Time To Wake Up
~~Published on Nov 17, 2015~~
We’ve written about Russell Brand several times on our website, and that’s because he is one celebrity, on an ever-growing list of stars, who is using his tremendous reach in an effort to effect positive change in the world, as well as raise awareness about several key issues that are currently facing our planet.
For many years after the Civil War, the symbols of the Confederacy were not much seen outside local museums and burial grounds. The late general Robert E. Lee, a reluctant but revered Confederate hero, rejected any post-war fetishizing of the Stars and Bars, which had actually originated as the battle flag of his Army of Northern Virginia.
Lee believed it “wiser … not to keep open the sores of war.”
But such admonishments were cast aside by the exponents of white supremacy, whose own patriotism was certainly suspect. When the Ku Klux Klan and the Knights of the White Camellia were revived as racial terror organizations in the 1930’s and 1940’s, carrying out a spree of cowardly lynchings, their grand wizards found natural allies among the leaders of the German-American Bund — whose funding and fealty were eventually traced to Nazi headquarters in Berlin.
Indeed, the Klansmen burned their towering crosses alongside swastika banners at rallies sponsored by the Bund to attack President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
It Is What It Is 