effusion2005

For better newspapers

2007-02-25T22:09:00.000-08:00

One teacher gave us a puzzle what would happen if the only film that remained was of Data on Star Trek? How would a historian interpret this information? What would they say? And how would society be portrayed? Imagine for one moment how historians will use what reporters write in newspapers. This led me to re-think journalism as reporters are today's historians because they record and report on daily events. How will our world be interpreted if all that is left in our daily newspaper????

Reporters and journalists are there to bring the news too often it is bad news, and only negative events get attention. Communities do not get coverage hence there are community newspapers and magazines. I would suggest a new branch of journalism would be interesting that is to bring a history of the city, when various communities came to live in a city, stories of unusual individuals who have contributed to society and made a difference in their own community or another community.

The press can be racist and this can cause a great deal of pain to one community, the solution is to give a fair and balanced view of a community, give the positive and also the negative that way one group does not become stigmatized or feel they are victims of hatred.

Inclusiveness in one way to make sure that everyone is welcome and part of society from historical perspective historians will be able to give a more balanced view of our own century and the contribution we made. It is to plant seeds now so that in the future we can be remember as we are and not as someone imagines us to be.

Here are some suggestions, the cost is a few minutes of your time an email or one stamp and you can make a difference.

Write to the newspapers and ask to get fair coverage
For radio and television write to producers to advertisers and ask to be inclusive.
For the written press you can write to the Editor in Chief or the owners
In Quebec you can write the Federation des Journalistes
Conseil de Presse
CRTC for radio and television
You can write to newspaper editors, journalists and columnists

FOr those who have known war and immigrate to another country

2007-02-25T21:50:00.000-08:00

Here are some suggestions I would like to see implemented for new immigrants.

It is important to learn about the new culture and the ways of the country of adoption. But, it is also important to have in place some special services for people who have known war. This should apply to all those who have been traumatized by bombings, the fear of loss of life, knowing gun fire or the incessant noise of bombs.

Here are some suggestions:

Person traumatized by war should be given help, which includes post traumatic stress disorder treatment and counseling.
Victims of war should be helped to re-adjust to life
Woman and children should be helped; if women were raped they should get counseling as for children they should be given special treatment.

If a person gets help when they first arrive it will help them adjust and also relieve some of the stress associated with the terror of war. Too many times a person is left alone, without help, hence they isolate the pain, refuse to talk about it and in the long run they hurt themselves and maybe others.

2005-08-02T20:09:00.000-07:00

Joseph Volpe, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1L1
Canada

Your Excellency:

Please reconsider your rejection of the Khalids' request for asylum. This would be the humanitarian course to take since they are clearly in need of a the support of a network of family and friends who are already Canadian citizens. Both our countries have admitted some rather questionable immigrants in recent decades, surely you can find room for two whose only crime is telling the unpleasant truth.

Sincerely,
Ann Wilmer
USA

The New York Times

August 2, 2005
A Pakistani Rape, and a Pakistani Love Story
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Rapes occur in Pakistan at an estimated rate of one every two hours, and the rape itself is only the beginning of the horror. As in much of the world, the victim is frequently expected to atone for her "sin" by killing herself, while her attacker goes unscathed.
But Dr. Shazia Khalid, through all her tears, guilt and self-doubt, pushed for something more: punishment for the man who raped her. In my column on Sunday, I described how local authorities reacted after Dr. Shazia was raped early this year: they drugged her and confined her to a psychiatric hospital to hush her up.
It didn't work, and the incident provoked unrest in the wild area of Baluchistan, where the rape occurred, because of rumors that the rapist was not only an outsider, but also an army captain. President Pervez Musharraf became determined to make the embarrassment disappear.
So the authorities locked up Dr. Shazia and her husband, Khalid Aman, keeping them under house arrest for two months. Then officials began to hint that Dr. Shazia was a loose woman, perhaps even a prostitute - presumably as a way to pressure her and her husband to keep quiet.
Dr. Shazia, mortified, tried to kill herself. Mr. Khalid and their adopted son, Adnan, stopped her.
Meanwhile, the family's patriarch, Mr. Khalid's grandfather, sent word that because Dr. Shazia had been raped, she was "kari" - a stain on the family's honor - and must be killed or at least divorced. Then, Mr. Khalid said, his grandfather began gathering a mob to murder Dr. Shazia.
"I was very angry because he must know that Shazia is innocent," Mr. Khalid said. "They treat a woman like a cow."
General Musharraf was finding this couple's determination to get justice increasingly irritating. So, Dr. Shazia and Mr. Khalid said, the authorities ordered them to leave the country, and warned that if they stayed, they would be killed - by government "agencies" - and that no one would even find their bodies.
When Dr. Shazia demanded that Adnan be allowed to accompany her, the officials warned that there was no time and that she would be murdered if she delayed. Then the officials forced Dr. Shazia to make a video recording in which she thanked the government for helping her. And, she said, they warned her that if she had any contact with journalists or human rights groups, they would strike back at her - or at her relatives still in Pakistan.
"They said, 'We know where your family is here,' " Dr. Shazia recalled. "I'm very scared and concerned about my family and their safety. But I believe we must tell the truth, and I have entrusted my family to God."
So the Pakistani officials put Dr. Shazia and Mr. Khalid on a plane to London, without their son. As soon as they arrived, Dr. Shazia inquired about asylum in Canada, where she has relatives and friends. But a Canadian bureaucrat rejected the asylum application on the ground that they were now safe in Britain. (Come on, Canadians - have you no heart?)
Dr. Shazia and Mr. Khalid are now living in a one-room dive in a bad neighborhood in London, while applying for asylum in Britain. Dr. Shazia dreams of someday returning to Pakistan to found a hospital for raped and battered women, but for now she is simply a lonely, fragile and frightened refugee who leaves her bare room only to make trips to a nearby Internet cafe.
With Dr. Shazia constantly tearful and unable to sleep at night, Mr. Khalid gave up his job to take care of her and drive home a message: "Shazia, you did nothing wrong. You are still pure!"
Dr. Shazia's voice broke as she said: "Khalid supported me. He showed me his true love. ... He showed me that I have committed no sin. I am pure today, no matter what the world says."
Half-sobbing, she added: "I stay awake at night, thinking, 'Why me?' My career is ruined. My husband's career is ruined. I cannot see my son. ... If I had died then, it would have been better."
But it wouldn't have been. Dr. Shazia's ordeal offers us a glimpse of life for women in much of the developing world today, and it's also a reminder of the one factor that gives me hope. That's the growing number of people who refuse to cower in the face of injustice and instead become forces for change. To me, Dr. Shazia is a hero, for her courage and determination - and, yes, her purity.
E-mail: nicholas@nytimes.com

Madrassa Teacher Terms by Salah Shoaib Choudhury

2005-06-25T07:31:00.000-07:00

MY DEAR FRIEND, BROTHERS AND SISTERS!
I AM EXTREMELY SHOCKED AND ANNOYED TO SEND YOU ALL THE
FOLLOWING NEWS, WHICH APPEARED IN LOCAL DAILY TODAY. PLEASE
READ THIS NEWS AND KINDLY LET ME KNOW YOUR REACTIONS. MOREOVER,
AS PEACE-LOVING PERSON, PLEASE SPREAD THIS NEWS TO OTHERS,
SO THAT THE WORLD WILL KNOW THE 'WORLD' WE ARE
LIVING IN HERE. PLEASE EXCUSE ME FOR BEING SO MUCH
EMOTIONAL AND ANGRY.
YOURS ... SHOAIB

Madrassa Teacher terms
rape victim child as Jew

- Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, from Dhaka

June 25 2005:

The Madrassa Teachers Committee in Banshkhali, Chittagong, eastern port city in Bangladesh, made nasty attempt to save rapist madrassa teacher Abdus Sattar.

Principal of the madrassa, Mufti Feroze declared the victim's family as 'Jews', reports vernacular national daily Shamakal.

In this connection Public Prosecutor (PP) of Women & Children Repression Court, Mohammad Mofizul Haque Bhuiyan expressed his anger saying that, "rapist remains Muslim while the rape victim innocent child's family became Jews by the fatwa of the radical clerics".

Rapist Moulvi Abdus Sattar surrendered before the court on Thursday. His bail prayer was rejected by Hassan Shahid Dawood, judge of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal No. 1, and send the Moulvi to jail.

On 18th June, first year (preliminary) pupil of 'Jami'a Millia Azizia Quasemul Ulum & Orphanage' was victom of barbaric sexual abuse by it's teacher Abdus Sattar.

Mother of the child, being pannicked observing continuous bleeding of her daughter, took her to the Combined Military Hispital (CMH) for check-up. Doctors at CMH, after check-ups, informed the mother "your daughter has been raped".

Victim's father, a member of the armed formes, on receiving urgent phone call from CMH, rushed for Chittagong from Dhaka cantonment.

Next day, mother of the victim took the child to the madrassa along with other local people for the child to identify the rapist. The victim showed the Moulana (teacher) pointing her finger towards him. Father of the victim immediately fainted and collapsed on the bed in for the teacher.

Principal of the madrassa, Mufti Feroze told everyone present, "lets see what happened", taking a chance, rapist Abdus Sattar fled the place.

In the evening, a public meeting was organized by the madrassa committee. In the meeting, all the teachers of the committee said - "it is all a conspiracy against Islam by the Jews. This family is Jew, and they are liars". Father of the victim child burst in tears and prayed 'Let me speak! My daughter is like your daughter too. Please do not label any false blame on us to give chance to the culprit to espace the charges".

Madrassa authority mislead the masses. As revenge they also expelled two brothers of the victim, student of the same madrassa namely Rokonuddin and Tamim.

The local civil and police administration are seen reluctant to take actions as the family of the victim were termed as Jews by the radical clerics.

END
__________________________________________________

Lettre envoyee a La Presse suite a un article de Mme Collard Stephan Hachemi et la librarie Cote St Luc

2005-06-17T08:51:00.000-07:00

Mme Collard,
Permettez-moi de vous faire remarquer que la rectitude politique semble avoir tellement pénétré les moeurs journalistiques, que sans vous en rendre compte, vous accusez de censure M. Libman, simplement parce qu'il exprime, par son geste le désaccord avec la présentation des Palestiniens comme victimes, sans rappeler leur choix de la voie de la violence et du terrorisme et en ignorant la soufrance des Israéliens.
Il ne peut y avoir censure, puisque M. Libman ne cherche pas à empêcher M.Hachemi de présenter son point de vue ailleurs et il n'existe pas de droit qui garantisse à M.Hachemi de présenter ce que bon lui semble où bon lui semble, même si sa mère a été victime d'un régime totalitaire et obscurantiste.
Nous sommes ici en présence de deux points de vues opposés et peut-être bien que le plus rationnel n'est pas celui de M.Hachemi, malgré la sympathie que sa tragédie lui confère. L'ouverture d'esprit consisterait à présenter aussi le point de vue de M. Libman et donner un traitement plus équilibré aux deux points de vue.

Salutations,

lettre singe mais non publier par La Presse

Letter published in The Suburban

2005-06-17T08:48:00.000-07:00

To read the story about the Cote St Luc Library and Stephan Hachemi go to www.thesuburban.com you will also find other letters and an excellent editorial

The other side

Stephan Hachemi’s choice of his mother’s photos to be displayed at the Côte St. Luc Library — Zahra Kazemi’s photos — didn’t show how Iran stripped its Jewish citizens of their nationality, then persecuted, imprisoned and executed them. Many were hanged publicly in front of cheering crowds, accused of being Zionists. Zionism in Iran is considered as sedition and is punishable by life imprisonment or death.

Perhaps Zahra Kazemi even has photos of the 1995 trial of 13 Jewish men accused of being Zionists and imprisoned. Some are still in prison, accused of sedition.

Or maybe she photographed scenes showing how Jews are treated as second class citizens. Iranian Jews pay higher taxes, and cannot visit or have any contact with Israel. If they do they are jailed, tortured and killed.

How dare Stephan Hachemi take the Côte St. Luc Library to the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal when it is he who has violated the truth with his malicious and dishonest editing of his late mother’s work?

Celine Leduc
via e-mail
2005-06-15 21:17:33
www.thesuburban.com

Lettre envoyee a La Presse suite a un article

2005-06-12T16:48:00.000-07:00

Mme Collard

Je ne peux que déplorer la fin atroce qu’a connue Mme Kazémi. Et je compatis avec son fils qui restera marqué à vie par cet événement tragique. D’après les reportages à la télé, il semble être un homme intègre et sensible.

Pourtant, malgré ces qualités, il n’a pas réussi à comprendre la réaction des Juifs à l’exposition de certaines photos de sa mère. Mme Kazémi a été victime de l’intolérance et la cruauté. Plus que quiconque, son fils devrait comprendre que montrer des photos qui dépeignent Israël en État intolérant et cruel est inéquitable. Si Mme Kazémi avait photographié les enfants israéliens déchiquetés par les bombes dans des autobus ou des restaurants, les orphelins juifs qui souffrent, les milliers d’israéliens blessés et mutilés à vie, l’exposition aurait été équitable.

Mais montrer uniquement la souffrance des Arabes et pointer du doigt un État qui essaie de se défendre du terrorisme aveugle, comme n’importe quel État le ferait, ça, c’est inacceptable.M.

Hashémi aurait dû pouvoir comprendre cela.

Vous, en tant que journaliste, devriez être capable de comprendre cela également. Mais la volonté de comprendre ne semble pas être au rendez vous. Seulement, la critique.

R. Pontremoli.

Kazemi photos should not be censored. Letter sent to The Montreal Gazette, Globe and Mail National Post

2005-06-11T08:12:00.000-07:00

Kazemi's photos should not be censored, Gazette headline. Kazemi’s son takes Cote St Luc library to the Human Rights Commission. The reason his mother’s photo exhibit was taken down from the library exhibition hall. Because people complained. He claims it is a justified criticism and adds my mother did criticize Iran. She was killed because she took photos of a protest in Iran.

Kazemi is politically to the left, hence she criticizes the theocratic oligarchy, the Ayatollahs. However, Kazemi does not criticize Iran for its the treatment of Jews.

Her exhibit criticizes the Zionist State. She can be pro-Palestinian without being biased and anti-Zionist. Because, she censors the voice of Jews from Iran, who lost their citizenship, their rights, their savings, their land. They were sent into exile stateless and penniless. They were jailed, tortured, imprisoned and even hung in front of cheering crowds in Teheran, between 1947 and 1967. Zionism in Iran is sedition punishable by life imprisonment or death. Iran 1995, 13 Jewish men were accused of being Zionists. They were tried, and are still in prison.

Canada accepted a few thousand Jewish refugees from Iran, they came settled, opened business and became Canadian citizens. Their voices have been censored. WHY?

SAVE THE LIFE OF SALAH SHOAIB CHOUDHURY THANK YOU!

2005-03-27T12:14:00.000-08:00

I would like to thank The editor at Jewish Indy for posting my letter asking to save Salah on their site.

Visit their interesting and informative site at this url: http://www.israpundit.com/archives/2005/03/action_choudhur.php

for the letter about Salah
http://www.israpundit.com/archives/2005/03/action_choudhur.php

Once again thank Celine

SAVE THE LIFE OF SALAH SHOAIB CHOUDHURY For more information on Salah

2005-03-27T08:09:00.000-08:00

http://www.freechoudhury.com/

http://penusa.org/go/programs/honorary-member/choudhury

http://www.mideastweb.org/log/archives/00000169.htm

http://www.pencanada.ca/prison/ran.php?ranID=20

http://www.wan-press.org/article4538.html

http://es-israel.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=826

http://www.jewishindy.com/article.php?sid=3409

www.hopeways.org

www.iflac.com/ada

POR FAVOR AYUDEN Y FIRMEN LA PETICION

http://www.petitiononline.com/IFLAC102/petition.html

If you want to help you can translate the petition in other languages, please let me know if you do so I can add your translation to this site. Thank you Celine

SAVE THE LIFE OF SALAH SHOAIB CHOUDHURY EMAILS ADDRESSES

2005-03-26T21:08:00.000-08:00

letters@washpost.com
editor@usatoday.com
letters@nytimes.com
letters@washpost.com,
editor@usatoday.com,
netaudr@abc.com,
nightline@abcnews.com,
2020@abc.com,
ftn@cbsnews.com,
comments@foxnews.com,
Special@foxnews.com

Foxreport@foxnews.com,
Oreilly@foxnews.com,
Colmes@foxnews.com,
Hannity@foxnews.com,
Ontherecord@foxnews.com,
nightly@nbc.com,
today@nbc.com,
world@msnbc.com
info@cnbc.com,
newshour@pbs.org,
ombudsman@npr.org,
totn@npr.org,
rush@eibnet.com,
phil.boyce@abc.com,
letters@latimes.com,
lletters@nytimes.com,
editor@usatoday.com,
wsjcontact@dowjones.com,
letters@washpost.com,
letters@newsweek.com,
letters@time.com,
letters@usnews.com,
info@ap.org,
tips@upi.com,
fair@fair.org,
editor@usatoday.com,
info@ledger-dispatch.com,
chicoer@maxinet.com,
ncjour@northcoast.com,
chicoer@maxinet.com,
acwebmaster@arguscourier.com,
letters@redding.com,
tribune@tahoe.com,
udj@saber.net,
opinion@bakersfield.com,
mail@carmelpinecone.com,
editor@davis.com,
letters@fresnobee.com,
kvsun@lightspeed.net,
letters@lodinews.com,
letters@modbee.com,

Salah Shoaib Choudhury automated responses I received after I sent my letter to the media

2005-03-26T21:01:00.000-08:00

The following news agencies have sent an automated response. I will let everyone know if any of these news agencies contact me for more information.

NPR

NBC Today Show

New York Times

USA Today

Newsweek

US News

SAVE THE LIFE OF SALAH SHOAIB CHOUDHURY LETTERS SENT

2005-03-26T16:38:00.000-08:00

LETTER TO BARBRA STREISAND

March 27, 2005

Ms. Barbra Streisand
c/o Martin Erlichman Associates, Inc.
5670 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 2400
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Dear Ms Streisand,

Happy Purim!

I have been a fan of yours since 1967. One of your songs had an impact on my life: “People” The lyrics say: People who need people are the luckiest people in the World. I am a lucky person as I need your help to save a life, that of Salah Shoaib Choudhury.

Salah Shoaib Choudhury, is a journalist from Bangladesh whose only crime is to want peace with Israel and extend a hand of friendship to the West. Yet, he stands accused of sedition.

Take a few minutes out of your busy day to sign a petition on his behalf by going to: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/IFLAC102/petition.html. Forward it, and/or write a letter and send it to: President Dr. Iajuddin Ahmed, to Prime Minister H. E BEGUM KHALEDA ZIA, of Bangladesh. And send a copy of your letter to: Secretary General Kofi Annan, UN Headquarters and to Dr. Rice State Secretary of the United States.

You might save the life of Salah Shoaib Choudhury.

In an interview with at the Actor’s Studio you said: Commitment is the most important act, because when we commit the universe opens up. This is why I believe that writing to you, asking you to support my letter writing campaign can open doors and make a difference.

Writing to officials in the United Nations, the United States and Bangladesh can work, remember the fatwa against Salman Rushdie or Talisma Nasreen? The pressure of international public opinion spared both Rushdie and Nasreen. Salah Shoaib Choudhury is a Muslim man who believes that peace is possible with Israel and the West; he is accused of sedition, but his real “crime” is his dream of peace.

Celine Leduc

LETTER TO ISRAELI AMBASSADOR

During the Second World War when Jews were being murdered and slaughtered by the millions, there was a poem or wisdom saying, They came for the Jews and I did not speak out, They came for Catholics I did not speak out, they came for .... and it ends with they came for me and no one was left. These words of wisdom are often used and quoted in the gentile world of which I am part of, since I am not Jewish. Yet, they resonate a truth that is still in need of understanding and feeling in my world, the dominant society.

Personal experience has taught me that the Jewish community is one of kindness and hope, they are faithful to their friends. Sadly, their friends are not always faithful to them. Yet, the Hebrew Bible teaches us that when friends stand by one another lives are saved.

The Hebrew Bible gives us examples, Bhatia (the daughter of the evil Pharaoh) and Miriam (his sister) saved the life of Moses. Deborah, the judge had a vision a woman would save her people, and it is Jael (a gentile friend) who killed the enemy of Israel. Ruth the Moabite whose people were cursed, came with an open heart with her mother in law Naomi went to Bethlehem. Ruth was accepted and was the grand mother of King David. Let us not forget Queen Esther, who saved her people and when she fasted and asked her people to join in they accepted the Torah, which had been brought down by Moses.

So, it is in that spirit that I am writing to you, please let us make another miracle by joining forces to save a life.

This is why I am enclosing a letter which I am sending to all newspapers I can find to try and ask journalists to take on the cause of Salah Shoaib Choudhury. And I humbly ask for you to help me save an innocent man, as he is an inspiration for me.

Celine Leduc
IFLAC Delegate Canada

LETTER TO THE MEDIA

This letter is addressed to all people who say silently: “If I had known, I would have done something.” Be it during the holocaust, or when journalist Daniel Pearl was murdered, in Pakistan, because he was a Jew. As individuals, we were left with an immense sadness and a helpless feeling “if only…” I would be like: Raoul Wallenberg, Schindler, or Lilly Wust who saved the lives of Jews. Right now, you and I can change that feeling of helplessness to empowerment, and who knows together we could even save a life.

Salah Shoaib Choudhury, is a journalist from Bangladesh whose only crime is to want peace with Israel and extend a hand of friendship to the West. Yet, he stands accused of sedition.Take a few minutes out of your busy day to sign a petition on his behalf by going to: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/IFLAC102/petition.html. Forward it, and/or write a letter and send it to: President Dr. Iajuddin Ahmed, to Prime Minister H. E BEGUM KHALEDA ZIA, of Bangladesh. And send a copy of your letter to: Secretary General Kofi Annan, UN Headquarters.

You might save the life of Salah Shoaib Choudhury.

Writing to officials in Bangladesh can work, remember the fatwa against Salman Rushdie or Talisma Nasreen? The pressure of international public opinion spared both Rushdie and Nasreen. Salah Shoaib Choudhury is a Muslim man who believes that peace is possible with Israel; he is accused of sedition, but his real “crime” is his dream of peace.Celine Leduc

LETTER TO DR. RICE

February 21, 2005

U.S. Department of State
2201 C St. NW
Washington, DC
20520202-647-4000

Dear Dr. Rice,

Congratulations on your nomination by President Bush to the prestigious appointment of Secretary of State. It is with deep admiration of your achievements and your understanding of the importance of peace that I am writing to you on behalf of IFLAC, (International Forum for Literature and Culture of Peace).

Dr. Ada Aharoni who currently lives in Haifa Israel is the founder and current president. IFLAC is about paving global PEACE through culture and literature, and the way we can achieve peace through positive activism, creativity and by extending a hand in friendship. IFLAC is an NGO, and I warmly invite you to visit its sites at http://www.iflac.com/ and www.iflac.com/ada for more information.

Salah Shoaib Choudhury a well respected journalist who lives in Bangladesh offered his hand in friendship and wanted to create a bridge of understanding between Bangladesh and Israel. On his way to Israel where he was invited to a Writers international conference on Peace, he was arrested at the airport and sent to jail without any charges. He has been in jail for over a year, and is held without bail, without being formerly charged and without proof of any crime. The only crime they can find is that he wanted to go to Israel, however the fabricated charge is spying for Israel.

I am including some letters that have been sent by IFLAC, and others to free him. IFLAC has started a petition to free him, at this point we have 2400 signatures, you can find the petition at: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/IFLAC102/petition.htmlIFLAC is not the only group who knows that Salah Choudhury is innocent you can also see the wonderful site by Dr. Richard Benkin has written quite a few articles about the plight of Choudhury: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=4507 http://www.hopeways.com/ .

His brother Sohail, is the only link between Salah and the world, and he manages to send him messages of encouragement from the world. Sohail was unable to go to his mother’s funeral, who died of grief at what befell her son. He mourned his mother in jail. His family is being harassed and criminalized. There is a great deal of evil false propaganda against Salah and his family, and rumors ranging from his being a homosexual to his being a spy for Israel. Both charges carry a stiff sentence that can include death. He is not a homosexual nor is he spying for Israel, all he did was use freedom of speech to offer a hand of friendship to Israel, and the hope to create a bridge of peace by starting an IFLAC chapter in Bangladesh.We have tried everything to release innocent Salah Choudhury from prison, but he is still kept there in inhuman conditions. Please help us to free innocent Salah Shoaib Choudhury from Dhaka jail in Bangladesh, Cell 15.

ith warm thanks in advance,

Celine Leduc
FLAC Delegate in Canada

2005-03-13T12:27:00.000-08:00

Ophelia, Sanji and Celine Kwanza 2005

2005-03-05T11:20:00.000-08:00

Graduation photo for Master's degree

Poetry Sojourner Truth

2005-02-11T12:11:00.000-08:00

Ain’t I a woman!

December 26, 2004
By Celine Leduc

A long, long time ago
Sojourner Truth asked
Ain’t I a woman?

She saw white men
In their gentleman ways
Standing up for a white women.
Offering them a hand,
Their hand as support
So they could get in or out
Of a carriage.

These gentlemen opened
The doors, stood up,
When a lady entered the room.
A white lady that is…

She did not understand
Because she was forced
to work as hard if not harder
Than a man.
She bailed hay, loaded
Sleighs, she was as strong as a man.

She was made to stand up for a man
A white man.
Does this mean she is a true leader?

Was it not what white men think
They were stronger than white women,
Hence, stood up for them…
Maybe this is why she asked;
Ain’t I a woman?

Well time went by,
Some white women learnt
That they could be as strong as men
Where even stronger
As they bore children!
The women said no do not stand up,
Do not offer me a hand
You are making me weak and inferior.
So women worked as hard as men
Became the woman Sojourner was
Way back then.

Well my story is not finished,
You see…
Because after white women
Saw their strength
Got their rights.
Could make decisions
And vote.
Way down in Alabama
A young woman
Worked all day,
Her feet were tired,
Her back ached.
Was told by a white man
Stand up and give me your seat.

Rosa Parks stayed seated
She remained in her seat
Going against the law.
She sat in her seat.
She said knowing well that she was a woman!

Well, she stirred quite a fuss
She got black men to talk and stand up
White women stood up for her
Together they made a difference.
And finally, Rosa got to sit!

It took over 300 years
If not more for white women to
See that black women were women
Just like them…
But then it took more than
3000 years to see they were equal to men….

Maybe this is what Sojourner meant
When she said” Ain’t I a woman”
She knew!

Kwanza

2005-02-09T20:35:00.000-08:00

Kwanza!

Television mirrors life!
Life reflects television!
For the aficionado it is G. H.
General Hospital for those
Who are not acquainted with
The life of Soaps.

Mary May, a beautiful woman
With a voice to soothe angels,
Invited Luke and Laura
to a Kwanza celebration.
As Laura had helped her so much
With her orphan kids.

Luke surprised to be invited
To a Black affair to celebrate
With African Americans.
Luke was a bit shy!
He said quite eloquently
Like only Luke can say
“You sure you want me,
‘cause you know I'm white.”

Mary May smiled and said:
Kwanza is for everybody.
Come on the first day of a seven day event
Of pride in being black, come and share with us.

First Kwanza I ever saw
Right there on Television
Performed by my favorite
Soap Stars, Right on G. H.
Mary May invited
Luke and Laura
And also me…

Curious to know if in Montreal
Such an event existed
I called and called.
I let my fingers do the walking
And finally I reached my destination.
The Ethnic Bookstore
My marching fingers led me.
Ida told me of Bernadette.
She was one of the first woman
to perform and celebrate Kwanza.
Bernadette was in high demand…

So on the phone I get,
To invite Bernadette to share
A Kwanza on the air.
I had a radio show then.
On CKUT …
She told me she usually performed
With her friend Ophelia.
Little did I know
That Bernadette and Ophelia
Would ask me to join them right there on air.
Me perform a poem, on air.
I told her "You sure you want me I'm white!"
Bernadette smiled and said: "Kwanza is for everyone."
Right on air they convinced me to recite,
To share a bit of me, my inner self.

Well, this led to a yearly Affair
Once a year Bernadette, Ophelia and I
Went on air to speak of and celebrate Kwanza.

The second year, I felt the joy
and yes honor Luke and Laura felt.
Bernadette Ophelia read poetry
and Grail played the drums.

We performed live for all of Montreal,
It was a celebration with a studio
full of people from all walks of life.
In all shades of black and white.
On that Monday Kwanza hit the airwaves.

All it took was for Mary May to invite
Luke and Laura to celebrate and say:
You are all invited in my celebration
Of who I am, for I am a Black woman
Proud and happy willing to share my holiday...

Yes, Art mimics life if only we take the first step and say I invite!
Ever since that first show on the Radio
Bernadette, Ophelia and me
Have always celebrate Kwanza.
And now to our group we add another friend
Daniela… You and you and you!

Celine Leduc
December 26, 2004

Poetry commemorating the Holocaust

2005-02-09T00:05:00.000-08:00

Never again!

Celine Leduc
January 27, 2005

Annie and Anita two best friends
Grew up together in Berlin.
Faithful to their religion and their love God.
No one knew who was Lutheran or Jewish.
They were blond haired blue eyed beauties.
Proud and loving German women.
Their generation reflected the openness of society.
Educated, lovers of music and dance.

As they grew their art complemented
One another a pianist/percussionist,
The other a modern dancer.
Their talent was applauded.
Germans loved them, for their talent
Their genius as they were the best
Germany had to offer.

They traveled around the world
Celebrating German dance and music
The special and honored place of woman in
German male oriented society.
All was fine, until….

1933 came, and all changed!
Germans became Aryans they were pure.
The National Socialist Party had won
An election, but were known as Nazis.

Under the pure Nazi!
One lost her rights to be a German
Her religion became a crime
She was a dirty Jew.
Even when she kept Kosher.
Accused of drinking the blood of gentile,
When her faith forbids the eating or drinking of blood.
The other soiled as she was a Jew lover.
Their love was unwelcome, forbidden and knew.
Soon they had to leave!

An underground network of women.
Made up of the unclean scoundrels.
Broke the German code of silence.
The impure allowed them to regain their nationality.
The underground provided them,
Fake name, passports, identity, traveling passes.
Purifying them by their name
Allowing them the flee to freedom.
In a world of fake identity
where German became Aryans.

You ask: “What’s in a name?”
Their blond hair and blue eyes
Was not reflected in their name.
And so their name changed
Reiner became .Reimer
And Erickson Brandt
Good German names reflecting the Aryans nightmare
Allowed them to dream of freedom
As they became card carrying fake slaves of the Nazis and Aryan

Nazis laws made their love illegal,
Their friendship lawless.
What you ask is in a name.
Life, love and freedom!

On a bright sunny day!
They set off on an a trip.
By car, by foot they reached
The border, between Germany and Holland.

It is between slavery and freedom.
The inseparable were separated.
One made it to safety
The other was killed by a lone border soldier.
Two became one.
The German soldier, screamed
A platoon doubled back.

Although she made it to safety.
She came back, to save her friend.
The soldier, mindlessly following orders demanded
What is your name?
Silence greeted him.
Not one word she said.
Not one scream from her lips.
Not one tear in her eyes.
As she held her childhood friend in her arms

Ten Nazi soldiers, ran when a gunshot called.
With all her might she fought.
They yelled traitor.
“Jude”, we know you are a Jew.
You betrayed the Reich.
You drink our blood, he yelled.
As her friend laid covered in blood
Because of a bullet in her back.
As the earth soaked up, swallowed
and drank the blood of the innocent..
Off to the Berlin you go.
Jewish murderer.

In Berlin, the hands that had clapped
Now her face they slapped.
Interrogated, punched, beaten.
Not one tear she shed.
Not one word she said.
Off to Auschwitz went.

A law, a man made law
A law of hatred separated
Two childhood friends.
Ended their life
Ended their freedom
Ended their earthly love.
Stripped them of their nationality.
Their identity but never of their dignity.
Two became one, in that horror.

She died at the border
She died in a camp, a gas chamber.
Clinging to her friend.
Her memory of better days.
On her way to the gas chamber
Her friend was there, showed her
Two flowers one white one red.

She stopped, bent and picked them up.
In her hands all that remained
Was a handful parched dried earth
Tainted by the blood of the innocent.
The lost of innocence
.

2005-02-08T17:49:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Effusion 2005.

Effusion is all about words. The written word which will be used to create friendships through poetry, poetic prose and short stories.

The aim is to build bridges between people, a friendship can survive and even blossom if it is based on honesty and knowledge first of the self, the “I”, the ego which leads to understanding and respecting of the other.

Women can accomplish a great deal as individuals and as a group. The world of women is diversified and all encompassing because we come in all shapes. Women represent every race, religion, belief, politics. Women are of every sexual orientation. Women celebrates life, love, hope and peace.

This blog celebrates women and their power, yet they must agree with the mandate and the aim. Men are welcome if they agree with the mandate.

The mandate:

1. Promote the positive, such as I am for something instead of being against a person, a group, or an ideology.
2. Respect the other as we respect ourselves. Based on an adage found in the Bible “Love thyself as thy neighbor”
3. Diversity be it of ethnicity, religion, sexuality or race.
4. Equality everyone is equal as each one of us is understood by her character, her humanity, her love, her acceptance and respect of her friend.
5. Love ourselves first in all our greatness and beauty hence loving our friend.
6. Passion for the written word, poetry, poetic prose, short stories or articles.
7. Compassion as the pain of one is respected and understood. Action is taken to soothe the pain and to find ingenious ways to prevent it from happening again.
8. Exposing hatred in all its forms and replacing it by love that is the full knowledge of both the good and bad ourselves our society and hence the other and her society.
9. Developing a body of works that promotes these ideals.