fragments

Pure white husky named Storm. This happened in Anne Arundel County. Please click the link for more info and pass it on!

tomhiddlestonswife:

lalondes:

I’m sending this petition out on behalf of Suzanne Chybli, the owner of Alena’s. I’ve been in contact with her for the past few days, and she asked me to create this petition and spread it on Tumblr.

Suzanne Chybli is the owner of Alena’s Boutique and Bridal, a store which caters to the needs of the women in Calgary’s Muslim community. In the past, Alena’s sold hijabs, abayas, and many other special and unique items - until the administration of the North Hill Shopping Centre ordered Chybli to remove all the hijabs and abayas in the store.

Chybli complied with the mall, removing over 40 boxes of stock from her boutique. After she had done so, the mall administration told her, “We have the right to throw you out in 24 hours. We won’t do that because you have removed all the unwanted items as we requested, but we will not be renewing your contract for January 1, 2013.”

Chybli and her customers are devastated at what is happening to one of the only Muslim clothing stores in Calgary.

Says Chybli, “This petition is not meant to help Alena’s in any way, but to increase awareness that comments and discrimination happen all the time.

“Going back in history, almost every culture, religion and race had women wearing a scarf but over time they have decided to remove it. Now, because most Muslims, have chosen to wear one, we are looked at like we are doing something wrong.

“Malls always have the upper hand, so unfortunately there’s nothing really that I can do. I cannot prove that their decision was based on prejudice or because we neglected to obey the terms of the lease. However; as the events have unfolded in the past two to three months regardless it looks like they don’t want us to stay there anyways.

“We’ve been getting dirty looks from the some of the other stores since we opened there. It made me feel like we didn’t belong as we stepped out of area of the city mostly reserved for cultural stores that are in the northeast sector of the city.

“All we want as Alena’s Boutique and Bridal is to have the right to sell very conservative clothing and hijabs to our customers, who thanked us so many times for opening the store on this side of the city.

“I love my store, I love the clothing, and I love the completeness of a woman in proper clothing. My customers are saddened by this tragic event.

“Hopefully we can find a location that is great for the store and customers and not offend anyone else.”

Please stand up for Suzanne Chybli, Alena’s, and the Muslim women of Calgary. Do not allow this discrimination to stand.

Sign the petition here, and reblog and spread the word.

Please, this is really important to me. It is so hard to find clothes that are affordable and islamically appropriate for muslim women to begin with. Please sign and reblog.

(Source: lalondes, via faineemae)

faineemae:

rien-que-pour-vous:

faineemae:

Two non-South Asian girls from a local high school decided to dress up as people of colour (PoC) for Halloween. They blacked their faces, made beards, wrapped turbans on their heads, and even found fitting outfits. They, and the supporters of the pictures that the girls posted on Twitter and Facebook, continued the “effect” further by making racist and stereotypical comments about PoC, including calling themselves “Pakis”, and “Arabs.” They also took and publicly uploaded photosin stereotypical poses, as well as stereotypical places (i.e. outside an Indian restaurant). A couple of students who voiced their offense to this brought it to the teachers, which escalated to the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRSDB). Though these costumes were not worn to school, a trend of cyberbullying started as soon as the offended girls stood up against the act. They held a restorative meeting (20 days later), and these girls were let off the hook. The few vocal students who stood up and represented their fellow offended peers were told to “keep quiet” of the situation, and swear secrecy of the result of the meeting, by WRDSB.

It’s not hard to see the injustice here. The Board failed to push the girls to simply apologize to the victims of this act of cultural appropriation and cyberbullying, but they also undermined the situation by literally brushing the entire issue under the table. The offenders were not even punished in any way, i.e. detention or suspension, despite that their own code of conduct stated that offenders should be dealt with accordingly.

You may not be a Person of Colour, of religion, or you may not even be directly aware of these offenses. It may have never happened to you at all. But there are so many students who have battled with these stereotypes, including your friends, peers, and even teachers.

We’re not going to try and explain the damage done here, if it’s not plain already. It’s a simple matter of the golden rule: “Do unto others as you would want done unto yourself.”

Racism is bullying too, and cyberbullying is a truth that surrounds our generation. Outlined in Bill 13, the Accepting Schools Act, and Bill 80, the Anti-Bullying Act, there are consequences associated with cyberbullying and the appropriate action must be taken by educators. 

Support us in our rally against WRDSB to take stronger action of in-school offenses of racism and cyberbullying that touch upon the most basic principles of respect, community, and security. We want to see policies in educational settings that directly address racism with no tolerance whatsoever, potentially even taking it to a provincial-wide level. This petition will be forwarded to Kitchener-Waterloo’s MPP, Catherine Fife, in hopes of addressing WRDSB and the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

Tweet this petition link http://chn.ge/XEmgRA and hashtag it #RacismIsBullying. 
Share on Facebook, and help spread the word. 

If you would like to share any personal stories (anonymous or not) about racism and/or cyberbullying, please email us at RacismIsBullying@gmail.com and we will include them in our letter to the MPP.

**NOTE** The picture of the two girls dressed in the costumes will not be posted due to our belief in its privacy. This petition is NOT about the girls involved, but about the way the WRDSB reacted to the situation, involving both racism and cyberbullying. 
The picture included at the beginning is part of a campaign by the Students Teaching About Racism in Society group from Ohio University. 

THIS IS FUCKING BULLSHIT. THEY DIDN’T WEAR THE COSTUMES TO SCHOOL AND ONE OF THEM IS DATING A FUCKING BROWN GUY FOR FUCK SAKES..CALM THE FUCK DOWN

So, dating said person of color gives them a right to be racist? I don’t get what you’re trying to say here.

“I can’t be racist, I have a black friend!”

Yeah, no.

(Source: faineemae, via faineemae)

punjabi-rani:

“Roger Jean-Claude Mbédé just spent a year prison in Cameroon for sending this SMS to another man: I’m very much in love w/u.

Roger has a new hearing on Monday, but he’s facing two more years in a jail where he faced daily abuse from guards and horrific health conditions. Homosexuality is still illegal in Cameroon, but President Paul Biya and the Minister of Justice could put a stop to this right now by freeing Roger and declaring a moratorium on this discriminatory law. President Biya has been swayed in the past by international pressure and knows that Cameroon’s reputation is at stake.

We have just a few days to raise a massive outcry and keep Roger from going back to jail.”

(Source: , via ladypandacat)