Before Obama got elected I did not think a black man could become president in the US.  Granted, whites were the only group within whom a majority not to vote enough did to allow him to get elected.  As I watched that happened I had to take a second look at my views on race and racism in the US.

Racism, bias and discrimination are still with us, not as blatant in the past but present enough to still make a negative impact on black lives.  The difference now is that blacks, can succeed in a mostly white majority culture, they can even become President, or LMAO a princess   It is not easy and despite the belief of many whites, it is still not as easy for minorities even if they have the right credentials, looks and experience.

But we can, and that is what is important.

I write this as I watch a few interesting debates in the blogosphere.  One about the Princess and the Frog and the other about a magazine with articles about black writers, written by black authors with an image of a black woman with many picks in her hair.

It occurred to me that at some point we have to take what is given and accept it with grace, even if it is not the perfect gift.

With the Princess and the Frog, true it took a while, true she spends most of her time as a frog, but Disney did try and did a good job.  They are pushing the movie as hard as their other movies, marketing it aggressively and I think made a good call not to bring race relations into the move.  As I read questions about the movie on different blog sites I get the sense that both blacks and non-blacks that have not seen it are apprehensive.

Can I go to this movie and not feel uncomfortable for being either white or black.  Can whites sit with their black friends, or blacks in the movie and not have to look sideways to make sure they are laughing so as not to offend, or can they just enjoy the movie.  And blacks wonder if they can sit next to their white friends and not feel embarassed by some over the top stereotype, or have to ‘educate’ their friends on just what is offensive, or can they too just sit back and enjoy the movie.

The answer to both sides is yes.  Disney made a movie with brown characters that blacks and whites (if they simply remember that this is 1) a cartoon, 2) a Disney Cartoon and 3) a Fairy tale) can sit side by side and simply enjoy without the typical discomfort around issues of race.  To be honest that is everything the African American community could have hoped for from this movie.

If this movie is successful, more will be made, small errors will be fixed and soon there will be a rainbow of princesses in the Disney aresenal, who knows one day there might be a Fat one, or an ugly one with a wonderful heart?   It is true, I am glad to see a black princess, and was curious enough to go see it myself.  But rather than the deep sense of “OMG there is a black princess” it was more, OK it is done, now there is a black one, I can cross off another check for the battle against racism.

I guess my expectations were simple, just make a good story and great visuals, along with fantastic music, like your other movies.  All I can say is 2/3 ain’t badl LOL   The music could have been better.  It was interesting that the only moment I had of discomfort was the portray of the three men in the swamp, I was rather offended by that stereotype, but I remembered the three things that I wrote above and moved on.

Disney tried, they made a good, if bleated, effort and did a good job.  I for one am OK with that.  That outweighs all the negatives.  I think if we accept and embrace this movie, even if we don’t find it perfect, it will mean many more will come down the pipeline.  If we complain too loudly about the results and ignore the effort, I fear we will go back to a Snow White Disney.

I feel the same way about the magazine PW and their afropicks cover (a simple google search will show you what I am talking about).  It is true, that it was probably not the most fortunate choice, but I look beyond that, at what is inside those covers.  For me what they did between the covers, is much more important that what was on the outside, which actually is a rather artistic picture, if you can get past the thoughts of race.

It is a time, I feel where the black community has to start meeting the majority community half way.  If a genuine effort is made that falls short, recognize the effort.  It costs money for the movie industry to make films.  Every time the industry makes one with a black cast, or characters or which adresses racial issues, these movies tend not to do well, unless they are exceptionally well written, or come at a time when the comminity is ready to recieve them.  Thus the studios, make many of these films knowing that no matter how good they are, they will most likely not be cash cows, they may if they are lucky get a few nominations and even an oscar, but the point is, it is a risk for them to do so.

So if we want the snow white filmscape to start turning summer brown then perhaps we should welcome the first crude attempts to start this process.  Remember, it was the brave actors and actresses that played sterotypical parodies of backs and other minorities, even though it probably killed them a little each day to do so that allowed the black actors of today to be working freely in movies the way they do.

So those of us in the Black community should be a whole lot more careful when we cry racism.  It we do chances are it will be taken more seriously.

So lets get the racial thing out of the way, so that I can focus on the review (at the end of the article if you want to jump there and skip the icky race talk LOL!)

I have been waiting for about 35 years to see a black princess in a Disney Movie.  To be honest I never really thought much about it growing up, I loved Disney movies and I never questioned the lack of non white characters princesses were white, they were in the movies, in books and in Disney cartoons, that is just the way it was.  It was only when I got older and I watched Disney release Pocahontas, Mulan, and Aladdin that I started to wonder if they were ever going to have a black one.   Then came the Lion King and I thought, “gee they go to Africa and all the characters are animals”  and gave up on the idea that they would ever do it.

Then I heard that Disney was finally going to come out with a black princess and I though “It is about time” and I followed the very difficult birthing pains of this movie with amused interest.  Many (mostly whites) have questioned why is the race of the princess important, why should it make a difference if  little black girls get to go and see a princess that looks like them on the screen?  Perhaps it is because there are so few of them.  If American society valued the beauty of black girls as much as it does that of white girls, then it would not be that important for young black girls to have a the image of a black Disney princess, because there would be many of them for them to choose from.

Let’s ask the question in reverse, why should there not be a black princess and why should young black girls not be happy to finally see one, where there once was none?  Why should they not get to see someone who looks like them doing cools stuff like going on adventures and getting the prince at the end of the story?

Anyhow, I for one was satisfied that Disney had finally done it, as I am sure the Chinese girls were excited to see Mulan, Native girls to see Pocahontas and Arab girls to see the princess in Aladdin.  All I asked of Disney was to do what they have done before, make a great movie with a good story that was well drawn.  So long as they did what they do best, I was going to be satisfied that they at least made the effort.

I decided to go see it this weekend, because the way it was being reviewed rather bothered me and I wanted to just enjoy the movie without having to think too much about what it did, or did not say.  I getting more and more  irritated by both sides of the ‘race’ argument regarding this movie.  With one side of the argument saying, “why should we care that there is a black princess (because you know, there have been so many before), I mean we had brown ones before, aren’t you all the same anyway?  Chinese, black what is the difference?  If there is a non white one, you (all you brown people) should all be happy.”

Then there was the other side,  the one that complained in anger that some bad characters were too black, some were not black enough, that the princess spent too much time as a frog and so on (this part I agree with, but then again, no Disney movie is perfect).  There are some on this side that won’t see the movie because they are sure that it must in some way be racist.

To the former I answer, yes for little black girls this is a welcome change, and no it is not the same to have a Muslim, or a Chinese one, as little black girls are mostly not Muslim and are definitely not Chinese.  They, like all little girls of all races,  want to see someone looking like them doing cool things so they can feel that they too can be like that character and fantasize about being them.

To the second group I say, oh just shut up and go see the movie.  Enjoy it for what it is, a cartoon aimed at kids.   Enjoy the story, the music and the score and stop asking for perfection.  Disney has given us a cool black princess who can sit proud next to her other princess friends, as she is just as lovely and charming as they are.

The review:

Now for the story.  Others will describe the story in detail, but briefly you have a young woman that works hard, sometimes too hard, to make her way in this world.  Like all young girls torn between what society tells her “Let a man come rescue you and make your dreams come true” and what she knows is true “we all need to make our way in this world and we can’t wait to be rescued”.

Then just when she is about to get her dream (her very own restaurant), events conspire to take that dream away from her.  It is then that she in desperation wishes for her problems to be fixed.  Her wish comes true, but not in the way she expected.

She discovers that while important work is not the most important thing in life and that prince charming does not have to be perfect, just someone you feel you can share your life with.

She does all of this mostly in the form of a frog, swimming and dancing through the swamps around New Orleans.  One thing which is kind of nice, is that the two lovers fall in love with each other when they are frogs, not when they are (very attractive of course) human beings.

I really enjoyed it, was funny at parts and sad at others.  The characters were well fleshed out and likable.  The music was well done and enjoyable.  Watching the little girls dancing in their seats was evidence enough of this.

Even the bad guy was kinda interesting, the only real sour note was the three ‘red necks’ in the bayou that tried to catch the frogs.  I found that a little offensive, but I have yet to watch a Disney movie where some character has not bothered me, so I sighed, slapped my forehead and enjoyed the rest of the movie.

I would recommend going to see the movie for it is worth the money and kids will enjoy it.  The only negative and it really is not much of one, is that I didn’t really feel the need to run out and buy the score to the movie.  After Tarzan, I bought the record, and after Beauty and the beast I did the same.  But, with this one although I enjoyed the songs, I did not go home humming the tunes.  The same with the imagery, I enjoyed the visuals, but I was not blown away by them as I had been in some of the previous ones.    But all in all well worth the money I spent to see it on the big screen, which these days is not something I say lightly!

Just a thought, when will Disney do the unthinkable and have an average looking princess or even an ugly one?   OK, OK I don’t think that will ever happen, but who knows, 50 years ago nobody would ever have thought that Disney would have a movie with a ‘black’ princess

What is your definition of a beautiful woman?  I am so tired of being ‘told’ what is beautiful because frankly I don’t find what the mainstream media feeds me as the image of what is beautiful to be accurate.  I don’t think there is one definition of what is beautiful, or one ‘type’ of beautiful woman.

I find myself attractive, I don’t fit the cultural norms of attractiveness, I am not a size 2, I am black, I don’t wear designer clothes even though I can afford them, I am independent, not outgoing, easy going and successful.  I am equally happy if I have a man in my life as I am without one.

Women should not care about how beautiful they are, but women have always and will always be judged by their beauty.  That is the bad news, the good news is that beauty is not a fixed thing, it varies across cultures and time.  It is not just about looks, but can be about personality, confidence and character.

As women we can choose.  We can live in a system where we judge ourselves by arbitrary standards and if we don’t fit them we can feel inferior.  Or we can decide to change and expand the definition of beauty.

Every day I will try to post pictures of a woman that I find beautiful.  Some may fit the societies norms of what is beautiful, others may not.   This is my way of battling this stupid system. You don’t have to be blond, skinny and white to be beautiful, beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.

Beautiful Women Day one!

carifiesta / carifête 2009

Originally uploaded by abdallahh

Kumiko…

Day 2 Pictures

As I listened to Susan Boyle’s new album it became obvious who would grace my next post

Dec 12 2009

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fa/Frog_official_poster_500.jpg

I liked her spunk and enjoyed the movie, so my beautiful woman of today is Princess Tiana

There are so many disturbing things about this video, the violence the abuse, the kids watching and supporting the aggressor.

The desperation of the girl being abused, the predicament of the boy who very wisely, considering this was caught on tape, did not respond with violence.

I am guessing that once the police view this video charges will be pressed, the girl abusing the other will enter the criminal justice system and unless a miracle occurs her chances of success in life will be seriously curtailed.

A young girl being bullied has been a victim of an assault, she was physically and mentally attacked and nobody came to her rescue.  Every day this story is repeated in schoolyard after schoolyard, on kid after kid.

To be honest I am not sure what to make of the other kids, nothing will happen to them, but this idea that you can just watch a crime in progress and do nothing has to somehow be curtailed.

As adults become more intolerant of opposing views and attitudes and respond with anger and sometimes violence, can we really be that surprised that children are mirroring our own behavior?

I found this video on ireports (Juggalo harassing and assaulting innocent high school girl )

more about “School girl being bullied caught on tape“, posted with vodpod

 

There seems to be so much confusion around racism, bigotry, intolerance and bias.  I was reminded of this as I read various articles discussing the racist reaction to a young black-Chinese mixed child from Chinese nationals.  I won’t post links to the articles, they are easy to find by simply googling “Lou Jing & racism” or those terms plus china to get more hits.   As interesting as the story is on it’s own the response of western bloggers and journalists has been equally interesting.

There are a number of things I find interesting about the response by the western media.  One is irony of people writing from countries that have a much deeper and shameful history of racism and racial repression moralizing about the ‘racism’ of the Chinese.  Another is the redefinition of the racist behavior as ‘politically incorrect’ or allowing that ignorance is an excuse for racist behavior.

The first defense is interesting as it plays to the desire of majorities in many countries to harass their minorities and often women and to treat them unequally and make it seem OK by saying that they are simply being politically incorrect rather than racist and that somehow that is OK.  The argument I guess is that some want to be able to tell blacks that they are inferior or women that they should be subservient and not to have any repercussions.  What I find interesting about that stance is that the same people then don’t want the people they are offending to respond with any kind of anger, they are simply supposed to accept this treatment.  So basically they reserve the right to harass minorities, but if the minorities point out that this behavior is racist, this is somehow unacceptable?  Personally I would rather not hear racist or sexist remarks, however if people feel the need to make them because they want to be politically incorrect, then I tend to feel the need to call them racist, or sexist or homophobic or whatever else.  It only seems fair.

Thus they defend the Chinese stating that if these horrific remarks are made in ignorance it is not so bad and it is not really racism.  What I would like to point out to them is that regardless, the remarks are no less hurtful to those of us towards which they are made. I would also like to challenge the ‘ignorance’ remark.  I don’t have much contact with people from Argentina for example.  I have read many stories about possible racism in Argentina and the harboring and protection of Nazi criminals in that country.  I could hide behind ignorance and simply assume that all Argentinians are racist and use foul language to torment and attack a mixed race black-Argentinian child.  But as a human being I know that would be wrong and that I should not judge a person simply because of where they come from and their national origin.

It is not the way I would wish to be treated and thus I refuse to treat others in that way.  It has nothing to do with political correctness, and everything to do with simple courtesy and respect.  That said, when I hear a racist remark I try to determine the motive behind the remark or question.  All these type of remarks need to be placed in context otherwise no objective judgment can be made.   If you tell me a man shot a woman in the back, I will have one reaction and judgment about that situation, however if you tell me that the woman was about to sink a knife into the abdomen of her 3 year old child, I would make another judgment and if you said that this woman was severely mentally ill, I would make many others.  As the context changes, my judgments adjust to take in the new facts.

Thus if someone asks me a racist question, but the motive is to understand me as a black person better and not as an attack or as a put down, I will react differently than if the remarks are made to harass me based on race.  I am also going to give someone from a country where they have little or no contact with black people more leeway than someone who lives in a racially integrated country and really ’should know better’

I think one of the more amusing aspects of this story is the condescension of many white journalists towards the Chinese both in condemning the racism (hypocrites look to your own history) and the defenders that seem to imply that the Chinese are so ignorant that they would be unable to see that calling a man a “black monkey animal” and worse and tormenting that child is somehow OK.

I had to smile as more than one blog marvelled at the fact that this girl (who grew up in china with her Chinese mother) speaks Chinese fluently… what a surprise even though she is part black she was able to learn the language… how did that happen?  I have often been amused to tell people that I was born in Italy and lived there until I was 18 and have people ask me in wonder “Do you speak Italian?”  Um yeah    Or the racist notion that (because my parents are Jamaican) that I was really born in Jamaica and that I say I am Italian because somehow Italy is better than Jamaica? For me the two countries are equal and I am equally proud of both heritages, it is simply incorrect for me to claim I am Jamaican as I never lived there and more logical for me to feel and say I am from the country where I was born and raised.

Then of course there is the interesting notion that many of those western journalists that are so quick to condemn live in countries where there is racism directed at Chinese nationals.  And that racism is not born out of ignorance and lack of contact.

One more interesting facet to this story.  Apparently much of what is going on has to do with classism more than racism.  So there is this notion that Africans are inferior and one way you can tell is that this child (herself a victim of racism) makes great pains to note that her father is American (higher status) and not African (lower status).   Frankly is should not matter, but it is interesting to see the victim, perpetrate the crime.

 

Racism, bigotry, intolerance you call it what you want is a nasty thing.  It robs people of dignity, children of self esteem and those who use it of the ability to fully embrace others that are to different.  There is a physical toll to this as stress levels are increased in the presence of continuous bias and negative interactions and expectations.

For those of you who have never experienced this kind of continuous sustained bias, think of all those people you meet everyday that you live near, shop from and so on.  Now imagine that all those people who respect you and treat you well actually thought that you were lazy or stupid or that any achievement you had was not due to your hard work but that of others.  Imagine that every class, every teacher assumed from the start that you were too stupid, too lazy to do the work and often even when you worked harder than everyone else, gave credit to others for your work, did not recognize your work and actively discouraged you from continuing even though you are just as good as everyone else.

This is not just a few harmless words spoken here and there, this is a continuous message from all corners that you are not good, not worth the effort, lazy and lesser simply because of what you look like.  This is why many minorities may sometimes seem to over react to a minor incident.  What you are seeing is basically the last straw, it is not that incident the minority is screaming or yelling about, it is the culmination of all those small incidents that have become a mountain.  It is the real eason for the outbursts of otherwise calm and collected individuals like Serena Williams and the Harvard professor that was arrested for being rude to the police.

There can be no dialogue about racism until people are willing to 1) recognize that it still exists 2) recognize that not all people of the majority are racist, 3) allow people to discuss frankly without name calling or put downs and 4) to call a spade a spade.

This really is not that confusing.  If you feel that in general people of a certain race can’t be trusted, are lazy, stupid promiscuous and so on yes that is racist as you assume that race is the determining factor and that there is something inherently ‘wrong’ with being of that race.  Are you a bad person for having those thoughts, that depends on context and your willingness to recognize this and to change.  If you cling to these beliefs even in the light of evidence to the contrary, if you are violent towards others because of their race, sex, religion and so on, if you place barriers in the path of those people and once you know better you still do this, then I would call you a ‘not very nice person’

 

Being biased is human, we all have some prejudices and we all tend to group people especially if they are different from us.  It is easy for us to decide that because they look different they must have different values and are not as good as the group we now belong to.  Many of us are too busy to look at the situation objectively and become tempted to do this because it is much easier than taking each person you meet at face value and not making any judgments until we have given them a ‘fair’ chance to prove themselves.   What is more interesting to me is are we going to keep the biases?  Or are we going to fight them?

 

 

 

As you read this you will know that while I have many talents… writing poetry is not one of them.  But I hope you still get the emotion I was trying to convey

If you only knew!

If you only knew what a miracle it is that something as fantastically complex as human being starts out as a single cell you could never destroy one for something as trivial as an idea

If you only knew the magnitude of changes that occur to a woman’s body during pregnancy coupled with the mental and physical resources required to produce a human baby you would never again treat a woman with disregard.

If you only knew how you were destroying your daughter’s spirit and the essence of who she is by not allowing her to reach her full potential you would never prevent her from going to school.

If you only knew the torment and anguish that swirls in the mind of the mentally ill homeless you would never pass them by without giving them some money or at least the dignity of looking them in the eye.

If you knew the depth of pain a father feels when he watches his son blown to pieces in front of his eyes for a cause he has not part in or a war he never started you would never place that bomb in the heart of a busy town.

If you only knew how similar you are to that person with the darker/lighter skin, who reads a book that is different from yours and prays in a building with a different name you could never hate them the way you do.

If you only knew that a loving God would never ask you to ignore these simple truths and cause pain to those who have done you no harm you would never invoke that God’s name to excuse your actions.

If you only knew how valuable and wonderful you truly are, you would see that in every person you meet and would be completely unable to harm your human brothers and sisters….

If you only knew!

I don’t understand

I don’t understand why we judge people on attributes that tell us nothing about what that person is really like.

I don’t understand why, with all the horrific things that go on in the world, churches are being torn apart over the right for people to love each other.

I don’t understand why we give less value to the gifts that come naturally to women, like empathy, emotions and love and yet despise those women that behave more like men and wonder why our societies are so violent.

I don’t understand prejudice

I don’t understand how two neighbors can live side by side for 30 years, then suddenly discover they hate each other some much they could kill the other because one belongs to one group and one to another.

I don’t understand why those that harm others who are different from them often seem completely unable to admit that they do this

I don’t understand why when we value aggression, greed and ruthlessness we are surprised when our children are rude and when the best of the best turn out to be aggressive greedy and ruthless.

I don’t understand why when someone does something out of prejudice they get upset when someone calls them prejudiced.

I don’t understand how someone who knows the pain of prejudice can then turn that same weapon onto someone else

I don’t understand why there are so few women in physics

I don’t understand why men love small hip to waist ratios, large breasts, large firm rears, full lips, good skin, youthful looks and tans and yet find black women unattractive.

I don’t understand why those that cry the loudest for achievement based rewards in work and school often prevent others who deserve those rewards but look different from them from reaping because of bias.

I don’t understand why we still have wars

I don’t understand why children still die of hunger

I I don’t understand why terrorists often end up killing more of their own kind than the ‘other’ people they are theoretically trying to terrorize

I don’t understand terrorism

I don’t understand why we spend so much time focusing on the things I don’t understand and so little on the wonderful, kind, loving hard working people of all nations, races and religions that cause no harm and simply try to live their lives the best they can with the lot in life which has been given to them.

A 47 year old man has been arrested and released on bail after attacking an Army reservist at a Cracker Barrel.   The 35 year old woman entered the store with her 7 year old daughter and asked the man to be more careful as he closed the door as he almost hit her daughter.

The 250 lb man proceeded to push the reservist to the floor and beat her with his fists in front of her terrified child.

The man was not charged with battery, cruelty to children and disorderly conduct and has been released on bail.

The full story can be found by clicking here (man beats up military woman in front of her daughter)

It has been a while since I posted, but I really didn’t have much of any use to say.  The swine flu is picking up again, so I might start that part of my blog again, but perhaps not we shall see.  I thought this was interesting, so here goes….

The OK cupid dating site put up some interesting statistics about how people reply to each other based on race and the results are very interesting.

Your Race Affects Whether People Write You Back « OkTrends

From the data, it is pretty obvious that if you are a white male on that site, women will almost always reply to your messages, if you are a black woman men will reply to you less often that to any other woman.    This does not surprise me one bit.  The thing that still amazes me, although it should not is the complete inability for people to stop and think about the data.

People go on the defensive

“It is not racism, I just prefer to date within my race!”

“the data must be wrong”

“there must be something wrong with black women”

“you are racist for bringing this up”

I would like to try something new.  If you do reply to this post (and you probably won’t) play a game with me.

Try to imagine that the data is correct and racism is a possible explanation, what does that do you your view of the world?

Does it change anything?

I don’t know if the data presented reflects racism, there is not enough data (although they have one of the largest n’s (number of people sampled) I have seen, compared to many academic research studies.

I don’t find it surprising, for me it is a fact of life that I know is true regardless of how many denials I hear. 

However statistics reflect trends and groups and not individuals, so I take note, but I don’t live my life limited by statistics.  I would not be where I am today if I did.  I have fun beating the odds, so I have no doubt that even in this arena I can do so again.  The more I think about it, the better it is for me, it limits the fools that I have to deal with.

If you won’t date me based on my race, then you really are not a person I would want to date anyway.  It does make it tricky when you live in a area with few blacks and work in a place with few blacks, but tricky is not impossible.

Here are some of their conclusions:

Black women are sweethearts. Or just talkative. But either way, they are by far the most likely to reply to your first message. In many cases, their response rate is one and a half times the average, and overall black women reply about a quarter more often.

White men get more responses. Whatever it is, white males just get more replies from almost every group. We were careful to preselect our data pool so that physical attractiveness (as measured by our site picture-rating utility) was roughly even across all the race/gender slices. For guys, we did likewise with height.

• Men don’t write black women back. Or rather, they write them back far less often than they should. Black women reply the most, yet get by far the fewest replies. Essentially every race—including other blacks—singles them out for the cold shoulder.

White guys are shitty, but fairly even-handed about it. The average reply rate of non-white males is 48.1%, while white guys’ is only 40.5%. Basically, they write back about 20% less often. It’s ironic that white guys are worst responders, because as we saw above they get the most replies. That has apparently made them very self-absorbed. It’s interesting that white males do manage to reply to Middle Eastern women. Is there some kind of emergent fetish there? As Middle Easterners are becoming America’s next racial bogeyman, maybe there’s some kind of forbidden fruit thing going on. (Perhaps a reader more up-to-date on his or her Post-Colonial Theory can step in here? Just kidding. Don’t.)

All the images and data are from the following site: http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/2009/10/05/your-race-affects-whether-people-write-you-back/

Operation Iraqi Freedom – as of 19 July 09

At this moment all over the world innocent men, women and children are being held against their will.  They are of all races, religions and political beliefs and from all walks of life.  Not all of them it is true are prisoners of war, but all are prisoners.  All wonder if they will ever be free, if they will ever see their families again, if they will survive their ordeal.

Some are taken because there is hope that someone will care enough to pay for their freedom, some are taken because they expose the ugly secrets of their governments, some are taken because they are fighting a war and have fallen into enemy hands.   None deserve this and none will be the same once they have been released.

Some we know about, much is made about their plight and many are mobilized to secure their freedom.  Others are taken in silence and often killed in silence.  The pain of their families is no less because they are less famous.   Their fear is no less important.

So for all those that are held and for all those that love them my thoughts are with you.  I hope for the quick release of those being held, that their families get to hold them again soon.

As I heard about the young solider today, my thoughts went out to his family..then I thought about the two American Journalists held by N. Korea, the POW in Iraq that has been held for over a year, and then of the sailors held by Somali Pirates.   I thought about all those souls being held that I have no knowledge of and was moved to  make this post.

PEACE

---

CAPTURED – 1

USAR SPC Ahmed K. Altaie
(Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie)
DUSTWUN 23 OCT 2006
Declared MISSING-CAPTURED 11 DEC 2006
Baghdad, Iraq

OFFICIALLY US MISSING in IRAQ – 13
1 Military – Speicher (1991 PGW)
11 Civilians

Additionally, 4 Civilian Contractors working for a private security firm were abducted when their convoy was attacked late Fall 2006.
They remain missing, their names have not been released.

Ahmed K. Altaie From :

The Iraq Page

Remembering Those who Lost Their Lives

in the Iraq War of 2003 – 2006

Friday, December 15 2006 @ 07:48 AM EST
Contributed by: tomw
Views: 5,479 Army Times — An American soldier missing in Iraq since late October probably was captured by the enemy, the Pentagon said Thursday, making official what the U.S. military there has suggested for more than a month.Ahmed K. Altaie, a 41-year-old Iraqi-born resident of Ann Arbor, Mich., was snatched off the street while he was visiting his Iraqi wife in Baghdad on Oct. 23.

U.S. forces have conducted raids in portions of Sadr City searching for Altaie, who worked as a translator. The U.S. government has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his recovery.

He initially was listed as “whereabouts unknown,” but the military generally reviews such cases to rule out all other possibilities, including being absent without leave. He is now considered “missing-captured.”

In Altaie’s case, the Mahdi Army is believed to have grabbed him, as well as dozens of people during a raid on a Ministry of Higher Education office in Baghdad on Nov. 14. The ministry is predominantly Sunni Arab.

Why North Korea Nabbed Two U.S. Journalists

By Jennifer Veale / Seoul Thursday, Mar. 26, 2009

Yonhap / Reuters

U.S. journalists Euna Lee, left, and Laura Ling are seen in this undated combination photo released by Yonhap news agency in Seoul.

Somali pirates hold many hostages for months

Captives from poorer countries languish for lack of ransom payment

	Doris Deseo, left, and Catherine Boretta, right, show pictures of their husbands, Carlo and Rodell, both Filipino sailors who have been held captive for months by pirates.
Aaron Favila / AP

Several relatives have served in the U.S. Navy, and growing up in the Philippines, he envied the nice houses neighbors were able to buy on a seafarer’s salary

MANILA, Philippines – Ruel de Guzman seemed destined for a life at sea.

updated 6:32 p.m. ET, Wed., April 15, 2009//

updated 6:32 p.m. ET, Wed., April 15, 2009// <![CDATA[
//

MANILA, Philippines - Ruel de Guzman seemed destined for a life at sea.

Several relatives have served in the U.S. Navy, and growing up in the Philippines, he envied the nice houses neighbors were able to buy on a seafarer's salary, much more than he could make on land.

Worldwide Kidnapping Map - Kidnap and Rescue - Discovery Channel

<a href="http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Kidnapping+Rates+Rising+Worldwide-a063823921">Kidnapping Rates Rising Worldwide.</a>

Kidnapping Rates Rising Worldwide.

The number of kidnappings rose about 6% last year, from a high of 1,690 in 1998 to 1,789 in 1999, according to according to
prep.
1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.

2. In keeping with: according to instructions.

3. the Hiscox Kidnap Monitor, a survey published by the Hiscox Group. About 92% of the crimes occurred in 10 countries, half of which are in Latin America.

Seventy-five percent of all reported kidnappings in 1999 occurred in Latin America, according to Hiscox Group, a London insurer. The former Soviet Union, which includes Russia and 14 independent republics, reported an 84% increase in kidnappings in 1999 from the previous year.

Hiscox offers kidnap and ransom coverage with a capacity of $100 million. Its policy covers kidnapping, extortion, hijacking hijacking

Crime of seizing possession or control of a vehicle from another by force or threat of force. Although by the late 20th century hijacking most frequently involved the seizure of an airplane and its forcible diversion to destinations chosen by the air pirates, when and products extortion. Hiscox says it writes about 60% of the $110 million annual global market in premium for kidnapping coverage.

They are all missing

U.S. Military Identifies Soldier Captured in Afghanistan

• Delicious
• Digg
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Newsvine
• Propeller
• Yahoo! Buzz
• Close

By Dan Hart

July 19 (Bloomberg) — The Defense Department identified the U.S. soldier missing since June 30 in Afghanistan as an Army private from Ketchum, Idaho, and said he has been captured.