Online Policy Roundtable on Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture – Web Hosting | Cloud Computing | Datacenter | Domain News – Daily Host News

NASSCOM interacted with the industry during an online policy roundtable organized by NASSCOM on 16 October 2020, to discuss NITI Aayogs draft discussion paper on Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture (DEPA). The roundtable saw participation from companies who are both actual (for instance, existing Account Aggregator licensees) and potential stakeholders in the DEPA framework. For background on DEPA, please read here. The program for the roundtable was as follows: Overview of DEPA, by NASSCOM team Learning from the Account Aggregator Experience (Speakers: Krishna Prasad, CEO, Onemoney and Prashant Paliwal, CEO, Yodlee Finbit) Learning from an Information Provider/User: Improving the DEPA (Speaker: Ashish Singhal, Head of Credit Business, Experian) Discussion on Areas of Concern The discussion during the roundtable, raised several points with respect to the implementation roadmap for DEPA mission and the foreseeable challenges in the operationalization of DEPA. In particular, the following issues were highlighted by participants: Operationalising DEPA There is a need to ensure timely onboarding of stakeholders, especially, information providers to get the DEPA operational as soon as possible; There is a need for alignment of incentives amongst various stakeholders (data principal, consent manager, information provider and information user) in order to ensure that the quality of service is maintained across the ecosystem, and data sharing happens effectively; There is a need to ensure both high-quality and high-variety data sharing, in order to develop some of the solutions envisaged under the draft discussion paper. Currently the DEPA stops at enabling the availability of data, without considering ways of enabling higher-variety and quality of data; While the discussion paper highlights that the consent manager would be a separate entity engaged only in the business of consent management and it will also be data blind, there is need for detailing in the paper to ensure implementation Simplifying the architecture for asking for granular consent without making it too burdensome on the data principal; Institutional Coordination for DEPA There is a need to highlight the role of sectoral regulators in implementing the DEPA and the need for creation of a dedicated channel of communication between the regulator and stakeholders for continuous improvement, given the evolutionary nature of DEPA; Sectoral regulators should enable participation of more entities as an information provider/user (for example, credit bureaus), and providing an enabling legislative framework for leveraging the consent-based data sharing framework in the most valuable way; There is a need to establish data security standards that need to be followed by stakeholders, and the need for an authority to monitor the implementation of these standards (possibly the Data Protection Authority (DPA) proposed to be established under the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019); and There is a need for greater awareness among data principals about their rights and consequences of sharing or not sharing data, the availability of consent management services etc. The issues mentioned above, and additional issues are being examined by NASSCOM, as we work to formulate a comprehensive response to the DEPA draft discussion paper. We appreciate the inputs that have already been sent to us in this regard and request Members who havent sent their inputs yet, to share their inputs latest by 6 November 2020 to garima@nasscom.in.

The post Online Policy Roundtable on Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture appeared first on NASSCOM Community |The Official Community of Indian IT Industry.

Read the original post:

Online Policy Roundtable on Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture - Web Hosting | Cloud Computing | Datacenter | Domain News - Daily Host News

Amanda Williams Shed Lights on Empowerment Methods for Estate Agents – THISDAY Newspapers

Ugo Aliogo in this report writes on empowerment methods for new-age real estate agents

North Carolina-real estate broker, Amanda Williams, popularly known as Amanda the traveling realtor, is looking forward to using her experience as a cloud-based broker to help new-age real estate agents find a way to have multiple income streams in todays market.

Amanda is involved in varying levels of the real estate business. I own a short term rental business in North Carolina and Belize where we offer fully furnished homes for 30-60-90 day rentals. We have had a lot of experience with AirBnb properties and now I am teaching other agents how to build their short term rental portfolio using other peoples properties. The idea is to use individual landlords properties to create furnished short term housing options for potential relocation clients in her city, therefore driving more leads to her real estate team.

Amandas urge to help other agents build their portfolio is borne of a desire to alter the status quo of the traditional real estate business, allowing realtors to concentrate on making passive income instead of dedicating long hours to the job without having the option of taking time off and still being able to earn. Explaining her motivation, she said: I decided to create courses and teach all of the agents in my sphere exactly how we have built our passive income to a place where we can travel the world and all of our hard expenses are paid. Its time to reach out and pull my team up with me.

Presently, she is building one of the biggest real estate brokerages in the world. Im currently in Mexico building relationships with real estate agents and brokers and will soon have a team of agents here in Cabo San Lucas selling real estate for the fastest growing real estate tech brokerage in history, which is being called the Amazon of Real Estate, Amanda explained.

Going further, she hinted about taking her father for a cancer treatment to Mexico and discovering the platform that changed her life. While living in Mexico we decided to rent our personal property on AirBnb so it wasnt just sitting there empty. That 1st month we made enough money to pay our mortgage on our home in NC and it paid our rent payment on our beach condo in Mexico. This started us on our AirBnb journey which we now own a portfolio of AirBnb and short term rental properties. We have built multiple streams of passive income through the 3 Fs of AirBnb: Find it, Furnish it, and Fill it.

Read more:

Amanda Williams Shed Lights on Empowerment Methods for Estate Agents - THISDAY Newspapers

TOMORROW: When We All Vote, More Than A Vote and Milwaukee Bucks to Host Early Voting Celebration – The Milwaukee Community Journal

As a part of the When We All Vote Together Early Vote Weeks of Action, this outdoor activation near the Milwaukee Area Technical College early voting site builds momentum around early voting

(Milwaukee, WI): Tomorrow, Saturday, October 24th, National Vote Early Day, Michelle Obamas When We All Vote in partnership with More Than A Vote, the voting rights organization founded by LeBron James and a coalition of black athletes and artists, will host an activation as part of their When We All Vote Together Early Vote Weeks of Action in Milwaukee to build momentum and excitement around voting early. We will support voters with transportation, food, music and personal protective equipment (PPE).

This activation will take place outside at the Southwest corner of the Bradley Center Lot near Fiserv Forum within walking distance of the early voting site at Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC), and will include free food from partner World Central Kitchen; music from local DJs; and PPE kits. When We All Vote and More Than A Vote are partnering with the Milwaukee Bucks, Mayor Barrett and Lyft, who will provide discounted rides to help people get to early voting sites.

DETAILS:

WHO: When We All Vote, More Than A Vote and the Milwaukee Bucks

WHAT: When We All Vote Together Milwaukee voting activation and celebration (Visuals: live entertainment, including a DJ; residents going to vote earlyor returning their ballots; meal and PPE distribution)

WHEN: National Vote Early Day, Saturday, October 24 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

WHERE: Southwest Corner of the Bradley Center Lot, near Fiserv Forum

All participants and staff will follow social distancing protocols recommended by CDC, and volunteers will wear masks and gloves. If individuals do not have a mask, When We All Vote will provide one. Reporters interested in attending the celebration should email [emailprotected] to RSVP.

According to the US Census Bureau, just 48% of 18- to 24-year-olds reported turning out to vote in Wisconsin in 2018. Studies show that early voting activations can help increase turnout by nearly 4 percent and indicate that voting celebrations can have a significant impact on voter participation in any election environment, attracting low propensity voters those who would not otherwise vote.

Additional partners for the Weeks of Action include: BET, Comedy Central, Johnson & Johnson, MTV, National Urban League, Project Isaiah, Radio One, United Way Worldwide, ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge and more.

In addition to this activation, as a part of the When We All Vote Together Early Vote Weeks of Action, When We All Vote will provide over $1 million in grants and supplies to local partner organizations to host their own activations in communities around the country. Learn more and find partner activations here.

ABOUT When We All Vote:

When We All Vote is a national, nonpartisan nonprofit that brings together citizens, institutions, brands, and organizations to increase participation in every election. Launched by Michelle Obama, the organization is committed to closing the race and age voting gap and empowering all eligible voters to cast their ballot by harnessing grassroots energy, establishing strategic partnerships, and implementing digital organizing strategies, with the ultimate goal of changing the culture around voting.

Michelle Obama is joined in this effort by fellow Co-Chairs Tom Hanks, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Janelle Mone, Chris Paul, Faith Hill, Selena Gomez, Liza Koshy, Megan Rapinoe, Shonda Rhimes, Tracee Ellis Ross, Kerry Washington, and Rita Wilson.

In the leadup to the 2018 Midterm Elections, When We All Vote organized over 2,500 local voter registration events across the country, engaged 200 million Americans online about the significance of voting, and texted nearly four million voters the resources to register and get out to vote.

In 2020, When We All Vote is helping to lead in voter education, registration and volunteer engagement. In response to COVID-19, When We All Vote is leading the fight for fair and safe elections by supporting the expansion of access to vote-by-mail, early in-person voting and online voter registration so every American can make their voices heard on Election Day.

ABOUT More Than A Vote:

More Than A Vote is a nonprofit social justice organization founded by Black athletes and artists dedicated to Black political empowerment. In 2020, More Than A Vote is focused on educating, energizing, and protecting Black voters and fighting the lies and systemic, racist voter suppression that stands in the way of Black voices being heard at the ballot box.

ABOUT World Central Kitchen:

Founded in 2010 by Chef Jos Andrs, World Central Kitchen (WCK) uses the power of food to heal communities and strengthen economies in times of crisis and beyond. WCK has created a new model for disaster response through its work helping devastated communities recover and establish resilient food systems. WCK has served more than 40 million fresh meals to people impacted by natural disasters and other crises around the world in countries including The Bahamas, Indonesia, Lebanon, Mozambique, Venezuela, and the United States.

WCKs initiative #ChefsForThePolls is a non-partisan effort that will provide meals for communities on Election Day and during early voting. WCK will be stationed by polling locations around the country, targeting those with historically long lines, predicted massive turnouts, or limited facilities, sharing meals with anyone no questions asked. More information is at chefsforthepolls.org.

View original post here:

TOMORROW: When We All Vote, More Than A Vote and Milwaukee Bucks to Host Early Voting Celebration - The Milwaukee Community Journal

Graduating a 22-Year-Old Virgin: What I Learned From Going Through Wesleyan Without Having Sex – Wesleyan Argus

This piece was written in response to the testimonies on Wesleyan Survivors Instagram page referencing the pressures that exist on campus in regards to virginity and hook-up culture. It aims to shed light on the prevalence of prude-shaming amongst students, normalize virginity in college, and hopefully, start a conversation.

During the fall of my senior year at Wesleyan, a couple students and I went out to Main Street to celebrate our friends birthday. At some point during the evening, the student sitting next to me at the dinner table started telling a funny hook-up story. Although I cant remember the specific details a year later, the story was entertaining and amusing enough that I kept asking questions throughout. By the time they had finished their story, the student turned to me and asked: What about you Lucie, whats a funny hook-up story of yours? I looked at them and casually replied: Actually, I dont have any. Ive never had sex with anyone. Ideally, that conversation would have ended there. I had answered the question; there was nothing else to add. But this is not an ideal world. At least, not for me. Before I knew it, everyone at the table was staring at me. One second went by, two seconds went by, three Silence. I didnt want to add anythingI shouldnt have to. Yet, I did: Ive just never really met anyone who made me want to wake up to them the next morning.

In that specific moment, justifying myself in front of eight other college studentsmost of whom I barely knewas to why I still hadnt had sex yet was the only way to finally interrupt a silence so loud, I was forced to give up my right to privacy just to ease someone elses discomfort. Id like to say that this was the first time I ever encountered that silence, but it wasnt. Nor will it be the last. Although I filled it out unwillingly that night, this is the silence I want to make visible. This is the silence I want to publicly fill out so that I, and every single late-in-life virgin out there, are so normalized in the first place, that we are never made to feel like we owe anyone an explanation ever again.

I realized pretty quickly after arriving at Wesleyan that being physically intimate with someone I didnt know wasnt fun for me, nor particularly pleasurable. It made me feel like I was being treated (and treating the other student) as a body, rather than a person. I understood I needed to have some kind of emotional connection in order for me to feel sexually attracted to a person, and to make me feel comfortable enough to have sex with them. The problem is that finding someone who desired the same thing I did on a college campus, where most people are focused on figuring out sexual compatibility before even considering emotional compatibility, was like trying to find a needle in a hay-stack. Its not impossible, but its definitely difficult to find.

Not only was I looking for something not often found at Wesleyan and had no plans on settling for anything else, I was also a walking tabooand that didnt feel right. Why should I feel ashamed for knowing what I want? Why should I be stigmatized for not having found someone I liked enough yet to want to have sex with them? The answer is simple: because I was now past societys due date, and my inexperience was no longer deemed acceptable. Apparently, when youre a virgin over 18, that means theres something wrong with you.

By the end of freshman year, I had already noticed how the conversation around virginity was practically nonexistent on campus. I couldnt understand whyespecially, since I knew I wasnt alone. Everyone tells us that sex in college will be better, meaning a lot of us graduate from high school as virgins. Yet, when we actually get to college, everyone expects us to have already hadsex in high school. Where and when are we supposed to get our experience then, if no one wants to sleep with us because we dont have the experience? It was like dealing with one of those job applications where the employers ask for 7+ years of experience for an entry-level job. On top of that, I knew for a fact that, while some of us are into hook-up culture, many of us arent. So, why was no one talking about this?

As you can tell from the beginning of this piece, I am no stranger to speaking openly about taboo topics people often feel uncomfortable addressing. I grew up in a family in which I was taught that talking freely and honestly about sex was considered healthy. Virginity wasnt going to be any different. Thankfully, by the time I had arrived at Wesleyan, I had grown secure enough with myself and what I wanted for me to know that societal pressure wasnt going to be strong enough to destabilize either of these things. There was nothing wrong with me and I knew itwhy should I be embarrassed about it? So, I began opening up about it.

My virginity wasnt something I would bring up out of nowhere; it was, however, something I would always casually talk about whenever the topic of sex, or hook-up culture came up. Usually, the other person would give me a concerned lookone that often screamed Oh no, theres a problem with herwhich would quickly disappear after I told them I knew what I wanted, and that it simply hadnt happened yet. As always, providing reassurance was needed to ease someone elses uneasiness about my own virginity.

Despite my grievances with the societal norms that stigmatized my virginity, I still consider myself very lucky. I was never ostracized by any of my friends for my inexperience, nor did I ever feel judged for it. In fact, my friends and I talked about sex all the time. Whether it was to talk about our favorite kind of porn, the best ways to effectively communicate with a sexual partner, red flags to look out for, or recommending sex toys to each other, I always felt included and able to actively contribute to conversations about sex. Looking back, I definitely believe the main reason my friends were so open about their own sex lives with me was because I was so open about the lack of mine. Knowing they regularly hooked-up and I didnt, never made me feel self-conscious. We all have our preferences, and my friends desires being different from my own didnt invalidate minethe same way that mine didnt invalidate theirs. It just meant we were into different things, and thats perfectly fine. Although I was never personally stigmatized by any friends, that didnt mean they didnt have some deeply problematic comments to say about virginity every now and then.

So, I ask again: why was no one talking about this at Wesleyan?

Because when I was a sophomore, a guy who was trying to impress me at a party spoke about a girl he used to have a fling with, mocking her for being a virgin when they first started hooking up. Because when I was a junior, a crush of mine stopped actively flirting with me the day I mentioned that I had never had sex with someone else. Because when I was a senior, one of my closest friendswho knew I hadnt had sex yetsaid he wouldnt have casual sex with this girl he was seeing on campus if she told him she was a virgin.

This is the kind of culture that is perpetrated on campus and that pushes people into feelings of shame and secrecy. This is the kind of culture that pressures students to force themselves into sex even though they may not want to or feel ready to. This is what teaches us that the only thing that makes us worthy of pursuit is how much sex we have had.

People talk about virginity as if its a personality trait; as if it defines the way you are, the way you think, the way you interact with others. Some believe they can recognize a virgin from a mile away. Some people think that being a virgin means you reject sex, dont know anything about it, and are not open to exploration or kinks. Others believe being a virgin means youve never had any opportunities. I once had a friend say to me: You still havent had sex?! But youre so pretty and confident!, as if theres somehow a correlation between attractiveness and how much sex you have. Others treat virgins as if they have some kind of disease: you mention youve never had sex with anyone and poof! Suddenly they stop talking to you. Lastly comes the students who dont want to hook-up with you because they say youll get emotionally attached. Ninety percent of the time, what this person is really saying is I want to be able to treat this person like shit without feeling guilty about it afterwardsas if being sexually active and participating in hook-up culture suddenly warrants being disrespected.

Unfortunately, the sex positive discourse that exists on campus does very little to nothing to help. As someone who identifies as sex-positive herself, I fully recognize how important it is to cultivate sex positivity and discuss sexuality to ensure empowerment and safety. However, its specific discourse that exists at Wesleyan is one that speaks exclusively to those who are sexually active. Sex positivity should focus on sex itself yes, but it also includes empowering individuals to make their own decisions in regards to sexregardless of what those areand teaching other students to accept and respect those. Yet, in my four years at Wesleyan, never once was virginity mentioned during any of the sexual health awareness interventions I attended, or addressed in any of the general discussions students had about sex positivity. Nor was abstinence for that matter. This is the kind of restrictive approach that implies that sex is imposed on us, and that teaches us that sexual empowerment can only be achieved through sexual experience. For a campus that prides itself on acceptance of all and that works tirelessly to destroy the harms of slut-shaming, Wesleyan falls terribly short in tackling its silent opposite: prude-shaming.

So, what happens when your experience isnt represented in the day-to-day conversations surrounding sex, and you find yourself continuously being the butt of jokes? You internalize the judgement, the shame, and societal expectations. Reading some of the testimonies on Wesleyan Survivors Instagram page makes it clear that a fair amount of students who havent had sex yet feel alienated on campus. People feel so ostracized by their peers that they are ready to accept a sexual situation where they may not be comfortable, just to get it over with and fit in. Even then, most do everything in their power to keep their virginity a secret during their first timeneglecting open communication all just to avoid the possibility of embarrassment, mockery, or rejection.

When youre a virgin, people assume what sex means to you based on outdated, sexist, purist clichs and stereotypes. People assume that if you waited that long, it must be because you want it to be with someone special. People assume, but no one ever takes the time to ask. Thats the problem. Never once was I asked by anyone at Wesleyan What does sex mean to you?. Instead, people thought they knew what I wanted based purely on their own prejudice. Assuming how I want to have sex for the first time without asking me means robbing me of my agency. It tells me that, because of my age, my ability to decide what I want will always be overpowered by the unspoken assumptions of society and my future sexual interests. We are so focused on policing each others bodies and what we should do with them, that we forget there is a human standing in it.

Being a virgin does not define you. In fact, sexual experience is not a prerequisite for being sexually mature. Some virgins work in the sex industry, some own sex toys, some watch porn regularly, and some love educating themselves about sex. Sex itself doesnt define you either. Youdont lose anything when you have sex for the first time. You do just that: you have sex for the first time. The only reason one might perceive themselves differently after becoming sexually active is if their sense of worth is dependent on sexual validation.

What defines losing your virginity anyway? Is it when you first experience penetration? In that case, I lost mine to my gynecologist when I got my first pap smear. Some will tell you that no, penetration has to be of a sexual nature. Then, I guess I lost mine to myself the first time I ever masturbated. Now, you might say that it has to be sexual penetration with someone else. Okay, lets talk about foreplay then. Lets talk about queer sex. Is foreplay not sex? Is queer sex not sex? If you have sex with someone without penetration, have you not lost your virginity yet? My point is that sex means different things to different people and there is no right or wrong way to do it. Virginity was historically built by heterosexual, cis-gendered men in order to make you believe that their dick singlehandedly had the power to change you. Virginity always has been, is, and always will be a cultural construct.

On top of that, sex does not have the same importance for all of us, and not everyone grew up viewing it the same way. Some associate sex with intimacy, and others dont. Some virgins are into hook-up culture, others are into friends-with-benefits, and some are into relationships. Others believe sex is for marriage. Some get emotionally attached; others dont. In fact, whether or not someone gets emotionally attached after hooking up has everything to do with the individual themselves and how they approach sex, and nothing to do with whether or not theyve actually had sex before. The messiness of emotions doesnt suddenly disappear when you become sexually active. Some virgins havent had sex yet because intimacy makes them uncomfortable, and some havent met anyone who made them feel safe yet. Some are still healing from past trauma; others are suffering from health issues. Some want to wait for their first love, and some want to wait until their faith allows them to. Some dont experience sexual attraction, and some simply dont feel ready yet.

Although the stigma surrounding virginity made going through college without having sex difficult, there were a lot of benefits to it that I am incredibly thankful for today. Being by myself physically and emotionally for 22 years has allowed me to fully focus on myself. It has given me the time to learn how to love myself, build high self-esteem, and develop a deep understanding of what I want, in what context, and with whom.

In addition, despite the sex positive discourse on campus not being as inclusive as it should be, there are a lot of a great aspects to it that I decided to adapt and apply to myself to validate my own experience. Even though Ive never had sex, I feel sexually empowered. I have stretch marks, cellulite, tiny boobs, wide ankles, a horrendous tendency to slouch, and yet Ive grown to love every single inch of my body (okay maybe not my ankles, but at least Ive accepted them). The sex postive discourse on campus also taught me what kind of treatment my partner and I both deserve: respect, pleasure, safety, and active communication and you bet Im going to make sure we both get it. I also learned how to make my own choices, allowing me to take ownership over my sexuality. I know that hook-up culture, personally, makes me feel like shit which is why I made the choice not to partake in it. Making your own decisions and respecting your desires is empowering. Different things may be sexually empowering to you but they may not be for others, and vice versa. We all have different ways of reaching sexual empowerment that are unique to us. Sexual experience can be part of it, yes, but it also doesnt have to be and thats what we desperately need to normalize.

While I was researching for this piece, I quickly realized that almost every article I found online about the subject was either focused on asking students what they thought about college virgins (as if we should even care), or written by people who have already had sex. It seems clear that no one is down to tell you being a virgin at a later age is okay while theyre still a virgin themselves. People wait until they have sex to tell you that. Well, to those of you out there, I just graduated from college, I havent had sex yet, and I want you to know that you are perfectly normal. In fact, there are way more of us than you think. According to the Online College Social Life Survey, 20% of the 24,000 American college students involved in their study graduated college without ever having had sex. That is 1 in 5 students, so dont let anyone fool you into thinking youre alone.

There is nothing wrong with you; there is something wrong with the culture we perpetuate. We fit ourselves into what society says we should be and should do, while neglecting what we actually want ourselves. That is absolute trash and we all know it. So why are we so afraid of college virgins? Why is there still such a stigma around it? Because we, as a community, are still adamant on regulating and embarrassing others when we think theyre doing things differently.

My decision to be open about my virginity was both personal and political. I understood that if I wanted students on campus to start talking about it free of any misconceptions or judgement I needed to be part of that process. I needed to normalize it myself. It was also a way for me to guarantee that my virginity would never be used against me: if I was open about it, it meant I could never be shamed for it. In doing so, I took ownership over my own narrative, and had full control over how I was perceived by those around me. In a way, being honest about my virginity also made it easier to spot the shallow students who obviously werent worth my time. Talking openly about my virginity felt right to me but it may not be for everyone, and that is very important to recognize. Sex is not only personal, it is also private, and it is a choice.

If you want to wait until you feel ready to have sex, and then have a one-night stand with a stranger as your first time, do it! If you want to wait until youre with your first romantic partner, go ahead! If waiting until your wedding night is what makes you feel empowered, then do that! If thats what you want, then youre doing it for the right reason: youre doing it because you want to not because your friends, your partner, your family, or society says you should. Find what works for you, and dont settle for anything less. People will judge no matter what you do with your body, so you might as well stay true to your desires and do what makes you happy.

If anyone ever shames you, laughs at you, or rejects you because of your inexperience, that is direct feedback that this person is not worthy of your company. You want to be around people who understand, respect, and accept that you dont have to do what everybody else does just because everyone else is doing it. Most importantly, if anyone ever pressures you into having sex, or makes you feel like you somehow owe them your virginity, I hope youll be kind enough to yourself to walk away. That is manipulative and toxic, and you deserve way better than that.

No matter what you decide to do, remember that you dont owe anyone anything. Sex is not a competition. Regardless of your age, your gender, your race, or your sexual orientation, you owe it to yourself to do whats best for you. If you are not in place to go through with it, or if the person youre with does not make you feel safe, then wait until you are 45 years old if you need to. There is no age limit to have sex. You deserve to have sex the way you want to have it, when you want to have it. You are beautiful, you are worthy, and you are in control.

So, what does the ideal world look like for me?

My ideal world is one where I am never made to feel like I owe anyone an explanation for my virginity because of my age; one where, instead of encountering silence, I am met with someone saying thank you for being so open and honest. I want to reach a point where my virginity no longer matters more to everyone else than it does to me. I want to get to a place where it is not my job to ease your discomfort about my sex life; it is your job to work on your own issues since youre the one whos prejudiced.

This is the culture we need to actively work towards on college campuses, as well as everywhere else. The narrative that feeds slut-shaming is the same that enables prude-shaming: they work within the same discourse and they fight the same war. Having too little sex? You get attacked. Having too much sex? You get attacked as well. Its a fight we simply cannot win when we condemn one but not the other. Same goes with toxic masculinity. We encourage men to break away from harmful masculine ideals, yet we shame them when they dont fit into some kind of playboy mold. Its hypocritical. We need to be as adamant to call-out prude-shaming as we are to call-out slut-shaming and toxic masculinity. Sexual liberation is about freedom of choice; its about feeling confident regardless of whether you want to have sex or not, no matter how much or how little you have, and regardless of how or when you have it. You cannot claim to be sex-positive if you exclude or judge others for not having sex.

It starts with every single one of us, and it is not exclusive to one gender. If you hear your friend or anyone making harmful comments, criticizing, or ostracizing someone because of their virginity or inexperience, it is your responsibility to call them out for the culture to change. In case youve forgotten, you were a virgin too at some point.

The best four years of my life were spent at Wesleyan and not a single second of it was spent having sex. Id be lying if I said dealing with the stigma was easy. However, not having had sex doesnt mean you cant participate in Wesleyan social life. You can dance your ass off on a table at a party, wearing your sexiest outfit, and still be a virgin. You can go back to someones room after a night out and still be a virgin. You can get into Burlesque and participate in Wescam and still be a virgin. Being a virgin doesnt mean you cant feel sexy or be sexual. Take it from a virgin who did all of those things, and enjoyed every single one of them. Being myself, doing what I liked, and hanging out with those who respected me ended up making my whole college experience so much more fulfilling than if I had forced myself into having sex with someone I didnt trust, simply because of the pressures of hook-up culture.

Sex seems incredibly fun and I look forward to having it, but that doesnt mean Im going to do it just because people say Im too old. I deserve to wake up next to someone I have built a real emotional bond with, and I dont care what anybody else has to say about it. If I ever get those urges, I can take care of them perfectly well by myself. In the meantime, my sexy 22 year old virgin self has a career to start, creative projects to create, friends to hang out with, and a life to live. At the end of the day, sex isnt everything.

See the rest here:

Graduating a 22-Year-Old Virgin: What I Learned From Going Through Wesleyan Without Having Sex - Wesleyan Argus

Emily Ratajkowski Shares What Empowerment Means To Her As The New Face Of Nasty Gal – Forbes

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 05: General view of 'Nasty Gal' with Emily Ratajkowski bill board in West ... [+] Hollywood on October 05, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by fupp/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

Emily Ratajkowski is Nasty Gals newest face for their fall/winter campaign, but the establishedentrepreneur, writer, actress, model and activist most recently, Ratajkowski was commissioned by New York Magazine for a self-written essay entitled "Buying Myself Back." It garnered over 850K views in the first 24 hours and led to wide-spread public discourse on image ownership and wide-spread praise for her candid and beautiful prose.In recent years, Ratajkowski has also seen exponential success in her modeling career, where she has claimed the covers of Harpers Bazaar, Marie Claire, Vogue Italia, Vogue Australia, Vogue Spain, Vogue Germany, Madame Figaro, GQ, and Glamour Magazine, as well as InStyles British, Australian and American editions.She has worked with countless international brands, walking in the Versace, Marc Jacobs, Dolce and Gabbana and Miu Miu fashion shows. She is currently the face of LOrals hair care line Kerastase and formerly ofPaco Rabannes fragrance Pure XS.

Since 2017, Ratajkowski has successfully translated her 26 million+ followers on Instagram into a successful direct-to-consumer business via her apparel line INAMORATA, alongside her business partner Kat Mendenhall and a small team of all female employees. What started as a line of bathing suits has since expanded into a multi-category swim, lingerie and ready-to-wear brand that is designed and marketed exclusively by Ratajkowski. As the new face of Nasty Gal, Ratajkowski shares how the brand continues to empower women through their clothes and what empowerment means to her.

Nasty Gal ft Emily Ratajkowski.

Yola Robert: Why has Nasty Gal been a long time favorite for you as this is the second collection you have been the face of. How did your relationship with them come about?

Emily Ratajkowski: I grew up in San Diego wearing Nasty Gal as I definitely wasnt spending a ton of money on clothes. So, just for me, the accessibility has always been really nice. For this collaboration, I loved what they had put together and in the past I just really loved the way that they collaborated with me. It was really nice to work with them as theyre very into seeing me as an Art Director, really collaborating, which is really important to me whenever I work with a brand.

Robert: Your self-written essay entitled "Buying Myself Back" for New York Magazine was extremely empowering. Many women stay silent about these issues. Why did you feel like it was the right time to come out and share your story?

Ratajkowski: Ive been writing for a couple years now, writing a bunch of different essays. My literary agent and I decided we were at a point where we had all of the essays that Ive written thus far so we reached out to New York Magazine and they chose this piece. I was really excited because I really loved that essay and its obviously very personal, but was also represented of so much of my 20s and my life even just about image ownership and consent. But I was still really nervous because its obviously a really vulnerable essay. Telling your truth can be really scary. The thing I thought about the most, once they decided they wanted to use that piece and publish it was how it would potentially speak to other young women and in my dreamiest world, also speak to men by giving them a sense of what its like as a young woman in the world right now.

Robert: Since that essay has been published, what has the feedback been for you?

Ratajkowski: It has been overwhelming in a good way! I mean I think its a funny thing because obviously my experience as a model and as a public figure is very specific, but you know I have girlfriends, and when I share my writing with them, theyre like God its so crazy this is just every womens story. Its maybe different its not always about modeling, but that feeling of you know wanting to get someones approval and validation that men can give women and the ways we compromise ourselves, the way we can be taken advantage of and used in those situations like that is just the female experience, period. Its really nice that its brought women together and I just really hope that in the long run, it changes the way we look at power dynamics for younger generations.

Robert: Nasty Gal has always worked to empower women through clothes. How do you want women to feel when theyre wearing your edit from Nasty Gal?

Ratajkowski: I personally feel that fashion is one of those really amazing things, but I had a complicated relationship to fashion like you know when youre growing up, you dont feel cool enough, you dont feel like youre wearing cool enough clothes when I was younger and even now Ill be like God that person looks so fancy, I could never afford that. I like that Nasty Gal is accessible in that way. I also just think that fashion ,like having a zebra print dress, can really help a woman project the person she wants to be to the world and I love that clothes can feel like a tool to express ourselves.

Robert: When do you feel most empowered?

Ratajkowski: I would say I felt really empowered when that essay was published. It was really scary, again I dont wanna say like oh my God it was all amazing, but I think women sharing their stories, realities and experiences can be the most empowering thing.

Read more from the original source:

Emily Ratajkowski Shares What Empowerment Means To Her As The New Face Of Nasty Gal - Forbes

Soak in empowerment through a colorful conversation as Women of Color Unite – UConn Daily Campus

This Wednesday, Oct. 7, the University of Connecticuts Women and Philanthropy Network hosted a vritual event, as part of a bi-monthy series, centered around the conversations of six inspiring women panelists and how their different groups and backgrounds affect them in their areas of expertise. The discussion was moderated by Manisha Sinha, the Draper Chair in American history at UConn, and included panelistsSochethMcCutcheon (UConn Law 06), Meghana Shah (UConn Law 04), Chauntay Mickens (UConn CLAS 10), Amy Lin-Meyerson (UConn Law 94) and Luz Burgos-Lopez (Neag School of Education).Photo courtesy of UConn Alumni on Facebook.

On Oct. 7, the University of Connecticuts Women and Philanthropy Network hosted an event centered around the conversations of six panelists and how their different groups and backgrounds affect them in their areas of expertise. The discussion was moderated by Manisha Sinha, the Draper Chair in American history at UConn, and included panelistsSochethMcCutcheon (UConn Law 06), Meghana Shah (UConn Law 04), Chauntay Mickens (UConn CLAS 10), Amy Lin-Meyerson (UConn Law 94) and Luz Burgos-Lopez (Neag School of Education).

The event started off addressing the issue of cultural bias by discussing how their particular backgrounds affected them and specific challenges they encountered during their careers. Shah, a partner at Evershed Sutherland law firm, had a lot to say on how her experiences as a White-passing South Asian woman came up during her work. As a child of immigrants, pursuing a law career was quite different for Shah, in that the element of being a lawyer was never passed down to her as they presumably are in richer, White families. In turn, microaggressions were a common aspect she came across during work.

The ones that Ive sort of observed for myself are things like casual shortenings of my name or calling me Megan, or something, Shah said.

On the same subject of cultural bias within the workplace, Mickens, who now works in the nonprofit sector at MLT (Management Leadership for Tomorrow), explained her personal battles when starting off in her job field.

Ive always had strong viewpoints on things and Ive always wanted to fight for whats right and fight for myself, but a lot of times as a Black woman, if you do advocate for yourself, it comes off as being disruptive, Mickens said. It comes off as being angry or loud and theres all these stereotypes around the angry Black woman.

The inner anxieties of being perceived as a stereotype caused Mickens to lose her voice in the pursuit of being heard. Mickens experience outlines the importance of resources and confidence-building tools for women of color on how to speak up and understand their inherent value. In light of this, Mickens also made a meaningful point about how the Black Lives Matter movement has actually shed a positive light on disruptors.

People are actually listening, people are appreciating folks that are taking charge, Mickens said.

As an Asian American woman, microaggressions were not an uncommon occurrence for Lin-Meyerson, who, when shifting gears to the topic of mentorships and their role in empowerment, provided insight on her interactions within the law field.

When I first started out as an attorney, I was offered the opportunity to match up with a more senior woman attorney as a mentor, Lin-Meyerson said. So I took it, we had an initial call and one of the first things she said to me was You should drop Lin because Amy Lin sounds too cutesy.

Lin-Meyerson did not hesitate in explaining to her mentor that Lin was actually her maiden name and she intended on keeping it. Given this one exception where her mentor was a woman, she also explained that most of the mentors she worked with in the past had predominantly been White men. However, this changed when she later joined the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), where she was able to come across mentors of more diverse backgrounds.

Mentorships in particular seemed very important to McCutcheon, the associate general counsel at Verizon, who is especially proud of how her workplace handles issues of diversity.

Sometimes we get taught that you have to pick a mentor thats at the top. Honestly, my mentors are women of color, femme folks, queer folks around me who are not in those high positions to make those decisions because you need that group of people, that family, to ground you and remind you that youre more than the production you contribute to any company or institution.

I feel like the work environment I have is a really good example of having a supportive work environment because theres a lot of messaging and we even have a learning portal of all of the various important discussions and YouTube videos and things from experts addressing racial inequality and social injustice, McCutcheon said. The company has really given us a lot of empowerment to say We want you to be who you are.

Burgos-Lopez, a second-year doctoral student, emphasized her own experiences as a Latina woman and a first-generation college student earlier in the event. She later had much to say regarding mentorships.

Not allskinfolkare kinfolk, but also be mindful of who your mentors are, Burgos-Lopez said. Sometimes we get taught that you have to pick a mentor thats at the top. Honestly, my mentors are women of color, femme folks, queer folks around me who are not in those high positions to make those decisions because you need that group of people, that family, to ground you and remind you that youre more than the production you contribute to any company or institution.

The final question of the event asked for any advice the panelists would give to those within the UConn community who might be facing particularly challenging environments today.As a lasting remark, Sinha delivered a moving statement that perfectly summarized the contents of todays discussion: It is important to champion yourself and to not feel as if your experience is any less. In fact, it may be the most valuable in the end.

Thumbnail photo courtesy of UConn Foundation website.

View original post here:

Soak in empowerment through a colorful conversation as Women of Color Unite - UConn Daily Campus

Atlanta Hawks Honor the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with First-Ever MLK Nike City Edition Uniform – Hawks.com

ATLANTA-- Today the Atlanta Hawks announced an unprecedented partnership with the estate of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) and Nike with the release of its 2020 21 MLK Nike City Edition uniform. For the first time in the leagues history, the initials of an individual will be featured prominently on the chest of an official NBA game uniform. The Hawks will be donating profits from the jersey sales back into the Atlanta community to help further initiatives championed by Dr. King.

Born and raised in Atlanta, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., became a global symbol of the fight for racial equality through his platform of non-violence. He attended his hometowns historic Morehouse College, entering as a freshman when he was just 15 years old. While he continued to call Atlanta home, raising his family and pastoring at local churches like Ebenezer Baptist with his father, Dr. King led initiatives that caught

the attention of a worldwide audience, including the Montgomery Bus Boycotts, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the March on Washington. The latter is where he made his watershed I Have a Dream speech, playing a significant role in his being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. His life and leadership were cut short at age of 39 by an assassin, as he organized for the rights of sanitation workers in Memphis.

It is an incredible privilege to be able to represent the legacy of Dr. King, one of Atlantas native sons and one of the nations most transformative leaders. His message of equality, non-violence, and justice is as relevant today as it was in the 60s and we are proud to not only help educate legions of young fans about Dr. Kings work, but empower them to pick up his mantle and embody the change they wish to see in their communities, said Hawks Chief Marketing Officer, Melissa Proctor. We are honored that the King Estate would entrust us with these powerful initials.

Deeply connected to the tenets of Dr. Kings social activism are the roots from which the Atlanta Hawks own civic work grows. The team has a well-demonstrated commitment to building bridges through basketball to help better the community. The Hawks ongoing efforts in addressing food insecurity, access to early voting, and entrepreneurial development are directly tied to crucial issues on which Dr. King focused, including racial equality, voting rights, and economic justice. In a franchise first, profits from the sale of the groundbreaking jersey will be given to programs that help to continue Dr. Kings work regarding economic empowerment for communities of color.

"We were honored to learn of the Atlanta Hawks desire to pay homage to Dr. King's life and legacy by using him as the focus of their 2020 - 21 MLK Nike City Edition uniform design. During this challenging climate, it is our hope that this visual reminder of Dr. King's legacy will inspire people to further educate themselves on how he effected change using his philosophy and methods of nonviolence during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. We look forward to continuing to work with the Hawks to perpetuate his wonderful legacy, said Eric D. Tidwell, Esq., Managing Director & General Counsel of Intellectual Properties Management, Inc., (Manager of the Estate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.).

The 2020 21 Atlanta Hawks MLK Nike City Edition uniform pays homage to the worlds greatest Drum Major for Justice through personal elements woven into the design details and a thoughtfully selected color scheme. The uniform was created through a collaborative effort between the Nike design team, Hawks ownership, and the teams CMO, Melissa Proctor, V.P. of Brand Creative Shirley Zhang, and V.P. of Brand Merchandising Amy Serino.

The Colorway:

The Black, Gold and White colorway speaks to Dr. Kings determination, as well as his understated style. It is also a nod to Dr. Kings membership in the first Black Greek fraternity. Bold Vintage Gold MLK letters, outlined in Fidelity White, blaze across the uniform chest, the initials of an eternal role model whose words of equality and justice are the foundation of todays powerful activism. The stars donning both sides of the shorts represent 22 of the 29 times Dr. King was jailed fighting for justice and equality, while also paying tribute to the dedicated student freedom fighters who engaged in sit-ins all over the South. Of them, he said, "Only when it is dark enough can you see the stars." Towards the bottom of the jersey, Dr. Kings personal signature graces the authenticity tag.

Several of the design details of the uniform are inspired by architectural elements of churches where Dr. King delivered some of his most moving sermons. The uniform is bordered in White and Gold striping that lead to tapered peak at the side of the shorts mirroring the silhouette of stained-glass windows. The crown and shield symbol on the leg of the shorts is inspired by church windows and Dr. Kings personal effects. At the waistband is the Hawks Primary Icon logo encircled in black symbolizing the continuous quest of the Black community to achieve freedom and justice. This heat-applied graphic is made of a soft touch rubber. The Nike Swoosh placed at the right jersey strap, just opposite of the Sharecare jersey partner patch above the heart.

Since 2017, the Atlanta Hawks have held a multiyear partnership withSharecare, the Atlanta-based digital health company, which serves as the teams inaugural jersey patch sponsor and its partner in the Sharecare Movement a community-driven initiative launched by both organizations to make Georgia and Atlanta one of the healthiest placesin the country. In addition totheSharecare patch overthe heart of every jersey, the Atlanta Hawks and Sharecare are united by a shared passion and pride for the legacy of Atlanta andour world-changing leaders like Dr. King, whose lifes workspaved the way for happier, healthier, and more equitable futures forall.

The team will wear the MLK Nike City Edition uniforms at select games throughout the 2020-21 season. In conjunction with the MLK kit, a complimentary MLK City Edition-branded court for home games will extend the important recognition of Dr. King to the main floor of State Farm Arena. Mirroring the uniform colorway and stars detail, the court design will feature the stylized Hawks Primary Icon logo at the center which also incorporates the teams core uniform colors Torch Red and Legacy Yellow in a mosaic pattern that continues the stained-glass motif.

To learn more about the Atlanta Hawks MLK Nike City Edition uniform and watch the launch video go to hawks.com/MLK.

Excerpt from:

Atlanta Hawks Honor the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with First-Ever MLK Nike City Edition Uniform - Hawks.com

The week in audio: Me and My Trolls; Surviving Unemployment; Dyslexia: Language and Childhood – The Guardian

File on 4: Me and My Trolls (Radio 4) | BBC Sounds Surviving Unemployment: Reece and Sean (Radio 4) | BBC SoundsDyslexia: Language and Childhood (World Service) | BBC Sounds

Individual stories this week, those small, personal tales that indicate something larger about the world. Radio has always been the place for these; podcasts can drag them out for too long.

First up, a modern problem: internet trolling. Journalist Sali Hughes, who mostly writes about beauty and style, made last weeks File on Four about this contemporary version of ye olde worlde bullying. Hughes is on social media a lot for her work and about two years ago, she was made aware that people on a gossip website were slagging her off. Ah, internet trolls. Part of every semi-public womans life these days. Perhaps Hughes shouldnt have been bothered (dont feed the trolls!), but the gossip merchants had started to affect her work: if you Googled her name, their accusations came up quite high. She did some investigation and became very upset. Because it was more than what shed thought: the trolls were diving deep into her life, with her children, partner and dead mother all becoming part of their mad lies.

What are you meant to do in such a situation? Move away from your laptop? Shrug and move on? Block and delete? Sit down and shut up? Hughes didnt like those solutions, so, in September 2019, she made an Instagram video about what was being written and defended herself. And she made this programme.

Hughes has a precise, almost clipped, presentational voice and for some of her links, you could feel the anger in her tone: she became even more clipped, icy in her rage. She was warmer, obviously, when speaking to other people who have been affected. One Instagrammer, a makeup artist and blogger, had her pregnancy ruined when trolls accused her of drinking during her pregnancy (shed promoted a non-alcoholic wine brand). Motherhood is often used as a way of attacking women; according to her detractors, Hughes supposedly married her husband in order to get free childcare. There is a lot of women, know your place in internet trollery.

In the most surprising part of the programme, Hughes met one of her online abusers. The womans voice was spoken by an actor. Im a normal person, she said. Im a nice mum, Im a good friend how did somebody normal end up getting involved in something that was so hurtful? No one wants to think of themselves as a nasty person. But anything written online exists in the real world, as much as a newspaper article does or graffiti on a front door.

Another revealing show was Surviving Unemployment: Reece and Sean. Demotivated, living on benefits, caring for his depressed mum, Londoner Reece, 23, wants flexible work almost impossible in these days of pandemic. He talked to Sean, a fiftysomething Liverpudlian who moved down to London in 1985 to find work after three years on the dole.

Sean was an immensely evocative speaker and as he told his tale, I went straight back to the time of his youth. Thatcher in power, young people signing on, those useless YTS schemes. When Sean did his, he was put in front of a big pile of differently sized tacks and nails for weeks and told to sort them out. When he finished, his bosses poured them all out on the floor again, ready for the next YTS kid. I hope talking to Sean gave Reece the kick he needed: getting out of the house is the first step.

And finally, dyslexia. In Dyslexia: Language and Childhood on the World Service, presenter Toby Withers, who has dyslexia, remembered his childhood and spoke to his old teacher. More revealingly, he also spoke to Alex, who grew up in Japan, to English-speaking parents. Alex had no problem reading and writing in Japanese, but was dyslexic when it came to English, despite the fact that he could speak it fluently. I cant see the difference between spare and spear, he said. Linguists explained that phonological languages such as English only engage the left side of the brain; other, more graphic languages, such as Japanese or Chinese, engage both right and left. You can be dyslexic in any language, but your personal difficulties can be made harder by the language you learn. Another small tale that blossomed into something larger.

French and Saunders: Titting About Six episodes of two middle-aged women making each other laugh. There are themes for each episode, such as holidays, schools, passions and hobbies but really, as the title says, these are just half-hour shows of two old friends telling silly stories and teasing each other. Anecdotes include when Jennifer Saunders gatecrashed a Manchester United party (I remember Eric Cantona touched my leg! Did you get pregnant? wonders Dawn French), how French is exhausted from years of turning on the personality fireworks in order to make friends, and the time when Saunders managed to breed mice so small that one hid in her dads cup of tea. Lovely.

The Making of A podcast from the Female Lead, an organisation that promotes womens rights through research and data, and by spreading the word about female empowerment. The Making of is an interview show presented with engaging enthusiasm by Bea Appleby. Each guest chooses six key life moments to talk about and the result is fun and enlightening. Three episodes in, weve heard from writer Caitlin Moran, broadcaster Emma Barnett and journalist Yomi Adegoke, every one a powerhouse. Barnetts discussion of failure is great: The idea that if you try hard you will get there is not always a good thing, because there are some things youre going to be crap at.

Today in Focus Two episodes about trans rights. The first is very definitely not about being a woman, as its the story of Stephen Whittle, a trans man who has been an activist for trans rights for half a century. Whittle is moving, honest and inspiring, and his story illustrates the fight for trans recognition in the UK and Europe. Towards the end of this episode, Libby Brooks examines the backlash to reform of the 2004 Gender Recognition Act with clarity and care. Episode two discusses feminism and trans rights, the debate about single-sex spaces and wonders if theres a way that gender-critical feminists and trans activists can reconcile. Talking and listening is the answer.

Visit link:

The week in audio: Me and My Trolls; Surviving Unemployment; Dyslexia: Language and Childhood - The Guardian

Doctor knows best? Why patients must be part of the solution – swissinfo.ch

Patient advocate Judith Safford argues that without the support of the public and patients, health systems are powerless to stop the pandemic.

Judith Safford is an economist, consultant and patient expert

Even before the pandemic started, health systems worldwide needed reform. The challenges vary: changing dynamics of demography, rising costs and overpricing, shortages of qualified healthcare staff, false market incentives and poor governance, corruption, and fraud. The results are inadequate access, poor quality and/or high costs. The general perception is that current health systems must reform, because projected social, environmental and economic developments will make them unsustainable.

Patient empowerment in health care can not only improve personal outcomes, it is the logical next step.

One useful learning from Covid-19 is that without the support and cooperation of the public or patients, health systems are powerless to stop this pandemic. Patients and the public will have to be part of the solution.

This is an interesting and important insight. The history of health care has been characterised by unequal relationships, or what has been called institutionalised paternalism. The Doctor Knows Best, presents the solution, which the patient then adopts. Since Hippocrates the patient has been the problem to be solved by a health professional in a system created and run according to this philosophy.

As an economist I have learned that the market for health care is characterised by numerous failures where supply and demand do not meet to produce the best outcome. One of the main problems is information asymmetry. If you buy apples on a farmers market, your demand for apples depends on how much you need and what you are prepared to pay for the apples on display. You can get this information. However, if your knee hurts, its hard to know what you need. Unfortunately, it is generally the supplier of the treatment who will give you that information. A surgeon might say you need surgery, a clinician recommends pills and a physiotherapist says you need some exercises. Each specialist will tend to recommend a solution around her or his core knowledge. How can the patient process this information and judge, which solution is best?

Therefore, when supply dictates demand, because health care professionals decide on treatment, the result may not be optimal for the patient. Another characteristic of health care, which impedes a good result, is that the patient doesnt usually pay directly for the treatment chosen, and therefore has no incentive to look for value for money. Additionally, in many health systems, including Switzerland, salaries of senior health professions are often linked to turnover: more complicated medicine = more salary. All in all, the chances are significant that the treatment decision will be guided by other motives than the best patient outcome.

As a patient with a long and complicated medical history of chronic diseases this has been my experience on several occasions. If I am not listened to, or not taken seriously, or treated like a faulty object, terrible errors and oversights can and have occurred, which affected my health dramatically. As a patient advocate, I have also been witness to the sad stories of others, who for many different reasons have been failed by the health system.

Both approaches show weaknesses in the health care system from different perspectives, but they both point unequivocally to greater involvement of patients in decision-making. Patients are not just a liability in health care, but also an asset. They are not just the problem to be solved, they can be part of the solution.

If I think back to the way I was treated even 15 years ago, I believe that a paradigm change has started. There is way to go, but today patients are generally treated with more respect, with consideration for their feelings and acknowledgement of their suffering.

Treating patients better also opened the path to recognising that collaborative patients can contribute to their own health and well-being. A plethora of terms has emerged, which reflect these developments: patient voice, lay involvement, patient empowerment, health literacy, patient centricity and shared decision-making. Personally, I like the concept of shared decision-making.

In health care I need the knowledge, experience and advice of a specialised health expert, but I want to share responsibility for and participate in those decisions, for which I ultimately carry the consequences. I want to be in dialogue with health professionals, who recognise that I live with my diseases 24/7, and therefore I also possess valuable knowledge and expertise in managing my care, which a health professional seeing a patient for a single consultation every few months, cannot acquire.

That patients can take an active role in their care is now accepted wisdom. Most health professionals make a genuine effort to meet individual expectations and needs. I hope that health care reform will also encourage, empower and educate patients themselves to rise to the opportunity of taking a more active role in their own care, rather than adopt the passive role expected of them in the traditional care model. There seems now to be consensus, that developing real dialogue would result in better care outcomes than paternalism.

Patient involvement in individual treatment such as shared decision-making leads to better outcomes, when it is adopted. However, health systems (as defined by the WHO all the activities whose primary purpose is to promote, restore and/or maintain health) are still a long way from reflecting patients needs. Their power structures reflect a complex interplay of many different interest groups except the patients. Patient involvement is at most a patient council, which is generally unpaid and without formal responsibilities. Some institutions enable feedback, such as questionnaires, or scrutiny in the form of an Ombudsman. Current patient involvement in health systems is tokenism.

In the pandemic we must rethink. I believe that patient empowerment in health care can not only improve personal outcomes, it is the logical next step in the paradigm change needed to meet the challenges facing the health sector.

Judith Safford is an economist, who has dedicated her professional life to excellence in non-profit management. Affected by inflammatory arthritis since early adulthood, she is works as a consultant and patient expert. Her special interest is the involvement of patients in healthcare, particularly participation in medical research. She is a member of the Sciana Health Leaders Network, a TED speaker and writes a blog at arthritisandme.ch

According to the WHO, Health Sector Reform involves changing the rules of the game and the balance of power within the health sector. One day it will seem unbelievable that health systems were once run without using the knowledge and experience of users. I believe that representatives of the patient perspective should be working alongside managerial and clinical leaders at strategic and operational level to drive change in health systems. The principles of shared decision-making should be applied at leadership level because patient leadership in health care would improve it, through better governance, transparency, and accountability.

This vision probably seems as absurd now, as the ideas of empowered patients were just a few decades ago. It has huge implications for the existing power structures. But it is necessary step towards a health system where patient health and well-being is the uniting aim, and where space is made for love and compassion.

As the visionary patient leader, Michael Seres said, As patients we cant wait for the system to change, we dont have time.We are all patients sooner or later. In a pandemic, anybody might be in intensive care next week.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of swissinfo.ch.

More here:

Doctor knows best? Why patients must be part of the solution - swissinfo.ch

Discovery Education and NAHT launch ‘Pathway’ | Edexec – Ed Exec

A new digital programme to deliver high quality professional and personal development to thousands of teachers and school leaders across the UK was launched today by Discovery Education and school leaders union NAHT

Designed to support the whole teacher, Pathway is a holistic programme focused on improving teachers professional and personal wellbeing. By blending professional development with personal development, and combining Discovery Education and NAHTs expertise and reach, Pathway offers a unique approach to Continuing Professional Development (CPD) that empowers teachers and school leaders to flourish during these challenging times.

Featuring powerful insights and perspectives from the UKs leading education experts, Pathway supports teachers at every stage of their career through a wide range of easy-to-access courses, webinars, resources and tools.With Pathways unique materials, teachers can identify what motivates them, analyse their professional skills, gain meaningful professional advice and manage their own wellbeing. Together, these resources can support the creation of a culture of professional learning and personal and career development in any school.

Delivered digitally and available to teachers at any time and pace, Pathway provides educators access to the training, advice and support they need to meet the challenges of the modern classroom. Pathway also includes a unique wellbeing programme written and presented by Professor Tim OBrien and Dr Dennis Guiney and a new advice hub powered by NAHT experts, which helps schools keep abreast of the latest education policies and guidelines.

Paul Whiteman, NAHT general secretary, said: The Pathway message is simple: In order to properly invest in the development of their teams, school leaders must first invest in themselves. As we say, if effective education considers the whole child, then effective CPD should be about the whole teacher.

Howard Lewis, UK MD, Discovery Education said: We believe that teachers wellbeing, motivation and creative ambitions deserve as much consideration as their professional skills. If teaching requires body and mind, heart and soul, then good CPD should support the whole teacher. Were delighted to partner with NAHT to deliver a programme which achieves this. Pathway will help teachers and leaders to stay motivated, develop their skills and retain agency even during these exceptionally challenging times.

The Pathway programme is structured around three core elements, which together form a virtuous cycle of continuous empowerment throughout an educators professional journey. Orientation is where educators can explore what motivates them, audit their skills and competences and plot future goals and aspirations. In navigation, participants can learn from fellow educators, school leaders and education experts through a suite of continuous professional empowerment courses and modules comprising films, thought-pieces and reflections and online discussion forums. Finally, in reflection teachers are encouraged to self-focus with an exclusive wellbeing programme, an advice hub and a professional learning portfolio to keep a record of personal and professional achievements.

Pathways contributors include some of the UKs leading education experts and include lead author and series editor Andrew Hammond, Hywel Roberts, Debra Kidd, Professor Tim OBrien, Pranav Patel and Professor Max Coates.

Teachers, leaders and schools can find out more by visiting: http://www.discoveryeducation.co.uk/pathway

Read this article:

Discovery Education and NAHT launch 'Pathway' | Edexec - Ed Exec

PM Modi has worked for Muslim community, while breaking sway of vote bank politics – The Indian Express

Written by Amin Pathan | Updated: October 6, 2020 8:48:27 amPrime Minister Narendra Modi

A shamelessly propagated myth is that Prime Minister Narendra Modis relations with the Muslim community are frosty at best, bitter at worst. Any contrary opinion is treated with disdain and ridicule. Having followed this subject closely for 20 years, I am convinced that this is the right time to break free from the shackles of false narratives.

The project of portraying Modi as anti-Muslim fails the test of facts. At every step in his political and administrative career, PM Modi has done everything he can for the welfare of the community. Yes, his style of working does not fit the conventional approach it provides a refreshing alternative to how empowerment can be done without appeasement and tokenism.

It is not widely known that Modis house in Vadnagar was situated in an area where there were many Muslims. Some of his first and long-lasting friends are Muslims. When he was the chief minister of Gujarat, the two districts whose development indices shot up were Kutch and Bharuch. These are districts with high Muslim populations.

Kutch, among Indias western-most districts, was known for two things post-1947 registan and Pakistan (the desert and a long border with Pakistan). Tourists would never go there. Officials would not want to serve there. But this was until Modi became CM. After 2001, Kutchs agriculture flourished, industry came to the district, its coastal strengths were harnessed and it emerged as a vibrant tourist destination.

Opinion | Shehzad Poonawalla writes: Under PM Modi, India is no country for appeasement and victim card politics anymore

In Bharuch, the problem was law and order. Previous Congress governments and top Congress leaders allowed Bharuch to deteriorate. Children who grew up in the 1980s and 90s in Bharuch can never forget the curfews there. Such a scenario prevented wide-scale development.

Friends in Gujarat, both Hindus and Muslims, often tell me about the efforts Modi made to develop key spots linked with the Muslim community. The Sarkhej Roza in Ahmedabad witnessed massive rejuvenation and restoration works under Modi as the CM. Modi visited the Sarkhej Roza on a few occasions, including once with former President APJ Abdul Kalam. Working closely with the ASI, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation worked hard to make the Roza and its surrounding areas better. Heritage festivals were initiated, making the Roza a vibrant cultural landmark in Ahmedabad. The Sidi Saiyyed Mosque also got a facelift. As PM, Modi also took the then prime minister of Japan Shinzo Abe to the mosque.Kutch is home to the Hajipir Dargah. Like all parts of Kutch, it faced massive infrastructure-related problems. Modi improved local road networks, enabling devotees to visit the Dargah.

As our PM, Modi has time and again showed that he is a leader of the entire nation. I can never forget PM Modis words at the Islamic Heritage Conference, organised in Delhi. He said (young) Muslims should be well-versed with the Holy Quran and the computer. His words have resonated across the community.

Opinion | Tavleen Singh writes: Pandemic has brought a temporary lull in hate campaign launched against Indian Muslims

At the core of his leadership is respect for human dignity. PM Modis single step of abolishing the triple talaq has ensured that generations of Muslim women lead a better life. Likewise, the decision to allow women to proceed on Haj without mehram has been hailed a major step towards their empowerment.

PM Modi has also developed a close bond with the Dargah Ajmer Sharif. The 188 toilets constructed there have helped devotees, particularly women. There has been an extensive beautification process at the Dargah, which includes the construction of Silver Katahra at Astana Sharif, a new fountain and renovation of the Nizam Gate and Akbari Masjid. Cleaning machines have been placed at the jhalra at the iconic palace and a water tank with a capacity of three lakh litres has been constructed. Besides, PM Modi has been offering chadar at the dargah of the Sufi saint Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer Sharif for the last six years. This is a clear reflection of his respect and obeisance to all deities and Sufi saints.

For the last many years, it has become fashionable among some sections to hate Narendra Modi. My humble question to them is: When will you stop?

After 2002, the Supreme Court of India took over most of the probes. The Nanavati Commission was formed, there was an SIT in front of which Modi himself deposed for hours. The findings of the Commission and the SIT are in the public domain. Yet, there is a refusal to believe any of these findings.

There have been many analyses of the Modi-led foreign policy but one facet that stands out is the excellent relations with the Muslim world. Bahrain, the UAE, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan have conferred on him their top honour. The crown princes of the UAE as well as Saudi Arabia have strong personal friendships with the PM. Can anyone forget PM Modis special visit to the grand mosque in the UAE? Can we forget the PM paying obeisance at Bahadur Shah Zafars mazar?

Todays Muslims, especially the younger ones among them, are fed-up with vote-bank politics. Vested interests took away their votes and scared them but delivered nothing. The community wants prosperity and opportunity. It is high time the old shopkeepers of vote-bank politics shut shop. In a new India, it is aspiration and inclusion that will speak. Modi has made a start. It is up to us to support him and nurture this great nation that has given us so much.

This article first appeared in the print edition on October 6, 2020 under the title Empowerment, not tokenism. The writer is president, Dargah Committee, Dargah Khwaja Sahab, Ajmer

Opinion | Harsh Mander writes: Nearly seven months after Delhi violence, a continuing attempt to target dissenting voices

The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest Opinion News, download Indian Express App.

Read the original post:

PM Modi has worked for Muslim community, while breaking sway of vote bank politics - The Indian Express

NEW PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN NYC ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN’S SERVICES AND THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF MEDICINE PROVIDES YOUTH IN FOSTER CARE WITH VIRTUAL…

New York, NY, Oct. 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The NYC Administration for Children's Services (ACS) and The New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) today announced a new partnership aimed at promoting health equity among older youth in foster care through the use of virtual programming. Through this partnership, ACS and NYAM rolled out "YouthWorks," a virtual community program that focuses on health and well-being, particularly related to COVID-19. The program uses a credible messenger model, which means that courses are taught by individuals with prior experience in the child welfare system.

"Now more than ever, as we work to prevent the spread of COVID-19, it's important that everyone understand the importance of keeping healthy and this partnership with The New York Academy of Medicine means young people in foster care will have greater access to this critical information,"said ACS Commissioner David A. Hansell. "With the help of credible messengers, the YouthWorks Virtual Community Program teaches our young people in foster care how to make healthy choices, cope with stress, maintain healthy relationships and more. This program is just one of the many ways in which ACS works to support and empower youth at some of the most vulnerable times in their lives."

"Through the YouthWorks program, ACS and NYAM are supporting youth in foster care during a vulnerable time, when COVID-19 has further compounded the isolation of being separated from their families," saidNYAM President Judith A. Salerno, MD, MS. "By facilitating access to learning and resources for health and well-being, we are empowering youth for a healthier future."

"It has been a great pleasure to partner with The New York Academy of Medicine & ACS. I believe it is these types of partnerships that can penetrate our communities the greatest and have the most impact. Our team of credible messengers relates well with the participants in the program. By interacting with folks who have once walked in their footsteps, but made it out, it gives the students great hope! Our goal through our programming is to give students the skills to boost their confidence, a plan to avoid bad decisions, and show them what's possible with hard work," saidAndre Mitchell, Executive Director, Man Up.

The YouthWorks Virtual Community program is grounded in empowerment theory, positive youth development theory, youth participatory action research, and the credible messenger model. The program is organized into topical modules, each with a standard set of activities. Live sessions and modules, that can be accessed via Google classroom, cover a variety of health and wellness topics, including: exploring innate strengths and resources to promote self-awareness and self-esteem; physical health and well-being, particularly related to COVID-19 and making healthy choices; developing and maintaining healthy interpersonal relationships; building resilience and empowerment through individual work and peer interactions; stress relief through breathing, meditation, and exercise; artistic expression in all forms; personal storytelling and social justice; and entrepreneurship and career planning.

The YouthWorks Virtual Community program is currently being piloted at the Nicholas Scoppetta's Children's Center. The Nicholas Scoppetta Children's Center is a child-friendly facility that operates 24 hours a day, temporarily housing children and youth who are not placed immediately after removal from their homes. An interdisciplinary team of Child Protective Specialists, Social Workers, Nurses, Psychologists, Psychiatrists, Child Care and Administrative staff provide support and clinical services to children to reduce trauma associated with child maltreatment, as well as loss and separation from their parents and primary caregivers.

In addition to YouthWorks' Virtual Community program, ACS continues to actively engage youth at the Nicholas Scoppetta Children's Center to help them cope during these challenging times. Youth have participated in summer youth employment and literacy programs to help empower and lend strength to their voices; voter registration workshops, led by the Campaign Finance Board; an African Art Exhibit activity where staff and children explored and created African-inspired art; a visit by Life Camp's Peace Mobile unit to teach youth about violence prevention and positive alternatives to violence, bullying and other forms of anti-social behavior; a library expansion to increase the number of books written by and about Black authors and protagonists in collaboration with Children's Defense Fund-NY; and back to school preparations such as a pop-up clothing boutique, a Summer Education Academy.

About The New York Academy of MedicineThe New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) tackles the barriers that prevent every individual from living a healthy life. NYAM generates the knowledge needed to change the systems that prevent people from accessing what they need to be healthy such as safe and affordable housing, healthy food, healthcare and more. Through its high-profile programming for the general public, focused symposia for health professionals, and its base of dedicated Fellows and Members, NYAM engages the minds and hearts of those who also value advancing health equity to maximize health for all. To learn more, visitNYAM.org.

Read more:

NEW PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN NYC ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN'S SERVICES AND THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF MEDICINE PROVIDES YOUTH IN FOSTER CARE WITH VIRTUAL...

Paltown Development Foundation and HalioDx Team Up for Colorectal Cancer Testing Center – GlobeNewswire

Paltown Development Foundation and HalioDx Team Up for Colorectal Cancer Testing Center

COLONTOWN University Launches Secure Platform for Colorectal Cancer Patients

Marseille, France, October 9, 2020 HalioDx SAS, the immuno-oncology diagnostic company, today announced the company will be participating in COLONTOWN University (CU), a new online learning center for over 5,300 Colorectal Cancer (CRC) patients and caregivers.

COLONTOWN University is a secure online platform that hosts training and educational resources developed by PALTOWN Development Foundation and its partners. The site is launching a suite of learning centers that include the latest scientific research, clinical data and actionable resources about newer diagnostic/surveillance tests for CRC patients. CU will offer a Diagnostic and Surveillance Testing Center and a Clinical Trials Center, which provide interactive features and structured content across a range of media. As part of the initiative, HalioDx will provide educational resources to CU students (CRC patients and caregivers), on Immunoscore, an in vitro diagnostic test predicting the risk of relapse in early stage colon cancer patients and enlightening decision-making process on therapeutic options.

"We are excited to be part of this innovative platform to increase awareness of important diagnostic tests such as Immunoscore for CRC patients, said Graham Poage, PhD, Director of Medical Science for HalioDx in the US. This collaborative process gives patients and their care teams valuable information that can help facilitate conversations about these important assays.

New prognostic and predictive tests like Immunoscore can give patients important data that can inform decision-making during the course of treatment, according to Nancy Seybold, COO of Paltown Development Foundation. We are excited to work with HalioDx to help educate patients regarding their options for testing and how their personal immune response biomarker can help to understand their own cancer evolution

The new Diagnostic and Surveillance Testing Center provides an portal for patients to learn what testing might be appropriate for them, how each option might contribute to treatment decisions, and how insurance and patient assistance programs will affect out-of-pocket costs.

Immunoscore is an in vitro diagnostic test predicting the risk of relapse and response to therapy in early stage colon cancer patients by measuring the host immune response at the tumor site. It is a risk assessment tool that provides independent and superior prognostic value to the usual tumor risk parameters and should be used as an adjunct to the TNM classification. (Pags F et al. The Lancet 2018, Sinicrope F et al. JNCI cancer spectrum 2020, Mlecnik et al. JCO 2020). Immunoscore can thus improve individual patient treatment strategies, particularly the modulation of adjuvant chemotherapy in stage II and stage III.

COLONTOWN UNIVERSITY supports over 5,300 patients and caregivers in its exclusive online community COLONTOWN, as well as the broader CRC community. COLONTOWN pioneered a unique model of patient-led empowerment with over 120 private neighborhoods for patients and caregivers, providing the emotional and psychosocial support they need as well as the latest science-based data to inform their care and treatment.

***

About COLONTOWN

COLONTOWN, founded in 2002 by Erika Hanson Brown, a stage III CRC patient, is the first patient-powered disease specific community under the umbrella of the Paltown Development Foundation, a 501(c)3 dedicated to addressing information needs and social isolation through training, technology, and purpose-driven community leadership. The Paltown Development Foundation is committed to expanding its unique model of online peer-to-peer health communities to provide hope and empowerment to patient leaders in the CRC space and across other disease states.

About Immunoscore

Immunoscore is an in vitro diagnostic test measuring the host immune response at the tumor site. It provides a robust, precise, quantitative, and consensus assessment of lymphocytic infiltration and has been shown to predict patient outcome and response to therapies in several indications.

In 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO), in its latest edition of the Digestive System Tumours, introduced immune response as an essential and desirable diagnostic criterion for colorectal cancer, in addition to traditional histological parameters.

Subsequently, Immunoscore was included in the 2020 European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Clinical Practice Guidelines for Diagnosis, Treatment and Follow-up for LocalisedLocalized Colon Cancer.

Immunoscore Colon is the first IVD diagnostic test of our Immunoscore portfolio for which a comprehensive corpus of clinical data demonstrating its clinical utility associated with TNM scoring in the management of localized colon cancer has been published. Additional immune-based assays in the same portfolio are used as clinical trial assays to support translational research and clinical development. Those assays enable Multiplex Spatial Tissue Analysis and combine proprietary multiplexed immunohistochemistry, advanced image analysis and computerized algorithms.

Immunoscore is currently being investigated in a broad number of clinical studies and cancer indications for establishing its performance as a prognostic factor as well as a predictive factor for response to drugs, notably chemotherapies and immunotherapies.

Immunoscore is commercially available in more than 20 countries.

About HalioDx

The Immune Response to Cancer Diagnostics

HalioDx is an immuno-oncology diagnostic company providing oncologists and drug development organizations with first-in-class Immune-based diagnostic products and services to guide cancer care and contribute to precision medicine in the era of immuno-oncology and combination therapies.

Leveraging the pioneering work of Dr Jrme Galon, HalioDx provides a unique range of immune scoring solutions including its flagship Immunoscore assay for the assessment of the immune contexture of a tumor, as a key determinant of patients outcomes and response to cancer treatments.

HalioDx has developed a unique Biopharma partnering ecosystem for the identification of clinically relevant biomarker signatures, the demonstration of their clinical utility in trials and the development and commercialization of resulting diagnostic or companion diagnostic tests. Our programs draw on our expertise and focus on immuno-oncology, a complete suite of genomic and proteomic biomarker profiling services, a world-class data analysis and biostatistics platform, and CLIA-certified laboratories with compliant facilities in Europe and in the US to develop, manufacture, register and market in vitro diagnostic (IVD) products. HalioDx has rapidly become the preferred partner of Biopharma developing therapeutic antibodies, vaccines, chemotherapies, oncolytic peptides, and CAR-T cell therapies.

For more information, please visit our websites http://www.haliodx.com and http://www.immunoscore-colon.com and follow the company on Twitter, Linkedin and Youtube.

Immunoscore is a registered trademark of Inserm licenced to HalioDx. Brightplex, TMExplore and Immunosign are registered trademarks of HalioDx.

Contacts

More here:

Paltown Development Foundation and HalioDx Team Up for Colorectal Cancer Testing Center - GlobeNewswire

Rise of the street beat: India spits rhymes in Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Odia – The New Indian Express

The Indian counterculture milieu is in the middle of a metamorphosis. A perennially fertile landscape, the Indian underground has always been a hive of activity that has spawned everything from rock bands and heavy metal juggernauts to DJs and electronic artists that have made beaches and nightclubs come alive with the sound of music.

This vibrant vista is now booming with a beat that is insistent and clearly intent on imprinting itself on the collective consciousness of an entire generation of music lovers. It is a rhythmic statement of intent born out of a sense of belief that brooks no argument.

Strident, clawing at the boundaries of mainstream recognition, Indian hip-hop is poised on the brink of a massive breakthrough and it has all the potential to be bigger than anything which has preceded it so far.

Music, like all art, needs an emotional connection with a section of the community to thrive. This is where hip-hop in India has the biggest advantage because its core comprises an identity that is proudly Indian.

There have been innumerable iconic moments in underground and independent music in the country over the years but there does not seem to be any musical movement that has quite the grassroots appeal which this avatar of hip-hop seems to be enjoying.

Rap music is not new to the country. It arrived at our shores in the early nineties bearing a fun, good times lyrical agenda. The grimy underbelly of urban existence which typifies most rap music was decidedly missing.

The transformation of that aspect of rap borders on the unbelievable these days. Hip-hop is hugely personal right now and it reflects in the immense diversification of the genre in the country.

A cursory look at the rap landscape in India throws up sub-genres such as Odisha rap, Jat rap, hip-hop from the Northeast, Marwari, Marathi, Kannada, Tamil and so many more. Rappers are throwing down their rhymes in rapid fire Hindi as well and it is almost like this is the medium of expression that has unprecedented resonance with artists.

Making a NameFazilpuria has found great success in the Indian film industry. His hits include Chull and Pallo Latke but the pride he takes in his Haryanvi rhymes is evident.

There is a lot of difference between Haryanvi rap and Punjabi rap, he says. My intention is to put my language and my state on the map through my music.

That is the reason I chose Fazilpuria as my stage name. I belong to Fazilpur and so I call myself Fazilpuria. Apropos of nothing, Bhai is the standard Indian hip-hop greeting and exclamation. Nearly every statement either begins or ends with this sibling-y shout-out.

It might be an appropriation of the archetypal bro but that is probably the only parallel with other hip-hop styles across the world. The Indian rap narrative is a genre unto itself in terms of the factors that fuel it and the issues it addresses. Take Rapper Dule Rocker, for instance.

A migrant worker from Odishas Kalahandi district, Dule, whose real name is Duleshwar Tandi, has emerged as one of the biggest voices for migrant workers, many of whom were forced to walk back home following the Covid-19 lockdown.

The humility with which Dule talks about his journey as a hip-hop artist is in stark contrast to the intensity of his rhymes in songs like Me Hun Aam Aadmi and Sun Sarkaar Sat Katha.

Music director Vishal Dadlani described him as fire in one of his tweets and the scorching intensity of Dules words bear testimony to the fact.

Rapper Dule Rocker is a voice from a muddy hut in a village called Borda. The impact it has, however, resounds across the nation and may soon be global. All this without access to any recording studio, production techniques or other accoutrements that any artist anywhere in the world would take for granted. I have been through a lot of hard times, he says.

But I have never left hip-hop. I have an old laptop and I make my beats on it. He then records it on his mobile phone and uploads it on YouTube and other social media platforms. The world stops and listens.

Fuel to FireThere are three key factors fuelling the hip-hop phenomenon and individuality is perhaps the greatest of them all. The intensely personal nature of the music allows every artist to tell their own story, completely unfettered by genre trappings. Hip-hop is modern poetry, says Borkung Hrangkhwal. It becomes very personal. Unless you feel it, you cannot write it. The rapper from Tripura gained recognition with his song, Chini Haa, which translates as Our Land. People really got behind the track and it became something of an anthem. Hrangkhwal also talks aboutracism in his songs.

It is a subject he has experienced, painfully, firsthand. This goes back many years when I went to stay in Delhi for the first time, recounts Hrangkhwal.

I had stepped out for an after-dinner stroll when suddenly three guys came out of nowhere and stabbed me. I think they may have acted on the spur of the moment. I survived. It is an incident shocking in the extreme so when Hrangkhwal puts his themes of racism and alienation to a massive beat, it becomes compelling beyond description.

Quite like the whirlwind frenzy of Ayo Burn. The track finds the fantastically multi-dimensional Anushka Manchanda taking on a brand new identity and spewing vitriol on gender discrimination, marital rape, corrupt politicians and people that disrespect the environment. The song is a livewire of intensity and hits you squarely between the eyes. I have been the sort of musician who keeps asking for feedback constantly, says Manchanda who morphs into the fearsome lyrical warrior Nuka for Ayo Burn.

But for this song I felt completely fearless. Nuka is joined by rapper Kaam Bhaari on the track and together they weave a tapestry that is a series of body blows and ear candy, simultaneously.Rapper Big Deal from Odisha is a big star.

So luminous, in fact, that he hit the road with the Chief Minister of his state, Naveen Patnaik, for a series of electoral rallies. He had the crowds eating out of his hands as he stomped the stage with songs like Khanti Odia and Khussi Ta. The beginning of this road to stardom, however, was not without its scars. I was a bullied kid, says Big Deal. I had to deal with a lot of those issues while growing up. But when I found rap, it was almost like I had discovered my superpower.

Bridge Over Troubled TimesRap, at least in the Indian context, is the great enabler. It is the ultimate personal statement and allows everyone to tell their own stories the way they want to. That is perhaps the reason why rappers are so prolific with their recorded output.

While most of the nation went into a state of inertia following the pandemic, the hip-hop tribe showed no signs of taking its foot off the accelerator.

7BantaiZ, a multilingual hip-hop crew from Dharavi, Mumbai, have released Kitaab, a video that is doing the rounds on VH1.

They are also part of a huge message called Stay Home Stay Safe, which has mega Bollywood stars like Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn and Suniel Shetty syncing lines written by MC Altaf, 7BantaiZ and Dopeadelicz.

The BantaiZ, which translates into crew or brotherhood, are also working on an album, which will be out very soon. Rapper Big Deal has been busy finalising details of a major label deal that should find him going even more stratospheric and Manchanda created a master flourish when she conceptualised and released Mehfil-e-Hip Hop.

At the risk of stepping out on a tangent just a wee bit, like rock music has its concerts, and jazz and blues have their clubs, the meeting place for hip-hop MCs is called a Cypher. It is a place where MCs hang together, trade rhymes and perform live for audiences. It is the definitive congregating point for the hip-hop scene.

With the lockdown rendering any kind of physical gathering impossible, Manchanda had this idea of creating a cyber Cypher. Sure enough, Kaam Bhaari, Spitfire, SlowCheeta and Devil The Rhymer have collaborated on Mehfil-e-Hip Hop.

It is a fabulous recreation of what Cyphers actually are with each of these MCs bringing in their own style to the track. This is not song in the strictest sense of the word with a defined verse-chorus format. It is a free-flowing rhyme-fest with each artist adding his own flavour to the verbal potluck.

The Local TouchAnother major catalyst in hip-hops climb out of the underground is that it is not looked on as a concept imported from the West and then adapted to an Indian sensibility.

It has seeped into the very fabric of our society and feels home-grown and organic. One of the first songs we composed was Ganpati Bappa Morya, says Dopeadelicz, arguably one of the founding pillars of the Mumbai scene. Then we played at seven Ganpati pandals and the crowds there got into our music in a big way.

Listen to the Dopeadelicz track Aai Shapath and one will be convinced that this is not an Indian band doing hip-hop. It is a class rap act anywhere in the world. Period.

That is probably the reason why Indian hip-hop is expected to create major waves at the global level. Universal Music Group has signed up with Mass Appeal, the urban culture focussed entertainment company to launch Mass Appeal India.

The new entity will work towards amplifying Indias growing hip-hop culture to the world.

Mass Appeal India will sign and work with the most promising artists in the Indian hip-hop fraternity and leverage Mass Appeals global network to showcase Indian talent to a worldwide audience.

WATCH

Iconic rapper DIVINE is the first signing on Mass Appeal India. The inspiration behind the smash hit, Gully Boy, DIVINEs credentials are etched onto the foundation stone of Indian hip-hop.

His incendiary flow on songs like Meri Gully Mein, Jungli Sher and Kaam 25 pioneered the Gully Rap movement with hip-hop taking on a firm indigenous route in terms of style, delivery and language. I was first introduced to DIVINEs music through the brilliant film, Gully Boy, says Nas, one of the greatest rappers in the world and co-founder of Mass Appeal.

I am proud to announce the launch of Mass Appeal India with DIVINE as the first artist on our roster. This is just the kind of impetus rap music in India needs.

Mass Appeal India has gone into action mode straightaway. Its YouTube channel provides the perfect spectrum of the diversity of Indian hip-hop with videos dropping regularly, and showcasing emerging and established artists to an audience that is clearly gorging on it.

There is an incident Rapper Big Deal narrates which encapsulates the hip-hop phenomenon in India to a nicety. The musician doesnt live too far away from the beach in Puri and every morning there are people from the Nolia fisherman community who arrive at that beach. They are a BPL community and have not been exposed to global rap music in any way, he says. But when Big Deal cues up his music, everybody starts to groove.

There are kids that are just five or six years old and they understand the vibe of the music completely. Rhyme is the language of the new generation and it is in perfect sync.

The India SceneThere is a school of thought which stands steadfast in the belief that India predated the most widely accepted date of the birth of hip-hop by a decade.

Documented history tells us that the rap movement began in 1979 when New Jersey trio Sugarhill Gang released their chartbusting single, Rappers Delight.

But some folks at home would have us believe that it was actually Dada Moni Ashok Kumar, getting all breathless on the track, Rail Gaadi, from the 1968 movie, Ashirwaad, which birthed rap. Be that as it may, here are some milestones that shaped hip-hop in India into the burgeoning phenomenon it is today.

1991: Apache Indian stirs up the vibe with Arranged Marriage1992: Baba Sehgal releases Thanda Thanda Paani. It becomes a huge sensation.2002: Bohemia brings it into the new millennium with Vich Pardesan De2008: Mafia Mundeer, which featured Yo Yo Honey Singh and Badshah, gains prominence2011: Honey Singh releases his solo album, International Villager2012: Badshah breaks out with Saturday Saturday2013: DIVINE releases Yeh Mera Bombay2014: Naezy launches his debut single, Aafat2019: Zoya Akhtar makes Gully Boy. The film sweeps 13 Filmfare awards.2019: Universal Music Group India signs up with iconic hip-hop label Mass Appeal to launch Mass Appeal India

Indian hip-hop is poised on the brink of a massive breakthrough and it has all the potential to be bigger than anything which has preceded it so far.

10 Indian Rappers You Need to Know

Prabh DeepHis debut album Class-Sikh, released in 2017, became a marker for Indian hip-hop. It was a seminal project that weaved political rhymes with club-ready production.

AhmerLittle Kid, Big Dreams, his debut album released last year, was simultaneously a critique of the Indian government and an exploration of his identity as a Kashmiri

Meba OfiliaThe Meghalaya star first started making waves in 2016 with her first single Done Talking, showcasing her skills within R&B and hip-hop. But it was her recently released single, The Journey, that truly showcased the potential she possesses.

MC MawaliSwadesi is a hip-hop crew and community from Dharavi, Mumbai. Their numbers can swell to over a dozen, comprising mostly graffiti artists, DJs, and MCs. Their unofficial leader MC Mawali always manages to shine.

ThirumaLiThe rapper rose to prominence with his song Malayali Da, and has since racked up hundreds of thousands of views on each of his songs, some of which have easily crossed a million.

Smokey the GhostSmokeys most notable release is arguably his latest, The Human Form, as it re-introduced him to a generation suddenly aware of and excited by Indian hip-hop

Seedhe MautThe Delhi-based duo are bona fide stars in the making. Razor-sharp, incisive lyrics spat in both Hindi and English is their calling card. Theyre political, brash, and unafraid to voice their opinion where it matters most.

SiriWith Live It, a self-directed and self-funded song and video, Siri demanded attention from the industry. Thanks to its theme of empowerment and its reveal of Siris ability to rap across languagesEnglish, Kannada, and Hindithe song went viral.

Park CircusLast year, Park Circus released their eponymous debut album to critical acclaim. The eight-track record announced the Kolkata-based group as a funk-centred, old school crew.

Street AcademicsThe group released their latest album, Loop, last yearlong time fans will note that each album has a thematic output and is somehow loosely interconnected in an alternative universe that feels very much like our own.

There are three key factors fuelling thehip-hop phenomenon and individuality is perhaps the greatest of them all

Here is a fun byte

Did You KnowTheir Real Names?

Badshah: Aditya Prateek Singh SisodiaHard Kaur: Taran Kaur DhillonRaftaar: Dilin NairBohemia: Roger DavidBrodha V: Vighnesh ShivanandEmiway Bantai: Bilal SheikhSukh-e: Sukhdeep Singh DayalJ Star: Jagdeep SinghJazzy B: Jaswinder Singh BainsYo Yo Honey Singh: Hirdesh Sing

Rap, at least in the Indian context, is the great enabler. It is the ultimate personal statement and allows everyone to tell their own stories the way they want to.

Excerpt from:

Rise of the street beat: India spits rhymes in Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Odia - The New Indian Express

Joe Biden’s 2020 appeal to the white working class can work. Just ask my dad. – NBC News

There is a narrative in the American consciousness about who the white working class really is. Its a narrative that all too often gets caricatured and distorted in pop culture and the media, especially when talking about President Donald Trumps base.

If former Vice President Joe Biden wants to win in November, hes going to need members of this often-maligned group, generally speaking, to vote for him. And contradicting some of the mythology, his message seems to be making an impact. New polls in Pennsylvania recently showed Biden up 9 points, fueled in part by whites in the suburbs, and not just those with a college education. Meanwhile in Ohio, Biden continues to push his populist rhetoric, as he has been doing across the industrial Midwest.

A third-generation logger from Springfield, Oregon, my dad raised me in ways that allowed me to eventually become part of the so-called liberal elite.

The fact that Biden might be succeeding with white noncoastal voters might surprise some on the actual coasts, but it doesnt surprise me. Because one of those voters is my dad.

A third-generation logger from Springfield, Oregon a town reliant on the timber industry for decades and that limps along in the shadow of college town Eugene my dad raised me in ways that allowed me to eventually become part of the so-called liberal elite.

The white, working-class heterosexual man is painted with broad strokes as narrow-minded, gripping tightly to the time when their kind unabashedly ruled the world and their opinions were all that mattered. And that portrayal holds some truth white men without college degrees still prefer Trump to Biden by a wide margin. But the white working class is not a monolith. Plenty of white working-class men consider themselves moderate-leaning Democrats, voted for Barack Obama, wanted Hillary Clinton to break the glass ceiling, occasionally vote Republican and wont be voting for Trump. Plenty hunt and support gun control, see firsthand from their livelihoods that climate change is real, and teach their daughters to be feminists. Thats Dad.

He worked in one of Americas most dangerous industries, from the too-often deadly work of cutting trees, to loading logs onto trucks, to driving those trucks until his body was literally so broken he had to retire. The key was to keep working, keep providing for his family.

In the 1980s, when new environmental protections stalled work in the timber industry, Dad even moved us to Alaska for a year to take advantage of the incredible amount of logging work available for people willing to live in rough conditions.

The Alaskan logging camp was a circle of single-wide trailers around a one-room schoolhouse where my mom taught, a playground and a bear bell to ring when anyone saw a wandering grizzly. Each trailer had its own smokehouse. Groceries were flown in on a seaplane.

Other than my baby sister, I was the youngest kid in the camp, and the boys would pick on me They would call me over to play, then squirt water bottles in my face; I would run back to our trailer crying.

Dad decided to teach me to stick up for myself.

He taught me how to make a fist with my thumb in the right place so as not to break it. Then I practiced punching his massive, grease-stained hands with my 4-year-old fists.

Punching through the hand was critical. It took many tries to learn how to use the force of my whole body without losing my balance. Dad made clear to me that I should only use my new skills when I was being picked on, to defend myself. A few days later, I had my chance. With one punch, I would realize years later, I internalized Dads message that I could, must, fight societys prevailing boys-will-be-boys mentality.

At 10, I got a BB gun. Dad insisted I learn my way around firearms. Dad knew that power imbalances grow when one side is ignorant and would not tolerate my remaining ignorant of weapons that could cost, or save, my life.

I developed my nose for sexism early on, primarily because Dad smelled it first.

I developed my nose for sexism early on, primarily because Dad smelled it first. Like the time I told him about my sixth-grade band teacher. I wanted to play the tenor sax, an instrument almost my height. When I told my teacher, he said the alto would better suit me.

At home that night, he asked who else is playing the alto and who is playing the tenor? I didnt know, but he had a hunch. As I was leaving school the next day, up walks Dad, his logging suspenders over his hickory shirt. He had left the woods early for a discussion with my band teacher, while I waited outside.

A few minutes later, Dad walked out with a clenched jaw and a tenor sax. Hed had a feeling that all the boys were playing tenor sax, and all the girls directed to play the altos. And he was right.

Now, to be honest, I did not always appreciate Dads lessons in feminism. When he got me a summer job washing logging trucks because he didnt believe in womens work or mens work, I politely declined. But I did work in the mill, pulling green chain a job that Wikipedia defines as men pulling lumber off a conveyor belt to place in piles.

Also, Dads progressive attitude toward female empowerment had its limits. When I came home with a girlfriend for the first time, he struggled to understand what my sexuality meant. From his perspective, being gay meant life would be harder for me. In my adolescent mind, if he werent homophobic, he should have no issue with a gay daughter. But watching him struggle, I eventually learned that even parents who openly rail against sexism, racism and homophobia sometimes need to do their own deep, personal work.

Dad embodies the complexity of these struggles as he continues to evolve, even as the American dialogue on demographics devolves.

He sees both the similarities and differences in the struggles of various marginalized groups. Some of his understanding is rooted in growing up poor and experiencing social mobility. He understands his privilege and also sees how systems are designed to oppress swaths of people, while making a remote few rich. The obstacles he faced help him imagine the obstacles for people of color, for women, and yes, the LGBTQ population. He is not alone but remains largely overlooked. Hopefully Joe Biden has the good sense not to do the same.

See the original post here:

Joe Biden's 2020 appeal to the white working class can work. Just ask my dad. - NBC News

Sonya Lennon: stand on the shoulders of the fear that holds you back – Irish Examiner

One could call Sonya Lennon many things - a fashion designer, a business person, a social entrepreneur, an innovator, a co-founder, a public speaker, a feminist, a mother. One of her friends calls her and her partner The Jam Factory. That is to say, theyre lucky. But Lennon believes that you make your own luck.

There is a book called The Luck Factor which looks at the science behind luck, Lennon tells me.

One of my best friends jokingly calls myself and my husband The Jam Factory. We are lucky, lucky to have been born in Ireland, lucky to have been born into the families we were, lucky to have been born at all!

But we are also both grafters who love what we do, and we will graft till the day we die. It helps that we like what we do - thats the first thing that makes you lucky. It is about attitude, perception and narrative. The opportunity is there and its about your mind being open to those opportunities.

This former freelance fashion stylist has successfully repositioned herself from fashion girl to motivational speaker giving talks on topics such as thinking like an entrepreneur and behavioural change.

Herself and Brendan Courtney have just launched a new podcast, she works out every day, oh, and shes just about to start a masters in Business Equality Diversity and Inclusion in IADT where her partner David is president. Tired yet?

Plus, when we speak, shes in the final stages of planning for The Irish Examiners ieStyle Live virtual event, which took place last night - as MC she was preparing to interview Glamour Editor in Chief Samantha Barry. (Last year Brendan and Sonya hosted the inaugural sellout networking and fashion event at Cork City Hall.)

Busy is one word you could use to describe her. One could also call Sonya Lennon passionate. In fact, she frequently describes herself thus throughout our conversation at the Lennon Courtney offices in the Dunnes Stores HQ.

Lennon is dressed, as is fitting, in a Lennon Courtney design, her large statement glasses more than a hint at her definitive style.

The conversation flows from the projects shes involved in, her work with Courtney, juggling motherhood and business (why do we even still say juggle? she ponders). She frequently references the ideas of leading thinkers on behaviour, social enterprise, leadership, personal development and more; she quotes from books and podcasts and she cites those whose experience shes tapping into for her new strategy for Lennon Courtney.

Equality, empowerment and confidence is at the core of everything we do at Lennon Courtney, its who we are. That all now lives within the brand. Were constantly thinking about how we can create additional value for the woman who wears our clothes, she says. We have a huge network of incredible women, they can all support each other knowing that their common purpose is each others success, she says at the time of writing.

Were launching our YouTube channel in September with Lennon Courtneys Career Guidance Tips, everything from that first interview to negotiating at a senior level.

This communal approach to things is something Lennon seems to excel at, but, while she has established or co-founded entities such as Lennon Courtney, Dress for Success and LIFT, she is also keen to stress she does not work alone, nor does she work directly on everything that she has established.

The key is that the things that I have set up are resourced, so I am not doing everything myself, she says. We have an extraordinary team on Lennon Courtney in Dunnes. In Dress for Success there is an amazing team as well as a network of about 100 volunteers including stylists, active HR professionals and mentors. We got a significant piece of funding last year through the Mn na hireann Fund and are a proud member of the Government-backed ReThink Ireland programme.

"We love that you are a partner, a patron, and a huge supporter of Dress for Success Dublin."

A big thank you from @sonyalennon and everyone here at DFSD to all the amazing volunteers from @Verizon who delivered two online workshops on 17th Sep. pic.twitter.com/wHBULgOD3k

Lennon describes Dress for Success as her first foray into organisational development. I didnt have a bloody clue what I was doing, she freely admits. But you dive in with two feet, even though you are terrified that youre going to fail or that you will succeed, because they are both unknowns, and then you dont die and its okay and you get a little bit braver and you stand on the shoulders of the very fear that held you back in the first place.

Lennon co-founded Leading Irelands Future Together or Lift with siblings Joanne and David Hession. It was Joannes idea to establish Lift to explore how we can really lift leadership. When we were setting up we went out with two surveys and asked people what the values are that need to be lifted in Ireland. The top eight were: listening; positive attitude; respect; competence; dedication and determination; empathy and understanding; accountability, honesty and integrity.

We think of leaders as being leaders with a capital L, someone standing on a stage at a podium or in the boardroom. But if we exert influence on the people around us then we are leaders. So its about looking at our behaviours, how we are influencing people and [asking] are we being the best version of ourselves around those people?

Lennon says that her realisation that business development was a creative process came as something of a welcome revelation. I hadnt joined the dots to realise that business development is a creative process. I then became more and more interested in business and leadership rather than pure fashion. It is about having the confidence to say: This is who I am. It is up to you to position yourself in this world, what you stand for, what you are capable of and what you want to achieve. Lennon sees it as a common danger to ruminate on things and she invites people to place their challenges in three columns: those they can control, those they can manage, and those they cannot control.

If you can control the challenge then you have a duty to do something about it. If it is a challenge that you can manage or influence you can still have to have a strategy for how you can lessen that challenge,

If there are things that you cant control, just take them off your rumination list because, by your own admission, there is nothing you can do about them.

One challenge she is dealing with is the fact that her mother has dementia. She says that many of the opinions she now espouses are thanks to her mother and to the values present in the family home of her youth. My mother was independent. She worked, she knew the value of economic independence for women. She always said if you are not part of the revenue, youre not part of the decision-making process. That was really drilled into me at an early age.

This powerful female mentorship is echoed in Lennons membership of a closed professional network of female entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs with whom she meets every three months.

But Lennon says its not all about women helping women and she cites her friendship and work relationship with Brendan Courtney as a case in point. We enjoy each other hugely, we respect each other hugely. That doesnt mean that we dont have to mind our relationship continuously. Thats something that is important in all relationships. An unwatered plant will wither and die.

She believes that conversations with men who get it can be very powerful and that personal responsibility can be anything from a man advocating for a female colleague in a meeting to asking himself whether all stakeholders are represented in the corporate decision-making process. In other words, wheres the womans voice?

Conversations with men who get it are very powerful. Women are 51% of the population and it is insane that we are. A truer term to use would be underrepresented, we are not a minority. People have asked me why I focus on gender representation when there are so many bigger issues to solve. My response is that if we had had womens representation at decision-making tables up to now we wouldnt have this situation - we can really see that in the Covid response globally. This is not, however about a hostile gender takeover, its simply that men and women need to work respectfully together. Its better that way.

Sonya Lennon is an Audi Ireland ambassador and drives an Audi A4.

Read more:

Sonya Lennon: stand on the shoulders of the fear that holds you back - Irish Examiner

The Tinderbox of the Uniform Civil Code and Gender Equality in Islam – The Leaflet

The debate on Uniform Civil Code has caused much furore. MOIN QAZI unravels the fallacies of the argument presented in favour of the Uniform Civil Code that poses Islamic laws as a cause of all that is bad, particularly in the context of womens upliftment.

We must all understand that Islamic Laws are far from being a rigid set of injunctions or rules set in stone. Islamic law or sharia (meaning way or path) is an immense amalgam of texts and interpretations that have evolved along parallel paths within five major and numerous minor schools of law.

Sharia is a religious code for Muslims that covers all aspects of their life, including daily routines, and religious and familial obligations, marital affairs such as marriage and divorce, and financial dealings.

Gender-just reforms are needed to help in correcting gender biases but they should be well-intentioned.

Also Read: What did the Constituent Assembly say on the Uniform Civil Code?

The reform backers believe that the state should undertake them, to use the words of the great parliamentarian Edmund Burke, with the cold neutrality of an impartial judge. And by Burkes own words, No man can mortgage his injustice as a pawn for his fidelity. The state cannot expect Muslims to jettison the core tenets of their faith.

For the Muslims, changes to Islamic law have to be made within the boundaries of the Qurans teachings if they are to be legitimate. Without the cooperation of the religious scholars, who bestow this legitimacy, the masses will not embrace change. The clerics are critical in the whole equation. The predominant hardliners among their ranks are locked in a virtual and civil war with reformers.

Islam may not always be the sole factor in the repression of women. Local, social, political, economic, and educational forces, as well as the prevalence of pre-Islamic customs, must also be taken into consideration.

A common civil code is being oversold as a silver bullet for gender justice which it is not.

In some societies, they are a pervasive influence. But, in many cases, the proper application of Islamic law remains a major obstacle to the evolution of the position of women.

Muslims are apprehensive of the states obsession with trying to create a specific type of Islam, rather than allowing them space to simply live Islam with all its beliefs, traditions, cultures, references, and various practices.

They see the civil code as a seductively wrapped gender welfare intervention that can be a powerful salient, paving the way for further intrusion into their religious and cultural values.

This slippery slope is not lost on Muslims who see it slouching toward a pernicious future for their faith. The depressing social conditions of Muslim women are a phenomenon prevalent mostly among the underprivileged.

In economically improved strata of Muslims, the sort of oppressive practices that are being talked about are a rarity. Poverty is the root cause of obscurantism in Muslim families. Economic empowerment is one tide that can lift all the boats. It enables you to provide better education, better housing, and better healthcare.

It is a virtual cycle that transforms your worldview. The biggest problems facing Muslim women today are economic. They are not likely to be solved with civil rights remedies, but they could be relieved with public and private action to encourage economic redevelopment. More than religious redemption women need economic redemption.

A common civil code is being oversold as a silver bullet for gender justice which it is not. It is certainly not going to produce the utopian conditions that are being promised.

What is urgently required is draining the swamps of Muslim poverty that are breeding unrest and frustration, leading to both physical and mental violence.

Muslim women leaders are convinced that Islam, at its core, is progressive for women and supports equal opportunities for men and women alike.

The opponents argue that those averse to customary law have several options. There are already several laws like the Indian Marriage Act, Indian Divorce Act, Indian Succession Act, and Indian Wards & Guardianship Act, which provide a secular alternative for those who want it.

This law allows Indians to marry and be governed by secular civil laws, irrespective of the faith followed by either party. Therefore, there is no need to impose on everyone a secular civil code.

Muslim women leaders are convinced that Islam, at its core, is progressive for women and supports equal opportunities for men and women alike. They would not like to wager for a law that makes them jettison their Islamic beliefs.

Deeply religious, profoundly determined, and modern in every way, they are challenging not only the unjust restrictions placed on them by their own societies. But they also oppose the tired stereotypes and empty generalisations placed on them by the West. They are arguing for womens rights within an Islamic discourse.

These women are combing through centuries of Islamic jurisprudence to cull out and highlight the more progressive aspects of their religion.

Muslim women leaders are seeking accommodation between a modern role for women and the Islamic values that more than a billion people in the world follow.

Some of the leading proponents are mendistinguished scholars who contend that Islam was radically egalitarian for its time and remains so in many of its texts.

Muslims are well integrated in Sri Lanka where they have their personal law which has been lauded by jurists. Singapore and Israel accept Muslim personal law.

Reform is an unruly horse that can go berserk unless it is properly saddled.

Aharon Layish wrote a paper in July 1973 on The Sharia in Israel. Israels Sharia court system is more efficient than the civil law alternative. While it is also evolving in conjunction with the demands of an open, modern, and developed society. Israels religious courts feature as part of the judicial system with applicants having the option of choosing whether to lodge cases in the religious or civil courts.

Sharia courts in Israel are informed by the Hanafi legal school of Sunni jurisprudence, while laws in place since the days of the Ottoman Empire also remained in force.

Reform is an unruly horse that can go berserk unless it is properly saddled.

The modern trend is for acceptance of diversity.

It is equally important for the Muslim theocracy to understand their proper role, call it religious policing, cultural policing, guardian policing, family policing, and community policing.

Their main opposition to triple talaq was to the governments legislative intent in trying to criminalise it and instill the overtly reformist legislation with an odious agenda.

The many names share one vision: a humane, compassionate, culturally refined system with a mindset of respect and demonstrable concern for improving the wellbeing of women. Especially when women have been assigned a very exalted position both by the Quran and its Messenger.

Muslims of today are now a progressive generation. Theyve very whole-heartedly embraced efforts to do away with many of their obscurantist customs and traditions that are not supported by Qurn.

Despite a large clergy being in favour of retention of the triple talaq, mainstream Muslims were never supportive of this obnoxious practice. Their main opposition to triple talaq was to the governments legislative intent in trying to criminalise it and instill the overtly reformist legislation with an odious agenda.

Kazi Syed Karimuddin, the key persona in the deliberations on the Uniform Civil Code in the Constituent Assembly, was a staunch opponent of the code. He was himself a very progressive and forward-looking Muslim, who saw to it that his children studied in the countrys premier institutions.

There is a connection between religious diversity, freedom, and growth. If they hadnt found a way to live together, religious communities could have never created a society that would function as one.

And, contrary to the fears of many, religious freedom has been important as a cultural and moral force. We must understand that all divine texts share common themes to preserve human spirituality.

No concept of prosperity, social advancement, or human rights will weaken the eternal influence of divine texts. Normative deviations from divine texts are transient. But the spiritual needs that divine texts fulfill are permanent. So is the Quran which exerts an extraordinary moral influence in the life of an ordinary Muslim.

(Moin Qazi is a development professional. Views are personal.)

See the original post here:

The Tinderbox of the Uniform Civil Code and Gender Equality in Islam - The Leaflet

Ashkenazi Jews face a higher cancer risk because of the BRCA gene. It means ‘scanxiety’, surgery and empowerment – ABC News

Sarah was 23 when she found out that, most likely, over the next 20 years everything that "made me a woman" would have to be surgically removed.

Her breasts and ovaries were "tainted in some way" and put her at risk.

Sarah has up to a 70 per cent chance of developing breast cancer and up to 40 per cent chance of ovarian cancer, due to a BRCA gene fault the genetic condition made famous by Angelina Jolie.

"I definitely have had moments of anger about it. It's inconvenient. It's upsetting. The thought of the surgeries is scary," Sarah says.

For the general population, the risk of inheriting a BRCA gene fault is around one in 400.

Ashkenazi Jews, like Sarah, are 10 times more likely to inherit the fault, meaning their risk of cancer is much higher.

Marrying within the community over generations has led to genetic issues like the BRCA gene mutation and diseases like Tay-Sachs and cystic fibrosis, among others.

It means making difficult decisions about surgery, screening and how far to go to prevent passing the gene fault on to the next generation.

This is how four Ashkenazi Jews are navigating those decisions.

When Sarah was in high school, an aunt developed breast cancer. It came a few years after her paternal grandmother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

A large number of family members have since tested positive as carriers, so Sarah knew there was a possibility that she might have the gene fault too.

She was 23 when she went with her two sisters for the blood test, and describes how her pessimistic viewpoint steeled her.

"My relationship to the test was, 'I should think that I'll probably test positive because then it'll just be confirming what I already thought'. And then I was correct."

Out of Sarah's three siblings, one has tested positive, one negative, and one is yet to take the test.

Sarah is still deciding how she will manage her personal risk for breast cancer, which increases from the age of 30, and ovarian cancer, which increases from 40.

Then there's the question of undergoing IVF to remove the gene fault from her future children an expensive and uncomfortable possibility.

Sarah always thought she'd have children naturally, a topic she is now reconsidering with her fiance.

But overall, she says knowing her positive status is a privilege.

"It's really incredible that it's information that you can know and you can plan for in advance and that you can actually be empowered to make choices that avoid danger," she says.

These developments have come relatively recently.

In the 1990s, we knew much less about the BRCA gene fault which meant a diagnosis of breast cancer came as a complete shock to Sydney man Geoff Wolf.

"I was told I had more chance of winning the lottery, which unfortunately hasn't happened yet, than of developing breast cancer," he says.

Geoff was a young father of two when he visited an after-hours medical clinic. He wanted the doctor to lance what he thought was a cyst over his left breast.

"Thanks to the astuteness of that doctor, I was sent for tests and very quickly to surgery," he says.

He had a mastectomy and lymph nodes removed from his left side, followed by 30 sessions of radiotherapy.

Earshot is about people, places, stories and ideas, in all their diversity.

Geoff says at the time he felt "unique and a little bit embarrassed" when he was waiting for a mammogram.

"They'd call out 'Mr Wolf!' and I was the male in the room amongst all of the women."

Soon after finding out he had breast cancer, he took part in a research project within Sydney's Ashkenazi Jewish community, looking into the familial BRCA1 and 2 genetic mutation.

Because his children were already born by the time he found out he was a BRCA2 carrier, he knew there was a risk he had passed the gene fault onto either one or both of his daughters, Tamara and Sarah.

"I was most hurt for the girls," he says.

"Could we have done anything? No. Do I wish I didn't have it? Probably, but knowledge is power."

Tamara, now 29, says she always knew about the existence of BRCA in her family, inherited from her father.

She was in her early 20s when she started a six-monthly scan regime, undergoing an ultrasound and mammogram each February and an MRI in July.

When she was 27 she decided to do the blood test to find out whether she had inherited the BRCA2 gene mutation from her dad.

It came back positive.

"It wasn't even so much about what that meant for me. But having to tell my parents, that was my biggest fear because I knew that they were so worried about it," she says.

"I was incredibly emotional."

Both her mum and her younger sister tested negative.

The Donnells had never heard of Sanfilippo Syndrome. Then both their children were diagnosed with it.

After several years of screening, Tamara didn't want to live with what she calls "scanxiety" anymore, so she started the process of having a preventative double mastectomy and breast reconstruction.

After returning home to Sydney from London, where she lives and works, and having her surgery rescheduled three times due to coronavirus, she's recovering well.

She's confident that her choice to remove her risk of breast cancer was the right thing for her, comparing it to the risk of flying.

"If your plane had a 60 to 80 per cent chance of crashing, would you get on that plane?" she says.

"My risk is 68 per cent chance of getting breast cancer ... I'm going to do something about it and I'm going to find an alternative route."

Jill Levy has a different view of managing risk and anxiety.

The 65-year-old BRCA1 carrier hasn't had a preventative mastectomy yet.

She has, however, had an oophorectomy the surgical removal of her ovaries.

Because there's no effective screening for ovarian cancer, Jill decided that she wasn't willing to risk her health in that regard.

"Whereas for breast cancer, the screening is extremely effective, so it was a no-brainer for me," she explains.

Jill says living with an 84 per cent chance of developing breast cancer is something she takes in her stride it still means there's a 16 per cent chance of not getting cancer.

Jill says a holistic view of her health has allowed her to manage the anxiety that comes with having a genetic fault like BRCA.

"Not only is the body a sacred thing, but the body-mind is one entity ... the lifestyle aspect, healthy diet, healthy lifestyle, healthy attitude and outlook play a part in this."

Jill says emphatically that she is not over-confident about avoiding breast cancer thus far, but that being flexible in her approach to her health has been a freeing experience.

"The second I'm diagnosed with one cell of breast cancer, that is when I'll do a mastectomy," she explains.

"And maybe I'll change my mind about that.

"As I say, it's an ongoing decision that I make. But at the moment, that's how I feel."

Get more stories that go beyond the news cycle with our weekly newsletter.

Read more:

Ashkenazi Jews face a higher cancer risk because of the BRCA gene. It means 'scanxiety', surgery and empowerment - ABC News

ArtsKSU To Present 8th Annual Coming Out Monologues: Stories Of Empowerment – Broadway World

Virtual presentation includes stories by and about people across the LGBTQ spectrum

Kennesaw State University (KSU) LGBTQ Resource Center and the Department of Theatre and Performance Studies (TPS) will present the 8th Annual Coming-Out Monologues (COM) on October 8 and 9, in celebration of National Coming Out Day. This year, the production will once again include stories from KSU students, staff, and members of the community beyond KSU. The wide array of stories captures experiences of lesbian, non-binary, gay and transgender folxs, as well as advocates, allies, parents, and friends.

Assistant Chair, Artistic Director, and Professor Karen Robinson believes that this "is one of the most fulfilling projects I have had the privilege of coordinating during my twenty years in the Department of Theatre and Performance Studies." Each year, the monologues are solicited from across a wide spectrum of people, and their stories are then performed by TPS students, and this year is no different.

However, what is different this year is that each piece will be directed by a different TPS directing student. Further, two of the featured stories were submitted by TPS students, both seniors. Jess Ford, author of "For the Children" said, "The Coming-Out Monologues is all about empowerment and the stories of those whose voices may have never been heard otherwise. I hope my story inspires others and maybe it will help someone realize who they are. It was my privilege to act my freshman year in the Coming-Out Monologues, and it is so amazing to come full circle and be a writer in in during my senior year."

Kylie Talbott, also a TPS senior, wrote "Two Cheers for Bisexuality" but it wasn't easy: "By submitting a monologue, I had to fully accept myself for who I am. What's beautiful about being chosen as a writer for this amazing event is that my words could unknowingly affect people who need to hear them at this point in their lives. You never know what people are going through these days, especially when it comes to sexual orientation, because that's still a scary thing to try and fully face by yourself!"

Ten different stories will be performed, bringing a total of 80 stories shared since its start at KSU in 2013. Topics covered this year include the discovery that an assigned gender "itches"; the fervent desire to affirm a 13-year-old kid at camp that it's okay to be non-binary; and a mother of three kids-all of whom are gay-and embracing them with all her heart and encouraging us to do the same.

Robinson said, "The stories are a blend of humor, lyrical love, and empowerment. Audiences will see themes of love, acceptance of self, and empowerment shine through these very vulnerable and personal experiences." TPS student Zach Tellez is serving as an Assistant Coordinator and Stage Manager for the project. He said, "I love it because it is a night of heartfelt stories grounded in a specific, yet universal experience."

Audience members are also encouraged to join the post-performance talkbacks, where audience members can lean into dialogue, share feelings and deeply personal stories, within a palpable, restorative, and supportive space. Robinson added, "To quote one of the pieces: This project is time well spent with a collection of 'beautiful soul(s)...riding the wave of life and allowing themselves to be exactly who they are."

The 8th Annual Coming-Out Monologues will be streamed live on Thursday, October 8 at 7:30 p.m. and on Friday, October 9 at 8 p.m. There is no charge to watch the performances; a simple registration is all that is required. Click here to register.

Go here to read the rest:

ArtsKSU To Present 8th Annual Coming Out Monologues: Stories Of Empowerment - Broadway World

Where Is Keith Raniere Now in 2020? Fans of ‘The Vow’ Are Curious – Distractify

HBOs The Vow explores the history of self-improvement organization NXIVM, its members, and its founder, Keith Raniere. For years, Keith appeared to be a magnanimous life coach who helped his followers find purpose in their lives. But over the course of the nine-part documentary, audiences come to see his true manipulative personality and the dark, cult-like nature of the multi-level marketing group.

Its now been over two years since Keith was arrested by Mexican authorities in Puerto Vallarta, where he had fled after the New York Times article about DOS, the secret womens group within NXIVM, was published. Along with Keith, other key members like Allison Mack, the Bronfman sisters, Nancy and Laura Salzman, and Kathy Russell were also arrested on various charges related to NXIVM.

But where exactly is Keith Raniere today and what happened at his trial?

After Keith was arrested and extradited from Mexico, authorities transported him back to the U.S. where he faced charges of sex trafficking, conspiracy, possession of child pornography, racketeering, and more. Keith was also accused of creating a sex cult under the guise of self-improvement, through which he pressured women to sleep with him and used them for his own financial benefit.

Over the course of his six-week trial, several women came forth and testified about the disturbing details of what they had done while in the cult. Prosecutors said that dozens of women had been lured into Keiths sex cult with the promise of personal empowerment and growth, while he in fact was using the group to control these women.

One woman even testified to being kept in captivity in a closet for around two years after she did something that displeased Keith.

At the end of the trial, it reportedly took the jury less than five hours to determine that Keith was guilty of seven out of the 11 charges. He now faces a potential 15 years to life in prison.

Despite the conviction being over a year old now, Keith is still awaiting sentencing from a jail cell in Brooklyn. The convicted sex-cult leader was scheduled to be sentenced during an April 16 hearing but the proceedings were delayed due to the fact that Keith had been unable to meet with his attorneys because of a 30-day prohibition of visitors at his jail to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Since then, there have been two more delays, all related to the pandemic, but in August, a federal judge rescheduled Keith's sentencing to Oct. 27, in a courtroom that has been closed since March.

But jail time isnt the only consequence that Keith faces. Hes also a defendant in a lawsuit that was filed in January of this year against him and 14 of his key NXIVM associates.

The lawsuit, which includes 80 plaintiffs, accuses NXIVM of duping them out of thousands of dollars through a pyramid scheme and making it financially, physically, and psychologically difficult, and in some cases impossible, to leave the coercive community.

Stream The Vow on HBO. New episodes premiere every Sunday at 10 p.m. ET.

Read this article:

Where Is Keith Raniere Now in 2020? Fans of 'The Vow' Are Curious - Distractify