Links – 2009-01-12

Global Voices Online – Korea as a Multicultural Country

A daily newspaper, Hankyoreh, which is categorized as a progressive newspaper (or sometimes left-wing) introduced a series of articles, ‘Multi-Culturalism is Our Future.’ [KR] Korea, where one culture and one ethnic group are emphasized, currently has a population with only 2 percent foreign residents –1 million population. The newspaper article brings a netizen’s complaint and other responses following his (or her) opinion.

The Washington Post – A Gentler Way to Relax Hair

In recent years, some manufacturers, including Colomer USA, the maker of Creme of Nature, have been listing at least one “certified organic ingredient” in their products, including their sodium-based relaxers. The French company Phyto markets its PhytoSpecific line as a “non chemical relaxing system” and charges about $60 for a tub of its straightener, more than triple the price of a traditional relaxer. According to the company, the Phyto relaxer uses a substance called guanidine carbonate derived from mushroom salts as its straightening agent.

“I think it’s great for black women. Now there are so many choices,” Coney said.

Kabobfest – Palestinian Holocaust Museum

(Warning: Graphic Images, may not be advisable to view at work.)

IslamOnline.net’s Palestinian Holocaust Museum features online exhibits of the many Palestinian children killed, along with their names, photographs, their ages, causes of death, their favorite hobbies and dreams. They are now updating it to include the children killed in the current Gaza massacres. Please visit.

Sepia Mutiny – Flying While Brown…Again

It took me a while to get to posting this up because frankly, this is a dime a dozen story. In 2008 alone, the Transportation Department reported 87 cases of complaints alleging discrimination by airlines and only four were security related. Flying while brown stories happen all the time. I’m tired of blogging about stories like this and that these incidences are still happening. These stories are a part of our lives on the margin and being brown. I’m not implying that we should stand by the wayside and merely accept the injustice. Which is exactly what Mr. Irfan didn’t do. Instead he got organized.

Resist Racism – FWM

So two teenage girls reportedly heard members of a Muslim family discussing the safest place to sit on an airplane. They reported it, and the husband and wife got yanked off the plane for questioning. [...]

I once had a white guy try to have me arrested because he said that I was “breaking into cars” when I was on my way home (dressed in business wear, I might note). All I could think was how glad I was that the officer was black.

Yahoo News – 240,000 to man forced to cover Arab T-shirt

An airline passenger forced to cover his T-shirt because it displayed Arabic script has been awarded 240,000 dollars in compensation, campaigners said Monday. [...]

Jarrar, a US resident, was apprehended as he waited to board a JetBlue flight from New York to Oakland, California, and told to remove his shirt, which had written on it in Arabic: “We will not be silent.”

Alternet – Some Latinos Trace Their Their Jewish Roots

Wendy Martinez Canelones grew up Catholic and Seventh-day Adventist. But she always felt drawn to Judaism. She once had a vivid dream of herself embracing a blue volume of the Torah. She tears up recalling the dream.

Eventually, she found out why. While studying her family history, she found that she is a descendant of Jews who were killed during the Spanish Inquisition.

New York Times – Ex-Prostitutes Say South Korea and US Enabled Sex Trade Near Bases

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