Muslim students forced to pray outside

Published on Feb 22, 2013
No prayer room for Muslims. That’s a prospect that could take place at a university in London. These are Muslim students signing a petition against the university’s policies to restrict their access to prayer facilities on campus. Muslim students here feel discriminated against, and want a room to congregate for Friday prayers. Previously they had to find empty classrooms to pray together, but now they are making an open stand.

100-Year-Old African American Sorority Leaves Its Mark

Published on Feb 22, 2013
February is Black History Month in the United States. It draws attention and pays tribute to people, organizations and events that have shaped the history of African Americans and their contributions to American society. VOA’s Chris Simkins reports on a black women’s organization that has fought for civil rights and has made a difference in the lives of many for more than a century.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Same Love ft. Mary Lambert (2012)

In support of marriage equality. Follows a gay male couple.

SAME LOVE – MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS (PARADISE FEARS COVER)

Lyrics from Rap Genius:

[Verse 1: Macklemore]
When I was in the 3rd grade
I thought that I was gay
Cause I could draw, my uncle was
And I kept my room straight
I told my mom, tears rushing down my face
She’s like, “Ben you’ve loved girls since before pre-K”
Trippin’, yeah, I guess she had a point, didn’t she
A bunch of stereotypes all in my head
I remember doing the math like
“Yeah, I’m good a little league”
A pre-conceived idea of what it all meant
For those that like the same sex had the characteristics
The right-wing conservatives think its a decision
And you can be cured with some treatment and religion
Man-made, rewiring of a pre-disposition
Playing God
Ahh nah, here we go
America the brave
Still fears what we don’t know
And God loves all his children it’s somehow forgotten
But we paraphrase a book written
3,500 years ago
I don’t know

[Hook: Mary Lambert]
And I can’t change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
And I can’t change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love, my love, my love
She keeps me warm [x4]

[Verse 2: Macklemore]
If I was gay
I would think hip-hop hates me
Have you read the YouTube comments lately
“Man that’s gay”
Gets dropped on the daily
We’ve become so numb to what we’re sayin’
Our culture founded from oppression
Yeah, we don’t have acceptance for ‘em
Call each other faggots
Behind the keys of a message board
A word rooted in hate
Yet our genre still ignores it
Gay is synonymous with the lesser
It’s the same hate that’s caused wars from religion
Gender to skin color
Complexion of your pigment
The same fight that lead people to walk-outs and sit-ins
Human rights for everybody
There is no difference
Live on! And be yourself!
When I was in church
They taught me something else
If you preach hate at the service
Those words aren’t anointed
And that Holy Water
That you soak in
Is then poisoned
When everyone else
Is more comfortable
Remaining voiceless
Rather than fighting for humans
That have had their rights stolen
I might not be the same
But that’s not important
No freedom ’til we’re equal
Damn right I support it
[Trombone]
I don’t know

[Hook: Mary Lambert]

[Verse 3: Macklemore]
We press play
Don’t press pause
Progress, march on!
With a veil over our eyes
We turn our back on the cause
‘Till the day
That my uncles can be united by law
Kids are walkin’ around the hallway
Plagued by pain in their heart
A world so hateful
Some would rather die
Than be who they are
And a certificate on paper
Isn’t gonna solve it all
But it’s a damn good place to start
No law’s gonna change us
We have to change us
Whatever god you believe in
We come from the same one
Strip away the fear
Underneath it’s all the same love
About time that we raised up

[Hook: Mary Lambert]

[Outro: Mary Lambert]
Love is patient, love is kind
Love is patient (not cryin’ on Sundays)
Love is kind (not crying on Sundays) [x5]

Ethneezy raps about social issues – conscious hip-hop

Ethneezy – Hands of Time (2012)

Published on Dec 4, 2012 by orchardmusic
Music video by Ethneezy performing Hands of Time. (C) 2012 FOTO

Published on Aug 14, 2012 by KevinNgongo
Directed by Kevin Ngongo
Produced by Morfius

Spain protest for disabled: We’re being “abandoned” – ableism

Published on Dec 2, 2012 by Euronews
http://www.euronews.com/ It has been the turn of thousands of disabled Spaniards to rally through the Madrid streets in defiance of the latest round of austerity measures.

More than 300 buses brought in protesters and their families from all over the country.

Campaigners warn that the rights and wellbeing of some of the most vulnerable in Spanish society are under threat.

Paralympic athlete Roger Puigbo said “They now want to take away welfare support that took a long time to fight for. So we are here to defend it.”

More than 4 million people in Spain have some sort of disability.

They’ve been first to feel the effects of 60 billion euros in cuts since the centre-right government took office last year.

“We four million need more support to ensure we’re not the last ones. We are willing to endure the cuts but not to the point they are reaching,” said one protester.

As well as a lack of cash to pay for home help, many public facilities for the disabled are under threat of closure.

One campaigner said the cuts were condemning many people to a life of social exclusion.

Action, Awareness Growing for Climate Change in China

Published on Nov 21, 2012 by VOAvideo
China is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases. It is a manufacturing powerhouse that relies mostly on heavily polluting coal for its ever-expanding energy needs. VOA’s William Ide reports from Beijing that, although the country’s challenges are not getting smaller, awareness of its environmental needs is growing, as are efforts to reduce its carbon emissions.

Garment workers return to work in Bangladesh

Published on Dec 2, 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish
A week after the nation’s worst garment factory fire left 110 workers dead, Bangladeshis are starting to return to work in factories contracted by big-name foreign clothing companies. At an annual worth of $20bn, the garment industry makes up 80 per cent of the country’s economy. The fire service is now checking all 4,000 factories in the nation to ensure safety. Despite the risks, the three-and-a-half million people who work in the industry, money of whom had held protests following the fire in in Ashulia, are slowly returning to work because they rely on the $43 a month many of them are paid. Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque reports from Ashulia.

Euro-Crisis: Separatist Movements Mount

Published on Nov 11, 2012 by deutschewelleenglish
It’s tough times in the EU. In the face of stunning austerity, separatist movements are blossoming all across the Union. They believe, they would do better on their own. Is this the end of unity? It’s tough times in the EU. In the face of stunning austerity, separatist movements are blossoming all across the Union. They believe, they would do better on their own. Is this the end of unity?

South Park – Our Scause?

WATCH HERE: South Park – Our Scause?

Dr. Seuss-inspired parody of wristbands worn to represent causes.

Excerpt from:

Season 16
A Scause for Applause
Looking to raise awareness for their cause, Stan and Jesus visit the P.F. Pityef Bracelet factory.

green scauses for recycling
blue scauses for kitties
and pink scauses that focus on nothing but titties

Ana Tijoux – Shock (2011)

Uploaded by Nacionalrecords on Oct 4, 2011
Ana Tijoux – Shock

Bitchmedia

The song brings attention to the student protests in Chile, who are challenging the unfair, elitist education system put in place by Pinochet. The video features young Chileans holding signs with their name and school, some declaring, “Apoyo a los estudiantes” (“I support the students”) mixed with soundbites on the protest (with English and French subtitles). Tijoux told Remezcla Musica, “Writing this song, I was inspired by these social movements, writing from my perspective as a mother, musician and citizen. I thought it was important to pay homage to these protesters.”

Minus the Linus

The song is centered around the idea of the Shock Doctrine, a term coined by author and journalist Naomi Klein in her 2007 book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.

A “Shock Doctrine” is the employment of economist Milton Friedman’s free market economic plan during times of great turmoil and upheaval. This is what was referred to in the Fault Lines video when the Chicago Boys were sent from Chile to study economics with Friedman in the 1970s, and employ his Regean-era policies in the fresh dictatorship.

Published on Jul 10, 2012 by NDLONvideos
New Video by Ana Tijoux Defends the Rights of Immigrants in Arizona.

A collaboration with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), National Immigrant Youth Alliance and Puente Movement, Chilean MC Ana Tijoux is the latest artist to lend her support in Arizona as part of the “Alto Arizona,” a campaign focused on the visibility, respect and dignity for immigrants that have been the target of hate and criminalization not only in Arizona but around the world.

Lyricstranslate for complete lyrics

…
Hit for hit, kiss for kiss,
with wishes and nourishment
with ashes, with the fire of the present, remembering,
with certainty and ripping, with the clear objective,
with memory and with the history of the future, it’s NOW!

Everything: this trial tube,
everything: this daily laboratory,
everything: this failure, everything: this condemned economic model from dinosaur times.

Everything is criminalized, everything is justified in the news,
they get rid of everything, walk all over everything, open a file on everything and classify it.

But…your politics and your tactics,
your typical smile and ethics.
Your manipulated communiqué
How many of them were silenced?

Cops, hoses and lumas*,
cops, hoses and tunas**,
cops, hoses, DON’T ADD UP.
How many were those who stole the fortunes?

Venom: your monologues,
your colorless speeches,
you don’t see that we AREN’T alone,
millions from pole to pole!!

To the sound of a single chorus,
we will march with the tone,
with the conviction that THE THIEVING STOPS!!

Your state of control,
your corrupt throne of gold,
your politics and your wealth,
and your treasure, no.

The hour has struck, the hour has struck

We will allow NO MORE, no more your doctrine of shock
…

Indian Girls Rising Up Against Child Marriage

Published on Oct 10, 2012 by VOAvideo
Child marriage is an ancient practice in India, and despite being illegal, it continues today in mostly rural areas. Nearly half of women in India are married before the age of 18 and many of those become brides much younger. VOA’s Aru Pande reports that one group in eastern India is looking to change this trend.

Pepper-sprayed UC Davis students awarded $1 million

Published on Sep 27, 2012 by RTAmerica
The University of California at Davis has reached a financial agreement with the protesters who were pepper-sprayed during a campus protest last November. Images of a police officer discharging military-grade pepper-spray in the faces of non-violent protesters became a rallying point for the Occupy Wall Street movement and the policeman apparently is not going to be charged. RT’s Liz Wahl brings an update on the story.

Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring Turns 50

Published on Sep 4, 2012 by VOAvideo

Rachel Carson wrote and published Silent Spring 50 years ago. Carson was ahead of her time. She said pesticides like DDT were damaging the environment and human health. Although the book became an inspiration for the environmental movement, the battle for the environment continues. VOA Zulima Palacio has this report.

Execution of Low-IQ Prisoner Raises Controversy in Texas

Published on Sep 7, 2012 by VOAvideo

The U.S. federal government and 33 U.S. states continue to use capital punishment for major crimes like murder, but almost a third of the executions occur in just one state – Texas. The executions sometimes draw protests from around the world. But, as VOA’s Greg Flakus reports from Huntsville, Texas, polls show up to 70 percent of Texans support capital punishment (latest UTexas poll) and there is little chance the Lone Star state will abandon the practice anytime soon.

Occupy Turns One With Demands, No Specific Program

Quotes sociology professor Todd Gitlin, Columbia University

Published on Sep 12, 2012 by VOAvideo

September 17 marks one year since the “Occupy Wall Street” movement emerged in New York City – with a long series of demands, but no specific program to realize any of them. VOA correspondent Peter Fedynsky examines the first year of this leaderless movement.