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"Conversation. What is it? A Mystery! It's the art of never seeming bored, of touching everything with interest, of pleasing with trifles, of being fascinating with nothing at all. How do we define this lively darting about with words, of hitting them back and forth, this sort of brief smile of ideas which should be conversation?" Guy de Maupassant

Monday, May 2, 2005

Disturbing Youth Voices

Youth speak through images :

"Jasmeen has some thought-provoking posts on her blog on street harassment - Blank Noise Project ... particularly startling is this mind-map created by an all girl group of 60 between the ages of 17-23 on 'public space'. The single overwhelming feeling seems to be violation - in different forms and of varying intensity ... discomfort, stare, anxiety, aggression, vulnerability, fear, groping, feeling sick..." [thanks Charu, for pointing it out]

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In another case, Ethan Zuckerman blogs about "this set of very disturbing images released by Human Rights Watch. A pediatrician, Dr. Sparrow usually gives crayons and paper to children to entertain them while she interviews their parents. When she gave crayons to children who've fled Darfur, the results were harrowing and powerful :

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"Without prompting, the children drew scenes of horse-mounted militiamen riding into villages, large airplanes dropping bombs, and gun-wielding men raping women. The children's drawings are a visual record of the atrocities committed in Darfur that aren't available through any other medium. Human rights workers have received extensive testimony about bombing of villages and rape as a weapon, but these drawings provide visual evidence that international media organizations have not been able to provide, as they've been blocked by the Sudanese government from travelling in Darfur. "

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Ethan suggests that we our use blogs to draw attention to and amplify them. I couldn't agree more ... they need to be heard so desperately.



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