Goodnight Everyone (:

Hello everyone, I have an update to make.

gofundme.com

Donate to Supporting my family in Gaza amid the crisis, organized by Yara Mohammed

Have you ever experienced seeing your dream broken in front of your eyes an… Yara Mohammed needs your support for Supporting my family in Ga

Yara and her family have been displaced after their home was destroyed. They now suffer in Mawasi, Khan Younis without any of the basic necessities for life. Yara herself is also unable to complete her physical therapy studies since Islamic University, the place she studied, was destroyed by the occupation.

In order to help her family of 9 survive this genocide, Yara is trying to raise €20,000. Since my last post on this campaign, she's raised only €988; this puts her at only €1,385/€20,000.

Please do whatever you can to help Yara and her family. Donate to her if you can and share her campaign. Help them survive.

VETTED HERE

previous post x

IG: ayrastarr

Hey guys! I want to spotlight Hossam Bardaweel's fundraiser today. As you may remember, he is the last survivor of his direct family members, and is now responsible for taking care of all his orphaned nieces, nephews, and his brothers' widows.

gofundme.com

Donate to Urgent Relief Needed: Rebuild Hope for Hossam's Family, organized by Walid AS

Dear Compassionate Hearts, My name is Walid. Today, I reach out on… Walid AS needs your support for Urgent Relief Needed: Rebuild Hope f

Please do not hesitate to donate. He is heartbroken enough as is having to deal with the grief of extreme loss such as this. I cannot imagine having to take care of my nieces and nephews while I grieve my own parents and dear siblings.

Especially for those who are working professionals please strongly consider donating (please read her message, and the links are also provided).

i had shared what is happening in sudan on a long facebook post last night, but it virtually received almost little to no engagement or shares from the nearly 600 “friends” i have on the site.

this morning, my great-aunt was shot by the soldiers fighting for power, and God forbid, i lose more of my family members before eid this friday.

please read below to understand what is happening and how you can help my country. i hope the tumblr community can show more kindness than the lack of support and advocacy i’ve seen elsewhere.

يا رب اجعل هذا البلد آمناً 🇸🇩

the lack of awareness and advocacy from the African, Arab, and Muslim diaspora and the human rights community has been painful.

while Western media has done little to no coverage of the ongoing conflict in the capital city of my motherland, Sudan, it appears that the rest of the world also partakes in normalizing crimes and violence against SWANA people.

violence and war hurting the SWANA region are NOT ordinary occurrences — no one, regardless of race, creed, ethnicity, religion, and gender, should experience the unprecedented amount of violence that harms my two living grandmothers, aunts and uncles, and baby cousins who live in Khartoum.

your decision to ignore reading or educating and discussing with others about what is likely to be a civil war is complicity in viewing SWANA people as individuals who regularly experience conflict and are undeserving of help.

the silence is damaging, and it is up to us as privileged members of the diaspora (or individuals living in the Western world committed to human rights) to support the people of my country and their dream for a stable, democratically elected government.

what is happening in Sudan is a fight that started on April 15 between two competing forces for power — the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — neither groups are representative of the needs of our people. The Sudan Army is loyal to the dictator, Omar Al-Bashir, and the RSF is responsible for the genocide in Darfur.

with both power struggles backed by different Arab and Gulf nations, the two parties have been fighting for power for the last few years. While they worked together to try and end the people’s revolution, they lost. however, they are now in a constant power play of who will get to rule the nation.

this all means that war is NOT a reflection of my country — violence does not represent the SWANA people. Sudan is a nation of beautiful culture, strong women, intellectual and influential Islamic scholars, poets, and youth at the front lines of the revolution. we are a people committed to a region of peace for ourselves and the rest of the Ummah.

my family and the rest of Sudan’s innocent civilians are at the most risk, with many currently without drinking water, food to eat, electricity, and complete blockage to any mosques during the final nights of Ramadan, our holiest month of the year.

i ask that you please keep Sudan and our people in your prayers — donate to the Sudan Red Crescent or a mutual aid GoFund Me, email your representatives if you live in a country that can put pressure on either competing force of power, discuss this with your family and friends, and please do not forget to think about SWANA people — our brothers and sisters in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, and many others need our love and support.

الردة_مستحيلة ✊🏾

#KeepEyesOnSudan

My art block is usually caused by something that I'm struggling to process. And if I can't draw it or talk about it, it stays with me until it no longer bothers me.

It is difficult to feel helpless in anything I do to show support. Sometimes art feels frivoulous and paltry in the face of so much death and destruction of innocent lives. Yet these are the faces that run over my eyes every night. And there's so many more. So putting them in my pocket sketchbook allows me to carry them close as well. I suppose by coping, I can maybe reach someone new or at least start a line of questions.

I'll be doing one for men and boys as well, then scour the internet for people and voices of sudan, congo, tigray, etc. They don't get enough love and news coverage as it is. It's important to remember that they're not just faces in a screen. They're people, some of them my age, that either gave their lives, lost their lives, or live on a razor's edge.

I have them to thank for giving me the courage to remain outspoken. My only regret is that i can't draw these fast enough, but there's no better time to get creative.

Miriam Makeba’s portrait greets and grounds you near the entry of Africa Fashion. 

Makeba’s emergence as a singer on the global stage coincided with the emergence of an independent African continent. Her songs blended popular musical styles like Jazz with indigenous South African melodies, often incorporating Swahili, Xhosa, and Sotho lyrics. Well-known globally for her songs Pata Pata and Qongqothwane (the Click Song) Makeba’s music and self-fashioning embodied African liberation and identity. 

For many Africans, her music gave voice to the dawn of a new independent era and the liberation struggles that remained. Affectionately referred to as Mama Africa by her legions of fans, Makeba came to embody a forward-looking Pan-Africanism and Black Power. 

See this portrait of Makeba and hear her singular voice as part of the African Cultural Renaissance that welcomes you in #AfricaFashionBkM.

📷 Jürgen Schadeberg (German, 1931–2020). Miriam Makeba, 1955. © Estate of Jürgen Schadeberg (Photo: Courtesy of the Estate of Jürgen Schadeberg)