Schoolteacher Disembowelled for Teaching Girls

The gunmen came in the night . . .

Like only a coward would do, but being cowards they disemboweled the schoolteacher then tore apart his limbs and displayed the remains as a warning to others. All for teaching girls to read, to write, to think . . . to question. It is easier to be a slave if you cannot think on your own. I guess this is what those type of men desire, slaves instead of educated wives and daughters. Illiteracy means you must trust and rely on the words of the one interpreting the book (the Koran, the Bible, etc).

I don't understand the ignorance of one who would forbid another from an education. I've heard people say it is fear that makes a man harm another but I'm not so sure. I can understand the fear that provokes a mother to protect herself and child(ren) but to commit violence against a person who has brought you no harm is insane! If that is true, then does fear equal war. Is it a coward who bombs from the sky rather than meet a man, hand to hand, face to face?

I can't imagine losing my first grade teacher, Ms. Root. She was wonderful. I don't know if it was her being my first grade teacher that made her so wonderful or that it was her belief in me (and I knew this even at six). Or heaven forbid someone causing harm to my mom for teaching me the Lord's Prayer, the alphabet, how to spell my name. GEEZ! Or Ms. Sullivan for teaching me to appreciate classical music. And now that I'm older, I appreciate it more. I could go on but I suppose I'm writing this because after reading the article I became angry and annoyed and needed something to do with the emotional storm.

What should be done with a person who'd torture a human being for teaching little girls to read and write? What kind of a (in)human would do such a thing?

Another Author Passes On . . .

Elizabeth Bebe Moore Campbell Gordon, best selling author and mental advocate, died on Monday, November 27, due to complications related to brain cancer (read the press release). After learning of this, and even though -- if you've visited her site you knew of her illness -- still, I realized how quietly some people slip away.

Your Blues Ain't Like Mine was the first book I read by Bebe Moore Campbell, it was a gift to me from a friend and I enjoyed it. So much so that I went on to read the many other novels that she wrote but Your Blues, along with What You Owe Me and Sweet Summer, Growing Up With and Without My Dad, were my favorites.

This is what she had to say on becoming a writer:

I was constantly rejected for five years. By attending very supportive writers' workshops I learned that when the world is telling me no I must surround myself with people who are telling me yes. I don't think I would have ever been published if I hadn't found the friendship and support I needed in the workshops.

Buddha Blues

Buddha plus goddess equals Buddhaess. But whatever you name her, she represents the same, lovely. Inspired by meditation, hope and a deep love for the blues.

The image is available on t-shirts, throw pillows and a lovely keepsake box. Just click the images below for purchase information.



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Alice Walker Booksigning & Reading

Alice Walker will read from her new book of meditations, "We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For: Light in a Time of Darkness." A book signing will follow the reading.
Tuesday, November 14, Noon - 1:30 PM
At Emory University, Winship Ballroom of the Dobbs University Center.

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