Heroes Are Human – 2014 TEMA Canadian Tour

Hi Guys,

Just a heads up about a tour happening across Canada currently, called the Heroes Are Humans PTSD Tour.  We all know someone who is in Corrections, Policing, Fire, EMT, Military or Law Enforcement.  Share this and you may not know, but you may be saving a life or a family from the destructive effects of PTSD.

Click Here to See the Canadian Dates of the Tour!

Mad Mann

 

 

300 Girls Kidnapped…But They’re Not Human, So Who Cares?

So, about 300 girls get kidnapped on April 15th and the West finds out about it only when it goes viral on Social media sites?  The news coverage starts and the 24hr news networks start their coverage, with 3D special effects, holograms and parade of ‘experts’ because now it is something that people are talking about and this will boost ratings.

But why didn’t we hear about this when it happened?  If it happened in America all news and everything would have been shut down and we would have been bombarded with live coverage of the event and that is all we would have been talking about.  So what’s so different?  They are ‘the others’.  Sub-Human, as portrayed by the West for many, many decades.  Africans have been shown as uncivilized and uneducated savages, living in famine and mud huts.  By showing them in this light, we feel as if they are not human and not worthy of our feelings and support.  The whole continent is grouped together like it’s one country.  The African countries are so irrelevant that they are all seen as one big group.

Photo: RollingOut.com

 

The idea of ‘The Other’ is very old.  The group doing the judging considers themselves to be ‘Normal’ and anyone that does not ‘fit’ is The Other.  The Other is often treated as being lower or inferior to ‘The Norm’.  They are considered uneducated or even uncivilized.

Otherness takes many forms. The Other may be someone who is of…

• a different race (White vs. non-White),
• a different nationality (Anglo Saxon vs. Italian),
• a different religion (Protestant vs. Catholic or Christian vs. Jew),
• a different social class (aristocrat vs. serf),
• a different political ideology (capitalism vs. communism),
• a different sexual orientation (heterosexual vs. homosexual),
• a different origin (native born vs. immigrant).

Yes folks, even us Indians were considered as ‘The Other’ during the British Raj, even when we outnumbered them 4000 to 1!  They wanted to come and help ‘civilize’ us as from our backwards ways, help teach us a better language (so we lose ours) and teach us their religion, so we can be saved (completely strip us of our identity).

This can also been seen in Hollywood, even Hollywood has adopted the concept of ‘The Other’.  Notice the villain in kids cartoons is always the one dressed in black, and the good guy is in white?  The villain is almost always one with an accent and the hero is the all white American boy.  Even us being ‘The Other’ has accepted this way of thinking and the guy who is not white and has an accent is acceptable to us as a villain or as a funny bumbling side kick, but never a hero – (how many times have people been surprised, when you start talking that you don’t have an accent or seem to know what you’re talking about).

We even do it to ourselves!  Look at Bollywood.  The Sikh is always made fun of, because we are a care free and friendly people.  We are portrayed in these films as clowns and jokers.  We are warriors and great leaders, when has that ever been shown?  This no doubt, goes back through the times when we were and are looked upon as protectors and warrior people.  In order to subdue this image, we were recreated as a clown for the Indian cinema.  Things are changing and we are seeing better portrayals for the Sikh and Punjabi people in cinema.

What they need in Nigeria is an Army of Sikhs.  Why?  Cause we have already dealt with this.

A popular category of jokes in India is the “12 o’clock jokes”, which imply that Sikhs are in their senses only at night. Preetinder Singh explains the origin of the “12 o’clock joke” as follows:The real reason for the “12 O’clock Association” with Sikhs comes from Nadir Shah‘s invasion of India. His troops passed through Punjab after plundering Delhi and killing hundreds of thousands of Hindus and Muslims, and taking hundreds of women as captive. The Sikhs decided to attack Nadir Shah’s camp and free the captive women. Being outnumbered by Nadir Shah’s huge army, they could not afford to make a frontal attack. Instead, they used to make midnight guerrilla raids on Nadir Shah’s camp, free as many captive women as possible, and return them to their homes in order to “restore the diginity of the Hindu community”.

– From Wikipedia

If we do it to ourselves, how can we stop others from doing it to us?

Leave a message and let me know what you guys think!

Mad Mann

What Did You Bring & What Will You Take With You?

Yesterday we said our final farewells to a friend who finished his journey here at a young age.  It got me thinking about life and the inevitable end of it, which we all face.  It reminded me of a dialogue by Sanjay Dutt’s, sinister & horrific character, Kancha Cheena, from the Bollywood Blockbuster Agneepath (2012):

Photo: Indian Express

 Tum kya leke aaye the … aur kya leke jaoge?

What did you bring with you … and what will you take with you?

If while reading this, you were to drop dead, what have you left behind and what would you take with you?

Every person that lives should leave behind a legacy.  It may not be something like the Taj Mahal or The Mona Lisa, but something you did to improve the lives of those around you or the world.  I know a lot of people in the music scene, they’ll leave behind music and songs.  Actors can leave behind films and movies.  But what can normal people like us leave?  You can instill a bit of yourself in the lives of your friends, relatives, loved ones and kids.

Whatever your thing is, creativity, sense of humour or whatever.  Let that little bit of you live on, in others that you leave behind and you have left behind a legacy.

Whenever you’re invited to a family event, make sure you try to go, even if it’s for a short time.  Always meet each other with a smile.  You never know, it may be the last time you see each other.

So, what’s your legacy?  An LV purse?  A Drop Top Car?  Or is it going to be something bigger?

That sick bastard Kancha Cheena has it right, “You come with nothing & leave with nothing.”  The only thing that remains is whatever you leave behind, make it worth leaving!

Mad Mann