Obama's president: What does the world think?

[Tarik Sultan]

It is not very close, about 4 hours by car or train.

Of course I remembered you will be with Morrocco!

We can talk about this through PM and with Morrocco to see if it is possible
etc.

I was thinking in terms of a weekend event with you both as part of the Arab Arts events (not festival, as there will not be one next year, only a weekend event in Summer), and perhaps the weekend after your festival in Devon?

Who knows? lets see, there is no harm in exploring.

Would be nice. Pm me and we'll talk more about the details.

 

[Tarik Sultan]

It is not so much as attitude down here, they are too laid back for that, but they definitely moving at a different pace than England, England they see as up country, not here. As it is, for work, the pay scales are different than up country, it has always been low paid down here, something which perturbed me when I first come here and asked why take the abuse. The answer to that was, well if we fancy a day at the beach, or an afternoon on the golf course, we do it, work takes second place to life. I after a few months of up country type work vigour gave up and slotted in to Devon life. They may be relaxed down here, but there is one point where they are not, and that is the driving, they are maniacs at it.

Like I said I was to come up north this weekend, I was going to be celebrating my birthday at what I was told was called '' Curry Mile '', my sister said there, that road the ethnicity of the shops and their displays is very reminiscent of Dubai, wonderful !

I shall have to get a car I think before I plan to go up there next, which may be around february, and then perhaps.

Afra, I am aware of, she resides up in Bideford, forty miles from here, I have tried to contact her in my search for a class, her being an ASMED member, but never receive a reply, I expect she is very busy, but maybe at the dance festival, I might get more information.



Edited to add, I have just accessed Afra's site, and according to the upcoming events, it says the festival is on now, not next year, can anyone confirm this ?

Celebrating Dance Festival

To be honest, I thought it was next year, have I fluffed up, is Tarik and Morocco in the UK now ?

It's an annual event. Morocco and I will be there this time next year. I hope to see you there. If time permits maybe we could do a private.

Afra is a very strong advocate for male dancers in the UK. If you're having problems reaching her wait till after the festival and call her.

 

[Kashmir]

However, in real life, people in the South would go by the eye ball test if they didn't know a person and treat them accordingly. This picture is of African American Civil Rights activist Adam Clayton Powell, the second is the first African American Supreme Court judge Thurgood Marshall and the last picture is of Egypt's first president Gamal Abd el Nasser. Can you see any major racial differences between these three men? So if Powell and Marshall were perceived as negros and discriminated accordingly, how do you think they would have treated the average Egyptian based on their appearance? They would have been treated the same, unless they were visiting government dignitaries.

Looking at your thumbnails, then I suspect many Greeks, Italians etc could also get classified as "black". Totally bizarre - but I suspect people from your way would find aspects of NZ society unbelievable as well.

 

[Tarik Sultan]

Looking at your thumbnails, then I suspect many Greeks, Italians etc could also get classified as "black". Totally bizarre - but I suspect people from your way would find aspects of NZ society unbelievable as well.

Oh its total bullshit! This is how many blacks were able to pass themselves off as white. They would move north and then say they Greek or Italian or something else. Although there have been cases where Southern Europeans traveling in the South were denied service because they were assumed to be light skinned blacks. There was more wiggle room in the northern states, but in the south, being a little too swarthy made you suspect.

I thought it was strange when I saw documentaries about New Zealand and the Maoris were calling themselves black. I also met a Native Hawaiian and he said Hawaiians were black. At that time, I thought of blackness meaning African or of African lineage. That's when I began to realize this stuff was based more on cultural norms than it was science.

 

[Kashmir]

I thought it was strange when I saw documentaries about New Zealand and the Maoris were calling themselves black. I also met a Native Hawaiian and he said Hawaiians were black. At that time, I thought of blackness meaning African or of African lineage. That's when I began to realize this stuff was based more on cultural norms than it was science.

No here "black" is a political stance as in "under class". It really riles me as the Maori here don't face anything like the shit blacks do in the States. Most have good housing and jobs - no ghettos or trailer parks. There's no "one drop" rule - at least not to their disadvantage. Many iwi (tribes) (and government departments) have money as gifts or scholarships available if you have the right ancestory.

 

[Tarik Sultan]

No here "black" is a political stance as in "under class". It really riles me as the Maori here don't face anything like the shit blacks do in the States. Most have good housing and jobs - no ghettos or trailer parks. There's no "one drop" rule - at least not to their disadvantage. Many iwi (tribes) (and government departments) have money as gifts or scholarships available if you have the right ancestory.

And this is a perfect example of another reason why I dislike using the word black to describe people. Every society and culture has a different definition as to what that is. It just leads to so much confusion.