There is a tribe in Africa where the birth date of a child is counted not from when they were born, nor from when they are conceived but from the day that the child was a thought in its mother’s mind. And when a woman decides that she will have a child, she goes off and sits under a tree, by herself, and she listens until she can hear the song of the child that wants to come. And after she’s heard the song of this child, she comes back to the man who will be the child’s father, and teaches it to him. And then, when they make love to physically conceive the child, some of that time they sing the song of the child, as a way to invite it.
And then, when the mother is pregnant, the mother teaches that child’s song to the midwives and the old women of the village, so that when the child is born, the old women and the people around her sing the child’s song to welcome it. And then, as the child grows up, the other villagers are taught the child’s song. If the child falls, or hurts its knee, someone picks it up and sings its song to it. Or perhaps the child does something wonderful, or goes through the rites of puberty, then as a way of honoring this person, the people of the village sing his or her song.
In the African tribe there is one other occasion upon which the villagers sing to the child. If at any time during his or her life, the person commits a crime or aberrant social act, the individual is called to the center of the village and the people in the community form a circle around them. Then they sing their song to them.
The tribe recognizes that the correction for antisocial behavior is not punishment; it is love and the remembrance of identity. When you recognize your own song, you have no desire or need to do anything that would hurt another.
And it goes this way through their life. In marriage, the songs are sung, together. And finally, when this child is lying in bed, ready to die, all the villagers know his or her song, and they sing—for the last time—the song to that person.
You may not have grown up in an African tribe that sings your song to you at crucial life transitions, but life is always reminding you when you are in tune with yourself and when you are not. When you feel good, what you are doing matches your song, and when you feel awful, it doesn’t. In the end, we shall all recognize our song and sing it well. You may feel a little warbly at the moment, but so have all the great singers. Just keep singing and you’ll find your way home.This is the most amazing thing I have ever read.
THIS IS SO BEAUTIFUL IM ALMOST TEARING UP
Reblog for eternity.
How powerful and beautiful.
(Source: thegodmolecule)
When Shelly (not her real name) became pregnant, she was working two jobs in Indiana to support her family: the overnight shift stocking shelves for a major national retail chain and the day shift packing items to ship for a medical supply company. Her doctor advised her not to lift more than 20 pounds. The medical supply company immediately accommodated these restrictions, but the major national retailer refused to modify her duties. She experienced a lot of pain while doing the heavy lifting and miscarried shortly thereafter.
An airline ticket agent in Louisiana was told by her doctor not to lift anything heavy at work. Her employer refused to provide her with a “light duty” assignment and told her that she would be placed on unpaid leave if she brought a doctor’s note. Not having an income wasn’t an option, so throughout her pregnancy, she continued to lift heavy bags and spent 10- and 12-hour days on her feet. Toward the end of her pregnancy, she suffered stress-induced toxemia and went into labor prematurely. Her child suffered numerous health complications.
"I may not want to become a mother myself, but working pregnant women deserve the same accommodations that people with temporary disabilities get at their jobs. WTF is wrong with employers!?! (Link to the whole post is below.)
(Source: feministing.com)
- Posted 2 days ago
- 1 note
- Permalink
- http://feministing.com/2013/05/16/mothers-day-is-over-but-pregnancy-discrimination-isnt/
(PARENT/FAMILY/MOTHER WARNING)
lots of love this mother’s day for everyone who has a complex relationship with their mom, everyone who has ceased communication with their mom for reasons of self-preservation, and every person whose mom is deceased
I texted my mother her mother’s day greeting so I could avoid talking to her and possibly going into a depressive tailspin.
- Posted 5 days ago
- Reblogged from onehundredbottlesofwhiskey with
- 21,425 notes
- Permalink
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Black guy kills some people.
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News:Criminal.
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Muslim guy kills some people.
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News:Terrorist.
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Latino guy kills some people.
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News:Criminal.
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White guy kills some people.
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News:Mental illness. (lost soul, complicated psyche, quiet loner, misunderstood, frustrated with life, experienced recent, traumatic, life-altering events that set him off; not to mention all the positive descriptors that are attached to him, i.e. intelligent, PhD candidate, honor roll student, etc.)
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Teenage boys rape a girl
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News:Potential NFL athletes, popular students, class presidents, funny, intelligent, bright, enthusiastic, handsome, sought after, promising, polite, "poor boys who lost their future dream"
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Teenage girl is raped:
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News:What was she wearing? Was she drunk? How much was she drinking? Was her cleavage showing? Well maybe she was asking for it? Well was it really "rape"? She was a slut. Teens today are too sexually active. Did she lead them on?
A PATRON ‘FIXES’ A BOOK WITH SCOTCH TAPE
Submitted by Madeline
OMG this. BOOK TAPE! BOOK TAPE!
- Posted 1 week ago
- Reblogged from librarianproblems with
- 93 notes
- Permalink
The Revolution Will Not Be Polite (via sonicy0uth)
recipes for revolution are quiteeeeee tricky.
(via crystal-cat-loves-ac)
(Source: afrafemme)
I’ve created these flyers for a school activist project where I bring more attention to the women in history that have been forgotten or ignored. This blog will be an extension of those flyers where I post longer biographies of these women and other bad-ass women like them. Too often women’s achievements have been pushed aside, either by others in their lives, or else by the historians who choose to ignore them. This tumblr is dedicated to celebrating them and bringing their achievements to light!
Fuck yeah!
when straight guys ask how lesbian sex works i feel really bad for their girlfriends because if you dont understand how to have sex with a girl in any way other than repeatedly putting your dick in her you are having some really bad sex
Melissa Harris-Perry, Why caring for children is not just a parent’s job (via msnbc)


