RIOT DON'T DIET

Culture is a chapter of life, which if we read we learn new beauties and unforgettable realities. Sadly, culture also is a path to prejudice and the start of ignorance’s’ plight. Imagine a life where everyone was the same; same sex, same colour, same religion, same background, same wealth, same upbringing, same stories. We’d be dull, and this planet we live on would be colourless and soulless.

Learning about different cultures and the meanings of people’s lives is such an extraordinary way to understand. We take their kebabs, their music and way of speaking to modernise the world we live in yet, we refuse to believe there is any colour in Pakistan’s way of life. We see it as a place where only terrorists are born. Or we refuse to appreciate the celebration of Africa, and only see it as a honeymoon destination, booking into the Hilton ofcourse. We forget the sweet smells and new beginning of so many cultures, because frankly we’re either too ignorant to learn or we just don’t care. It seems as though Lady Gaga’s hair is much more important than all this

There is culture in front of us every day, yet we refuse to open our mind to other beauties and stories of life, because we feel as though it threatens our way of living? We start to label, prejudice and stereotype these “ethnic minorities” because they don’t have our way of life? The world is big enough for everyone, now it’s just the case of opening your mind and heart; make them big enough for you to learn and adore the diversity this earth holds.

I met a girl from Nigeria at University last week, and the stories she told me were phenomenal. I learnt about her culture, the colours of her life and the sound she hears her country honour; the same sound that closed minded people recognise as silence.

I find the fact that we’re all so different with so many cultures beautiful. It’s pretty amazing if you think about it.

“People of different religions and cultures live side by side in almost every part of the world, and most of us have overlapping identities which unite us with very different groups. We can love what we are, without hating what – and who – we are not. We can thrive in our own tradition, even as we learn from others, and come to respect their teachings.”

—Kofi Annan

Three men were competing to see who was the most cruel. The first one attacked a man beating him till he was bleeding and couldn’t stand. The second man saw him in this state and stamped on his hands and face over and over. He turned to the others and said, “No one can be worse than me”. The third one said, “No, I am the worst one because I just stood by and watched. This man is my brother of humanity ”.

The victim is Babar Ahmad The first man is the police The second is the Justice System The third are those who did nothing…

Sign the petition www.freebabarahmad.com

We only have 2 weeks.

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The world we live in has so many simple, beautiful things about it. The power of people is just one of many. The “leaders” of our country promise our lives to be peaceful yet they themselves fuel corruption, wars and violence. They make their inspirational speeches yet lie to the generations on what changes they’re going to bring. It’s magical when you realize how much power the “people” have.

Look at the Arab Spring.

I have heard and seen people who have constantly mocked Muslims and Arabs for being ‘obedient’, ‘passive’. For real? These are the same people that put their money where their mouth is and fought for what they believe in. A man named Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire to make a stand, and look what happened. Thousands of people stood up and took action. Tunisia became free. Egypt followed and toppled that meathead Mubarak, and Libya? Well Libya made history. The Libyan people themselves killed their dictator that boiled lives and silenced voices for 42 years. So next time anyone says Muslims or Arabs are passive, oppressed and obedient; let me tell you shawty we sure aint. Being a Muslim is about strength and unity; it’s about making sure your voice is heard. It’s about helping those who need help and taking part in a cause and struggle to make a change. Why do you think giving charity is one of the five pillars of Islam? It’s about being helping groups of people, educating yourself and giving others courage to stand up. I’m a Muslim girl, so does that mean you expect me to not talk to boys, have an arranged marriage and raise my hand up to speak? Yeah, not so much. To me the fact that I am a Muslim makes me want to speak up more. It’s as though today with Islamophobic attacks, misunderstandings and racism growing, being a Muslim has not only become being part of a religion, but almost a way of political thinking.

I’m not scared of anybody, but God, and my religion tells me that. It was this idea and their unity within themselves that ignited the Arab Spring. Being a Muslim, I have to either stand up for the truth or if it’s petty talk I say nothing at all. But now, seeing what happened in the Arab Spring and seeing the actions on Wall Street, we have to believe that the “voice” is in your hand.

I girl once said to me that ” All Muslims are ignorant”. I disagree. The youth of Middle East in Libya, Syria, Egypt (you get the drill) have stood and been part of the uprising. They’ve stood at the protests and waved their flag proudly. They hold their head up high, shout and steal the spotlight from the dictators to show the world the oppression their dictator ignites. Meanwhile in England there were unnecessary riots where the youth stole PlayStations. Who’s ignorant now?

Of course in every group of people you will have those who are ignorant and those who aren’t. I know there are some ignorant Muslims. I’ve met an ignorant Muslim girl who thinks girls who don’t wear scarves are not “good” Muslims. I don’t think she likes me anymore because I told her she was rude and backwards, and it’s up to the individual and their relationship with God. I also called her judging and arrogant. I’m pretty sure she hates me now, oh well. Likewise with the girl who said all Muslims are ignorant. She was white, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to generalize all white people, no way. That is ignorance, and that itself is conformity, and my mind is too open to close into a drift of backward thoughts. For instance, though Middle Eastern countries are populated mostly with Muslims that didn’t stop them or halt anything. The fact that they didn’t label themselves as “Muslim Egyptian” or “Christian Egyptian” is inspirational in its own right. They stood a united front regardless of background to solve the problem in front of them. My point? We need to learn from each other and instead of focusing on colour or religion or gender; focus on the real problem - The ultimate rich who “speak” for us yet makes thousands of lives harder, whether it’s the health system in America, the civilians of Iraq, the students of England with a huge debt from university or the people or you with your own problems that is someone else’s fault.

The revelation of revolution has a sweet smell to it indeed.