“The witch-burnings did not take place during the ‘Dark Ages,’ as we commonly suppose. They occurred between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries– precisely during and following the Renaissance, that glorious period when, as we are taught, ‘men’s’ minds were being freed from bleakness and superstition. While Michelangelo was sculpting and Shakespeare writing, the witches were burning. The whole secular ‘Enlightenment,’ in fact, the male professions of doctor, lawyer, judge, artist, all rose from the ashes of the destroyed women’s culture. Renaissance men were celebrating naked female beauty in their art, while women’s bodies were being tortured and burned by the hundreds of thousands all around them.”
– Monica Sjöö & Barbara Mor, The Great Cosmic Mother: Rediscovering the Religion of the Earth (1987)
A documentary following the music, journey, and culture of the Romani people from their genesis in India to many of the countries through which they passed. With minimal dialogue and subtitles/translations, the film lets the music and powerful performances speak for themselves.
I definitely recommend this movie! I’ve probably seen it a bazillion times and it doesn’t get any less amazing.
“This region has been in the midst of cataclysmic geopolitical upheavals for a long time. In the 1890s, following the Durand Line agreement between the British government and Afghanistan, what was then called the Kafiristan region was inhabited by non-Muslim Kafir tribes, and was part of Afghanistan. The tribes, constantly at war with their Muslim neighbours had, until then, managed to keep their religion intact amid growing attacks. However, following the Durand Line agreement, Afghan Amir Abdur Rahman Khan forcibly converted these peoples to Islam, while some crossed into Chitral and settled among the non-Muslim Kalash tribe in an enclave of three valleys: Rambur, Birir and Bumburet. The region was renamed Nuristan, or Abode of Light. Kafiristan proper is now reduced to a mere historical footnote. However, the Kalash valleys are sometimes referred to as Kafiristan. With the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, the infighting between mujahideen groups, the emergence of the Taliban and the ongoing War on Terror, turmoil in the region has continued. In the process, the organic growth of community has been disrupted and the region has become inaccessible to foreigners and researchers. In early 2014, there were reports of the Taliban issuing threats to the Kalash non-Muslim tribe of Chitral district in Pakistan to convert to Islam or face the consequences. The region is, in many ways, still as isolated as it was at the outset of the Great Game. Researchers working on linguistic diversity are pessimistic about the future of small languages spoken across the remote, mountainous region. Muhammad Zaman Sagar (currently the Advocacy Officer at the FLI) thinks that the Pakistani Government is not serious about preserving such languages: “There is no government organisation dedicated to research on languages, nor [is] any university working towards this end.” The FLI was established in 2003 and operated out of Peshawar until 2009, when it relocated to Islamabad fearing the security of its foreign researchers. The forum works on basic language training, documentation, mother-tongue schools, publication and advocacy. Twenty-six languages are spoken in its focus area across northwestern Pakistan, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. The FLI had opened mother-tongue education preschools in its target area, which educate children for two years in science, mathematics and arts subjects. The students are taught Urdu in the final term. So far, ten preschools have been established across the region, while three more were opened in 2014. Unreliable figures on language use are a major hurdle to these developments, as these are often incorrect or exaggerated. “We are basing our estimates on 1960s and 70s figures,” Zaman said. Though some cultural activists and intellectuals are aware of the implications of the death of a language, such an occurrence is unlikely to stir public feelings or generate interest in linguistic diversity among the general public. Zaman points out that many endangered languages (such as Yidgha, Badishi, Ushojo and Gowro) are facing extinction. “Badishi is spoken in the Bishigram Valley next to Madyan in Swat, and had two speakers, and one of them died sometime back,” he said. Another reason for the death of language is an economic one: unless one knows Urdu and Pashto, good economic opportunities are unlikely. Speakers of smaller languages are not given jobs, Zaman said. Industrialisation and the opening of areas that the outside world once found difficult to access has destroyed local vocabulary, as things from the outside bring with them their names.”
Reblog to spread this. This isn’t something to keep silent on.
I would never want somethin like that to happen! Hell, i condemn it. But … I try to at least keep myself informed a little bit. Are there any good sources for this?
Sources above are accurate and working. I have listed the above sources in chronological order, as well as adding sources I have found. The sources found by fandoms-of-a-tired-ravenclaw are marked with an asterisk (*)
This article links to many, many other articles and pieces about the camps, some of which are governmental sources. All the links work. One wants you to make an account to access it, but I have it saved. PM me if you want to see it.
Internet Sleuths Hunting for China’s Secret Internment Camps, The Atlantic.com- (Sept. 15, 2018) – This article talks about the treatment the Uighurs get in the camp and talks about the risks some Chinese people are taking to find out the truth. It also goes over some of the solid evidence debunking Chinese claims that the camps do not exist, eyewitness accounts aside.
countervisuality 