Category Archives: Personal Empowerment

Education, Babasaheb Ambedkar said, is the milk of a tigress, and thereafter generations of our communities invested all their potential to seek education for their empowerment. For my family, this struggle started with my grandparents who worked hard for my parents education.

It was abruptly halted when my parents had to prioritise employment for dignified living over pursuing higher education.

I joined the University of Hyderabad (UoH) for my Masters in History in July 2019. As a first-generation student in higher education, I knew about the varsity through the Rohith (Vemula) movement.

Eminence and aspirations accompany deterrence for the marginalised. Soon after my admission process was over, I was informed that the portal facilitating hostel accommodation had been temporarily closed. There was no certainty of getting hostel accommodation until vacant hostel rooms were made officially available. For me to afford to pursue my course here, it was critical to get a hostel room.

Hostels have played a very significant role in creating an educated class among marginalized groups. In July 1924, Babasaheb established the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha to promote education among depressed classes. Establishing such hostels for students was one of the prime aims of the Sabha, which opened two such hostels for students from depressed classes.

It was the denial of access to hostel rooms that gave rise to the Velivada by Rohith anna and four other students who were socially boycotted along with him in 2016 by the Appa Rao-led varsity administration.

It became an everyday routine for me to visit the chief wardens office to request hostel accommodation. My means of resistance; sitting outside the office to seek accommodation, barely dented the apathy of the Warden office. It was only after a months humiliation that I approached Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) for help, that a hostel room was allotted to me overnight. Both of my parents are primary school teachers, who raised me in Ambedkarite thought.

The contempt towards working in an anti-caste organisation was quite known to me. Through narratives in liberal circles, I came to believe in the casteist speculation about the ASA as an organization that was infamously hyper-masculine and gender insensitive. I chose to dissociate myself from any close affiliation with ASA. I believed that disassociating would help me navigate any such experiences of discrimination. However, the interactions of faculty members and students fraternity continued to be casted (entrenched in caste). Performances of my caste-Hindu classmates, whether good or bad, benefitted from guidance by faculty members. Whereas vis a vis us, they used sweeping remarks calling our answers objective and our language as non-academic. Our questions in the classroom were met with a contemptuous silence or remarks like You dont get what I am talking about or You need to read more.

75 years of Independence have not erased our experiences of discrimination within university spaces. By accessing our right to education, we are making our way to higher education. But does mere physical freedom to enter these university spaces ensure us the freedom from the discrimination and gate-keeping in higher education? Have these experiences allowed us to access education to develop our human capacity, to exist as free humans? Few months before I joined the varsity, the Velivada raised by five Dalit scholars who were denied access, was demolished by the University administration in the middle of the night.

While Velivadas in villages across nation still signify the ghettoisation of Dalits, what would have been the intention of the administration behind dismantling the Velivada in the UoH? It was an attempt to erase the history of resistance, whose reminiscence would keep challenging the practice of discrimination. Higher education that remains monopolised by the caste-Hindus, will always make university spaces sustain such discriminatory practices.

Under such circumstances, ASA, like many other young Ambedkarite student organisations, became a space for counter culture, where such humiliation is channelised to build the potential of students coming from marginalised caste backgrounds. Addressing public gatherings rebuilt the confidence that was lost in the classrooms.

ASAs participation in student elections, small victories in persuading the administration to fill all the reserved seats, check on malpractices where students from marginalised communities were marked indifferently in the interviews, due disbursement of scholarships, building pressure around incidents of harassment by the supervisor are a result of the invisible work that Ambedkarite student organisations have done for generations. In a way, these organisations have offered more towards realisation of equitable societies than claims made university texts and handbooks.

All spaces are patterned hierarchically. The ASAs was no exception. Negotiations with the administration, decision-making, access to organisational capital are determined by these hierarchies.

The abjection and marginality associated with queerness did reflect in my experiences within ASA. The value of a man was reduced to his immediate identity and nearest possibility.. Never was a man treated as a mind. As a glorious thing made up of star dust, Rohith anna had warned us in his last message. An organisational space shapes individual opinions and worldviews; but organisational spaces that limit you to your immediate identity cannot treat you as a mind, as a free human. It is in ASAs commitment to Babasahebs emancipatory worldview and assertive self, that I see my transformative journey against fighting discrimination and reaffirms my faith in an equitable future for all.

In the words of Wamandada Kardak, a renowned Ambedkarite poet

Samatecha wahi wara na pilavnukila thara,Tya nagarichya shodhasathi navya manasapathiTanda chalala.Manus nava ghadavava ha lok ladha ladhvava,Ekjuticha awaj amacha abhal ata gathi

Where the wind of equality blows (where there is) no shelter for exploitation,To search for that city for the new human,Caravan is moving.To create a new human (this) human combat be fought,Our united voice has now reached the sky.

(This appeared in the print edition as "The Caravan is Moving")

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We The People: A Personal Narrative Of Getting Socially Boycotted - Outlook India

If you ask top real estate coach and mindset specialist Tanja Lee the secret to success, her answer is surprisingly simple self-belief.

Just as Henry Ford once wrote, whether you think you can or think you cant, youre right, Tanja believes agents inner thoughts are the element that most controls their success in the industry.

Strategies and resources will never work or last on top of what is known as a disempowered belief system, she says.

So if you believe youre overweight, if you believe youre broke, if you believe you dont have time and money or the resources to make a difference to what youre doing, then its unlikely you will take action to fulfil it.

Speaking as part of Elite Agents 33-hour, continuous Zoomathon training session, Tanja invited agents to consider two distinct groups of people.

Those who are unsuccessful, unhappy and unfulfilled, and those who are the opposite.

Tanja says the unsuccessful group has a list of reasons they fail, such as not having enough time, energy or resources, and they are disempowered.

The successful folks, they have results, Tanja explains.

The reason they have results is that theyre more resourceful with the things that other people arent, and therefore they have access to being empowered.

Tanja says agents that are not successful know what they should be doing to reach their goals, but their disempowered belief system stops them from taking action to reach them.

A disempowered belief system around prospecting could mean having thoughts like, Im an interruption, Im an annoyance, and they dont want to hear from me, she says.

So youre not going to be inspired to pick up the phone, make a call and connect.

You know you should be connecting with 25 people a day, five days a week, to get that momentum, to get the opportunity to appraise or do a listing consultation but the reason you dont do it is because your belief system is not empowered.

Tanja says every time something happens in life we, as humans, create a story around it.

So agents who are not successful will see a potential client telling them no as them not being good enough, or turn a minor failure into meaning they are a failure.

As soon as you collapse what happened, and the negative belief or story you tell yourself, you start to access your own greatness and you access your own personal empowerment, Tanja says.

The key to turning things around is to turn your internal dialogue around in a realistic fashion.

Tanja says while shes a big fan of auto-suggesting, positive affirmations dont work because they are not sustainable.

Instead, she recommends you change your thoughts incrementally.

If youre broke or struggling financially, and youre walking around and saying Im rich and successful, your subconscious mind knows its not the truth, Tanja says.

Id rather you use your language to build a bridge to where you want to get to. For example, you could start saying things like, Im becoming more masterful with my money.

So you need an empowered definition, definition is decisive, your perception is your reality, if youve got a negative definition of yourself or a task you have to do to succeed in real estate, youre unlikely to utilise all the learnings, the strategies or the insight that youre learning.

Tanja says the last thing agents need to do to turn things around is combine their empowered beliefs with a development plan to build the skills they dont have and couple that with a hardy attitude.

Couple that with the willingness to rise the willingness to rise resiliently even in the face of rejection, even when times are tough and even when the market shifts, she says.

Read more:

Tanja Lee: The key to success - Elite Agent

Im Gen Z and I dont understand what older generations want from us. Were either the laziest generation ever, and need to learn how to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, or objects of pity as we soak ourselves in nostalgia for the simpler times they enjoyed, staring down a wasteland of a future. Oh, and were also way too PC.

For whatever reason, its the pity more than the scorn thats gotten my back up of late. With Kate Bushs Running Up That Hill back on our airwaves and the mainstreaming of the mullet, the amount of hot takes on young peoples apparent infatuation with the past is peaking.

Take this article by Business Insider explaining that The youth become nostalgic when the economy is struggling, seeking comfort and connection. Or the conclusion of two Australian academics that young consumers are immers[ing] themselves in eighties pop culture to cope with their wistful affection and sentimental longing for this period of the past and to pretend they were really a part of that historical period.

And youre not even pretending well! those who lived through the era cry, screaming factual inaccuracy.

But maybe thats the point. Were not trying to replicate or relive the past. Were trying to update it even rewrite it. Were saying Ill take your fashion and raise you female empowerment, gender fluidity, and people on catwalks and TV that actually look like us. The Gen Z trend is all about cultural reinterpretation as a form of empowerment.

Nostalgia (which translates to homecoming pain, a condition once diagnosed to homesick mercenary soldiers) is about a sense of loss or longing. For young people, the current trend is about what we can gain or even redeem from the past, not a mourning for whats lost. As a generation defined by our activism and progressive beliefs, the concept of craving for simpler times just doesnt compute. How can we be the most likely generation to identify as LGBTQIA+ and advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights, but at the same time, want to go back to the 90s when same-sex marriage was illegal and Ellen was being booted from air for being too gay?

In fact, what were doing feels closer to taking what our parents made and sticking a knife in to see what rings true and what bleeds out, or reclaiming aspects of cultural history that werent previously accessible to everyone.

One example thats been ripe for millennial backlash is the return of low-rise jeans. And I totally understand the trauma. As some have pointed out, it was a fashion trend about showing off your flat-as-a-tack stomach at a time when Marissa Cooper was the ideal.

But thats exactly what many Gen Z proponents of the low-rise comeback tour are trying to subvert. Take this TikTok by 19-year-old Spencer Barbosa responding to the comment that only people with flat tummies can wear low rises. In the caption for the video, she responds clothes dont have a body type. And its true. Societies have a body type, not clothes. By putting items once limited to cis ultra-skinny white women on a wider range of bodies, Gen Z is trying to expand that body type definition.

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At the same time, high-waist jeans are far from being out. Theyre still being seen everywhere from the street to Fashion Week runways. Its all about choice now what is comfortable and what suits your personal style rather than smooshing yourself into one common trend. Its a push towards democratising fashion. Our own friends are just as much personal trendsetters as celebrities, since platforms like Instagram gave us all a space to develop our own aesthetic portfolios.

This has created a generational view of fashion that is much more inclusive and less cut-throat. I cant really think of many trends that are actually out other than fur and, increasingly, hopefully, fast fashion. Its also less fixed. Were donning a different look every day or even multiple looks mashed up at once rather than committing to one for a period of our lives.

The so-called nostalgia trend can also be understood in the broader context of Gen Zs love of mimicry and intertextual references. Take the popularity of memes and, more recently, TikTok. Its all about recreating your own version of something. Then your own version of a version of something. The references are often so many layers deep that Im not surprised those not up-to-the-minute with digital culture are mistaking their mockery for homage.

Finally, the nostalgia narrative seems to leave out the fact that plenty of trends being reanimated for the 2020s are actually common sense given the moment were in. Were wearing 2000s get-up because we want to be sustainable by op-shopping (and apparently a lot of low-rise jeans were up for resell). Were using flip phones because were trying to be more mindful of our technology use. Were buying records because more money goes to the artists rather than, say, Spotify. And mullets are back and in the mainstream, not because we all wish we lived in the 80s, but because were generally shifting as a society towards more genderless style.

So to older generations who coo that we must be nostalgic for a pre-pandemic, pre-climate change, pre-housing crisis world (themselves indulging in pity porn while doing nothing to actually absolve the crises theyve bequeathed to us) I respond: the kids are alright. On balance, I feel lucky about the age Ive grown up in. I honestly couldnt imagine anything worse than coming of age at a time when heroin chic was all the rage and women on screen were lucky if they had a name let alone a personality. Far from a practice in escapism, our interest in the past is much more about the lessons that can be gleaned from it both the good and the bad as well as perhaps a more morbid recognition of the things that have not progressed as much as they should have.

Lets save our condescension for those who talk earnestly about the good old days. More often than not, these are the kinds of people who are genuinely nostalgic for eras where men were macho, women subservient and milk tasted like real milk.

Bridget McArthur is a freelance writer and host of the 3CR program Chronically Chilled

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Gen Z isnt mourning the past were trying to redeem it - The Guardian

When the Brooklyn Nets landed Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in free agency three years ago, many pointed to the culture of competence as the reason they chose the Nets over the New York Knicks.

It turns out that's not the case.

NBA insider Marc Stein reported Durant and Irving chose the Nets because they would be "willing to bend to their will far more than James Dolan-owned New York would."

Tension between the organization and the Durant-Irving duo apparently exists because the Nets have been less willing than expected to bend to the will of their two All-Stars.

"Durant and Irving did not come to Brooklyn because they were impressed by the culture Marks and [Kenny] Atkinson built," Stein wrote. "They did not choose the Nets to be part of a program. They chose the Nets to be the program."

If the Nets' culture of the last three seasons is what Durant and Irving wanted to build, it's hard to blame the organization for wanting a change. The 2019-20 season was essentially a redshirt for all parties given Durant's recovery from an Achilles tear, but the last two years have largely been a mess.

The Nets pushed all their chips to the table during the 2020-21 campaign and traded for James Harden, only to watch their playoff hopes go down the drain thanks to injuries to Irving and Harden. While it predated the playoff collapse, the Nets also watched Irving step away from the team for personal reasons on dates that happened to coincide with his sister's birthday.

Even all of that could have been forgiven if it weren't for what transpired all last season. Irving's decision to not undergo COVID-19 vaccination was arguably the most damaging in franchise history. It led to him playing in only 29 regular-season games, helped embolden Harden to request a trade to the Philadelphia 76ers and further sullied the reputation of the already-polarizing Irving.

As the Nets suffered a first-round sweep at the hands of the Boston Celtics, it was clear something had to change. From Brooklyn's perspective, it's clearly the amount of power given to Irving and Durant.

The team made it abundantly clear it had no interest in giving Irving a long-term contract extension, and now the Nets are playing hardball amid Durant's trade request. While it's likely the Nets will eventually part ways with their two stars, Brooklyn's new culture may be the strongest pushback yet on the so-called "player empowerment era."

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Stein: Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving Knew Nets Would Bend More to Their Will Than Knicks - Bleacher Report

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITAD) is a federal government agency with a mandate to regulate information technology and to drive its mainstreaming in the governance and economy of the country. In 2021, it started implementation of its new Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2021-2024). This strategy aligns with the Federal Government National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) which was developed by the Federal Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy. Among the goals of SRAP are massive training of Nigerian from all works of life to increase the rate of digital literacy and skills, to strengthen the Nigerian digital economy and increase ICT contribution to GDP and prepare and position Nigeria to benefit from the opportunities afforded by emerging technologies

Digital skills are critical today, not just for the collectivity as a nation but also for personal upliftment and transformation. Those who are digitally excluded because of either lack of appropriate skills or inability to access technology would be left behind educationally, financially, politically, and economically. This was why the UN launched its campaign for universal digital literacy with the clarion call, No one should be left behind. Indeed, one of the recommendations of the UN High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation was every adult should have affordable access to digital networks, as well as digitally-enabled financial and health services, as a means to make a substantial contribution to achieving the SDGs.

Digital marginalization or exclusion is lived reality in Nigeria. This digital marginalization means that the marginalized groups would find it difficult to access education, thus posing a threat to attainment of the SGDs targets in the education sector and will not be able to benefit from the mainstreaming of ICTs in the health sector, again posing threats to achieving those targets in health sector. A key challenge therefore is for the country to quickly address the problems of digital exclusion and marginalization. Both NDEPS and SRAP speak to how to address this exclusion and marginalization. But while increasing connectivity and making technology readily available is a necessary condition for reaping the benefits of digital technology, it is not a sufficient condition for this. Citizens must have the appropriate digital skills to make effective use of technology.

Recognizing the importance of digital skills both documents (NDEPS and SRAP) have prioritized training by making digital skills to be a key pillar of their plans. Indeed, one of the targets of SRAP is to achieve 95% digital literacy in the country by the year 2025. While given its leadership role and mandate and as well as its authorship of SRAP, NITDA must lead this, state governments must however contribute to the realization of the goals and objectives of SRAP, particularly in relation to the digital literacy target.

NITAD has done a commendable work in terms of developing the document and it is already rolling out a couple of initiatives and programmes by way of implementation of SRAP as well as helping in getting the objectives of NDEPS realized but there are no commensurate responses from state governments whose citizens are to benefit from these laudable programmes. For instance, it has set up several digital entrepreneurship centres across the country. It is also rolling out digital training, especially in underserved and unserved communities as part of its contribution to bridge the digital divide.

Achieving 95% digital literacy in the country would mean that all students in schools from now henceforth must be digitally literate before they leave school. State governments have responsibility for both basic and secondary education. They owned the greater percentage of the schools at these levels of education in the country. It is therefore incumbent upon them to ensure that all the public schools in their ownership are properly and adequately provided with computers and supporting eco systems such that their students could acquire digital literacy.

In preparation for the massive digital training, NITDA is leading the articulation of the national strategy for child protection online. State governments do not seem to be doing anything about this and are not making the contribution they should make given that most of the children in the country are in their custody as pupils and students in schools owned by them. They need to bring their experience as custodians of children to bear to the process of developing the national strategy on child protection online.

The current culture of teaching computer studies as if the students are watching a match a between Manchester United and Manchester City must stop. States must make the necessary investment to provide computers, internet and power supply in schools and ensure that there are properly qualified teachers to teach the students. Digital literacy is not about hearing or seeing: it is hands, one that should be driven to fire the imagination toward creativity and innovative future. The current situation in which students cannot use computer laboratories in schools because of either lack of power supply or no internet or that there are no qualified teachers to train them must stop. Computers, given the dynamism of digital technology have short life span and once you do not use them, they quickly become obsolete and the investment in procuring them is wasted.

There is simply too much to be done to achieve the 95% digital literacy target of SRAP and all stakeholders must join NITDA for it is a necessary journey we, as a country must make. Our education system is changing fast, with speedy and uncertain migration online and that if we consider education as a right, the digital skills that are necessary to access it must also be a right. Gone are the days when states should think of computer as a luxury or some privilege that is to be provided only to some model schools or be kept as items of status symbol in some schools to be shown to visitors but not to be used by the students or even their teachers. Our children must use them and NITDA needs to hammer this point.

One obvious way states can make their interventions to be meaningful and sustainable is for them to have a state level ICT policy. We cannot continue to treat digital technology on a tap-water basis. A policy that spells out what we want to do with digital technology, how to use it and how to even deploy it, is critical to the goal of digital Nigeria. Are we going to use it as an enabler of other sectors, improving education, healthcare, governance, etc, for instance or are we going to see it as sector of its own, to create jobs and wealth or even consider it as both? NITDA has experience and has over the years, built a stock of practice to help mentor the states in doing this. Right now, apart from a few states, the majority do not have policies on ICTs and therefore engage with ICTs on an adhoc basis, making them to miss the opportunity to drive the optimum best out of it.

Another area that NITDA could avail itself of its experience and knowledge to the states is by mentoring them to set up state level ICT coordinating bodies like NITDA. This will help in terms of intergovernmental coordination, programmes harmonization and synergy building that are needed for effective objective delivery and sustainability of initiatives. If UBEC has SUBEBs at state level to work with, NITAD should have its own state counterparts too.

But state governments are not the only stakeholders that have to raise their hands up to prop the SRAP. Citizens needs to understand what digital technology is about, what it can do for their lives and their country and how they can position themselves so that they can leverage the opportunities technology offers for personal empowerment as well as contribute to the digital transformation of the country. Digital technology is about people and therefore its deployment is a collective responsibility. State governments must in addition to making digital investments in their schools, engage in stakeholders sensitization and mobilization. Afterall, they are closer to the people than NITDA is as a federal agency. While young people who are still in school have a self-obvious reason to be digitally literate, adults need to know what incentives for them are to be digitally literate. That is a job state-level agencies have to perform.

In this, NITAD also needs the support of organizations, individuals to build a bold voice about building the very foundation for citizens to embrace digital opportunities, which is raising awareness about the technology itself. Once citizens are aware, they will help government to increase availability, such as getting communities to build community networks to address their connectivity gaps or build community digital centres to address their digital skill gaps. All that is needed here is for government to follow up the work that NITDA is doing with appropriate policies that can make the eco system adequate and sufficient for the digital transformation of Nigeria. For instance, it is important to urge both Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) and the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy to quickly come up with the National Policy on Community Networks, which is required to address connectivity gaps that market cannot.

It is important that we call on all state governments to do the needful to endure that that the initiatives that NITDA is implementing do not run to the drain because of lack of support from states.

State governments have always been the weak link in our national digital quest. One can easily recall how they kept dithering over the implementation of the decision to make computer studies compulsory. For years, they kept shifting the goal, arguing that they did not have the resource to equip their schools and to get qualified teachers to teach computer studies in their schools. They should not be allowed to play the same dance this time around, because the world cannot wait for Nigeria and now is the time to move.

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Driving the digital transformation of Nigeria, By Y. Z. Yau, CITAD - Newsdiaryonline

KANSAS CITY, Mo. As KSHB 41 News wraps up the month of June, we want to leave you with real stories of women who are often pushed to the side during Pride month and throughout the year - transgender women of color.

Statistically, they experience more violence than other members of the LGBTQ+ community, and too often their lives are cut short because of who they are.

With help from local organization Transformations KC, we spoke with three trans women who have endured hard times but transcended society's stereotypes to become leaders in the community.

Kelly Nou says she's gone through a lot in her life to be where she is today, living her truth and setting an example for young women like her.

"I'm still standing and you're still watching," Nou said.

Nou is a survivor, and she says this with a confidence and grit that comes with years of fighting.

"It's a lot of things we had to endure, like being bashed or being bullied and stuff and I'm just grateful to even be here just sitting here sharing my story, because a lot of my sisters in the past have not made it this far," Nou said.

Nou lives her life as visible advocate for her sisters in the trans community and a leader with Transformations KC, a group that works to uplift young trans people, specifically trans women of color.

"It's important because we're getting murdered every day, so it's best to allow us to have that voice," Nou said.

We met with Nou to shine light on her story, parts of which she says people would prefer to stay hidden. It's a story she shares with Treshawn Roberts and Monica DeJesus Anaya.

That story takes us to Troost Avenue and Manheim Road.

"It brings a lot of memories," Nou said

Nou and Roberts used to work Troost back in the day as sex workers. DeJesus Anaya worked in Chicago.

"Things have changed a lot, but the cars haven't," Nou said. "They're still coming."

As a car drove slowly past the intersection, DeJesus Anaya added, "As you can see right now!"

The girls laughed.

They were young, out trying to navigate a world that rejected them.

"My parents didn't understand trans," Nou said. "I knew I was a different kind of girl and my parents did not understand that."

So, Nou and many other young trans women found safety in each other.

Nou left her parents' house in her teens, seeking guidance from an older trans woman. Nou said there were multiple girls "shacked up" in a one or two bedroom apartment, just trying to get food, pay the rent, and keep the lights on.

At night, when "traffic would come swarming," they would come out to what's called the Hoe Stroll, Nou said.

"It would be 15 girls. It would be a few on each corner," Nou said. "It ranges from 34th & Armour and Troost & 43rd, which was a nail shop. We would work at night and, on the weekends, would go to the nail shop, and the nail shop people knew us."

The work did not come without dangers.

Roberts said they'd come out with crowbars and sledgehammers.

"Yes, baby, we had them hidden in the bushes," Roberts said. "'Because we used to drive and park our cars. So, we always had access because we knew what this was."

Nou said they had to protect themselves and their sisters.

"We'd look out for each other, try to make sure we get the description of the vehicle that our sister would go into," Nou said.

Survival sex work is often a part of the trans experience, rooted in discrimination.

"Jobs were not hiring us," Nou said. "Jobs were discriminating against us."

The National Center for Transgender Equality's most recent survey shows that one in eight trans people have done sex work. When you learn that trans people of color are three times more likely to be living in poverty than anyone else in the country and the unemployment rate for trans people of color is four times higher than the U.S. population - you see that sex work is something many resort to.

"And then when we did get employment, it was minimum wage. Not the minimum wage that we have in 2022, but the minimum wage we had in '98, '99, 2000. So, if you google the minimum wage, you will see why sex work was the next best thing," Roberts said. "I'm not ashamed of it, I'm proud of it."

Nou said one of the milestones in her life was when she decided to go to work in "full geish," which means dressed up in full wardrobe and makeup. Despite feeling liberated and fully herself, Nou said she ended up being fired from her job that day.

Walking the walk fiercely and unapologetically every day, these women say, will help pave the way for the next girl.

"Sharing our stories and our journeys literally keeps us trans women alive," DeJesus Anaya said.

Trans people, especially trans women of color, face violence more than anyone else. The survey shows many folks endured it at school and from their own family.

While the data isn't complete, we know at least 9 trans women and femme men have been murdered in Kansas City over the last 10 years.

Dee Dee Pearson was shot in killed in KCMO in 2011. Dionte Greene was shot and killed in KCMO in 2014. Jasmine Collins was stabbed to death in KCMO in 2015. Tamara Dominguez was killed after a man ran her over multiple times in KCMO in 2015. Ta'Ron "Rio" Carson was shot and killed in KCMO in 2018. Brooklyn Lindsey was shot and killed in KCMO in 2019. JaLeyah Berryman was shot and killed in KCK in 2019. Brianna Hill was shot and killed in KCMO in 2019. Aerrion Burnett was shot and killed in KCMO in 2020.

All of these victims are people of color, who see the highest rates of violence.

More trans women of color have been murdered in areas around Kansas City, including Reesey Walker, killed in Wichita in 2016; Nina Pop, killed in Sikeston, Missouri, in 2020; Dominique Lucious, killed in Springfield, Missouri, in 2021.

According to a study by Transgender Europe, which monitors violence against trans people worldwide, more than 3,600 murders of transgender and gender-expansive people have been reported since 2008. Most of the murders happen in the victim's own home or in the street.

It's very personal for Nou because one of those women, Aerrion Burnett, was her friend.

Burnett had a "heart of gold" and the news of her murder devastated her friends and family. She was shot and found dumped on the side of the road at 13th Street South and South Brookside Avenue.

Nou had the honor of doing Burnett's makeup for her funeral.

"I just felt so empowered to even be in that position because her parents respect her enough to allow me to be in the position to do her makeup to send their daughter off the correct way," Nou said.

Yes, these women have seen hard times. But they're still standing.

"I'm a vet," Roberts said. "I'm a icon, I'm a legend, baby. I have lived to see all the days. The good days, the bad days."

Their work today is to make sure their sisters experience a better Kansas City than the one they were given years ago.

Nou is the vice president of the board at Transformations KC. She's nurtured many young trans women over the years, helping them come into their own.

Roberts has always lived her life boldly, breaking out as a performer when she was 14.

"I would wear my show stuff to school and the kids would be like, 'Okay, who's this b? Now what is she doing?'" Roberts said. "Thigh-high boots, leather catsuits, fur coats. Yeah, and I wanted to be the glamorous girl at all costs."

Roberts, who also goes by Treshawn Seymour, is a seamstress, hairstylist and makeup artist. She's been heavily involved in Kansas City's ballroom scene and holds a title of Queen Mother, which takes on many roles in the trans community, including being a mentor and mother figure.

DeJesus Anaya is a reality star, whose stage persona is Monica Beverly Hillz. She starred in season five of RuPaul's Drag Race and was the first queen to come out on the show as a trans woman.

It's not all trauma. These women have joy, love, sisterhood, and a chosen family in their lives.

"You know, we're not just sex workers," Nou said. "We're human beings and we still can be successful and beautiful at the same time."

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Still standing: Trans women in KC share their story of survival, empowerment - KSHB 41 Kansas City News

CHICAGO, May 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Shawn Ellis, TransUnion (: TRU) International CIO, has been named a Global Enterprise Chicago CIO of the Year ORBIE Awards Finalist. The CIO of the Year ORBIE Awards is the premier technology executive recognition program in the United States honoring chief information officers who have demonstrated excellence in technology leadership.

The ORBIE Awards Global Enterprise category honors chief information officers (CIOs) who are driving innovation and transforming leading organizations with over $1 billion in annual revenue and with multi-national operations. Ellis leads TransUnions international technology team of over 1,000 technologists serving customers across the globe.

Shawn has markedly improved our technology competency across the world since he began leading our international business technology efforts nearly three years ago. He has evolved our security posture, led the restructuring and upgrade of our technology teams globally, as well as the launch of multiple new products and rewrites of core platforms in many important markets, said Abhi Dhar, Chief Information and Technology Officer, TransUnion. And importantly, he was accountable for the implementation of our first credit bureau in the cloud partnering with a broad enterprise team. Shawn richly deserves this nomination.

Ellis has also made a significant contribution to TransUnions shift to a product engineering mindset which provides a holistic view of development and puts security, performance, reliability and talent at the core of technology initiatives. This allows for the delivery of highly performant and available applications, upskilling associates on the latest engineering and security practices, while delivering innovative solutions to customers, so they can provide the best, most relevant products in their markets.

For over 20 years, the CIO ORBIE Awards have recognized technology executives for leadership, innovation and excellence in this rapidly growing, CIO-led national professional association, said Christa Oglivy, Executive Director of ChicagoCIO. The ORBIE Awards are meaningful because they are judged by peers - CIOs who understand how difficult this job is and why great leadership matters. Shawn is being recognized for his role in spearheading TransUnions international growth across multiple markets while transforming operations and products, and helping empower his technical associates.

About TransUnion (: TRU)TransUnion is a global information and insights company that makes trust possible in the modern economy. We do this by providing an actionable picture of each person so they can be reliably represented in the marketplace. As a result, businesses and consumers can transact with confidence and achieve great things. We call this Information for Good.

A leading presence in more than 30 countries across five continents, TransUnion provides solutions that help create economic opportunity, great experiences and personal empowerment for hundreds of millions of people.

http://www.transunion.com/business

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TransUnion Executive Shawn Ellis Named Chicago CIO of the Year Finalist - GuruFocus.com

Posted on Jul 01, 2022 | Author RK News

Shopian, June 30: Apni Party (AP) president Syed Mohammad AltafBukhari Thursday said that the dynasty-driven politics has ruined the people of Kashmir as the political families have always kept them busy with emotional slogans and unattainable ambitions to remain in power.

According to a statement by the party, he was addressing a huge rally at Wachi in south Kashmirs Shopian district on Thursday.

AltafBukhari extended his gratitude to the people for their participation in the rally despite hot and humid temperatures.

Addressing the gathering, Bukhari explained that the Apni Party has been formed to put an end to the political exploitation of the people of Kashmir by dynastic political parties, the statement said.

We know it as a matter of fact that these families who have been at the helm of affairs for years and decades have always been exploiting common people to attain power, and once they achieved power, they kept innocent people busy with unrealistic and emotional slogans. They used poor people as cannon fodder for their personal and political gains, he said.

He accused the traditional politicians of alluring people and took their votes promising that they will get self-rule in J&K.

Now, you must ask them where is that self-rule? Why dont they talk about it now? Now we see them tweeting whenever someone is killed. But, what about the killings and massacres that occurred when these traditional politicians were at the helm of affairs? In fact, they meant self-rule for themselves. They have a single-point agenda which is to establish their political dominance and remain in power for several generations. To achieve their goals, they use people as cannon fodder, Bukhari added.

Apni Party leader further said that unlike these typical political parties and their leaders, AP does not try to sell some unachievable narrative to the people. We cannot mislead the innocent masses and risk their lives. We are focusing on what we believe is achievable. We want sustained peace, permanent prosperity, and the development of Jammu and Kashmir because we strongly believe that the people of this region deserve the same. Why should our youth continue to grapple with poverty, unemployment, inflation, and so on? Our youth deserve a respectable life and a promising future.

He promised that the Apni Party will continue to work for the empowerment of the people. He said, Apni Party will make every effort to ensure political and economic empowerment of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

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Pol dynasties kept people busy with unachievable goals, emotional slogans for their gains: Syed Altaf Bukhari - Rising Kashmir

The new Phoenix Womens Centre and Shed, located in the Pipers Band Hall on Matt Talbot Road in Tralee, held its first gathering on Thursday and organisers are already looking forward to adding a new dimension to the excellent work of the Centre.

he Phoenix Womens Centre at Market Place will continue as normal to provide its full range of supports in counselling, advocacy, confidential phone line, and signposting services for women.

However, the Phoenix Womens Centre and Shed is an extension of this service, and a place for women to meet in a social environment.

Arange of pursuits such as expanding Empowerment and Personal Development programmes, Return to Work Courses, IT Skills, Walking Group, Nutrition classes, Yoga sessions, Drumming, Art Therapy, Self-Care Workshops, and various talks on women's issues, will be a feature of the Shed.

The Mens Shed model is already extremely popular in Kerry and around Ireland. Currently, there is 40 Womens Sheds in Ireland, a number that continues to grow.

Were very excited about it. Womens Sheds have been springing up fast in recent years. By linking up with Womens Sheds around Ireland, this will help us to network and grow our own Shed, said Sheila Martin of the Phoenix Womens Centre.

Sheila has also been in contact with Kerry County Council to explore the possibility of acquiring a more permanent site for the Womens Shed.

The Shed is about improvingthe quality of life of women. We have many women who are living in isolation, retired or unemployed, she said.

"The idea is to be inclusive and improve a whole range of factors in womens lives through the Shed. We have an excellent program called Rise and Rejuvenate that has a wide range of activities and training for women, Sheila added.

All are welcome to visit the Phoenix Womens Shed every Thursday between 10:30am to 1:30pm at the Pipers Band Hall, Matt Talbot Road.

A public meeting will be held for women interested in joining the shed on July 7 (same time and venue). This is an opportunity for women to get involved and give feedback about the Shed.

The official launch of Phoenix Womens Shed is on July 15 at 6:30pm at Meadowlands Hotel, Tralee. Tickets, 25.00.

For more information, call 066 9130430. Email: info@phoenixwomenscentre.ie,

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Kerry's first Women's Shed up and running thanks to Phoenix Women's Centre in Tralee - Independent.ie

The Passion of Fans: How fandom practices can encourage more active participation and help fight disinformation is a study presented by the authors in a #FactsFirstPH research briefing held on April 29, 2022. The full copy of the research is reposted with permission from the authors.

Second of 3 parts

Read the other parts of this series:Part 1:How fans turned to social media to criticize and demand action from celebritiesPart 3:The passion of fans: How fandom practices can encourage more active participation and help fight disinformation

Media and politics have long been intertwined in the Philippines. It isnt news that celebrities often run, and win, in Philippine elections. Here, political events resemble televised shows with local celebrities introducing candidates as if introducing a beloved WWE wrestler. In response, some take the chance to remind our fellow citizens that they need to be informed and to #VoteWisely. Others, however, take it as a chance to sigh and cringe at the state of Philippine politics, sympathizing with each other as they collectively ask Anyare, Pilipinas?

Driven by fears and anxieties, talks about entertainment in Philippine politics often assume the worst not just of celebrities and candidates but also of the people supporting them. On the one hand, there is no shortage of cheers and jeers when political figures dance to catchy jingles, doing showbiz-style performances in their attempts to generate support.

On the other hand, as the hashtags used by the supporters of the two leading presidential candidates, Leni Robredo and Bongbong Marcos, show (#UniThieves, #LBM, #Kakampwet, and #PinkTaliban), people get heated during elections. Just like when Dutertard and dilawan were still in fashion, stating that some citizens regularly act on several negative assumptions when participating in politics isnt groundbreaking either.

Its not a surprise, then, that Philippine citizens have a known history of not wanting to be politically involved. Moreover, when people try to make sense of the present political situation, they often do so in a way that doesnt make clear what, if anything, can be done about this. Alam mo naman mga Pilipino, is the answer that usually goes hand in hand with Ganyan talaga, and Pareparehas lang naman.

This election season, however, something has changed and it has forced some to rethink how we should view politics within the country. Feats such as record rally numbers, securing the performances of over 30 performers through volunteer efforts, and making a campaign song viral on the Spotify charts, are puzzling to those who view citizens as manipulated and Philippine politics as hopelessly under corrupt control.

Paraphrasing Philippine sociologist Nicole Curato, while discourse on populism has been alive and well, little has been said of the public who are often described as the manipulated, unthinking masa that have fallen victim to the power of celebrity and corrupt politicians.

If that were really the case, however, people would not have the ability to change their minds, much less speak back to those in power. Put in another way, why are people braving the weather and the pandemic just to make their voices heard? Moreover, why are people participating through memes, celebrities, and social media?

Convenient and simple answers were never enough. While it is easy to assume that entertainment and politics do not mix, it prevents us from finding out the possible reasons why this is the case in the Philippines and if it can be more than manipulation.

In trying to answer the question, this article places citizen practice within the context of and as a response to recent Philippine events. More specifically, this article focuses on how that translates to celebrity and fandom politics as it relates to digital spaces and the 2022 Presidential election.

As our timeline shows, three events in particular stand out as reasons citizens have participated as willingly and as vigorously as they have this election: the Duterte administrations pandemic response, the spread of community pantries, and the shutdown of ABS-CBN.

Known for having the worlds longest and strictest lockdown in response to COVID-19, the Philippines was forced to adopt a strategy of digitizing interactions so that people could cope from the homes they were stuck in.

Rapid adoption of digital technologies can help the Philippines overcome the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, [and] recover from crisis, a report released by the World Bank and the National Economic and Development Authority on October 5, 2020 states.

This, in turn, forced most social interactions to migrate online, making internet spaces vital, not just for communication but as sites of venting. As COVID cases rose and with no end to the lockdown in sight, people took to social media to voice out their frustrations against the government.

Despite attempts by the administration to defend their military-centered approach, the Philippines was consistently ranked as the worst place to be during COVID. If people could claim to ignore issues before the pandemic because it didnt affect them, now there is no escape. People are faced with an ever-present political situation by default.

As prices were rising and people were losing work, community pantries popped up early on to provide some relief. Community pantries were community-initiated activities where people could give and donate food to provide mutual help for members in their localities.

Inspired by the idea, people from all over the country decided to copy it and soon community pantries were sprouting all over. However, more than just a noble instrument to help others, community pantries also served as a political message to the administration, criticizing their failure and presenting an example of an active alternative. Though citizens, especially the poor and disadvantaged, have always needed to find ways to cope in times of lack, this fact was now front and center to everyones lives.

Lastly, the shutdown of ABS-CBN on May 5, 2020 was important because it had pushed celebrities and their fans alike to take an active and visible stance on this issue. As Rappler reported, #WeBlockAsOne was another citizen movement that directly went against the disinformation networks of the administration. The shutdown not only affected those supporting the network but also affected those in far-flung areas who relied on its coverage for news and events.

To summarize, political participation in the 2022 election has a noticeable digital element precisely because citizens were funneled online as a result of extended community lockdowns. When government assistance was failing to meet peoples needs, people took it upon themselves, with initiatives like community pantries, to extend aid to their neighbors.

Through similar initiatives, people effectively demonstrated their ability to do better than the administration. The unjust shutdown of ABS-CBN was the reason celebrities of Channel 2 were forced to take a public stance on a political matter. Their calls, in turn, led to calls from their fans and gave another chance for people to examine the effects of politics in their lives.

In Part 1, we touched on how fandoms were using social media to demand accountability from the celebrities they followed. Though both Uniteam and Kakampinks do make use of celebrity endorsement, there is a marked difference between the underlying messaging of the two.

While Uniteam candidates are framed as heroes and inheritors of a legacy, Kakampink candidates are framed as civil servants working to uplift their supporters. This, in turn, shapes how their celebrity endorsers and supporters conduct political practice. Uniteam, generally, takes the stance of follow the leader, elevating Uniteam figures status over rivals.

Kakampinks, on the other hand, take the stance of listen and empower, one that places an importance in cooperation with others and the relevance of the campaign to their personal lives.

The King and Queen best encapsulates how Uniteam supporters see their candidates larger than life, inheriting the legacies of their fathers, and heroes to place ones faith onto. As the lyrics of their campaign song, Sure Win, goes: Sinumulan ng kanilang amay itutuloy (What their fathers have started, they will continue) summarizes the primary reason to support Uniteam.

The importance of projecting an image of widespread support is core to their online strategy, flaunting their numbers on the surveys or on reactions to posts. An emphasis, moreover, of elite connections are consistently highlighted, such as the case in #NinongNinang. Uniteam candidates also stand side by side with celebrity endorsers in order to spread their platforms through celebrity fandom networks.

Celebrity endorsers themselves, are also known to take an unassailable stance in the face of criticism. I have nothing to prove, Gonzaga states in reaction to criticism of her Uniteam support, for example. Perhaps, then, the reason supporters act with hostility and constantly deflect when faults are pointed out about their candidates is because supporters want to preserve this above everyone image.

When a BBM supporter shows kindness to the opposing side, like when Angkas rider Sherwin Abdon ferried Robredo, harassment was thrown at him by BBM supporters themselves supporting the idea that there are consequences for not following the leader.

Kakampink messaging, on the other hand, generally positions Robredo and Pangilinan as leaders that listen and work towards empowering their lives. The introduction of Rosas, for instance, begins with a quote from Robredo Yung laban na ito di ko lang naman laban e. Parang laban ito ng mga tao sa amin (This fight is not just mine. This is the fight of our people).

In this spirit, political advertisements detail stories of candidates working within different sectors and communities, highlighting the varied reach the campaign is aiming for and the deficiency of kakampink as if referring to a singular entity theirs seem to be a mixed group.

Drawing on the spirit of citizen empowerment, celebrity endorsements highlight the importance of ambagan (shared efforts) as a means to recover from government lacks and deficiencies. By constantly presenting calls to action, celebrity support can also become occasions to change ones mind.

Speaking of citizen supporters, they are known to use their resources to provide aid. Lawyers for Leni, for instance, offer legal aid to those harassed for supporting pink while rallies are sites of citizens giving free things to fellow citizens. In the spirit of listening, it may be the reason supporters are known for turning insults hurled at them into empowering memes.

The story of Angat-Buhay Lahat (ABL), in summary, fittingly describes the dynamics at play. ABL is a slogan that was reclaimed by the fans as it was originally an insult used by BBM supporters to mean #AnyoneButLeni. Though some have described it as a false facade, it misses the context that the power of the slogan comes in part from the fans taking active roles in seeing the slogan come to life.

Atienzas article, however, does point out how kakampinks are criticized, asking just how inclusive and radical the pink movement truly is. Posts such as this reveal that kakampinks are ever on the lookout against harassment, given their history of being red-tagged, inclining them to think negatively of Uniteam supporters. Comments on a Robredo-Duterte tandem also reveal that there are lines that some kakampinks are uncomfortable crossing, highlighting the felt divide between the two sides.

Though this breakdown is far from exhaustive, it is enough to show that entertainment and digital participation can be empowering ways of participating in Philippine democracy. Moreover, as people find different and creative ways of transforming the information available to them, it shows that we shouldnt settle for simple explanations of Philippine politics and its citizens.

Beauty pageants are occasions when communities get together to judge for themselves what the Philippines has to offer. When pageant season comes to our country, not only do we come together to expect the best out of the next Ms. Philippines, we also expect that our neighbors are more than capable enough to tell good contestants from bad ones.

And yet, when it comes to politics, we dont often extend the same grace, assuming the worst in others in the process. As we have tried to show, however, the situation isnt as simple as it seems. We may have an abundance of entertainers and entertainment practices in Philippine politics, but that doesnt mean that people are entertained into complacency nor do they stop caring about things that matter to them.

In this light, digital political participation in the Philippines is better understood as an informed response to the greater political context in which it operates, and has been an empowering force for democratic participation.

And while a reminder to treat people as capable actors, rather than caricatures, does not lead to peace, it does push us towards solutions which have us listening and working with others. We elaborate on this idea in the third part of this series.

This is an indicator that fans are beginning to see their favorite celebrities or idols as more than entertainment figures, but as an integral part of the countrys political landscape.

Previously, these kinds of criticism were largely ignored since the calls for celebrities to be more political were not as amplified as it is now. But in the age of social media where instant feedback is the norm, these criticisms and call-outs can really have consequences for these celebrities. Rappler.com

Cherish Aileen Aguilar Brillon is an Associate Professor at the UP Diliman College of Mass Communication, Broadcast Communication Department. She is also part of DZUP 1602, the official radio station of the UP community, where she is the committee head for research and online programming. Her research interests include political economy of media, gender, fandom, cultural memory, and superheroes.

Gerard Martin C. Suarez is a PhD Media Studies student at the College of Mass Communication at UP Diliman. His research on media topics is anchored on the elites, propaganda, and civic participation. He also works as a researcher for the Center for Local and Regional Governance, focusing on topics related to Philippine local government units.

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In the spirit of beauty pageants: Celebrification in politics - Rappler