IN CASE YOU MISSED THESE STORIES:
“Photography Through Saudi Women’s Eyes”
I just came across this fascinating new book by trail-blazing Saudi photographer Rania A. Razek. It’s a collection of work from dozens of Saudi Arabian women photographers. It was not until recently that the ban was lifted on public photography there.
The photographs were taken in a variety of places in their country and around the world.
There was a first of its kind exhibit of these photos at the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia this summer in Washington, D.C. You can learn more about Rania and the exhibit on this video Saudi Women Photograph Their World by the BBC.
Here are two photos from the book “Photography Through the Eyes of Saudi Arabian Women”:
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“Husbands Who Bring the War Home”
Military wife and author Stacy Bannerman’s article in the Daily Beast, “Husbands Who Bring the War Home,” is an eye-opening and chilling story about soldiers who become domestic abusers when they return from the war zone.
Stacy is the author of “When the War Came Home: The Inside Story of Reservists and the Families They Leave Behind,” published in 2006. She’s the founder and director of Sanctuary Weekends for Women Veterans.
You can check out her website and read about her efforts to improve support and services for military families.
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“A Daughter’s Plea”
Sarah Levinson makes a valiant plea in the Huffington Post for people to remember her father Robert “Bob” Levison, an American citizen who’s been missing in Iran for the past three and a half years.
Her family has no more information than when her dad first disappeared. She says that the “joy has all but disappeared for my family…graduations have lost significance…birthdays are incomplete… anniversaries are insufferable.”
She’s getting married in a few days and is asking all to remember him also as he will not be able to walk her down the aisle.
This is a very moving story. She’s pleading with the governments of Iran and the United States on her family’s website to do everything they can in the next 6 days to find her father and send him home.
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Waiting for “Superman”
This controversial documentary by the filmmaker of “An Inconvenient Truth”, Davis Guggenheim, has opened to much fanfare and controversy.
It’s message is loud and clear–the public education system has failed this nation’s children; this generation will be less literate; and our kids are participants in a system that’s broken.
It’s been called “compelling”, “exhilarating”, “heartbreaking”, and “shocking.”
“This movie is going to create a sense of outrage,” says Arne Duncan, President Obama’s Secretary of Education in an article called “Schools: The Disaster Movie” in New York Magazine, which gives an in depth look at the film and its message. Guggenheim insists “it’s pro kids.” You be the judge.
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“What Waters Washed Away”
This foreignpolicy.com story by Rania Abouzeid describes the ongoing dire circumstances for families in Pakistan as a result of the recent floods. Refugees have lost everything.
The article reports positive news from UNIFEM, a UN organization that promotes women’s rights, that community-based organizations are distributing aid to women, recognizing them as important providers for their families.
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“Promise Me”
Nancy Brinker’s memoir, “Promise Me: How a Sister’s Love Launched the Global Movement to End Breast Cancer,” has just been released. This former ambassador is interviewed in this article from the Palm Beach Daily News about why she wrote this compelling book in honor of her sister.
Nancy promised her sister Susan Komen just before she died at age 36 that she’d try to find a cure for the disease. As she was dealing with that challenge, she had to fight her own battle against breast cancer. Nancy founded Susan G. Komen For the Cure, the largest private funder of breast cancer research in the world.
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“Servicing on September 11”
This article Serving on September 11 in the Huffington Post by Marie Tillman, fiance of Pat Tillman who left a pro football career to enlist in the Army after 9/11, describes the meaning of the 9/11 anniversary weekend to her.
Marie took the tragedy of Pat’s untimely death while serving in Afghanistan and turned it into the Pat Tillman Foundation. This group assists veterans and their families through educational resources and advocacy.
Marie joined with Michelle Obama on Saturday to help renovate the Vincent Hall Retirement Community, a veteran’s facility, in McLain, Virginia.
Don’t miss this moving article in the Post and the information about her foundation.
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“The Healers of 9/11”
A must-read is this article The Healers of 9/11 in the New York Times by op-ed columnist Nicholas Kristof. He describes the journey of Susan Retik and Patti Quigley, the founders of Beyond the 11th, to build an organization that has assisted more than 1,000 Afghan widows.
The story details an event during the 9/11 weekend where Susan, a Jewish woman who lost her husband on 9/11, will speak at a mosque in Boston to try to recruit members to join her battle against poverty and illiteracy in Afghanistan.
A documentary “Beyond Belief” has been made about Susan and Patti, two soccer moms from the Boston area who were pregnant on 9/11 and who both lost their husbands, and about their journey to Afghanistan. It’s available on DVD and can be rented.
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