More Nigerian Girls Kidnapped

One Hundred Ten Nigerian Girls Kidnapped

Last week one hundred ten girls were kidnapped from their Government Girls Science Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe State. (“College” in the Nigerian school terminology is what would be 8th through 12th grade in the U.S. or secondary school in Great Britain.)

BBC Online reported on the kidnapping of the Nigerian girls.

Hard to believe, after the Nigerian government has said more than once that Boko Haram has been defeated.

According to CNN International Online, “Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said the raid was a “national disaster” and promised the families of the missing girls their children would be returned.”

Do you believe that promise when at least 100 of the Chibok girls are still missing? So sad.

Southwest Unitarian Universalist Women’s Conference

The Southwest UU Women at the Conference in Austin Texas were a welcoming group.

Thirty three women came to my presentation, “Living in Community, Lessons from Africa.”

I had created a lovely PowerPoint presentation, using a burnt orange and yellow color scheme, with black title bars.

It did not show up well on the screen. Even with the lights low, the audience could not read the text. The pictures were not as clear as they should have been. I was disappointed.

Despite that, the audience members appeared intrigued and were full of comments and questions. The presentation is so much more fun when the audience is involved, as this one was!

The conference was predominantly white, as was my audience. Most of my presentation was about Igbo customs.

At the end I spoke about using white privilege to talk about race. I asked people for suggestions. One woman gave us her response for people who challenge the concept of Black Lives Matter. “The movement wouldn’t be necessary if Black Lives were as respected as white lives,” she says.

One of the two Black women in the audience suggested we “like” UU Black Lives on Facebook and support their work as allies.

The conference keynote speaker was Texas State Representative Donna Howard. Her talk: “Bring your Own Chair: Making Room for Everyone at the Policy Table.” She emphasized the importance of holding reasonable conversations with people of differing views. “Compromise is not a bad word,” she said.

Sunday morning worship at the First UU Church of Austin was excellent. Rev. Meg Barnhouse used the theme of the SWUUW Conference for her sermon, “Be the Spark.”

“We don’t always know what to do when the spark within us goes out,” she said. Sometimes other people can rekindle our spark. You can listen to much of the service, including the sermon.

She related the story of how seeing a playful squirrel one morning re-lit her spark. Among other possible “sparks” she named hiking!

I thought about that later in the day when I met my friend Carol. She has lived in Austin since 1985 and knows the city well.

Volksmarching

She is president of one of the two Austin branches of the American Volkssport Association. They do what they call Volksmarching, or “people’s march.” It’s non-competitive fitness walking for fun and fellowship.

She showed me fascinating parts of historic Austin, threatened by developers. Her group has walked in these areas and she knows their history and the changes taking place.

The Forever Bicycles

We also went to the “Forever Bicycles” installation by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. It was thrilling to see.

“This sculpture takes as its subject the Forever brand bicycle, once ubiquitous on the streets of Beijing. A means of not only transportation but also social mobility and a coveted luxury item when the artist was growing up in China, in contemporary times the Forever bicycle has given way to aspirations of car ownership,” I read on the Waller Creek Conservancy website.

Ai Weiwei is the artist and an activist. He had an installation in New York City for four months that ended in February. He has been detained for his activism in China in past years.

He talked about his inspiration in this video.

Nigerian Bobsledding Women

BBC News Online had an article about the Nigerian bobsleigh women’s team. The writer asks whether a country without winter weather should be sending competitors to the winter Olympics.

That’s not his only point. He also questions their competing for their parents’ country rather than their own.

He quotes Korede Oluwole, a Nigerian-based public relations expert, who said, “I am concerned, as to why a government of any serious country would send a contingent they never trained, that had no history in a competition . . . to the Olympics.”

He seems to believe that the women were seeking recognition for themselves. The athletes, he said, “probably saw an opportunity for global recognition on the platform of their parents’ countries.”

An Opposing Opinion

Another person interviewed for the article, Tinuola Akinola, disagreed. He liked having the women represent Nigeria, and favors, “more African countries being represented – even if they have to get ‘creative’ in order to do so.”

He said, “I think it is uncharitable for anyone to insinuate that these athletes are glory-seekers or self-serving.”

The Nigerian team came last in the competition. So Nigeria will not honor them, I’m sure. But they had a wonderful experience. And I do think they encourage other women to think of unusual ways to compete!

What do you think?