The Afghan Woman

The Afghan Woman

As she walks on the arid, sandy street,

a gust of wind sprints by her as she sees a ramshackle of a van race by her.

Her curiosity drives her to follow the object.

Once she has located it,

she sees clan of men march out of the vehicle

with long

metal like weapons.

She turns around and walks away,

not caring what could possibly happen.

From a distance

she hears the booming sound of fireworks.

She looks up,

no fireworks.

She suddenly remembers that her wedding is hours away,

but her naiveness drives her stop at the market

to buy a cherry flavored lollipop.

which tasted similar to the medicine her mother treated her with

to ease the pain

from the time she got shot.

Suddenly,

she remembers,

she is not allowed to walk alone on the streets.

She, at all times has to be escorted by a male.

She remembers,

she is a prisoner.

Monitored

every second,

as if she had committed a sinful crime,

more like she is the sinful crime.

Under the feverish sun, she walks home

while wearing her blue burqa, covering everything but her

beautiful blue eyes.

When she arrives home,

a sense of frustration pours down upon her, once again.

She makes eye contact with a man whom can pass as her own father.   

She goes back to remembering

the sadness

the loneliness

the emptiness

she felt when her parents first exchanged her.

Their daughter.

Their only daughter.

Her aunts gather around her,

as they begin to decorate her

in fascinating jewelry.

Diamonds.

Gold.

The weight brought her down,

more than she already was.

Silence fills up the room.

Her sad eyes

define her face

for the rest of her life.

As time moves ahead.

She remembers

the day she lost her innocence.

As she realizes

she has three children to care of,

as one of her girls

was soon going to get married.

The Ruins of Afghanistan

This image depicts an abandoned flower sitting on a barren plot of dirt, with a green field and trees in the background. The flower represents Amir's return to Afghanistan in order to try and find closure for past sins, but upon his arrival, he realizes that there really isn't an Afghanistan to return to. This is symbolized by the desolate landscape in the foreground, because the old Afghanistan has been reduced to dust and doesn't exist anymore. However, the memory of the old Afghanistan is still pretty fresh in Amir's mind, because it was only about twenty years prior to his homecoming that he left for the first time. This is represented in our image by the lush greenery and nature in the background because although it is no longer a part of the new Afghanistan, it is still remembered and looked back upon fondly by many Afghanis. Amir himself doesn't even recognize the new Afghanistan, and he states that "when Kabul finally did unroll before us, [he] was certain, absolutely certain, that he had taken a wrong turn somewhere" (244). This shows how drastic the change between the old Afghanistan and the new Afghanistan is, and this is illustrated in the staggering variation between the dirt foreground and the green background.

The Linger of White Supremacy

Put yourself in the shoes of a colored South African girl or boy, living through the post-apartheid period, and on top of that, being the only black student in a classroom full of white students. You would most likely feel misplaced or alien-like. South Africans have been feeling this way for a number of centuries and still today. Ever since the arrival of Europeans in South Africa during the year of 1487, it lead to the commencement of white dominance over the black community. Over the course of the years, the white race began to take into complete control by implementing segregation policies forever changing Africa which has lead to a number of predicaments for the black community in South Africa still prevalent today. The apartheid era was a time in South Africa’s history when colored Africans faced the biggest struggles, which was put to an end with the heroic actions of Nelson Mandela, but looking at present, is it really at an end?

Ever since the arrival of Europeans in South Africa during the late 1400’s, it has brought a huge amount of despair and hopelessness to the black community forever changing the African culture. Because of Africa’s developing government system, it facilitated the Europeans to get ahold of cheap labor which motivated a number of laws to be implemented based white race dominating the black race (Segregation, Racial, Africa).  With the discovery of gold and other mineral it caused the industrialization process rocket of the charts which greatly depended on low paid black labor. Low-payment jobs are one of the main factors that revolves around segregated system in South Africa since the high paying jobs are offered to people of white colored skin, while low paying jobs were reserved for colored skin South Africans.

Several years later, the apartheid era was introduced to South Africa, as it is also known as the “separate development.” The apartheid era was a policy which recognized segregation and racial discrimination which was applied on South Africa after the Afrikaner-led National Party was elected, but it is commonly known as the period of time when white supremacy was the only answer to the fear of African rebellion and rule. (Apartheid) The separation between black and white communities was to ensure and maintain the power of the white population. Like the United States, it was a long process to accept the equality between black and white people, but this was due to the white people being frightened  that there could be a chance of the black race overruling the white community since there were more of them.  Even though the apartheid period was put to an end about twenty years ago, there are still remnants of the era still heavily affecting South Africa today. In an article written by Robert Jensen, he writes, “Apartheid is dead in South Africa, but a new version of white supremacy lives on (Jesen).” This means that the ending of apartheid rule did not necessarily mean the end to racism, segregation, or discrimination, but a start to a new era. This new era involved the first black South African president, a democratic elective system, and a new start to South African culture.

Segregation in South Africa has been a lingering issue ever since the 14th century and affecting many lives today. This is a serious topic in which not only South Africa has faced, but as well as the United States, but both countries manage to overcome it in an extensive period of time. Writer Greg Myre, still acknowledges the fact that South Africa has progressed since the apartheid era with the growth of prosperous cities and millions of black South Africans educations have flourished (Myre).

Annotated Bibliography:

"In South Africa, Apartheid Is Dead, But White Supremacy Lingers On."Www.counterpunch.org. 08 June 2009. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.

Nesbitt, Francis. "Apartheid." Encyclopedia of Race and Racism. Ed. Patrick Mason. 2nd ed.  Vol. 1. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2013. 153-161. Global Issues In Context. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.

"Original Text." Apartheid (1948-1994). Web. 07 Mar. 2016.”

"Why South Africa Is Still Dealing With Segregation and Poverty."

Zukas, Lorna. "Segregation, Racial, Africa." Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism since 1450. Ed. Thomas Benjamin. Vol. 3. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. 1001-1002. Global Issues In Context. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.

"20 Years After Apartheid, South Africa Asks, 'How Are We Doing?'" NPR. NPR. Web. 09 Mar. 2016.

Embracing the Tao

The Tao.

The beginning and end to

humankind and the universe.

Let the Tao control you,

you shouldn’t control the Tao.

Open yourself,

learn from your mistakes,

and bring peace to the obstacles

that the Tao may bring you.

Depend on your sorrow

to fulfill your happiness.

You have to go through dark

to finally reach the light.

You have to be in peace with yin

to achieve the yang.