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social activism : teen/young adult : page 1.......
Seamus Farrow is set to study law at Yale this autumn (05). The 17-year-old says, "It could be a springboard for human-rights work or international law of some kind. Making money is not a priority for me. I could never survive like that.
"The priority for me has always been to help others. I can't say I'll be completely selfless the way my mother has [referring to Mia Farrow], but I can say that I'll devote my life to trying to make a difference." .. [contactmusic.com]
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British graffiti artist "Banksy" carried out a coordinated plan to infiltrate four of New York's top museums on a single day - "installing" his own works.
The largest piece, which he smuggled into the Brooklyn Museum, was an oil painting of a colonial-era admiral, to which the artist had added a can of spray paint in his hand and anti-war graffiti in the background.
At the American Museum of Natural History, he hung a glass-encased beetle with fighter jet wings and missiles attached to its body -- another comment on war, Banksy told Reuters.Reuters, Mar 24, 2005
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Beatrice Biira, 19, from Uganda - her mother was able to sell enough goat’s milk to send Beatrice, then 10, to the local school. From there, she won a scholarship to a high school in Kampala, Uganda’s capital. Then, she went on to prep school in New England and to Connecticut College on a scholarship... "I would love to see myself forming maybe a school for children who are disadvantaged," says Beatrice. "Or maybe an orphanage, and maybe a farm with cows or goats, and giving those children milk. And I'd love to see them get healthier all by my work."
60 Minutes / CBSNews.com Jan. 12, 2005
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More than a decade after the bodies of young women and girls first began turning up along the Texas border in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua, dozens of artists in Mexico and the United States are shooting movies, performing plays, writing books, recording songs and producing television docudramas in response to what has become a human rights crisis and a binational scandal.
> more on page abuse & creative expression
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.. .. I've been so consumed with trying to learn about directing and writing and acting at the same time. That's been my focus, and I feel that there's this huge void. I feel ashamed of it, because I do think it's a responsibility. It's not like something that is a fun thing to have in your life. I just think it's your job as a person... [Do
you think it's generally a bad idea for
I don't think it's ever a bad idea for anyone to express an opinion. I find it brave when an actor talks about an issue, and on the flip side, I find it incredibly depressing that I'm not listening to someone who's dedicated their life to fighting for this issue. So it's a double-edged thing. I actually found Sean Penn's fact-finding mission to Iraq, as innocent and naive as it was, really lovely and inspiring -- that he got on a plane, went there, and did that, and took out that ad in the Washington Post. |
I
don't think anyone took him seriously. I just think that on both sides
of the spectrum, everyone gets seduced by the idea of, "Oh, you're an actor,
you can get media attention, that's good." It's not always good. Sometimes
it's laughable.
[Do
your politics get you into any trouble in terms of your
It's funny. I grew up with a dad who's a conspiracy theorist, who thinks that Hollywood is run by three guys in suits who at any point will cut you. I went into talking about politics thinking that it would be the end of my career -- and in some sense hoping for the glamour of going down in flames. The truth is, they're not organized enough. Nobody's talking to anybody. Nobody cares. I'm not enough of a threat to anyone for it to have any real consequences. Sarah Polley from article : It's a Very Liberating Thing - by Brian D. Johnson, Maclean's, Oct 13, 2003 / photo: Jeff Vespa / WireImage "She's been an activist since she was a teen... at one demonstration, a policeman knocked out a couple of her teeth. .. she made waves with Disney when she refused to remove a peace symbol she was wearing while doing press for the studio. [LA Times, Sep.99] |
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.. .. Tony Kushner : I think the country is undereducating its young. I think it's a deliberate, designed, malevolent project by the right to destroy public education. People are more easily manipulated when they don't have information. If you ensure that kids grow up without basic reading skills, math skills, and so forth, then you ensure that they can't act effectively. On the other hand, there will always be a strong sense of injustice among the young. When I wrote Homebody/Kabul, I thought it was time to think more internationally in part because of the IMF and WTO protests, because of all these kids protesting free-market capitalism. There are a lot of politically active young people, but I feel that we've misled them. |
I
have great admiration for the essayists and writers on the left, but the
left decided at some point that government couldn't get it what it wanted.
As a result, it's a movement of endless complaint and of a one-sided reading of American history, which misses the important point: Constitutional democracy has created astonishing and apparently irreversible social progress. All we're interested in is talking about when government doesn't work. MotherJones : When was the last time that a belief in the system paid off? Tony Kushner : It was the day they got that fucking Ten Commandments monument out of Alabama. I found that thrilling. With all the blows that the Bush administration has delivered to the separation of church and state -- we have a president who can't stop talking about his relationship to Jesus while he gleefully murders thousands of people -- it turns out that we still kind of get it. from Tony Kushner, Radical Pragmatist - interview by Ben Greenman, MotherJones.com Nov/Dec 2003 Tony Kushner is the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes on HBO.. and is also the author of the recently published call to arms, Save Your Democratic Citizen Soul! : Rants, Screeds and Other Public Utterances for Midnight in the Republic, a book targeted at young activists. |
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Allison Mack served as the Spokesperson for Kids With a Cause for the year 2001 and has been an active member of the organization since its inception... "Kids With a Cause is a really great charity. I'm kinda bummed out, because I'm getting a little old for it, because it's all about kids helping kids. I can't be as involved as I used to be. I love it because it's so hands on. I actually get to go hang out with the kids and spend time with them. It's very, very rewarding, and it's so important.
"So much of what we do in this industry is surface and so unimportant. When you can do something that has a little bit of depth, it's very fulfilling. I think it's totally worthwhile. And I just love being around kids."
from allison-mack.com exclusive interview: Mover & Shaker - 10/01/03
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.. .. Well, not quite. Her studded black cap and zippered vest are actually made of synthetic leather, or "pleather," and boast PETA's new accessory for the cruelty-free set: a patch that reads, "Fake, for the Animals' Sake." fromcowsarecool.com |
.. .. Alicia Silverstone says she respects other people's choices, but she chooses not to buy wool, leather or fur, and uses only make-up that has no animal products. Naturally, she is a vegan. "I will work with organizations that rescue others -- the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, PETA and the Farm Sanctuary. "But I found that living out my every day choices have been more fulfilling to me. It's important to see what we can do to make a difference, but it's more important to me to do it every single day. "I don't blame other people for not living this way, but these are the choices I have made with my life." from Lifestyles Magazine interview by Debra Forman |
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Recently, Masiela Lusha joined The Great American Bake Sale campaign. "I've always loved to bake and cook," she said, "and ABC asked me to participate. This hiatus [from acting on "George Lopez"], I'll be traveling to Alaska, Hawaai, Minneapolis and Maine to promote the Bake Sale. "Last year, they raised over $1 million. Thirteen million children risk going to bed hungry in America. One of every four people in line at a soup kitchen is a child.
"I worked at a soup kitchen in Burbank and set up tables, washed off tables and served. The amazing thing about the homeless is that they have such oprimism. They help out the other homeless. I give them so much credit."
from In Step With Masiela Lusha - by James Brady, Parade, May 2. 2004 --
Lusha's book of poetry "Inner Thoughts" was published (in English
and Alabanian) when she was 12 years old.
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.. .. "Alyona Pisklova's" photo was an immediate hit in Russia's first and largest competition designed to let the public choose its representative to the famous annual pageant. The Moscow schoolgirl was surprised that her picture had been entered. Friends sent in her photo as a joke, replacing her last name, which she has withheld, with the name of a boy she had a crush on. ... |
Voting
for Pisklova turned into an Internet phenomonen in Russia, as web users
expressed their views on much more than on the choice of a regular-looking
girl over long-legged models with touched up photos. ...
Her supporters quickly launched their own website stopbarbie.org.ru The website declared that a vote for Pisklova was a vote against the "Barbification" of society, against "unnatural beauties who cannot be distinguished from each other, fake emotions, smiles and gazes in the lenses of profession photographersî and other accepted standards of beauty. Pisklova's measurements, according to her entry, did not match the model standard of 35-23-35, the site proudly pointed out. /// In the photo, Pisklova is wearing a red Che Guevara-esque t-shirt given to her by supporters with her own likeness beside the slogan "Barbie no pasaran." (The latter is an old anti-Fascist slogon from the Spanish Civil War that is embraced by anti-globalists and means "they shall not pass.") [this
story was also mentioned in Ms. Magazine --
|
..related page:....body image
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.. .. By 17, she had traded a job as shift manager at a Taco Bell for a spot at the Center for Young Women's Development. She has been there ever since. Though never a street kid, Simon considers herself street smart, and she grew to use that authenticity to grab the attention of impoverished young women. ... Over the last half-dozen years, Simon has helped the center grow into a $425,000-a-year operation with 22 full- and part-time employees, nearly all under age 25. |
The
young women who participate include teens struggling with drug addiction,
victims of abuse, kids living on the streets and others fresh from incarceration.
The center provides a variety of after-school services to help troubled young women on a path to productive adult years. /// Responsibility for the Center for Young Women's Development has always been left to young women, so Simon plans to pass the baton. "Despite the nation's troubles, I know that we are going to be all right," she concluded. "The vision, the tenacity, the fearlessness of the young people around the nation who stand up to organize will make things better than all right." from
article "Lateefah Simon wins $500,000 grant
the Center for Young Women's Development site |
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"I believe all children are born pure and innocent and only act with violence because we teach them hate and violence," Gregory R. Smith said. 
..
.."There must be peaceful parenting to have a peaceful future. It is up to us to create an environment that makes it possible for children to resist the corruptions that take us down violent and immoral paths."
Nominated in 2002 and '03 for the Nobel Peace Prize, Smith has been tapped to co-chair the World of Children Awards with Muhammad Ali. He is among 43 students in the nation to receive scholarships up to $50,000 a year for six years from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation for his graduate studies.
Gregory R. Smith completed one goal May 31 when he received his bachelor's degree from Randolph-Macon College at the age of 13.
Now the child prodigy is aiming at another by jumping into the [University of Virginia's] graduate studies program.. pursuing a Ph.D. in mathematics, the first of several doctoral degrees he plans to obtain.
from Inside UVA article, June 13-26, 2003 -
linked from his site International Youth Advocates~ ~ ~ ~
.. .. Haaser said she was making a statement on behalf of gay and lesbian students because she was bothered by the verbal and physical harassment they face. Their principal said he respected what the heterosexual students were trying to do, but they needed to learn more appropriate ways to make a point. Haaser and Pecore were suspended for two days. .... Haaser, a junior, said she chose to make the statement as part of an English class assignment, which required that she engage in a nonconformist act in the tradition of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. |
"You
hear derogatory comments in virtually every class," Haaser said. "It's
not always spiteful -- someone might say, 'Oh that's so gay,' where 'gay'
means stupid or dumb. But those comments can be really hurtful." ....
The incident has sparked debate about tolerance at the school. .... Joshua Lamont, a spokesman for the national Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, said there are just under 2,000 gay-straight alliance clubs at high schools and the number of clubs grew by 50 percent in the past year. But there has been a growth of intolerance, as well, Lamont said. .... Haaser said the kiss has raised awareness of the problem. "It's been wonderful to see and hear the discussions that have taken place at my school since the kiss. People are a lot more aware of the issue," she said. "And I like to think the hurtful, derogatory comments about gays have subsided, at least for a little while." from
Female-student kiss spurs debate at school,
|
..related pages:..............sexuality : teen/young adult..........identity..........social reactions / interactions: teen/young adult
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| Domestic
violence is the topic of Ashanti's
new hit "Rain on Me". The music video takes a bold look at the issue and
features Ashanti facing, and ultimately overcoming, the realities of abuse.
Determined to help end relationship violence and educate young people about the issue, Ashanti has partnered with the Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF) to raise awareness by working with LidRock to create a mini-movie of the music video. Proceeds from sales of the mini-movie will support the violence prevention work of the FVPF. And remember, if you need help, talk to someone you trust. You are not alone. some lyrics of RAIN ON ME 1st
verse:
|
.. .. Rain on me Lord why don't you take this pain from me. I don't wanna live I don't wanna breathe can you just rain on me Lord why don't you take this pain from me I don't wanna live I don't wanna breathe [quotes from Family Violence Prevention Fund FVPF |
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.. .. She says she came up with the idea because "when I was younger I had a lot of difficulty learning to read. I was behind my classmates. I was embarrassed. I would run screaming from books. "My parents would sit and read with me and I would cuddle up with a cozy quilt. All of a sudden it just clicked and now I love to read." According to Robyn it didn't start "clicking" for her until she was in third grade. But after that, there was no looking back. "When 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' came out, I locked myself in a closet and didn't come out for two days," she adds. |
.. .. "So I started a community service program that donated books. With each basket of books I donated, I made a cozy quilt to go with it." Ten thousand books and 100 quilts have been donated during the past four years! from
Meet Robyn Strumpf by Jennifer James,
website: Project Books and Blankies |
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