Blog: History

On International Women's Day 2011

(in response to surprised news reports about women’s participation in Tunisia and Egypt)
by Samanthi J Gunawardana

When Claudette Colvin took a stand, sitting on a bus,
When Adrienne Rich wrote to us,
and my sister bell hooks spoke back,           
they reached across time to another place where
Bahissat El Badia implored from the Egyptian desert
Pandita Rambai travelled, and started women’s organizations
and Seitosha asked women to awake.

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Written by on Mon. Mar 28, 2011 | 0 comments
Diaspora, History, Human Rights
International Women's Day, Samanthi Gunawardena
bare hands

by Amiththan Sebarajah
(for my uncles, for the the people of batticaloa; for their resiliency)

Years ago
We used to trap sprightly little fish
With our bare hands
By the river front

Always with bare hands
Fearing only the catfish stinger
The occasional mudcrab pincher

Amma said one day
‘Be wary of those bare hands
Dead things float by’
And watch out, too, for bare hands
Breaking through the ground, bound and broken

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Written by on Thu. Mar 3, 2011 | 0 comments
History
Amiththan Sebarajah, Batticaloa, poetry
What Does It Mean To Be Sri Lankan? Finding Common Ground

Dear LS Reader,

Having been poked and prodded into writing one of the inaugural posts for the Lanka Solidarity Blog, I finally relented out of my hope that this would in some small way contribute to making Lanka Solidarity fertile ground for debate and discussion among the diaspora, a place where progressive, open-minded individuals of all ethnic groups can exchange ideas about how to move our community forward.  It is also my hope that Lanka Solidarity can help articulate a vision of a Sri Lankan identity that transcends the differences that have been too-often emphasized between the ethnic communities, and instead focuses on the commonalities that we share.  This is no easy task, but a task that I feel is imperative if Sri Lanka is to move forward productively.

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Written by ThamiLankan on Wed. Mar 31, 2010 | 0 comments
Diaspora, History
identity
Re-Elected President Must Push for Political Solution, Address Minority Grievances

On Tuesday, Jan. 26, Sri Lankan citizens voted for their 6th Executive President in what was arguably the most heated and significant presidential election in Sri Lanka's post-colonial history. In this time of so-called peace, Lanka Solidarity calls on President Rajapakse to rise above the exclusionary politics of nationalism and elitism and focus on a political solution that addresses the potential power-sharing rights of all communities.  It is only with such vision that Sri Lanka can truly enter a post-war era of reconciliation and democratization.

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Written by Kumari on Fri. Jan 29, 2010 | 0 comments
History
Elections, History, Politics

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