Season´s Greetings!

Band Aid was a British and Irish charity supergroup, founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia by releasing the record "Do They Know It's Christmas?" for the Christmas market that year. The single surpassed the hopes of the producers to become the Christmas number one on that release.

It's Christmas time

There's no need to be afraid

At Christmas time

We let in light and we banish shade

And in our world of plenty

We can spread a smile of joy

Throw your arms around the world

At Christmas time

Wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

and if you want to help in this season... 

Internationally ...

Join   

Locally...

  

Young People as Agent of Change

During the '50s, everyone was still recovering  from the horrors of World War II. People from around the world idolized the Americans, who definitely prospered during this era. During the 1950s, youth became more self-aware, and they were determined to create their own styles, which the designers followed. Throughout the decade, the teenagers became a distinct group of society, which had never been done before. Young people gained much freedom, which was attributed by some to the lack of discipline after the war and the invention of Rock'n'Roll.

 Rock’n’Roll roots lay principally in Rhythm and Blues (R &B).  Blues, and rhythm and blues, were too adult, sexual, angry, and solely identified with black culture to be acceptable either emotionally or commercially without adaptation. Major record companies had for years been producing records for black audiences called "race records." The emergence of rock 'n' roll signified a slight weakening in resistance to black culture.  Rock 'n' roll was for and about adolescents. Its lyrics articulated teenage problems: school, cars, summer vacation, parents, and, most important, young love. Though rock has used a wide variety of instruments, its basic elements are one or several vocalists, heavily amplified electric guitars, bass and drums. Its melody, the lyrics and the harmony were simple. The greatest exponents were Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Billy Haley and the Comets, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis. Saturday nights were spent at local dances where teens jived to their favourite music. Adolescents gathered at coffee bars or diners and listen to jukeboxes while they smoked cigarettes. In America, that concern was conveyed even in youth cultural artifacts like comic books.

At the turn of the decade Detroit (where General Motors is settled) became an important centre for black singers, and a certain type of sound known as “Motown” (motor town), was named Motown Records. One of the most popular exponents of this style was Diana Ross and the Supremes.

In the 1960s music mirrored the tensions of the Vietnam War era and played an important role in American culture. The verbal content of rock songs turned toward rebellion, social protest, sex, and, increasingly, drugs. From this decade it was simply called "rock music", and it was no longer just for dancing.

Rock music surged to popularity in 1962 with the emergence of the Beatles, a group of four long-haired lads from Liverpool, England. They were initially acclaimed for their energy and appealing individual personalities rather than for any innovations in their music, which was derived from Berry and Presley. They produced a boom which was called “British invasion”. Their popularity inevitably produced other groups with unusual names. One of the most important of these was the Rolling Stones , whose music derived from the black blues tradition.  An important transformation of rock occurred in 1965 at the Newport Folk Festival when Bob Dylan, noted as a composer and writer of poetic folk songs and songs of social protest appeared on stage, playing electric guitar and backed by an electrified rock band. In 1967 the Beatles again made history with their album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which included drug-oriented songs. And from that year onward, the rock festival was regarded as the ideal context in which to hear rock music, and thousands of fans attended. The most successful and peaceful rock festival, Woodstock, was held near New York, in August, 1969. Some other performers of this decade were Jimmy Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Page.

The '60s marked an era of teenagers, as they truly became a distinct part of North American culture, the baby-boomers. A baby-boomer is a person who was born during the demographic Post-World-War II baby boom (a peak in birth rate in U.S.) and who grew up during the `60s and `70s. They were widely associated with privilege, and as a group they were the healthiest, and wealthiest generation to that time, and amongst the first to grow up genuinely expecting the world to improve with time. As these teens received more money, they had an easy time finding jobs. One important feature of Boomers was that they tended to think of themselves as a special generation and, furthermore, to define the world in terms of generations, which was a relatively new phenomenon.

 The '70s proved to be a drastic change in thoughts and beliefs of teenagers from the '60s. Many young people held pessimistic views of the world, and they felt very uncertain about what the future would hold. A turning point in rock music occurred in the mid-1970s in the form of punk rock, which was a response to the stagnation of the genre and a nihilistic political statement.  In Great Britain, Punk music was performed by the Sex Pistols and the Clash; punk also quickly became popular in the Unites States, played by the Ramones among other groups. Movies and television shows also had a great impact on the styles of young people in the 70’s. On the other hand, Saturday Night Fever made disco very popular and many teens copied the costume worn by John Travolta in the famous movie. The Bee Gees were part of this style.

Work done by Muratore and Funes 

Live Aid and USA for Africa

Ethiopia in Crisis: Famine and Its Aftermath,1984-88

Toward the end of the 1980s, several crises, including famine, economic collapse, and military setbacks in Eritrea and Tigray.

 Famine and Economic Collapse

Ethiopia had never recovered from the previous great famine of the early 1970s, which was the result of a drought that affected most of the countries of the African Sahel. The late 1970s again brought signs of intensifying drought. By the early 1980s, large numbers of people in central Eritrea, Tigray, Welo, and parts of Gonder and Shewa were beginning to feel the effects of renewed famine.

By mid-1984 it was evident that another drought and resulting famine of major proportions had begun to affect large parts of northern Ethiopia. Just as evident was the government's inability to provide relief. The almost total failure of crops in the north was compounded by fighting in and around Eritrea, which hindered the passage of relief supplies. Although international relief organizations made a major effort to provide food to the affected areas, the persistence of drought and poor security conditions in the north resulted in continuing need as well as hazards for famine relief workers. In late 1985, another year of drought was forecast, and by early 1986 the famine had spread to parts of the southern highlands, with an estimated 5.8 million people dependent on relief food. Exacerbating the problem in 1986 were locust and grasshopper plagues.

The government's inability or unwillingness to deal with the 1984-85 famine provoked universal condemnation by the international community. Even many supporters of the Ethiopian regime opposed its policy of withholding food shipments to rebel areas. The combined effects of famine and internal war had by then put the nation's economy into a state of collapse.

The scale of the disaster was evident by mid 1984, but it was the BBC television news reports of Michael Buerk and cameraman Mohamed Amin, broadcast on October 23 and 24 1984, that galvanised a huge international response. Buerk described the scenes of dying families huddled in feeding camps as "a biblical famine in the 20th century".

Live Aid in 1985

In 1985 Bob Geldof was the host of Band Aid at Wembly Stadium.  Band Aid was all brought about initially after Bob Geldof has watched Michael Buerk’s reports on the news in 1984, which documented the famine and suffering in Africa.  His initial response to help stop the people suffering was to make a hit record, this record starred all the famous people of the 1980’s. This single raised £8 million and was the biggest selling single in the UK at that time.

The idea of the concert stemmed from this single, Bob Geldof encouraged people to perform, for nothing, to raise money for this brilliant cause.  The bands took to the stage and history was made, other countries run concerts too, these countries included Germany, Russia, Holland, Yugoslavia, Australia and Japan.  The event as a whole contributed 16 hours of music all of which was live, and over 1.5 million people tuned in to watch the events unfold.  The proceeds of which exceeded 110 million, which was more than was ever hoped for.  Concerts for charity have been hosted since, but not one has lived up to the expectations of Live Aid. It was described as 'The Day Rock and Roll Changed the World'

Billed as 'The Global Jukebox' and hosted by Britain and the USA, Live Aid became the biggest live rock event ever, featuring an amazing line-up of rock stars. Spanning two continents, the concerts were broadcast direct from Wembley Stadium in London and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. There were also contributions from countries including Japan, Australia, Holland, Yugoslavia, Russia and Germany . The whole event featured 16 hours of live music and was watched by over 1.5 billion people worldwide. The final amount raised exceeded all hopes and totalled over £110m.

The concert began at midday in London with a fanfare for Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Then Status Quo took to the stage to kick off the event with 'Rocking All Over The World'. Each band was given 17 minutes for their set and they performed for free.

Band Aid was the name of the group which recorded the original single "Do They Know It's Christmas? / Feed The World". Written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, the song was recorded on November 25th 1984 by a group consisting of almost 40 of the UK and Ireland's best-known pop stars of the time. Originally Geldof hoped to raise £72,000 for charities from sales of the single, but that estimate was exceeded almost immediately the record went on sale; it went on to sell over three million copies in the UK, becoming the best-selling record ever (at the time), and to raise over £8 million worldwide.

Some of the Artists who performed at Wembley: 

Status Quo, Phil Collins (also with Sting), Sting, U2, Queen, The Who, Elton John, Freddie Mercury, Paul McCartney.

Frequent appeals by Bob Geldof reminded viewers of the motive for the occasion: "Don't go to the pub tonight. Please stay in and give us your money. There are people dying now."

Bob Geldof was given an honorary knighthood in 1986.

U.S.A. for Africa

The U. S. A. For Africa was a very heartwarming project and it affected many people around the world when they heard about it. There are many artists who are involved in different foundations which help such projects in order to stop poverty and help in disasters. It was the name that forty five musicians used when they recorded the hit single, We Are the World., in 1985. The song was a number one hit in the U. S. and in the U. K., in April of that year. The artists were predominantly U. S. musicians and the song was led by Harry Belafonte, Kenny Rogers, Michael Jackson, and Lionel Richie. The recording was a live performance and it was released with the Live Aid DVD set which was released on November 8, 2004. The proceeds of the single were to go to the USA for Africa Foundation and was going to be used for the relief of the famine and disease in Africa. Some critics claimed that the money went to the government of the affected countries instead of to the people so they felt that it was all a waste of effort. Some of the countries affected were governed by a military type of rule and often times this means that any money donated to the government would not go to the people at all. It is not known if the people got any benefit from the donation of this project.

We Are The World/United In Song  came as a response to DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS?. It was dedicated to the 40 plus artists and musicians, who paved the way 25 years ago for this new release, with special thanks to Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones "producer extraordinaire," whose musical and creative talents have made We Are The World the anthem it has become today. The global artists featured on United In Song represent the next generation of musicians to use their talents to inform and ignite action. Each song presented speaks to an issue or cause valued and supported by the respective artists.

Live 8

A series of free, simultaneous concerts in 10 cities was the climax of ONE's contribution to a global movement resulting in unprecedented commitments to cancel debts, double aid and deliver near universal access to AIDS treatment at the 2005 G8 Summit in Gleneagles. However, these promises mean nothing if they are not delivered and ONE is working hard to ensure they follow through. 2005 was a historic turning point in the fight against poverty and disease rules.In the month leading up to the July 6 to 8, 2005 G8 Summit, ONE mobilized 1.5 million people in the United States to sign the ONE Declaration, wear the white band, and send 500,000 letters to President George W. Bush expressing those demands.

The mass mobilization received strong support from Nelson Mandela, Bono, Bob Geldof and a number of other leading ONE supporters, including Brad Pitt, Beyonce, George Clooney and Djimon Hounsou.

20 years after the historic fundraising Live Aid concerts, Bob Geldof organized Live 8 - this time calling for justice, not charity. The string of concerts on July 2, 2005 in each of the G8 countries and in South Africa was timed to harness the massive momentum of the global movement to maximize pressure on the leaders of the world's most powerful countries. More than 1,000 musicians (including U2, Pink Floyd, Will Smith, Elton John and Madonna) performed at the concerts. More than 2 million people attended Live 8; over 30 million people took action and an estimated 2 billion watched Live 8 on TV.

As a result of a combined effort of thousands of organisations as part of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty with the added boost of Live 8, and the Commission for Africa report (which detailed policy demands), G8 leaders pledged on July 8 to double development assistance to Africa (from 2004 levels), reaching an extra $25 billion per year by 2010. The G8 also agreed to cancel remaining debts for qualified countries, and to strive to provide universal access to life-saving ARVs for AIDS patients and education for children.

Work done by Prado and De Marchi

Apartheid In South Africa

Work done by  Di Loreto, María Eva

                        Artaza-Martínez, Marianela

Fashion Prototypes

From June 1941

Rationing was on food as well as on clothing. Details of the rationing were announced in newspapers and women magazines. The message was in in simple language for the masses to understand without any misunderstanding.

Limited Coupons to Spend:

This meant that women were forced to wear clothes that they had in their wardrobes. This scheme ended in 1952. Some families were too poor that having the coupons made no difference on them.

During the Second World War Paris produced restrained clothing to match the economic atmosphere. The general wartime scene was one of drabness and uniformity. People were encouraged “to make do and meant”

1945 Post War Functionalism in Sportswear

After 1945 a whole new range of synthetic fibres often best suited in the early days of production to knitted fabrics were made into pullover dresses, underwear.

The fifties saw revolutionary changes in sports clothes much of due to the earlier invention and new use of synthetic fibres particularly nylon combined with practical techniques developed in military clothing for example hood

                                                   pockets in jacket 

                                                   elastic inserted in the side of the sky pants

                                                   anorak

 THOUGHTFUL COLOUR COORDINATION ONLY BECAME A NORM IN TH 60s

Functional Clothes for mass production

Functionalism became strongly associated with sports clothes in the 50s .Consumers noticed how useful the features often were in everyday life. Hooded anoraks and parkas for wet were a big feature. The greater availability of goods in the 50s meant that consumers now made choices.

After the War the new look of 1947

After the war the people became resentful and patient when rationing was not relaxed on clothes.  People were bitter because clothes were being made, but were exported in an effort to rebuild the British textile and wool economy.

Paris continued to produce exotic fashions, but America was developing a look of its own which was mainly found in Claire McCardell’s designs. The American look was simple and classic.

New Times, new Look

Christian Dior’s New Look of 1947 was frowned upon by both the American and British governments and people were discouraged from wearing clothes that “wasted too much fabric”. The advice was ignored particularly by Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret who were soon wearing it because it had influenced her own designers. People were craving for newness .

The growth of a Media and Consumer Influence on Society

Hollywood Influence

In the 1940s and 1950s American culture became very dominant in Europe. The influence of movies films and the prominence of films starts set the fashion in manners, make up, hair and clothes. Women, Men, and youth all desired look- alike copies of outfits, accessories and jewelry worn by the most popular screen idols.  One way to achieve the look was to make your own clothes and customize them   to have a similar look.

FOR THE 50s  EASY TO MAKE SWEING PATTERS WERE ALSO PROMOTED

Fashion sewing was very popular during the earlier 60s and was a major subject in secondary modern schools in the UK. Night classes abounded in the 60s were women who attended for about 10 sessions had the rudiments of using a sewing machine and cutting a pattern so they could manage to make a dress.

1960s Talent

For  the first time ever in any fashion era, the younger became the leaders of fashion.  Twiggy . Lesley Lawson née Hornby (born 19 September 1949) known as Twiggy is an English model, actress, and singer. In the early-1960s she became a prominent British teenage model of swinging sixties London with others such as Penelope Tree.

Twiggy was initially known for her androgynous looks, large eyes, long eyelashes, thin build, and short hair.In 1966, she was named “The Face of 1966” by the Daily Express and voted British Woman of the Year.By 1967, Twiggy had modelled in France, Japan, and the U.S., and landed on the covers of Vogue and The Tatler. Her fame had spread worldwide.

Fifties fashion hangs on until 1966

The short skirt was not really worn by many women until 1966 and not nationwide until 1967.

Beat Generation and Hippie Movement Summary

Beat Generation : Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg.

Beat Generation refers to a group of American post World War II writers, that became prominence in the 1960´s.

They saw runaway capitalism as destructive to the human spirit and opposed to social equality. In addition to their disappointment with consumer culture, they were against the repressive generation of their parents.

By the time, the taboos against frank discussions of sexuality were seen as unhealthy and damaging to the mind.

According to Literature and Art the Beats stood in opposition to the clean and almost antiseptic formalism (as they used to name it) of the early twentieth century modernists.

They fashioned a literature that was more bold, courageous, straightforward and expressive than anything had come before.

Underground music styles like Jazz were especially evocative for Beat writers.

The word “Beat” was primarily used after World War II by Jazz musicians and workers, as a slang term meaning “Down and out” or “Poor and exhausted” . But Jack Kerouac twisted the meaning of the term, explaining that “Beat” means “Beatitude” not beat up, Beat generation writers also used the term in connection with music, Kerouac often said; “You feel this, you feel it in a beat, in jazz real cool jazz”.

Other central elements of Beat culture included, experimentation with drugs, alternative forms of sexuality, an interest in Eastern Religion and the rejection to materialism.

The Beat Generation was a Literature and Cultural movement and the best known writers were; Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, these authors are considered the producers of the best work of the time.

Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997) was an American poet that opposed Militarism, Materialism and Sexual repression. Ginsberg is best known for his epic poem “Howl” where he severely denounced what he saw as the destructive forces of capitalism and conformity in the United States. Howl is one of the classic poems of this period and was dedicated to his friend Carl Solomon. As all of the controversial Beat Generation writings, the conservative people saw it as dirty, vulgar and with obscene language. It seemed especially outrageous or shocking in 1950´s America because it represent both heterosexual and homosexual sex, at a time when sodomy laws made homosexual acts a crime in every US state. 

He used phrases such as “fucked in the ass” “cocksucker” and “cunt” as part of the poem’s depiction of different aspects of American culture, he used sex to criticize the emptiness and constant hunger that could exist in the lives of Americans.Ginsberg’s willingness to talk about taboo subjects made him a controversial figure during the conservative 1950´s and a significant figure in the 1960´s.According to his writing technique, he developed and individual style that was identifies as Ginsbergian. His choice to brake away from traditional poetic structure was fiercely criticized as chaotic and unpoetic, but for him it was an open excited expression of thoughts and feeling that were naturally poetic.

William Burroughs (1914 – 1997) was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. Much of his works are semi-autobiographical mainly drawn for his experience as a heroin addict. He write 18 novels and novellas, six collections of short stories and four collection of essays, but perhaps his best known novel in “Naked Lunch”, a work that along with the poem “Howl”, went to the court for being cases under sodomy laws. He was an analyst and a critic of the moral, politic and economic system of American Society.

His major works can be divided into four different periods:

-          Early Work (early 1950´s)

-          The cut-up period (mid 1950`s to mid 1960`s)

-          Experiment and Subversion (mid 1960`s to mid 1970`s)

-          The red night trilogy (mid 1970`s to mid 1980`s)

(The dates refer to the time of writing, not publication).

Drugs, homosexuality and death are the most common themes, along with Ginsberg helped made homosexuality cool and highbrow, providing a gay liberation.

Jack Kerouac (1922 – 1969) was an American novelist and poet. He is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as, Catholic Spirituality, Jazz, promiscuity, Buddhism, drugs, poverty and travel. Some critics have labeled his work as “slapdash” “grossly sentimental” and “immoral”.

He became an underground celebrity and with other beats, the progenitor of the Hippie Movement.

In 1969 at age of 47 Kerouac died from internal bleeding caused by cirrhosis, the result of a lifetime of heavy drinking.

Since his dead, his literary prestige has grown and several unseen work have been published, such as; “On the road” “Doctor SAX” “The Dharma bums” “ Mexico City Blues” “The Subterraneans” “Desolation Angels” and many others.

In the 1960´s elements of the expanding Beat movement were the legacy for Hippie Counterculture, which was a movement that arouse in the United States during the mid 1960´s and spread almost all over the world.

The Hippie culture spread worldwide through a fusion of Rock, Folk, Blues and Psychedelic Rock, it also found expression in Literature, dramatic arts, fashion, and visual arts including films, posters advertising rock concerts and album covers.

Hippies rejected established institutions, criticized middle class values, opposed nuclear weapons and the Vietnam War, embrace aspects of Eastern Philosophy and sexual liberation, they promote the used of many drugs, they create international communes or communities and firmly believe in Peace, Love and Personal Freedom.

The peace symbol was developed in the UK as a logo for the “Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament” and was adopedt by US Anti-War protestors during de 1960´s.

Hippies were often pacifist and participated in non-violent political demonstrations such as; Civil Right Movement, The Marches on Washington D.C, and Anti-Vietnam war demonstrations.

The degree of political involvement varied widely among Hippies, the Yippies were the most politically active Hippie sub-group.

In addition to the non.-violent political demonstrations, Hippie opposition to the Vietnam War including organizing political action groups to oppose the war, they refused to serve in the military and conducting “teach-ins” on college campuses, because that covered Vietnamese history and the political context of the war.

The Flower Power is a Slogan used by American counterculture as a symbol of passive resistance and non-violence ideology. It was implanted in the opposition movement to the Vietnam War.

The expression was first coined by the Beat poet Allen Ginsberg in 1965, as a means to transform the protest into peaceful affirmative representations.

Hippies included the symbol wearing clothes with many flowers and vibrant colors, wearing flowers in their hairs and distributing flowers to the public, becoming known as flower children. The term later became a strong reference to the Hippie Movement.

 

The political ideals of the Hippies influenced other movements such as; Anarcho-Punk,

Rave Culture, Green Politics, Stoner Culture and The New Age.

Some of the most noticeable musicians and bands of the era were: Janis Joplin, Creedence, Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Bob Dylan and many others.

Text: Natalia Gatica

Link to  same topic in our blog:
http://profesoresyalumnosisfd97.blogspot.com/search/label/Beat%20Generation

Looking for Modern Art in London

I´d like to share with all of you a video I made with pictures of great modern Art works I took last July, 2011 in Tate Modern, London. Hope you like it!!!

Pop Art & Opt Art

by Urquiza and Peña

Pop Art
The term Pop Art originated in the middle 1950`s in Britain ,and in the late 1950`s in The United States. It’s an international movement in painting, sculpture and printmaking.
It was the first pos-war art movement to embrace mass media, photography, imagery,popular culture ,consumer products, and photos of media stars.
Artists of this movement were looking for a more playful and ironic strategy.
Unlike abstract expressionism, pop art incorporated a wide range of media, imagery and subject matter that up to this moment it was excluded.
Pop artists cared a little about creating unique art object; they preferred to borrow their subject matter and techniques from mass media, photographs, icons and style into visual artefacts.

There are lots of artist such as Eduardo Paolozzi, Roy Kingenstein, Richard Hamilton. And the most important was Andrew Warhola (1928-1987) known as Andy Warhol. He was an American painter, print maker, and a film maker, record producer, author. He was a leading figure in this visual art movement known as Pop ART.
He applied the technique called "silkscreen”. Silkscreen is a technique that uses " woven mesh " to support an ink blocking stencil, the attach stencil forms open areas of mesh that transfer ink or other printable material which can be presented through the mesh as a sharp -edged image onto a substrate. A roller is moved across the screen stencil ,forcing or pumping ink past of the woven mesh in the open areas. Through this technique we can transfer the same image.
Andy Warhol started doing silkscreens in 1962.One of his well-known painting using this technique is the one called " Marilyn Monroe”, it contains fifty images of the actress, which are all based on a single publicity photograph from the actress film " Niagara" (1953), twenty-five pictures on the left side are brightly colored while twenty five on the right side are black and white and also blurred or faded. The juxtaposition of the cold images with those in black and white is thought to symbolize to Monroe`s life and mortality.

The Press

"

by S. Paulenko  and  D. Bellingeri

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Not to forget!!!

Civil Rights Movement

US Civil Rights Movement

Civil Rights Movements

Civil rights are personal liberties that belong to an individual, owing to his or her status as a citizen.

The civil rights movements aimed to eliminate slavery, racism, and social and religious discrimination. These movements had great, courageous leaders and participants who risked, and in some cases lost their lives for the sake of equality and racial justice. Leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela planned and led non-violent campaigns in pursuit of liberty and equality.

The pioneer of these movements was Mahatma Gandhi. His name means “great soul” in Sanskrit. He was born in India in 1869, when this country was part of the commonwealth ruled by the British Empire. Indian population was divided due to geographical, racial, social, cultural, linguistic, and religious reasons, but also it was divided into rich and poor

He knew about racial discrimination in South Africa, where he moved after graduating as a lawyer in London. It was then the idea of truth and firmness what inspired him “inflicting oneself the suffering one would impose to the enemy”. It demands great control, every insult, beating, imprisonment should be born patiently, make the opponent see their wrongdoing.

True to his belief in peaceful and non-violent civil resistance, Gandhi devoted his life to make India an independent country. By the time he died at 78 years old, India had already celebrated its independence.

Quotes from Gandhi: “They may torture my body, break my bones, and even kill me. Then they will have my dead-body not my obedience; “An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind”.

Deeply influenced by the works of Gandhi, King made the struggle for civil liberty for African-American in the U.S.A. his sole motto. Although King became involved in the civil rights movement from his university days, his first major success came only in 1955 in Alabama. That year a black woman named Rosa Parks was arrested by refusing to surrender her seat to a white passenger. In protest, African-American activists boycotted the state’s transport system and chose King as their leader. The boycott continued 383 days until the U.S.A. Supreme Court declared Alabama’s racial segregation laws unconstitutional. In December 1964, King was awarded the Nobel Peace prize. Delivering his Nobel lecture he said: “Non violence is a weapon unique in history, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it”. Four years later, he was shot dead.

As regard Nelson Mandela, he was a son of an African’s tribal chief, and he became leader of the African National congress, political party that called for racial equality. In 1964, after sabotaging the government many times, he was sent to prison; there he became a symbol of South Africa’s struggle against apartheid.

Civil rights movements were successful at least by some measures. The movements were also an inspiration; they evoked and embodied high moral ideas of racial equality and justice. Technology played a key role in these movements by making the struggles of protesters highly visible. The world could not help but recognize the righteousness of the protesters cause and the evil, violent repression necessary to subdue the wish for justice.

Students:

Cuello, Ana

Orieta Bertolotti, M. Cecilia


Other posts on the subject: Pioneer in India; A bird in a cage;   America also needs equality; Human Rights. 

Women´s rights. Women and young people as objects of consumerism.

WOMEN´S RIGHTS

Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.

In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behavior, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed.

Issues commonly associated with notions of women's rights include, though are not limited to, the right: to bodily integrity and autonomy; to vote (suffrage); to hold public office; to work; to fair wages or equal pay; to own property; to education; to serve in the military or be conscripted; to enter into legal contracts; and to have marital, parental and religious rights.

During the whole 19th century, women had no political rights though there had been some movement in other areas to advance the right of women. In 1839 a law was passed which stated that if a marriage broke down and the parents separated, children less than 7 years old should stay with their mother. In 1857 women could divorce husbands who were cruel to them. In 1870 women were allowed to keep money they had earned. In 1891 women could not be forced to live with husbands unless they wished to. These were very important laws which advanced the rights of women.

The First World War provided the first opportunity for women to take on traditional male jobs so it isn't surprising that in 1918 women over 30 were given the same political rights as men. But this change was not just a result of war - women had been campaigning for decades to be given the right to vote. During the 19^th century the right to vote was gradually extended in many countries and women started to campaign for their right to vote. In 1893 New Zealand became the first country to give women the right to vote on a national level.

 In the U. K., The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies - the Suffragists - was formed in 1897 and led by Millicent Fawcett. The group was made up of mainly middle-class women and campaigned peacefully. The organization built up supporters in Parliament, but private members' bills to give women the vote all failed.

The Women's Social and Political Union - the Suffragettes - was formed in 1903 and led by Emmeline Pankhurst. Although this group was also middle class, it heckled politicians, held marches; members chained themselves to railings, attacked policemen, broke windows, slashed paintings, set fire to buildings, threw bombs and went on hunger strike when they were sent to prison. One suffragette, Emily Davison, ran out in front of the king's horse during the Derby of 1913 and was killed.

The East London Federation of Suffragettes - formed in 1914 by Sylvia Pankhurst - was made up of working-class women. This group concentrated on social reform, and rejected the violence of the WSPU.

Women were not given the vote before the war. At the end of the war, in 1918, however, the Representation of the People Act gave women over 30 the vote, and in 1928 this was extended to all women over the age of 21.

The arguments for and against women's suffrage

For	Against
Women are equal before God.	A woman's place is in the home; going out into the rough world of politics will change her caring nature.
Women already have the vote in local elections.	Many women do not want the vote, and would not use it if they got it.
Women pay taxes.	Women do not fight in wars.
Some women (eg doctors and mayors) are far better than some men (eg convicts and lunatics) who have the vote.	The vast mass of women is too ignorant of politics to be able to use their vote properly.
Other countries have given women the vote.	If women are given the vote, it will not be the gentle intelligent women who will stand for Parliament, but the violent Suffragettes. Parliament will be ruined.