New poem by Phylmarie Fëss Get well card was battered

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Phylmarie Fëss updated her profile picture.

1 hr · Edited

get well card

a girl was battered
sometimes by her angry mother with the father’s belt,
but because mother said to,
most often her father swung that leather strip
or his hand,
while he said,
“look at me when i talk to you.
don’t look at me like that.”
or he’d ask,
“what are you crying for? i’ll give you something to cry for,”
“don’t you feel it? i’ll make you feel it,”
then he’d hit again.
again.
and the girl hugged herself and tried not to cry too much or too little
saying in her mind, “not your fault.
remember they used to love you.
try to forgive.
try.
it’s not
your
fault.”

a young woman was declared tramp and evicted
by her landlady
when she respectfully, privately
requested that the older woman tell the elder's father
to please keep his strange words,
and his hands
off.
so the young woman walked along the treed, nighttime road
with cases and purse in arms and wept silently
while strangers stared
thinking to herself, “not your fault.
they are sick.
try to forgive.
try.
it’s not
your
fault.”

an at-home-alone daughter was raped
by a drunken neighbour
who chastised her sin,
so she reclused to her room
and watched the door,
for months.
till one evening she whispered her shame,
and her mother recradled the girl in arms and wept with her,
saying, “not your fault.
his mind is sick.
try to forgive.
try.
it’s not
your
fault.”

a ‘with-child’ woman was pounded
by a stranger who threw his jacket over her head
on a downtown street,
beaten as he shrieked, “bitch! bitch!”
and later her sister held the woman in her arms and wept with her
saying, “not your fault.
his mind is sick.
try to forgive.
try.
it’s not
your
fault.”

how many more
we belted girls?
we tormented women?
we raped daughters?
we pounded mothers?
before we all walk together
and need no longer cry, “not our fault.
it's the violence-borne society,
the violence-porne society,
the violence-torn society,
that is sick.
it’s not
our
fault.”

no more,
Creator, please.
no more,
now.
we
walk
together
now.

~ manidoonaateshing-ikwe / phylmarie

If you wish, to preserve layout, I give permission to copy and paste the whole honour song poem from title to signature line end. Thank you for passing on the message in defense of girls and women.

Poem by Phylmarie Fëss

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1026000824085681&set=a.404606126225157.94422.100000273194213&type=3&theater

Phylmarie Fëss

18 hrs · Edited

.... where i was visiting

and so i pray
all will be well
for them

~ Manidoonaateshing-ikwe / Phylmarie Fëss, an Anishinaabekwe / Ojibwe woman, of Turtle Clan

GO RED DRESS IN RED, DEMAND REDRESS. support First Nation women of Canada

WEAR RED FOR REDRESS in support for the GO RED CAMPAIGN OF FIRST NATION WOMEN by Celine Leduc edited by Norman Simon October 4 2015 

Red is associated with the heart and heart diseases. Red is also associated with blood. Go Red is a campaign that highlights and features MISSING AND MURDERED First Nation women in Canada. I have a broken heart as First Nation or indigenous women are being raped, kidnapped and too often murdered. LET US DEMAND REDRESS from our leaders.

No one cares that their blood is spilled in vain. No one seems to care that the blood of the innocent is being spilled. No one seems to care. Their lives matter. They are daughters, mothers and someone’s friend. They often leave behind families worrying, wondering, thinking, asking and now demanding answers to the ultimate question, "Will she come back?"

Few politicians have taken up this important cause. Even fewer have done anything. My heart is breaking because of the inaction on the part of elected officials. Bring back our girls falls of deaf ears. This is why I am writing this short piece to create solidarity with First Nation women and to make October 5, 2015, the day we go RED at Waking UP Woman. The date that was requested was October 4 which is a Sunday. I did make a mistake on the date, however. October 5, is a Monday. We can generate more attention as we all go out wearing RED and speaking not for, but about the MISSING AND MURDERED First Nation women and demand from political leaders to speak about their plan to help the women.

I see RED anytime I read an article in newspapers that speaks of those MISSING women and girls. I see RED when no one talks about the MISSING girls. I see RED when pleas for an inquiry fall on deaf ears as the buck is passed to the Police. I see RED when I find out that the RCMP stated in a report that over 1000 First Nation women have gone missing in the past 10 years and no one has spoken about them. We are blinded by uncaring media and we have become deaf because of uncaring reporters and journalists as we did not hear their pleas, their cries, and their voices. Some journalists do care. Canada AM on Monday October 5, 2015 will have a feature about the Missing and Murdered First Nation women.

IDLE NO MORE has had a campaign that is now being listened to. It is time for us to cast a vote. We are asked to make a choice as voting matters. Let us ask our politicians to prioritize the cause of First Nation women who have gone missing and been killed.

MISSING and MURDERED First Nation women in Canada should go viral and should have the support of every woman in the world. Because, indigenous women all around the world are missing and killed. It can be done in solidarity and empathy with the Yezidi women, the Assyrian women, the Syriac killed by violent men of IS, the Nigerian women kidnapped by Boko Haram. We can gain support from various communities: the Jewish community whose women and men were in the Holocaust, African American and Canadian women who were enslaved, the LGBT community where women have been raped or even killed.

Each and every woman regardless of her skin tone, her religion her ethnicity or origin, can relate to First Nation women and, in my opinion, should join the GO RED campaign. I add GO RED DRESS IN RED, DEMAND REDRESS.

Words and prayer of thanks plus art are by Zanuar Ez Dawud September 30 2015 It was posted on FB page Waking Up Woman

Zanyar Ez Dawud shared Architecture & Design's post.

11 hrs · Edited

we all were kids one day . and our mothers were our gods or better way to say that the first G-d we knew was Mother .
if we can apprehend G-d its because of our Mothers . smile emoticon
when you are kid and you are hungry you cry Mom
when you are thirsty Mom
when you make dirt oh Mom
when you need hug Mom
and when you grow up you become atheist
you forget everything given before to be grown up .
Z.E.D

+5

Architecture & Design added 8 new photos.

11 hrs

Creative & Fun Belly Paintings ᴷᴬ

Natural Remedies, Foods and Recipes by Lorena Garvey-Shepley

Natural Remedies, Foods and Recipes by Lorena Garvey-Shepley

As women, and natural caregivers, we often hold knowledge in relation to natural remedies. Indigenous teachings often hold the answer to some ailments but these secrets are held in ALL cultures. Modern Pharmaceuticals have been around for a relatively short time in comparison to how long humans have been around so these remedies that have been used throughout time are still within our reach. Think of home remedies and "old wives tales" that you may remember your grandmother or great-grandmother using (I remember when I was little my Great-grandmother wanted to put urine in my ear for a severe earache). This is age old knowledge that may have been passed down over centuries or even longer. Often, these remedies were kept secret. This comes from the persecution that came with holding this knowledge from the Church. Women holding this knowledge(often Pagan) were actually doctors but because they were so powerful (and God forbid a WOMAN being powerful!) they were accused of being witches which led to severe persecution for themselves and family and sometimes their whole village would be destroyed. This, in turn, led to these remedies and cures going "underground" and kept quite secretive over the past few centuries. It is time to liberate those secrets!

Over the past century Pharmaceuticals have developed in a way that has much of society dependant on them. And to make matters worse they often don't even help that much but our bodies have become reliant to functioning with this so called "medicine". Yet much of the time the part of the drug that is actually helpful has been developed from a species that has been found in nature (especially rainforests) and the synthesized. 

There has been a portion of our society that has begun making a move toward more natural remedies through diet and often, thanks to social media, this knowledge can be accessed through "Farmacology" websites. People are also making a move to purchase more local, organic and non-GMO foods as well as some even learning and implementing foraging techniques. Knowing indigenous plant life in your local area is important as well as making sure we have areas where local indigenous plants can be accessed. 

There has been some knowledge already shared in our group on the health benefits of certain foods. This file should serve to expand on that concept as well as to provide easier access to sharing and accessing this information.To access the file just go to the top of the group page, click on "File" and then go to "Natural Remedies, Foods and Recipes"

DISCLAIMER: Any and all recipes and remedies accessed on this post are at your own risk. As with many things affecting health issues, one must consider allergies and use in moderation. Please DO NOT stop medication you are currently on without the consultation of your doctor.

Open your door by Narin Ismail 2015

Open your doors,
Freedom is knocking,
Pleading for happiness,
Devoting for peace.

Oh humanity!
Where is the purity dress you had on yesterday?
Murderous shoes on your feet today,
Guilty flags above your head.

Oh humanity!
Have mercy!
Show compassion
Lions, rivers and forests
Giggling at your madness
Children are thirsty
Hungry for your love.
While your hands are folded
Covered in soil
Where poppies vending
Over the innocent graves
Of my unborn child.

Oh humanity!
Release the vessels,
Of your humankind,
Kindness is growing on your skin,
Burning hearts,
Are wounded and buried alive
Underneath your eyelashes,
Children,
Begs for your countless forgiveness.

Oh humanity!
Rip off that hatred heart,
Untie that abused veined ribbons,
Make love a shelter,
And harmony as your neighbor.

Oh humanity!
Don't turn your head away,
Fix your eyes
On your fingers
Where red bloody rivers
Flow golden fountains

Humanity, wake up please!
Dreams won't last forever,
Because life is beautiful,
Like a greenhouse,
Earth is your home.

- Narin Ismail  copyrights 2015  

Say NO to Verbal rape

Say NO to verbal rape by Celine Leduc edited by Norman Simon   August 28, 2015

CJAD in Montreal, reported a very disturbing incident that involved Valerie Assouline the Conservative candidate in federal riding of Pierrefonds/Dollard des Ormeaux that was not only sexist but sexual harassment and sexually explicit. I could say that it was a verbal pornography that encourages sexual abuse and condones rape of women, all women.  She took action and called the media and CJAD responded with an article.  Highlighting these problems matters as she condemns all attacks be they verbal, graphic - such as graffiti, or defacing posters of the candidate. This time the vandals and hooligans went one step further: they used sexist and sexual explicit messages.

This is very disturbing and needs to be talked about. Women from all parties should get together and talk about this important topic.

Vandalism: Political campaigns and posters are targeted by graffiti artists. You see mustaches on candidates, glasses are added, the vandals use a marker, a paint brush or a spray-paint can.  At times you can see a swastika. Or political comment on the leader regardless of his/her party.  I have seen words like communist or leftist spray painted on posters of the NDP or the Green Party.

Racism: Nazi or the swastika spray-painted on posters of Jewish candidates. Even some said “Jews go home”  First Nation candidates had words like “savage”.  Muslim women had words like “terrorist” or Muslim preceded by a religious slur spray painted.

Sexism: First Nation women candidates saw words like “savage” or “Fat Cow” spray painted.   Black women could read: “Whore” on their posters. Derogatory words I saw targeting women of all parties included: Whore, Lesbian, and the "F" word used a prefix…

This graffiti destroys private property, on one hand, and is sexist and racist on the other.  Women have been sexually discriminated against for years.  It is time for it to STOP.  ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!  STOP raping women physically and with words.

These racist and sexist vandals, hooligans MUST be exposed as such.  In an ideal world, they would be held responsible for their choice of words and would be prosecuted and labelled as racist, sexist,  misogynist jerks.  Too many men have swept it under the proverbial carpet. Time to lift the carpet because it is hiding a hill that can become a mountain. 

Some may think that the vandals are teenagers while it has often been proved that some older men in the 50s and 60s were the criminals. These men need training; first in gender equality, second in respect of women, all women, regardless of their political affiliation, nationality, ethnicity, religion, or sexuality. We share one thing in common that makes us daughters, sisters, mothers: We are WOMEN. 

Women, both individually and collectively, are waking up. They are taking charge of their lives and are entering  politics.  Each woman who is a candidate has a cause that matters to her.  Let us listen to their message, discuss the issue, think and respect. Let us use words to offer a rebuttal or to offer an alternative solution. Let us use our pens and the power of words to expose those misogynist hooligans who rape women verbally, who spray paint sexually explicit words, be they on the sign of any woman candidate of any party. It is easy to dismiss it and say, “Oh well, she is (add the party)”. The reality is that it affects all women.

The “old boys” Clubs had signs saying, "No girls allowed."  Yet, there is a New Boys’ club where men include WOMEN. I think: WOMEN as a group, must be stick together and develop a gender inclusive girls/women's club or sisterhood.