Reddit Users Attempt to Shame Sikh Woman, Get Righteously Schooled

A Reddit user going by the handle "european_douchebag" posted a surreptitious photo of a Sikh woman with the caption "i'm not sure what to conclude from this." The user's apparent confusion stems from the fact that the woman—bound by her religion not to cut her hair or alter her body—has an abundance of dark, untrimmed facial hair. The mind of european_douchebag was SO INCREDIBLY BLOWN by the fact that women have hair on their bodies—and, yes, faces—and that some women are bold, self-assured, and pious enough not to cave to western beauty standards (and gender expectations), there was nothing for him to do but post her photo online and wait for the abuse to flood in.

But then something totally lovely and unexpected happened. The woman in the photo responded:

Hey, guys. This is Balpreet Kaur, the girl from the picture. I actually didn't know about this until one of my friends told on facebook. If the OP wanted a picture, they could have just asked and I could have smiled :) However, I'm not embarrased or even humiliated by the attention [negative and positve] that this picture is getting because, it's who I am. Yes, I'm a baptized Sikh woman with facial hair. Yes, I realize that my gender is often confused and I look different than most women. However, baptized Sikhs believe in the sacredness of this body - it is a gift that has been given to us by the Divine Being [which is genderless, actually] and, must keep it intact as a submission to the divine will. Just as a child doesn't reject the gift of his/her parents, Sikhs do not reject the body that has been given to us. By crying 'mine, mine' and changing this body-tool, we are essentially living in ego and creating a seperateness between ourselves and the divinity within us. By transcending societal views of beauty, I believe that I can focus more on my actions. My attitude and thoughts and actions have more value in them than my body because I recognize that this body is just going to become ash in the end, so why fuss about it? When I die, no one is going to remember what I looked like, heck, my kids will forget my voice, and slowly, all physical memory will fade away. However, my impact and legacy will remain: and, by not focusing on the physical beauty, I have time to cultivate those inner virtues and hopefully, focus my life on creating change and progress for this world in any way I can. So, to me, my face isn't important but the smile and the happiness that lie behind the face are. :-) So, if anyone sees me at OSU, please come up and say hello. I appreciate all of the comments here, both positive and less positive because I've gotten a better understanding of myself and others from this. Also, the yoga pants are quite comfortable and the Better Together tshirt is actually from Interfaith Youth Core, an organization that focuses on storytelling and engagement between different faiths. :) I hope this explains everything a bit more, and I apologize for causing such confusion and uttering anything that hurt anyone.

And then, THEN, something even more miraculous happened—the original poster apologized:

I know that this post ISN'T a funny post but I felt the need to apologize to the Sikhs, Balpreet, and anyone else I offended when I posted that picture. Put simply it was stupid. Making fun of people is funny to some but incredibly degrading to the people you're making fun of. It was an incredibly rude, judgmental, and ignorant thing to post.

/r/Funny wasn't the proper place to post this. Maybe /r/racism or /r/douchebagsofreddit or /r/intolerance would have been more appropriate. Reddit shouldn't be about putting people down, but a group of people sending cool, interesting, or funny things. Reddit's been in the news alot lately about a lot of cool things we've done, like a freaking AMA by the president. I'm sorry for being the part of reddit that is intolerant and douchebaggy. This isn't 4chan, or 9gag, or some other stupid website where people post things like I did. It's fucking reddit. Where some pretty amazing stuff has happened.
I've read more about the Sikh faith and it was actually really interesting. It makes a whole lot of sense to work on having a legacy and not worrying about what you look like. I made that post for stupid internet points and I was ignorant.
So reddit I'm sorry for being an asshole and for giving you negative publicity.
Balpreet, I'm sorry for being a closed minded individual. You are a much better person than I am
Sikhs, I'm sorry for insulting your culture and way of life.
Balpreet's faith in what she believes is astounding.

Holy shit, internet, I don't even know you anymore! I never thought something would come out of the seeping necrotic abscess that is Reddit that would actually make my day better, but wow. MY HEART GREW THREE SIZES THIS DAY.

Source - http://jezebel.com/5946643/reddit-users-attempt-to-shame-sikh-woman-get-righteously-schooled

Uncle Wes changing lives in western Sydney

To 17-year-old Blake Ellis, Aboriginal elder Uncle Wes is the "the biggest role model in Mount Druitt".

Blake Ellis' childhood was hard and as a boy he sought refuge with Uncle Wes and his family.

"I was only young when I was staying with him and spent more time with him than my own family," he said.

As Uncle Wes puts it: "They've got to have someone they can talk to, someone they can depend on."

Wes Marne is 91 and for the past 30 years, he has been an Aboriginal elder in western Sydney.

"I have responsibility for everything, everything whatsoever," he said.

He is an advocate for "his people" at Centrelink, the Department of Housing, Community Services, Juvenile Justice and he is a regular visitor to young Aboriginal men in prison.

"Just to let them know there's somebody here who cares," he said.

"I suppose there's a lot of mongrel things I've done in my time that I could have gone to jail for but no, I'm out here."

Michael Waites, 25, has been in and out of jail "numerous times".

"Ever since I turned 18 I've probably been eight times," he said.

"I've never had that person to put me on the right track."

But a meeting with Uncle Wes when he was in prison had a profound impact.

"That made my day, him coming there," he said.

"I could feel the spirit inside me."

Uncle Wes conducted a smoking ceremony which Mr Waites says "cleared my mind."

"It more or less gave me the strength to get out of jail."

As a child, Wes Marne lived tribally on the banks of a river in southern Queensland.

"I still think my happiest times were when I lived on the river in the old tin camp," he said.

"We didn't have to worry about much at all, we fished and we hunted and we swam."

At the age of 10, his family were moved to a reserve in northern New South Wales.

"I never had much education. I left school when I was 11 and I never started til I was 10."

At 11, Wes Marne went where ever he could find work.

His first job was carrying water to ring barkers.

"I was a water boy. I used to run around giving everyone a drink of water and it was no easy matter, chasing a lot of men though the bush carrying a hessian water bag about, but anyway it was a living," he said.

He went on to be a boxer, losing most of his teeth in the ring, then there was the "back breaking" work at a tannery, a chicken factory and picking and packaging tobacco all over the country.

"A lot of people didn't want to give us work," he said.

"When we got work we were always the last one to be put on and the first one to be put off."

Uncle Wes says he moved to Sydney to give his children a better education.

"I thought my children would be better off, and it was hard from the word go," he said.

He has outlived four of his children. One baby died from cot death, two were killed in a car crash, another drowned.

"You don't have to be Aboriginal to realise it's a hard old world out there, a hard old world," he said.

But Uncle Wes remains committed to helping his people.

"Even in the night, 1.00 or 2.00 in the morning, you get a call; 'Uncle Wes can you come up? my old man is bashing me here'."

When he is not helping out in the community or teaching his culture in schools, detention centres and prisons, Uncle Wes enjoys a yarn with the locals in Mount Druitt Plaza.

He says it is all about doing something for his people

"You can't retire, once you're an elder you can't retire," he said.

Source - http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-05/uncle-wes-changing-lives-in-western-sydney/4669032

Wyong Council helps the arts; and Studio Scribbly!

Last Friday night I had the great pleasure of attending the opening of Studio Scribbly at The Entrance, NSW. This is a wonderful space which will serve as studio, shopfront, workshop space and gallery for Sarah Barron and Matt Linn (aka Girl Quirky and Goblin Design), two artists whose work I admire and which adorns the walls of my home.

The story behind this space is something even more intriguing. They are being given the space for a year by the local council and shopping centre. In exchange they will do workshops for the local community and generally promote art in the area, but these two are doing a little bit more than that.

Always encouraging of other’s creativity, Sarah and Matt are opening the space up to other artists to use as well, keeping the gift of allowance going full circle. What do I mean by gift of allowance you ask? Simply that in giving artists a professional space to work and promote themselves in, Wyong Council and Lakeside Shopping Centre are doing more than just arranging some deal. They are allowing the artists to be artists. They’re saying it’s not just okay for you to do art, it’s a really important thing you’re doing so we will make it possible for you to do it and excel at it.

And Sarah and Matt are making sure there’s no sense of art being an elitist activity. While they are elite in their work they offer the gift of allowance to others, through the shared space but also in their workshops where the gift allows everyone to explore their own creativity, an experience which enriches anyone who has it.

So well done Wyong Council and Lakeside Shopping Centre you’re efforts are noted and well appreciated we assure you. And good luck on this journey Sarah and Matt, I’m sure we’re all looking forward to seeing what comes of it.

Studio Scribbly can be found at:

Shop 3/96 The Entrance Rd, The Entrance, NSW, 2261.

Written by Robert Jenkins @wanderingfriar

Kellyville violinist Phoebe Gardner off to NYC

PHOEBE Gardner's musical career is set to reach even higher notes when she follows an intense seven-week scholarship under one of the world's top violinists, Itzhak Perlman, in New York.

Phoebe Gardner, 15,  is one of the top violinists in
Sydney and has won a scholarship to attend
a 7-week program in New York for
40 gifted students from around the world.
 Picture: Jeff HerbertSource: NewsLocal

Phoebe, who has dazzled NSW musical judges and audiences with her violin virtuoso, received a scholarship to follow the Perlman Music Program's summer school from June 30-August 18.

The program is a dream come true for the gifted violinist and composer who is just one of 40 musicians chosen from around the world.

"It will be a great experience to perform with some of the best musicians in the world," Phoebe, 15, of Kellyville, said.

"I am really excited to be attending as I eventually hope to study music overseas.

"I am also working on my latest composition, which I hope to take to the New York workshop."

Phoebe said one of her highlights last year was being a recitalist at the National Youth Concerto in Brisbane last year.

Phoebe and her younger sister Mitzi, have scooped up several gold medals at previous Sydney Eisteddfods. However, Phoebe will be forced skip this year's eisteddfod due to the trip.

Phoebe is also a semi-finalist in the FM102.5 Fine Music Young Performer of the Year event, having been runner-up last year.

She has been playing the violin since she was four and received a scholarship from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Source - http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/the-hills/kellyville-violinist-phoebe-gardner-off-to-nyc/story-fngr8i1f-1226602267890

Be inspired by Shabana Basij-Rasikh in this TED talk - Dare to educate Afghan girls.

Happy Monday!

Imagine a country where girls must sneak out to go to school, with deadly consequences if they get caught learning. This was Afghanistan under the Taliban, and traces of that danger remain today. 22-year-old Shabana Basij-Rasikh runs a school for girls in Afghanistan. She celebrates the power of a family's decision to believe in their daughters -- and tells the story of one brave father who stood up to local threats.

Source - http://www.ted.com/talks/shabana_basij_rasikh_dare_to_educate_afghan_girls.html