My visit to the Summer Palace is by far the best part of my trip to China. The palace grounds spanning several acres, the lake, willow trees and historical buildings are truly stunning. The sunset on the lake will remain memorable and etched in my heart.
Chant peace.
61-year-old granny Yang Liu is making international headlines with her new hobby, hip-hop. Dancing hip-hop to be exact. This granny isn’t ready to retire to the Tai Chi parks yet.
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Skye Comment: Pleeze!
Myth No. One: There are no lesbians in Shanghai. This is slanderous hearsay. Brother-girls, we must unite to bring all of our Amazon sisters out from hiding to defend Shanghai’s honor as a proper lezzer town. Lady lovers are everywhere, just not always in flannel, so you may have missed us.
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Skye Comment: WHACK! This is another attempt at illusion smoke and mirrors for foreigners and nouveu middle class Chinese nationals.
A Uygur young woman was seized on a passenger plane flying from Urumqi to Beijing after an air hostess smelled gasoline the woman brought on board as part of a suspected terrorist attack . . .
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Skye Comment: The woman brought GASOLINE aboard!
Not In The News
While watching television in my hotel room I kept noticing interruptions on the TV that at first I attributed to a weak cable connection or a spotty satellite transmission. As I watched repeated episodes of the BBC World News, I noticed that the interruptions seemed to occur with regularity during the opening segments of the news reports on the Tibetan
protests in Lhasa and bordering states in India.
In fact in this very moment as the BBC World News program to runs in the background the black out continues with each loop of the news-breaking story. The blackouts are so predictable that I was able to take these photos in sequence.
There are no sophisticated attempts to mask internet monitoring either. For example I can see news headlines on the Google page but when I click on the articles relating to the Tibet unrest or other sensitive topics I receive a screen message indicating the page is not available on the server. The same holds true for many articles on the New York Times website. Beijing is a cosmopolitan city with many treats and delights for foreigners and nationals alike.
For example last night I was treated to an amazing evening at the most lavish spa I have ever laid foot in. I mean this place occupied several floors in a high-rise building, and included amenities and personalized services that would satisfy the most avowed hedonist.
But it’s very difficult for me to enjoy my time here knowing it’s all an illusion. I can say for certain this trip has given me a newfound respect for political dissidents, free speech activists and environmentalist from this region. Maximum respect due.and given.
[sw 3.16.08]
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Update: Internet Monitoring and Censorship Programming Details
Ah-Ha! So that’s how they do it!
“The Connection Has Been Reset”
State Control
This is more of a rant than a travel dispatch. I will most likely post my China dispatches upon my return to the states for fear of “hurting the feelings of the Chinese people” as government officials like to refer to expressions of free speech.
Travelers beware censorship and surveillance is very REAL in China just like the old cold war era movies. Make no mistake about it the state CONTROLS people’s very existence here including foreigners. Don’t be fooled by the Disneyfication of Shanghai and Beijing—repression reigns.
I can’t wait to get the hell out of here! The contradictions, corruption and repression are just too much for this Cali sistah.
J’adore Paris and how she makes me feel!
Testify
Sometimes you won’t understand why life is the way it is
Things don’t always go the way you plan them
But I believe god in time is anonymous and in through time god reveals all things
You gotta be still, stand and lovin’
Pay attention
I just want to testify
I just gotta testify
I just want to testify
I gotta testify
When I look back on my life
I go crazy when I think of the danger I put myself in
But amazing grace always carried me to safety knowing that I’d go back to the same place again and againLord no one could ever love me the way that you do
In spirit, mind, and body I surrender myself daily to you
And I just want to testify
I gotta testify
I just want to testify
Amazing grace saved my life
So sweet the journey when you learn to love yourself, accept yourself, forgive yourself, believe in yourself, be yourself
With Amazing grace as your constant friend
Say I’m free off anger, I’m free fear, and my mind is at ease
I don’t regret a single yesterday
Cause yesterday made me who I am today
I just want to testify
The mind is strong
I can see what I can see
I just want to testify
Amazing Grace Saved my Life
I gotta testify
Testify testify
I gotta tell my story
Testify Testify
About the love, about the light and the glory
Testify Testify
How it taught me to walk
Testify Testify
How it taught me to talk
I gotta testify cause I feel all right now
I gotta testify cause my soul is all right
Thank you father
I gotta testify
[Dianne Reeves]
1st anthology of Black Feminist Thought ever published in France.
“Why is there no equivalent to the black feminist movement in France, an ex-colonial power? These texts, by their vitality and their perspicacity, invite us to raise this question and to rethink the pretence of republican universalism–the blind spot of French feminism.”
Book Announcement, en Francais.
Skyeview:
Uh, this is a trick question. Just because European white feminists chose to marginalize and render invisible Black feminists does not been they do not exist. Fact is there has been a concerted and sustained effort by Black feminist (Black in a European context that may include other WOC) to organize, produce theory and work for social and political change.
Just so you know.
(Photos from Colaba Causeway in Mumbai, India)
My Paris social committments with the sistahs
will be anything but “For Gents Only”.
Absolument!
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No paparazzi please!
Stay tuned for news and photos from my mistress Paris.
The One (photograph) That Got Away
I regret not being able to take the photograph of an Air France Bombay airport employee I met for the first time in 2006 and again on this trip. As I was moving through the departure gate for my Paris flight I heard a male voice behind me say, “I remember you!” I turned to see the chocolate brown Buddha shaven head smiling face of a 40’ish Indian fellow. I instantly recognized him as the brother who assisted me with my excess baggage in 2006.
On that trip upon noticing that my passport was issued in San Francisco, he mentioned something about Alice Walker living in the bay area. I teasingly asked, “What ‘chew know about Alice Walker?” He exclaimed, “I LOVE Alice Walker’s work!” He then rattled off all the titles he had read and asked me ” Have you read her books?” “And do you know Toni Morrison’s work?” “I loved reading Beloved and Sula.” We discussed the challenges we both experienced in reading “Song of Solomon” and the complexity and beauty of “Beloved.”
What an adventure! There I was in the wee hours of the morning in Bombay, India having this spontaneous discussion with a male airport employee. I was absolutely delighted by the exchange and was pleased to meet him again this year.
Jai Maa!
