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I’ve had quite a few ideas for reports from you, comments that have been made on this blog here and also that have been sent in using this webform on the Your Story homepage.
Here is a selection of what I have received – let me know if you are interested in finding out more on any of them …
Firstly, I received a terribly shocking and graphic photo of a burned child. The person who sent it into me said that they wanted to bring the world’s attention to what is happening in a certain part of the world. I cannot verify where that photo was taken and even if I did, I would have to consider fully whether to publish it as we follow strict guidelines on what we show under the BBC guidelines on reporting suffering and distress.
Teenagers who shoot up drugs in Bangladesh. This is one of the story ideas from two people ; Someta and Farzana- who wrote about the issue in regard to how people in Bangladeshi society are viewing the problem – this is a topic I have not heard about before and so might work for us. Here’s some more info on this I found.
Moldova protests. Mark has been sending photos and video from Moldova on the student protests there. I also got a message of support for what they are doing from a student in Bulgaria. I passed on his details to the Europe Today programme who were covering the issue extensively with our correspondent Oana Lungescu.
Citizen journalism from Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo. Celestin contacted Your Story. As a resident of Goma, he wanted to find out about trying to send material to us from there. Safety is the key consideration here as we do not want to put anyone in any danger if they decide they want to contribute. I am calling him tonight to find out more about what we can do safely.
Racism on facebook? I had a message about racist groups operating on facebook so trying to find out more on this. If you have come across anything, let me know.
America and Cuba making music together. Dr Peter Rovit from the University of Alabama messaged to say that he’s travelling to Cuba to work with Cuban musicians on two chamber music concerts. A signal that relations between the two countries really are getting better?
This is just a short selection of what we’ve had, if yours is not included please don’t be offended – I’ll talk about more story ideas in the next post or you’ll get an email from me directly. thanks and keep them coming.
To answer that question, please read this post and add your comments.
Dariya looking smart for a friend's wedding
Dariya’s citizen journalist report as a Nigerian living in Ukraine is about his fear of racist attack. He speaks to his Nigerian friends and an Iraqi friend. Dariya’s fears are backed up in this report by Amnesty International which says that racism is on the rise there, as well as in other parts of Europe.
I asked Dariya to try and speak to white Ukrainians for his report. He spoke to four of his fellow students but they all did not want to speak on tape.
Dariya and Mustafa from Iraq talk together about why they think that people show prejudice and they put it down to not having wealth or the ability to travel to other countries to experience other cultures. Mustafa has not had any problems with racism himself and has a Ukrainian girlfriend. He is hopeful for the future and says that in time, these attitudes will change.
If you have any messages for Dariya, post them below.
Dariya’s report will be broadcast on BBC World Service Radio tomorrow.
Dear mom - I love you really.
This is a terrible thing to admit, but I remember as a child always being a bit embarrassed by my mom.
She mostly wears traditional Indian salwaar kameez and she would always take very smelly (but tasty) spicy Indian packed lunches for us to eat. Both these things would draw unfriendly looks from the white locals and it always made me feel self-conscious.
I think I’ll always feel like an outsider. Do you know what I mean?
I’m working on getting some citizen journalism on racism in time for the follow up to the Durban world racism conference. It’s happening in Geneva on April 20th.
Photo by Leonid Dzhepko
I’m hoping that the digital recorder I have just re-sent to my Nigerian guy – Dariya – in Ukraine will finally get there. The Ukrainian postal service has been a little slow (understatement) so I’ve had to try again to send it using an expensive courier service. Fingers crossed it gets there.
Dariya is going to give his perspective on life as a black man living in Ukraine. There have been reports of racially motivated murders there, which he contacted me about.
I know from personal experience that racism is not perpetrated by white people alone of course. But is racism from black people less of an issue, most people of colour are talking from experience, after all.
This leads me thinking about whether we should look at our own racist attitudes. Do we all harbour racist thoughts?
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