Back in Action!

Ok I am focused and ready to get back to blogging… hopefully it will not be 2015 before I post again but Stay Tuned Universe!

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The Most Beautiful Smile in the Universe!

Nothing less that tears can explain how much joy your smile brings me…a love that transcends the meaning of life and the folly of death in which a fool embrace….your smile my love will ripple through the Universe forming stars and charming moons….eternal knowledge blooms that speak of the only smile that could drive a father with legs of steel to kneel before his princess before every dawn…. waiting… waiting for you to open your eyes and reveal the dawn of creation in the most beautiful smile!

“Jewel of a Moment”

 

I finally went to bed this morning about 4am….. I opened my eyes about 9am and could not seem to get it together. Lack of sleep lately has been draining me so I did what I normally do…. I went straight to my table and started to paint before I could really get my thoughts together. When I think back I really did not have an idea of what I was going to paint so I grabbed one of the foam blocks I brought home from work last night. As usual I let the colors drive the creative process. I was intending to do something a little more complex but after laying the first couple of layers I saw the image of what looked to me to be a face looking down, so I went with it. I love paintings that are child like in composition so I did not care about a lot of detail….. what I was looking for was to convey a message…. this time I found out that the message was to my self. I noticed that I am drawn to paintings of “woman and child”. I think that is the case because I don’t have many mom and son memories. I only have one picture of my mother holding me standing next to my sister, aunt, uncle and one of my nephews but of course I am totally cut out of the picture… only my arms and legs are seen…..lol now that I think about it, I only hope that was me she was holding…. damn… just realized that. I can’t really think of who else it could have been but….anyway…. when I was young I use to ask my mother to take me places or go to the movies and she kept promising and never followed through…. I remember clear as a few moments ago the day I gave up and totally disconnected. I was about 7 years old. I really went solo after that and it has followed me all of my life even though I am a little better now but I still have a hard time expressing emotions or even naturally smiling…..Hell… after I shut down, I can only think of two times as a child, that I hugged my mother willingly and only one time that I gave her a kiss because my older brother made me.

My mother passed away in 2003… the week I finally got up the nerve to ask her who my reall father was. I was told a few years earlier by my brother but it took me 11 years of denial to ask her about it. Her death was pretty sudden and unexpected eventhough she was in her sixtes and had diabetes. After she passed away I found out why she did not have much time or was kind of distant herself. She sufferred years of abuse from my siblings father. He was an alcoholic and very violent. My oldest sister told me that he had been raping her for years and my mother knew about it but knew he would beat or kill her if she went to the police. Of course I was in shock when I was told this because he was the only man I knew as father before my brother told me who my real father was in 1992. My mother and my siblings father separated sometime before I was conceived. I was told that one night, he broke into the house and beat and raped my mother. At the same time she was seeing my real father around that time. So when she came up pregnant, she was not sure who was the father. But they did the math and quickly figured it out. Anyway after the attack my uncles were set to take him off of this planet once and for all but from what I am told my mother begged for them not to do anything. He eventually sought treatment and I am told when he came back he was a changed man. He was a total pussy cat after treatment. I only remember him as being a kind generous hard working man up until the day he died from cancer in 1988.

Well, as you can image this was only the tip of the iceberg in regards to the suffering my mother went through before and while I was in the womb….. she was a single mother at 35 of 7 children in 1971….. on top of that… my real father committed suicide in the Norfolk City jail when I was 6 years old. I remember him as like being her boy friend or something but I don’t remember him speaking to me or playing with me at all. My nephew Jason, who is actually 3 months older than me grew up with me like a brother and he remembers playing and sitting with my real father but I am void of these memories. He was a carpenter by trade and my memories of him is working on things around the house when he came over and being told not to touch his tools. The man I always called dad, never spent much time with me either but shit… he was dad… sons will take any time they can get…. the most time I spent with him was one time he took me to spend the night but he stopped off at the shot house in Jeffery Wilson projects and left me in the car for about 4 hours. If I knew the direction to walk home I would have. But he knew that I was not his real son and he accepted me and paid my mother child support…..also being that he was retired military he signed my birth certificate and I was able to be a military dependent….. my real father helped out a little as well but he was married and believe it or not already had 32 children by many women by the time I was born…. yes I was his 33rd child and he was 51 yrs old when he died! He also had children from an earlier marriage and 2 in Korea during the time of the war but I never add them to the count because I do not know much about them.

Anyway…. I understand now the hardtimes she went through and wish it would have been different so I try and make the difference with my own children. I still struggle with the emotional disconnect at times, that is why I am so expressive through my art which tells my real story in so many ways.

The house we grew up in is still there and a few family members are still living there also. If just for one day I would love to go to the house and sleep in my own bed and awaken to the sound of my mom and her friend Alice laughing on their way out of the door to head to work. I would do all the things I wish I would have done as a child. I would wake up, clean my room and get ready for school. I would write my mom a nice note to make her feel good when she comes back from her school guard job before she headed out again to her second job. I would feed J.R. (our dog) and walk him around the block before heading to school. Once I got home I would give her a big hug and kiss and tell her about my day and ask her about hers. I would do my homework and ask if I could go outside and when I came back in I would bug her to death, asking when is dinner going to be ready. At dinner I would set a place at the table for dad and make sure I saved the biggest piece of whatever we were eating for him. We would sit on the couch and watch the Newly Wed Game and then Goodtimes and Whats Happening? I would help clean up and go outside and wait for dad to come home. I know he would be tired so I would give him five or a hug and let him relax….before I started asking a million questions…. sounds silly? …. maybe so ….but these are all things that never went on in my life as a child and I would actually give my life just for that one “Jewel of a Moment”!

Love you MOM!…. I’m getting to know you DAD….

“Shelter”

I was looking at the attached photo today and was compelled to write about it. I had been wanting to write about this photo for some time so here I go. In a way this photo was created like many of my other paintings… it was a spontaneous artistic moment but sometimes I like to think it was much much more. One night I was up working on a painting and Kesai’s mother was taking a shower in which she decided to give Kesai a shower as well. He had to be about 1 year old at the time. I remember I was working on a painting when she called me to take out of the shower so she could finish taking her own shower and I was kind of grumpy because I had to stop what I was doing to go and get him….lol ……”make sure you put lotion on him” she said, as I was closing the door. He was wrapped in his towel as I carried him down the hall and he was smiling because he was kind of cold. I laid him on the bed and wrapped the blanket around him as well while I got his diaper and lotion. He fell asleep almost immediately. I nudged him a little and he was out. It was dark in the room and I noticed that my old ass camera from 2002 was on the dresser. I picked him up and set the camera on automatic to snap a picture of me holding him in my arms. My intention was to take a picture of me giving him a kiss but he looked so peaceful I decided to give him a big hug because I had been so busy that day and did not play with him much. Just after I gave him a nice hug, the camera flashed. Then I stood there for a while looking at him and wondered if my father ever hugged me or held me in his arms. He passed away when I was six years old so I will never know. As I went to reset the camera I looked at the picture that was there and one word came to mind….. “shelter”. I felt that he looked so at home, at peace and safe under my canopy of locks. I finished getting him ready for bed and laid him down for the night. I went to the computer and uploaded the picture to photoshop. I knew I wanted to make it a black and white photo but I decided to retain the color in his face and make the remainder of the image black and white. To me it symbolizes the life, love and beauty our wonderful gift of a son and the fact that his growth and development will always be paramount in my life. It symbolizes that all of my children are the true source of every color in every painting I’ve ever created…. my true inspiration…. my true voice in color!

Estaba Cagando… lol

OK…. I know this is T.M.I. but I have to tell the whole story.  So … estaba cagando esta mañana and as usual I grabbed my phone to check out the news on the internet.  As I was waiting for my phone to load the CNN.com page, I looked down at my pants and shoes.  As I was looking at my paints, I was looking at all of the paint on them and how the bottom of the legs of the pants were so worn out from my many travels.  I purchased the sweat pants from Aeropostale in 2000.  I was thinking to my self, if these pants could talk, we would share a lot of tears, laughs, beautiful women, long trips, movies and many other crazy memories or adventures.  I use to have a matching shirt that got covered with paint and holes so I threw it away last winter.  Today my pants are covered with lots of great memories in the form some of the same paints that are on just about every one of my paintings….. just like my other journey’s these pants were always first choice…clean or dirty…lol  My comfort zone!  As you can see I clean my brushes on my pants… sure I could use something else, but each stroke of color is a memory that I get to preserve as paintings come and go.  There are even some colors that I rarely use on the paints so I know exactly which painting it was used on….lol  OK, I am getting kind of weird with this so let me move on to the shoes.

As I am sure many of you see the Puerto Rican flag on my Air Force Ones.  ….. and no I am not Puerto Rican.  Back in 1997, I was in the store “Up Against the Wall” in Military Circle and I was speaking with a female I knew that worked there.  I told her I was about to go and purchase some sneakers and she asked me what size did I where.  I told her 11 1/2 and she said that she had these shoes that had been there for about a week and no one came back for them.   She tried to give them to her boyfriend but they had the flag on the side.  Of course, the word free was paramount, so I took them.  My first thought was selling them the next time I went to NY because I did not know any Puerto Ricans in the area at the time.  Of course it never happened.  I wore them like twice over the years and I really did not care about the flag being on the side.  But one time in 2001 I was in NY for the Show and Prove in Harlem.  Me, Born Savior and about 9 other brothers decided to waste some time and we ended up taking the ferry to see the Statute of  Liberty because for a couple brothers it was their first time in N.Y.   Now, this weekend happened to be the same weekend as the Puerto Rican Day parade in Harlem and I happened to have a Phat Farm short outfit that was red white and blue that went perfect with my sneakers….. Fuck that… I am wearing these sneakers….lol   Well when I got off the ferry, I got of first and was walking ahead of everyone for whatever reason.  All I remember that we ended up by the “Charging Bull” or “Wall Street Bull” sculpture in Manhattan.  I was thinking to my self as I was walking up..” are those balls”….lol  I thought it was funny but I noticed out of the corner of my eye about five Puerto Rican cats with full “Puerto Rican  gear” on for the parade in Harlem, that were obviously looking at my sneakers.  They were not sure what to make of me because yes there are many dark Puerto Ricans and I had long as hair back then and I always asked if I was Domincan or some shit when in NY….lol  Anyway, Born Savior came up as I was looking at the Bull and had some words with the brothers and the rest of the crew came up.  Basically what happened, Born Savior overheard them talking about taking my sneakers….lol  They were no bigger than nothing but 5 against one would have been a fight.  Little did they know, I was not alone so they bounced quickly….. My shoes turned out to be lucky shoes.  So a few months ago I pulled them out again after so many years because my other sneakers are now worn out and have paint all over them.  So now with every step I am creating new memories, new journeys and adventures….. and yes with the Puerto Rican flag on my shoes.   The only difference now is when some one brings it up, I am more than happy to elaborate on the afro-taino connection in which a lot of latin and black people are so unaware of today and I get to elaborate on my  journey to discover my own Taino, African, Tuscarora, Thailanese and Europen roots as well.    Yes, I did a lot of thinking on the toilet….lol

“I AM Troy Davis” or am I…..

First I wanted to mention that on Saturday October 1, 2011, Troy Davis’ remains will be laid to rest in Savannah, Georgia.  Supporters are asking others who are willing to support their day of remembrance by changing your Facebook profile picture to the “I Am Troy Davis” photo that is attached.  Here is the link so you can read for yourself.  http://blog.amnestyusa.org/deathpenalty/day-of-remembrance-troy-davis-lives/

Now lets build!

September 21, 2011 started like any other day and as far as I knew, September 22, 2011 would be the same.  Of course I know in life anything can and will happen at anytime whether it be fortune, death, love or just more unexpected bills…lol  I never new that my life would take such a dramatic change so quick in such a “revolutionary” way.

I often watch the news throughout my work day and for the past few days I had been hearing about the pending execution of Troy Davis for the 1989 killing of a police officer in Savannah, Georgia despite serious concerns that he may have been wrongly convicted of the murder.  Believe it or not, I really thought if his case was able to be heard by the Supreme Court, he may have a chance…. Surely the Supreme Court would see through the foolishness of the State of Georgia and the lower courts……….WROOOONG!   … and oh how wrong I was.  I only knew the bare minimum facts about the case and that was through the liberal media but I knew that his guilt was very questionable.  I said to my self, there was no way that the Supreme Court could ignore the fact that there was no physical evidence to link him to the crime and the ballistic evidence was “unreliable”.  Even one of the jurors testified at a hearing afterwards that she would have never voted to execute if she was aware of that the evidence was faulty.  Not to mention, that seven of the nine witnesses in which his conviction was based off of, recanted their stories sighting that they were coerced by the police to pin Troy Davis as the murderer.

On my way home, I was checking out the news on my cell phone and that was when I found out Troy Davis had been executed.  Anger and frustration gave way to confusion for a few moments.  I was like damn, do mean to tell me that subconsciously I actually believed in the American Justice system?  Apparently I did because I felt betrayed and very silly for believing such a thing.  The more I read into the facts in which I will not waste addition time listing, the more furious I became about the execution.  Something had to be done….. so I did what anyone would do in today’s social network society when they have a problem with any person, place or thing…. I took it to Facebook and Twitter….lol  It was on!

I want to keep this as brief as possible so let me get to my point.  The execution caused me to really examine where I stood on the death penalty regardless of the crime.  There are some who say that the death penalty should only be implemented under certain circumstances such as a man who murdered an entire family and sodomized an 11 year old before also taking her life.  Horrible crime…Yes!!!  ….but I came to the determination that the reality is, human beings are fallible and mistakes happen when it comes to the death penalty which makes it a system beyond repair….. because if there is a possibility that even one person could be wrongfully executed, it needs to be abolished if you truly value human life.  It is crazy, how those who are so “pro-life” on one hand are vehemently apposed to repealing the death penalty.  I decided to take a side and fight for life.  Tick for tack never works and it does not bring back the victims.  Where is the justice in sentencing someone to death and taking over 20 years to carry out the execution.  There is no peace on either side during that time or after.  You will never find closure….. but one may find closure in knowing that a killer is off of the street for the rest of his/her life.   Those who seek revenge will never find peace and are void of forgiveness.

I have decided to take my talents as an artist to help raise money towards fighting to abolish the death penalty.  Sure, there are many causes that need immediate attention and they all have their champions.  I have always chosen my battles wisely and learned to meticulously craft my sword before entering the field of battle.  So for now, I will keep researching the facts and organizations that are truly for the cause and hope to meet many like minded people along the way.  So far, The Innocence Project, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have many affiliates in just about every state for those who want to rally behind a cause.  My goal is to fight through the arts with a few projects I am planning to help education the public to what is really going on in our justice system in regards to the death penalty.  My first series is going to be “OUTRAGE” titled off of how I felt after hearing of the execution of Troy Davis.

Oh Shit!  I almost forgot…. where the fuck was Obama in this… especially after so many world leaders, attorneys, prosecutors etc. said that this execution should not proceed given the questionable guilt in the case.  Many of you  may not know this but back in July, President Obama asked the Supreme Court to stay the planned execution of a Mexican citizen in Texas, arguing it could do “irreparable harm” to U.S. interests abroad.  Here is the link… read for your self….  http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/obama-asks-stay-execution-texas-165829939.html   I know the circumstances are different but it does mean he could have done something given the lack of evidence in this case.

So…. Am I Troy Davis?  well…. it could happen to any of us, so YES.  I attached a few links below so those of you who are interested can read the facts for your self and come to your own conclusion.  I decided to take a stand for Life!    I am Ramel Jasir and I approve this message!

Sorry for any typos… I wrote this late last night….

http://blog.amnestyusa.org/deathpenalty/day-of-remembrance-troy-davis-lives/

http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/death-penalty/us-death-penalty-facts

Homepage

http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/site/c.6oJCLQPAJiJUG/b.7741827/k.62FF/Not_in_my_Name_Pledge/apps/ka/ct/contactus.asp?c=6oJCLQPAJiJUG&b=7741827&en=dmIPI6PPJcIYLgOSLbKULiM9LvL9KmN4LtI9LqNaIAK

Artists supporting Artists!

Fellow Artist! Lets remember to support other artist… A lot of times we loose focus of the craft and our own struggle to get where we are wherever that may be trying to market and promote during these hard economic times. We can work on a piece of art for days, weeks or months and many go months or a whole year or so before it is sold. So commenting, sharing or assisting another artist along the way helps to keep us motived by motivating each other. Remember, sharing other artist work also helps to keep traffic flowing to your page as well. I had to learn to navigate the art world on my own and I am still learning so I share what I have learned along the way with those who need the help. I often pass on commissions to other artist that I think would give a customer the best quality of work that they deserve before I take on a job that may be out of my league or not really interested in. When the sales are dry as a bone, we are all we have…… support the arts, teach the youth, love your craft and everything else will come in time and on time!

One Artist trying to make a difference!

“The Difference”

A wonderful writer asked me this question earlier today…….”Ramel, can one artist make a difference?” Now I apologize ahead of time if my response seems rambling and any typos because I wrote it at work…. but here is my response.

Absolutely!……….Is the short answer but you inspired me to write more in regards to your question….lol

It has always been my goal to use art as a vehicle to create constructive dialogue and awareness in regards to many of the social, political, cultural and human rights issues that go undocumented, neglected or ignored every day. Sometimes the difference made is not always by the artist. It can also just be a piece of work that inspire a whole movement that the artist does not necessarily support because it just so happens that the onlooker was moved or touched in a way where it may spark a revolution or just cause a person to touch his/her love one in a way he/she may not have ever dreamed possible……… sounds poetic?…LOL Maybe… but it is true! That is why we are called visual artist. It is our goal to create works of art that hopefully intrigue the onlooker to the degree that he/she find some kind of emotional connection to the body of work. That is why I like creating works of art that make people think of freedom, love, family and empowerment.

I like to think of my artwork as an extension of my self like an arm or leg….lol When a piece is sold, it often starts as a long kiss goodbye by the way I talk about it, sign it, wrap it, take final looks at it and hand it over to its new owner……. because for me, every piece I create is an intimate experience between me, my brushes, the palette, paints, water bowl and canvas. All has its own distinct nature in regards how they interact when creating and must be respected because they are the vehicle through which I put a tangible face on my ideas and also put a tangible face on hope and the right to live with human dignity as in my series “Where is the Honor?”. My purpose in creating the series was to put a spot light on an otherwise unknown or ignored issue to the western world but it happens in our own backyard as well. It was created to inspire activism and protest where ever customs, traditions or religious ideology exist to that negate basic human rights, self worth and free thinking among women and children not only in so-called underdeveloped countries but in undeveloped minds of men/women in power throughout the world. It is usually men that commit many of these horrible acts, but there are many women who condone and partake in out right murder to protect and maintain the family’s “honor” as if it was some divine decree to subjugate, murder, demonize and dehumanize women if they decide to leave an abusive marriage, marrying out side of their clan or religion or just for being raped which was something obviously totally out of her control……..and yes it happens everyday and it has been happening throughout the history of man. Today, there are approximately seven billion human beings on Earth, all of which were born through the womb of woman. Over one hundred million children are born every year and over half a million women die during or after child birth. Not to mention the untold millions who have died through out human existence. As human beings we have never been more technologically advanced, well fed and more educated about the inner workings of our bodies and the universe around us. Yet the issue of women’s rights is still a discussion or non-discussion in some circles. We dishonor the many women who have lived, died, and sacrificed everything for the human family during slavery, the wars of man and Monday Night Foot Ball for years….lol Sorry for the long rambling response….

You can see the full article that I was responding to at: http://combustus.wordpress.com/2011/09/12/when-tragedy-hits-where-does-art-fit/#comment-69

“A World to Shreds” A brief history…..

Haven’t posted this painting much but this is a very important paint in regards to many of the paintings you see in my albums today. This was the first in the “Indigenous Seed” series….very difficult painting to create… the foundation of the painting in basically an accident out of control…lol and I ran with it… I had originally spent two days on a very horrible painting that I decided to paint over with random streaks of paint. After it dried I was compelled to take an oil based marker and just isolate random shapes. After looking at it, I felt that it looked like a bunch of continents torn to shreds. Then I decided to go back to my childhood in which I use to draw dozens of collages on paper. So I started looking at the shapes that were left from what I outlined with the marker and found my characters. I looked for shapes that resembled a nose, a forehead or a ear and drew the rest…. very difficult but rewarding process. I wanted to mix characters from many different cultures in one painting. I have only done five of these paintings because they take so long to draw and paint….but I plan to do three more by next summer for my overseas trip. I have something very wonderful in store. I think it will be something like none have seen as of yet if I can complete them in time!!!!!!

The horror of honor killings/even in the U.S.

Where is the Honor 2

The attached painting is # 2 in my “Where is the Honor” series. The purpose of the series is to try and bring to the forefront the plight of many women in developing countries around the world and even in the “civilized” west… as we would like to think. Like I said in my previous note “Where is the Honor”, honor killings, rape, flogging, stoning etc. still goes on today over things we would likely deem trivial and hundreds of these honor killings, rapes, beatings etc. have occurred in the west in which many have surely gone unreported and unpunished. (read “Where is the Honor” by Ramel Jasir http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=162235920477694)

In the “Where is the Honor” series I plan to do ten paintings featuring different victims of honor killings or honor revenge and there stories. This painting is my interpretation of Mukhtaran Bibi (Today known as Mukhtar Mai) a Pakistani woman from the village of Meerwala (about a 12-hour drive southeast from Islamabad) who was sentenced to be raped by a rival tribal council in June of 2002. “HER CRIME”….. well, there was no crime… she was a chosen victim of honor revenge because her younger brother (12 years old at the time) was accused of having illicit relations with a woman from the rival Mastoi Baloch clan. “HIS CRIME”… he was seen walking with a girl from the rival clan according to one story and he was accused of having illicit sex with a woman of the rival clan in another story….Each account was false and accusation was found to be a cover up in regards to the rape of her younger brother by three male members of the Mastoi Baloch clan. The Mastoi Baloch clan was a richer and much more powerful clan than Mukhtaran’s “Gujjar” clan and the raping of her younger brother had to be covered up. Mukhtar Mai was sentenced to be publicly raped by four volunteers of the village. While begging for mercy she was dragged into a room where raped repeatedly and was then paraded naked in front of hundreds of villagers while her family sat helpless to assist her. Only a DEVIL could call this Justice!

This is nothing new… according to the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in 2004, at least 151 Pakistani women were gang-raped and 176 were killed in the name of honor. The majority go unpunished.

By tradition in ‘Mukhtar Mai’s region, a woman is expected to commit suicide after being raped but she choose to fight despite threats against she and her family. Unlike thousands of victims before her, Mukhtar Mai won her case in which six men were punished and two were sentenced to death. She was awarded compensation by the government in which she opened a school in her village.

Mukhtar Mai went on to found the Mukhtar Mai Women’s Welfare Organization to support in the education of Pakistani woman and girls and according to Wikipedia:

“In April 2007, Mukhtar Mai won the North-South Prize from the Council of Europe.[7] In 2005,Glamour Magazine named her “Glamour Woman of the Year”.[8] According to the New York Times, “Her autobiography is the No. 3 best seller in France … movies are being made about her, and she has been praised by dignitaries like Laura Bush and the French foreign minister”.[9] However, on April 8, 2007, the New York Times reported that Mukhtar Mai lives in fear for her life from the Pakistan government and local feudal lords.[10] General Pervez Musharraf, the former president of Pakistan, has admitted on his personal blog[11] that he placed restrictions on her movement in 2005, as he was fearful that her work, and the publicity it receives, hurt the international image of Pakistan.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukhtaran_Bibi)

Today Mukhtar Mai is married and in October of this year she was also awarded an honorary doctorate from the Laurentian University of Canada and continues to be a true symbol of moral courage and justice for human rights around the world.

By Ramel Jasir….. sorry for any typos… no time to proof read..lol

Peace

Where is the Honor?

Last march for woman’s appreciation month I decided to start a series of paintings dedicated to women. So I decided for no particular reason that I wanted to do a painting of a woman in tradition islamic head dress or hijab. I typed in women of Jordan and was exploring different styles of head dress which lead me of course to many different countries in my research. As I was researching I kept seeing “honor killings” in the results of some of my browser searches when typed in certain countries. I finally clicked on one of the links and found my self joggling a multitude of emotions over the next two hours. When I think of the horror that millions of woman have suffered at the hands of men through out the history of the world I normally think of the transatlantic slave trade, the rape and geonocide of Hispanola and North American natives, (read A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies by Bartolomé de las Casas) and women’s overall fight for the right to vote, equal pay and opportunities all over the world. We have come along way….. Or have we… When it comes to “Honor Killings” mother’s, fathers, siblings, friends and relatives are often involved or turn a blind eye when comes to the destruction of one woman’s life to restore a family so-called honor. Yes, even today woman of many different cultures (not just Islamic) can be murdered if it has been deterimed that dis-honor has been brought to the family via her actions. This can be the result of wearing clothing deemed unacceptable to the family/community(http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/06/canada-honor-killing-victim-aqsa-parvezs-father-and-brother-sentenced-to-life-of-prison-dawah.html) ….wanting to divorce or terminate an arranged marriage… engaging in certain sexual acts with someone of the same or opposite sex etc…. in one case here in the U.S. a man killed his daughter because she took a job at Walmart and felt she was too westernized. I attached a few links below for you to read for your self.

I took a few months off from working on the series and plan to pick back up in January of 2011. The painting attached in this note is first of that series. The painting came from a picture of a young woman by the name of Sabia Rani (19 yrs old) who was beaten by her husband over a period of three weeks until she was finally murdered by her husband while her in-laws turned a blind eye and let it happen. ( http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-506686/Family-turned-blind-eye-teenage-bride-beaten-death-arranged-husband.html )

In the painting I used her face as a reference as you can see in the original picture once you click on the above link. I added the broken nose, jaw, burned and scared face etc as a culmination of all the stories I had read that day in regards to some of the brutle and horrific attacks inflicked on many of these helpless women. Many of which were not murdered but left scared and disfigured for life from attacks such as being doused in gasoline and burned or acid attacks. A lot of the attacks were over things we here in the west would deem trivial. Please do not thinks that this only goes on in eastern countries because there are thousands of attacks in Europe, the U.S. and Canada every year.

In the series, I hope to bring to light many of the attrocites against women and basic universal human rights that still go on today in what we like to call “modern times”.

In a final note this is not an attack against Islam because many of the same attacks against women can be found in many non-Islamic regions as well. I have found that a lot of the traditions that propagate violence against women are more grounded in twisted cultural traditions not based on religion…. but I do admit there is a thin line.

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/01/islam-killing-o.html

http://www.rightsidenews.com/2010070510884/world/terrorism/worldwide-trends-in-honor-killings-2010.html

Ramel Jasir
Monday, November 1, 2010 at 2:27am

Starving artist? I dont think so!

Well the apex of my day was my successfull transitioning of my belongings from storage to my new apartment. This means most importantly, that me and my family are no longer homeless which we have been since January after being evicted from our last apartment. I had been unemployed for the first time in my life for about 6 months living off of savings and selling a painting here and there. My savings had just ran out the day after I got a new job and i just could not catch up with the rent with such low pay so we had to let the apartment go with only one month to go in our lease……

Anyway….Of course my Queen was very happy that we now have a place to call home again. All I could think about was where I was going set up my paints and easel….. Oh Yeah! and the fact that I only had $25 until the next time I get paid which needed to be divided into diapers, gas, light bulbs and dish detergent with a full two weeks to go before I get another check. When I got paid on Wednesday my check was short by two days and i was told that I could not be paid for those days until my next pay check. On Yesterday I had to meet with the property manager for the apartment to pay half a months rent and part of the deposit since I was moving in the middle of the month… luckily with a little help from our friend Asia we were able to make it happen.

So tonight at work i was thinking about putting everything away at the apartment and getting a chance to work on a commissioned piece that I need to complete of “Mean Joe Green” right away to make some extra cash when I saw two young women in the parking garage that I was sweeping. I saw some trash in the distance that looked like money so I was day dreaming about arguing with them about whether they dropped the money or if I did…. at the end of my little mental movie we both agreed it was not ours and we decided to split the hundred bucks….. Ok I know this sounds silly. But about two minutes later I was thinking how humiliated I felt sweeping the garage as people were walking by and I was about to send out a text to some of my friend to advise that my phone was going to be cut off tonight because I could not pay the bill. As usual my mind turned back to trying to figure out ways to better market my artwork, when I walked between two cars to sweep and found $50.00…… Hell Yeah Man! I felt rich! I thought now I can keep my phone on. But for what!…. I started to think. Many of the friends I thought I had, have been no where to be found in the past few months. When times were good, our home was the place to come eat, drink and be merry. Sure, a few friends helped monetarily along the way but a pulse check once in awhile to see how the family is doing means more than gold. So I started to think that the universe did not cough up $50 bucks for me to keep my phone on…. I had to get my priorities straight! First thing I did after finding the money was to start looking around to see if the universe coughed up anything else but that was it…. can’t be greedy right…….Ok now I have $75 all together and plan to make it stretch in unimaginable ways…

Until my next post… wish me luck

Peace!

Blessings….

This is my first post and I am very new to the blogging universe.  After several Youtube tutorials, it seems I still have no clue what I am doing but I am sure it will come in time.

I recently decided to start selling some of my artwork online and a friend of mine suggested that I try blogging to help generate traffic to my websiteramel-jasir.artistwebsites.com.  Luckily a few months back I ran into a childhood friend, Felicia Shelton, on Facebook who happened to have a blog here on Word Press.  Her blog (Near and Far) was the first blog I had ever visited which led me to other blogs and I liked the format.  Naturally I told my self if I ever started a blog it would be on WordPress so here I am.

I hope to use this blog to share my artwork, poetry, ideas, techniques and hopefully meet a lot of new and interesting people.