# data[].attributes.headline
"There's a narrative we want to write for ourselves" - late Kenyan author Binyavanga Wainaina talks about his home country

# data[].attributes.subject
"There's a narrative we want to write for ourselves" - late Kenyan author Binyavanga Wainaina talks about his home country

# data[].attributes.body
The late Binyavanga Wainaina, a renowned Kenyan author and LGBT rights activist, speaks about the importance of writing your own narrative and the country's burgeoning economic growth.

# data[].attributes.body
Please view my brief video explaining the purpose for creating this Padlet map. As I explain in the video, please come back to this post when you have finished interacting with the other pins to share any big takeaways or new insights from what you've learned! Enjoy!

# data[].attributes.headline
Media portrayals of Hawai'i + Discussion Question

# data[].attributes.subject
Media portrayals of Hawai'i + Discussion Question

# data[].attributes.body
As you read this article, consider the dangers of treating the people and lands of the Hawai'ian islands as "exotic" or simply through the lens of tourism.

Which books from the pin in Alaska do you think might best help fight against this stereotyping?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Varied coverage still exotifies the group through tourist-centric stereotypes

# data[].attributes.body
Try and find each region on the map of India as you see some of the incredible dances that are performed. Dancing is a highly revered art form in India, and there is a lot of significance in each gesture, head movement, and body position.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Five folk dances of India | Classical folk dance

# data[].attributes.body
This deadly martial art form originated in 16th century Brazil, where it merged with graceful and passionate dance moves. It is now a staple of Brazilian cultural identity.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Capoeira is martial art infused dance, which is thought to have originated in the 16th century in Brazil. Although today capoeira has become somewhat omnipresent with the booming popularity of street acrobatics such as parkour, its history remains mysterious. Discover the story of this 500 year old martial art, and explore the best places to experience capoeira in Brazil.

Sometimes referred to as a martial art, sometimes a dance, and sometimes even a game, capoeira is a unique phenomenon which has caught the world's attention. It is instantly recognizable thanks to the movements of the performers; they seem to move together and then suddenly attack each other, still keeping in time with the rhythm. Yet despite its rising popularity, the exact origins of the art have been lost due to a scarcity of historical evidence and the secretive nature of its beginnings.

It has been suggested that capoeira was first created during the 16th century by slaves who were taken from West Africa to Brazil by the Portuguese colonists. Prohibited from celebrating their cultural customs and strictly forbidden from practicing any martial arts, capoeira is thought to have emerged as a way to bypass these two imposing laws.

Hidden in the musical and rhythmical elements of the form, violent kicks were disguised as passionate dance movements, and its combination of a mixture of West African cultures saved it from being identified as an attempt to preserve any specific tradition. As such, capoeira came to life as a survival tool, not only of self-defense, but also of cultural identity.

Using capoeira, many slaves escaped their masters and formed rebellion groups known as Quilombos, creating communities outside of Portuguese control. These communities stood as strongholds against the Portuguese, and many are famous for the courageous defenses they put up. Palmares is the most famous of these, and is thought to have been home to over 10,000 people. Although there are few historical documents, it is believed that capoeira was a vital part of their defense and cultural practice.

Within the societies under Portuguese rule, capoeira was just as difficult to control. With the growing cities that were forming during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, larger populations resulted in larger communities of slaves in smaller areas. This produced an expanding social culture for slaves, and capoeira dominated as a popular for of entertainment. While there were examples of it being used for self-defense, many cases were simply competition or for leisure, creating a difficult dichotomy for the ruling class to react to. Despite this, capoeira dancers were punished for practicing, but the art form lived on anyway.

The end of slavery in Brazil brought about a darker era for capoeira, with its martial elements being used for criminal purposes. With the abolishment of slavery in 1888, many newly freed citizens found themselves without homes or income, creating widespread poverty. As Brazil's population expanded in the 19th century, crime exploded within the urban centers and capoeira was one of the many weapons used by criminal elements.

Using fake names to avoid identification, and concealing weapons such as razor sharp barber blades, some gangs were trained in the art of capoeira and caused problems throughout Brazil. Consequentially capoeira was outlawed nationally in 1890, and those seen practicing it suffered severe consequences, such as death or having their Achilles tendon severed. During this era stories that both romanticized and vilified capoeira masters became widespread; one such figure was Nascimento Grande, whom legends portray as virtually invincible.

Capoeira survived the near extinction it faced from illegality, and it was Mestre Bimba from Salvador, one of the last cities where capoeira was still practiced, who rekindled the popularity of this art form. Presenting the cultural significance of capoeira while also highlighting the attention it gained from tourists, Bimba successfully convinced Brazilian authorities of the cultural value of the art and was allowed to open the first capoeira school in 1932 (although not under the name of capoeira, as this was still illegal).

Bimba's strict approach to the martial art created new movements and choreographed attacks, which became known as 'Regional'. In the 1940s the official ban was lifted from capoeira, and this allowed two main streams to develop in unison, ' Regional', which was influenced by Bimba's teaching, and ' Angola ' which looked to the traditions of the art before it was banned.

Today capoeira is a cultural icon of Brazil, and it is widely practiced around the world. Being performed in different contexts, from entertaining choreographed dances to competitions where one competitor attempts to make the other fall out of time with the music or tumble over, capoeira is a diverse martial art and is also popular for those interested in a fun exercise that teaches basic martial arts and acrobatics. If traveling to Brazil, either seeing a capoeira performance or visiting a capoeira school is a must.

While there are many acclaimed capoeira schools scattered across the country, Capoeira Training Camp stands out with its international focus. Centered on welcoming people from all around the world, this great institution is set in the birthplace of modern Capoeira, Salvador. Its training focuses on Brazilian culture as a whole, and they offer classes with masters of both styles, as well as lessons in the music of capoeira and the Portuguese language.

Due to the secretive nature of the origins of capoeira, the truth about its foundation may be truly lost in history. However, through the passion and commitment of those who have practiced the art, capoeira has been eternalized in stories, music and movement. While the past of capoeira may be shrouded in mystery, the future of this cultural icon is as bright as ever.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Disguised in Dance: The Secret History of Capoeira

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Capoeira is martial art infused dance, which is thought to have originated in the 16th century in Brazil. Although today capoeira has become somewhat omnipresent with the booming popularity of street acrobatics such as parkour, its history remains mysterious. Discover the story of this 500 year old martial art, and explore the best places to experience capoeira in Brazil.

# data[].attributes.body
The Nubians are one of the most ancient ethnicities to still exist to this day. Their culture is rich with history, their banks are full of colorful buildings, and they raise crocodiles as pets! Take a look at some of the beautiful scenery in this video.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Nubian Village - What to See in Egypt - Travel to Egypt - Egypt Tourism - Nubian Village Facts

# data[].attributes.headline
9 of the best books by Native Alaskans and Hawaiians

# data[].attributes.subject
9 of the best books by Native Alaskans and Hawaiians

# data[].attributes.body
Read short descriptions about some of the best fiction, nonfiction, and poetry to come from Native Alaskans and Hawaiians. After viewing this list, see the connected pin in Hawai'i for a discussion question.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
9 of the Best Books by Native Alaskans and Hawaiians

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
To celebrate the ties that bind Alaskans and Hawai’ians, here are some of the best books by Native Alaskan and Hawai’ian authors.

# data[].attributes.headline
The dangers of a Middle Eastern "single story"

# data[].attributes.subject
The dangers of a Middle Eastern "single story"

# data[].attributes.body
Hear from various voices in the Middle Eastern region about why their stories are more than just what we get from Western media.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Written by Payton Bruni

Mahfoudha al-Balushi knew about Middle Eastern stereotypes, but she wasn't sure what questions to expect from people when she came to the University of Oregon from her home country in Oman.

So when a stranger approached al-Balushi on the street and asked how her camels were, she didn't quite know how to respond.

"She thought that I had camels. Imagine. I had no answer for her," al-Balushi says. "Maybe she was a kind lady, I don't know what she meant exactly, or maybe she decided from the media that all people from the Middle East are riding camels."

For some people who have never traveled to the Middle East, when they hear about the region they think about what they've seen in the media.They imagine sprawling deserts filled with roaming camels or their minds jump to more grim ideas about ISIS and war.

When it comes to the perceived ideas that all Middle Eastern countries are plagued by conflict, the reaction is arguably warranted. News coverage of the Middle East widely fixates on violence. Browse the stories in any major news outlet that has a "Middle East" section like The New York Times and there's no shortage of headlines such as " Saudi-Led Airstrikes in Yemen Kill More Than 60 in Prison, Rebels say " or " Suicide Bombers Hit Hamas Police Checkpoints in Gaza. " Body counts and bombs are a staple of Middle East news sections.

The news can be a helpful, easily accessible source of information to better understand a region and its complexities, but issues start to arise when the news is the sole source of information someone has on a region and its people. Stereotypes start to take shape that may be accurate in some cases but widely fail to reflect reality.

Novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie warns of this problem in her "The danger of a single story" TED speech.

"The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story," she says.

This issue of the single story has a tendency to plague countries within the Middle East. Oman - a quiet, peaceful country located in the Arabian Gulf - is no exception.

Mohamed al-Bulushi, Mahfoudha al-Balushi's brother who lived in Louisiana for five years while studying for his bachelor's degree, had many American friends and classmates who believed in a single story about the Middle East.

"When they asked me where I was from and I said I'm from Oman, first of all, they don't know Oman. They don't know if it's a country, a name or something like that," he says. "When I told them Oman is near Dubai or Saudi Arabia, or that Oman is in the Middle East, they think that, like, ISIS is over there."

Mohamed al-Bulushi was disheartened when he heard this initial belief in the single story, but he says that once he explained Oman is perfectly safe - and ISIS-free - his friends in Louisiana were quick to understand the reality of the situation.

"I kept telling them the truth and the facts about what's happening. That these wars are happening in other parts of the Middle East," he says. "And it's not the Middle East actually, it's just in Syria and a couple of other countries."

Mahfoudha al-Balushi says the single story, reinforced by the media, is precisely to blame for spreading these stereotypes of the Middle East, but the people who believe it are not necessarily at fault.

"In one way, you cannot blame them because media is the only source they have. They cannot travel, they cannot see the world, so how would they know what is happening there?" she says.

Chloe Simmons, a master's student at the UO who spent eight weeks studying abroad in Amman, Jordan, says she had friends and family who knew little to nothing about the Middle East beyond what they heard from the news.

"A lot of my friends and family just think of the Middle East as like a blanket statement of a country and they don't know specific countries within it except for the big ones we hear about in the news like Syria or Yemen," Simmons says.

When Simmons finally returned to the United States from her studies in Jordan, she says the people who were initially against her travel plans were surprised to see her return unharmed.

"There was genuine shock that nothing happened to me and that Amman was a safer place than they expected it to be," she says.

Simmons says she used her experiences in Jordan to educate her concerned friends and family to the realities of traveling to the Middle East.

"The biggest thing I keep saying to my family is that it is just like here," she says. "They have a huge idea that it's all very Bedouin still or that the Middle East is still in the desert and people are traveling by camel. People there still drive cars."

Mahfoudha al-Balushi had to dispel stereotypes in many of the conversations she had with Eugenians as well, but she says she was not discouraged by the interactions.

"You have to be very patient and explain what's happening in your country," she says. "You cannot just say, 'No, my country is peaceful,' you have to show them pictures and chit chat with them. You cannot change everything, but at least teach them something about your country."

When it comes to really addressing the issue of the Middle East single story, Mahfoudha al-Balushi and Mohamed al-Bulushi agreed that the key is for people to travel and experience the different Middle Eastern countries for themselves.

"Don't judge a book by its cover. You have to go. If you come to Oman and we know, we take it as our responsibility to take care of you. We invite you to our home, we host you, we give you some coffee and fruit, this is a traditional thing," Mohamed al-Bulushi says.

Mahfoudha al-Balushi explained that this practice of welcoming visitors is grounded in Omani culture. "We welcome people from any part of the world. We don't mind inviting people over for coffee or food. It's the culture. It's how we were raised," she says. "As a person and as a human being, you really need to experience it for yourself. You need to travel."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
How major news outlets perpetuate stereotypes of Middle Eastern countries

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Written by Payton Bruni Mahfoudha al-Balushi knew about Middle Eastern stereotypes, but she wasn't sure what questions to expect from people when she came to the University of Oregon from her home country in Oman. So when a stranger approached al-Balushi on the street and asked how her camels were, she didn't quite know how to respond.

# data[].attributes.headline
Rapper Pat Boy talks about preserving ancient Mayan language through his songs

# data[].attributes.subject
Rapper Pat Boy talks about preserving ancient Mayan language through his songs

# data[].attributes.body
Think about how losing ancient languages also limits the stories we hear from cultures. Do you think his strategy of using a modern genre like rap will help promote and preserve the ancient language he is using in his songs?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Musician raps in Mayan to raise awareness on preserving ancient language

# data[].attributes.headline
Michelle Yeoh on the importance of muti-faceted Asian representation in film

# data[].attributes.subject
Michelle Yeoh on the importance of muti-faceted Asian representation in film

# data[].attributes.body
Michelle Yeoh, who you may recognize from the movie, Crazy Rich Asians, talks about her experiences getting roles in Western movies, and how "messy Asian" stories are being put in the forefront.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Cinema veterans Michelle Yeoh and James Hong have bodies of work that span decades and continents. But it wasn't until the new sci-fi comedy "Everything Everywhere All At Once" - featuring universes where people have hot dogs for hands and others where they find themselves in the company of deranged tax auditors - that they became the stars of a Hollywood film.

"Doors have opened much wider," Yeoh, who was born in Malaysia, said of the movie, which premiered in a limited release last week. "This is the first time in many years, apart from the movies that I made in Asia, that I had the lead role."

The idea is almost confounding to many Asian Americans, who have considered Yeoh and Hong two of the most significant actors in the industry. Yeoh cemented herself as an icon in the golden age of Hong Kong cinema in the 1980s before she appeared in Hollywood hits such as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "Tomorrow Never Dies" and "Crazy Rich Asians." Hong, who has almost 700 film and television credits, has appeared in classic movies like "Blade Runner" and Disney's original "Mulan."

Both said that despite their credentials, Hollywood gatekeepers haven't always been eager to put their names at the top of call sheets or welcome the emergence of messy, complicated Asian stories. But Yeoh and Hong both say their prominent roles in "Everything Everywhere" - a psychedelic take on a Chinese immigrant story - aren't by chance. They see the movie, in part, as the result of fervent advocacy and steadfast conviction in Asian artists.

"So many of us have been working on pushing the envelope and trying to make it happen, because it's very simple," Yeoh said. "We believe in us. We believe in our Asian talent. We believe all of us have stories that need to be told and need to be embraced."

Hong said, "I just got out there and fought every day."

In the movie, which is scheduled for wide release April 8, Yeoh plays Evelyn Wang, an exhausted Chinese immigrant mother who runs a collapsing laundromat business with her doting husband, Waymond, played by Ke Huy Quan of "The Goonies" fame. The family runs into tax issues, and as Evelyn tries to sort out the paperwork with the IRS, she is thrust into a massive conflict across the multiverse.

It turns out that the frazzled Evelyn is the only one who can stop the mysterious, powerful "agent of chaos" who threatens to destroy the multiverse - one that's filled with lives she could have led had she not run off to America with Waymond, against the wishes of her father, Gong Gong, played by Hong.

The adventure, marked by absolute absurdity, unravels into a self-examination of Evelyn's life. There are her disconnected relationship with Waymond, the aching tensions and communication struggles she has with her daughter, Joy, played by Stephanie Hsu, and the intergenerational trauma that started with Gong Gong. The movie may not read like a quintessential immigrant narrative, but it speaks to that experience in an imaginative way.

Yeoh said it honors a very familiar, "very ordinary woman" by turning Evelyn into a superhero.

"This movie for me was such an homage to so many women like that around us who are sometimes invisible, who we take for granted," Yeoh said. "There's so many relatable things, and all because they were chasing the American dream. ... We all know that it's so hard. I think any immigrant that comes here will tell you how difficult it is and of sometimes failing and not being able to find it."

Yeoh said that with the incorporation of intense visuals and storylines that throw viewers into perpetual chaos, the saga is "weird, wacky and wonderful." And in many ways, it's exactly the sort of fulfillment she has searched for in her career. For Yeoh, who has long made a name for herself overseas, leading a Hollywood film has never been a litmus test for her success. But given the way Asian actors have often been typecast as "expressionless," with women relegated to depicting objects of desire rather than those worthy of complex, cognitively challenging characters, the multiverse concept flatly disproves the stereotypes. It has shown that the film's heavily Asian cast can slip into a rainbow of identities.

"It's like I have been training for the last 30-odd years to be able to pull off this role that's given me an incredible opportunity to showcase all the different dimensions that I believe all of our Asian actors, actresses, our talents, are so capable of, but very rarely do they find a vehicle, a script, a character that's presented to them," Yeoh said.

She credited the "geniuses" Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the directors of the film professionally known as "The Daniels," for creating that vehicle.

"I get down on my knees and thank my lucky stars that it's been given to me at this point in my career," she said.

Hong, 93, who is scheduled to be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, said he can attest to the decadeslong effort for a movie like this to be made. Hong, who has been in the industry for more than 70 years, established the East West Players with a few other Asian American artists in hope of advancing representation in theater.

"We have been known, and are still known, as a 'silent minority,'" Hong said of Asian Americans. "How do we get out of that niche? By doing films like this one. ... We will start to communicate our thoughts and feelings to the public."

He underscored the importance of "stirring the pot," saying he sees the fight for equity as one that is mirrored in all aspects of society, not just the arts.

"When I came back from Hong Kong at 9 years old, I was beaten up in the grade school playgrounds, because I couldn't speak English," Hong recalled. "From that point, I fought all the way to what I'm doing now. So I encourage all Asian Americans, all people of all different nationalities, to express yourself and do your own thing the best you can, and then things will get better as a whole."

For now, the film, in all its oddball glory, represents somewhat like fuel for Hong to continue working. It's a sign that all those years of fighting have paid off in tangible ways.

"I dreamt that this day would come, and it's just beginning," he said.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
'We believe in us': Michelle Yeoh on why more wonderfully messy Asian stories are being made

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Cinema veterans Michelle Yeoh and James Hong have bodies of work that span decades and continents. But it wasn't until the new sci-fi comedy "Everything Everywhere All At Once" - featuring universes where people have hot dogs for hands and others where they find themselves in the company of deranged tax auditors - that they became the stars of a Hollywood film.

# data[].attributes.headline
Why we need diverse books - authors of the United States

# data[].attributes.subject
Why we need diverse books - authors of the United States

# data[].attributes.body
Multiple American authors share their experiences with and positions on why we need diverse books for all age ranges. Do you recognize any of these authors from your own reading?