"Oppression greets us from all angles. Oppression wails from the soldiers radio and floats through tear gas clouds in the air. Oppression explodes with every sound bomb and sinks deeper into the heart of the mother who has lost her son. But resistance is nestled in the cracks in the wall, resistance flows from … Continue reading “The Resistance”
Category: Arts
I’ve been writing this for a long time. I remember sitting and sobbing on my balcony in Southwest So scared Sure, I was excited Today I’d call it heycanli But fear of the unknown Of non comprehension Of safety Clouded my eyes “What am I going to do?” I implored to sometimes roommate, sometimes guru, … Continue reading Sitting on a Balcony / Refractions / You Can’t Go Home Again
The week leading up to December 17 is known in Konya, Turkey as the Mevlana Festival, in celebration of the ‘urs of Celaladdin Rumi. ‘Urs is an Arabic word which can be translated as “wedding day;” in this context it refers to the death anniversary of a Sufi saint, or revered Islamic mystical figure. The … Continue reading Come As You Are: Mevlana Seb-I Arus 2013
I'm writing from my hotel in Rome where my great aunt and I are spending the Easter holiday taking in the sites, cuisine, and each others stories of travel and culture. Rome is of course hectic at this time, with tourists flooding the city for Holy Week. There are so many aspects of the architecture … Continue reading Looking Up in Rome
Over the Thanksgiving weekend I visited some friends in Gaziantep, a city in southeastern Turkey whose population currently includes approximately 1 million Syrian refugees. Though the cities formal name is Gaziantep, the "Gazi" prefix was added to honor veterans of the War of Independence (establishing the Turkish Republic) in 1928. It is one of the … Continue reading Black, White, and Pistachios All Over: A Weekend in Gaziantep
I'll get back to posting stories and photos from my travels this winter soon, I promise! I've been having some issues trying to figure out cost-effective video sharing on WordPress, and so I'll be launching a new YouTube channel that's specifically devoted to videos from my travels across the region. In the meantime, I wanted … Continue reading Bambaşka Biri
While visiting the caravanserai of Silahatar Mustafa Paşa Hanı in Battalgazi, Malatya, I was privy to an intimate and impromptu demonstration of the classical Turkish art form known as ebru (sometimes known as water painting or marbling). The oldest determinable ebru works date from the early to mid-1500s; traditionally ebru was used as the media … Continue reading Do Ebru
Over the first weekend in October, my K-Town crew and I boarded a plane from Ankara and flew to Malatya, a city in Central Southeastern Turkey where 3 of our Fulbright cohorts are placed. The trip also served as something of a one month reunion, as we joined over 20 other Fulbrighters there. With the … Continue reading Artwork, Adıyaman, Antiochus, and Apricots
Some of the tunes I have sending me off... Breathe from In the Heights #Syria by Omar Offendum Fire and Rain by James Taylor Berzerk by Eminem Al 3alm Allah by Amr Diab We're Not Gonna Take It by Twisted Sister Bedouin Dress by Fleet Foxes It Won't Be Long Now from In the Heights
This piece was originally published on the Kenyon Observer blog on October 15, 2012. In the wake of the ongoing Supreme Court hearing regarding Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act, and a lively debate about attacking oppression within those marginalized communities advocating repeal of these laws, Macklemore's message of inclusion remains as timely … Continue reading Politics, Love, Religion, and Hip Hop
tess m. waggoner 