Tusse

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/entertainment-arts-57127809

Ten years ago Tusse was living in a refugee camp in Uganda after fleeing The Congo and being separated from his parents. After three years in the camp living with aunts and cousins,  the family were granted asylum in Sweden. Next week Tusse is representing Sweden at the Eurovison Song Contest.

Tusse says when he first arrived in Sweden all he could think about was how clean everyone was. He used to ask, "How do you guys keep everything so clean?"

In the link we get to see Tusse talking about coming to Sweden and about how he thought his parents were dead but then they were reunited in 2015. Tusse's dad is really proud of him but wants him to get an education and a good job; "Son, you did great in that song contest but now focus on school. I love that you're doing music but you're still going to be a doctor later, right?"

Tusse says, "I like to think we are are more alike than what separates us." When Tusse talks about his difficult childhood it makes him sad, "but it's also the thing that I've experienced and it has made me stronger and it has made me the person I am today. And if re-telling this story to people makes them inspired then I'm sure gonna do it."

- what is a refugee?

- how does someone become a refugee? Can anyone be a refugee?

- how do you think Tusse felt about his future when he was living in the refugee camp?

- why do you think Tusse was amazed to find everything so clean when he came to Sweden?

- what is Eurovision?

- why is Tusse representing Sweden at Eurovision? What does that show about people in Sweden and how they feel about refugees?

- Do you think when Tusse was living in a refugee camp he ever imagined he would be singing on a stage representing a country he had not even visited yet?

- what does this show us about the future and how things can change?

- why does Tusse's Dad want him to be a doctor?

- "I like to think we are are more alike than what separates us." what does this mean?

- Why does Tusse want to talk about his childhood when it must be hard for him to do so?

- what can we learn from Tusse?

-why is this about No Outsiders? 

www.no-outsiders.com

No Outsiders: Everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat 

 "Because Sweden took care of me at an early age and I got to grow here, my education is here, it's like the biggest thank you I can give." 

flag

 

https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/05/03/gay-couple-university-heights-ohio-pride-flag-stolen-raccoon/

Charlie Olivo lives with his husband in Ohio and they fly a rainbow flag outside their home. They were surprised and disappointed recently when their flag was stolen. They assumed the flag had been taken by someone who does not believe in LGBT equality and were shocked and saddened that someone on the street where they live would do this.

But when neighbours heard about the flag they wanted to show support. One neighbour called Joe bought Charlie and his husband a new rainbow flag and also bought ten more to give to neighbours, asking them if they would fly the flags in support.

Joe said, "We kind of live in this time where there is a lot of negativity. I thought, how can we spread a little joy, how can we spread a little bit of light?"

That night Charlie and his husband were woken by their dog Daisy barking at the front door. The flag-napper had returned! What were they going to do next? 

Charlie looked out of  the window and saw a red stripe. He knew it was his rainbow flag... then he saw a big fat raccoon walking with it! The raccoon had stolen the flag to make a nest.

Charlie said, "It was a very heart warming, pretty funny, but a good ending. He can keep the flag."

And the neighbours? They all few their flags so the neighbourhood is now rainbow coloured!

- what do you see in the picture?

- what is a rainbow flag for? (children might say it's for the NHS, which is is, but it has been a flag to celebrate LGBT pride for a long time)

- what does LGBT stand for? Why is there often a + after the letters today? (to make sure no one is left out whoever they are or identify as)

- why do you think Charlie and his husband choose to fly a rainbow flag outside their home? 

- why did Charlie and his husband think someone had stolen the rainbow flag?

- why would someone do that? (because not everyone understands about equality and diversity like we do; some people are afraid of difference and want everyone to be the same. That's why we have No Outsiders to show that everyone is different and everyone is welcome."

-"We kind of live in this time where there is a lot of negativity. I thought, how can we spread a little joy, how can we spread a little bit of light?" why did Joe buy 10 flags for all the neighbours? How did that make Charlie and his husband feel?

- how do you think Charlie and his husband felt when they realised someone had returned to their house in the night?

- how did they feel when they realised a raccoon had taken their flag, not a person?

- why have all the neighbours chosen to fly a rainbow flag? How does that make Charlie and his husband feel now?

- what does this show us about their neighbourhood? Do you think the same outcome would happen in other neighbourhoods? What does this story suggest about most people in the world today?

- why is this story about No Outsiders?

www.no-outsiders.com

No Outsiders: Everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat

Race protest

 

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/may/06/ruby-bridges-the-six-year-old-who-defied-a-mob-and-desegregated-her-school?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

What do you see in the picture?

what do you think is happening? 

The photo shows 6 year old Ruby Bridges going to school on 14 November 1960 in Louisiana, USA. Ruby was the first black child to go to an all-white primary school in Louisiana. 

Waiting for Ruby at the school gates was a protest. White parents and children shouted, yelled names and held placards, one said, "All I want for Christmas is a clean white school!" One woman held up a small coffin with a back doll in it. 

Ruby was escorted in to the school by four federal agents. She was escorted to and from school every day as the protesters were always there and she spent the first year in the school working in a classroom on her own. 

Speaking today, Ruby says she was not aware of what was happening. Her parents had not explained to her that she was going to an all-white school. Originally there were three back children joining the school but the other two dropped out before the first day. Ruby says she thought the protest was a carnival and she wasn't afraid, but she did have nightmares about the coffin.

Today Ruby is shocked about what happened and questions why her parents sent her in to that environment. But she understands; 

"They were not allowed to go to school. Neither one of them had a formal education. If it was time for them to get the crops in, or to work, school was a luxury; that was something they couldn't do. So they really wanted opportunities for their children that they were not allowed to have."

Both her parents lost their jobs because Ruby went to the school. Her dad was advised not to go and look for work for his own safety. The family became dependent on donations from local well-wishers but even their local store refused to serve them. Ruby says she remembers writing to Santa Clause asking for him to give her dad his job back as he didn't have a job because she was going to school.

White parents withdrew their children from the school and all the staff refused to teach Ruby, except one, Barbara Henry. For a year Barbara and Ruby worked alone in a classroom.

Towards the end of the year white parents started letting their children back to school although they were kept apart from Ruby. It wasn't until the end of the year that Ruby was allowed to work in a class with other children. Ruby describes how a boy said to her on the first day, "My mom says not to play with you because you're a n*****" and that was the moment she realised what was happening; 

"All the little pieces that I'd been collecting in my mind all fit and then I realised; the reason there's no kids here is because of me and the colour of my skin. That's why I can't go to recess. It's not Mardi Gras. It all sort of came together; a very rude awakening. I often say today that was my first introduction to racism."

Ruby argues the little boy was not being knowingly racist towards her; he was simply explaining why he couldn't play with her, "Racism is learned behaviour, we pass it on to our kids, and it continues from one generation to the next. That moment proved it to me."

The following year the protests died down and a few more African Americans joined the school. Ruby finished school and worked as a travel agent for American Express so she got to travel around the world. Today she visits schools to promote cultural understanding and films have been made about her. Today there is a statue of Ruby in the courtyard of the school. The photo below shows Ruby in 2013 with one of the marshals who escorted her in 1960.

Ruby says today that schools must be integrated; "It's important that kids have an opportunity to learn about one another; to grow together, play together, learn together.... we're never going to become the United States of America unless we, the people, are united."

- what is racism?

- why were there no black children at the school before Ruby? 

- why do you think the other two black children pulled out? Do you  understand/ agree with their decision?

- why did Ruby's parents choose to send their 6 year old daughter in to such a hostile environment? What would you have done in their position?

- Why do you think the protests happened?

- would that happen today? Why not? How do you think the people that were protesting feel about their protest now? What does that show us about ideas changing over time? 

- why was Ruby's dad advised to stop looking for work?

- how do we know that 6 year old Ruby blamed herself for her dad losing his job?

- when / how did Ruby realise this situation was caused by racism? She says the boy wasn't being "knowingly racist" how do you think she feels about him and his words today?

- "Racism is learned behaviour," what does this mean? what do you think?

- There is a statue of Ruby at the school. Why do you think the school chose to erect a statue, why don't they just move on and forget about this story?

- what can we learn from Ruby?

- why is this about No Outsiders?

www.no-outsiders.com

No Outsiders: Everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat

election

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-57007806

Last week an election was held across the UK. Councillors and Police Commissioners and Lord Mayors were elected to their roles. In some areas councillors changed as new people won elections. In the UK we live in a democracy which means everyone over 18 gets to vote, regardless of faith, gender, disability, sexual orientation/ family, race; no one is left out.

The photo shows dogs waiting outside a polling station while their owners vote. Photos like this have become a tradition on polling days in the UK.

- what is democracy?

- what is an election, how does it work?

- why do people vote?

- how does a councillor get people to vote for them?

- do all countries live in a democracy? What is the alternative to a democracy?

- has everyone always been able to vote? One hundred years ago in the UK, who was not allowed to vote? How have ideas changed over time?

- can anyone stand as a councillor today?

- why do you think these dogs are outside the polling stations?

- are the dogs all the same? What does this show us about the kind of people who are voting?

- what can we learn from this photo?

- why is this about No Outsiders?

marines

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/breaking-barrier-women-become-us-marines-after-surviving-crucible-2021-04-26/

What do you see in the picture, where are they, what job do they have, what do you notice about the soldier in the picture?

Last week 53 US marines were inducted in to the US armed forces at Camp Pendleton, the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego. There are just two training camps for marines in the US; Camp Pendleton and Parris Island, South Carolina. Previously women were not allowed to train at Camp Pendelton and this is the first time female marines have graduated there, meaning the last gender barrier in the US armed forces has been broken.

As part of the training the marines complete the "crucible" which is a 54 hour test of strength involving marines carrying each other on their shoulders over obstacles and walls. The crucible ends with a 9 mile hike and a final charge up a hill carrying 50 pound backpacks and rifles.

Only in 2015 was a law passed that opened all combat roles in the US army to men and women but the marine corps still requested women were not involved in some of the training. At Paris Island men and women were trained separately till 2019.

Staff Sergeant Amber Staroscik says, "I knew the significance of it when we started. We were always denied. Now they see us training side by side. We're carrying the same pack and hiking the same distance. Hopefully it erases some of the gender biases."

Emily Zamudio and Abigail Ragland are two of the new recruits. Emily says, "I really wanted to inspire more females to do male roles. I want females to know that no matter what your size, you can do it."

Abigail says she chose to enlist in the Marine Corps because she was told it had a special brotherhood; "And now a sisterhood!" 

- what are marines?

- why do you think women were not allowed to train as marines till 2015?

- what is a gender barrier and a gender bias?

- where do gender barriers cone from?

- how is a gender barrier taken down?

- Emily Zamudio says she wants more females to do male roles; what do you think about the language she chooses? Is Emily still saying that a Marine Copr is a male role, even though she is one now? How could she re-word that line? Why is language important?

- why does Abigail change the "brotherhood" to "sisterhood"? What is she showing?

- what can we learn from Abigail, Emily and Amber?

- why is this about No Outsiders?

www.no-outsiders.com

No Outsiders: everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat 

stereotype

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-nottinghamshire-56887748

what do you see in the picture?

what job do you think they have?

Uroosa Arshid is a firefighter from Nottinghamshire and has become famous last week as she is the first firefighter in the UK to wear a hijab. 

Uroosa says, "It would have helped a lot if I had had someone else who looked like me and spoke like me and wore what I wore in the job." She remembers firefighters doing a talk at her school and wondering if maybe she could do something like that when she was older. She achieved her dream and now feels proud that she has been part of breaking down that barrier; "opening that door for other women, other hijabis that maybe potentially want to join the job later."

Uroosa says any negativity she has experienced has simply pushed her to prove that she can do the job and has got the job because if her ability. "It's an ever-changing world and an ever-changing job and we have to move with the times."

"If someone can see it they might realise they can be it."

- what is a stereotype?

-what is the stereotype about firefighters?

- Uroosa talks about breaking down barriers; what barriers is she talking about?

- what is a hijab, who wears a hijab?

- how do the barriers get there?

- how are they broken down?

- "It would have helped a lot if I had had someone else who looked like me and spoke like me and wore what I wore in the job." - why?

- "If someone can see it they might realise they can be it." what dies that mean?

- "It's an ever-changing world and an ever-changing job and we have to move with the times." what does that mean? Give other examples of the world and ideas changing.

- what can we learn from Uroosa?

- Why is this about No Outsiders?

www.no-outsiders.com

No Outsiders: Everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat