Three times a week, Real Bronx Tours takes riders — mainly white Europeans and Australians — on a trip that includes stops at food-pantry lines and a “pickpocket” park.
Last week, on the first stop of the $45 tour, guide Lynn Battaglia, from Pittsburgh, pointed out a housing project. She then mocked the Grand Concourse, modeled after a Parisian boulevard.
“Do you feel like we’re on the Champs-Elysées?” she teased a couple from Paris.
As the bus idled across from historic St. Ann’s Episcopalian Church, Battaglia launched into a description of the crime, poverty and violence that plagued the South Bronx during the 1970s recession.
…
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz slammed the guide as “the biggest fool on the planet.”
“They should tell people about The Bronx that we all know, and that’s The Bronx that’s had the lowest crime rate since 1963 last year,” he said.
“To have foreigners come and gawk at a long line of people who are less fortunate than they are and to make money off of that and to view them as they are some sort of entertainment is pretty disgusting.”
Politicians Furious Over Bronx Bus Company’s “Ghetto” Tour (via supersoygrrrl)
this is disgusting.
(via bapgeek)
Ghetto Tours…… just FYI, this is why I don’t like people. This shit right here.
(via kyssthis16)
Pretty sure these are the same assholes that stop to gawk at the (mostly painted over) mural of Amadou Diallou off Westchester Avenue, which isn’t even where he died.
Fucking dehumanizing, as if they’re on a fucking safari.
(via ifelloffagain)(via ifelloffagain)
Yémaya
She stretched forth her womb
to give birth do the Earth.
Bountiful and majestic, she created her turf.
Her waters flowed, bringing life to the world,
Through man, into woman
A boy or a girl.
she asked for God’s blessing,
He breathed into her creation
He blessed her, Mother of Fishes,
With the ability to create nations.
How humbled she was at the task she was given.
From thence forth she glows at the sight of her children.
How graceful she was at the onset of her work,
Though her waves were crashing
And she knew it would hurt.
She held her head high, and
No, she didn’t cry.
But when her work was all done,
That’s when the tears left her eyes.
The miracle of life, only she could provide,
With the command of a queen and
The strength of The Most High.
And so, it was written in the books of Herstory,
That every woman could experience that same destiny.
When we would behold, the greatest story ever told
In our wombs, like our Mother,
The first to ever know.
(Author Unknown)
“The health and disease, are two opposite phenomena that are accented in yoruba philosophy. This is explicitly understood in the myth of ‘Ayanmo’ (destiny). Ayanmo is the default factor of individual existence on Earth. This can be both positive or negative. The Yoruba believe that every human being chooses their own pattern of life. For them, every human being obtains a destiny before birth, before crossing the border that separates the existence in the other world (Orun), of the existence in this world (Aiyê). However, after purchasing this destiny in Orun, the individual is induced to forget the contents of that destiny, before crossing the border that transforms the individual into a body. Once in this world, the only way in which an individual who is ignorant of his fate to obtain the knowledge of it, is through divination, where witnesses of the destiny (Eleri ipin) reveal aspects of the divine plan to the consulted, through highly trained diviners.
(Payne, 1992). “
* Of the chapter: Important Aspects: Yoruba thought on health and sickness:Book, Magic, Alchemy and Medicine of “Oluwo Aguila de Ifa”
“We are the authors of our own destiny, those responsible for our misfortunes and the joys.There are basics to immerse yourself within the study of Ifa. These points allow the understanding of the doctrine and the total immersion into the world of Ifa. First of all, everyone must understand that we come to the world with a purpose, a mission, a purpose. This fate is intertwined with the universal principle that unites all creations of God (in yoruba, Olodumare). The free will of the creation is manifested in this principle, since each one of us chooses his purpose on Earth. The destination is known as “Orí” in the yoruba tradition and involves a number of teams other than the task that we have to meet, including the personality, character and the corporeal form.
The Earth was created by Olodumare, God, in the yoruba tradition, so that human beings may live in it. Olodumare commissioned the deities (Orisha) that they populated the Earth and were the intermediaries between humans and God. The Orisha lived as people many years ago, some came from the sky and others deified in the Earth and ascended to the spiritual city. The Orisha, are representations of all the things that exist on Earth: oceans, fire, disease, wealth, forests, death, winds, crops, difficulty, rivers, wisdom, metals, etc. Everything that exists is represented by the Orisha and these elements are that we adore, along with Olodumare. Olodumare, gave humans an Oracle of divination so that they could be aligned with its mission in the world. The Oracle includes various tools of divination, as the ikin Ifa, which are some special seeds by which Dios conveys its message. The Opele, is a chain made with specific seeds that also reveal the word of Olodumare. And the Obi Kola, Obi fold and Orogbo, seeds of different nature that allows insiders to reveal the Odu of Ifa.
God gave men a very important additional tool that is based on the yoruba divination system, Odu. There are 256 Odu, which are combinations of the 16 main essences. The Odu are composed of two columns written in a primitive language that resembles the binary. When we combine these main essences, whose columns are identical, originate 240 Odu resulting to adding them with the 16 leading 256. When the two columns are identical, they are known as “Meji”, and when they are different they are called “Omoluo”
An Odu contain many stories or “Ifa that”, they recount the experiences of the deities, and many other features that serve to guide people through their lives. When an individual query is, reveals an Odu that exposes the situations for which the consulted is going and what to do to solve this and make your stay ashore more gentle, serene and quiet. Odu, are the tools used by Olodumare to communicate with human beings and keep them aligned, or in sync with your life’s purpose”.
(via darknationseries)
Orunmila or Orula is the Orisha of wisdom and is a powerful diviner. He consults through Ifa and is very accurate in his divination. He is part of one of the Divination’s(Mano de Orula) which must be undergone when entering into Santeria.
(via rumtabaccoandiron)
Centella, wind and storm.
Orisha of storms and strong wind that precedes them. It is said to be Efuele you ’ l’oke-l da gi’-oke (the wind that sweeps and boot trees from the top). Rules along with Chango. It is one of the few orishas that can dominate the Eggunes (spirits of the dead) power that was granted by Babalu Aye. It was the great love of Oggun until she left him for Chango. It is authoritarian but sensual, very strong, dominant and impetuous temperament. It is one of the wives of Shango, who accompanied in all his battles. Also is the owner of the cemetery, at whose door or surrounding lives. Next to Eleggua, Orula and Obatalá dominates the four winds.
This Orisha is also known with the name of Yànsá de el Yorùbá Iyámsá (Iya: mother - Omo: children - table: nine) to be mother of nine given egguns which has a special power over them.
Oya has 23 paths or avatars, that refers to:
Oya Yansa Bi Funko. Oya Dumi. Oya’s. Oya Bumi. Oya Bomi. Oya Nira. Oya Igbale. Oya Nike. Oya Tola. Oya Dira. Oya Funke. Oya Iya Efon. Oya Afefere. Oya Yansa Mimu. Oya Obinidodo. Oya Yansa Duma. Oya Yansa Doco. Oya Tombowa. Oya Ayawa. Oya lid. Oya Tomboro. Oya Yansa Odo. Oya Yansa Oriri.
(via rumtabaccoandiron)
Aganju is very much a protective father Orisha who supports and lends strength to a person’s life, and is considered the cane or “support” of a person’s Ocha.
(via rumtabaccoandiron)
The father and the Orisha of the land is Orisha Oko. He is the Orisha that holds the secrets to farming and maintaining the harvest and crops fertile and alive.
#lovethis
(via rumtabaccoandiron)
Maferefun Olokun! Bringing the mystery into our lives and the Orisha that resides at the depths of the sea.
(via rumtabaccoandiron)
Ochosi lives in the woods and is a great hunter missing no target. He is also a warrior, a magician and a seer. Olofi knew then that Ochosi wouldn’t hesitate to punish any wrong doing he came across, and he made it Ochosi’s job to hunt for the truth and measure out justice in the world.
I love Ochosi.
(via rumtabaccoandiron)
Yewa:
Daughter of Oduduwa and Obatala. Sister of Oya and Obba. Babalu Aye Companion. Although always remained pure and chaste. She is an Orisha that represents solitude; the containment of sentiments, female chastity, virginity, and sterility.
(via rumtabaccoandiron)
Oshumare ~
Oshumare is the Orisha of the Serpent and the Rainbow, represents the union between heaven and Earth, the balance between the men and the Orishas. It is androgynous and represents the movement, the permanence and the wealth. He is the assistant of Chango and the Crown of Yemaya. He is the son of Nana Buruku Iroko and Babaluaye are his brothers. His cult comes from territory Yewe, this reached its peak in the 19th century, but has been lost due to the few who have the secrets. It is said that you helped cure the blindness of Olodumare, when it offered him to reside in the Orun. His colors are related to Oya and worship him through Yemaya. Oshumare’s cult is also through the Babalawos. His Elekes are made with 7 transparent accounts interspersed with 11 yellow and 11 Golden.
Ashe
Nana Buruku ~
Nana is the great grandmother of all the Orishas and although she is praised more in Candomble than in Santeria, her fame is starting to rise more and more each day. She is in charge of all maternal issues pertaining to females and is the spirit of earth and moon.
A wise old woman that likes to tend to herself while watching over the Earth and her grandchildren. Nana is petitioned for health issues or those pertaining to the womb, helping to aide in pregnancy whether to destroy or conceive. Now when I say destroy, I mean she aides in raped pregnancies and from that she is an Orisha of justice when rape or wrong maternal instincts are at bay.
When Olodumare created the Earth, it was Nana who was in charge of looking down on the Earth and with her light of the moon she helped us navigate our way.
Nana Buruku is seen near the rivers and is the mother of all the waters, including the sweet rivers. Although Oshun may dominate the sweet waters, it is through her mother Nana that she gets the river waters from. She is also seen in the middle of whirlpools where her offerings are left and the woody marshes.
At one time, she was married to Obatala and nurtured the Orishas as they were born. When Nana Buruku was in the Yoruba cult, she was in the manifestation of Yembo who was violated by her son Oggun. Due to the disgrace she fled to Dahomey and became recognized as the great Nana Buruku. She is a strict Orisha and does not like disrespects in any shape or form.
Nana does not like anything of metal due to the disrespect of her son Oggun and due to that her animals are sacrificed with a knife made from bamboo material. This knife is sharpened and lives with her. Her foods are sacrificed in a different form from other Orishas, they are suffocated in the water where she consumes their Ache and the knife of bamboo is used to finish the process.
A truly mysterious yet powerful Orisha..
Maferefun Nana Buruku! Ache pa’ ti abuela!
(via fogo-av)
