Religious Groups Tried To Block Rihanna's Senegal GPE Global Education Conference Visit

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Religious Groups Tried To Block Rihanna's Senegal GPE Global Education Conference Visit

When 10 current and three former heads of state and more than 100 ministers gathered at the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Financing Conference in Dakar, Senegal, the conference marked the first time an education financing conference has been hosted by a developing country. 

President Macky Sall of the Republic of Senegal and President Emmanuel Macron of the French Republic welcomed the more than 1200 participants including leaders from UNESCO, UNICEF, the World Bank, civil society, philanthropic foundations and the private sector. Rihanna, GPE’s Global Ambassador supported by Global Citizen, also participated.

Thankfully, Senegal's President Sall didn't bow to the generally unreported but very real protests in Senegal, demanding that Rihanna be banned from the event because of her involvement with the 'Illuminati'. 

Snopes writes that activist celebrities like Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Madonna and Katy Perry are common targets of Trump's friends -- the conspiracy theorists -- who argue that these pop culture leaders are either Satanists or part of the Illuminati. This top conspiracy theory about the Illuminati posits that ultra-wealthy celebrities, bankers, billionaires and politicians are all globalists who secretly rule the world, putting their party above countries or religion. 

Hillary Clinton is considered to be among the most dangerous of the Illuminati, as Alexandra Petri wrote for The Washington Post in October 2016, three weeks before the election in: "The hideous, diabolical truth about Hillary Clinton".  

The Illuminati is believed to include many Freemasons. Although the two groups are believed to share many members and common values, they are historically separate.

Supporting Girls Worldwide Is A Top Priority For Toni Garrn & Plan International

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Supporting Girls Worldwide Is A Top Priority For Toni Garrn & Plan International

Top model Toni Garrn is front and center this week with her sizzling campaign for Australian swimwear brand Seafolly.

That's great news for Toni, but even she will tell you that it's her philanthropic activism that sends her soaring. It wasn't Naomi Campbell who launched the first Super Model Flea Market but Toni Garrn, who made the move to auction off her model friends' unwanted clothing to raise funds for Zimbabwean girls. 

In 2017 Toni partnered with Vestiaire Collective, the online luxury resale website, in launching three Super Model Flea Markets in November in Berlin, London and Paris. 

Toni sponsored her first girl from Vietnam when she was 16 years old and became a global ambassador for Plan International's Because I am a Girl Campaign in 2014. The project led her to launch the Toni Garrn Foundation, a not-for-profit aimed at advancing the rights of girls and improving their education in 2016, with a specific focus on Zimbabwe. Of course, Toni is dedicated to improving the lives of all children but girls are known for generating greater positive impact on their families and communities.

Trumps Launch Full Assault On International Programs That Benefit Women & Girls

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Trumps Launch Full Assault On International Programs That Benefit Women & Girls

The Trump family double teamed their lies about women's rights with the proposed elimination of Hillary Clinton's Global Women's Issues Office, a State Department office that fights for the rights of women all over the world, with a special focus on defending those who are in the most precarious and vulnerable situations in impoverished countries.

Beyoncé Launches Formation Scholars With Four Full 2017/2018 Scholarships For Young Women

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Beyoncé Launches Formation Scholars With Four Full 2017/2018 Scholarships For Young Women

Beyoncé used the first anniversary of 'Lemonade', the world's best-selling album in 2016, to launch Formation Scholars -- full college scholarships for four young women -- one for each of the participating institutions: Berklee College of Music, Howard University, Parsons School of Design and Spelman College, her site explains. 

Daily News: Samira Wiley In 'The Handmaid's Tale'; Prince Harry Honors Diana on Landmine Free World Day April 4

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Ivanka Meets Queen Rania, Insists Her Primary Role In DC Will Be Wife, Mother & Advocate For Women & Girls

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Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan's commitment to girls' education runs very deep. Asking two weeks ago if the future is still female, Forbes writer Beth Doane profiled five women leaders, including Queen Rania. And there is exciting news to learn that Queen Rania has joined Michelle Obama's Let Girls Learn initiative, recently profiled here on AOC.

In these days before Donald Trump's inauguration as President on Friday November 20, and theWomen's March in DC on Saturday, November 21, women's rights are in a state of undefined flux in the new Trump administration -- one that is fundamentally opposed to feminism and any formalized commitment to women's rights as part of its legislative agenda.

We will see which Trump appointees stand for an expansion of women's rights at home and abroad versus those who seek to redefine them in a way that rolls back the clock.

Many women's groups and female leaders will be leaning on Ivanka Trump to persuade her father to veto key pieces of Republican legislation unless the proverbial add-ons are removed. Whether she is up to the task -- or her father has the stomach for the fight -- remains to be see. In my own view, the odds are against us. ~ Anne

Michelle Obama Raises Her Torch For Global Girl's Education In 'We Will Rise'

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Michelle Obama Raises Her Torch For Global Girl's Education In 'We Will Rise'

It's factual to say that I'm in total avoidance psychologically and emotionally over the Obamas leaving the White House and the Trumps moving in. I do not intend to watch the inauguration and will probably be sobbing -- as I was last night watching CNN's film 'We Will Rise' about Michelle Obama's global education initiative for girls. CNN's Isha Sesay is joined by Freida Pinto and Meryl Streep as they travel to Liberia and Morocco in advance of Michelle Obama's arrival.

Watching the First Lady's plane land first in Liberia, I simply lost it totally and the tears were endless. I was so proud watching that big jet with USA emblazoned on it touch down, and my pain was acute knowing that most probably all the girls' and women's initiatives launched first by Hillary Clinton as Secy of State and then continued by Michelle Obama will be lost in a Trump Administration. Can you imagine Melania and Ivanka touching down In Liberia and Morocco -- unless it's Marrakech and the refurbished La Mamounia hotel? No, you can't.

Interviewed by CNN about her commitment to girls' education, Michelle Obama says: "This issue is personal for me".

For me, education was power.

Memory Banda TED Talks Against Child Marriage & Malawi's Sexual Initiation Camps

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Memory Banda TED Talks Against Child Marriage & Malawi’s Sexual Initiation Camps

Watching several TED Talks yesterday, the subject of Malawi’s child brides surfaced again in the passionate TED Woman2015 talk given by Malawi’s Memory Banda. Memory became an organizer in support of the new law against child marriage, and she also introduced me to the topic of ‘initiation camps’. Banda’s sister, who has three children and two failed marriages at age 16, was sent to an ‘initiation camp’ at age 11.

Watch more TEDWoman 2015 presentations.

Michelle Obama Takes 'Let Girls Learn' Project To London's Mulberry School

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Michelle Obama Takes ‘Let Girls Learn’ Project To London’s Mulberry School

America’s First Lady Michelle Obama was greeted like a true rock star when she visited London’s Mulberry School to promote her joint $200 million US/UK partnership in support of girls’ education. Launched in March, the ‘Let Girls Learn’ initiative will support teacher training, girls’ leadership camps and other community-based global projects that promote the advancement of girls.

The Mulberry School is in ‘an area of high deprivation, writes the BBC. Most students are from the Bangladeshi community and use English as a second language. Read on in Sensual Rebel

The Skate Girls Of Kabul Are High Flying Into London's Saatchi Gallery In April 2015

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The Skate Girls Of Kabul Are High Flying Into London’s Saatchi Gallery In April 2015

Young women make up about 45% of Skateistan’s members. These girls are forbidden to ride bicycles and they must wear restrictive clothing for many sport-related activities.

For these girls, this skateboarding initiative not only gives them the chance to go to school, it also allows them to feel a sense of freedom, strength, and that they have a safe haven away from the dangers that they face on a daily basis. Even with their confining clothes, they are able to successfully skateboard, which would explain why this activity is becoming the nation’s #1 sport for women.

Enter now British photographer Jessica Fulford Dobson, who heard about Skateistan and begged to photograph the liberated, airborn girls.

The Skate Girls of Kabul exhibition opens at London’t Saatchi Gallery from April 15th-28th. Read a wonderful article by Andrea Alessi for Artslant ‘Afghanistan’s Skater Girls Roll Into the Saatchi Gallery’.

Close To Meeting Goal Of 600 Women Teachers In Burkina Faso, Toni Garrn Heads Soon For Zimbabwe With Plan International

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Mari Malek & Friends By Cliff Watts Stand For Girls In South Sudan

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Mari Malek & Friends By Cliff Watts Stand For Girls In South SudanAOC Sensual Rebel

In this series of images by Cliff Watts, Mari Malek is joined by South Sudan sisters Mari Agory, Grace Bol, Rina Kara, Elizabeth Arjok, Nyamouch Girwath, and Nykhor Paul in a visual exploration of their South Sudanese roots, beauty and traditions. The images support Stand 4 Education, the foundation of Mari Malek, in support of educating girls in South Sudan.

Mari Malek by Cliff Watts

Madonna's buildOn Alliance Bears Fruit In Malawi

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Madonna’s buildOn Alliance Bears Fruit In Malawi

“Because of Madonna and Raising Malawi’s support, we will be able to build schools for children that the rest of the world has left behind.  Generations of children will have access to education and be empowered to break the cycle of poverty, illiteracy and low expectations,” said Jim Ziolkowski, Founder and CEO of buildOn, in his own comments around the collaboration.

Shakira's Barefoot Foundation Commits $400,000 to School in Haiti

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Shakira's Barefoot Foundation Commits $400,000 to School in Haiti

Shakira is one of our muses here at Anne of Carversville, a quintessential Smart Sensuality woman: smart, sexy and with heart. A constant activist for the poor and underprivileged, Shakira walks her talk in word and deed.

Shakira was in Haiti on Thursday, celebrating the upcoming renovation of a historic Catholic girls school, severely damaged in the country’s devastating 2010 earthquake. Shakira always gets down with the people. In Haiti, with her song ‘Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) setting the mood, Shakira grooved with students from Port-au-Prince’s Elie Dubois high school.

Gucci Brand's Deep Commitment to Women In Need

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Digging deeper into the Gucci website, we discover a wide range of involvement with young people around the world. The luxury brand supports China Children & Teenagers Fund. And now for the AOC jackpot.

PPR Foundation for Women’s Dignity and Rights

Gucci is part of the PPR Foundation for Women’s Dignity and Rights, replacing the former SolidarCité. The foundation is tied to PPR, the French multinational founded by François Pinault and now run by his son François-Henri Pinault.

PPR sold its French Printemps store in 2006 and is now focused on Gucci, Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent, Sergio Rossi, Boucheron, Bottega Veneta, Alexander McQueen (50%) and Stella McCartney (50%), as well as other brands and mail order companies.

The Foundation for Women’s Dignity & Rights is involved in so many global initiatives for women that we can’t list them. The projects aren’t sexy: genital mutilation, forced child marriage, honour killings, sex trafficking.

In my experience, most American brands shudder at the thoughts of articulating these concerns in the same sentence as their brand names.

Shakira Inspires Oxford University Students

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Shakira at OxfordAs further evidence that embracing one’s Smart Sensuality doesn’t render a woman a corrupting force in nature and among men, I’m sharing Shakira’s Monday video from her speech at Oxford University.

The same voice that last week announced that libido is the “engine of the world” makes one of the most articulate, informative short presentations ever on the importance of education for the world’s poor children. Shakira believes — as do I — that embracing our sensuality invigorates us as women to accomplish important works for the planet and its people.

Simply stated, we’re connected to life and want everyone to live it as well as possible.

Ours is a holistic view of womanhood, one that doesn’t cut women up into good girl and bad girl departments. In Shakira’s playbook, women are pure goodness, with the occasional bad apple, I suppose. She inspires us to embrace our very best selves and then use that goodness on behalf of humankind.

Unlike most religious leaders, Shakira doesn’t see libido and sensuality as corrupting of women’s morality. This is her beauty and gift to women and men both.

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