Silent Singer

His wife, Yukiko, was also a part of this; she is often credited with suggesting the plan. The Sugihara family was held in a Soviet POW camp for 18 months until the end of the war; within a year of returning home, Sugihara was asked to resign - officially due to downsizing, but most likely because the government disagreed with his actions.

He didn’t simply grant visas - he granted visas against direct orders, after attempting three times to receive permission from the Japanese Foreign Ministry and being turned down each time. He did not “misread” orders; he was in direct violation of them, with the encouragement and support of his wife.

He was honoured as Righteous Among the Nations in 1985, a year before he died in Kamakura; he and his descendants have also been granted permanent Israeli citizenship. He was also posthumously awarded the Life Saving Cross of Lithuania (1993); Commander’s Cross Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (1996); and the Commander’s Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2007). Though not canonized, some Eastern Orthodox Christians recognize him as a saint.

Sugihara was born in Gifu on the first day of 1900, January 1. He achieved top marks in his schooling; his father wanted him to become a physician, but Sugihara wished to pursue learning English. He deliberately failed the exam by writing only his name and then entered Waseda, where he majored in English. He joined the Foreign Ministry after graduation and worked in the Manchurian Foreign Office in Harbin (where he learned Russian and German; he also converted to the Eastern Orthodox Church during this time). He resigned his post in protest over how the Japanese government treated the local Chinese citizens. He eventually married Yukiko Kikuchi, who would suggest and encourage his acts in Lithuania; they had four sons together. Chiune Sugihara passed away July 31, 1986, at the age of 86. Until her own passing in 2008, Yukiko continued as an ambassador of his legacy.

You want to know about my motivation, don’t you? Well. It is the kind of sentiments anyone would have when he actually sees refugees face to face, begging with tears in their eyes. He just cannot help but sympathize with them. Among the refugees were the elderly and women. They were so desperate that they went so far as to kiss my shoes, Yes, I actually witnessed such scenes with my own eyes. Also, I felt at that time, that the Japanese government did not have any uniform opinion in Tokyo. Some Japanese military leaders were just scared because of the pressure from the Nazis; while other officials in the Home Ministry were simply ambivalent.

People in Tokyo were not united. I felt it silly to deal with them. So, I made up my mind not to wait for their reply. I knew that somebody would surely complain about me in the future. But, I myself thought this would be the right thing to do. There is nothing wrong in saving many people’s lives….The spirit of humanity, philanthropy…neighborly friendship…with this spirit, I ventured to do what I did, confronting this most difficult situation—and because of this reason, I went ahead with redoubled courage.

The stone next to him bears a quote from the Talmud; “He who saves one life, saves the entire world.”  

“Cyndi Lauper will be the first ever recipient of the United Nations High Note Global Prize award, recognising her consistent hard work to end homelessness among LGBT+ youth.

The award was created by the UN to reward artists who use their music and platform to champion social justice issues. Lauper began her charity True Colors United in 2008 to prevent and end homelessness among LGBT+ youth.

According to the charity: “LGBTQ young people are 120 per cent more likely to experience homelessness than all other youth… Through a wide array of advocacy, training and education, youth collaboration, and technical assistance programs, True Colors United implements innovative solutions to youth homelessness that focus on the unique experiences of LGBTQ young people.”

“Tens of thousands of people have rallied across the world, in countries as diverse as Guatemala, Russia, Sudan and Turkey, to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Roughly 87,000 women and girls were murdered across the world in 2017, according to the United Nations.

The French government announced it would make it easier for doctors to share information on vulnerable women and write into law the concept of psychological “entrapment”, following enormous rallies in France over the weekend.

Crowds marched through the streets of Moscow to highlight the government’s failure to pass laws protecting women, and hundreds of Sudanese women chanted: “Freedom, peace and justice” as they gathered in Khartoum in the first such protest in decades.

In Mexico City, masked demonstrators with sledgehammers smashed glass panes of bus stops, spray-painted monuments and clashed with riot police on Monday to protest authorities’ failure to halt soaring rates of femicide and rape in the country.

Tens of thousands marched in Madrid on Monday evening following a weekend of protests. Spain’s long-standing laws against gender violence have not halted the problem with 52 women having been killed by their partners or ex-partners since the start of 2019.

The UN warned that more action was needed around the world, singling out Afghanistan as a country where too little is done to counter sexual violence and rape.”

Read the full piece and see more photos here

Sudan

El Salvador 

Chile

“Two New York state lawmakers are sponsoring legislation to ban doctors from “performing or supervising virginity examinations” after rapper T.I. said he demands a gynecologist check his daughter’s hymen to verify his daughter’s virgin status.

Here’s text of the New York State Senate Bill S6897, sponsored by state Sen. Roxanne J. Persaud. Here is its state Assembly corollary, sponsored by state Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages and co-sponsored by Rick Gottfried, Andrew Hevesi, and Walter T. Mosley.

In the Senate bill’s justification memo, Persaud’s bill notes that “virginity” is not a medical term but a social construct used to further discriminate against women and girls. “These examinations are not only a violation of women’s and girls’ human rights, but in cases of rape can cause additional pain and mimic the original act of sexual violence, leading to re-experience, re-traumatization and re-victimization,” according to the memo. “Many women suffer from adverse short- and long-term physical, psychological and social consequences of this practice. This includes anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress.”

“Being poor now just leads to being more poor later. Can’t pay to clean your teeth? Next year, pay for a root canal. Can’t pay for a new mattress? Next year, pay for back surgery. Can’t pay to get that lump checked out? Next year, pay for stage 3 cancer. Poverty charges interest.”