100 Black Women on Motherh ood | Waging ‘Green Jihad’

Odeh Rashid al-Jayyousi, the United Nations’ first eco-theologian, is linking Islam with environmentalism.

“Corruption has appeared on land and in the sea, caused by the hands of people so that they may taste the consequences of their actions and turn back.” A quote from An Inconvenient Truth? Nope, those words come straight from the Quran.

As climate change threatens the entirety of the Muslim world — and rampant wildfires draw global alarm — more people are turning to Islam itself to find inspiration for the environmental movement. At the forefront is Odeh Rashid al-Jayyousi, a 58-year-old Palestinian academic who serves on the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel at the United Nations and leads the little-known but fast-growing field of ecotheology, the study of religions’ calls to protect the natural environment. Muslim disciples of this idea cite eco-friendly verses of the Quran to argue that Islam obliges its followers to fight environmental degradation, promote sustainable development and stop global warming.

“Islam as a way of life provides remedies to the global debate on growth and sustainability,” says al-Jayyousi, chair of the innovation and technology management department at Arabian Gulf University in Bahrain. “Islam views the role of the individual as a value and knowledge creator, a steward, a witness and a reformer who strives to contribute to progress and a good life.”

Foreign productions are flocking to Eastern Europe — and raising the region’s global profile in the process.

Descending from the upper concourse of the ornate train station — exchanging glances with a young woman on the opposing escalator along the way — the skater pops in his earphones and turns on his Apple Watch. The music kicks in, and the show begins: Launching into a near-acrobatic routine of flip tricks and primo slides, he shuffles across the marble floor of the dimly lit neoclassical structure as passersby go about their business.

You’ve probably never been to Ukraine. But if you’re one of the 129,000 online viewers who caught that 2017 advertisement, filmed inside Kiev’s main train station, you’ve already been exposed to it. Since 2016, Ukraine has offered a tax rebate for foreign film and television producers who can cover up to 25 percent of their costs in the country. Along with an attractive blend of low labor costs, technical knowhow and unique local scenery, that’s helping Ukraine draw international producers like never before. Yet it faces stiff competition — from regional neighbors.

Black motherhood is complicated — but talking about it can help.

When actress Ryan Michelle Bathe became a mother of two rambunctious boys, it felt like her life had been scrambled. Her sons are now age 8 and 4, but while mothering has become easier in some ways, it’s still very much work in progress for her. “I think I’m going to be a work in progress until the day I’m not progressing,” Bathe told Carlos Watson, CEO of OZY Media. The occasion was the taping of the second episode — on motherhood — of Black Women OWN the Conversation, a first-of-its-kind television show between OZY Media and the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). The episode aired on Aug. 31.

Sitting a few seats over, Daily Show comedian Dulcé Sloan had a slightly different experience to narrate. “I’m in my mid-30s and I never thought I wouldn’t be a mother by now,” she said, visibly emotional. “I’m very surprised in my own life.”