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Sylvana speaks

In case you missed it for a moment: there is quite a stir going on at VARAgids. They lost a messy sixty subscribers this week by putting Sylvana Simons on the cover. Editor-in-chief Cécile Koekoek is in shock and writes in a column in the edition that came out on Tuesday: “We received a lot of responses from readers who, before reading the guide, first tore off the cover and we haven't even talked about the hate that spreads through social channels.”

Of course, we are very shocked, because wasn't our country the place where freedom of expression is accepted all the way and is treated with respect at all times? We certainly don't have to agree on everything, but treating each other as in this situation sounds like a nightmare. And Sylvana, how would she feel about the whole situation? She just posted a photo with text on Instagram that left us speechless.

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You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I’ll rise. Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? ‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I’ll rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops, Weakened by my soulful cries? Does my haughtiness offend you? Don’t you take it awful hard ‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines Diggin’ in my own backyard. You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I’ll rise. Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I’ve got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs? Out of the huts of history’s shame I rise Up from a past that’s rooted in pain I rise I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise. #stillirise by @drmayaangelou #likeaphoenix #amandla

A post shared by Sylvana Simons (@sylvanasimons) on