September 2011
Occupy Wall street: where the folks of color at?
Questions to keep in mind:
- Who organized the event?
- Who does the struggle represent most?
- How long have people of color suffered at worst conditions from corporate greed?
- watch the videos: who’s mostly at the occupation?
- If people of color were the majority at the occupation, would the occupation have lasted this long?
- Is racial inequality a central component in the struggle?
- Let’s say the occupation is successful, and a new system is put into place: who will the new system benefit most?
- Police brutality: cops have been killing and incarcerating people of color at much higher rates than white people. Is the police brutality at occupywallstreet reflective of the true racist nature of police brutality in this country?
- The South Bronx/16th congressional district is the poorest congressional district in the United States (where I live). How many people from the South Bronx are participating at this occupation? Even if they wanted to attend, could they risk the survival of their family by missing work and school?
- How are the participants of occupy wall street privileged in their access to receiving and sending information concerning the event?
WHERE THE FOLKS OF COLOR AT IN ALL THIS???
i posted this in response to this article
“Our intention is not to dismiss it as just this, but the gut feeling was that there is a serious disconnect down there. We left with mad questions! Where was the hood? Where was the poorest congressional district in the USA, from The South Bronx at? Like we say in Hip Hop, where Brooklyn at? Could it be that perhaps the working class couldn’t afford to just leave work and the responsibility of bills and family survival to camp out in a city park? Did folks from our communities not know about this? If people of color were occupying Wall St. would we have lasted this long?”
precisely. not to invalidate but theres a gap for sure. and it is racial. it is.
just a reminder: attending protests is a privilege.
being able to take time off from work/school (especially for long periods like w/ occupy wall street), being able to get arrested without getting deported (which is what happens to non-citizens when they get arrested), not having disabilities that prevent you from being there, not having children to take care of
you get the idea
sometimes i get annoyed with activists who assume that everyone can go to these things
THIS ^^^.
THANK YOU.
I’d also like to add that going to a few protests does not an activist or a useful fighter of oppression make. At the end of the day fighting oppression and changing the system isn’t JUST about a few flashy displays of anger with signs and yelling. Those things matter, too, of course and they have their time and place. But it’s also about changing daily realities for people, about what happens when people aren’t protesting, when they’re working, going to school, living their lives.
“I’d not only get in the cab,” he says, “but I’d take the taxi driver out of the car, hostage. The taxi, jump out while it was moving, jump onto a pedal bike that was just past the door as I got on it, and then get onto a plane — on the wing — land on top of Sony Studios, slide through the air conditioning, and land in the office.”
—
Perfect. Human.
(via whineandbeer)
dasfasdffffgggg
(via laurasthinkingwithportals)
Oh, I would SO watch a James Bond movie starring Idris!
(via downlo)
IDRIS ELBA AS JAMES BOND PLS
(via jhameia)
I love me some Daniel Craig, but DAY-UM. Idris as Bond? I HAVE DIED AND GONE TO AN IMPOSSIBLY HAPPY PLACE JUST THINKING ABOUT IT.
Seriously, though. Idris Elba as Bond. There is just too much UNF and BAMF and I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT BECAUSE I AM EXPLODING WITH THE AWESOMENESS OF THIS IDEA. I MUST FIND A WAY TO LIVE IN THE REALITY WHERE THIS IS A THING AND I CAN WATCH IT. UNNNNNNNNNNF.
An Open Letter To My Local Hipsters →
mediaindigena.com
Non-native hipsters, I know that native imagery is trendy right now, that your friends are wearing it and the blogs and magazines you read are telling you to join in the fun. But when you and I look at those dreamcatcher earrings at the mall, I’m pretty sure we see different things. So I’d like to take a few minutes of your time to share my perspective, as a real live native person. Maybe in exchange for wearing my culture on your chest, you could allow me to suggest a slight re-jigging of your fashion trend.
I come from a family of artists, so I appreciate the aesthetic value of our artwork. My family is full of carvers, weavers, dancers, and singers. I’m lucky that way. But it isn’t just luck that allowed these artforms to be practiced today, it is years of political struggle and resistance.
For close to 100 years, in an effort to get rid of “the Indian problem” in Canada, the Indian Act made it illegal for us to practice our traditions. You see, non-native hipsters, your ancestors wanted to obliterate us in order to clear up the land for colonial expansion, and getting rid of our artforms and cultural practices was at the heart of those efforts. It was only the mid-1950s that this was written out of Canadian law, so that my relatives were no longer imprisoned for using our masks, blankets and other regalia in ceremonies.
A super article about cultural appropriation from Media Indigena by Sara Hunt.
Because FYCap can totally be hilarious and educational.
Michigan bill would jail teachers who send political emails | The Raw Story
The Michigan Education Association, a union representing the state’s teachers, said the bill was “political payback” after a conservative activist lost a legal battle over the use a school district’s email service for union lobbying efforts. The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled the emails were not subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
“This is more than just another blatant attack on public workers and their unions,” the Michigan Education Association said in a statement. “This is an unconstitutional attack on every citizen’s right to freedom of speech and freedom of association.”
The Livingston Daily noted that the bill cannot be enforced without modifying the state’s Freedom of Information Act, which lawmakers so far have not considered doing. Rep. Pscholka said the law would depend on co-workers who report violations by their colleagues.
mother. of. the. fuck.
The end times are near.
let fray-dom ring.
FyeahCap, and why, no, I don't give a poop about stooping to any level when I was never on equal ground anyway.
zoubaneh reblogged your photo: i’m sure they’re very educational but they still…
Yeah, let’s stoop to their level and call them crackers. Good job, really.
At first, I wasn’t going to respond to this reblog, because well I haven’t responded to any of the others because you’d be surprised how many notifications there are for so few posts, but I wanted to address this.
Why, exactly, do people feel that native people, all over the world, must be the bigger person? Or, to be on “another level.” Cultural genocides have been happening all over the world. They still exist today. Heck, in Canada, I think the last Native Residency school was closed in the 90s. That means that, there are native children that were forcibly taken from their homes to be forcibly assimilated in to white western cultures, in attempt to kill the indian and save the man. Do you understand that?
Calling someone a cracker, which I never did, I just drew the shit on a cracker because of an inside conversation between two friends, will never come close, never, to genocide. Especially when that genocide is so erased many don’t even learn about it in history books.
You want to get huffy? Do it about the ignorant hipsters who wear cultural garb ignorantly and not because people aren’t doing it in a way that caters to your delicate sensibilities.
It’s not about being the bigger person when there’s over 400 years of oppression that has torn down native cultures. If anything, they should be the bigger person before they put that feathered headband on their privileged little noggins and take the time to learn about true history, and not just the white guys in the history books.
I bolded the most excellent parts of this response, but all of it is extremely right on and righteous and I advise reading it (repeatedly!) and taking it all very close to heart. Especially if you’re one of my fellow white people who wants to get upset and act like you’ve been so badly and personally wounded by the idea of being called a “cracker” or even the implication of it.
“I don’t expect gay people to prove to me, a straight person, that there’s actually homophobia. I don’t expect poor people to prove to me, a Harvard grad, that hunger and poverty are widespread problems. And if someone asked me, as an Asian person, to “prove” to them that racism exists, I would laugh all the way back to Chinatown. Marginalized groups are not responsible for explaining their marginalization to you. If you are actually concerned, you would take the initiative to do some research yourself instead of showing up at some oppressed group’s door step demanding a list of citations for things (racism, sexism, etc.) that are proven time and time again in the real world.”
—
WORD (via notevenbovvered)
oh hell yeah.
(via randomberlinchick)
Amen!
(via soulquarius)
“When crucial pieces of our infrastructure fail, they do so gracelessly, without much warning and in ways that are difficult to anticipate. The job of sifting through the wreckage falls to official investigators, who determine the event’s ‘root causes’ and offer proposals for new safeguards. Their interventions restore our sense of security by placing what happened in a moral framework. The idea that accidents are caused by a few greedy or negligent individuals is more palatable than the alternative, that the guilty parties were doing exactly what was asked of them, blind to any consequences, like an engine that keeps pumping steam after its pipes break.”
—Mattathias Schwartz reviews two books on the BP oil disaster. (via thepoliticalnotebook)
“According to immigrant advocates, a new immigration enforcement bill being considered in Congress would undermine existing immigration law by removing prosecutorial discretion and deferred action, two components that protect undocumented victims of domestic violence.
Michelle Ortiz — the supervising attorney of Lucha, a unit within the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center — says that Rep. Lamar Smith’s Hinder the Administration Legalization Temptation Act (better known as the HALT Act) would force immigration authorities to deport victims of domestic violence who reach out for help.
Smith, R-Texas, has said the HALT Act is necessary because President Obama is seeking “backdoor amnesty” for millions of undocumented immigrants. The bill is cosponsored by Florida Republicans Vern Buchanan, Richard Nugent and C.W. Bill Young.” —
Michelle Ortiz — the supervising attorney of Lucha, a unit within the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center — says that Rep. Lamar Smith’s Hinder the Administration Legalization Temptation Act (better known as the HALT Act) would force immigration authorities to deport victims of domestic violence who reach out for help.
Smith, R-Texas, has said the HALT Act is necessary because President Obama is seeking “backdoor amnesty” for millions of undocumented immigrants. The bill is cosponsored by Florida Republicans Vern Buchanan, Richard Nugent and C.W. Bill Young.” —
GOP Congressmen Propose Plan To Forcibly Deport Undocumented Domestic Abuse Victims | ThinkProgress
I just spewed vomit all over this fucking news. I am sick to my stomch-just fucking *sick* over this. In abusive situations you know what *already* happens? the abuser takes full control of the abused person’s documentation. Holds it over the abused person to control. Hides the documentation, refuses to pay to get it renewed. threatens to call ICE if person doesn’t submit. There have been numerous cases of abusive spouses actually hiring people to pretend like they’re ICE agents to scare women into submission or remove them from the country so that they can’t fight for custody of kids—one case had a husband hire somebody to pose as an agent, the fake agent did a “raid” on the house, “arrested” the woman, got her on a plane and out of the country—only then was it affirmed that he was a fake agent hired by the husband. but now she can’t get back into the country because she doesn’t have proper documentation—and she can’t even see her kids.
what’s going to happen when even reporting abuse will get you deported?
(via midwestmountainmama)
This is HORRIFYING
(via blackamazon)
Question: I saw your post about the girl who is pregnant and needs help. Alpha Women’s Center of Newaygo (address & email redacted). I volunteer at a preg help line in brighton, mi and I can tell you they will be able to help. Also, if you know this girl personally please encourage her to have the baby, and make sure she explains the situation to her parents, I can’t imagine someone kicking a rape victim out of their home. Best wishes.
Answer: Okay, so I had to sleep on this because I know I am not going to be “nice” about it. I wasn’t sure if I should post this with your name or make it a text post without your name or what. For your sake, I decided to allow that you are just remarkably ignorant and don’t need to have your name attached to this garbage, but I do feel the need to respond because there are a lot of people like you out there and you all need to be told a few things.
So let’s start with this notion that I should encourage a teenage girl to have the baby. I think that is pretty presumptuous to begin with, and she will have plenty of people falling over themselves to “encourage” her to have it. I don’t know that is what she needs from me, at this point. It isn’t what she came to me for. I don’t think it is right for people to pressure people to have babies or imply that is the “best” option. We don’t know what the best option for anyone else is. I believe my role is to help her find what her options are and support her to make an informed decision that SHE can live with.
I want to be clear from the outset that is my belief: it is no one’s right to tell her having the baby is the best decision for her. BUT, in particular, I find this suggestion extremely problematic since this pregnancy is the result of rape (and even moreso because it was by a classmate that she has to face everyday, in a small town where she will be forced to stop going to school once the pregnancy shows and will be forever branded). I don’t know how anyone can justify telling someone they should have a baby that is a result of rape. Maybe you are a big Justin Beiber fan and believe that these things happen for a reason or whatever. But until it is YOUR body that has been brutalized and you are carrying an unwanted child, you don’t get to have an opinion on this matter. And when it is your body (and I hope it never is a situation you go thru) then your opinion only stands for YOUR OWN BODY. HOW DARE YOU TELL ME TO TELL A YOUNG WOMAN SHE SHOULD HAVE THE BABY OF HER RAPIST??? And you volunteer for a pregnancy helpline? GET A NEW JOB. Because you have NO BUSINESS answering helpline questions by pressuring traumatized, scared and confused people to believe they “should” keep the baby.
Now, as to “make sure” she talks to her parents. I am encouraging her to talk with her parents & offered to help her if she wishes because I don’t think a pregnancy can be hidden and the honesty early will make things easier. I do believe (and remember) that often as teenagers we think our parents will be angry and blame us, but given the opportunity they will be supportive. But it is part of rape culture that a teenager has reason to assume that their parents will be angry, disappointed, and vindictive to them. It is this culture that shames teens for getting pregnant (whether by rape or not) that causes them to have these fears. I don’t think any teenager should have to worry that their parents would kick them out of the house for a pregnancy. But the reality is that many parents do abuse and kick out their teens for pregnancy. And because we live in a rape culture, it is also common to be blamed for rape; told it was not rape, told you are making up a rape to cover for getting pregnant, told that it was your own fault for being raped. And yes, teenagers are kicked out for being raped, and kicked out for being pregnant. I don’t know what world you live in that you think parents don’t kick their kids out for being raped, but it isn’t the real world. It happens every day in this country.
Then you give me a resource that is no use to me. For one, I know how to Google too and already knew of that resource. I do not understand why everyone seems to think I didn’t even Google for myself before asking… But also, I am quite familiar with the work of the Alpha Women’s Center. I’m not surprised, in light of your other statements, that you would suggest them. But I am not going to send this young woman to a center that withholds pertinent health information, does not present ALL options available, does pressure people into giving babies up to “good Christian homes”, and does force them to watch traumatizing videos about fetus development while telling them that they are murderers if they have even had a thought about terminating the pregnancy.
I believe that people have a right to the healthcare and support services necessary to make informed decisions about what is best for their own selves. I do not believe in presenting only the options I agree with. I do not believe in presenting only an option that I think is best. Because it’s not my body, it’s not me that has to live with the decision, it’s not me that has to live with the results. This is her decision. My role here is to help her find the information she wants and needs, and to be an emotional support to her navigating thru the decisions she must make, if she wishes me to be. But they are her decisions.
One of the (many) reasons my mother had for abusing me was my rape. IDEK why people think that families are automatically supportive of survivors, when we live in a culture that says women asked for it by virtue of being alive. Whoever sent you this message needs to spend less time in that misogynistic bubble & more time in the real world.
I know it's a really strange concept for a lot of people in the west, who are generally living in a society dominated by Christianity that not only welcomes conversion, but positively revels in it...
…but not all religions are open to outsiders. And closed religions deserve to be respected and not intruded on. By forcing your way in, and by being an unwelcome “practitioner” of this kind of religion is a paradox. If you truly believed and respected it, you would understand why you weren’t welcome. If you use your social privilege to demand entrance anyway, you are immediately tagged as someone who doesn’t really understand the religion or respect it anyway. See how that works?
So dear (usually white) people trying to encroach on people’s religions: believe it or not, the history of Whiteness trying to destroy these religions in the name of Christianity kinda means you aren’t welcome. Or the religions may just not allow outsiders. Deal with it.
attn: my ex roommate
oh the stories i could tell about him
Reggie Clemons could be the next Troy Davis. →
amnestyusa.org
zami:
[Image: Shoulders up picture of Reggie Clemons, a Black man wearing a white shirt, seated in front of a white brick wall.]
From http://www.justiceforreggie.com:
In 1991, two young women went missing after visiting the abandoned Chain of Rocks Bridge in St. Louis Missouri — a popular hang-out with local teens — with their cousin. The cousin told the police an impossible tale: that the girls had been pushed from the bridge, but he was ordered to jump by an unknown assailant and survived the nearly 80-foot fall into strong currents with no injuries and dry hair. The police were naturally skeptical of his account and, within hours, he confessed to killing the girls.
Yet this man, who is white, has never spent a day in jail. Instead, the police arrested four local youths who were also on the bridge that night. Three of the young men, all African-American, received the death sentence. The fourth young man, who is white, received a 30-year sentence and will be eligible for parole soon.
Reggie Clemons is one of the youths that received the death sentence, even though prosecutors conceded that Reggie neither pushed the women nor planned their deaths. The prosecutor simply theorized that Reggie was an “accomplice” even though there is no physical evidence linking Reggie to the crime for which he received the death penalty: no fingerprints, no DNA, no hair or fiber samples.
Many of Reggie’s claims have never been heard in a court of law because of procedural rules that have barred the presentation of important evidence. After reviewing the evidence, two federal judges voted to overturn his death sentence and found that Reggie was denied a fair trial. But Reggie’s sentence of death remains.
So many people were up in arms yesterday…now that Troy Davis is gone, will you continue to fight or were you just hype for the moment?
Click the link to head to amnesty.org and learn more about Reggie’s case, sign the petition—do something. We have lots more time to act.
keep this revolution moving
This is on my dash again and this STILL bothers me. TWO. FEDERAL. JUDGES. Voted to OVERTURN this sentence. BUT HE’S STILL GOING TO DIE. Why?
Keep fighting for this, people! As much as you can. Keep signing petitions, calling who you can, doing what you can. We cannot let the state murder people and say it represents us. We cannot, must no let this be done in our name without so much as an outcry of “No!”.
Executing this man is just as wrong as executing Troy Davis (R.I.P.).
Agreed. I’d recommend going tohttp://governor.mo.gov/ and using the contact us link to contact Governor Nixon directly, though. The site with the petition frankly makes me wonder if the validity will be questioned: they’re accepting signatures via blog comments, and some of the anonymous ones from 2010 addressing a man who hadn’t been governor for two years at that point does not give me the warm fuzzies.
(Or download it and mail it in, some jerkweed in the MO state legislature will be questioning the validity of those electronic signatures, trust me.)
Good point! Going directly to the MO Governor’s office might be better. There’s also the Amnesty International USA page on the case with a petition you can sign.
There is also the Change.org petition that can be signed.
tw: rape, resources needed in Newaygo, MI
Urgent Need: Resources for Raped & Pregnant Teenager in Newaygo MI
Okay… I don’t even know exactly what I am asking for here, I just know that I have been approached by a desperate teenager and have NO IDEA what resources exist in Newaygo, Michigan. This young woman was raped by a classmate a few months ago and just found out she is pregnant. She is sure her parents will kick her out. I don’t want to tell her what to do (not that I even know), I want to help her figure out what her options are so that she can make choices with support for whatever they are.
If anyone knows anything about what rape, pregnancy, shelter for teens, or abortion options exist where she is, PLEASE SHARE. Thank you.
reblogging in case someone knows what could help her!
Signal boost. Any Michigan folks that know anything, please get on this! This young person needs help and I’m hoping Tumblr can come through.
Reggie Clemons could be the next Troy Davis. →
amnestyusa.org
zami:
[Image: Shoulders up picture of Reggie Clemons, a Black man wearing a white shirt, seated in front of a white brick wall.]
From http://www.justiceforreggie.com:
In 1991, two young women went missing after visiting the abandoned Chain of Rocks Bridge in St. Louis Missouri — a popular hang-out with local teens — with their cousin. The cousin told the police an impossible tale: that the girls had been pushed from the bridge, but he was ordered to jump by an unknown assailant and survived the nearly 80-foot fall into strong currents with no injuries and dry hair. The police were naturally skeptical of his account and, within hours, he confessed to killing the girls.
Yet this man, who is white, has never spent a day in jail. Instead, the police arrested four local youths who were also on the bridge that night. Three of the young men, all African-American, received the death sentence. The fourth young man, who is white, received a 30-year sentence and will be eligible for parole soon.
Reggie Clemons is one of the youths that received the death sentence, even though prosecutors conceded that Reggie neither pushed the women nor planned their deaths. The prosecutor simply theorized that Reggie was an “accomplice” even though there is no physical evidence linking Reggie to the crime for which he received the death penalty: no fingerprints, no DNA, no hair or fiber samples.
Many of Reggie’s claims have never been heard in a court of law because of procedural rules that have barred the presentation of important evidence. After reviewing the evidence, two federal judges voted to overturn his death sentence and found that Reggie was denied a fair trial. But Reggie’s sentence of death remains.
So many people were up in arms yesterday…now that Troy Davis is gone, will you continue to fight or were you just hype for the moment?
Click the link to head to amnesty.org and learn more about Reggie’s case, sign the petition—do something. We have lots more time to act.
keep this revolution moving
This is on my dash again and this STILL bothers me. TWO. FEDERAL. JUDGES. Voted to OVERTURN this sentence. BUT HE’S STILL GOING TO DIE. Why?
Keep fighting for this, people! As much as you can. Keep signing petitions, calling who you can, doing what you can. We cannot let the state murder people and say it represents us. We cannot, must no let this be done in our name without so much as an outcry of “No!”.
Executing this man is just as wrong as executing Troy Davis (R.I.P.).
“
The largest mass execution in U.S. history occurred 148 years ago, when 38 Dakota warriors were hanged from a single scaffold in Mankato.
The shock waves of that mass execution still reverberate today among the Dakota people. A new documentary film remembers the 38, and also a group of Dakota who ride on horseback each year at this time to Mankato to commemorate the executions of Dec. 26, 1862.
” —New Documentary Remembers Largest mass Execution In U.S. History -Mark Steil Minnesota Public Radio (via karnythia)
For people interested, y’all should read Waziyatawin’s work on this and indigenous people’s right to reclaim their homelands. If you do not support the reclamation of indigenous homelands, you are an asshole imperialist.
(via cuntymint)
HOLY FUCK: TRIGGER WARNING! TRIGGER WARNING! →
tsotchke.tumblr.com
[TRIGGER WARNING FOR WHITE SUPREMACIST VIOLENCE, MURDER, TORTURE, AND LYNCHING.]
Mary Turner (died 1918) was an Africa-American victim of lynching in Waldosta, Georgia.
In May, 1918, 31-year old white plantation owner Hampton Smith, known to abuse and beat his workers, was shot and killed by one of his black workers on the plantation, 19-year old Sydney Johnson. After a few days on the plantation, Johnson had been beaten by Smith for not working while he was sick.
A week-long mob-driven manhunt soon ensued, in which at least 11 people were killed; among those killed was another black man, Hayes Turner. Distraught, his eight-month pregnant wife Mary publicly opposed her husband’s murder and threatened to have members of the mob arrested. This caused the mob to turn against her. She was taken from her home by a mob of several hundred, had her ankles tied, was hung upside down from a tree, doused in gasoline and motor oil and set on fire.
While still alive, a member of the mob split her abdomen open with a knife, and the unborn child fell to ground, where it was stomped on and crushed. Finally, Turner’s body was riddled with bullets. After the incident, the Associated Press wrote that Mary Turner had made “unwise remarks” about the execution of her husband, and that “the people, in their indignant mood, took exception to her remarks, as well as her attitude”.Just felt her story needed to be told. This is what lynching was.
do not hide from your past white amerikkka. it is also your present.
So coming up on the news...
Is a story about how 8 black foster children went missing and were found. It’s rare to see anyone give a shit about missing black children, so I was surprised, until I realized…
It took 8 missing black children to get 1/50th of the exposure that one pretty missing white girl gets.
Just putting that out there, and black people, if you’re going to go missing, do it in packs or no one will hear about it or care.Source here. Also, here’s a great post on missing white woman syndrome.
Help a fatty out with some info
I need a little help.
I live in the U.S. (Charlotte, NC to be specific) and I’m looking for somewhere, either online or in a store that would sell affordable shorts and/or pants that would be good for either running or walking in a size 22/24 or above.
I’m having a hard time finding things and the only shorts I have are from Target (*grumble grumble don’t like shopping somewhere that supports bad politics and mistreats people grumble grumble*), and they’re a bit too small and they are very uncomfortable. It’s gotten to the point where they aren’t feasible to wear anymore because they cause well, not to get too TMI, but epic chafing.
I’d like to have more comfortable shorts so I can continue doing my walking/running, because as we’re going into the fall and winter, exercise helps me make sure my lousy brain chemistry doesn’t become disastrous brain chemistry until the days get longer again.
So any of you who know of any good places, please let me know!
“Southwest’s official statement is that the crew had received several complaints from other passengers about the pair’s “excessive” behavior, and that “Our crew, responsible for the comfort of all Customers on board, approached the passengers based solely on behavior and not gender.”
—
“L-Word” Star Leisha Hailey Booted Off Southwest Flight For Kissing Girlfriend
This statement is damningly self-contradictory. The crew can approach the kissing passengers based on other passengers’ complaints, or they can approach the kissing passengers based solely on behavior. But not both. As I’m sure Southwest is fully aware, passengers are much more likely to find kissing “excessive” if it takes place between a same-sex couple than they are if it’s a straight couple. If Southwest wants to pretend otherwise, they’re covering up their passengers’ homophobic attitudes.
(via felixsalmon)
Fact: White students receive more scholarship money than non-white students
Do minority students get more than a fair share of college scholarships? That myth reared its head earlier this year after a Texas nonprofit, the Former Majority Association for Equality announced plans to give scholarships only to white males. The group claimed that white males are disadvantaged because they don’t “fit into certain categories or ethnic groups.” So Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of Fastweb.com and FinAid.com, put that idea to the test, and found that white students actually “receive a disproportionately greater share of private scholarships and merit-based grants.”
Kantrowitz crunched data (PDF) from both the 2003-04 and 2007-08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, which showed that white students are 40 percent more likely to win private scholarships than non-white students. And Kantrowitz finds several college-specific scholarships only for white students, like UCLA’s 66-year-old Werner Scott Scholarship, worth $4,000, which is “restricted to Caucasian students from Hawaii who are not of Polynesian blood.”
Even when a scholarship doesn’t explicitly note a racial preference, white students are still at an advantage since scholarship sponsors “select for characteristics, activities and talents of interest to them.” Black students, for example, are much less likely to participate in equestrian, water, and winter sports than their white peers, which makes them ineligible for scholarships related to those areas.
White students, even those who “have no demonstrated financial need,” are also at an advantage when it comes to receiving funding directly from universities. Kantrowitz found that they get more than 76 percent “of all institutional merit-based scholarship and grant funding, even though they represent” less than 62 percent of the student population.That last bit in bold, wow.
it might be worth noting how much leeway is given to french, spanish, german, italian folks who struggle to articulate thoughts in english as the inverse of the rage that accrues around non-whites translating their thought from spanish or Black vernacular english into academic english.
thick austrian accent after 40 years in the u.s. immersed w white americans= governator.
thick hispanic accent coz you just got here= “oh, you have experience and a degree? youre too hard to understand so, here, clean the floors or carry some boxes, k?”
Commentary is golden and wonderful and perfect.
“
As many as 15 percent of freshmen at America’s top schools are white students who failed to meet their university’s minimum standards for admission, according to Peter Schmidt, deputy editor of the Chronicle of Higher Education. These kids are “people with a long-standing relationship with the university,” or in other words, the children of faculty, wealthy alumni and politicians.
According to Schmidt, these unqualified but privileged kids are nearly twice as common on top campuses as Black and Latino students who had benefited from affirmative action.
” —Ten myths about affirmative action (via linzyxxxxx)
well well well look at that.
(via piddlebucket)
I’m bookmarking this for quick reference in case anyone wants to talk shit about PoC taking up scholarships and admission slots and shit (at least here in the US). Because, um, no.
We Might Fall: thecuntmentality: The way you speak about cops makes me uncomfortable….
The way you speak about cops makes me uncomfortable. I was always taught to trust them I wish youd stop saying fuck them.
Asked by Anonymous
The way cops speak to other people makes me uncomfortable.
The way cops treat people makes me uncomfortable.
They way a cop put a gun to my friend’s head ‘cos he was black and shot without question, made me pretty fuckin’ uncomfortable.
The way cops baptize those that don’t seem like they were “born here”, in the American Dream with their nightsticks, make me uncomfortable.
The way a cop forcefully took me out of a public place because I was kissing another woman, even though a seemingly straight couple of the same age were making out right when they walked in, made me uncomfortable.
The way cop cars stalked me down the street because I was hanging out with “suspicious people” (read: people of color, queer, or trans*) made me uncomfortable.
The way cops lied after witnessing my friend being gang raped but testified that she was strung out and thus discredited her rape story, made me uncomfortable.
The way our history is riddled with the deceit that cops are here to protect us but really only keep us in line through coercion and fear, makes me uncomfortable.
The power that a cop is paid - and paid better and given greater benefits than half the people in the country solely because they have a shiny piece of metal - to abuse, makes me uncomfortable.
I’ve never had a reason to trust a cop. Fuck them. If you unfollow me for that, so be it. But perhaps you should listen to the stories of minorities, or look at those photos of blatant police brutality before you come here and tell me that my disposition towards cops who have taken such beautiful and wonderful people from me and from generations upon generations of families and have been nothing more than a mocking symbol of pain, makes you “uncomfortable.”
Look, this is a pretty sensitive subject for me. And I’m sure it’s even worse for other people. But don’t expect me to recant my statements. I agree that a lot of cops act upon their orders, but even so, I have no reason to trust them because I have not been given one. Ever. This isn’t Law and Order. There are no good cops or bad cops only people who are enforcers of an oppressive institution no matter how morally sound their individual ethics might be.
Love,
Taylor
Tumblr is like River Song's diary. Blue and full of spoilers.
Occupy Wall Street finally releases their one demand →
wilderside.wordpress.com
This is the fifth communiqué from the 99 percent. We are occupying Wall Street.
On September 21st, 2011, Troy Davis, an innocent man, was murdered by the state of Georgia. Troy Davis was one of the 99 percent.
Ending capital punishment is our one demand.
On September 21st, 2011, four of our members were arrested on baseless charges.
Ending police intimidation is our one demand.
On September 21st, 2011, the richest 400 Americans owned more than half of the country’s population.
Ending wealth inequality is our one demand.
On September 21st, 2011, we determined that Yahoo lied about occupywallst.org being in spam filters.
Ending corporate censorship is our one demand.
On September 21st, 2011, roughly eighty percent of Americans thought the country was on the wrong track.
Ending the modern gilded age is our one demand.
On September 21st, 2011, roughly 15% of Americans approved of the job Congress was doing.
Ending political corruption is our one demand.
On September 21st, 2011, roughly one sixth of Americans did not have work.
Ending joblessness is our one demand.
On September 21st, 2011, roughly one sixth of America lived in poverty.
Ending poverty is our one demand.
On September 21st, 2011, roughly fifty million Americans were without health insurance.
Ending health-profiteering is our one demand.
On September 21st, 2011, America had military bases in around one hundred and thirty out of one hundred and sixty-five countries.
Ending American imperialism is our one demand.
On September 21st, 2011, America was at war with the world.
Ending war is our one demand.
On September 21st, 2011, we stood in solidarity with Madrid, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Madison, Toronto, London, Athens, Sydney, Stuttgart, Tokyo, Milan, Amsterdam, Algiers, Tel Aviv, Portland and Chicago. Soon we will stand with Phoenix, Montreal, Cleveland and Atlanta. We’re still here. We are growing. We intend to stay until we see movements toward real change in our country and the world.
You have fought all the wars. You have worked for all the bosses. You have wandered over all the countries. Have you harvested the fruits of your labors, the price of your victories? Does the past comfort you? Does the present smile on you? Does the future promise you anything? Have you found a piece of land where you can live like a human being and die like a human being? On these questions, on this argument, and on this theme, the struggle for existence, the people will speak. Join us.
We speak as one. All of our decisions, from our choice to march on Wall Street to our decision to continue occupying Liberty Square, were decided through a consensus based process by the group, for the group.
“Since her death in 1979, the woman who discovered what the universe is made of has not so much as received a memorial plaque. Her newspaper obituaries do not mention her greatest discovery. […] Every high school student knows that Isaac Newton discovered gravity, that Charles Darwin discovered evolution, and that Albert Einstein discovered the relativity of time. But when it comes to the composition of our universe, the textbooks simply say that the most abundant atom in the universe is hydrogen. And no one ever wonders how we know.”
—
Jeremy Knowles, discussing the complete lack of recognition Cecilia Payne gets, even today, for her revolutionary discovery. (via alliterate)
Professor Cecilia Payne, ladies and gentlemen.
(via neon-loneliness)
This is a great example of how the education we receive focuses around the discoveries and perspectives of men.
(via fffigures)
—————-
Woah. PUTTING ON A HAT AND THEN TIPPING IT TO YOU, COSMIC QUEEN CECILIA PAYNE!
(via emmyc)
My friends Brandon & Joe were arrested last night for “government obstruction” and “resisting arrest” during a march to protest the execution of Troy Davis. When I spoke to someone in Arraignments [ (646) 386-4545, (646) 386-4546 ] at 11am this morning, their paperwork (along with Augustine & Freddy’s) had still not been processed to be brought before the DA for consideration.
At Least Six Arrested In Solidarity March For Troy DavisAt approximately seven [Thursday] evening a group protesting the execution of Troy Davis at Union Square Park began a march towards Liberty Square, formerly known as Zuccotti park. The two groups joined up and marched on Wall Street. At least six protesters were arrested. They are being held at the first precinct. As of now we only have four names: Joseph Jordan; Brandon King; Augustine Castro; Freddy Bastone.
Please call the first precinct, central booking and the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information.
First precinct: (212)-334-0611
Central booking: (212)-374-3921
Deputy Commissioner of Public Information: (646) 610-6700
Please call and urge the police to release these peaceful protesters.
(via FIRENYC)
TO THE PROTESTORS:
If they make you sign ANYTHING if you are arrested make sure to tell them you do so under “duress and coercion” and even initial the form with “V.C. Your Signature” which is latin for Vi Coactus”.