Thursday, October 22, 2009

reachingtheshore: everythingharrypotter: (via malfoyy)

 
 

Sent to you by moya via Google Reader:

 
 

 
 

Things you can do from here:

 
 
Posted by at No comments:

Call for papers: Society for Disability Studies conference in Philadelphia i...

 
 

Sent to you by moya via Google Reader:

 
 

via Media dis&dat by BA Haller on 10/22/09

From the Society for Disability Studies:


SDS 2010, 22nd Annual Conference Call for Proposals

Dates: June 2-5, 2010
Host: Institute on Disabilities, Temple University
Location: Howard Gittis Student Center, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Submission Forms: All proposals must use the SDS CFP submission form available at the 2010 SDS conference site
Proposal Deadline: Midnight EST, December 15, 2009

THEME: DISABILITY IN THE GEO-POLITICAL IMAGINATION

The development of global studies has increasingly called for a cross-cultural and comparative approach to questions of marginalization, stigma, diaspora and resettlement, labor and exploitation, climate change, and the world-ranging production of impairment and disability from violence, inhumane treatment, crumbling infrastructure, and environmental degradation. A significant amount of scholarship also examines new resistance cultures and the galvanization of global networks as members of diverse disability communities try to navigate productive collaborations across newly wired cybernetic systems and claim the possibilities offered by globalization. New opportunities and new problems abound around forging transnational communities, increased mobility, health and charity tourism, the implementation of universal rights, increased transparency of states and organizations, better community-based rehabilitation, and more varied work possibilities.

This year's Society for Disability Studies conference features the theme "Disability in the Geo-Political Imagination" to spur ongoing efforts in interdisciplinary analyses. Such a theme arrives at a timely moment in the wake of the signing of the United Nations Charter on the Rights of People with Disabilities by leaders in 140 nations (including, most recently and somewhat belatedly, the United States). As a result of the emergence and ratification of this convention, disability has become a more visible topic within the public sphere. Nations, perhaps including the United States, that previously undervalued disabled populations now contend with what it means to be truly inclusive. Likewise, Disability-advocacy organizations now seek to make further claims upon the state as a guarantor of rights and liberties. This SDS conference theme includes proactive responses to the critique that disabled populations, particularly those which are disproportionately poor and people of color, are ill represented, under-analyzed, and under-theorized, in the context of global studies. As the local and global may be seen as inflecting each other, so can questions of disability, race, class, and gender.

Disability studies explores the distance that exists between popular representations of disability as tragic embodiment, and politically informed disability cultures that define themselves against such devaluing views. Authors of panel and paper proposals will ideally feature new ways of conceptualizing people who experience disability as social actors connected or disconnected on a global scale. In particular, the SDS Program Committee seeks entries from those areas of inquiry that resist, revise, and re-imagine contemporary understandings of human differences and embodiment such as critical race studies, feminist/womanist studies, class-based analyses, queer studies, trans-gender studies, and other critical perspectives linked to social justice initiatives.

While all proposals and topics are welcome, this theme encourages submissions that attend to local conditions, including those in our host city of Philadelphia, within a global context and to cultures of empowerment and resistance within the complexity of global exploitation and opportunities.

Questions about the application process or other administrative matters may be directed to the SDS Executive Office at conference@disstudies.org.

Overall questions can be directed to either of the Program Committee Co-Chairs:

David Mitchell, Temple University, dmitchel@temple.edu
Devva Kasnitz, University of California, Berkeley, devva@earthlink.net

To read the full CFP, review application guidelines, or to submit a proposal, visit: http://www.disstudies.org/conference/2010/cfp.


 
 

Things you can do from here:

 
 
Posted by at No comments:

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

xkcd - A Webcomic - National Language

 
 

Sent to you by moya via Google Reader:

 
 

 
 

Things you can do from here:

 
 
Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

There's a Rep for that...

 
 

Sent to you by moya via Google Reader:

 
 

via Blog for Democracy by Catherine on 10/17/09

Walking Up Now has a great take on the now famous iPhone "app" commercials.

h/t: ER


 
 

Things you can do from here:

 
 
Posted by at No comments:

"When a person of privilege is accused of having been negligent (or racist, ...

 
 

Sent to you by moya via Google Reader:

 
 

via guerrilla mama on 10/20/09

"When a person of privilege is accused of having been negligent (or racist, or sexist, or…), a classic move we often see is the accused dissolving into sobs. They will berate themselves, they will proclaim how terrible they feel, they will soak your t-shirt with their tears. In other words, instead of owning up for whatever they did and focusing on the pain they caused – and how to reduce it – they completely focus on their own pain. In fact, they revel in it"

- Anita Tedaldi, Guilt and White Privilege | Love Isn't Enough - on raising a family in a colorstruck world

 
 

Things you can do from here:

 
 
Posted by at No comments:

Friday, October 16, 2009

"When I feed the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why so many people a...

 
 

Sent to you by moya via Google Reader:

 
 

via guerrilla mama on 10/16/09

"When I feed the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why so many people are poor, they call me communist."

- Dom Helder Câmara, late archbishop of the Brazilian diocese of Olinda and Recife. Wednesday, Oct. 13 was the 10th anniversary of his death. (Source: Guardian via OffTheMap (via sharethetaste) (via bmckinney) (via amberlrhea) (via champagnecandy) (via bowfolk)

 
 

Things you can do from here:

 
 
Posted by at No comments:

What We Talk About When We Talk About Language

 
 

Sent to you by moya via Google Reader:

 
 

via FWD/Forward by meloukhia on 10/16/09

There are a lot of things we talk about when we talk about language, of course, but it's worth highlighting something important: when we talk about language, we don't talk about what it used to mean, or what it is supposed to mean, or what you think it means. We talk about how society uses language, right now. Because it's the social use of language which can turn language into a weapon, and it's the engrained nature of ableist language which makes it so harmful.

One of the most common defenses I see of ableist language is "well, it doesn't mean that anymore."

So, my question is, what does it mean?

One of the things I like to do when I am illustrating why language is exclusionary is I plug in a commonly-known original meaning of the word in question into a sentence. Let's take "lame," which is generally taken to mean "has difficulty walking" or "limps," although the original use was actually just "broken."

So, if someone says "this television show is lame" and you turn the sentence into "this television show has difficulty walking," it doesn't really make sense, right? Just like when you say "this social activity which I am being forced to do by my parent is a homosexual man," it doesn't really make sense. And this should tell you something. It should tell you that the word you are using has an inherently pejorative meaning.

Which means, actually, you're totally right when you say a word "doesn't mean that anymore." In fact, it's gone from being a value neutral term used to describe a state of being to being a pejorative. A pejorative so universally accepted that you can expect users to understand exactly what you mean when you say it. When you say "this television show is lame" you mean it's bad, not worth your time, boring, etc., and here's the trick: People understand that meaning and they derive it from the word that you have used, because that word is universally accepted as objectively bad.

People often accuse people like me of being "language police." I've been informed that addressing exclusionary language is limiting, too restrictive, etc. That's not actually the case. Being aware of my own language use has, in fact, enriched my use of the English language, because it has forced me to actually think about what I am saying and how I say it. And I grew up in the household of an English professor, so I know my English.

Instead of using an exclusionary pejorative, why not find a word use which actually describes what we mean?

That guy who cut me off at the intersection the other day wasn't an idiot. He was arrogant, perhaps. He may also have been reckless, thoughtless, careless, unobservant, or possibly just a moldering toe-rag. But he wasn't an idiot. So, why would I use the word "idiot" to describe him? And why would I tolerate that word from someone else?

Using inclusionary language is actually fun. You get to explore the roots of words you use, you get to find new and exciting words to use, and you get to learn more about the structure of a language you speak every day. It constantly amazes me to see how quickly exclusionary terms trip to my tongue when I'm in a hurry, because they are so ingrained as appropriate pejoratives. I'm actually relishing the process of eradicating them from my spoken and written language, because I love words and language play.

And I loathe essentialism. I loathe "well, it's a value neutral term." No, it's not. If it was value neutral, it would not be in use as a pejorative. I loathe "no one really means that anymore." Yes, they do, because if they didn't, they would use a different word. Just like no one calls a "train" an "iron horse" anymore.


 
 

Things you can do from here:

 
 
Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, October 15, 2009

UtneReader.com: 50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World

Posted by at No comments:

The Crucial Need To Discuss Gendered Impacts And Reproductive Justice Requir...

 
 

Sent to you by moya via Google Reader:

 
 

via Feminist Peace Network by admin on 10/15/09

In conjunction with the Climate Change Blog Action Day, I want to focus in  particular on the gendered impact of climate change.  Nowhere is this more obvious than after natural disasters, when women and children are particularly vulnerable, a point illustrated all too well in the post earlier this week on the horrific situation for pregnant women in refugee camps in the Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Parma.

Gendered harms are also a consideration in understanding why utilizing population control is not a solution to Global Warming.

In the Different Takes Climate Change Series Winter 2009 issue, Betsy Hartmann lists 10 reasons why the linkage of population control and global warming is problematic.  Note in  particular points 3 and 4 below regarding reproductive and gender  justice. She writes,

Climate change is clearly one of the most urgent problems of our time.  It is also a highly contested policy arena with different actors from all sides of the political spectrum struggling to get a piece of the action. The population control lobby is no exception.  Today, a number of mainstream population and environment groups are claiming that population growth is a major cause of climate change and that lower birth rates are the solution. This view threatens to undermine a progressive climate justice agenda that seeks both to curtail greenhouse gas emissions and to reduce economic, social, gender and racial inequalities. It also poses a danger to reproductive rights.

1. The numbers don't add up. The industrialized countries, with only 20 percent of the world's population, are responsible for 80 percent of the accumulated carbon dioxide build-up in the atmosphere. The U.S. is the worst offender.  In 2002 the U.S. was responsible for 20 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per person, compared to only 0.2 tons in Bangladesh, 0.3 in Kenya and 3.9 in Mexico.

2. Blame games target the wrong people.Wealthy countries, corporations and consumers are getting off the hook. The challenge of climate change presents an opportunity for affluent Americans to rethink their wasteful lifestyles and get on board with a transition to a just and green economy.  The problem is not 'those people over there' — it is us, right here.

3. Population control programs erode reproductive rights. Viewing family planning as a means to solve the climate crisis will set back progress on the delivery of safe, voluntary and ethical reproductive health services.  That's because there's a big difference between family planning programs designed primarily to reduce birth rates and those premised on reproductive rights as an end that is worthy in itself.

4. Population control is no substitute for gender justice.

5.  Linking population and the environment bolsters anti-immigrant agendas. By attributing environmental degradation to population growth, population and environment groups play into the hands of conservative anti- immigrant forces. In the greening of hate, anti- immigrant groups strategically deploy population arguments to gain support among environmentalists.

6.  Fear-based stereotypes of overpopulation contribute to the militarization of climate change.

7.  Population stereotypes victimize the displaced.

8. Population alarmism encourages apocalyptic thinking and distracts us from
the search for practical solutions to the climate crisis.

9. Shifting the blame for the climate crisis to the Global South prevents international solidarity.

10. Inserting population into the climate change debate divides the environmental movement at a time when we should be coming together. The implicit and explicit race, class and gender biases of population control are detrimental to building an inclusive movement for climate justice. This narrow worldview also blocks a deeper understanding of the economic and political forces that both drive climate change and prevent effective solutions.

In her conclusion, Hartmann writes,

Climate justice, not population control, is the starting point from which we can begin to build the kind of national and international solidarity that is needed to address climate change.  The world is waiting.  we are way behind, and there is no time to lose.

In framing this as an issue for which the solution is solidarity, not control, Hartmann crucially addresses the point that the human made causes of global warming and climate change are, at their root because of our attempts to control our physical world using a power over paradigm which inevitably means that those and that over which power is asserted become powerless.  In contrast, solidarity implies the utilization of power by connection which is a far more sustainable model for transformative change and empowerment.  Hartmann's work exemplifies the kind of matridynamic paradigm shift that is an absolutely crucial requirement for responsibly addressing the issue of climate change.

———-

Addenda:  The latest issue of Sister Song's Collective Voices is devoted to Environmental Justice and has several excellent pieces regarding reproductive justice, gender and climate change.  Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice also has a report, Looking Both Ways: Women's Lives at the Crossroads of Reproductive Justice and Climate Justice which should be considered essential reading in understanding why the holistic linking of these issues is so crucial.

Please also see my post on Reclaiming Medusa, A Plea For The Planet.

Share/Save/Bookmark

 
 

Things you can do from here:

 
 
Posted by at No comments:

Where's Aniysah?

"Judge Fernando M. Camacho say it isn't so?" 

 "Stopping Court Sanctioned Kidnapping (Story of Domestic Violence)"

 

 

October 14th, 2009 – Queens, NY- On March 3rd, 2009, Aniysah was ripped away from her mother's arms by the New York Family Court System (Judge Fernando M. Camacho) and placed in the care of Aniysah's estranged father who has a history of domestic violence offenses. Since March 3, 2009, Angeline has only seen her daughter 7 times out of 226 days, just 7 hours out of 5,424 hours. On the surface, this case appears to be a simple custody dispute, however, if one digs deeper it is a story about the injustices wrought by the New York Family Court System and how it fails women and children of domestic violence daily, how the court system allows abusers to further terrorize and re-victimize survivors of domestic violence through unfair legal policies. There are more questions than answers in this mystery, questions as to why Judge Camacho who at one point issued an Order of Protection for the father to stay away from Angeline and Aniysah would allow the father to take off without getting any

clearance from ACS? How did the courts allow the respondent father to leave without getting an address or a number?  Why more than 180 days passed before having a home assessment done?

 

Prior, to the events leading up to March 3rd, 2009. Angeline expressed concerns about her daughter's well being, and wrote a letter to Judge Esther Morgenstern explaining how the law guardian, was not following proper protocol and procedure in the case. Judge Morgenstern disregards Angeline's concerns and because she disliked the tone of the letter that reached her desk she issued a warrant for her arrest and turned over custody to the father. This action taken by the Judge is unacceptable and has not only violated Ms. Hassell's civil rights but it violates the rights of her six year old daughter as well. 

 

Just a little over a month ago our nation was dropped to its knees over the Jaycee Lee Dugard story because everyone said it could have been prevented. Well for seven months Angeline Hasell has been trying to tell her story in court before Judge Camacho especially after the urgency of a noted child psychologist that stated 6 year old Aniysah would be severely traumatized if action was not taken immediately. Judge Camacho still went and adjourned the case and to date the home assessment is still incomplete. October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month what a travesty that the same Judge who once presided in a Domestic Violence Court would continue to delay in a hearing to determine the "best Interest of a 6 year old child". We have to protect the children! And, it's time to hold the New York Family Court System and its Judges accountable. We are asking that you visit http://documentthesilence.wordpress.com/ for further facts relating to this story. Also on the website you will find detailed information about Angeline's case and links to a petition calling for accountability! 

 

                                                                        ###

 

 

If you'd like more information about this press release and supporting documentation, or to schedule an interview with Angeline Hassell.

Please e-mail Megan Alter at -wheresaniysah_campaign@yahoo.com
Posted by at No comments:

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Why We Need LGBT Equality: The lonely death of Lisa Pond

 
 

Sent to you by moya via Google Reader:

 
 

via Womanist Musings by noreply@blogger.com (Renee) on 10/9/09

By Caleb T. Maupin

Published Oct 8, 2009 10:37 PM

Like much of the media, the government and other voices of the wealthy ruling class at the top of U.S. society, the Jackson Health System says it does not discriminate against or oppress gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people. This profiteering enterprise that treats ill people who can afford to pay for it, says that they have "taken great pride in serving everyone who enters ... regardless of race, creed, religious beliefs or sexual orientation." (Miami Herald, Sept. 29)

Like the capitalist-controlled government, the capitalist-owned media, and every other voice that claims that the oppression of the LGBT community does not exist, the Jackson Health System was lying and distorting the truth.

They made this statement after being sued by Janice Langbehn. When Langbehn's partner of 18 years, Lisa Pond, was dying of a brain aneurysm, Langbehn and the couple's three children were not allowed to visit her. Pond died in her hospital bed at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, alone. Jackson Health Systems was protected by the capitalist courts when they recently dismissed the lawsuit brought against the hospital.

"The hospital took the position that we thought was pretty extreme—that it has no duty, no legal obligation, to allow visitors [of any sort] in the hospital. The court agreed," said Beth Littrell, a staff attorney for Lambda Legal, a national gay-rights group representing Langbehn.

Lisa Pond and Janice Langbehn certainly loved each other just as much as any legally married couple, but in Florida, like in so many other states, this love is considered second-class. The couple did not follow the unwritten rules that capitalist social relations impose on LGBT people in patriarchal society. They did not deny their sexual feelings in order to satisfy the dictates of this profit-based society.

Pond and Langbehn loved each other, and even though they could not legally marry, or even make love in some states until 2003, they did not deny this love. They lived together and were the parents of three children. When Pond was struck with the fatal aneurysm, they were preparing to leave on a vacation cruise exclusively for lesbian and gay couples and their families.

For their rebellion against the established patriarchal family structure, mandated by the system of private property, Pond and Langbehn were punished severely. Pond died alone in her bed. Langbehn lived on, having been unable to spend the last few hours with her loved one before she died.

This case should raise several questions in people's minds. What exactly did Langbehn do to deserve to lose the love of her life in this horrific way? What did Pond do to deserve to die alone in the hospital, away from her partner? What kind of system do we live under that basic human rights and dignity are denied to LGBT people? How many others must die alone?

Articles copyright 1995-2009 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.

Editors Note: I felt compelled to publish this piece.  I cannot imagine not being with the love of my life in his final moments.  This is one of the most cruel examples of the heterosexist society in which we live, that I have ever heard of.  My heart breaks for them and nothing can ever bring back those precious few hours.


Subscribe

 
 

Things you can do from here:

 
 
Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

What actual Mayans are saying about 2012

 
 

Sent to you by moya via Google Reader:

 
 

via Boing Boing by Maggie Koerth-Baker on 10/13/09

When your three-year checkbook calendar runs out, does that signal the end of the world? No? It's pretty much the same for the Mayan calendar and 2012.

In fact, the idea of a countdown to cataclysmic apocalypse is a Western, not Mayan idea, say some Mayans who are getting fed up with the hype. You can read more about their perspective in this AP article: "2012 Isn't the End of the World, Mayans Insist."

Another important thing to think about: The amount of money being raked in by woo-woo charlatans (and, now, big entertainment companies) who are all capitalizing off what amounts to willful misinterpretations of Mayan legends, traditions and science. My college anthropology professor (and expert in Central and South American archaeology) John Hoopes had some interesting thoughts on this...

I'd like to see more of the revenue from the hyping of 2012 mythology through books, movies, conferences, and websites go directly to the living descendants of the ancient Maya whose cultural heritage and intellectual property is being appropriated without their knowledge or consent for the financial benefit of non-Maya hucksters.

This raises a lot of questions about who owns traditional knowledge. I don't claim to have the answer, though. There are a lot of wrinkles and complications, including the good possibility that the living Maya probably have no legal standing when it comes to these issues. But I suspect it has much more to do with what's ethically responsible than with legal obligations.

I don't know that I know the best way to handle this, either. But, whether or not the living Maya should be paid for the use (or misuse) of their ancestors' ideas, I personally see a lot of racism at play in this story. Not the white hood sort of racism, sure. But I'm don't think I have a better word for what happens when the largely white and wealthy American New Age community co-opts and exoticises the traditions of a marginalized native people and then ignores those people when they say, "That's not what our traditions mean. Please stop misrepresenting us."

Thumbnail image courtesy Flickr user theilr, via CC




 
 

Things you can do from here:

 
 
Posted by at No comments:

Today in Post-Race History: Ignoble Nobels

 
 

Sent to you by moya via Google Reader:

 
 

via Quirky Black Girls by quirky on 10/13/09

 
 

Sent to you by moya via Google Reader:

 
 

via my best friend gayle by summer of sam on 10/13/09














Here's your daily dose of hate-filled pessimism.


Dear Vh1, Guess who's having the best year ever.  Hope.  That's right, Hope--a four-letter word I find no reason to use unless it's accompanied by a "-less."  Yet, in retrospect, I totally should've kept the little bit of Hope stock I had.  Instead, I panicked when the economy kissed it* and sold it to David Axelrod for a Home Run Inn Pizza coupon and a used copy of The Jordan Rules.  Yep.  I choked, just like my fantasy football team did this week.  (Gargamel's Revenge is now 4-1.)  Hope is not intangible.  Hope is priceless.  Hope is worth more than the American dollar multiplied by GM stock.  Hope is currency.  Hope can e-race you.  Hope can garner you more votes than your opponents.  Hope will win you Nobels.

(kissed it = committed suicide)



On the morning of what turned out to be one of the weirdest news days in recent memory, Barack Hussein Obama--who I kind of want to call "Half-White Jesus" at this point--was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.  Those tricky Swedes pulled a fast one.  Even Dionne Warwick didn't see this coming. 
(Where is the Kanye when you need him?  "BHO, I'm happy for you, and I'ma let you finish. But Martin Luther King was one of the most peaceful brothers of all time." *shrug*)  And now, because I spent Friday walking around with a "WTF?" look on my face after I heard the news, I will probably be labeled a hater--again.  I embrace the designation.  In fact, I'm giving it a bear hug.

Let's face facts:  As my boo, AC pointed out, nominations had to be in by February 1, 2009.  Which means this cat got nominated on Hope, because the only thing he had really done by that point was talk pretty, run a successful political campaign, and be president for just under two weeks.  Since those awesomely euphoric and giddy first two weeks in office, Gitmo hasn't closed, more troops have been sent to Afghanistan, my gay and lesbian (or is it same-gender loving?  I can't keep up with the name changes) homies still can't play GI Joe openly, and we bombed the moon.  To the latter point, I suppose we should be happy that the US zapped the cheese that lights the night sky instead of another Middle Eastern country. (The citizens of Qatar wipe their brows in relief.)  But please know: Mac Tonight is rallying his troops.  He doesn't appreciate the invasion.  He doesn't care how parched we are.  (Bob Marley says, "In the abundance of water, the fool is thirsty."  Just FYI.) 

Is it no longer an honor just to be nominated--especially when you didn't deserve that much? 

Indeed, the bar the Nobel folks set to declare this year's winner was as low as the Obama Administration's was high.  With this change of pace, I deserve a Nobel Peace Prize, because as a black dagger living in this world I believe I have been beyond peaceful; if I may quote Wanda Coleman, "I have yet to kill anyone. I have exhibited GREAT RESTRAINT!"  Of course, Obama apologists have been busy formulating arguments that all begin something like, "Well, I hope winning the Nobel means that Obama will..."  It's been called an "aspirational" award.  While you're at it, may I please have my degree?  I've yet to finish my Ph.D., but I aspire to.  I'll take $1.4 million, too.

One can neither maintain nor pursue imperialistic enterprises peaceably.  It's easier to touch one's left elbow with one's left hand.  (Stop trying to do it.  You look silly.)  I doubt that one can extend the American project non-violently without radically altering it--and it may even be too late for that.  I see no indication that that is BHO's goal, his aspiration.  If it were, he'd lose his job like so many of his fellow Americans.  And although BHO doesn't seem to like to stay in one place too long (Occidental to Columbia, community organizer to Harvard, senator to president, etc.), my guess is he wants to hold on to this gig.  The perks are terrific. 

I have bad news for BHO lovers/supporters/defenders.  The dude has peaked.  Remember those girls in high school whose popularity bothered the hell out of you?  You know the ones.  They never seemed to get acne and were somehow still cute with braces?  Well, they peaked in high school.  Trust me.  Check your Facebook account; they friended you weeks ago.  Now, their life highlights include going to Dane Cook shows and/or catching reruns of the The Game.  They've turned their FB account into flickr with all the photos from homecoming '96 they've posted recently; they want to remind you that they were the first ones rocking the T-Boz haircut.  (Have I gotten too personal?)  Just as those girls reached their zenith circa junior year prom, Obama is peaking in front of the world.  It's all down hill from here.  2008-09 is IT.  There will be no The Godfather II.  The sequel is not going to better than the original--which, if you ask me, wasn't all that great to begin with. Obama is the 2006 Los Angeles Clippers, who surprised everybody by making the playoffs and winning in the first round, only to return to the bottom of the NBA standings where they belong.  Better yet, he may even be the 2008 Cleveland Cavaliers, the political LeBron James--best record in the league, but (still) no championship.  And there will always be those pesky Jordan comparisons, which are thoroughly unwarranted: There will never be another Jordan.

I suspect King James may actually win a championship, though, and that the comparison may thus be unfair to him.  Besides, in the NBA, black guys still lead winning teams.  In the political realm, they only elect black* dudes to captain the Titanic.  And while many got drunk off of this latest Obama "victory" the more sober ones remember that this boat has already sideswiped an iceberg.  Our best bet is to stop ogling the Negro in uniform, grab a jacket and jump on a lifeboat. There's no where to go but down. 

 
 

Things you can do from here:

 
 

 
 

Things you can do from here:

 
 
Posted by at No comments:

"Sexist oppression is of primary importance not because it is the basis of a...

 
 

Sent to you by moya via Google Reader:

 
 

via guerrilla mama on 10/13/09

"

Sexist oppression is of primary importance not because it is the basis of all other oppression, but because it is the practice of domination most people experience, whether their role be that of discriminator or discriminated against, exploiter or exploited. Unlike other forms of oppression, most people witness and/or experience the practice of sexist domination in family settings.

It is the practice of domination most people are socialized to accept before they even know that other forms of group oppression exist. This does not mean that eradicating sexist oppression would eliminate other forms of oppression.

"

-

bell hooks, Feminist Theory From Margin to Center. (via abbyjean)

That is one of my fav Fem Theory books

(via telegantmess)

 
 

Things you can do from here:

 
 
Posted by at No comments:

On Straight Black Women & LGBT Activists (w/ Yolo Akili)

 
 

Sent to you by moya via Google Reader:

 
 

via Michael J. Brewer On... by MJ Brewer on 10/13/09

When Straight Black Women Attack & Activists Exploit
Thoughts and Statements on the Termination of Sandra Bradley & Morehouse College

Fantasy wedding leads to Morehouse firing
Gay couple's marriage photos mocked in email comments
http://www.sovo.com/2009/10-9/news/localnews/10702.cfm?page=1 for the entire story)

Also: Rumors have been circulating that Morehouse College is about to enact a policy of "Appropriate Dress" that in its language discourages men to wear "women's clothes" and "feminine Dress". Both MJB & Yolo felt it would be important to address why this would be dangerous and problematic if this was actually made a part of policy.

Yolo Akili

As a community organizer in the metro Atlanta area who is NOT nor has never been a student of Morehouse College, I was still nevertheless, deeply impacted by this situation. In response to this I have chosen to write in solidarity with my colleague, fellow activist and Morehouse College graduate Michael J. Brewer on the many under-illuminated realities of this situation that we feel both the media and the blogosphere have failed to address.

1) Sandra Bradley's comments : For far too long, Black heterosexual middle class women have taken out their anger and frustration at what they percieve to be the lack of viable male partners on black gay men. Instead of investigating thier own elitist and sexist narratives of what constitutes a desirable partner, now our ability to love and embrace eachother has become the site in which black heterosexual women, with disturbingly unwavering support of the black community; can target and attack us. Because many black heterosexual women have been socialized to connect thier worth to men, often black men who love black men is seen as a rejection of them; in much the same way that black men who date white women are seen to have rejected black women. But this is not always the case. Our love of each other or love of someone who is not you, does not mean we love you any less. As black gay men, and yes, even as black men who sometimes chose partners who are not black, we often still and do love you as our sisters, friends, mothers, aunts and daughters. That love is still valid. That love is still meaningful. That love is still real.

However, I must state clearly and succinctly that even though I do not agree with the way in which way Bradley and many black women voice thier pain, I do hear the very real hurt that black women experience in this country. As a feminist it is very clear to me that Black women have a right to feel anger and hurt when this countries insitutions, standards of beauty, and black men themselves assault, attack and demean them daily.

But black men loving eachother and our bonds of care and committment are not the enemy sisters.The enemies are the systems of criminilization, economics, hyper-masculinity and injustice that have created the conditions for the "male shortage" you experience today. I'd also like to add that instead of blaming us, maybe self introspection on your own values, ideas about relationships and how they should look and your own enabling would lead to more insight into the supposed black male shortage. Maybe Instead of projecting our anger on eachother, we would do well to collectively direct our energies towards transforming the systems of ideas, beliefs, and institutions that have ceated what you experience as real today.

2) I do not agree with, nor condone the firing of Sandra Bradley. This model of punitive justice, which has left yet another black woman unemployed in one of the worst economic crisis of our history; has solved nothing. It has not offered Sandra an oppurtunity to learn anything but anger and grief. It has not educated her on her own comments, nor been used as an opppurunity to initiate a dialogue on homophobia on Morehouse's campus and in the AUC. It has not been transformative, and we now we have another sister, who may, god forbid, out of her own anger and pain now become an enemy to black gay men who may join god knows who's church or god knows who;s mission to degrade and devalue the lives of black LBGTQ folks further. I advocate for the re-hiring of Sandra, on the contigency that she attend some program, community service, or education that helps hold her accountable without attacking her.

3) "Morehouse College's Appropriate Attire Policy"- I want to take the time to reinterate the importance of acknowledging myself as an outsider of Morehouse College. This is important to me because in my experience doing organizing in the metro Atlanta area, all too often activists who have no connection to morehouse college use the institution as a grounds to further thier own agendas in a way that is frighteningly reminiscent of white activists entering communities of color, or internationally, U.S folks entering other nations. This model is one of exploitation, where the "outside" forces come in to battle some injustice, failing to look to the leadership and communities already living there for guidance and making decisions that, once the brigade has left, create disastrous consequences that those people are left to deal with. I have no desire to enact this model of injustice.

While holding that I must also say that Morehouse college choosing possibly to publicly declare a standard that looks down upon "feminine dress", or "women's clothes" has implications that travel beyond the AUC's borders. This type of policy, if it goes unchallenged, can set a precedence for other academic institutions to feel that it is acceptable to regulate people's bodies and gender expressions.
Not only that, This policy helps to validate the homophobic assaults and harrassments that are already happening at Morehouse. For before, we know that men who dressed in ways that crossed gender boundaries were harrassed, but now, Morehouse college is considering given individuals institutional support to police and condemn men's gender expression. The next thing we know this could spread, and the women of Spelman college will be forced to not wear "masculine dress"; and the women who dress more "masculine" on that campus will be harrassed more than they are already. Ultimately The decision to create and enforce this policy will contribute to fostering a climate where men who are either Gay or non-gender normative are not safe, valued, or embraced. This is simply unacceptable.

At the end of the day you have to ask yourselves, faculty and Men of Morehouse, why your school, that has produced some of our greatest leaders, is choosing to invest its energies in enforcing ideas that do not further the enlightenment nor embrace the diversity and beauty of black men. Why your school instead chooses to invest in policy that imprisons and belays black male expression into a narrow standard of masculinity that is not reflective of you or your school's legacy. I wonder what Morehouse would be able to do if it wasnt wasting all its energy trying to prove that its not gay. Heck, I wonder what most black men would do if they didnt spend half thier lives trying to prove that theyre not gay. Maybe you, and they, would choose to be something else. Maybe if you would choose to be men; heterosexual, homosexual or otherwise you would choose to be men who are responsible, accountable, and secure enough in your sexualities that you could direct your energies towards more loving and productive endeavors.

-Yolo
Yolo Akili is a nationally recognized artist, author, certified yoga teacher and spiritual consultant. For more, visit www.YoloAkili.com.


Michael J. Brewer

Let me take a moment to fully disclose my concealed weapons: I am a recent graduate and proud alum of Morehouse College. I love my institution with my whole heart and am infinitely indebted to her for making me the man -- the Morehouse Man -- that I am today. In all that I do, I seek to only bring continued strength and honor to "Dear Old Morehouse".

I believe it is this passion for Morehouse College that has sparked and fueled my growing frustration (and, might I candidly add, disdain and impatience) of the perpetual and effervescent critique of Morehouse precipitated by the vulturous survelliance of the larger LGBT community, superimposed upon the institution and magnifying every action it takes with regard to its queer student population.

To be fair, Morehouse holds a peculiar position of prestige that solicits a slightly more refined look at our evolving legacy. Likewise, the collective behavior of Morehouse College does not occur in a vacuum and, when it challenges a fundamental percept of ethical code it, like any other institution, need be challenged on its breach of moral decorum and held accountable for its actions. However, the precipitous events that ushered the firing of Ms. Sandra Bradley are viscerally demonstrative -- not of Morehouse's termination policy, but rather of:

-- a dysfunctional history in which the LGBT community's practice of rallying oppostion to the institution callously disregards the soveriegnity of the Morehouse community to address its own concerns,
-- a negligence to the foundation for progress concerning issues related to homophobia and hetersexism forged by constituents of the institution,
-- a disregard for both Morehouse's gay & bisexual students who are being exploited by such a campaign, and the movement for equality spurned by on-campus advocates and allies who challenge the campus status-quo, and
-- an almost complete apathy toward the continued thriving of the institution and longevity of the progressive movement at the institution after the external community has retreated its ideological encroachment.

While Morehouse is certainly not the only example one could provide of such cultural imperialism, I am sick and tired of the LGBT community treating MY institution like a lap dog, in need of constant media supervision, social policing and a sound strike on the nose every time something REMOTELY related to LGBT issues happens. Morehouse is special, and we understand the crown that has been placed above our heads. But really, Morehouse is an institution with its unique challenges and is not to be held to some golden standard. Incidents like those that led to Ms. Bradley's firing occur not just at Morehouse -- in fact, it seems that the specific email that she forwarded even found its way through certain annals of the Fulton County government. However, I rarely if ever see redirected the special spotlight of investigation and indignation that is so often cast on Morehouse College.

Additionally, I'm equally irritated by the unmitigated gall of the larger LGBT community to continuously criticize Morehouse for supposed "infractions" against the queer movement when, in aggregate, that same community does nothing to support the institution or its progress towards more LGBT inclusive policy and practices at the institution. With the notable exception of the HRC (under the brilliant and culturally competent hands of Diversity Coordinator Joey Gaskins), to my knowledge there are no LGBT organizations or agencies who give substantially of their resources to support the mission of Morehouse College. The community so quick to jump to accusations does not even support the gay rights group on campus, which has been advocating for a more progressive Morehouse since the 1980s. Scathing emails and fiery articles in newspapers and on blogs do garner a certain amount of attention, but those words ring rather hollow when those behind the words are offering nothing more substantive to help create a more progressive Morehouse. Here's a thought: if you want to change Morehouse for the better, give to Morehouse. Develop a trustworthy relationship with the institution so they will invite you to the table when important decisions concerning our queer community are being made. Endow a scholarship for a queer student, or a position on faculty to teach gender and sexuality studies. Support the queer organizing that's already taking place on campus, and respect that process and their work – they are much more in tune with what strategy works to effect the appropriate change, and they will be the ones left to continue the work at Morehouse after you, ultimately, leave to battle the next injustice. Stop criticizing Morehouse and then retreating to your liberal enclaves where you don't have to engage with those you so publicly abhor and malign.


This glaring gap becomes even more ostensible when one looks at the "Appropriate Attire Policy" that Morehouse is purporting to begin implementing on its student body this month. Here we have a problematic policy whose implications on the definitions of gender and masculinities -- as well as codified prescriptions for policing both -- reach far beyond Morehouse's institutional walls, but there is no comment from the larger LGBT community on this egregious injustice. And, while I respectfully disagree the institution's position behind such a policy, I am left to wonder where the objectionable chorus of activists and advocates are -- perhaps, when assaults on LGBT culture are made that only effect Morehouse students and have no direct bearings on the entire community, there's no reason to protest. (Sidebar: to my Morehouse brothers still on campus, it is incumbent upon you to raise your voices in opposition to such an oppressive policy. Failure to do so chips away at the progress made by those that came before you.)

Which leads me to the following: to those whom this edict applies, please refrain from using my institution as the catalyst for your social justice agenda, particularly when you cannot engage the institution in the reciprocity of accountability that utilizes cultural competency and does not perpetuate oppression in your intervention. I applaud the swift and decisive actions of President Robert M. Franklin and the Morehouse College community against such alleged homophobia, and I appreciate the campus community's increasing sensitivity to such issues. However, I cannot condone the firing of Ms. Bradley nor the perpetual backlash of the LGBT community which undoubtedly agitated and precipitated Ms. Bradley's termination. And, on a personal note, if those in the LGBT community knew (or cared to know) anything about Morehouse besides what they read in the gay press, they'd learn that while we have certainly missed that mark in the past with regard to LGBT folk, we've definitely earned our stripes when it comes to advocating for the civil rights of marginalized peoples.

To put it bluntly: Check your privilege, first. Then critique -- respectfully.

There's an old saying at my alma mater stating that one does not simply decide or choose to attend Morehouse College -- rather, Morehouse College chooses her sons, those "Men of Morehouse" to be made "Morehouse Men." She choose those men and holds high above our heads a crown, a crown which she challenges us to grow tall enough in intellect, respect, integrity, character, valor and excellence to wear. She chooses those men, those men called not to curse the wretchedness of the dark, but rather to light a candle in that dark and illuminate the truth, beauty and justice that leads nations and moves souls.

I join my cosmic brother Yolo Akili in this manifesto to light a candle in the dark. The unjust firing of former Morehouse College employee Sandra Bradley and the implementation of an oppressive appropriate attire policy on campus brings me great disappointment and is symptomatic of a larger dynamic of injustice -- a conundrum of hypocrisy, patriarchy, homophobia and imperialism that unfairly scrutinizes Morehouse College against a rhetorical standard which few institutions are challenged to uphold, while simultaneously allowing Morehouse College to enact policy that further disenfranchises its queer contingent and opens the doors for institutionalized heteronormativity even wider.

In the paraphrased words of my late Morehouse brother Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ('48), if the LGBT community is going to be a metaphorical "drum major" -- strive to be a drum major for truth. Be a drum major for justice.

Don't just beat the damn drum.

--- MJB
Michael J. Brewer is an outspoken writer, speaker, social commentator and advocate for progressive change. Brewer currently serves as Chief-of-Staff to Georgia State Representative Alisha Thomas Morgan (HD-39) and Field Organizer for Georgia Equality.

 
 

Things you can do from here:

 
 
Posted by at No comments:

Friday, September 18, 2009

For Caster Semenya

This is an outpouring of love for Caster Semenya. Wrong is not her name. What is wrong is the way she has been treated in global media. As three queer women, we have struggled with our own relationship to the feminine as it has been constructed in mainstream society. As a black woman set adrift in a sea of whiteness, it was hard to see myself as beautiful. My curves and skin color made me unattractive in my world. As a white, feminine woman who is also intersex, I have struggled hard to come to peace with my body. Doctors and the world around me have told me I am defective or have denied my existence entirely. As a disabled Korean adoptee, I grew up as an outsider, rarely seeing people who moved like me or reflected me in my community or in the media. I was constantly told that my body was something that needed to be "fixed;" that it was "wrong;" and that it, that I, was "undesirable." We engage with each other as comrades, three queer women uniquely shaped by our lived identities and experiences. We were the odd ones out, queered by our bodies, but later we claimed our queerness with fierce intention and pride. Now we choose our difference, embrace what sets us a part from a constrictive mainstream. It is for these reasons that we feel a deep kinship with Caster Semneya. Her story unfolded internationally without her consent and knowledge. We write to right wrongs done to someone whose only crime was daring to be all that she is.

More Here
Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, September 17, 2009

F*ck Taylor Swift





yeah I said it, admittedly in the somewhat safety of my apartment and through my computer. But my friend and hater supreme says go hard or go home (note: I am writing this from home but this is like a metaphor or something) so I figured I'd say something inflammatory. I digress...

So Ye was rude. And?

Are we surprised? doesn't he do this all the time? and at the VMA's in particular?

Many of the black folk I know hadn't even heard of Taylor "I just sing country music" Swift before this. If your music makes you popular enough to win and is played in the regular rotation doesn't that make it...

Anyhoo, Taylor has millions of dollars; Ye has millions of dollars. Who cares that she didn't get to deliver her speech at the VMA's?! Its not like she was being heckled while trying to give an important address to the nation, or something. Squabbles between millionaires do not amount to human rights violations. Well, at least not in this instance.

And can I just go there and say she didn't deserve to win? Her video has been done before both as a video and in film. Why the props? But I guess since homely tweens run the world (or at least the VMA world) the outcast getting the jock is a more appealing treatment than a bob fosse meets j-setting choreo hybrid that supports an anthom for single ladies (notice both have something borrowed but B's the one with something new).

And here we are discussing tweet spikes and off the record comments instead of health care. Folks are comparing the President to Hitler and saying he's gonna bring about white slavery and he can't even call a spade a racist! He's not even able to acknowledge the virulent racism in this country and folks are more upset about Swift's treatment at the VMA's than they are about their own health. We'd rather hear him chastise another black man about taking a mic out of little white girl's hand. He gave it back!

And if people say "classy" one more time I'm gonna scream. If you use the word "classy" or "class" chances are you have none. But at the risk of invalidating my own claim, let me give a short list of things that are not classy:

1. Acting en(whi)titled when Beyonce's is gracious enough to call you out on stage so you can give your whack ass speech (which you got through most of) again. So unnecessary I guess B scored some good public relations points with that but I don't appreciate her joining the ranks of Ving Rhames and black women who step aside for the sake of a white girl's feelings.
2. Not letting Swift finish after being interrupted and cutting to commercial (that was your bad MTV, not Ye)
3. Talking about this bullsh*t on CNN when you should be talking about real events that are happening to people who don't go to award shows.

This was not animal cruelty; this was not the worst thing that ever happened. If it was planned, Kanye you really took one for the team for telling the truth.

All this over some white girl not being able to finish her speech for a damn moon man statue? Rhianna gets beat the f*ck up and there's a wave of fan support for Chris Brown. A black woman is physically attacked and no one f*cking helps her?! Taylor's whiteness to Ye's blackness is the reason we are even having this discussion. Disrespect of and actual violence towards black women doesn't warrant the same public outcry. I'm sorry Taylor but I really don't care. It's like she's the cheerleader in her own video. Wait a second...

And apparently white men's disrespect of white women doesn't warrant comment either if he's from across the pond. Host Russel Brand's cruel joke about putting his hat on Lady Gaga's "hermaphrodite" genitals wasn't just in poor taste; it was despicable and yet no public flagellation for him. Who says hermaphrodite in 2009?! He talked about raping having sex with half the women at the VMA's. He definitely proved his own point, that a British accent absolves all sins, not that I didn't love his jab at the Jonas Brothers and the US health care system. Blatant sexism, innuendo and dehumanization in the name of comedy illicit no reaction but taking a mic out of the hand of a little white girl, that's a problem.



Shouts to @fecundmellow, @superfree, and @misslocs on twitter for helping me think through this.
Posted by at 9 comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)