May 2012
26 posts
“The racial and ethnic demographics of the Don’t Say Gay polling are of interest, too. 75% of those who identified as Hispanic said that teachers should be able to discuss other sexual orientations; 60% of Black respondents gave that answer; only 46% of White respondents thought so. And this is interesting to me because so many white liberals whisper to me: “You know, the Black community is so conservative on these issues.” Yeah, I don’t know anything of the kind. These anti-gay bills in TN come from a segment of the White community.”
—
Chris Sanders (from the Tennessee Equality Project)
Preach it baby.
(via unaguerita)
mm. yes. statistics doing something positive for once.
a vision of the future in fifteen minutes
in response to the question: what would this community look like in 20 years if we keep organizing strong?
(btw i’m aware this is like 20 lifetimes but i vision hard)
_________________________________________________________
in twenty years i want to see the monuments of war mongers and dead white racists crumbled to the ground and kicked under the feet of people dancing joyously or smiling contently, leaned against walls filled with color and graffiti that is allowed to exist freely and transparent messages from souls that are fed, bodies that are free, hearts that are open and lungs that can breathe… fresh air… taken care by the community we serve well deserved for struggling, fighting and coming out the other end with not just one less brick, two less bricks, three from the chest… but all the rest that were stacked, heavy and tight. the right for queers to be straight if they choose and straights to be queer if they want to. patriarchy, gendered expectations lay quiet. no one is paid, everyone works to their ability.
white people will recognize the legacy of racist institutions, structures and actions without placing blame on other folks and work constantly against every bit of hateful, bigoted socialization so their children might change the face of nation to represent the people it contains.
there will be color here… everywhere… that will soothe the hearts of prisoners set free with seeds and food that grow from the cracks in old sidewalks.
we will love and not fear.
i can see it on the horizon.
let loose the dams. turn off the lights. leave the earth to inherit a natural light.
the gears will grind down to a squealing halt…
we will take a deep breath…
and thrive.
brb
aboutta go be hairy in the sun w/ my mom
say you’re talking, arguing, writing, or even just joking among friends, and you go to use a term such as “crazy”, “insane”, “schizo”, “retard” or something similar - just stop and ask yourself:
- am i taking into account how the use of this term is going to effect others around me?
- are you saying “crazy” when you mean, for instance, “frightening and confusing” or “a deviation from my/society’s perception of ‘normal’”? think about what you are trying to say, and aim to use language that is less harmful while still conveying your message.
- am i aware of the actual meaning of the term, and is that the meaning that i aim to convey in my discussion? am i aware of the negative connotations and implications of the term?
- why is this the word i thought of to say? question what it is that makes you believe it is okay to use this term. think about the ideas and the repercussions behind prevalent attitudes such as “mental illness = evil” and “mental illness = less than human”.
remember, your words are not being spoken into a void.
discrimination and violence against neurodiverse and mentally ill people happens every goddamn day because these beliefs - that they are less valuable, less human, less deserving of fair and equal treatment - are accepted as valid in society. people are killed, and the actions of their murderers justified and even praised, because the victims are mentally ill.
by continuing to define mental illness as intrinsically bad through use of ableist terms, you are contributing to the normalization of a mindset that gets people killed.
and i understand that is likely not your intent, i understand what you are trying to say, i understand you are not trying to hurt others by making a joke or emphasising a point. but nonetheless, the continued acceptance of these deep-rooted ideas is hurting real people, right now, all around you. and one of the first steps in stopping the violence and discrimination against neurodiverse/mentally ill people is to challenge our own ingrained actions and attitudes.
yes. thank you for this.
been srsly thinking about the words that slip into my everyday speech and been fightin against using/the use of them, including those mentioned above. remembering that our word choice, thought processes, and actions are all closely linked—let’s think about what we’re saying, and the words we’re using to say it.
things i learned from a store called mongrel:
white people like to buy/own a lot of special surfaces to store and serve their cheese on
“Recovering collective memory in itself is an act of struggle. It allows the generational currents of the white-capped river of our movement to flow together—the awesome roar of our many waters. And the course of our movement is not fixed in its banks like the Hudson River—it is ours to determine. From Selma to Stonewall to Seattle, we who believe in freedom will not rest until every battle is won”
—Leslie Feinberg, Stone Butch Blues
“And sadly, the reality is that a black trans woman is not society’s ideal subject. Our stories are not told, we are not invited to contribute to the national conversation, we are told to stay in the dark, live our lives at night, never to be heard from unless we’re found lying dead on a street corner. And even then justice, like in Paige’s case, isn’t often served.
I’ve come to realize that a black trans woman, even with CeCe’s exuberant essence and compelling story, will never be perceieved as worthy enough for society to truly rally behind. But despite this injustice, I will never depart from my core belief that CeCe and Paige and thousands of other girls like us matter.
We are not disposable. No human life is. And until we all come around to this belief we’ll never achieve equality. When I say equality, it’s not only a phrase we attach to the right to get married, I attach it to the the fabric of our lives: the right to work, the right to have a home, the right to use the restroom without second guessing, the right to walk in your neighborhood and feel safe.” —Janet Mock USC Speech: CeCe McDonald Trial, Paige Clay Murder | Janet Mock (via angrybanette)
I’ve come to realize that a black trans woman, even with CeCe’s exuberant essence and compelling story, will never be perceieved as worthy enough for society to truly rally behind. But despite this injustice, I will never depart from my core belief that CeCe and Paige and thousands of other girls like us matter.
We are not disposable. No human life is. And until we all come around to this belief we’ll never achieve equality. When I say equality, it’s not only a phrase we attach to the right to get married, I attach it to the the fabric of our lives: the right to work, the right to have a home, the right to use the restroom without second guessing, the right to walk in your neighborhood and feel safe.” —Janet Mock USC Speech: CeCe McDonald Trial, Paige Clay Murder | Janet Mock (via angrybanette)
Red Onion Prisoners Unite in a Hunger Strike Protesting Abuse, May 22 →
virginiaprisonstrike.blogspot.com
“On Tuesday May 22 as many as 45 prisoners at Red Onion State Prison, comprising at least 2 segregation pods, will enter the first day of a hunger strike protesting deplorable conditions in the prison and ongoing abuses by prison staff. For the men participating in the strike this is their only recourse to get Red Onion warden Randy Mathena to officially recognize their grievances and make immediate changes to food, sanitation and basic living conditions at the prison…”
Dear fellow light skinned POC,
Being rejected for your lightness is not nor will it ever be, the same as being rejected for your darkness or visible Blackness.
It just isn’t ever going to be the same.
I need y’all to understand, and I mean understand, the rejection of whiteness and/or lightness by ethnically and racially marginalized peoples is a reflection of learned fear of our/their oppressors.
The rejection by those same marginalized peoples of darkness and Blackness, in specific, is due to the fact that rejecting, harming, disenfranchising, and challenging claims to mixed/multiple identities of visible Black/African Diaspora peoples will always be viewed as an easy route to authenticity/autonomy under white supremacy.
The rejection of visible racial difference, in which racial difference is largely read as darkness of skin (and there are other elements to it, but having skin color that is not pure-as-the-driven-mayo white is the biggie to traditions of white supremacy), is seen as the Get Out of Jail Free pass.
So when we, light-skinned peoples, talk about our difficulties fitting in, we have to really examine what we’re talking about. We have to acknowledge a world system that continually favors us for “not looking Black” (feel free to replace with [X], if you must).
-
So yeah, we may have shit to deal with, and internalized issues in regard to our authenticity, depending on our backgrounds, but it will never be the same as the struggle for identity our dark-skinned peoples work under.
As requested by too many people: making the last post rebloggable
birdartpoetry asked: Mister Gaiman, you’re kickass. I was just wondering, what do you think is the best way to seduce a writer? I figured your answer would be pretty spectacular.
In my experience, writers tend to be really good at the inside of their own heads and imaginary people, and a lot less good at the stuff going on outside, which means that quite often if you flirt with us we will completely fail to notice, leaving everybody involved slightly uncomfortable and more than slightly unlaid.
So I would suggest that any attempted seduction of a writer would probably go a great deal easier for all parties if you sent them a cheerful note saying “YOU ARE INVITED TO A SEDUCTION: Please come to dinner on Friday Night. Wear the kind of clothes you would like to be seduced in.”
And alcohol may help, too. Or kissing. Many writers figure out that they’re being seduced or flirted with if someone is actually kissing them.
