Pheurton Skeurto
More tea, Wesley?
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I’d like to address the MacPhail family. Let you know, despite the situation you are in, I’m not the one who personally killed your son, your father, your brother. I am innocent.
The incident that happened that night is not my fault. I did not have a gun. All I can ask … is that you look deeper into this case so that you really can finally see the truth.
I ask my family and friends to continue to fight this fight.
For those about to take my life, God have mercy on your souls. And may God bless your souls.
Last words of Troy Davis, murdered last night by the state of Georgia (via thegermansmakegoodstuff)(Source: The Huffington Post)
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For every Harriet Tubman there are hundreds of thousands of black women who died as slaves. For every Sojourner Truth there are hundreds of thousands who were never able to speak publicly about their experiences.
Melissa Harris-Perry on the legacy of the black woman in America. She discusses the fact that black women are mythicized into these hyper-strong, powerful, magical beings that never need help and have the means to fight against all who oppress her. America likes to take a few figures and say “my, look at how strong, mighty and confident black women are!” and completely ignore the ways in which black women are dehumanized and degraded on a daily, institutional basis. (via newwavefeminism)
THIS! POC tend to be immortalized in ‘success stories’, like these women, MLK Jr, etc. As if allowing a handful to gain national recognition means somehow we are past racism now.
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If tectonic plates shifted, resulting in an enormous opening at the bottom of the ocean - an opening that sucked down surrounding water, plant varieties, and fish - then sea life would be forced to relocate in that opening. They would migrate there because the new opening fundamentally altered the composition of their old ecosystems, draining them of food and nutrients. The same pattern occurs within social ecologies where certain structural conditions (like slavery) foster economic openings that drain resources and workers from other parts of the world. Because, like ecosystems, societies are intimately connected, abundance in one area usually causes paucity, a lack of abundance, in others. There is, therefore, a complex relationship between the wealthy country that receives immigrants and the underdeveloped country that sends them. We should bear this in mind when discussing American immigration…Matthew Desmond and Mustafa Emirbayer, Racial Domination, Racial Progress: The Sociology of Race in America.
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This is what my world history textbook has to say about Columbus
“Naked, friendly natives met Columbus and his crew. They were Taino Indians, who spoke a variant of the Arawak language. Believing he had landed in the East Indies, Columbus called these people Indians. The natives’ generosity amazed Columbus, as they freely gave his men corn, yams - and many sexual favors. “They never say no,” Columbus marveled, observing how easily they could be enslaved.”
Let’s take a minute to analyze what this paragraph does:
-Reinforces the idea of Native Americans as inferior people, devoid of any type of culture or society outside of language.
-Places the negativity of ‘sexual favors’ on the Indians, instead of on those who were presumably asking for them in the first place. (this is such a weird point, I dont understand why it is included here)
-By saying Columbus ‘observed’ the enslavement absolves him of responsibility.Effectively, this paragraph relies on and reinforces the assumptions that colonialism was justified due to the ‘savage’ nature of the dominated cultures. To be fair, the topic is discussed in another chapter focusing on the effects of colonialism in Latin America, South America, and Africa.
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In a development typical of Arizona, the students who walked out on Thursday, protesting the elimination of the district’s Mexican American studies program, have – without a hearing – been directed to perform janitorial duties this Saturday: an amazing message, right out of Newt Gingrich’s playbook (he has been campaigning in the GOP presidential nomination race, proposing the idea that students should be hired as janitors to teach them a work ethic). Apparently, TUSD administrators are paying attention.
The further message of this punishment, then, appears to be that the state and the district do not want students to study Mexican American studies, but they do want them to clean toilets. Perhaps, Gingrich should consider relocating to Arizona, where his message is being fully embraced.Roberto Cintli Rodriguez, Arizona’s ‘banned’ Mexican American books
This is what racism looks like.
(via mohandasgandhi)
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EVERYTHING about the Trayvon Martin case makes me physically ill.
No matter the circumstances, how do you not even arrest someone who ADMITS TO shooting an unarmed minor in the chest in cold blood? That’s manslaughter at the VERY, VERY GENEROUS LEAST.
How do you buy a “self-defense” story from a guy who has also admitted to starting out the evening by trailing the “suspicious figure” in his car? At what point does secretly trailing someone in a locked vehicle become a physical altercation unless the driver gets out of the car to be the aggressor?
How does the legality of the possession of a handgun mitigate in any way the fact that the legal handgun was used to illegally kill a person?
How does the killer’s (and I do mean to say killer, not alleged killer, as he admitted to KILLING this child) status as “Captain of the Neighborhood Watch” mean ANYTHING, given that the title was self-appointed?
How does Zimmerman’s “squeaky-clean” record mean anything? KILLING SOMEONE ISN’T A FUCKING SPEEDING TICKET. It’s not like because it’s a first offense, so you get off with a warning. His record means NOTHING. The fact that he murdered a kid outright, without being able to describe anything about what made his victim “suspicious” or warranting “self-defense” (because let’s face it! what was suspicious about him was that he was black!)? That means everything.
This fucking world.
I can’t even begin to comprehend how a private citizen can shoot an unarmed kid and NOT be arrested. (Like at some point during the scuffle, Zimmerman was physically mobile enough to pull a gun? And not just pull a gun as a threat…but to actually shoot to kill? What. Why.)
Dude should be under the jail. End of.
Prosecute the murderer of 17 year old Trayvon Martin - Sign the Change.org Petition!
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on racism/sexism.
Tonight I became angry. Not annoyed, but indescribably and physically angry. I could feel it boiling in my heart, spitting scalding lava, escalating into screaming tea kettle status. Sometimes I do not feel people gather how the pity card can backfire and perhaps the I’m-strong-and-unstoppably-awesome mindset was the venerated route.
So tonight, when I am viewing ballet dancer, Misty Copeland, in the fantastic documentary show A Day in The Life, I’m enamored: she’s gorgeous and talented, graceful, accomplished, worldly known. So many hurdles crossed as a ballet dancer; such an INSANELY hard field to make a name in (I can maybe count two on my right hand) and out of her mouth she states, “I wish I had someone, especially a black woman in my field who I could’ve looked up to, I wasn’t interested at all.” Okay, she’s of African American descent; cool — it doesn’t even dawn on me until I hear this comment. But then she keeps going. And going. And continually mentioning skin color, directly to the children she is visiting at a local Boys and Girls’ Club even, “It’s really exciting to see young dancers that look like me, where I came from I was pretty much the only black girl in my class with brown skin, so it makes me happy to see you guys.” So it’s not about dancing or talent suddenly; only your heritage? Way to ruin a potentially good moment.
I’m a relatively compassionate, honest and understanding person. I don’t eat animals or buy blood diamonds. I file my taxes on time. And anyone with a baby or more than 50 years seniority is going ahead of me in line. Always. I’m rational. I know the difference between right and wrong and when someone has a legitimate reason to be tossed a free pass.
But please someone explain to me how pointing out a minor difference EVER helped a cause?
Ever??
It PROLONGS inequality. And we are not that different. Pointing out differences for the sake of you vs. me will only make our situation just that.
Example 1: Hi, I’m a girl with crooked teeth and brown hair. My parents were born in America, I’m paying for school myself, and have a car on lease for the next four years. It doesn’t matter where my family was from because I am young, female, and paying for more than I can afford.
Example 2: Hi, I’m a girl with crooked teeth and brown hair. My parents were born in America, I’m not paying for school myself because I was given an African American scholarship based solely on my skin color and not anything I personally encountered, and have a car on lease for the next four years. It does matter where, not me, but my family is from, and I therefore feel entitled to a large portion of your resources because of what a very generalized race did to mine over 50 years ago.
FACT: I am white. I am only the second generation of my family to go to college. I paid for my education myself. And I had to drop out in my fifth year because I could no longer afford to go.
How is this remotely fair?
And why don’t we, as a society, force a few people to suck it up and actually try? That would actually be a start. Federally-funded wellness programs: free gyms/stress management, drug-tested welfare programs where a positive test results in immediate long-term work-concentric and therapeutic rehab, fully-funded contraception/female care/sex awareness. These are all real things. They are tangible and can be fixed. This is the best part!
I do agree there are many many cases where people deserve and NEED help, and as a person with a beating heart, I have zero qualms involving: the blind, unjustly injured, physically and mentally disabled, etc.
Coming from an African American/Spanish American/Chinese American heritage is not a handicap.
Eating too much food is not a handicap.
Being afraid of people is not a handicap.
SUCK. IT. UP.
But I do, and yes, it’s personal, have a problem with sex discrimination. It’s the one thing we can’t, as human beings, just absorb and assimilate to.
Example: Hi, I’m a girl in the general scheme of girls with breasts and a vagina and a period and things that 95% of our leaders and lawmakers will definitely NEVER experience and perhaps never sympathize with. Like 100% of every girl who’s ever reached menstruation, I’m in horrendous physical and emotional pain for 30% of every month of every year for 30-or-so years until the humbling and socially de-sexualizing event of menopause. Also, my body has the ability to become pregnant for nine months, then fat and depressed for the years following.
[Aside: Male Politicians: Ewwwww…let’s hold a summit about them, make some laws regarding them, and not invite them…]
I get it.
Difference, and especially difference you cannot experience, can be (mostly to the closed-minded and more lower thinking capita) a terrifying prospect. This is childish and embarrassing.
If you are a girl, THAT is a case. That is a definite discrepancy between men and women which should be held farrrr more accountable than it currently is. Women should not have to pay for ANYTHING regarding periods or menopause or pregnancy or labor. In Europe they bait women into pregnancy with promises of lengthy paid maternity leave/paternity leave and full healthcare coverage of both mother and baby with on-site childcare.
THAT is one thing. THAT is a MAJOR difference between human beings.
But if you are a perfectly able darker-toned girl who wants pity, I do not have your back, nor do I feel you have a case because WE are not that different. Chances are, we both grew up in America. We were both around when the equal rights movement was in full effect. When interracial couples could get married. A time when we ate at the same places and paid the same prices and loved the same weather and feared the same losses. We are at a tipping-point where race/color/religion does not matter if we do not allow it. Black History Month is a step back: let’s point out to ourselves and generations for years to come the difference between skin color and how horrifically a group of Caucasian people in America’s history treated people with darker skin tone. African American scholarships are a step back: no, it’s not that you’re the smartest or most creative-thinking person in your class, it’s solely based how horrifically a group of Caucasian people in America’s history treated people with darker skin tone, like you, you’re different. If we want progress, we accept that which we cannot change and move constructively beyond it.
Moral of the story: Misty Copeland is a great ballet dancer, and this is why she made it in America. Talent transcends race. Work hard, be motivated and inspired, and you will make something of yourself.
Alright. Let me jump into this.
In case you are short of patience like me, here’s a summary of the post
“WOW MISTY WHY ARE YOU MENTIONING THE COLOR OF YOUR SKIN. SKIN COLOR MEANS NOTHING. MY LIFE IS HARD TOO AND IM A WHITE GIRL. SKIN COLOR HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING. WHITE PRIVILEGE. WHITE PRIVILEGE. WHITE PRIVILEGE. STOP TALKING ABOUT RACE”
First of all from a personal viewpoint. Being black and being in any part of the arts is hard. Especially something so white, like ballet. How often do you actually see black ballet dancers? How often do you see black ballet dancers go as far as Misty Copeland has. You said you didn’t even register her skin color. Good for you. But she’s still black and she will always be black.For example, in theatre, if the role is not specifically for a black person or a PoC (which roles rarely are), then that role will almost always go to a white person. Did you know that Misty is only the 3rd black ballet dancer to dance with ABT? ABT has been around since 1937. So for Misty to become the 3rd black ballet dancer there, AND be a soloist is a pretty big deal and milestone and an inspiration for many black dancers like myself.
Maybe now you’ll start to register race, because it’s extremely rare to see a black woman in ballet. Don’t even get me started on black men in ballet.
Even in my own dance class, I am the only black girl. In the dance class below me there is also one black girl. In the entirety of the dance program at my school there are 2 of us. Including general dancers and the Performing and Visual Arts dancers. So out of about 250, 2 are black. 1:125.
Now
Coming from an African American/Spanish American/Chinese American heritage is not a handicap.
Well, actually when you’re living a place ruled by white people, it is in fact a handicap although it shouldn’t be one. You know why? Because PoC are viewed as lesser. We are viewed as idiots. Either that or we’re invisible, people say they dont see the color of our skin. That we are all the same. Why can’t PoC be treated equally without having our identities be erased to make a white person more comfortable? Why? Why does the acknowledgment of our ancestry, or pride in the shade of our skin bother you so much? Did you really not realize Misty was black? I know she’s lightskinned, but come on now.
I’m a relatively compassionate, honest and understanding person. I don’t eat animals or buy blood diamonds. I file my taxes on time. And anyone with a baby or more than 50 years seniority is going ahead of me in line. Always. I’m rational. I know the difference between right and wrong and when someone has a legitimate reason to be tossed a free pass.
This right here is just a classic example of “LOOK IM A GOOD PERSON IM NOT SO UNDERSTANDING AND COMPASSIONATE LOOK LOOK AT ME SPECIAL SNOWFLAKE”.
Like, do you want a medal? Why are you bragging about how “good” of a person you are? Like wow. Oh my God. You do things that everyone should do always. Like omg. omg. omg. omg. WOW. 4 FOR YOU!
Example 1:Hi, I’m a girl with crooked teeth and brown hair. My parents were born in America, I’m paying for school myself, and have a car on lease for the next four years. It doesn’t matter where my family was from because I am young, female, and paying for more than I can afford.
Example 2: Hi, I’m a girl with crooked teeth and brown hair. My parents were born in America, I’m not paying for school myself because I was given an African American scholarship based solely on my skin color and not anything I personally encountered, and have a car on lease for the next four years. It does matter where, not me, but my family is from…
Did you even bother to do research before you made this post? Seriously. No. African American scholarships are not based solely off skin color. It’s a factor, why is it a factor? Because it’s something that is needed in America. There are black people who are ridiculously talented and smart, but were dealt an unfair hand because of a government that favors white people. So while that smart capable black person is at home trying to get by, theres a white kid who’s barely passing, who only got in because they could afford it in their place. Is that fair?I dont even understand how you could say “based solely on my skin color”. Do you not think black people have to work for those scholarships? Do you not think grades are taken into consideration? Financial stature? Are you stupid?
and I therefore feel entitled to a large portion of your resources because of what a very generalized race did to mine over 50 years ago.
But like, they aren’t even YOUR resources. If anything, every single resource that you think you are entitled to (which is exactly what you implied with that sentence), actually belongs to Native Americans.
And lol, white girl. Racism is not over. People are not equal. Especially when it comes to black people and white people. Either we’re seen as ghetto niggers, or we are ignored completely. And quite honestly, YOU owe US and just about every single other minority out there a whole lot more than scholarships.
But if you are a perfectly able darker-toned girl who wants pity, I do not have your back, nor do I feel you have a case because WE are not that different.
DARKER TONED GIRLS DO NOT WANT YOU TO HAVE OUR BACKS. We don’t need a white savior. We don’t want your help. Talking about being black is not equivalent to “wow, im black, come help me white woman, how will i ever survive without you”.
No one wants your fucking pity. Yes we are different. Refusing to awknowledge differences doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Just because you don’t live my life and you don’t know about my culture and what I do and go through behind closed doors doesn’t mean we are the same. We are not the same. We will NEVER. EVER. Be the same.
We are at a tipping-point where race/color/religion does not matter if we do not allow it.
Black History Month is a step back: let’s point out to ourselves and generations for years to come the difference between skin color and how horrifically a group of Caucasian people in America’s history treated people with darker skin tone.
No, lets just forget about BHM and cover up the shit white people did. Lets tell all future generations that racism never existed and everything was peachy.Classic case of white guilt. Except unfortunately, no1 curr bout your white woman tears.
African American scholarships are a step back: no, it’s not that you’re the smartest or most creative-thinking person in your class, it’s solely based how horrifically a group of Caucasian people in America’s history treated people with darker skin tone, like you, you’re different.
Sigh. African American scholarships, go out to those who are African American, because of the persistent issue of inequality. If everything was fine, we wouldn’t need AAS. And just because those scholarships are restricted to African Americans or PoC, it doesn’t mean it’ll go to any. You STILl have the be smart/creative/innovative…etc. The difference between a normal scholarship and one that goes out to African Americans or PoC is that the AA and PoC one goes to those who aren’t white. The criteria is still the same. You have to be smart. Believe it or not, smart black people exist.
Moral of the story: Misty Copeland is a great ballet dancer, and this is why she made it in America. Talent transcends race. Work hard, be motivated and inspired, and you will make something of yourself.
Moral of the story
Reblog for the God-tier commentary. Yes. This. Thisthisthisthisthisthis
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13-Year-Old Jada Williams persecuted over her essay on Frederick Douglass
Miss Williams personalized this to her own situation. She reflected on how the “white teachers” do not have enough control of the classroom to successfully teach the minority students in Rochester. While she herself is more literate than most, due to her own perseverance and diligence, she sees the fact that so many of the other “so-called ‘unteachable’” students aren’t learning to read as a form of modern-day slavery. Their illiteracy holds them back in society.
Her call to action was then in her summary: “A grand price was paid in order for us to be where we are today; but in my mind we should be a lot further, so again I encourage the white teachers to instruct and I encourage my people to not just be a student, but become a learner.”
This offended her English teacher so much that the teacher copied the essay for other teachers and for the Principal. After that, Miss Williams’ mother and father started receiving phone calls from numerous teachers, all claiming that their daughter is “angry.” Miss Williams, mostly a straight-A student, started receiving very low grades, and she was kicked out of class for laughing and threatened with in-school suspension. -
We’ve heard the 911 calls. We seen the 13 year old witness. We’ve read the letter from the alleged killer’s father. We listened to the anger of the family’s attorney. We’ve felt the pain of Trayvon’s mother. For heaven’s sake, for 24 hours he was a deceased John Doe at the hospital because even the police couldn’t believe that maybe he LIVES in the community. There are still some facts to figure out. There are still some questions to be answered. But, let’s be clear. Let’s be very, very clear. Before the neighborhood watch captain, George Zimmerman, started following him against the better judgement of the 911 dispatcher. Before any altercation. Before any self-defense claim. Before Travyon’s cries for help were heard on the 911 tapes. Before the bullet hit him dead in the chest. Before all of this. He was suspicious. He was suspicious. Suspicious. And you know, like I know, it wasn’t because of the hoodie or the jeans or the sneakers. Cause I had on that same outfit yesterday and no one called 911 saying I was just wandering around their neighborhood. It was because of one thing and one thing only. Trayvon is black.
Michael Skolnik, White People, You Will Never Look Suspicious Like Trayvon Martin (via goldenheartedrose)
LOL at alleged killer.
(via theoceanandthesky)
Yeah, “alleged” should not be there.
(via sinidentidades)
Alleged has to be there because under jurisprudence a person is innocent until proven guilty. Therefore until it’s determined by a court of law any news source has to put alleged so that it cannot be seen to be biasing a potential trial. The use of alleged is correct, it’s the stories where they don’t put alleged that they’re making the fuck ups.
(via philosophy-of-praxis)
It may be true that Zimmerman is the “alleged” murderer in a legal sense but it’s indisputable that he killed Martin. Journalists have to use careful terminology to avoid legal disputes though, especially when talking about a private figure.
(via mohandasgandhi)
(Source: veganmudblood)
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TRUTH!!
Always Reblog!
huh.
(Source: black-culture)
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And in 45 years of me being on this earth, that was the very first time that I ever heard my father where he was pleading and begging for his life, someone who I looked at as being extremely strong, to hear him beg for his life, to say that this was his sworn testimony on the audio, which the police did not know that was being recorded. He said, “My name is Kenneth Chamberlain. This is my sworn testimony. White Plains police are going to come in here and kill me.
- Kenneth Chamberlain Jr. speaking to Democracy Now on Thursday. His father, Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr., a 68-year-old African-American Marine veteran, was fatally shot in November by White Plains, NY police who responded to a false alarm from his medical alert pendant. The officers broke down Chamberlain’s door, tasered him, and then shot him dead. Audio of the entire incident was recorded by the medical alert device in Chamberlain’s apartment and has not been released. The police have still not been charged. (via squintyoureyes)
This is INsane. And what’s insane is how often this happens. Clearly, nobody (brown) is safe. Serving the US military machine will not shield you from the vicious murderous appetite of the police, once they come a’knockin on your door—no matter if you called them or not! It’s to the point where it would not be irrational to posit that a (brown or black) person would be safer just blasting through your door from the inside-out once they begin banging. Boom boom boom. You’re gonna die anyway, right? Maybe it would slow down these aggro freaks if that started happening. Sheesh. We live in a land where Stand Your Ground laws let a man chase after and gun down an innocent person…but they don’t protect you from being murdered by the State in your own house?
Law, hunh! What is it good for?
(via nezua)
Here’s an article discussing the incident and a transcribe of the interview with Kenneth Chamberlain, Jr. I cannot fathom the scope of racial injustice in America, a trench which seems to have no end. This cannot continue. -
Trayvon’s blackness wasn’t something he could hide, so it wouldn’t have mattered whether he’d worn a hoodie or a t-shirt that fateful night. It mattered that he was black, and it mattered that the person who shot him had a vendetta out for black men before Trayvon ever set foot in the neighborhood. It matters that in 2012, there are more black men in prison today than those who were enslaved in 1850. It matters that blacks, in particular black men, are overrepresented in the criminal justice system and underrepresented in colleges. It matters that the black unemployment rate is nearly double that of unemployment for the general population. It matters that blacks are less likely to be screened, diagnosed, and treated for preventable diseases, less likely to own homes, less likely to receive research grants, and more likely to retire in poverty than their white counterparts. It matters that blacks are less likely than whites to abuse drugs, but more likely to be convicted of drug crimes. None of these statistics are due to a genetic predisposition to violence, poor health and underachievement, instead as a direct result of the disenfranchisement of blacks that has occurred in this country for more than 200 years at the hands of slavery, Jim Crow Laws, discrimination, and the institutionalized racism in our schools, banks, businesses, courts, and prisons that has torn apart our families and fractured our community. Just like Trayvon Martin, race mattered for Amadou Diallo, Oscar Grant, Sean Bell, Emmett Till, and hundreds more we will never know the name of who died because of their skin color.Angela Marie Davis (via blvckviolet)
(Source: zorascreation)
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The criminalization of black America
- There are more African American adults under correctional control today — in prison or jail, on probation or parole — than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began.
- As of 2004, more African American men were disenfranchised (due to felon disenfranchisement laws) than in 1870, the year the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified, prohibiting laws that explicitly deny the right to vote on the basis of race.
- A black child born today is less likely to be raised by both parents than a black child born during slavery. The recent disintegration of the African American family is due in large part to the mass imprisonment of black fathers.
- If you take into account prisoners, a large majority of African American men in some urban areas have been labeled felons for life. (In the Chicago area, the figure is nearly 80%.) These men are part of a growing undercaste — not class, caste — permanently relegated, by law, to a second-class status. They can be denied the right to vote, automatically excluded from juries, and legally discriminated against in employment, housing, access to education, and public benefits, much as their grandparents and great-grandparents were during the Jim Crow era.
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