Thursday night’s protest on the Boston Common.
Eric Garner/Mike Brown/#BlackLivesMatter
(I know this is an overwhelming amount of links, but 1.) this shit is important and 2.) there’s been so much necessary and powerful writing, I couldn’t pick just a few pieces.)
–Can you breathe? Reflections on non-indictment, activism, and black life.
–White America’s scary delusion: why its sense of black humanity is so skewed.
-This is painfully true, and be forewarned that the painting at the end of the post might make you cry: The 10 stages of what happens when there’s injustice against black people.
-Katherine Cross writes about why she was not surprised by the Eric Garner decision, as a trans woman of color who has seen her sisters regularly face brutality from the NYPD.
–Meet the BART-stopping woman behind “Black Lives Matter.”
–This country needs a truth and reconciliation process on violence against African Americans–right now.
-Another incredibly fucked-up decision: charges were dropped against the police officer who shot 7-year old Aiyana Stanley-Jones while she slept in her own home.
-In a rare example of someone (although not a cop) being held accountable for killing a black person, Renisha McBride’s killer was found guilty of murder.
-“Twelve years after getting my Vassar College faculty ID, I sit here and know that the nation can’t structurally and emotionally assault black kids and think they’re going to turn out OK.”
–This stops today: seeking strategies to end discriminatory policing. A key point: “support [solutions] that take power and money away from the cops, and those that give power to the people.”
–Police “reforms” you should always oppose. Likewise: Body cameras won’t stop police brutality, and Eric Garner is only one of several reasons why.
-An important analysis of public space and power: After Ferguson, we have to ask: who owns the streets?
–#AliveWhileBlack: stories of discrimination in everyday life are a powerful response to #CrimingWhileWhite. Shannon contributes her own terrible stories.
–Who has the privilege to protest?
-Shaun King on the profit motive behind racism.
–A herstory of the #BlackLivesMatter movement by Alice Garza.
-“There is something deeply disturbing and disingenuous about the misuse of King and the civil rights movement to call for peace and quiet. So in the interests of setting the historical record a bit more straight, here are ten ways to be like Dr. King in post-Ferguson America.”
–Notes from a queer engineer: tear gas, tool of the police state.
–The worry and the wait for justice: what it feels like to be a black mother right now.
–Ferguson’s pain for three generations of black mothers.
–Black women and girls killed by the police: speak their names, see their faces, and know their stories.
-Fellow white people, it’s time to reconsider calling 911.
-Bostonians, if you want to learn more about our local black-owned businesses, check out this upcoming marketplace.
My friend Shannon and her sign
-There’s a pretty convincing case to be made that the Ferguson-inspired Black Friday boycott (which I participated in) was responsible for the 11% drop in sales over the weekend, but mainstream media outlets scrambled to come up with any other explanation.
–In Ferguson, there are no malls left to boycott.
–Ferguson won’t heal; it’s too soon to turn the page.
-It’s important to complicate the narrative of that picture of a young black boy hugging a white police officer, and to keep in mind that the officer has expressed support for Darren Wilson on Facebook.
-The young rapper Tink has put out a track in response to Ferguson.
–It can still be police violence without looking dramatic.
–UN: US police brutality violates anti-torture treaty.
–The revolution will be live-tweeted: why #BlackLivesMatter is the new model for civil rights.
–This 11-year old activist knows where it’s at.
–The sobering reality of actual black nerd problems.
-I was so proud of Boston for our turnout on Thursday, and at a second protest on Friday (which unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it to). The Dig reports that #EnoughIsEnough was the largest Hub protest in 10 years, and maybe even Boston’s biggest anti-racism action in decades. You can see more inspiring pictures from it here and here.
Fa(t)shion
-Gabi is tired of respectability politics in fashion; she rocks a VBO (visible belly outline) and encourages anyone who wants to to do the same.
-Lesley writes hilariously about 8 plus size holiday party dresses that aren’t black.
-More pretties: 30 plus size formal evening dresses for the holidays.
–Enter Sock Dream utopia: where socks are the gateway to body positivity.
–Lola Getts activewear looks pretty cool, although unfortunately it only goes up to a size 22/24 (like so many plus size lines, boo).
-“So for us, choosing to wear neon leggings and a patterned top may be more than just a way to avoid leaving the house naked—it might be someone’s way of reclaiming ownership of their body, asserting their right to be visible, and refusing to be ignored.”
Because dogs are the best antidote to injustice overload, here is my friend Carly Copley, who I visited before the protest. Isn’t she the cutest?
Fat Acceptance
-This is SO fucked-up: fat people, smokers denied routine surgery in Devon, UK.
-Jes reviews Fat Girl Finishing School, a book of poetry that looks awesome.
–Making it easier for fat kids.
-Another way that fat hatred kills: the lack of crash test dummies that model how our bodies react in car crashes.
-The title is misleading and inflammatory, but it’s still pretty cool to see a piece about practicing HAES (even though the author doesn’t use that term) in Cosmo.
Climate and Sustainability
–The ethics of climate hope: a response to Elizabeth Kolbert.
–Why climate hawks are on the left, whether they like it or not. This piece also implies, although it’s not stated outright, that climate hawks are necessarily pro-big-government–which is not synonymous with “on the left.”
–Why this U.N. climate summit is especially important.
Everything Else
–“A mythical creature”: my genderqueer childhood.
–RAINBOW LATKES. That is all.
-Fi Douglas’ watercolor floral sketchbooks are gorgeous.
-There are few things cuter than a sleigh pulled by corgis.
–I believe Shia LaBeouf–a person doesn’t have to be likable to be a victim.
–When racial justice is inaccessible: Facing Race’s slow creep into the nonprofit industrial complex.
-There is now a crisis hotline specifically for transgender people.
-Grace Lee Boggs–a badass activist who you should get familiar with if you’re not already–is asking for support in affording hospice care at the end of her life. Chip in if you can, and signal-boost!
-This checklist for rape victims is depressingly true. I haven’t been reading much about the Rolling Stone rape article controversy, but what little I’ve read so far makes me want to scream.
–Adoption is not a universal alternative to abortion, no matter what anti-choicers say.
-“I don’t want to be cisgender. I want to be loved.”
Tutus And Tiny Hats 