What does it look like when white people defect from the traditions of white supremacy? It probably looks (and sounds) like South Carolina Representative Jenny Horne talking about removing the confederate flag from the South Carolina state house.
Defection from white supremacy
Filed under communication, human rights, kindness, memorial, race, representation, resistance, vulnerability
Changing culture vs. changing laws: gay marriage
It is important to understand the distinction between changing culture and changing laws. Legal institutions (courts, legislatures, or leaders) might grant rights to people, but other people (some of them prejudiced) are likely to impliment those laws. Many will circumvent legal changes and continue to use systems of power to discriminate.
Thus we have a lengthy history of changes in law that required years of enforcement. For Example, federal troops being sent to Arkansas to protect the Little Rock Nine — black students attempting to enroll in a previously white high school.
It is worth viewing the 30 for 30 “Ghosts of Ole Miss,” an ESPN documentary that gives some similar context to educational changes for civil rights.
It is always worth taking note of the tactics used to resist change. Thinkprogress has an astounding rundown of the circumvention efforts of Hood County (Texas) clerk Katie Lang to deny Jim Cato and Joe Stapleton a marriage license.
Since June 29, the Monday after the ruling, Jim Cato and Joe Stapleton, who have been together for 27 years, have been trying to obtain the marriage license they’ve waited so long for. When rejecting them, Lang claimed that her staffers would issue the license instead, but Cato and Stapleton were then told they couldn’t be helped because the clerk’s office did not have the new gender-neutral forms, which would supposedly take “three or more weeks” to arrive.
Last Thursday, they brought their own copy of the state’s new form, and still they were refused a license. When they insisted, Lang told everyone to leave the office and called the Sheriff’s Department, who stood guard but did not force anyone out. Cato and Stapleton had been in touch with their lawyer, who arrived at Lang’s office to deliver a letter warning of a suit if a license wasn’t issued. A staffer began to process their application, but then asked, “Which of you will be the husband?” When they insisted upon the new form, which lists “applicant 1″ and “applicant 2″ instead of “husband” and “wife,” the staffer then refused to accept their payment of the $83 fee. Lang reappeared and confirmed that they would still have to wait several weeks to get their license anyway because she had to wait for revised certificate forms, even though a different-sex couple could have filed the form and left with a license the same day.
Monday morning, Cato and Stapleton filed a federal lawsuit, which describes their experiences being rejected as “humiliating and degrading.” Less than two hours after the suit was filed, Lang’s office issued the couple a marriage license.
via This Is What Happens To Court Clerks Who Refuse To Issue Same Sex Marriage Licenses | ThinkProgress.
Cheers to Cato and Stapleton for their fierce pursuit of equal rights.
Filed under Gay, gender, human rights, representation, resistance
Killer Mike gets some time to talk
Tavis Smiley invites Killer Mike for two sincere discussions on PBS. Killer Mike does not pull any punches and the topics are legit. Righteous, respectful and thoughtful. I can’t figure out how to embed, but these are both worth watching.
Filed under class, do-it-yourself, hip hop, media, protest, race, representation, resistance
Deadpan administrators: Emma Sulkowicz graduates with mattress
Most of you know of the case of Emma Sulkowicz who was raped at Columbia university. Sulkowicz committed to carry around the mattress where the crime took place until the university expelled her rapist. Activism, performance art and a compelling articulation of the burdens that survivors of sexualized violence carry.
Sulkowicz graduated and walked across the stage in her gown carrying that mattress. Worth a moment of reflection to look at the administrators who simply gape at her and her colleagues who help carry the mattress. If you want to know which administrators to fire, start with the ones that won’t shake Sulkowicz’s hand as she completes her degree. Please note the crowd volume for Sulkowicz.
Stick around for the short video on the Black Student Union’s die-in at the tree lighting ceremony.
Filed under academics, feminism, gender, human rights, protest, representation, resistance, sexual assault
Ellen McIlwaine: singing backwards
Whoa. I’ve got just enough time to share this ridiculous video of Ellen McIlwaine singing “Up in heaven shouting.” Singing backwards when the tape runs forwards? Whoa.
Filed under music
Technology extending activism #blacklivesmatter
1. Thanks to Feministing for the best framing of the uprising in Baltimore. I appreciate the foregrounding of gender, class, and the juxtaposition of Wholefoods feeding the National Guard and community members organizing (through technology) to feed local kids.
2. The New York Times seems to think that activism documented through the internet focusing on police violence is a new thing. It isn’t, but Jay Caspian Kang’s write up of the radicalization of the leaders of this movement is a useful connection point. Here Kang outlines the articulation of long-standing injustices into first-person experiences of tear-gas saturated outrage in Ferguson.
Mckesson was radicalized that night. “I just couldn’t believe that the police would fire tear gas into what had been a peaceful protest,” he told me. “I was running around, face burning, and nothing I saw looked like America to me.” He also noticed that his account of that night’s tear-gassings, along with a photo he took of the rapper J. Cole, had brought him quite a bit of attention on Twitter. Previously, Mckesson had used the social-media platform to post random news articles that interested him, but now he was realizing its documentary power. He quickly grasped that a protester’s effectiveness came mostly from his ability to be present in as many places as possible: He had to be on West Florissant when the police rolled up in armored vehicles; inside the St. Louis coffee shop MoKaBe’s, a safe haven for the protesters in the city’s Shaw neighborhood, when tear gas started to seep in through the front door; in front of the Ferguson Police Department when shots rang out. He had to keep up a steady stream of tweets and carry around a charger so his phone wouldn’t die.
via ‘Our Demand Is Simple: Stop Killing Us.’ – NYTimes.com.
Filed under colonialism, communication, do-it-yourself, human rights, juxtaposition, media, memorial, police, protest, representation, resistance, technology
MF DOOM video origins
Sims, Mass & Alan the G created this wonderful video montage of MF DOOM samples and snippets. Well constructed and inspirational (I’m trying to find a copy of Altered States right now!)
Filed under hip hop, juxtaposition, media, music
Make this the year YOU discover a new destination!
Excellent visual argument about Palestine. Compelling visuals, crisp juxtaposition and significant argument about the importance of graffiti.
“That comfort that you are experiencing is destroying our country!”
Welcome to W. Honky territory. I just discovered his videos and appreciated his accusatory tone and salty authenticity. Turns out he has a youtube channel with his rural truck-cam post-work pov videos.
It took three videos from W. Honky before I ran into this nice gem where he calls upon white Americans to acknowledge the benefits they get from white supremacy. Specifically he calls upon white people to film themselves articulating their understandings of white privilege. “To get white people to take some responsibility.”
Honky is light on intersectional analysis. Consideration of ability, sex and nationality in relationship to race sort of enter in the late part of the video. Thinking about all layers of oppression at the get-go, what Mari Matsuda calls: “ask the other question,” foregrounding multiple frames of identity at the same time might help support Honky’s key suggestions of accountability and public dialogue.
And of course, given that the key problem is white supremacy might one try to privilege non-white speakers? Many other persuasive people of color have made almost the same arguments and yet not had the same traction as W. Honky. We might note that those who are most deeply to benefit from white supremacy may not be listening to thoughtful women of color, but they might listen to W. Honky.
People like Honky (and myself) benefit from white skin privilege, which means access. A good example of W. Honky’s articulation of what to do about white privilege is his piece on the Bass Pro Shop (boycott).
It is an interesting arc and you come to wonder about the creator (Jorge Moran). I have a suspicion that this is a character, a performance. Even if it is, I’m impressed with the quality of the arguments, the passion and the realness. More is the accessibility – I would like to drink a beer with this guy and talk about race. He seems honest about power and at the same time ready to think slightly out-of-the-box about class, race and identity in general. He seems like the kind of guy I’d like on my team.
Y’know?
Filed under class, communication, critique, learning, race
Life of refinement 