Aide-moi

sourcedumal: stfusexists: safercampus: A guide to sexual...

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:14:27 -0400

stfusexists:

safercampus:

A guide to sexual assaults on college campuses. More info here: http://vitaminw.co/culture-society/activists-demand-colleges-take-rape-seriously

(Swarthmore is also a college, FYI.)

Funny how the only HBCU on the list is the only uni that actually did shit right…..

But black men are often put out to be rapists by white supremacy doe….

Miss Major: "You say 'get a job' like we can get one, but there’s no such thing if you can’t get work to maintain yourself, wash your body, have clean clothes, and feed yourself. What are you going to do if you have no way to pay for these things? You have to find something that’s outside of the law. Having to deal with all that puts more pressure on you. The best way [for many] to deal with that pressure is to do drugs. Because if you’re high, you don’t give a shit. Sex work was the most common thing for me because that’s what the older girls taught you to do. But this is because you don’t give us the opportunity. All of us do not hook or prostitute. But the concept is that we all do. So we’re at [the police’s] beck and call. If something happens and we’re in the vicinity, we get it. Someone attacks us, and we call the police, we end up going to jail, not the person who assaulted us. We’re profiled. You can’t even have a party with your friends without [police] pulling you over for hustling or loitering. What do you think that tells a person? That you have no meaning. Society doesn’t give a damn about you. You’re the one who goes to prison and does time."

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:13:27 -0400

Miss Major: "You say 'get a job' like we can get one, but there’s no such thing if you can’t get work to maintain yourself, wash your body, have clean clothes, and feed yourself. What are you going to do if you have no way to pay for these things? You have to find something that’s outside of the law. Having to deal with all that puts more pressure on you. The best way [for many] to deal with that pressure is to do drugs. Because if you’re high, you don’t give a shit. Sex work was the most common thing for me because that’s what the older girls taught you to do. But this is because you don’t give us the opportunity. All of us do not hook or prostitute. But the concept is that we all do. So we’re at [the police’s] beck and call. If something happens and we’re in the vicinity, we get it. Someone attacks us, and we call the police, we end up going to jail, not the person who assaulted us. We’re profiled. You can’t even have a party with your friends without [police] pulling you over for hustling or loitering. What do you think that tells a person? That you have no meaning. Society doesn’t give a damn about you. You’re the one who goes to prison and does time."

queerandpresentdanger: anarcho-queer: NYPD Data Proves White...

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:12:03 -0400

queerandpresentdanger:

anarcho-queer:

NYPD Data Proves White People Are More Likely To Possess Drugs Or A Weapon Than Racial Minorities When Stopped, Yet 84% of Stop & Frisk Victims Are Black/Latino

During the just-concluded trial on the New York Police Department’s stop-and-frisk program, the city argued that officers’ disproportionate targeting of black and Latino New Yorkers was not due to racial profiling but because each stopped individual was doing something suspicious at the time. The data, however, tells a different story: weapons and drugs were more often found on white New Yorkers during stops than on minorities, according to the Public Advocate’s analysis of the NYPD’s 2012 statistics.

White New Yorkers make up a small minority of stop-and-frisks, which were 84 percent black and Latino residents. Despite this much higher number of minorities deemed suspicious by police, the likelihood that stopping an African American would find a weapon was half the likelihood of finding one on a white person.

• The likelihood a stop of an African American New Yorker yielded a weapon was half that of white New Yorkers stopped. The NYPD uncovered a weapon in one out every 49 stops of white New Yorkers. By contrast, it took the Department 71 stops of Latinos and 93 stops of African Americans to find a weapon.

• The likelihood a stop of an African American New Yorker yielded contraband was one-third less than that of white New Yorkers stopped. The NYPD uncovered contraband in one out every 43 stops of white New Yorkers. By contrast, it took the Department 57 stops of Latinos and 61 stops of African Americans to find contraband.

It’s unlikely that the appropriate lesson to take from these findings is that stops of white people should increase because they are more likely to carry weapons and drugs. Rather, they suggest that police are excessively targeting minorities. Officers may be netting more successful stops of white New Yorkers because they are only likely to stop a white person when they actually suspect that person of committing a crime. Considering one officer’s testimony that superiors explicitly directed him to target young black men, minorities are judged by a much more flexible definition of “reasonable suspicion.”

In general, stop-and-frisk has proven to be remarkably ineffective; nearly 89 percent of all stops result in no charges. The city has also had to settle a surging number of civil rights lawsuits against police to the tune of $22 million in one year.

Can we also acknowledge the white privilege of feeling comfortable carrying these things around because you will, statistically, be less likely to be targeted by police and if you are caught your sentencing will, statistically, likely be much lighter?

"Hip-hop was a problem because an underclass that had been left to die didn’t, and instead created a..."

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:11:44 -0400

“Hip-hop was a problem because an underclass that had been left to die didn’t, and instead created a music decrying their conditions that was vivid, troubling and beautiful, a declaration of existence in the face of those who’d condemned them to oblivion. It screwed up the narrative, and thus was born an anti-rap racism in which symptom became cause, laments of violence and deprivation becoming justifications for violence and deprivation. Anti-rap racists hear rap music as proof that black men pose a uniquely violent danger to the American status quo, even as the entire trajectory of that status quo suggests it’s the other way around. As theories of history go it’s both aggressively incorrect and depressingly unoriginal.
…
Disliking hip-hop doesn’t make you a racist any more than liking hip-hop makes you not a racist, and I’m sure there are plenty of Stormfront enthusiasts with Rick Ross in their iTunes. If you don’t like Jay-Z because you just don’t like the way he sounds, or you’re sick of his cloying ubiquity, or you wish he’d talk about something other than where he’s from for five seconds—hey, I’m not mad, I don’t like Bruce Springsteen for the same reasons. But if you don’t like rap music—a genre that contains multitudes—because of a self-satisfied moralism, or because you’re scared of it, or because you wish those people would stop talking about their problems and get out of your television and radio and kids’ bedrooms: well.

And I’m not just talking about the American right, I’m talking about all the well-meaning white folks who’ve told me how they want to like Lil Wayne but lo, the misogyny, the violence, the drugs. But, but, I’ll say: Bob Dylan aced misogyny; the Rolling Stones sang about violence; the Velvet Underground knew their way around some drugs. Yeeeah, but it’s different, they’ll say, elongating that “yeah” with conspiratorial inflection: you know what I mean. Yeah, I know exactly what you mean.

Rap music doesn’t get unarmed kids shot to death, “it’s different” does. “It’s different” infuses “these assholes always get away” and gives solace to people who hear that sound bite and nod their empty heads in agreement. “It’s different” is the same logic that suggests a teenager’s skin color combined with the music he listened to means he had it coming, and it’s the same logic that lets a bunch of people feign outrage over a teenager’s use of the n-word to describe himself when they’re really just outraged that he beat them to the punch.”

- GOOD || America Is Dying Slowly (via drinkyourjuice)

tastefullyoffensive: [via]

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:07:48 -0400

tastefullyoffensive:

[via]

femmesandfamily: clatterbane: elendraug: ELENDRAUG’S...

Thu, 09 May 2013 20:43:57 -0400

Mr. Fenis STP skintone colors

NumberOneEssentials STP device (caramel)

femmesandfamily:

clatterbane:

elendraug:

ELENDRAUG’S TRANS*GUY GIVEAWAY

A Mr. Fenis STP in your choice of skintone, donated by FtM Essentials—a sibling company of Early2Bed (NSFW)

A t-shirt in your size, donated by Saint Harridan

A binder of your choice from T-Kingdom (Pictured: M801), funded by my friends (love you guys <3)

Anthony Logistics for Men Grab + Go airline travel kit and American Crew forming cream, donated by me

Jamison Green’s Becoming A Visible Man, from my personal collection

STP device donated by NumberOne Laboratory (caramel or peach)

A backpack, stickers, and either a Mr. Limpy (3.5” or 5”, in vanilla or caramel) or a $10 gift certificate, donated by The Self Made Men

Six cologne samples, donated by Sephora

All items except the book are BRAND NEW; the book is in like-new condition.

RULES:

Trans* identified ONLY! If you are female-assigned-at-birth and identify as transmasculine somehow — genderqueer, genderfluid, transboi, transdude, transman, drag king, pre-op/post-op/no-op, this is for YOU and you alone! No cismen! No ciswomen! This is NOT a cosplay giveaway!

Reblog as many times as you like, but please be mindful of your followers. People of all gender identities may reblog to signal boost! Thank you for your support. :D

18+ only, and you must be comfortable with me shipping these items to you! I will ship outside the United States but may ask for your help paying shipping. I would really love to include trans* teenagers, because you guys need the support, but I don’t want anyone’s parents yelling at me. (If your parent/guardian is willing to talk to me about this, I may make an exception.)

You don’t need to be following me, but please check out the sponsors of this giveaway, especially those who have a tumblr presence: Saint Harridan | The Self Made Men | Number One Laboratory

Giveaway ends June 15th at 12:00 noon CST. Please have your ask box open!

Enter here — tumblr will start archiving/deleting visible notes, and to keep it fair to those who are reblogging, I’m using a Google document. The usernames entered here will be kept in strict confidence and will be deleted when the giveaway is over.

Good luck!

Agender here, but boosting for anyone who might be interested.

NOT ENTERING - just boosting for folks who might be interested coughGQcough

femmesandfamily: clatterbane: elendraug: ELENDRAUG’S...

Thu, 09 May 2013 20:42:57 -0400

Mr. Fenis STP skintone colors

NumberOneEssentials STP device (caramel)

femmesandfamily:

clatterbane:

elendraug:

ELENDRAUG’S TRANS*GUY GIVEAWAY

A Mr. Fenis STP in your choice of skintone, donated by FtM Essentials—a sibling company of Early2Bed (NSFW)

A t-shirt in your size, donated by Saint Harridan

A binder of your choice from T-Kingdom (Pictured: M801), funded by my friends (love you guys <3)

Anthony Logistics for Men Grab + Go airline travel kit and American Crew forming cream, donated by me

Jamison Green’s Becoming A Visible Man, from my personal collection

STP device donated by NumberOne Laboratory (caramel or peach)

A backpack, stickers, and either a Mr. Limpy (3.5” or 5”, in vanilla or caramel) or a $10 gift certificate, donated by The Self Made Men

Six cologne samples, donated by Sephora

All items except the book are BRAND NEW; the book is in like-new condition.

RULES:

Trans* identified ONLY! If you are female-assigned-at-birth and identify as transmasculine somehow — genderqueer, genderfluid, transboi, transdude, transman, drag king, pre-op/post-op/no-op, this is for YOU and you alone! No cismen! No ciswomen! This is NOT a cosplay giveaway!

Reblog as many times as you like, but please be mindful of your followers. People of all gender identities may reblog to signal boost! Thank you for your support. :D

18+ only, and you must be comfortable with me shipping these items to you! I will ship outside the United States but may ask for your help paying shipping. I would really love to include trans* teenagers, because you guys need the support, but I don’t want anyone’s parents yelling at me. (If your parent/guardian is willing to talk to me about this, I may make an exception.)

You don’t need to be following me, but please check out the sponsors of this giveaway, especially those who have a tumblr presence: Saint Harridan | The Self Made Men | Number One Laboratory

Giveaway ends June 15th at 12:00 noon CST. Please have your ask box open!

Enter here — tumblr will start archiving/deleting visible notes, and to keep it fair to those who are reblogging, I’m using a Google document. The usernames entered here will be kept in strict confidence and will be deleted when the giveaway is over.

Good luck!

Agender here, but boosting for anyone who might be interested.

NOT ENTERING - just boosting for folks who might be interested coughGQcough

blackcoffeeheart: wnslw: “never again” This image is one of...

Thu, 09 May 2013 20:42:01 -0400

blackcoffeeheart:

wnslw:

“never again”

This image is one of the most powerful pro-choice images I’ve ever seen. When I saw it in the newspaper I immediately cut it out and hung it on my wall.

This is not my image. I’m using it with permission from Arthur Newspaper.

The sad part is a lot of people don’t even understand what the hanger represents. Awful.

by outlawing abortion you don’t stop it from happening, you just make it less safe.

How ‘Slut Shaming’ Has Been Written Into School Dress Codes Across The Country

Wed, 08 May 2013 12:44:53 -0400

How ‘Slut Shaming’ Has Been Written Into School Dress Codes Across The Country:

vosovic:

Last month, a New Jersey middle school banned girls from wearing strapless dresses to prom. Administrators claimed that the dresses were “distracting” — though they refused to specify exactly how or why. Parents reacted strongly to the rule; some supported the dress code while others deemed it “slut-shaming.” On Friday, the school compromised by allowing girls to wear single-strap or see-through-strap dresses.

This is no isolated incident in the United States. Across the country, young girls are being told what not to wear because it might be a “distraction” for boys, or because adults decide it makes them look “inappropriate.” At its core, every incident has a common thread: Putting the onus on young women to prevent from being ogled or objectified, instead of teaching those responsible to learn to respect a woman’s body. Here are five other recent examples:

1. A middle school in California banned tight pants. At the beginning of last month, a middle school in Northern California began telling girls to avoid wearing pants that are “too tight” because it “distracts the boys.” At a mandatory assembly for just the female students, the middle school girls were told that they’re no longer allowed to wear leggings or yoga pants. “We didn’t think it was fair how we have all these restrictions on our clothing while boys didn’t have to sit through [the assembly] at all,” one student told local press. Some parents also complained, leading the school’s assistant principal to record a voicemail explaining the new policy. “The guiding principle in all dress codes is that the manner in which students dress does not become a distraction in the learning environment,” the message said.

2. A high school principal in Minnesota emailed parents to ask them to cover up their daughters. A principal in Minnetonka, MN recently wrote an email telling parents to stop letting their daughters wear leggings or yoga pants to school. He says the tight-fitting pants are fine with longer shirts but, when worn with a shorter top, a girl’s “backside” can be “too closely defined.” The big risk of having a defined backside, he thinks, is that it can “be highly distracting for other students.”

3. Two girls in Ohio were turned away from their prom for being “improperly dressed.” Laneisha Williams and Nyasia Mitchell were barred from prom this spring for wearing dresses that administrators considered “too revealing.” The girls say that they didn’t believe they were violating a dress code that said dresses couldn’t be too short or show too much cleavage. But one administrator told local news that the high school girls were only allowed to wear dresses that had “no curvature of their breasts showing.”

4. A kindergarten student in Georgia was forced to change her “short” skirt because it was a “distraction to other students.” It’s hard to imagine that a kindergartener’s outfit could be “a distraction to other students,” but a mother in Georgia told locals news there that her daughter had been outfitted in someone else’s pants — without parental permission — after the principal deemed the skirt the young girl was wearing too short.” The girl had apparently wore the skirt, and accompanying leggings, just one week before without incident.

5. Forty high school girls were sent home from a winter dance in California after “degrading” clothing inspections “bordering on sexual harassment.” A school board member’s daughter was among the 40 girls turned away from Capistrano Valley High’s February dance for wearing dresses that either exposed their midriffs or were cut too low. Before the dance, girls were apparently required to flap their arms up and down and turn around for male administrators’ inspection. The school issues image guidelines for appropriate dress on its website — though the images were nearly all of women, and the only male image depicted proper attire. One girl alleges that the principal told her, “Not all dresses look good on certain body shapes.” A grandmother of one of the girls who was turned away from the dance also said that a teacher remarked about her granddaughter, “What mother would allow her daughter to wear a dress like that?” Apparently the school did receive some praise, though, from the parents of two male students.

When most Americans think about “rape culture,” they may think about the Steubenville boys’ defense arguing that an unconscious girl consented to her sexual assault because she “didn’t say no,” the school administrators who choose to protect their star athletes over those boys’ rape victims, or the bullying that led multiple victims of sexual assault to take their own lives. While those incidences of victim-blaming are certainly symptoms of a deeply-rooted rape culture in this country, they’re not the only examples of this dynamic at play. Rape culture is also evident in the attitudes that lead school administrators to treat young girls’ bodies as inherently “distracting” to the boys who simply can’t control themselves. That approach to gender roles simply encourages our youth to assume that sexual crimes must have something to do with women’s “suggestive” clothes or behavior, rather than teaching them that every individual is responsible for respecting others’ bodily autonomy.

lmao the middle school in my town banned yoga pants

native-detroiter: socialismartnature: “Lauryn Hill just got...

Wed, 08 May 2013 12:37:29 -0400

native-detroiter:

socialismartnature:

“Lauryn Hill just got jail time for tax dodging. Looks like she just didn’t have access to all the tax loopholes that GE exploits.”

but they dont hear you

abortionassistanceblog: Introducing the Abortion Assistance...

Wed, 08 May 2013 12:37:03 -0400

abortionassistanceblog:

Introducing the Abortion Assistance Blog’s new business cards! Please distribute these, online or in person, wherever you feel is appropriate.

Credit to middletone. Thanks, middletone!

thepeoplesrecord: The troubling viral trend of the “hilarious”...

Wed, 08 May 2013 12:34:59 -0400

thepeoplesrecord:

The troubling viral trend of the “hilarious” Black poor person
May 7, 2013

Charles Ramsey, the man who helped rescue three Cleveland women presumed dead after going missing a decade ago, has become an instant Internet meme. It’s hardly surprising—the interviews he gave yesterday provide plenty of fodder for a viral video, including memorable soundbites (“I was eatin’ my McDonald’s”) and lots of enthusiastic gestures. But as Miles Klee and Connor Simpson have noted, Ramsey’s heroism is quickly being overshadowed by the public’s desire to laugh at and autotune his story, and that’s a shame. Ramsey has become the latest in a fairly recent trend of “hilarious” black neighbors, unwitting Internet celebrities whose appeal seems rooted in a “colorful” style that is always immediately recognizable as poor or working-class.

Before Ramsey, there was Antoine Dodson, who saved his younger sister from an intruder, only to wind up famous for his flamboyant recounting of the story to a reporter. Since Dodson’s rise to fame, there have been others: Sweet Brown, a woman who barely escaped her apartment complex during a fire last year, and Michelle Clarke, who couldn’t fathom the hailstorm that rained down in her hometown of Houston, and in turn became “the next Sweet Brown.”

Granted, the buzzworthy tactic of reporters interviewing the most loquacious witnesses to a crime or other event is nothing new, and YouTube has countless examples of people of all ethnicities saying ridiculous things. One woman, for instance, saw fit to casually mention her breasts while discussing a local accident, while another man described a car crash with theatrical flair. Earlier this year, a “hatchet-wielding hitchhiker” named Kai matched Dodson’s fame with his astonishing account of rescuing a woman from a racist attacker. But none of those people have been subjected to quite the same level of derisive memeification as Brown, Clark, and now, perhaps, Ramsey—the inescapable echoes of “Hide yo’ kids, hide yo’ wife!” and “Kabooyaw,” the tens of millions of YouTube hits and cameos in other viral videos, even commercials.

It’s difficult to watch these videos and not sense that their popularity has something to do with a persistent, if unconscious, desire to see black people perform. Even before the genuinely heroic Ramsey came along, some viewers had expressed concern that the laughter directed at people like Sweet Brown plays into the most basic stereotyping of blacks as simple-minded ramblers living in the “ghetto,” socially out of step with the rest of educated America. Black or white, seeing Clark and Dodson merely as funny instances of random poor people talking nonsense is disrespectful at best. And shushing away the question of race seems like wishful thinking.

Ramsey is particularly striking in this regard, since, for a moment at least, he put the issue of race front and center himself. Describing the rescue of Amanda Berry and her fellow captives, he says, “I knew something was wrong when a little pretty white girl ran into a black man’s arms. Something is wrong here. Dead giveaway!”

The candid statement seems to catch the reporter off guard; he ends the interview shortly afterward. And it’s notable that among the many memorable things Ramsey said on camera, this one has gotten less meme-attention than most. Those who are simply having fun with the footage of Ramsey might pause for a second to actually listen to the man. He clearly knows a thing or two about the way racism prevents us from seeing each other as people.

Source

Now that you know this is a thing, please stop sharing these memes. Poor Black people speaking candidly about various serious incidents isn’t a hilarious joke.

I have actually been wanting to write on this, and I am glad it is out there already.

teavu: africanfashion: For those of you who criticize...

Wed, 08 May 2013 12:30:24 -0400

teavu:

africanfashion:

For those of you who criticize Janelle’s signature monochromatic look.

From her speech on “Black Girls Rock”:

“When I started my music career, I was a maid. I used to clean houses. My mother was a proud janitor. My stepfather, who raised me like his very own, worked at the post office and my father was a trashman. They all wore uniforms and that’s why I stand here today, in my black and white, and I wear my uniform to honor them.

This is a reminder that I have work to do. I have people to uplift. I have people to inspire. And today, I wear my uniform proudly as a Cover Girl. I want to be clear, young girls, I didn’t have to change who I was to become a Cover Girl. I didn’t have to become perfect because I’ve learned throughout my journey that perfection is the enemy of greatness.

Embrace what makes you unique, even if it makes others uncomfortable.” - Janelle Monáe

she is the coolest fucking chick

She is incredible!

mallamun: gatisss: jesusfuck I don’t know where this is from,...

Wed, 08 May 2013 12:27:37 -0400

mallamun:

gatisss:

jesusfuck

I don’t know where this is from, but…

Between this and that Toyota commercial-

Man, I hope genderfuckery of this highly attractive magnitude just INVADES popular media until privileged heteronormative cismen who unthinkingly dominate the world around them through objectification of women and shaming of homosexuality are forced to think.

Forced to think because when they see an attractive ass in panties, they can no longer instinctively flap their dicks at it and say, “I’d own that” without having to think about gender or sexuality. Torn between their habit of reflexively objectifying women and gay-shaming themselves and others, they would have no choice but to open their eyes a little wider and actually think about the people they share the world with instead of living in a neverending reel of imagery that reinforces a narrow reality where they are king.

so-treu: Mississippi to Execute Willie Manning Tonight After...

Tue, 07 May 2013 14:09:40 -0400

so-treu:

Mississippi to Execute Willie Manning Tonight After Rejecting DNA Tests & FBI’s Admission of Error

The state of Mississippi is preparing to execute an African-American prisoner tonight, despite an unusual admission from the FBI that its original analysis of the evidence contained errors. Willie Jerome Manning was convicted of murdering Jon Steckler and Tiffany Miller, two white college students, in 1992. The execution is going ahead after prosecutors and state courts refused to allow new DNA testing that could prove Manning’s innocence. The Justice Department sent a letter saying one analyst’s testimony at trial “exceeded the limits of the science and was, therefore, invalid.” Manning’s attorneys argue that no physical evidence ties him to the murders and that testing hair samples and other evidence could identify a different killer. But in a 5-to-4 decision last month, Mississippi’s state supreme court refused to grant a new DNA test, citing what it called “conclusive, overwhelming evidence of guilt.” On top of the denied DNA test, Manning’s attorneys say prosecutors relied on two key witnesses whose credibility has since come under question. Concerns have also been raised about alleged racial bias in the selection of the jury that found Manning guilty. “We need someone to step in,” says Vanessa Potkin, a senior staff attorney at The Innocence Project. “It is unconscionable that an execution would go forward where there is biological evidence that can cut to the truth and show whether or not he did the crime. What is anybody afraid of?”

(via Democracy Now)

Troy Davis, for 2013. This has got to stop.

dannyeauxphotos: “Larger than Life”Ginger Douglas MUA: Ginger...

Mon, 06 May 2013 17:43:36 -0400

dannyeauxphotos:

“Larger than Life”Ginger Douglas

MUA: Ginger Douglas

Denver, CO

Queen of Denver

www.dannyeauxphotos.com

dannyeauxphotos: Ginger Douglas: Queen of Denver MUA: Ginger...

Mon, 06 May 2013 17:43:31 -0400

dannyeauxphotos:

Ginger Douglas: Queen of Denver

MUA: Ginger Douglas

www.dannyeauxphotos.com

dannyeauxphotos: Ginger Douglas: Queen of Denver Denver is Drag...

Mon, 06 May 2013 17:43:25 -0400

dannyeauxphotos:

Ginger Douglas: Queen of Denver

Denver is Drag Nation

MUA: Ginger Douglas

www.dannyeauxphotos.com

dannyeauxphotos: “On Her Throne”Ginger Douglas: Queen of...

Mon, 06 May 2013 17:43:22 -0400

dannyeauxphotos:

“On Her Throne”Ginger Douglas: Queen of Denver

Denver, CO

This is Drag Nation

www.dannyeauxphotos.com

dannyeauxphotos: “Statuesque” Ginger Douglas: Queen of...

Mon, 06 May 2013 17:43:17 -0400

dannyeauxphotos:

“Statuesque”

Ginger Douglas: Queen of Denver

Denver, CO

This is Drag Nation

www.dannyeauxphotos.com