There are so many roots to the tree of anger   

that sometimes the branches shatter   

before they bear.

Sitting in Nedicks

the women rally before they march   

discussing the problematic girls   

they hire to make them free.

An almost white counterman passes   

a waiting brother to serve them first   

and the ladies neither notice nor reject   

the slighter pleasures of their slavery.   

But I who am bound by my mirror   

as well as my bed

see causes in colour

as well as sex

and sit here wondering   

which me will survive   

all these liberations.

link

How timely.

midwestmountainmama:

quixotess:

leonineantiheroine:

And talk about masculinism…

I admit to being sort of shocked at how lazy the post was. They even say “I’m too pretty to write my own posts.” Really. They’re “joking,” but then they actually don’t write their own post, so they’re not really joking.

*exactly*

Post in question is here on Feministe. Kind of a vom sundae, i.e. there’s a couple comments callin it that are the cherry on top.

That shit made my side-eye hurt. Like it was…goofy? That’s an understatement. I was cringing while I read it, like is this what straight white college feminists talk about when intersectionality comes up? Is this really what they think is enough? No wonder we never got along! Yeah, that shit is lazy as hell, like all it says is that they learned that sometimes women are also people of color, queers, trans people, poor people, disabled people, and now…everyone discuss. I guess this is a shocking new revelation.

Most white feminists at least humor their audience with an obligatory bell hooks quote…not to knock bell hooks, but it’s easy for white feminism to quote her and move right on without actually checking themselves. I guess they feel comfortable & less challenged by her than other WOC feminists.

(via marshmallowmegamama)

since I was seeing stuff attached to the quote about the Gloria Steinem documentary, about how intersectionality was too vague to be useful. And I’m reading Mia Mingus’ speech from the Femmes of Color Symposium, and I think that this part of her speech sums up what intersectionality means, or what it can and should mean and how it can and should be done:

I do this work in service of community.  I tell my story with the knowing that our stories are tools for liberation.  I speak knowing that all of our voices are important.  I speak to leave evidence for the people like me who are searching for reflection and recognition and a “yes, we exist.”  I speak to leave evidence for folks who have been told that disability is not as important as race, or that gender justice will have to wait until after class equality is won.  For folks who have been told that how you feel is less important than what you think; for those who don’t have the luxury of being able to rattle off 10, even 5, writers or books that reflect their identities or experiences.  Those of us who straddle the lines between multiple oppressed communities. For those of us who are working to end violence for all of us, not just some of us. For those of us who truly believe that no one’s safety is more important than anyone else’s, even when we feel unsafe…

I don’t think that what she’s saying is too vague to work. In fact, it’s a framework I’ve seen in action and I’ve seen it used to build amazing alliances that aren’t normally encouraged to exist, and to make those alliances flourish. It is an idea that has the potential to be co-opted, for sure; think of how often white feminism throws in the periodic inclusion of women of color, or acknowledgement that trans and genderqueer people also deal with gender, or so on.

But I think that just because some people do it badly and in a way that’s not built on real solidarity, doesn’t mean we have to all abandon it too. I think this way of building that Mia outlined here can be really powerful and radical, and when done right, is obviously being based on trust and solidarity and care.
 

By far one of the toughest challenges, Terri has created the Quirky Brown Reading Challenge which forces readers to find books that depict another side of the usual ‘Black Experience’. Every Black person has some shared experiences, but also very different and unique ones and this challenge represents that. I think all the books had to be a Black author but there were two books I put on here even though they were by white authors because they sounded so intriguing! I just won’t count them.

I, of course, tried to stick with YA/MG and it was not easy! This is all I’ve got. I counted historical fiction but I’m not sure if fantasy counts…

Worried about the slippery slope toward tokenism but generally like this blog about young adult books by & about people of color. I’ve gotten recommendations from this of things for my kids at school to read. I am really excited about a project to complicate definitions of p.o.c. identities though.

curate:

Dear queers, academics, artists and activists,

Some of you might be planning a visit to Israel to participate, and maybe even support, queer, cultural or academic events. Some of you might be visiting for religious or personal reasons, or perhaps simply out of curiosity. While an invitation to Israel might seem flattering and exciting, we hope that – before taking a stand and booking that flight – you read the following open letter, written by Palestinian queers, activists, academics and artists, to queers, activists, academics and artists around the world.

We are determined to inform every person wishing to travel to Israel on the political and social realities of life in Israel/Palestine. “Occupation,” “Palestinians,” “Gaza,” “apartheid,” “ethnic cleansing,” “boycott,” and “refugees” are not terms you would come across in flyers, itineraries, and travel brochures promoting Israel; yet, these words define the daily lives of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. As Palestinians and as queers, these words have shaped our history and continue to determine our future.

Some of you might feel that boycotting Israel would be too one-sided for such a complex conflict. You might think that it is too controversial. Some of you are probably wondering whether this boycott movement is actually effective. To start the conversation, we put together background information on BDS and Israel/Palestine; and we also encourage you to get in touch and explore with us any questions or issues you might have with BDS. Our aim is for every person to have a historically-informed understanding of Israel/Palestine, and for every queer, academic, artist, and activist to support the Palestinian civil society’s call for BDS.

1) I don’t know much about the BDS campaign and cultural and academic boycotts.  What are they?

In April 2004 a group of Palestinian academics and intellectuals met in Ramallah to launch the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) to join the growing international boycott movement. In July 2004, the Campaign issued a Call for Boycott addressed to the international community urging:

• A comprehensive and consistent boycott of all Israeli academic and cultural institutions until Israel withdraws from all the lands occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem;
• A removal of all its colonies in those lands;
• Compliance with United Nations resolutions relevant to the restitution of Palestinian refugees’ rights;
• Dismantlement of its system of apartheid.

This statement was met with widespread support, and has to date been endorsed by nearly sixty Palestinian academic, cultural and other civil society federations, unions, and organizations, including the Federation of Unions of Palestinian Universities’ Professors and Employees and the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO) in the West Bank. ¹

On July 9, 2005, the clear majority of Palestinian civil society called upon the international civil society organizations and people of conscience from around the world to start imposing a broad boycott and divestment measurements against Israel, inspired by the successful Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Campaigns against apartheid in South Africa.² The goal was to send a message to Israel and pressure it to meet its obligations, recognize the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination, and fully comply with international law. Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) has been endorsed by over 170 Palestinian parties, organizations, trade unions, and movements representing the majority of the Palestinian people. Given the breadth of its participants and endorsers, BDS movement is the most significant nonviolent movement against Israeli apartheid.³

Following these calls on June 27th 2010, a group of Palestinian Queer activists issued a call, calling upon all LGBTQI groups, organizations and individuals around the world to Boycott the Apartheid State of Israel.⁴

1. But if I am in solidarity with the LGBTQ communities,how can I boycott queers?

We believe that, as Queer communities, we must pay close attention to any grave human rights violations on our way to support the LGBTQ struggle, especially in a context where the country in question that oppresses, discriminates, and implements an apartheid system. We should question the ethics and the values of Queer organizations or groups that voice fervent support for and participate in an apartheid state’s institutions. Human rights should not be compartmentalized, and the human rights of a certain group should not be more important than others’. We, as Palestinian queers, cannot ignore the struggle and the rights of the Palestinian people.  To us, the two struggles go side by side.

For 62 years, the Israeli occupation and expanding apartheid system has denied the Palestinian people their basic human rights. Palestinians in the West Bank have been living under a brutal military occupation manifested by illegal Israeli colonies, checkpoints, and a system of walls, barriers and roads accessible solely to Israeli settlers. Palestinians living inside Israel are continuously facing discriminatory policies. There are currently over 25 laws which specifically target them as non-Jewish and reduce them to second class citizens of Israel. Palestinians in the Diaspora and in UN administered refugee camps are by default denied their UN-sanctioned right to return to their lands. Finally, over 1.8 million Palestinian in the Gaza Strip are living in an open air prison under an illegal siege, described by many prominent international experts as “slow genocide.” Israeli oppression, racism, and discrimination does not distinguish between Queer Palestinians and Heterosexual Palestinians.

3) What events should I boycott?

After over sixty years of occupation and apartheid, the damaging effects of Israel’s wars in Lebanon, the invasion of Gaza in 2009, and the overwhelming growth of the BDS movement, the Israeli government re-initiated an old/new massive PR campaign called ‘Brand Israel.’ The purpose of the campaign was to whitewash Israel’s decades of war crimes and portray it as the only democratic country in the Middle East.

More recently, pinkwashing became a major component of this campaign. Israeli foreign affairs ministry, Israeli academic institutions, international Zionist and pro Israel groups, and some Israeli LGBTQ organizations/groups worked to capitalize on the modest successes of the Israeli LGBTQ community and pander to anti-Arab, Islamophobic biases by painting Palestinian society as maliciously homophobic. Indeed, a central theme in their pinkwashing campaign, which included numerous cultural events, tourism efforts targeting LGBTQ groups, and cultural products, was that Israel is the only gay haven in the Middle East and the only place Palestinian queers feel safe. Thus, pinkwashing in this context is a mean of galvanizing support for the apartheid system and military occupation – all in the name of gay rights.

Most Israeli LGBTQ groups, Israeli academic institutions, Israel support groups worldwide, whether officially part of the ‘Brand Israel’ campaign or not, are often supporters complicit in the Israeli war crimes, and the effort to pinkwash these crimes and should be boycotted. According to ‘The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel – PACBI’ and their general overriding rule, virtually all Israeli cultural and academic events, groups and organizations (i.e. universities, museums, film festivals etc…), unless proven otherwise, are complicit in maintaining the Israeli occupation and therefore boycottable.

4) Can you be more specific? What is boycottable?

The following situations are boycottable:

• All Israeli cultural and academic institutions (i.e. universities, museums, film festivals etc…), unless proven otherwise, receive state funding and are, thus, complicit in maintaining the Israeli occupation and should be boycotted. This means that events organized by any of those, or cooperation with them should be avoided.
• Any group/organization that actively participates in Pinkwashing Israeli war crimes should be boycotted
• Any group/organization that is part of the ‘Gay tourism in Israel’ project to promote TLV and Israel as the gay haven of the Middle East.

5) So, what can I do? And How Palestinian Queers for BDS can help me?

It is always legitimate to ask your host to provide information about the event/product: Who are the organizing partners? Is the event funded and/or commissioned even partially, by an official Israeli body or a complicit institution? What is goal of the event and its vision? You can learn a lot from raising these “obvious” questions.

Secondly, if your hosts do not provide (or do not know) the needed information, ask them to direct their inquires to PQBDS. Most Israeli queer groups and organizations are not familiar with BDS and are not aware they are part of systematic oppression. Encouraging them to make direct contact with us will not only help you to collect the needed information, but will also help raise awareness among these groups about the importance of BDS.

Thirdly, PQBDS are willing to help and guide you personally through this process,. We will be more than happy to provide the necessary information, make contacts with relevant parties, and respond to you regarding whether the event meets the boycott’s guidelines.

Please consider us the “go-to person” for ANY question you may have regarding BDS, especially queer BDS situations.

We look forward to your questions and inquiries. Our email is: pq4bds@gmail.com

[1] http://pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=867&key=What%20is%20the%20Call

[2] To read the official call: Palestinian United call for boycott,  http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/52

[3] http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/159

[4] http://pqbds.wordpress.com/2010/06/28/palestinian-queers-for-bds-call-upon-all-queer-groups-organizations-and-individuals-around-the-world-to-boycott-the-apartheid-state-of-israel/)

An open letter to Queer academics, artists, and activists « Palestinian Queers for BDS

Finally checked this out from the library and watched it tonight. It was great. There were a lot of times I yelled out loud because people were being so fabulous—there’s a woman with amazing fuschia lipstick, and there’s bell hooks and Angela Davis just being their damn selves.

California Newsreel has discussion questions (!!) for classes who are so lucky as to have professors who show this movie to them. Also just good thinking-about questions without being a formal student.

Black Is…Black Ain’t serves as eloquent visual testimony to the fact that African Americans are not, in Alexander’s exacting words, one or ten or ten thousand things. This ground-breaking documentary, the last one crafted by the artful hands of filmmaker Marlon Riggs, identifies and confronts those forces that have attempted to consolidate, reduce, and contain the lives and experiences of African Americans. By naming these forces and marshalling a powerful critique, Black Is…Black Ain’t illuminates the complexities of black life. Riggs’ film thus constructs a cinematic space for ten thousand ways of seeing and understanding blackness in America.

At first glance, the argument that blackness encompasses a myriad of experiences may seem self-evident and non-controversial. Yet ever since the first African arrived in Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 - in chains - Americans of African descent have been subject to efforts to erase their differences and in so doing, their humanity.

During the first several centuries, white people imposed their own definitions of blackness on African Americans. Insidious stereotypes alleging that all Africans were savages, even cannibals, were deemed credible. By the end of the nineteenth century, society-at-large recognized a few basic stock characters with names such as the mammy, the Uncle, the pickaninnie, and the coon. The origins and tenacity of these stereotypes which fueled anti-black prejudice well into the twentieth century were traced by Riggs’ earlier Emmy-winning documentary, Ethnic Notions.

Because one’s black identity was so often limited, distorted and made shameful by whites, asserting a new black identity became important to many African Americans. As Angela Davis observes in the film, “Perhaps we have an obsession with naming ourselves because for most of our lives we have been named by other people.”

Ironically, Riggs claims, soon awkward and erroneous generalizations were being imposed upon African Americans not only by those outside the race but by black people themselves. Certain behaviors, ways of speaking, social practices, even dress began to be touted by African Americans as black while others were deemed white.

But is there an essential black identity? Is there a litmus test defining the real black man or true black women? and what has this cost us - black and non-black alike - this compulsion for a clear and singular black identity?

Black Is…Black Ain’t jumps right into the middle of these conflicts over identity. It explores how racism, music, family, religion, sexual orientation, nationalism, and intra-racial class, gender, and color castes have collectively shaped the experience and meaning of blackness In America. Riggs eschews traditional narrative for a more layered and poetic strategy for representing the complexity of black identity. His camera travels across the country, from the rural South to middle class suburbs to the inner city bringing the viewer face to face with black folks young and old, rich and poor, rural and urban, gay and straight. He mixes performances by gifted artists - such as choreographer Bill T. Jones and poet Essex Hemphill - with personal testimony, commentary, and quotations into what one critic called, a sizzling gumbo of thought and emotion. In fact, a huge gumbo pot bubbling with crab, crayfish, sausage, chicken and onions is Riggs’ recurring metaphor for the richness of black culture.

But while Black Is… rejoices in the many flavors of what black is, it also brings us the testimony of individuals who have felt uncomfortable and even ostracized because they don’t fit the mold. We hear from people whose behavior, speech, sexual orientation, class or complexion has somehow rendered them not black enough. The resulting dilemmas are supposed to be suffered in silence no matter the pain they cause, and African Americans who call attention to them are often rejected for airing dirty laundry. But Black Is…Black Ain’t doesn’t shrink from confronting several cultural institutions and ideological concepts rarely criticized in public by African Americans. Riggs challenges us to confront the sexism, homophobia and other practices which hurt and divide black people.

Haven’t read through all the questions yet, but damn:

6. Critics like Michele Wallace and bell hooks are accused of disloyalty and airing our dirty linen in public when they speak out about black male sexism. What is the cost to black communities of speaking publicly about sexism and what is the cost of keeping quiet? Have there ever been times when you were reluctant to bring up an issue in public?

stfukyriarchy:

Who would be willing to fault the enslaved woman who aborted her fetus because she didn’t want that child to be a slave?  Who would be willing to fault the enslaved woman who aborted her fetus because she physically could not bear the burden of labor and pregnancy?  Who would be willing to fault the enslaved woman who aborted her fetus as a punishment to the man who raped her, barely fed her, barely clothed her, denied her religion, denied her liberty, and whipped her when she worked too slowly, made a mistake, or attempted to flee?  Who would be willing to fault the enslaved woman who aborted her fetus to protect her life and to save the evils of her life from those of her child?  To include the history of enslaved women in the history of slavery and then compare that history to abortion is not easy.

When conservative anti-choice advocates make that comparison, they actively erase the enslaved woman from that past, from her own history. This is similar to their larger approach on the issue: erasing women from the discussion.

…

The realities of [womens’] lives – sexual, economic, emotional, etc. – are glossed over as unimportant in the larger discussion of whether fetuses should be forcefully carried to term even when women think or know it is better that they are not.  The problem is not that women have abortions, it is that women are not even considered.  They are not agents in the anti-choice rhetoric except as either “locations” or murderers.  They are either inhumane vessels or inhumane killers. 

Wonderfully said

Brilliant. I had a little gasp while reading this.

(via stfukyriarchy-deactivated201112)

(via seapoknees-deactivated20110610)

healingsakina:

folks can be dealing with multiple oppressions.

and can care deeply, personally or not, about multiple issues.

when it comes to oppression, there is no hierarchy.

each individual has to pick their own battles, and those battles may be fluid & changing depending on what they can handle at a given moment. but that doesn’t mean by focusing/caring about a particular oppression they don’t give a damn about another.

UNLESS THEY ARE ACTUALLY SAYING “ya’ll are focused on the wrong thing! why aren’t you giving enough attention to xyz? abc has been done to death and xyz matters more now.” which, sadly, some folks really keep doing…

prescriptive activism does not bring me on board.

WORD. The word & concept of intersectionality are so important to me, really, that I hate seeing it become an empty buzzword. But I am worried about that, because I see it get done in ways like, We totally get intersectionality, so here’s the chapter of women of color writers in our book about feminism. Which misses the damn point.

I really love this essay/speech by Mia Mingus, “Intersectionality is a Big Fancy Word for My Life;” when I read it it put into words a lot of my frustrations, especially with organizing with mostly white people.

We must be willing to have hard conversations as queer people with each other about how we are different as queer people.  It helps us to expand what “queerness” is—to see that there are many different ways to be queer.  We can’t be afraid to do our own work at our own tables.  And yes, there is much work to be done out there, with folks who aren’t queer.  Yes, that is important too, but we are outsiders here as well.  Because really, there is no “out there.”

…

To the queer white folks in the audience and the folks who benefit from white privilege, I would ask you: how are you connecting your fight for queer liberation to challenging white supremacy?  How are you connecting your queerness to your white privilege?  How are you listening to queer people of color in your world, supporting them and practicing solidarity?  How are you actively noticing how whiteness, racism and white supremacy play out in queer communities, student groups, organizations, and movements?

…

Intersectionality is not just talking about the places you’re oppressed, but also the places where you have privilege.  Intersectionality is disabled white folks enacting their white entitlement through their disability identity.  It’s me having to choose between the POC caucus, the disability caucus, the API women’s caucus, or the adoptee caucus at the Creating Change in Detroit.  It’s thousands of LGBT and queer folks coming out for pride and 150 people coming out for Transgender Day of Remembrance…

Like I said, I don’t want to see intersectionality turned into a buzzword, with all of its power hollowed out. I don’t want lip-service. This needs to mean more than tacking bell hooks on to the end of an otherwise-white canon of women writers, more than adding marriage equality onto an agenda to sum up all of queer, trans*, and genderqueer people’s lives. For real. I will be very very upset to see this get its life sucked out.

(via atapestryofdisasters-deactivate)

wildunicornherd:

Yeah, it’s not Tumblr Tuesday or #followfriday, but, just to mention—I’ve been checking abbyjean and radicallyhottoff’s Tumblrs for news and analysis about the recent shooting in Arizona.

Some scattered thoughts—it’s incredibly sad and terrifying. I’m glad that Giffords survived, but, Christ, six people also died. Neither Giffords’ nor Loughner’s political alignments fit easily into the liberal/conservative dichotomy that even “progressive” Americans subscribe to. Nevertheless it’s hard not to see this as part of the sharply rising trend of vitriol and threats towards public figures, which narrows political discourse, divides representatives from their constituents, and normalizes violence.

“Violence” to many people means only a physical attack, like this shooting. But violence is bigger than that—it’s hate-filled rhetoric, Christian-nationalist white supremacy, the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, overseas military interventions, prisons, group homes, the American healthcare system from top to bottom, poverty. There is no such thing as an isolated attack. It is part of a bigger picture, an overall culture.

For real. People want to talk about violence in Arizona? All right, let’s talk about it. Let’s talk about the border, let’s talk about demanding people’s papers, let’s talk about Sheriff Arpaio, let’s talk about sexual assault and maquilladoras on the other side. Get it complicated. There are no lone wolves; this world doesn’t leave space for neutrality.

champagneproblems:

ourcatastrophe:

acronyms like LGBTQQUA, QUILTBAGPIPE, etc

it seems to me that this largely arises out of a feeling that existing umbrella terms like queer or LGBT or whatever do not sit well with all those they purport to describe

which is a frustration I share

but if your project is to accommodate and represent the spectrum of non-normative sexuality and gender identities…well, they are infinite (or at least very great in number and infinitely divisible) and the project of attempting to name them all in an acronym is futile

which kind of makes it seem like people using acronyms like QUILTBAG either don’t realise this or don’t care and are just picking the identities they think deserve to be represented

which seems a whole lot more dodgy than using an umbrella term that is widely acknowledged as vague and imperfect.

my suggestion: be as specific as possible (which is not always that specific, which is okay).  if you’re talking about trans guys, say trans guys.  if you’re talking about gay men and lesbians, say that.  etc.  this has the added benefit of making you think more about exactly who you are speaking about, and who you’re leaving out. 

but my bigger suggestion, my actual suggestion, is that those of us who belong to that identifiable group of largely university-educated, largely white, self-styled radical folk with capital-Q Queer politics and asymmetrical haircuts — we should probably spend less energy on discourse, especially discourse focused on our own sense of comfort and intellectual satisfaction.  like, I would like for us to spend less time talking about the difference between a lesbian and a dyke and less time asking if we are butch or andro and less time talking about ourselves and more time working in solidarity with, say, Aboriginal trans women whose lives are under threat in male prisons, or asylum seekers trying to escape homophobic persecution who are being deported because they aren’t intimately acquainted with Kylie and Madonna and therefore must be lying about their sexuality to get refugee status, or the estimated 25%+ of homeless young people who are known to be some kind of queer. 

and I know, I know, you’re all thinking “you don’t know what else I do offline”, or “just because I focus on this thing sometimes doesn’t mean I don’t do other political stuff aimed at collective liberation” and, ok, you need to understand that I am talking about offline communities at least as much as the internet, and that I am thinking about cases where I actually know the bulk of what people are doing.  like, just cause it’s on the internet doesn’t mean it’s about the internet. and also: this is not about whether we should worry about discourse at all because: of course we should!  (I’m doing that right now.)  but, just, proportionally less please. 

I’m not even saying “think about these oppressions that do not affect you, not just issues like queerphobia that do” (although hopefully it’s obvious that I think we should).  I’m just saying “think about queers other than yourself and people like you”.  which apparently needs to be said. 

and i guess really what I’m trying to say is:  I would like most of the people I know to stop thinking we have the most radical politics because we are most able to discern the subtle hand of oppression in our own lives. 

well, that ran away from me

HOW DID THIS NOT GET REBLOGGED EVERYWHERE 4EVER? THIS IS AMAZING.

Bolding is mine for fierceness.

I’ll admit: when I first started reading this I was uneasy, because having queerness recognized—like a recognition of a way of doing things outside the binary—is something that’s really important to me. But I got further down and, yeah, damn right & well said.

Also the part I bolded at the bottom, hell yeah. But I think a lot of people’s work/discourse is even more limited than that. Like I see people understand the role of homophobia in their own lives pretty well, they’ll talk my ear off about it & that’s fine, but the moment I bring up the role of, say, racism, the conversation is over, or I’m being divisive, or I’m putting down what they said or whatever, and we’re still talking about their life. So yeah, I want to see people moving in this direction, but I also want people embracing the idea of intersectionality even if they’re not someone for whom it’s glaringly obvious that those intersections exist.

(via girlytree)