June 2012
Hive Mind: Buzz Buzz or Busted Bubble
In recent weeks there has been an ever present accusation of the “Hive mind.” It’s interesting to see this sort of comment because often times, it seems to be being used in reference to a specific group disagreeing with another specific group. Which, is hive thinking.
Hive mind is a very real thing. For those that aren’t familiar with the term, it basically means that you believe what you are...
May 2012
Post Edit
The following addition has been made to the “Why can’t you just answer the question” post. The addition is as follows:
The question has already been answered. You have asked the same old question. It’s the first time you’ve asked it but it’s not the first time it’s been asked and answered by the person being questioned. This is frustrating in general but it’s doubly frustrating in this...
Meet: Secret of the Black Pin Up
“Why aren’t there any black pin up girls?” With 100 rare vintage photographs all showing women of color in magazines not seen for over 50 years, the book not only reveals many answers to the question, it reveals a long gone part of America and African-American culture. Secret of the Black Pin Up takes us from “tease” to “sleaze” and reveals a world never...
RacismSchool: An "Ally" Story
TW: Cissexism & Trans* phobia
Many things that I write about being an ally come from my personal life. Things that I wish someone had told me as well as things I wish I could tell other people. I have been debating on writing this story for a while now. I am ashamed of it.
This is my “Ally” story.[[MORE]]
I thought I was a “Good person.” I could call myself an ally because I didn’t actively...
RacismSchool: Origin Story
The purpose of this blog was never to teach strangers. It was to have a place to both vent and save posts that I could use in the future.
This page was created out of the sheer frustration I felt from repeating myself over and over again. Racists and most bigots in general, all seem to tow the same line and read from the same book. Which meant that I spent way to much time feeling like a broken...
Meet: Zahira Kelly
Zahira Kelly is a varied artist—Pin Up Artist, Illustrator, Photographer, Wardrobe Stylist, Fashion Designer, Singer, Songwriter, for starters— from The Bronx, NY with roots in the Dominican Republic.
A lover of classic Americana, she was unable to find pin ups who looked like her and soon found herself on a mission to create her own featuring women of color in a variety of mediums...
KKK: The Tenants
What We Stand For
1. White nationalisim
2. Racial segregation
3. White suprememcy
4. Anti-immigration
5. Anti-communism
The Black Panthers: The Ten Point Platform
What We Want
1. WE WANT FREEDOM. WE WANT POWER TO DETERMINE THE DESTINY OF OUR BLACK AND OPPRESSED COMMUNITIES.
2. WE WANT FULL EMPLOYMENT FOR OUR PEOPLE.
3. WE WANT AN END TO THE ROBBERY BY THE CAPITALISTS OF OUR BLACK AND OPPRESSED COMMUNITIES.
4. WE WANT DECENT HOUSING, FIT FOR THE SHELTER OF HUMAN BEINGS.
5. WE WANT DECENT EDUCATION FOR OUR PEOPLE THAT EXPOSES THE TRUE NATURE OF THIS...
Meet: Black Pin Ups
Meet: Cue
Meet: Jessica
Meet: Dawn
Meet: Nicole
See more “Ethnic” Pin Ups here!
Oppression: It’s Not an Arcade Game
“It sounds like you are just upset that you don’t have a monopoly on oppression” ~An actual quote
Here’s a few things everyone should know about oppression:
Oppressed people haven’t “Won” something
Talking about oppression is not a joyful activity people do to rub your nose in your privilege
The fact that the above sentence had to be written, made me want to vomit
If you think people talk...
Oppression Olympics: This, Not That
Playing Oppression Olympics is truly horrible. However, the one thing that might give it a run for it’s money in the sub-human activity category, is calling it when it’s not there.
Oppression Olympics-
Using Group A as a reference point or a comparison to Group B.
Comparing the oppression of group A to the oppression of Group B.
*This does not now and never should include...
Meet: Angelique Noire
Using the world as her office, she sizzled down runways; graced various high fashion magazines; and was used in various commercial advertisements in France, Italy, South Africa, Germany, Canada, Brazil, the Carribean Islands, and United States. Although her career roots stem from an over 15 year successful career in modeling, “Angelique Noire” was the persona created in July 2011....
Follow Friday: Body Positive
What Body Positive blog should we all be following? Add the name of your favorite Body Positive person run blog or your favorite blog that is dedicated specifically to Body Positive topics. It’s up to you! Last week’s Follow Friday: Food (Please let me know if I missed any. I’ll do my best to keep it up to date)
body-posi
strugglingtobeheard
noseriouslyyouarebeautiful
redefiningbodyimage
...
Follow Friday: Food
What Food blog should we all be following? Add the name of your favorite Chef/Cook run blog or your favorite blog that is dedicated specifically to Food. It’s up to you! Last week’s Follow Friday: Sex Positive (Please let me know if I missed any. I’ll do my best to keep it up to date.)
gossipchef
cookinginthecity
breadandbutternyc
foodjoy
mcpaintanddesign
aspoonful-of-sugar
brianthony
...
Meet: Dr. Stephanie D. Wilson
Selected by NASA in April 1996, Wilson reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1996. Having completed two years of training and evaluation, she is qualified for flight assignment as a mission specialist. Currently, Wilson is assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Payloads/Habitability Branch.
Read more here.
Ten Lies You are Told Every Single Day
If you don’t physically hold someone down, you can’t be an oppressor.
Racism is physically hating and acting on that hate based on a person’s race.
White Privilege means you are rich and/or have an easy life.
Pointing out racism is a racist act.
Not knowing better is a perfectly justifiable reason to have hurt someone.
There is a specific way to be (insert race here)
White and...
Meet: Joan E. Higginbotham
Joan Higginbotham began her career in 1987 at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida, as a Payload Electrical Engineer in the Electrical and Telecommunications Systems Division. Within six months she became the lead for the Orbiter Experiments (OEX) on OV-102, the Space Shuttle Columbia. Later she worked on the Shuttle payload bay reconfiguration for all Shuttle missions. She was also tasked by...
9 tags
Ally: Five Uneasy Steps
Being an ally isn’t easy. No, I am not talking about how you are treated in the world or the community. I am talking about the stages a person is likely to go through when they make the conscious decision to be an ally. Just so we’re clear, this list pertains to actual allies not fair weather allies or those that are allies for fashion.
The decision. How you come to the decision in the first...
Ally: No Cookies, Cakes or Pies
During this week of ally related posts, I wanted to make sure that I didn’t give anyone the wrong idea. Yes, I believe being an ally is difficult. Yes, I believe that you/we get tired of fighting and the days feel extra long sometimes. However, a cookie is not warranted. I am often baffled by the level of ignorance often coming from people who feel owed a whip cream topped desert for merely doing...
Meet: Yvonne Darlene Cagle M.D.
During May 1989, while a flight surgeon assigned to the 48th Tactical Hospital, United Kingdom, Dr. Cagle volunteered to serve as the Air Force Medical Liaison Officer for the STS-30 Atlantis Shuttle Mission to test the Magellan Spacecraft. She was assigned to the Trans Atlantic (TAL) Landing site at Banjul, West Africa, to provide emergency rescue and evacuation of the shuttle crew should it be...
I am unable to reblog the question that...
diashoni asked: You missed the entire point of racismschool’s post. You do realize this?
How so?
I simply answered the points that were raised and stated my beliefs. I answered the overall accusation of “you’re not an ally” with “yes I am” unless straight people are not allowed to join in supporting the LGBTPQ community…also went back and edited it to actually answer the question.
...
Ally or Good Person
There seems to be this myth that these two things are automatically intertwined. They are not.
Being an ally does not mean that you will never fuck up or that you will always do the decent thing.
Being a good person usually tends to mean that you make some kind of effort not to hurt anyone. Either mentally or physically.
Neither of these things are wrong. However, the rampant announcements of...
Ally: Ask Yourself
I keep seeing people say things like “If you aren’t nice then you are going to alienate your allies.” Well, if that’s all it takes, they aren’t actually allies and it’s okay to alienate them because they aren’t really interested in moving the group forward in the first place. Because of this ongoing line of complete illogical bullshishery, I have comprised a list. Now, this isn’t complete and will...
Meet: Mae C. Jemison M.D.
Dr. Jemison was selected for the astronaut program in June 1987. Her assignments since then have included: launch support activities at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida; verification of Shuttle computer software in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL); Science Support Group Activities.
Dr. Jemison was the science mission specialist on STS-47, Spacelab-J. (September 12-20,...
Meet: Major Robert H. Lawrence, Jr.
Major Robert H. Lawrence, Jr was the first Black Astronaut.
As an astronaut, Major Lawrence emerges as one of the early pioneers of the space program by assisting in the development and testing of a variety of odd hybrid vehicles that would one day take man into space. In addition, he helped pioneer many of the astronaut training programs. If there were no individuals willing to go through the...
Reply and Follow up to email sent to HONY
Reply from Mr. Stanton:
The man’s son attempted suicide a couple nights ago because of the shame brought on his family.
Unfortunately, in the real world, situations are a bit more complex than they seem in front of a computer.
Thanks for your letter.
My subsequent reply:
How is the woman doing? Have you checked on her well being since it was her who was propositioned and it was her...
The email I sent to HONY
Mr. Stanton,
The young Sudanese woman trusted you with her image, her story and her dignity. You betrayed her on all counts.
I’ve seen all of the arguments and read both sides. There is a lot of talk about the man being innocent until proven guilty and the fact that we don’t know if what she was saying was true. I’d like to point out what YOU know. You heard her say, QUOTE “I told you! I’m not...
Follow Friday: Sex Positive
What Sex Positive blog should we all be following? Add the name of your favorite Sex Positive person run blog or your favorite blog that is dedicated specifically to being Sex Positive. It’s up to you! Last week’s Follow Friday: Poets (Please let me know if I missed any. I’ll do my best to keep it up to date.)
sexworkerproblems
fuckyeahsexeducation
bettacomecorrect
Fuck Yeah Planned...
Meet: Patrice Clark-Washinton
First officer Patrice Clarke never intended to write history. A UPS pilot. she never set out to be one of the first Black females to graduate from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida with an aeronautical degree. Nor did she plan to be the only female professional pilot working; in her native country of the Bahamas.
Ms. Clarke only wanted to be a pilot. ”I first...
I Didn’t Mean To and Other Such Non-sense (Ally)
We’ve all heard this excuse. Hell, I’ve given it myself. This along with “I didn’t know” eventually leads to a comment I saw days ago here on Tumblr. Someone said “It’s not racist because they didn’t intentionally try to hurt you.” A week before, I saw “If someone is intentionally trying to be mean because of someone’s race, that is racist. He wasn’t trying to be mean so it wasn’t racist.” Just...
Meet: Dorothy Arlene Layne McIntyre
When Dorothy A. Layne received her private pilot’s license on February 23, 1940, she was one of only two young Black women to first receive such training under the auspices of the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA) and had reached a goal which began as a youngster.
Mrs. Layne, born in LeRoy, New York, got interested in flight attending annual air shows at the LeRoy Airport with her family...
There is More Police Attention Payed Toward Black...
I hear this quite often. It never fails that when it’s proven that the police have targeted Black people, someone always pipes up with this line. Let’s see for ourselves. (Source)
First things first, do the police really treat Black people differently?
Stopped drivers who were searched by police (Table 14) WHITE:
2002- 3.5%
2005- 3.6%
2008- 3.9%
Stopped drivers who were searched by police...
Not that I Don’t Love Ventriloquy but...
When you try to justify your racism by telling me that your PoC friend (who just happens to not be here right now) said it was okay for you to say something racist, it tells me that you reflect three or more things from the following list…
Your “Friend” is nothing more than a place holder that you keep in your back pocket because you are fully aware that you are a racist.
Your “Friend” (if...
Meet: Janet Harmon Waterford Bragg
I’m not afraid of tomorrow because I’ve seen yesterday, and today is beautiful.” - Janet Bragg (1991) In 19,39, when the National Airmen’s Association of America was formed, two women were among the founding members, both determined young African- Americans eager to learn and enter the still evolving world of aviation. One was Willa Brown, the other Janet Bragg. Born Janet...
Black on Black Crime
On a regular basis I am attacked with false comments about the idea of “Black on Black Crime.” It’s here on Tumblr, the “NEWS,” the comment section of…well, everything. Two days ago I saw a comment that read “The greatest enemy of the Black man is the Black man.” The best part? This was written in the comment section of a story about some racist guy posting racist anti-Obama signs.
None...
White Washed/Internalized Racism/White Identifying...
Meet: Bessie Coleman
The second Black aviator to forge a breakthrough was Bessie Coleman in the 1920s. “It was unusual enough for a Negro to fly a plane, but for a Negro women to do such a thing, it came near being a miracle” - Enoch P. Waters, city editor, Chicago Defender. It may have been a near miracle that Bessie Coleman became the first African American to receive a civilian pilot’s license,...
Over Sensitive & Easily Offended
This line is a favorite of the bigot. The problem is, it’s backwards.
It’s a great trick. It works because it’s a simple dismissal. If it’s you who are “Sensitive” or “Easily offended,” they are cleared of all wrong doing. Not only are they cleared of all wrong doing but they also become the victim in the situation because the implication of being “Sensitive” also places a false accusation on the...
Meet: Willa Beatrice Brown
African-American aerospace pioneer, the first African-American woman to hold a commercial pilot’s license in the United States and the first African-American female officer in the Civil Air Patrol. As a young high school teacher in Gary, Indiana, and later a social worker in Chicago, Willa Brown felt that her talents were being wasted. She sought greater challenges and adventures in life,...
Follow Friday: Poets
What Poet’s blog should we all be following? Add the name of your favorite Poet run blog or your favorite blog that is dedicated specifically to Poetry. It’s up to you! Last week’s Follow Friday: Trans* Positive (Please let me know if I missed any. I’ll do my best to keep it up to date.)
poetspenandartistseyes
thetpr
Jasmine Mans
Alysia Harris
giddybombs
hookedonsemiotics
“2 felonies dropped to 1 misdemeanor!!!!!!!!!!! The man knows he was wrong but...”
– George Zimmerman’s MySpace A few days later, he expresses happiness that the other charges against him were reduced to misdemeanors.
“Im still free! The ex hoe tried her hardest, but the judge saw through it! Big...”
– George Zimmerman’s MySpace In an August 24, 2005 blog post, he boasts about his relief about the proceedings in a criminal case.
“I dont miss driving around scared to hit mexicans walkin on the side of the...”
– George Zimmerman In his MySpace biographical blurb, he discusses things he doesn’t miss about his former home in Manassas, Virginia
Happy Asian-Pacific Heritage Month, Jewish...
Asian-Pacific Heritage Month
Jewish American Heritage Month
Haitian Heritage Month
FBI Foil Bomb Plot in Ohio
CLEVELAND — Five men, at least three of them anarchists, plotted to blow up a bridge near Cleveland, but there was no danger to the public because the explosives were inoperable and were controlled by an undercover FBI employee, the agency said Tuesday in announcing the men’s arrests.
The target of the plot was a bridge that carries a four-lane highway over part of the Cuyahoga Valley...
