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.)
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.
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 KSC management to undertake several special assignments where she served as the Executive Staff Assistant to the Director of Shuttle Operations and Management, led a team of engineers in performing critical analysis for the Space Shuttle flow in support of a simulation model tool, and was involved working on an interactive display to show detailed Shuttle processing procedures at Spaceport USA. Higginbotham was promoted to Lead Orbiter Project Engineer for OV-102 after two years as an orbiter project engineer for OV-104, Space Shuttle Atlantis. She held the technical lead government engineering position in the firing room where she supported and managed the integration of vehicle testing and troubleshooting.
Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in April 1996 Joan Higginbotham 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, Joan Higginbotham is assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Computer Support Branch.
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 place, I believe, has a great deal to do with what you can and can’t avoid on the rest of this list. Was this an intellectual decision? Did you read something that enraged you and made you want to change the world? Did you see something happen in front of you? Something that you felt was an injustice and THAT made you want to change the world? The decision is likely the easiest part of the list.
The realization. Whatever your life is, you have some sort of privilege. You may not have much but the very fact that you are an ally for some group means that you likely (at least) have privilege over them. This is the stage where you start to realize all the things that are afforded to you because you are a certain race, gender, orientation, etc. This is an irritating stage. This is usually when you want to shout “Fuck the world.” This is the moment when you realize just how unfair the lives are of people that aren’t like you.
The accusation. This is not an accusation someone makes against you. It’s the one you make against yourself. For most of us, being an ally is something re-learned not something that is just naturally there. Sure, if you have somehow been shielded from the world most of us live in, you may not have to unlearn your thoughts but that isn’t a realistic situation. This means that before you made the decision to be an ally, you likely were a person who did the very things you now want to stop others from doing. This is upsetting. It’s upsetting if you once lived your life as an asshole but I find that it is even more upsetting for those that considered themselves to be “Good people.” It’s not that it isn’t difficult for those that were assholes. What I am saying is that the people who are aware that they were a-holes, they are able to say “I hate who I was. I was an asshole.” Where the person who always believed that they were a good person is left with…”I was an asshole and I had no idea.” In both cases, listing all the bullshit in your head that you’ve said or done that may have hurt someone else, is heartbreaking. If you are able to go back and apologize to those that may have been hurt, it’s necessary but uncomfortable. Even if you feel you’ve changed. It is difficult to admit that you were not always the decent person that you now see when you look in the mirror.
It’s Everywhere. This is an equally difficult and upsetting stage. This is where you see how the world works. You notice things that you’ve never noticed before. For example, if you are an ally for racial equality, you will notice racism everywhere. On TV, around your friends/family, at school, at work, in the news paper. There will be no “Safe place” for you to rest your eyes. You’ll see it everywhere because sadly, it is everywhere. This will piss you off. Not only will it piss you off, it will once again make you want to scream, “FUCK THE WORLD!” In addition to the anger you feel, you will also have a feeling of superiority. You are now on the path to being “Better” than all of these ignorant, unenlightened people. It’s a similar phenomena to those that go to college, take a single Psychology class and then start talking about how Freudian everything is. The other issue with this stage is that the immediate combination of feeling like you know better and being bombarded with the horrid realization of the world we live in, will often make you think that you are Rocky. You are not Rocky. I repeat, you are not Rocky. Use your words. Cuss and argue but unless you are willing to exchange punches all day, every day, keep it word centric.
Balance. Next comes balance. This is a lovely stage. It’s difficult at first because balance is hard to find when you feel like you are fighting a never ending battle. If you keep with it, this day will come. Unfortunately, this stage usually comes as a form of breaking point. When you’ve argued longer than you could actually handle and you feel mentally and physically broken. This is the moment when you’ll say, “I need a safe place.” This is when you’ll make the decision to write but not read the notes or to purposely avoid certain places and/or situations that you used to love just because you know there is an argument there waiting for you. This is not easy. By this point you have developed a bit of a habit so changing it, although necessary, is very difficult. Once you master this, you’ll find that you feel happier and healthier. As time passes, the final step will become your normal. You’ll fight your wars and you’ll leave it all on the battle field. That’s not to say that you still won’t be hurt, angry and feel rage. It just means that you’ll know where your “I’m done” point is and when you feel it coming, you’ll know it’s time to stop and take care of you.
*These are all things that either I or people I have discussed this with have gone through in our efforts to be good allies. There are certainly things on this list that some of the luckier people are able to avoid altogether but for most of us, this list is pretty spot on. It’s not easy but it is necessary. It’s not easy but it’s worth it. It’s not easy but it’s what you do to fight the good fight.
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 the right thing. Because of this, I have a short list of things for you to consider the next time you catch yourself asking where the desert menu is.
Actually, I had a few other things to add to this list but that pretty much sums it up. Remember, the kind of allies that would want this in the first place are usually operating under some misguided assumption that it is THEY and they alone who will right the wrongs being placed on a community. Which is why they believe yelling “Fine, I’m not an ally anymore,” as we saw happen last night, is such a threat. A true ally knows that it is they who HELP but are not the driving force of the change.
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 required. Dr. Cagle has contributed on-going data to the Longitudinal Study on Astronaut Health, and has served as a consultant for space telemedicine. She was a member of the NASA Working Group and traveled to Russia to establish international medical standards and procedures for astronauts. She also conducted health screenings of Mir-18 consultants from the Russian Federation.
Selected by NASA in April 1996, Dr. Cagle 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, Dr. Cagle is assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Operations Planning Branch.
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.
______________
RacismSchool: Okay, learning opportunity- Let’s look past the absurd idea that this person was being accused of something and go to the “Unless straight people are not allowed to join in supporting the LGBTPQ community” part.
To my fellow allies for the LGBTPQ community, if every conversation you have about being an ally to the community involves you pointing out that you are straight, there might (read: Probably is) be an issue. First, “Straight” is implied because otherwise, you’d be a PART of the community and not an ally FOR the community. It feels very…I support you but I’m not like that. I just want you to know, I am totes on your side but I find it icky and stuff.
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 “I’m an ally” really need to stop.
You think Gay people should be able to get married? Cool! I am sure they appreciate that to some degree, maybe? Don’t call yourself an ally because of it. If you do, don’t get mad when they ask why you haven’t said a single word about someone you follow saying bullshit anti-Trans/anti-gay/anti-LGBTQ shit. ‘Cause if you are an ally, you must speak up. That is your actual job.
You’re a good person? Cool. I get it. Not everybody is built to be an ally. I wish they were but that is not the world we live in. Just be a good person and leave it at that. Don’t feel the need to put some kind of label on it.
If you are an ally, your beliefs will define you to some degree.
If you are a good person, you are going to work hard to do no harm. It really is that simple. Stop making it difficult.
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 likely, with your help, be updated from time to time.
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you are not an ally. Please do not refer to yourself as such.
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, 1992). STS-47 was a cooperative mission between the United States and Japan. The 8-day mission was accomplished in 127 orbits of the Earth, and included 44 Japanese and U.S. life science and materials processing experiments. Dr. Jemison was a co-investigator on the bone cell research experiment flown on the mission. STS-47 and her crew launched from and returned to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In completing her first space flight Dr. Jemison logged 190 hours 30 minutes 23 seconds in space.
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 risks and dangers associated with extended space flight, there would not be a space station. (Click here to see Major Lawrence as a Test Pilot) The development and evolution of the many space station designs over the past 30 years was possible because of men like Major Lawrence and all of the other astronauts who had overcome the fears, risks and dangers associated with space flight.
It is both fitting and proper that visitors in general, and African Americans in specific, of this website remember Major Robert H. Lawrence, Jr. because he gave African Americans the history wherein the early development of America’s space program cannot be written without including African Americans. In addition, major Lawrence left African Americans a strong presence and legacy in regard to the early development and evolution of America’s space program because he took the risk and paid with his life.
In this regard, African Americans have continued to play a significant part in the space program. Since the Space Shuttle became operational, African Americans have held all of the positions associated with a Space Shuttle Crew. These positions are Mission Specialist, Pilot and Commander.
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 who’s voice was silenced? I hope she is okay.
I am sorry for his son’s shame but please be clear, that was brought by HIS father. Not you or the woman you silenced. Even with this information it is unclear why you chose to only give one side a platform.
I hope you will consider the cruelty of your actions.
~Thank you for the reply.
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 that kind of girl.” YOU heard this with YOUR own ears. You saw her physically change in front of you. QUOTE “She seemed agitated now” and QUOTE “When the man left, the girl’s demeanor changed completely. She seemed shaken.” This is what YOU heard, saw and felt YOURself.
Next, it was YOU who asked to tell this story. QUOTE “Do you mind if I tell this story?”
You asked to take her picture. She trusted you with her image. You asked her if you could tell her story. She trusted you with her story. You made her feel like she could trust you with her dignity. You broke every trust she bestowed upon you.
From here, your actions became even more horrid. You brought religion into the situation. Simply by adding the “Disclaimer” at the end stating that this man was an Orthodox Jew and that you have QUOTE “High respect for the Orthodox Jewish community” you turned a sick and potentially harmful situation into one of religious accusation. This man did NOT show this level of disrespect BECAUSE he was an Orthodox Jew. These two things are COMPLETELY independent of each other.
As if you hadn’t done enough, you then decide that the woman who put so much trust in you should have both her image and her story scrubbed from the internet. This, I thought, was as low as you could possibly sink. I was wrong.
The most heinous of your actions was actively seeking out someone to write a letter in FAVOR of the sexual predator. QUOTE “I asked him to send me a letter with his thoughts.” The two people who you DID decide should have the benefit of your platform were those who fit the religious description you gave to the sexual predator. The victim, the woman you original claimed that you wanted to help by telling her story so that maybe QUOTE “This man, and all men, realize the emotional damage they are inflicting on the women they try to buy” is someone that you not only decided did not deserve a voice, you decided that ONLY those who wanted to protect the criminal should be heard.
You put those in favor of HIS actions in front of 95,000 sets of eyes. This is a decision that YOU made. This is something YOU requested.
You CHOSE to not only support and stand by a sexual predator but you also wanted to make sure that each and every one of the 95,000 people who are on your Facebook page also know that you believe it is HE and HIS family who deserve kindness and support. You removed her story in order to protect HIS family. A family you don’t even know exists in the first place. Yet, she TOLD you that she was a Mother so at the very LEAST, you have a REASON to believe that SHE has a family.
I ask you, what is it that SHE will see when she comes to your site? What will her children see?
I’ll tell you. They WON’T see their Mother but they WILL see a letter written in favor of their Mother’s predator, at the REQUEST of the very man who asked if he could tell their Mother’s story. They won’t see the beautiful image of their Mother but they WILL see those that defend a man who made every effort to BUY their Mother.
This sir, THIS is who you are and what you stand for.
I know that you decided that the conversation had QUOTE “Run it’s course” but you’ll have to forgive me for not wanting the conversation to EVER end when this is something that happens on a DAILY basis and you have just used your platform to make these actions okay.
Your choices are sick, cruel and unconscionable.
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.)
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 became interested in aviation while participating in career week activities at my high school in Nassau, Bahamas. My first thought was to become a flight attendant. Then I decided I wanted to fly planes,” she said in the Organization of Black Airline Pilots newsletter. “When I told my friends that I wanted to become a pilot, they laughed at me. Rut my mother taught me that there was no limit to what I could become.” A native of Nassau, Clarke began her career at Trans Island Airways. a small charter airline. Later, she was hired by Bahamasair, and in 1988 began work as a pilot for UPS.
Ms. Clarke, one of only 11 African-American female commercial pilots in the U.S. airline industry, was recently promoted to captain with United Parcel Service. This advancement marks the first time an African American female has become a captain for a major airline. She and her husband, Ray who is a pilot for American Airlines are the only African American couple whom both fly for a major commercial carrier.
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 two days before that I saw “She didn’t mean it that way. She isn’t racist. She isn’t sitting around saying racist things about Black people. Just because she said that one time doesn’t make her a racist. It’s not like she’s going out and lynching people.”
I didn’t know, I didn’t mean to and it’s not physical so it’s not racist are all fallacies. Racist is racist is racist. Intent has no place in meaning. Intent has no place in feeling. Intent has no place in justification. The single place that intent is warranted is in your reprieve. Not intending to hurt someone doesn’t make them less hurt. Your intentions however, may…MAY help people to move forward and not hold a grudge. BUT-you are neither entitled or guaranteed this kindness.
This entire falsehood is interesting to me because it only seems to hold barring toward those in a minority position. Be it race, religion, gender, orientation, etc. It also only holds weight in matters of emotion. Never the physical. Think about it. If anyone, ANYONE said any of the following to you, would you be so easily expected to “Get over it?”
I didn’t mean to hit you with my car so I didn’t really hit you.
I didn’t intentionally give you an STI. It’s not like I am sitting around plotting to give people STI’s. Therefore, I didn’t actually give you one.
I didn’t shoot your child on purpose. Just get over it already.
He wasn’t trying to burn your house down. He was just setting off fireworks and it happened. Why don’t you calm down and leave him alone. He didn’t do anything to you. Stop taking everything so personally.
Would you say these things? Have you said these things? If you’ve ever said any of the things in the first paragraph then your answer is yes, as is mine.You would and have. Why is it wrong to tell someone they should “Get over” shooting your child but it is perfectly justifiable to say “Get over” the racist shit that has come out of your mouth?
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 and on occasion taking flights with aviators in the area. After high school she attended West Virginia State College, majoring in Business Administration. During the 1939- 1940 school year, a cadet flying program was introduced at the college by the CAA, in which one woman was permitted to train with each group of’ ten male students. Mrs. Layne eagerly applied and was accepted for the program which was being conducted at Wertz Airport in Charleston, West Virginia.
“When they brought the flying course to the school, a lot of people applied. You had to be strong in math and science skills and you had to pass the physical, which was very strenuous,” said Mrs. Layne. After graduating from West Virginia State College in 1941, Mrs. Layne logged additional flight hours in Rochester, New York and Cleveland, Ohio. During World war II she taught aircraft Mechanics at the War Production Training School in Baltimore, Maryland. After marriage to F. Benjamin McIntyre in Cleveland, Ohio she worked as an independent accountant, bookkeeper, social worker and a Cleveland Public School teacher, retiring in 1979. Her daughter, Dianne McIntyre, produced “Take Off from a Forced Landing”, a play created in 1984 in honor of’ her mother.
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:
Stopped drivers who were searched by police (Table 14) BLACK:
Quite the difference, don’t you think? Black people are searched 3 to 4 times more frequently. Let me repeat that for the hard of hearing, BLACK PEOPLE ARE SEARCHED THREE TO FOUR TIMES MORE FREQUENTLY.
Contact with police in which force was used. In this case, we are looking at force being used by the police, toward the resident. (Table 18)
Force used toward white residence:
Force used toward Black residence:
What we see here is that police are consistently using force THREE TIMES as often on Black residence. Hey, I know what you’re thinking. Maybe the Black people deserved it. That is what this is all about, right? Maybe Black people are in fact, committing more crimes and this is just a numbers game. Except, there are numbers for that too. Where to start? How about with who has the most police contact. Just so we’re clear, “Contact” is not calling the police for help. It is either being stopped while driving, being apprehended or in some other form being held by the police.
Contact with the police (Table 5) WHITE:
Contact with police (Table 5) BLACK:
Remember, these are percentages not the total number of people in contact. The question here is, if white people are committing more crime or at the very least, have a higher “Contact” rate, why are Black people painted as the criminals? We’ve got a ways to go so I’ll let you think on that while I get to the next part.
The thing about the above stats is that they are an average of the total number of “Contacts” people had with the police. When we go a little deeper, well…you racists might want to stop reading now. (FYI-Police “Contacts” were broken up into face-to-face and without face-to-face contact. Without, would have meant being questioned over the phone or ticketed through the mail.)
Residents with face-to-face contact (Table 6) WHITE:
Residents with face-to-face contact (Table 6) BLACK:
I think that can go without any real commentary, yes?
Enforcement action taken during traffic stops (Table 13). This one was pretty interesting as well. Those ticketed, issued a written warning and even allowed to proceed with no enforcement were all fairly similar in numbers. The two that were not similar were very telling.
Arrested:
Given a verbal warning:
Okay so Black people commit less…well, let me word this properly. Black people have less “Contact” with the police but consistently receive more force, more traffic stops and more searches. Even WITH all the “Extra” traps that Black people have to deal with, our rates are STILL lower. Yet, we are the criminals? We are the animals? I won’t point out that the errors report shows that Black people are FIVE TIMES more likely to have that force be unwarranted. Yep, that is ON RECORD. I also won’t point out that the searches Black people are so prone to, have an alarmingly high rate of…oh what’s that word? Unlawful search. Without permission and with zero findings. Interesting stuff. Statistics are fun. No, not fun…heartbreaking.
