Micahceous

Hiatus

2010-07-26T10:04:00.000-07:00

After much thought and consideration, I've decided to put this blog on hiatus. As of late I've become busy with life to write about the complex things I have written about here, not to mention that it began to bore me. As I'm sure you can tell, at one point I just began posting links to previous article son other sites, not really generated my own content. So I've been seeking other avenues, including a photo blog as well as a brand new project. I have changed geared almost entirely, making a dating advice column. I've been told I have a knack for giving advice so I decided to give it a shot and so far it's been very fulfilling and downright fun and I hope it will continue to be so. The blog is called Kiss & Ride.

Micahceous as a blog will still remain open. I may become inspired and return. But as of now my focus has shifted to Kiss & Ride. Please update your RSS feeds and subscriptions accordingly and I hope you enjoy entering the next saga of the blogosphere. Thank you for your support and I hope you enjoy the ride. Kiss Micahceous 1.0 away. Welcome to the future.

5 Simple Rules for Dating

2010-07-14T16:06:00.000-07:00

1. Observe your partner's dating patterns. If he or she tends to date idiots and you have a Ph.D, it probably won't last.
2. If it's only been three weeks and you're already posting photos of you and your boo as your main profile pic, it won't last much longer.
3. Listen to your friends. If they all say he/she is a dog, it's probably true.
4. Aaliyah said age ain't nothing but a number. Rest in peace, but she was 14 singing that. She didn't know any better. If there is a gap of a generation between you and your significant other and you're under 35, rethink things. We aren't living in a Mormon convent.
5. If you're intimidated by success, you will date jackasses.

What's your objective?

2010-04-19T11:38:00.000-07:00

Greetings true believers. I know it's been a while. I kind of ran out of things to say, but I have something for you to ponder. As we are in the mess of a recession, most of us are looking for jobs left and right. The resume has become my life. I'm forever looking at my own and figuring ways to tweak it and making multiple copies with different letter designating the differences. I haven't used an objective pretty much ever since I began my career search but there are those that swear by them. Are objectives worth using?

I know some would think it's very handy, especially when a hiring manager is scanning your resume for that ten seconds. Without an objective, a resume may seem aimless. "What are you applying to?" My thought is that this resume was being sent for X job. You should know what I'm applying for and see how my experience shows I would be a good fit. But still, an objective would silence this little squabble.

For me, it's always been about the cover letter. Before I continue, let me share that I am not a fan of cover letters. I think they're a waste of time. Generally speaking, you can tell from my resume if you want to continue the application process with me. A cover letter won't wow a hiring manager further, if they even read it at all. But in many of the jobs I've applied to, it was necessary to include a cover letter. And in that case, the objective was shifted to that space. Would I benefit from having the objective in my resume, particularly when cover letters aren't needed. But this of course could push my resume to two pages, yet another thing I learned, especially for someone my age.

The other thing with objectives is making it too narrow or too broad or self-serving. There's such a fine line to be walked that if you're slightly out of bounds your resume goes in the trash bin. But it's a useful tool for employers who scan resumes in seconds either by hand or by machine. But if you can find that sweet nugget, then you may hit gold. Maybe my problem is I haven't hit gold, not to mention that I almost always write cover letters.

Maybe one day I'll add an objective to my resume but I think today I'll pass. But what do you use? Objective or no objective? That is the million dollar question.

RIP Corey

2010-03-10T08:06:00.001-08:00

RIP Corey Haim.

Did anyone else think that Feldman would have been the first to go?

To Freddie from Sean Cody

2010-03-05T11:25:00.000-08:00

I posted this ad on craigslist in Missed Connections on Valentine's Day. I only got one response from a guy saying I needed to get help.

To Freddie from Sean Cody - 24 (Amsterdam on Central Ave.)

Hey Freddie,
I know you wanted to act like it wasn't you on Friday night at Amsterdam, but dude we all know it was you. Yes, I've watched videos of you being fucked on cam. There's no denying it was you so I don't see why you had to be the asshole you were and act like it wasn't you. If you were any bit of a man, you would acknowledged your past instead of running away from it. You made seven, yes SEVEN videos. That's not some teenage mistake that you try to forget; you were balls deep in gay porn, or rather it was balls deep in you. If you were any bit of a man, you would've acknowledged it was you and moved on. I wasn't trying to sleep with you (you're cute but you're not THAT cute, plus I don't know where that hole's been) but I did want to affirm it was you. And of course, based on all of your reactions to me, it only proved it was in fact you. Those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. You've tainted my idea of who you are but hey, at least I don't have my ass plastered all over the internet for millenia to come. Furthermore, no one deserves to be treated the way you treated me. It's just not cool to be that unfriendly. You may think you're hot shit but dude, it's not that serious so calm down and take a seat off your high horse.

Oh and your little lackey of a friend pushed me. If you feel you need him to protect you from your "fans" then I surely feel sorry for you.

Oh and a request to everyone in Phoenix. If you see this guy, tell him you love watching videos of him being fucked! Again, he has 7 (including an extra behind the scenes) so obviously he can't be that ashamed of his work! Flock to the streets, go to his job. Just let him know his work really is everywhere.

Here's a link to the craigslist ad: To Freddie from Sean Cody but it should expire soon.There's an image included that's NSFW.

That Gun Owner near Obama obviously wasn’t a terrorist!

2009-12-23T14:00:00.001-08:00

Back in September, Joshua Bowman was arrested by the White House at a checkpoint when he was trying to park. The officers found a Beretta 12 gauge semi-automatic shotgun, a .22 caliber long rifle, and over 400 rounds of ammunition in Bowman's trunk. Bowman, who had went on a hunting trip the day prior and forgot about the guns (so he says), was arrested. You can read the entire article here, courtesy of Mother Jones. But one thing in particular stood out to me. His lawyer, George Braun, had this to say:

<blockquote>"They were making him sound like a terrorist," Braun said. "Does [Bowman] look like a terrorist? He has the élan to walk around with a bowtie."</blockquote>

So what does a terrorist look like then? Someone besides a brown person can be a terrorist? Heaven forbid! It’s very upsetting but it’s the reality we live in. A terrorist, despite the Timothy McVeighs and KKK of our country, still means person of color.

Why Lady Gaga and I may not be friends

2009-12-18T15:22:00.001-08:00

We all know who Lady Gaga is. She’s a talented young woman without a lot to offer. And she’s well known for her rather eccentric style. And while I welcome her music, I asked myself whether or not I would get along with her. And upon thinking about it, I don’t think Lady Gaga and I would be friends. It’s not because she’s eccentric. It’s not that I’m jealous of her talent. It’s more about the company she keeps and how that’s a reflection of the kind of person she is. Gaga is the best friend (or bestie) of Perez Hilton. On the surface this may seem like nothing, but Perez is not exactly the brightest crayon in the box. Furthermore, he’s a certain kind of gay male. He’s the type that many in the LGBT community in fact scorn: a stereotype that many are trying to forget, the type that is catty and attempts to bring drama in order to inflate his own ego and bring others down. The type that thinks he’s better than anyone else and wants to be fabulous (okay, so many that’s not a trait other gay men scorn). But it’s this kind of gay that I don’t like to associate with, as it usually just means problems. And those of us in the LGBT community know what kind of fag hags (in this case Lady Gaga) hang and attract that sort of gay. This fag hag is a specific type, a fake type to match her gay male counterpart. So given that I don’t like Perez Hilton, I wouldn’t like those who he associates with closely, including Lady Gaga.

Now I could be wrong and maybe she isn’t like that. Maybe she wears a po-po-po—poker face around him. But from my observations, she’s not my cup of tea.

German Chauvinism Or National Statesmanship?

2009-11-24T15:50:00.000-08:00

So I have this theory. Germans have been at the center of multiple conflicts in the world. Two of the most notable were during WWI under Kaiser Wilhelm and then again in WWII under Hitler. That this event happened so close together in time really raised an important question. Was Hitler just crazy or was he a normal German statesman, following a preconceived notion of what it means to be German and expanding it borders and preserving the idea of Germany, both physically and in the imaginations of the world? While we now consider it to be former, what if German culture naturally cultivated this idea of statesmanship in terms of expansion and taking over anyone that gets in the way?

Can this be applied to America as well? After all, a large portion of early European settlers were of Germanic descent and this is still heavily reflected today. Can the racism and Manifest Destiny seen in our own country be in fact a result of this notion of being German? The actions committed by whites in this country against people of color has been quite horrific. And while actions against other groups isn't solely a white issue, given the commonality in ethnic groups, can the ways that actions in the US and Europe and their similarities come in account due to ethnic and cultural similarities?

This is a theory I'm beginning to explore and I hope to write more about it in the future.

My Take on Adam at the AMA's

2009-11-24T08:07:00.000-08:00

So I feel I gotta add my two cents about Adam lambert's performance on the AMA's on Sunday.

The performance was a mess. It wasn't because of the over-the-top nature of it. I could care less about S&M themes or the boy kissing. The problem was that the performance just wasn't GOOD. It seemed half-assed and completely out of place. He was trying to push the envelope but he should've focused more on his singing. or better yet, choosing to sing a song that's more memorable and doesn't suck as much.

And furthermore, Adam is not Britney Spears or Madonna or Christina Aguilera. These singers all have quite a bit more street cred than you, Adam. They din't come out of the box making out with each other.

So Adam, work on your craft. It's fine to push the envelope, but be good at it. You're not Madonna. You're not David Bowie. You're not Lady Gaga. Do you.

Gays in Latin America: Is the Closet Half Empty?

2009-11-20T11:12:00.000-08:00

Gays in Latin America: Is the Closet Half Empty?

This article from Foreign Policy talks about the opening of Latin American countries to lgbt awareness and rights. Though we're so quick to talk about religion being the reason why some countries haven't embraced the rights of the lgbtq community and those struggles still exist, the situaton in Latin America is quite different. It's actually the politics of the country, with alot of these countries having authoritarian regimes and leftist policies which do not promote globalization, something that other lgbtq movements have embraced. But I also wonder what we, as Americans, can learn from these movements south of the border. This part especially stood out to me.

"Instead, Latin American LGBT movements have overcome their political handicaps by adopting smart tactics. Rather than turning radical and desperate, they have forged pragmatic alliances with larger, more-influential social movements. In Ecuador, for instance, they relied on the much stronger feminist movement to influence constitutional change. Likewise in Brazil, alliances with government officials proved vital to health campaigns. Movements in Argentina, Mexico, and Peru worked with local businesses to develop gay markets."

Maybe if the lgbtq movement in the US wasn't so into themselves and worked more outwardly, we could see more results. I think it's a lesson we could take from our southern counterparts.

Why Levi Johnston's Bad for America

2009-11-13T16:25:00.000-08:00

Here's a lesson I've learned from all the media attention on Levi Johnston:

Get a celebrity or a politician's daughter pregnant. Or at least have some sort of sexual controversy and be a poor model to everyone and misrepresent yourself and be completely shameless. After all, you'll be all over the media, potentially even end up on The Celebrity Apprentice. That's something to strive for right, America? Who cares about self-respect, honor, or brains?

Happy Birthday on The View

2009-11-13T08:39:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday Whoopi Goldberg! Toda on The View they gave quite a few goodies away to the entire audience.

Waterpik Ultra Dental Water Jet $59.99
Stephen King's Under the Dome- $35
Winter's Tail book and Nintendo DS game- 16.99/ 29.99
Bissell Multicyclonic Vacuum $179
Samsung SMX-C10 Camcorder $199.99
Toshiba mini NB205- $399.99
RCA 40" 1080p HD LCD- $568

A grand total of $1287.97. I have to go on The View for a birthday show.

EDIT: The audience also received a copy of Duff Goldman (of ace of cakes) new cookbook. So the total's probably closer to $1310.

iPhone, therefore I am

2009-11-05T08:39:00.001-08:00

Retrovo recently conducted a "gadgetology" study (whatever that is) on iPhone users. Methodology aside, I think it may be hard to argue how true or close how close to home some of these things may be. Sure, I'm not an iPhone user but my goodness. Here's a few findings of the study.

One in three iPhone owners has texted or emailed their significant other to break up.
One in three iPhone owners say that, if their partner had out-of-date gadgets, it would be a turnoff.

And this one's my personal favorite:

Compared with other cell phone users, iPhone owners are more likely to see themselves as media buffs, extroverts, and intellectuals.

You can read the rest of the results at Retrovo.

Mac Crashing

2009-10-28T19:00:00.000-07:00

I don't mean to sound like a mac basher but riddle me this:

Why is it that if a PC crashes people are more likely to switch to Mac, but if the Mac crashes people generally continue to use Mac. Furthermore, is it just me but when Macs crash, the owners tend to lose every little piece of data the computer had? I don't know about you, but in my years of using a PC, though I've had crashes I've never lost all my data. I'm sure it does happen, but I haven't heard of it too often. In the event of folks Ive heard switching from pc to mac, it's usually because it's "crappy" or it does indeed crash. Not in the complete meltdown crash but more of the "I can't run Word and internet at the same time" kind of crash. Not to say that all Macs crash, but I've heard enough testimony of friends (as well as Carrie Bradshaw on Sex and the City) having their macs crash and taking all of their data with them. Can you relate?

I'm a PC I'm a Mac ad spinning

2009-10-28T18:18:00.000-07:00

I'm not a fan of the latest Mac vs. PC ad with Windows 7. Normally I don't care for these ads and just kind of laugh them off, but I think this ad actually does Mac a bit of disservice.

While the Windows guy changes with the times, the Apple guy stays essentially in the same style the entire time. What does that say to me? That the Apple computer is stagnant and hasn't changed with the times. Which we all know isn't true. Apple got to OS X because there was an OS 9, 8, 7, etc. So I think that also ignores Apple's history and any problems they had with their OSes (coughSnow Leopard compatibility issuescough) but I guess that's the point of advertising, to put spin on products.

I doubt these types of ads sway people one way or another:they aren't necessarily informative but just done to bring attention to products or fan the flames of fanboy/fangirl/fanpersonness.

Plant Siblings Play Nice

2009-10-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

Did you know plants have a concept of siblings? According to a study done by University of Delaware scientists on 3000 mustard seed plants, plants that sensed their siblings developed a shallower root system and more intertwined leaves. You can read more on the study here on wired.com.

The work will be published in an upcoming issue of Communicative and Integrative Biology.

Super Street Fighter IV

2009-10-08T09:54:00.001-07:00

I'm excited! Are you?

What's been added?

Lots of features! Not only are Dee Jay and T-Hawk in the game, but a new South Korean character named Juri (a first in the series) is also in the game. Here's a list of rumored add-ons from shoryuken.com.

Also included are Dudley, Ibuki, Makoto, Adon, Cody and Guy. Another new character is Hakan,an Arabic grappler obsessed with oil.
All characters will have two Ultras. They will both be available at one time, not selectable like with Third Strike's Super Arts. The commands to execute your Ultras do not overlap.
It sounds like the characters from Third Strike are set up with their prior Super Arts. They had three in that game, so one will be their Super and the other two their Ultras.
Gen has four Ultras because of his two fighting styles. One of these is said to be an Air Ultra.
All characters still have one Super, except Sakura who apparently has a Shinkuu Hadouken as well.
Some characters will have Air Ultras.
The Bonus Stages will be returning.
Expect the return of the many familiar Supers, and a few new ones like Metsu Shoryuken. You'll see the return of Chun-Li's Kikousho, Gouken's Denjin, Sagat's Tiger Cannon.
Ibuki has a run command.
Guile has his Sonic Hurricane move from Marvel vs. Capcom 2/Street Fighter Alpha 3.
Dudley has his Chain combos from Third Strike, plus one additional Chain combo.
Cody is the only character with an Alpha Counter and he still has his knife. He supposedly needs his knife to perform one of his Ultras.
Rufus can cancel-break the last hit of his Spectacle Romance, or the launch kick of Space Opera Symphony.
Guy has his Chain combos.
Makoto has her Tanden Renki Super from Third Strike.
Zangief is said to have a 720 degree motion Air Ultra called the Siberian Blizzard.
The game takes place one year after Street Fighter 4.
Dudley was searching for his car in Third Strike, in this game he's searching for a rose.
T. Hawk's storyline involves him protecting Juni or Juli.
Dhalsim's new Ultra is called the Yoga Shangri'la.
There's a new gameplay system called Tadan Saving, the phrase implies a multi-hitting or multiple-level Focus Attack.

The game will be released in Spring 2010 for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

Welcome to your Quarterlife Crisis

2009-10-07T19:15:00.000-07:00

Here's an article I read recently that speaks of the quarterlife crisis. I certainly can relate as I'm sure many in my age range can.

Welcome to your Quarterlife Crisis

This phenomenon, known as the “Quarterlife Crisis,” is as ubiquitous as it is intangible. Unrelenting indecision, isolation, confusion and anxiety about working, relationships and direction is reported by people in their mid-twenties to early thirties who are usually urban, middle class and well-educated; those who should be able to capitalize on their youth, unparalleled freedom and free-for-all individuation. They can’t make any decisions, because they don’t know what they want, and they don’t know what they want because they don’t know who they are, and they don’t know who they are because they’re allowed to be anyone they want.

The Parable of Ups and Downs

2009-09-27T10:39:00.000-07:00

The Parable of Ups and Downs

What makes an Up an Up and a Down a Down is that an Up can do more to a Down than a Down can do to an Up. That's what keeps an Up up and a Down down. The Ups tend to talk to each other and study the Downs, asking the Downs about what's up—or what's coming down, for that matter. The Downs spend a lot of time taking the Ups out to lunch or to dinner to explain their Downness. The Ups listen attentively, often in amazement, about the experiences of being down. They contrast one Down's experience with another Down's experience and don't worry too much about what the Downs are up to because the Downs never get together. If they did, the Ups would have to shape up.

After a while, the Downs weary of talking to the Ups. They tire of explaining and justifying their Downness. They think, “If I have to explain my Downness one more time, I'll throw up.” And so they form a process which they call “networking and support groups.” This act makes the Ups nervous. Three Ups together is a board meeting; three Downs, pre-revolutionary activity. Some Ups hire Downs, dress them up, and send them down to see what the Downs are up to. We sometimes call this “personnel and affirmative action.” This creates a serious problem for the Down who is dressed up with no sure place to go. That Down doesn't know whether he or she is up or down. That's why Downs in the middle often burn out.

Sometimes what the Ups do to smarten up is to ask the Downs to come in to a program one at a time to explain their Downness. The Ups call this “human relations training.” Of course, the Ups never have to explain their Upness; that's why they're Ups rather than Downs.

There's good news and bad news in this parable. The good news is, we're all both Ups and Downs. There's no such thing as a perfect Up or a perfect Down. The bad news is that when we're up it often makes us stupid. We call that “dumb-upness.” It's not because Ups are not smart. It's that Ups don't have to pay attention to Downs the way Downs have to pay attention to Ups. Downs always have to figure out what Ups are up to. The only time Ups worry about Downs is when Downs get uppity, at which time they're put down by the Ups. The Ups’perception is that Downs are overly sensitive; they have an attitude problem. It is never understood that Ups are underly sensitive and have an attitude problem.

I used to think that when Downs became Ups they would carry over their insight from their Downess to their Upness. Not so: smart down—dumb up.

***********************

I find this parable helpful to gain insight in my work and life. Very rapidly we move into up and down categories and misunderstand each other. If Downs want to understand why an Up doesn't understand an issue, all they have to do is think of their own Up category and see why that issue is not understood. Downs know more about Ups than Ups know about Downs, yet we tend to come out of our Down category first to make sense out of our experience. The Up category is taken for granted and is rarely under review.

Who often has more insight about how the society functions, how organizations function, what's really going on? Frequently, it's Downs, not Ups. Ups are too busy trying to maintain the system rather than generate insight about what's really going on or how to change it. So our source of new insightful information comes from Downs, not from Ups. Yet it's Ups who are the ones whom we often call leaders.

Read more here (PDF)

Robert Terry directed the Reflective Leadership Center at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, and was the author of For Whites Only. He died in 2002.

(Courtesy of Stuff White People Do)

Antigua 6

2009-09-24T15:07:00.000-07:00

Have you heard? Antigua police are falsely holding 6 Black Americans after beating them. I heard about this story from my mom who heard it on the radio, but haven't seen too amny othe rplaces reporting on it. The Antigua Six are Rachel Henry, 27, Shoshannah Henry, 24, Dolores Lalanne, 25, Nancy Lalanne, 22, Joshua Jackson, 25, and Mike Pierre-Paul, 25. They were on a cruise that stopped in Antigua and then the trouble began. They are facing numerous charges and had an Antiguan court hearing at 2 PM yesterday in which the all pleaded not guilty.

There was a press conference held for the Antigua Six yesterday in New York, and this is the statement that was prepared by Dudley Brutus, a member of the Antigua Six's tourist group. (Courtesy of Transgriot)

****

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

On August 30, 2009, Martine Larochelle, Kirstie Mauze, Joshua Jackson, Nancy and Dolores Lalanne, Antoinette Lovelace, Rachel and Shoshannah Henry, Natacha Chicoye, Edwine and Dudley Brutus and Mike Pierre-Paul, embarked on an 8 day cruise on the Carnival Victory ship leaving from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Throughout the week, we visited the following islands: St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua and St. Kitts.

On Friday, September 4th, 2009, we docked on the island of Antigua, where the majority of the group wanted to go to the beach, while Shoshannah wanted to rent All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs). As we disembarked from the ship, Martine was greeted by a van operator who agreed to take us to the beach and rent ATVs afterwards. Martine negotiated a flat fare of $50 for a trip to the locations, to which the driver agreed. Martine shared the agreement with the group, and we all walked with the driver towards his minibus, which was parked separately from the other taxi cabs. While in the minibus, we asked the driver permission to use his cell phone so we could inquire about the renting costs for the ATVs. He informed us that we would need to purchase a phone card to put minutes on his phone so we can use it. The driver took us to a store, where Martine, Kirstie and Joshua went in to buy the phone card.

While inside the store, Martine decided the price was too excessive for the phone card and decided not to purchase it. We then decided to just go to the beach.

The driver took us to the beach and agreed to return and pick us up within an hour. When the driver did not return at the agreed time, the group began to consider getting another driver. A few minutes after the hour, he returned and we decided to continue with his services because the driver had not yet received payment from us. We got back into the minibus, and Shoshannah asked the driver about the costs of renting ATVs again. He indicated that he was unaware of the price or its location, but would take the group back to the store to get the phone card to call and obtain the necessary information.

During the ride back from the beach, some of us entertained ourselves by playing games, singing and listening to our IPods. At some point, we noticed that we were driving towards the direction of the ship and not to the store to obtain the phone card. When we asked the driver what was happening, he told us that the trip has ended and the fare is $100 US. We argued that the price was not a $100 US but $50 US. In his response, he stated its $50 US going and $50 US coming. The driver re-stated that the price was $100 US and informed us that if we did not pay what he was demanding, he would take us to the police. We asked to be taken to the police that we had seen at the port earlier in the day to resolve the issue and the driver agreed. At that moment, he picked up his cell phone and made a call as he drove in a direction that appeared to be away from the boat. When the group inquired about where he was going, the driver informed us that the road was closed and as a result, he had to take another route.

The driver started to pull up to a gated area and we became fearful of the unfamiliar surroundings. As the driver approached the gate, it began to open and I jumped out of the minibus, and the rest of the group followed behind me. As the gate opened, a uniformed officer approached the minibus and exchanged words with the driver and then with Mike. The officer tried to grab Mike, who pulled away, and the officer said, “You are under arrest!” We were still largely unclear of our surroundings, and we were becoming increasingly fearful and confused. At this point, all we saw was a uniformed officer standing outside a gate in front of an unmarked building. We asked the officer, “Why is he under arrest? What did he do? What did he do?”

A man in a white polo shirt approached the group, punched Shoshannah in the face and hit Nancy (which was witnessed by Antoinette, Kirstie, Edwine and myself). Shoshannah then told the uniformed officer that she wanted to press charges on the man who punched her. The officer ignored her and continued to hold on to Mike. Then, several people in plain clothes came out of the gate and started attacking us. Shoshannah was being kicked by individuals in plain clothes as she was down on the ground. We were pushed inside the gates and Joshua was placed in a grappling hold from behind by a plain clothes male (witnessed by Edwine, Martine and myself).

Soon afterwards, Joshua was placed in a cell with Mike and a uniformed officer came to the cell, with his hand resting on his gun, and told them that if they moved, he would shoot them.

Meanwhile, Kirstie was being attacked by a plain clothes female with a red shirt and twists in her hair. Nancy ran to her defense, and then the same female began attacking Nancy. Another woman also in plain clothes came over to hit Nancy with a baton, but was advised by another person not to do so. Kirstie and Martine asked uniformed officers to intervene, but the requests were ignored, as the uniformed officer watched the scene unravel. Natacha witnessed Dolores get kicked, while Dolores was sitting on the floor crying. Antoinette and Rachel were on the floor by what looked like holding cells. Antoinette was helping Rachel calm down, who was having what appeared to be an anxiety attack at the time. I also tried to stop the fighting between the plain clothes women and Nancy, but I was pulled by the collar by a uniformed officer with a paddle in his hand. The officer then moved me off to the side and hit me in the stomach with the paddle. Antoinette, Martine and Natacha noticed our belongings on the ground and began retrieving all our property.

The police attacked us with no attempts to resolve the situation with the driver. We were in an unknown territory, trying to obtain assistance to resolve a dispute. Some of us were working at breaking up the squabble, but when attempts were made to do so, we had to protect ourselves from being punched, hit with paddles, pushed and kicked by “officers” who failed to identify themselves.

Martine, Kirstie, Natacha, Edwine, Rachel and I were released, but then two-three plain clothes individuals came running after us and demanded that Rachel return with them. Shoshannah was carried away to a different area on an upper level above the jail cells outside the main office. Shoshannah asked that her sisters, Antoinette and Rachel, accompany her, but the police officials states only one sister, Antoinette, can escort her. Inside the room, Antoinette and Shoshannah were met by Reverend Mark Azille, who instructed them to do as they were told by the officers.

There was a tall, burly, dark-skinned police officer who noticed the Reverend speaking to the women, and told the Reverend to leave the room, and then the officer demanded that Antoinette leave the room as well. Antoinette asked the officer for a reason, stating that she did not feel comfortable leaving her sister alone, but with no remorse she was commanded to leave.

Mike and Joshua were jailed while Nancy, Rachel and Dolores were behind a partition in a different holding area. Martine, Kirstie, Natacha, Edwin and I returned to the ship and met Antoinette there. We told the Carnival officials about what occurred. Carnival referred us to an individual named Kevin, who took us to Nathan Dundas, president of the travel tourism office on the island. He called us into his office and explained that the six individuals who were arrested would not be returning to the ship and advised us to retrieve the passports and personal belongings of the detained. Mr. Dundas helped us get the belongings to the group. Martine and I returned to the holding facility and left the detained with cash and debit cards. Joshua asked for a lawyer so Mr. Dundas reached out to Mr. Benjamin, a private lawyer, to represent the six in jail.

As it stands, the six of us 12 are on trial for battery and wounding of police officers, using indecent language and disorderly conduct. The six of us here are concerned about the injustice they are receiving, and we all feel victimized. Presently, we are seeking assistance from the U.S. government, media outlets and citizens of the Unites States of America to bring our friends and family members home.

Blurb It:Race isn't the sole factor

2009-09-19T10:44:00.000-07:00

Obama rejects race as lead cause of criticism

Of course Obama wouldn't say race is the reason. He's the uniter, not the divider. He doesn't want to rock the boat. But really Obama, other presidents haven't had to deal with people bringing guns to forums when they're in town, nor has a southern congressman who has a history of promoting racist actions such as upholding the confederate flag, has called a previous president a liar. I know Obama has to play the game, but when are we ever going to have a serious conversation about race in this country? We can't keep brushing it under the table. That just makes things worse.

Dancing Alone

2009-09-09T08:10:00.000-07:00

Guess who broke up?

That's right, Karina Smirnoff and Maksim Chermkovskiy broke up!

PS3 Slim!

2009-08-18T13:59:00.001-07:00

It's official. The PS3 Slim will be released September 1 for $299. It consumes 34 percent less power and is 32 percent smaller. The 160 gb original will also drop to $299.

So yeah, I think I'm gonna go buy one of these...So what if I don't have a job?

Sober House? It's a NIMBY for WeHo

2009-08-12T10:52:00.000-07:00

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------http://www.jasmynecannick.com/blog/?p=6052

Residents in West Hollywood are up in arms over–now get this–a pair of sober living facilities. And because it’s West Hollywood, of course it made the news. Now what I find even more interesting is that in the news report of course it’s a white gay couple that is profiled who is upset over the new facility. Big surprise there.

Sober living homes are meant to provide a safe and supportive residential environment for people recovering from alcoholism and drug addiction, something that the gay community is all too familiar with. Residents are required to be financially self-supporting, pay their own rent, and purchase their own food. The residents are required to work, actively seek employment, or be a student enrolled in an accredited academic or trade school. Those who are permanently disabled and on federal, state, or local assistance are required to become involved in service to the home or the community. All residents are required to attend a minimum number of weekly 12 Step meetings, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, or Cocaine Anonymous. Plainly stated, it’s an opportunity for people to be successful in their recovery.

Now I could possibly see neighbors complaining if this were a home housing sex offenders, but it isn’t. It’s a home meant to be a stepping stone for people trying to put the pieces of their lives back together.

I really don’t think that this has anything to do with the facility itself. I think it has more to do with the race and class of the people who will most likely be living there and the neighbors don’t want anything else to bring down their property value. Because after all, that’s what matter most, right? Who cares about people trying to get their lives together?

Again, for a community that wants acceptance so bad, and itself has a huge problem with drugs and alcohol, why is it so hard for them to be accepting of others? I mean really, they need to change their favorite slogan of Equality for All to Equality for White Gays and Fuck Everybody Else.

Something tells me that if these facilities only housed gay white gays in recovery, this wouldn’t be an issue.

But I’ll tell you this, if they can put sober living facilities in my neighborhood, they can certainly put them in West Hollywood.

I’m just saying…

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I see a strong need for transitional housing. I previously worked in transitional housing for homeless families in Santa Monica (and with SM being listed as one of the most expensive zip codes in the country, I haven't heard any arguments for decreased property values. A total case of NIMBY, I think it screams of WeHo's issues revolving around acceptance and being part of a cohesive community. On one hand, WeHo is trying to develop a stronger community so things like Prop 8 don't happen again. But then they cut the ties that bind by not supporting the things that plague the community the most. I remember last year there was a huge ad campaign for crystal meth and raising awareness. It was on billboards, bus stops, and posters plastered everywhere. It was and still is a huge issue. Yet, this proves to show that residents are willing to admit that there's a problem but is not willing to take part in combating the issue. And that isn't a sobering thought.

Commentary:Gay is not the new black (cnn edition)

2009-07-16T20:25:00.001-07:00

My friend Mike posted this for me. It's from CNN's LZ Granderson entitled Commentary: Gay is not the new black. While I agree with what he says, I know a number of folks on the lgbtq community, black, and others may not. But I'm posting it here to share.

Far from flowing rainbow flags, the sound of Lady Gaga and, quite honestly, white people, stands a nightclub just outside of Wicker Park in Chicago, Illinois, by the name of The Prop House.

The line to get in usually stretches down the block, and unlike many of the clubs in Boystown and Andersonville, this one plays hip-hop and caters to men who may or may not openly identify as gay, but without question are black and proud.

And a good number of them are tired of hearing how the gay community is disappointed in President Obama, because they are not.

In recent weeks, one would have thought the nation's first black president was also the nation's biggest homophobe. Everyone from Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black and radio personality Rachel Maddow to Joe Solmonese, the president of Human Rights Campaign, the country's largest gay advocacy group, seem to be blasting Obama for everything from "don't ask don't tell" to Adam Lambert not winning American Idol.

In their minds, Obama is not moving fast enough on behalf of the GLBT community. The outcry is not completely without merit -- the Justice Department's unnerving brief on the Defense of Marriage Act immediately comes to mind. I was upset by some of the statements, but not surprised. (After the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, President Ronald Reagan's initial handling of AIDS and, more recently, Katrina, there is little that surprises me when it comes to the government and the treatment of its people.)

Still, rarely has criticism regarding Obama and the GLBT community come from the kind of person you would find standing in line at a spot like The Prop House, and there's a reason for that.

Despite the catchiness of the slogan, gay is not the new black.

Black is still black.

And if any group should know this, it's the gay community.

Bars such as The Prop House, or Bulldogs in Atlanta, Georgia, exist because a large number of gay blacks -- particularly those who date other blacks, and live in the black community -- do not feel a part of the larger gay movement. There are Gay Pride celebrations, and then there are Black Gay Prides.

There's a popular bar in the heart of the nation's capital that might as well rename itself Antebellum, because all of the white patrons tend to stay upstairs and the black patrons are on the first floor. Last year at the annual Human Rights Campaign national fundraiser in Washington, D.C. -- an event that lasted more than three hours -- the only black person to make it on stage was the entertainment.

When Proposition 8 passed in California, white gays were quick to blame the black community despite blacks making up less than 10 percent of total voters and whites being close to 60 percent. At protest rallies that followed, some gay blacks reported they were even hit with racial epithets by angry white participants. Not to split hairs, but for most blacks, the n-word trumps the f-word.

So while the white mouthpiece of the gay community shakes an angry finger at intolerance and bigotry in their blogs and on television, blacks and other minorities see the dirty laundry. They see the hypocrisy of publicly rallying in the name of unity but then privately living in segregated pockets. And then there is the history.

The 40th anniversary of Stonewall dominated Gay Pride celebrations around the country, and while that is certainly a significant moment that should be recognized, 40 years is nothing compared with the 400 blood-soaked years black people have been through in this country. There are stories some blacks lived through, stories others were told by their parents and stories that never had a chance to be told.

While those who were at Stonewall talk about the fear of being arrested by police, 40 years ago, blacks talked about the fear of dying at the hands of police and not having their bodies found or murder investigated. The 13th Amendment was signed in 1865, and it wasn't until 1948 that President Harry S Truman desegregated the military. That's more than an 80-year gap.

Not to be flip, but Miley Cyrus is older than Bill Clinton's "don't ask, don't tell." That doesn't mean that the safety of gay people should be trivialized or that Obama should not be held accountable for the promises he made on the campaign trail. But to call this month's first-ever White House reception for GLBT leaders "too little too late" is akin to a petulant child throwing a tantrum because he wants to eat his dessert before dinner. This is one of the main reasons why so many blacks bristle at the comparison of the two movements -- everybody wants to sing the blues, nobody wants to live them.

This lack of perspective is only going to alienate a black community that is still very proud of Obama and is hypersensitive about any criticism of him, especially given he's been in office barely six months.

If blacks are less accepting of gays than other racial groups -- and that is certainly debatable -- then the parade of gay people calling Obama a "disappointment" on television is counterproductive in gaining acceptance, to say the least. And the fact that the loudest critics are mostly white doesn't help matters either.

Hearing that race matters in the gay community may not be comforting to hear, but that doesn't make it any less true.

Not Another

2009-06-25T19:47:00.001-07:00

Wow. Michael Jackson too. You are an icon and will be missed.

Farewell Angel

2009-06-25T10:28:00.000-07:00

Farrah Fawcett has passed. She was 62. She'll be missed.

Prop 8 Ruling

2009-05-26T12:04:00.000-07:00

So Prop 8 was upheld and those married before the ban stay married. Who didn't see that one coming? I mean, really. Who honestly didn't see it coming?

Maybe they'll finally take a hint and change strategy. Just maybe.

Cosby Show on the Today Show

2009-05-20T16:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the Cosby Show crew reunited on The Today Show and were interviewed by Matt Lauer. Halfway through Matt Lauer asked the question if they were out to portray an American family or an African-American family. Anyone else see the problem with this? He was asking them, essentially, if they were out to be a white family or a black family. Obviously since black families can't have both parents in the household who are successful and have loving children. I'm glad Phylicia Rashad got on him though and gave a good answer. But it's highly offensive. And seeing as how Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad are both vocal folks, I'm hoping they tore Matt a new one off-screen. Has Barack Obama not taught the folks at The Today Show that black folks have families that are just like any other American family? Our skin tone and our culture does not change the fact that we all share the same values. But of course it's The Today Show. I can only expect so much from a show that tries to enforce stereotypes.

What I'm talking about begins at the 6:10 marker.

Shamwow Hooker Brawl

2009-05-12T23:46:00.000-07:00

Did you hear about this? Last month the Shamwow guy beat up a hooker after she tried to bite off his tongue. And he beat her up GOOD. Like damn. You can read the full report here thanks to the Smoking Gun.

Cinco de Mayo

2009-05-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

Today is Cinco De Mayo. Even though it's a voluntary holiday in Mexico that isn't federal, us in the States take it upon ourselves to drink margaritas, beat up pinatas, and indulge ourselves in Mexican culture. It's the one day of the year when Mexicans aren't blamed for taking low-skilled jobs. And while we all sit down to drink and get wasted on our favorite tequila, let us remember what Cinco De Mayo is actually about. And no, it's not to celebrate independence. Not to say that it doesn't have significance in this country for millions, it has risen to the ranks of St. Patrick's Day and Oktoberfest as an excuse to get drunk, forget what we did, and blame it on the alcohol.

Diversity, the Street Grid, and Obama’s Election

2009-04-28T17:02:00.000-07:00

Nate Silver from FiveThirtyEight political blog gave a fascinating TED talk about the role of racism in the 2008 election. Through the course of his speech, Silver recognizes the differing patterns of diversity in cities compared to rural areas and briefly talks about the benefits of the street grid in facilitating diversity. Silver notes that cul-de-sac development was pivotal in rightward shift in politics in the 1970s and 1980s. When I watched the end, I nearly thought of the O.C. And to me, this makes complete sense. I would love to see more regressions on the data but even from just qualitative evidence that I've witnessed and have seen from others, I believe it to be true. It always seems to come up: transportation and land use and its affect communities and urban policy.

Columbine 10 years later

2009-04-21T10:54:00.000-07:00

So I was going to make this big post about COlumbine but my energy was taken away when i updated my status on Facebook on the subject. Instantly I was harassed by a number of my white colleagues on the issue of remembrance and how these "innocent" kids in Colorado don't compare to those "innocent" kids in the hood. Luckily I had a number of friends chime in on the subject and offer their own taste, many of whom were PoC. Now it always surprises me that whenever race is brought up as a conversation topic and PoCs make an argument that things aren't right, white people get really defensive, shut them down, and say that they are incorrect in their assumptions as being people of color and experiencing racism. "Even though you live it and breathe it everyday, you're wrong about it" mentality really doesn't sway well with us. I'm sure it has happened to many of us before but it makes the conversation that much more difficult.

Yes Columbine was a tragedy. But so is everyday when innocent people die. And yeah, the media likes to focus on when privileged white folks die, especially pretty ones. I get that. I just want people to recognize that there's a problem with this selective choosing of who's death gets noticed and who's doesn't.

Here are just a few of the comments from my wall.

"Shootings in the hood happen mainly due to gang violence. Colombine was a massacre of innocent children."

From another commenter: "...and please don't assume that all poor people in america are black and make it a racial thing, either. i have lived in a lot of areas of this country and have seen people in poverty of all races and cultures. i've seen people give in to their stereotype many times and ... Read Morejoin a gang or choose to amount to nothing...i am not saying black people...i am saying people below the poverty line...but i have also seen people decide they want to do something with their lives and work their way out of the situation they were stuck with. "white schools" and "black schools" aren't dictated by the people that run them, they're dictated by the people who choose to live in their zone. the reality is, most black people wouldn't want to go to a "white school" anyway because they wouldn't "feel welcome" just as white kids wouldn't want to go to a school in, say, compton, since that is where you apparently have so much experience. it doesn't mean they can't go there, it means they wouldn't want to. "

Then at some point I was called a douche because I noted that there is such a thing as white culture. So it's still very difficult to talk about race and disparities in our country, even among people under 25.

The White Anti-Racist Is an Oxymoron

2009-04-20T11:15:00.000-07:00

I recently found this and had to share. Apparently it's at least eight years old but the message is a good one, though the language may put some folks off, particularly because it may increase a "good white/bad white" dichotomy.

The White Anti-Racist Is an Oxymoron:
An Open Letter to “White Anti-Racists”
By Tamara K. Nopper

I received an annoying e-mail about white people and their struggle to do anti-racist work. I keep reading and hearing white people talk about their struggle to do anti-racist organizing, and frankly it gets on my nerves. So I am writing this open letter to white people who engage in any activist work that involves or affects non-whites. Given that the US social structure is founded on white supremacy, and that there is a global order in which white supremacy and European domination are at large, I would challenge any white person to figure out what movement or action they can get involved in that will not involve or affect non-white people.

That said, I want to begin with what has become a realization for me through the help of different politically conscious friends. There is NO SUCH THING AS A WHITE ANTI-RACIST. The term itself, "white anti- racist" is an oxymoron. In the following, I will explain why. Then, I will begin to detail how this impacts non-white people in organizing work specifically, along with how it affects non-white people generally.

First, one must realize that whiteness is a structure of domination. As such, there is nothing redeemable or reformable about whiteness. Intellectuals, scholars and activists, especially those who are non- white, have drawn our attention to this for years. For example, people such as Malcolm X, W.E.B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Ida B. Wells, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, and many, many others who are perhaps less famous, have articulated the relationship between whiteness and domination.

Further, people such as Douglass and DuBois began to outline how whiteness is a social and political construct that emphasizes the domination, authority, and perceived humanity of those who are racialized as white. They, along with many other non-white writers and orators, have pointed to the fact that it was the bodies who were able to be racialized as "white" that were able to be viewed as rational, authoritative, and deserving. Further, and believe me, this is no small thing, white people are viewed as human. What this means is that when white people suffer, as some who are poor/female/queer, they nevertheless are able to have some measure of sympathy for their plight simply because they are white and their marginalization is considered an emergency, crisis or an issue to be concerned about.

Furthermore, even when white people have been oppressed by various dimensions of classism, homophobia and heterosexism, they have been able to opt for what DuBois, in his monograph "Black Reconstruction" brilliantly called "the psychological wage of whiteness." That is, whites that are marginalized could find comfort, even if psychological, in the fact that they were not non-white. They could revel in the fact that they could be taken as white in opposition to non-white groups. The desire for this wage of whiteness was also what drove many white people, albeit marginalized, to engage in organized violence against non-whites.

Of course, legal cases such as the Dred Scott Decision along with many different naturalization cases involving Asian individuals, has helped to encode a state-sanctioned definition of whiteness. But there are other ways in which white people can be racialized as white by the state. They are not stopped while driving as much as non-white people. Their homes and businesses are not raided and searched as much by police officers, INS or License and Inspections (L&I). White people's bodies are not tracked and locked up in prisons, detention centers, juvenile systems, detention halls in classrooms, "special education" classes, etc. White people's bodies are not generally the site of fear, repulsion, violent desire, or hatred.

Now some might point out to me that white people are followed, tracked and harassed by individuals and state agents such as the police. This is true. Some white women get sexually harassed and experience state-sanctioned discrimination. Queer whites are the subject of homophobia, whether by individuals or by the state through laws and the police. Some queer whites are harassed by cops. Activist whites are stopped by police. White people who play rap music and wear gear are stopped by cops. Poor whites can be criminalized, especially by the state around welfare issues. What I want to point out is that, while I do not condone police violence and harassment, there is a way in which white people will not be viewed as inherently criminal or suspect unless they are perceived as doing something that breaks particular norms.

Conversely, other racial groups, particularly Blacks and Native Americans, are considered inherently criminal no matter what they do, what their sexual identity is or what they wear. Further, it has always struck me as interesting that there are white people who will attempt to wear what signifies "Blackness," whether it is dreadlocks (which, in my opinion, should be cut off from every white person's head), "gear," or Black masks at rallies. There is a sick way in which white people want to emulate that which is considered "badass" about a certain existential position of Blackness at the same time they do not want the burden of living as a non-white person. Further, it really strikes me as fucked up the way in which white people will go to rallies and taunt the police with Black masks in order to bring on police pressure. What does it mean when Blackness is strategically used by whites to bring on police violence? Now I know that somewhere there is a dreadlocked, smelly white anarchist who is reading this message and who is angry with me for not understanding the logic of the Black masks and its roots in anarchism. But I would challenge these people to consider how they are reproducing a violence towards Blackness in their attempts to taunt and challenge the police in their efforts.

Now back to my point that white anti-racism is an oxymoron. Whiteness is a social and political construct rooted in white supremacy. White supremacy is a structure and system of beliefs rooted in European and US imperialism in which certain racialized bodies (non-white) are selected for premature negation whether through cultural, physical, psychological genocide, containment or other forms of social death. White supremacy is at the heart of the US social system and civil society. In short, white supremacy is not just a series of practices or privilege, but a larger social structure and system of domination that overly-values and rewards those who are racialized as white. The rest of us are constructed as undeserving to be considered human, although there is significant variation within non-white populations of how our bodies are encoded, treated and (de)valued.

Now, for one to claim whiteness, one also is invested in white supremacy. Whiteness itself is a political term that emerged among European white ethnics in the US. These European ethnics, many of them reviled, chose to cast their lot with whiteness rather than that with those who had been determined as non-white. In short, anyone who claims to be white, even a white anti-racist, is identifying with a history of European imperialism and racism transported and further developed into the US.

However, this does not mean that white people who go around saying dumb things such as "I am not white! I am a human being!" or, "I left whiteness and joined the human race," or my favorite, "I hate white people! They're stupid" are not structurally white. Remember, whiteness is a structure of domination embedded in our social relations, institutions, discourses, and practices. Don't tell me you're not white but then when we go out in the street and the police don't bother you or people don't ask you if you're a prostitute, or if people don't follow you and touch you at will, act like that does not make a difference in our lives. Basically, you can't talk, or merely "unlearn" whiteness, as all of these annoying trainings for white people to "unlearn" racism will have you think.

Rather, white people need to be willing to have their very social position, their very relationship of domination, their very authority, their very being...let go, perhaps even destroyed. I know this might sound scary, but that is really not my concern. I am not interested in making white people, even those so-called good-hearted anti-racist whites, comfortable about their position in struggles that shape my life in ways that it will never shape theirs. I recently finished the biography of John Brown by DuBois. The biography was less of a biography and more of an interpretation by DuBois about the now-legendary white abolitionist. Now while John Brown's practice was problematic in many ways--he still had to be in control and he had fucked-up views that Blacks were still enslaved because they were too "servile" (a white supremacist sentiment)--what I took from Brown's life was that he realized that moral persuasion alone would not solve racial problems. That is, whites cannot talk or just think through whiteness and structures of white supremacy. They must be committed to either picking up arms for other people (and only firing when the people tell them so), dying for other people, or just getting out of the way. In short, they must be willing to do what the people most affected and marginalized by a situation tell them to do.

Now I am sure that right now there are some white people saying that other people cannot understand what is going on, that they do not have the critical analysis to figure stuff out, or that non-white people have fucked up ideas. This is just white supremacist bullshit because it is rooted in the idea that non-white people have not interpreted their experiences and cannot run things themselves. It also assumes that there are not internal conversations within communities--which I do not think white people need to be privy to or participate in--in which people struggle out their own visions for society and how to go about achieving them. In short, this perspective by whites that non-white people cannot be in control of our own destinies is rooted in a paternally-racist approach to non-white people.

Further, it is also rooted in the idea that white people are not racist or do not benefit from racism. Rather, white people at meetings will often discuss how they feel "silenced" by non-whites, or that they are being "put in their place." Let me make one thing clear: it is impossible for a non-white person to put a white person in her place. This is not to say that non-white people cannot have a sexist or homophobic attitude towards a white person. But to say, or even hint at that as a "WHITE" person someone is being put in their place--whoever says this just needs to shut the fuck up because that is some bull. It is impossible for whiteness to be put in one's place, because that is a part of whiteness, the ability to take up space and feel a prerogative to do so.

Further, the idea that white people are being put into their place relies on the neo-conservative view of reverse racism that has characterized the backlash against non-whites, especially Blacks, in the post-civil rights era. So when you say these types of things you are actually helping to reproduce a neo-conservative racial rhetoric which relies on the myth of the "threatened" and "displaced" white person.

Additionally, white activism, especially white anti-racism, is predicated on an economy of gratitude. We are supposed to be grateful that a white person is willing to work with non-white people. We are supposed to be grateful that you actually want to work with us and that you give us your resources. I would like to know why you have those resources and others do not? And don't assume that just because I have to ask you for resources that it does not hurt me, pain me even. Don't assume that when you come into the space, that doesn't bother me. Don't assume that when you talk first, talk the most, and talk the most often, that this doesn't hurt me. Don't assume that when I see you get the attention and accolades and the book deals and the speaking engagements that this does not hurt me (because you profit off of pain). And don't assume that when I see how grateful non-white people are to you for being there, for being a "good white" person that this doesn't hurt me. And don't assume that when I get chastised by non-white people because I think your presence is unnecessary that it does not hurt me. Because all of these things remind me of how powerless non-white people are (albeit differently) in relation to white people. All of these gestures that you do reminds me of how grateful I am supposed to be towards you because you actually (or supposedly) care about what is happening to me. I am a bit resentful of economies of gratitude.

Further, this structure of white supremacy known as white anti-racism also impacts the larger social world because it still makes white people the most valued people. Non-white people are forced to feel dependent and grateful to white people who will actually interact with us. We are made to feel that we are inferior, incapable, that we really do need white people. And the sad thing is, that given all of the resources that whiteness has and that white people get and control, there is an element of material truth in all of this, I am afraid. But white people need to think of how their activism reproduces the actual structure of white supremacy some--not all whites activists--profess to be about. This structure of white supremacy is not just in an activist space, it actually touches upon and impinges on the lives of non-white people who may not be activists (in your sense) or who do not interact with you in activist worlds.

But consider what your presence means in a community that you decide to set up your community garden in, or your bookstore in, or your meeting space in, or have your march in. What does it mean when you decide that you want to be "with" the oppressed and you end up displacing them? Just because you walk around with your dreadlocks, or decide that you will not wear expensive clothes does not mean that your whiteness does not displace people in the spaces you decide to put yourself in. How do you help to bring more forms of authority and control in a neighborhood, whether through increased rent and housing costs, more policing, or just the ways in which your white bodies can make people feel, as a brilliant friend of mine once asked, "squatters in somebody else's project"?

So what does this mean for the future of white anti-racists? This might mean to first, figure out ways in which whiteness needs to die as a social structure and as an identity in which you organize your anti-racist work. What this looks like in practice may not be so clear but I will attempt to give some suggestions here. First, don't call us, we'll call you. If we need your resources, we will contact you. But don't show up, flaunt your power in our faces and then get angry when we resent the fact that you have so many resources we don't and that we are not grateful for this arrangement. And don't get mad because you can't make decisions in the process. Why do you need to? Secondly, stop speaking for us. We can talk for ourselves. Third, stop trying to point out internal contradictions in our communities, we know what they are, we are struggling around them, and I really do not know how white people can be helpful to non- whites to clear these up. Fourth, don't ever say some shit to me about how you feel silenced, marginalized, discriminated against, or put in your place. Period. Finally, start thinking of what it would mean, in terms of actual structured social arrangements, for whiteness and white identity--even the white antiracist kind (because there really is no redeemable or reformed white identity)--to be destroyed.

In conclusion, I want to say to anyone who thinks that this is too academic or abstract, I write as a non-white person, meaning that from my body, my person, I experience white supremacy. I also draw my understanding of white supremacy from non-white people, many engaged in various struggles of activism, but most importantly just to speak out and stay alive. They did not get accolades from many for speaking out but instead experienced constant threats on their lives for just existing and doing the work that they did. Moreover, I want to know when a discussion of whiteness, white supremacy and domination became seen as abstract and not rooted in the everyday concrete reality that we experience?

What If Susan Boyle Couldn't Sing?

2009-04-20T11:01:00.000-07:00

Dennis Palumbo brilliantly puts into words the Susan Boyle phenomenon.
____________________________________________________________

By Dennis Palumbo

Like millions of viewers, I was thrilled and moved when 47-year-old Susan Boyle wowed the judges and audience on Britain's Got Talent with her superb singing. As everyone knows by now, the unmarried, "never been kissed" woman from a small village was greeted by both the audience and the talent show's judges with derision when she first took the stage. Looking matronly in her somewhat frumpy dress and unkempt hair, her appearance initially elicited smug, condescending and even cruel smirks, smiles and chuckles. What could this "un-cool," plain-spoken woman have to offer? What right did she have to share the stage with all those young, pretty, talented people?

Then Susan opened her mouth and sang. And her voice was so powerful, so achingly beautiful, so full of yearning, that even the usually heartless Simon Cowell was blown away. As were the other judges, and the audience, all of whom gave Susan a standing ovation. And now, online and elsewhere, Susan's voice, and the story of her triumph on that stage, are known throughout the world.

There's even news of a record contract, and the odds-makers who track these things believe she's the current favorite to win the competition. More tellingly, everyone is talking and blogging about her "inner beauty," and how Susan reminds us that we shouldn't judge a book by its cover, etc.

I'm happy for her. She appears to be a solid, decent person for whom, God knows, some good luck is long overdue.

But I can't help wondering, what would have been the reaction if Susan Boyle couldn't sing?

What would the judges and the audience have thought, and said, had her voice been a creaky rasp, or an out-of-tune shriek? Would she still possess that "inner beauty?" Would we still acknowledge that the derisive treatment she received before performing was callous, insensitive and cruel?

The unspoken message of this whole episode is that, since Susan Boyle has a wonderful talent, we were wrong to judge her based on her looks and demeanor. Meaning what? That if she couldn't sing so well, we were correct to judge her on that basis? That demeaning someone whose looks don't match our impossible, media-reinforced standards of beauty is perfectly okay, unless some mitigating circumstance makes us re-think our opinion?

Personally, I'm gratified that her voice inspires so many, and reminds us of our tendency to judge and criticize based on shallow externals of beauty. What I mean is, I'm glad for her.

But I have no doubt that, had she performed poorly, Simon Cowell would be rolling his eyes still. And the audience would have hooted and booed with the relish of Roman spectators at the Colosseum. And that Susan Boyle's appearance on the show would still be on YouTube, but as an object of derision and ridicule.

So let's not be too quick to congratulate ourselves for taking her so fully to our hearts. We should've done that anyway, as we should all those we encounter who fall outside the standards of youth and beauty as promulgated by fashion magazines, gossip sites, and hit TV shows.

We should've done that anyway, before Susan Boyle sang a single note.

Amazon 'Glitch' Delists Gay-Themed Books

2009-04-15T14:21:00.000-07:00

Hundreds of gay-and lesbian-themed books suddenly disappeared from Amazon.com's rankings over the weekend

Hundreds of gay-and lesbian-themed books suddenly disappeared from Amazon.com's rankings over the weekend, causing an uproar among authors and activists who alleged it was a stealthy extension of the company's policy concerning adult content. The internet bookseller claimed it was the result of a technical "glitch." (UPDATED-- Amazon now says it was an internal "cataloging error." See official statement below)

Some of the titles reported to have been dropped were back on the rankings, including Annie Proulx's "Brokeback Mountain." Not all gay/lesbian works were dropped. There is also no comprehensive list (yet) of the affected titles, and some reports of outed titles contradict others.

But clearly the pages of some books with with gay but no particular "adult" component have been shorn of their metrics.

It's interesting how alot of big org (amazon.com, microsoft xbox), are making policies aimed at adult policy but end up really screwing over lgbtq-related inquiries and hardly affecting the heterosexual content of similar nature. Last I checked "gay" also means "happy" and though it is a slang term now for "stupid" it's also an identity for millions of people.

Asian names too difficult for Texas

2009-04-11T10:16:00.000-07:00

Texas Lawmaker suggests Asians adopt easier names

AUSTIN — A North Texas legislator [Rep. Betty Brown, R-Terrell] during House testimony on voter identification legislation said Asian-descent voters should adopt names that are “easier for Americans to deal with.”

“Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it’s a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?” Brown said.

Wow. If you live in Texas, please try to get her removed from office. I like how she referenced Asians as if they are not citizens of this country. Last I checked, if you're voting in a US election, you're a citizen of the USA.

Ghetto Names on youtube

2009-04-08T14:30:00.000-07:00

Have you seen this ignorance?

I'll admit that there are some interesting names in the black American community, but this goes quite over the line and just perpetuates the stereotype that these names are a)real, b) that "ghetto" black folks will name their children these names and c)it's okay for people to laugh at these names. i was going through some comments to the youtube video and while some called out the racism, most of them laughed it off. What was also interesting is that apparently one of the tags of the video was "niggers".

While I posted the video on this site, it may not be up for much longer.

Kal Penn goes to Obama

2009-04-07T21:02:00.000-07:00

Congrats to Kal Penn! Don't know if you heard, but he's been made the Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison. You may know him from his role as Kumar from the Harold and Kumar movies or from the tv show House. He's not stepping into the political realm. It's great to see Americans of South Asian descent working for Obama. Congrats Kal!

Why Do LA People Suck?

2009-04-01T01:08:00.000-07:00

I got this from my pal K and had to share it. It's from Johnaugust.com.

I’ve noticed no matter how close you are to someone in LA, they seem to stab you in the back. I feel like I give them my all, and never want to ask them for “help,” and they end up screwing you over.
I know some people in the industry… and the lifelong question of when to ask someone to read your work, or help you out comes to mind. I am very shy about when to ask, and never want them to think I am “using them.” But, it seems like if you don’t go out every night, and drink and party with them, they lose sight of who you are. Some pull the Kevin Williamson, and you will be introduced to them 100 times, and they still cannot remember your name…
How do you know when to ask for help, or a reference, or both, or even a foot in the door? If you don’t party with them every night is that going to hurt my chances in the long run? And when should you ask?
I don’t want to come off as a user, but it seems like everyone else is. Do I need to sink down to that level to succeed?
I know there is such thing as a missed opportunity….but..?
Thanks in advance,
– “Anonymous.”
What’s not clear from your question — if it really is a question, rather than an extended harrumph — is exactly how people are using you and/or stabbing you in the back. Let’s look at some scenarios.

Are you reading their scripts, offering helpful notes, while they can’t be bothered to do the same for you?
Are they repeating your ideas as their own?
Are they talking behind your back? Stealing your beer? Making love to your girlfriend?
Are you helping them move, without receiving reciprocal futon-hauling?

All of these are clear offenses. But my hunch is that nothing so egregious is actually occurring. You’re just finding it difficult to make headway personally or professionally. So you wonder: Is this indicative of the Hollywood culture, or specific to you?
It’s both.
Let’s divide it into more distinct questions.
Does the entertainment industry, and Los Angeles in general, tend to generate a lot of shallow friendships?
In my experience, yes. You end up knowing a lot of people, but not knowing them very well. The boundaries between “someone you know” and “friend” are indistinct. People flake out on you more, offering only half-hearted rsvps (”I’ll try to make it.”) or after-the-fact explanations-cum-apologies (”Traffic was insane.”) Keep in mind that you work in an industry in which people genuinely don’t know when they’ll be permitted to go home. An assistant working at a busy agent’s desk might be there until midnight.
Can you form real friendships in the industry? Absolutely. One of my best friends is the woman who was hired to replace me when I left my last assistant job. I got to know her through the hundred follow-up phone calls asking where a certain file was, or how to handle Crazy Person #32. But you don’t form real friendships when you approach people with the worry that they may stab you in the back.
Here’s the thing to remember: Friends are for your personal happiness. Colleagues are part of your career. You may go to drinks with both, but don’t confuse them.
When do you ask a colleague for help, or a reference, or both, or even a foot in the door?
At whatever moment you think there’s a pretty good chance they would help you. And a lot of that depends on your level of chutzpah. Some of the most successful people in the industry are the most shameless about asking people for things. Brett Ratner wrote to Spielberg, who sent him a check. Does Spielberg feel “used?” Pretty unlikely.
I was never that ballsy, but I did a good job keeping up with my peers, helping them whenever I could. When it came time to move to a larger agency, I asked their opinions and got them to call on my behalf. I’ll call a writer I’ve met once to ask about a project, or an executive, or director with a questionable reputation. That’s how it works.
And don’t assume you have nothing to offer someone who has more experience in the industry. When I have coffee with younger writers, I’m asking them as many questions as they ask me.
How do you ask for help?
By doing so directly, while giving the person an out.

“I’m applying for a reader job at New Regency. You said you know Ethan Someguy. Would you feel comfortable calling him on my behalf?”
“I wrote a short that I want to shoot next month, and I’d really like your feedback if you’d be willing to look at it.”

You then follow up nicely.

“Just wanted to check whether you were able to connect with Ethan Someguy.”
“I wanted to see if you’d had a chance to read my short.”

Is it just me?
No, Anon, it’s not. At many points in my career I’ve wanted to throw someone through a wall. But the situation you’re describing seems at least partly attributable to your attitude.
You’re not in the happiest place right now, which could be situational or could be a bigger deal. Disappointment is not depression. But if your overall mood is consistently needling downward, getting the advice of an actual psychology professional would seem to be in order. All the career advice in the world isn’t going to make you happy if larger obstacles stand in the way.

Talk about People of Color

2009-03-30T23:11:00.000-07:00

Here's astory from stuff white people do that I find quite interesting and something I always wonder about...do you?

Stuff White People Do: invoke strangely colored people

At her blog The Neon Season, Rachel M. Brown calls this list-making habit "the invocation of strangely colored people." She offers some speculation about why white people make these lists, describing it as an effort "to emphasize just how much they don't care about race."

Yes, these lists are a form of emphasis, aren't they? And again, what's being emphasized is the white person's dismissal of the topic of race.

This rhetorical tactic often functions like another common white expression: "Whatever!" I didn't care for the movie Lakeview Terrace, but there's a great moment where Samuel L. Jackson's character says to the young white neighbor that he's been harassing (and I'll have to paraphrase here), "Yeah, 'whatever, whatever.' You white guys are always saying that, 'whatever!'"

The utterance of "whatever" often accompanies a hand-waving gesture of dismissal, which can be insulting when a white person does it in response to something involving race. And that's one problem with these "x, y, z or whatever" lists of people of color. Not only do they usually include non-existent skin colors that compare identifiable human skin colors to those of space aliens (thereby basically relegating the people themselves to the non-human status of space aliens). They also dismiss both matters of race and the people to whom race actually matters, in part because it often causes them problems.

As Rachel Brown writes, "The invocation of purple, blue, green, or other alien people is offensive for many reasons, including but not limited to the fact that it's completely trivializing, turns a serious and painful topic into a joke, and compares people of color to fictional aliens."

When white people align actual non-white groups with purple and green aliens, they're often also making a claim about themselves, a claim that simply isn't true--that they're "colorblind." As the Internet commenter above wrote in the example about Barack Obama, "I don't care if he's black, white, yellow, red, brown, or purple with green spots. Everyone just be grateful and stop worrying about what color he is." That's pretty close to saying everyone should just ignore what color he is, but almost no one is going to do that.

Brazil President Blames White People for Crisis

2009-03-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

"It is a crisis caused and encouraged by the irrational behavior of white people with blue eyes, who before the crisis appeared to know everything, but are now showing that they know nothing."

"As I do not know any black or indigenous bankers, I can only say it is not possible for this part of mankind, which is victimized more than any other, to pay for the crisis."

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on his view that white, blue-eyed people - not Indians, nor black, nor poor people - had created and spread the crisis throughout the world.

Life in a Duffel

2009-03-30T00:48:00.000-07:00

What can you fit in a duffel bag?

I have a fantasy to get on a motorcycle and just drive somewhere with all I need in a duffel bag. However, I certainly don't have the motorcycle. That also means I can take more things...like suitcases. But I have to say it'd be pretty nice to be able to take everything you need in a duffel bag. For me though, I have the carry-on rule, that is, I'd love to be able to fit all the things I need in what I can carry onto a plane i.e. a duffel and a personal bag. Sure I couldn't just get up and leave. I have things like photo albums and coats that I wouldn't travel with generally. But they aren't things that I "need" in a general sense and can easily be shipped back to my mama's or left in storage while I'm off traveling.

Can you pack your life in a duffel bag? Or a suitcase or two?

I won't be traveling anytime soon I don't think. But one thing's for sure. Icy wants to go on a trip!

RE5 in the forums

2009-03-16T13:25:00.001-07:00

I brought up the scene in Resident Evil 5 of the white woman being dragged and turned into a monster to the videogame forum on GameFAQS. While some had to assert some honesty, most of the conversation went like this.

Here we go with this "racist" bull**** again...

"Yeah, because we all know there's no such thing as white people in Africa.

*rolls eyes*"

That's absolutely ridiculous. If anything, YOU are the racist for seeing a black guy drag away a white girl and "king kong" is where your mind goes. It never even occured to me until you typed that.

How do we have conversations on race when everyone is so uncomfortable about it? And I think just further proves wy we aren't post-racial. You can't be post-anything if you can't have a honest conversation about it.

Oh and just so everyone knows, i finished the game. And outside of the first three chapters which scream some fairly racist images, the rest of the game does in fact have some anti-colonial themes. However, that doesn't excuse the use of such blatantly racist imagery. Especially considering that you'd really have to know some history of Africa to understand said themes.

Obama Fingers

2009-03-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

A German frozen food company hopes to raise sales with a new product: Obama fingers. The tender, fried chicken bits come with a tasty curry sauce. The company says it was unaware of the possible racist overtones of the product

What the hell guys? You really didn't know?

The Violent Negro of RE5

2009-03-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

So I recently bought Resident Evil 5 and I've been playing it quite obsessively. I tihnk the game is a beautiful piece of work. Smart AI, beautiful landscapes, and it gets to be quite scary. But oh wow, this game is RACIST!! I wasn't expected it to be as much but it really has it moments. I'm not even close to halfway through the game but I really think Capcom went over the line in how its trying to show Africans in the made up region of Kijuju (which, by the way, manages to encompass all of sub-Saharan Africa in its tiny region). Now I'm no African studies expert (and neither is he) but from playing the first chapter we see a lot of racist imagery straight out of Heart of Darkness.

Chris is joined by Sheva Alomar, a native to the region but so obviously not full African. She's light skinned and very Hollywood and proper, a magical negro.

And when we first walk into the town, what do we see but a bunch of Africans beating up a moving bag. Could it be a body inside? An animal? We don't know. However, these people haven't even been infected yet with the virus! What we see is that being savage and belligerent is typical of African culture.

This was yanked from Kikizo

"At one point [Chris] and Sheva glimpse a woman struggling with a group of Majini (the Africans infected with the Los Plagas virus) on a balcony overlooking a street. She's a white westerner - prominently, unmistakeably so, with waist-length platinum blonde hair, idealized Anglo-Saxon facial features and a skimpy black lace night dress. She screams for aid, but is overpowered and dragged back into the building. When you eventually reach her, she has been impregnated with the Los Plagas virus and must be destroyed. As our chums at Eurogamer have pointed out, the scene dovetails smoothly with that classic racist trope of the brutal black male 'corrupting' the white man's womenfolk. There's zero justification for the woman's appearance in the plot - the scene exists, as far as I can see, purely to outrage and titillate players whose cultural background is saturated with such unwholesome ideas. "

Violent negroes and raping of white women. It's amazing how not-subtle Capcom is in portraying these stereotypes. Apparently the game gets worse based on a few articles I've read and I'm curious to see. And this is also from things pointed out to me after the fact as I've been playing. I'll admit I wasn't looking consciously for racist imagery (though I did catch a few WTF moments) but I am going to be more aware of it. I'll continue to post more on the topic as it comes available to me as I play. I'm entering spring break next week and plan to probably play the game nonstop.

Here's a few articles on the topic of racism and Resident Evil 5 if you'd like to catch.

Resident Evil 5 hands on from eurogamer

Racialicious:"Expert" Consulted on RE5 Racism Issue: Not an Expert on Race After All

My pussy is hanging out

2009-03-12T14:35:00.000-07:00

Don't know if you heard, but something funny happened to Britney Spears. While on her Circus tour stop in Tampa, Britney was singing her song "I'm a Slave 4 U." After the song she went for a costume change during the blackout, but her mic was still on. She proceeds to say "my pussy is hanging out." Someone then says "what?" and then someone else says "She said her pussy is hanging out." You gotta hear/see it for yourself here! Gotta love the Brit.

Civil Unions for all?

2009-03-11T09:19:00.000-07:00

Breaking news:

So the Anti-Prop 8 folks may have an ace up their sleeves. Apparently they're trying to get a ballot initiative in California for fall 2009. It would effectively ban all marriages, making California a civil union-only state. It's a bold move I would say, though we have to wonder how many people would actually support this in the hetero community. After all, if the wording isn't right, it could make millions of straight couples fearful of their own unions being invalidated. This is an interesting development. Personally, I support it. I felt the lgbtq community had no business trying to get into the marriage game in the first place and should work on civil unions. Though I still don't think it's as high of a priority as other topics affecting that community, I support it much more than the Marriage Equality Movement because it can actually mean a lot to so many more people.

Story courtesy of b via Daily Kos.

Ex-Cons/Drunken Humor

2009-03-08T16:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been posting much. I've been busy working on policies to help employ-ex-convicts, specially those living in South Central Los Angeles. (yeah yeah, it's South LA now, but that's really a misnomer). It's been pretty emotional talking to people, men and women who made a mistake and now can't find a job to support themselves because of their records. It's a two-fold though. Because of the circumstance that they are now under, many now face attitude issues. They've had the backs of others facing them and it gets them even more depressed. Sometimes they don't have the education or the support of family. It's a rough world. So that's why I've been largely absent from the land of blogging. But on a lighter note, I wanted to post this. I found this image and story a long time ago (like 2007) but never posted it. I figure since it's Sunday and the beginning of what may be hell week for me, I figured I'd post it for giggles sake. Enjoy!

This past weekend I threw a party for one of my best friends Julie, celebrating her for being awesome and to celebrate her new career move. Juliepalooza was to be epic and full of love an honor, and it was, UNTIL…………..

(Image & story courtesy of whateves:Spanx for the Memories)

2009: The year of Utada?

2009-03-08T16:08:00.000-07:00

Utada has recently released the music video for her latest english single, Come Back To Me. Could 2009 be the year of Utada? She has tried to release in America before, back in 2004. While the album was VERY good, it sold horribly due to a lack of promotion. But this time may be different. We need more Asian-American artists in the mainstream and Utada could help usher in a new wave. Her album will be released digitally March 24 so expect a review then. In the meantime, check out some of my favorite singles by Utada in no particular order (though Devil Inside & Hikari are quite possibly two of my favorite Utada songs of all time and hence on top).

Utada Top 10

Overheard on Bruin Walk

2009-02-26T10:56:00.000-08:00

Two hipsters were talking about going to hear a band that evening.

"I gotta check with her to see if it's for sure, kinda for sure, or not for sure."

Red Xbox 360 Confirmed

2009-02-24T14:50:00.001-08:00

Microsoft officially confirmed today (via Major Nelson) that they'll soon be releasing the long-rumored red Xbox 360 Elite. Commemorating the March 13 launch of Resident Evil 5, this limited edition bundle will include a matching wireless controller, 120GB hard drive, the full version of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, an exclusive Resident Evil 5 dashboard theme, a wired headset, and, of course, Resident Evil 5 itself.

All of the above will be going on sale alongside Resident Evil 5 for just $399 -- the same price you'd normally pay for a standard Xbox 360 Elite console. Not a bad deal if you're late to the current-gen party and don't mind your Xbox occasionally being mistaken for a fire hydrant.

(courtesy of 1up.com)

81st Academy Awards

2009-02-22T20:52:00.000-08:00

I think Sean Penn is my new favorite actor.

not only did he play a kickass role in Milk (a film, which while I still feel troubled with, I did really enjoy his performance) but he is also Best Actor. In his speech he referenced Obama but he called him an "elegant man." Not an "elegant black man" but an "elegant man." Thank you Sean Penn.

New Contributors

2009-02-20T13:41:00.001-08:00

What is up with me only writing a post once a week? Oh right, that blasted APP and school thing is getting to me. Speaking of the APP, it's been pretty emotional. Yesterday I interviewed 4 ex-convicts (or new contributors as the head of the worksource center at urban league likes to call them) and it was very hard. it was hard to listen to them talk about how they want work but can't get it because of their record. it was hard to hear about how they've applied to 20 or 30 jobs but won't even receive a call back because they have a misdemeanor or felony on their record, sometimes going back some 10 years. They have hope that they can get their records expunged but what if they can't? I left wanting to cry a bit. I am so privileged and I take it for granted. I want to help these people so badly but I can't really do anything besides make recommendations to Urban League on what to do next on the issue. I wish I had my own company. I could hire these people and give them a wage and let me be part of our society again, taking a bite of the American pie that was promised to them at birth. These people have done their time and paid their debt to society, yet they cannot lose the ties that bind them to their past.

2 Failed 2 Win

2009-02-17T15:45:00.003-08:00

Here's a post by neo_prodigy here on LJ. He offers a critique of the gay community in a post called 2 Failed 2 Win. Again, he speaks as a black male on the topic so his viewpoint is what many would consider "the outside."

Gay or not, you will always have it better than any woman or person of color. Many of you are affluent white males which still counts for plenty in this country and just because you're a minority in one respect doesn't mean you aren't privileged in others. You're not a visible minority and most of you can hide your identity whenever it's convenient. We don't have that luxury.You can be the biggest sissy on the planet but your race, economic status and gender will shield you from the issues that most of us face with institutional oppression. That's why gay marriage is your top priority, whereas combatting hate crimes, healthcare, equal employment (or employment for that matter), etc. is ours.

This is also why the only time you take action is when gay marriage is threatened. Not when kids get bashed or murdered. Not when trans or bisexuals get thrown under the bus. Just gay marriage. Yet you think your issue is the sole end-all-be-all. You throw a few pep rallies and you think you know what it's like to campaign for social justice. Most of you have never had to sacrifice or struggle for something bigger than you because that would require you stepping outside of your comfort zones. I know your type fancies yourselves as queens but you're not royalty, so check your entitlement. You're not special. There's nothing that's been done to you in this country that hasn't been done to women and POCs. So do us all a favor and check your privilege and your superiority complex the next time you feel the need to talk down to minorities and demand for us blindly follow your agenda.

Sexuality And Homophobia In Persona 4

2009-02-12T13:50:00.001-08:00

Here's an article from Gamasutra about Persona 4, quite possibly one of my new favorite RPGs. I've been playing it and posted earlier about the character Kanji Tatsumi, who is presumed to be homosexual. While it's ambiguous I have to applaud Atlus for creating such a character. Here's an article on the topic. I would usually just have a link but because I love Persona 4 and the characterization of Kanji within the Japanese context, I had to post the entire thing. Enjoy!

Opinion: Sexuality And Homophobia In Persona 4 [In Atlus' RPG Persona 4, Kanji Tatsumi confronts his sexual identity in an engaging and meaningful manner, and in this Gamasutra analysis, we talk to Atlus staffers and commentators about the character's flamboyant in-game alter ego in the recently released PlayStation 2 RPG.]

Persona 4's Kanji Tatsumi is one of the first video game personalities to confront his sexual identity in an engaging and meaningful manner.

His struggles and their outcome may not be politically progressive enough to dub him the Harvey Milk of gaming, but his unique existence in Persona 4 is a small and positive move forward toward a more socially diversified gaming universe.

First introduced as a rough-and-tumble teen with antisocial leanings, Kanji is feared by the locals and maintains a confrontational machismo toward the other characters throughout the game. He is a loyal son and employee at his family's textile shop, and it's not until the debut of his alter-ego Shadow Kanji that we are made aware of his inner sexual turmoil.

Shadow Kanji inhabits a steamy bathhouse dungeon inside The Midnight Channel, an alternate dimension inside the TV where the main characters must battle their alter-egos in order to save themselves and their friends.

The alter-egos manifest aspects of the main characters' psyches that they are trying to hide from others and deny from themselves. Once the alter-egos are defeated in The Midnight Channel, they are validated by the characters accepting them as necessary parts of their real personalities.

Shadow Kanji's scanty attire, flamboyant lisp, and over-the-top homoerotic banter shed light upon Kanji's hidden identity, but it is his remarks stating sexual preference for the male gender that directly support the notion that is Kanji is gay.

Once Shadow Kanji is defeated in the game, Kanji accepts that his gay alter-ego is an essential part of his personality, but he does not make any outward declaration or revelation that he is gay or remotely bisexual. As the game progresses, Kanji must deal with jokes regarding his sexuality and un-manly artistic hobbies, in addition to his crush on a male character, who turns out to be a cross-dressing woman.

Intentionally and perhaps tellingly, especially when we examine homosexuality within a greater social context in Japan, there is no concrete conclusion provided by the game regarding his true orientation.

So Is He? Or Isn't He?

"We would like everyone to play through the game and come up with their own answers to that question; there is no official answer," says Yu Namba, Atlus USA's Persona 4 Project Lead. "What matters is that Kanji's other self cries out, 'Accept me for who I am!' I think it's a powerful message which many, if not all of us can relate to.”

Nich Maragos, Atlus USA's Persona 4 Editor, agrees with Namba that it is up to each individual player to draw their own conclusions, but his personal opinions sway toward a gay Kanji. "At the end of Kanji's Social Link, should you choose to advance it that far, he does say specifically in reference to his Shadow self, 'That 'other me' is me.'”

Atlus Japan, the original developer of Persona 4, was not available for comment.

"Most American gamers will assume he is gay, especially if they are not aware of Japan's cultural differences and the subtleties of their interactions," says Colette Bennett, Japanese RPG enthusiast and editor at consumer weblog Destructoid.

Brenda Brathwaite, game designer, professor, and author of Sex in Video Games has an altogether different perspective: "It would have been amazing if they would have made a concrete statement that he is gay. That we could play as a gay main character in a video game would be a big deal."

Says Brathwaite, "I can find twenty things that I didn't like about how Kanji was portrayed, such as the game's juvenile nature in dealing with his sexuality, but there is a part of me that is thrilled there is a gay character in a game and that a game would portray how they are dealing with their inner struggles and interactions with friends."

Homosexuality In Japan

That Kanji's character comes to American gamers through a Japanese game is not surprising. Japanese attitudes toward sexuality and homosexuality are incredibly different than those of the West, even though the general assumption from Westerners is that the Japanese are a repressed people.

Because there is no legislation relating to homosexual sex, it's not a hot-button social or moral issue in Japan like it is in America. Many Japanese gay men resist the Western notion of "gay rights" because sexuality is not thought of in terms of what is right or wrong, but rather as play or something people may choose to engage in if they wish.

"The Japanese see homosexuality as a lifestyle choice, very different from the actual homosexual activity," explains Dr. Antonia Levi, author of Samurai from Outer Space: Understanding Japanese Animation.

"There is an understanding that you can play with fantasies that you might not want to live out in your normal life," Levi says. "Americans see things in very black and white -- you're either gay, or you're not. The Japanese are more comfortable with the concept of being gay and not being gay at the same time. In this case, it makes sense that, in the end, the game is not telling you what to think about Kanji or even if he is gay."

Because outward unorthodox behavior is frowned upon in Japanese society, many people who engage in homosexual activity see it as a world separate from their day-to-day lives. Upholding respectable outward behavior would mean being married, having children and having a respectable job, but what ones does in their sexual lives is not harshly judged.

For Kanji, working at his family's textile shop was a very traditional and respectable job, one that could have been at risk had he made a lifestyle choice to have an openly gay relationship with another man.

Japan scholar Dr. Mark McLelland says, "Even though homosexual characters are very prevalent in the Japanese media, its visibility in comic books, women's magazines, TV dramas and talk-shows, movies and popular fiction has not created the space for individuals expressing lesbian or gay 'identities' to come out in actual life."

"Yet, as recent research has shown, the notion of 'coming out' is seen as undesirable by many Japanese gay men and lesbians as it necessarily involves adopting a confrontational stance against mainstream lifestyles and values, which many still wish to endorse."

In Kanji's case, remaining ambiguous and undeclared about his sexuality is not necessarily a rejection of its existence or the developers displaying homophobia, but rather as a comment on homosexuality in a greater Japanese social context.

In translating the game for a Western audience, Atlus USA's goal was to retain as much of the original content as possible in order to accurately portray the Japanese culture.

Namba explains, "We did encounter a small number of sexually oriented instances which we decided to make more subtle, but the meaning of everything is still intact."

For instance, keeping Shadow Kanji's over-the-top flamboyance was important. "That flamboyance was also what the viewers of the Midnight Channel wanted to see: a typical gay person on TV that people would laugh at. The TV station broadcasts what the audience prefers to watch -- it's a stark portrayal of modern society."

More Kanjis In Games?

The response to Kanji's character has been generally neutral or positive among players of Persona 4. Google for any forums on threads about Kanji and you'll see comments such as: "I really love how brave Atlus was with releasing a game with with stuff like this in North America." and "Kanji. I love Kanji. He is all that is adorable. However, it would have been nice if they'd just gone ahead and made him gay."

Whether more characters as complex and socially relevant as Kanji's will appear in more games available in America is really up to American developers. User-created characters aside, one can count on a single hand the number of playable LGBT characters that have entered into the gaming world.

"From a ratings standpoint, when you're a game designer, you are so incredibly aware of the ramifications of the M rating. Putting any sex in your game, would potentially limit the market," explains Brathwaite. (Persona 4 carries an M rating.)

"There is also double perception that games are for kids. But eventually, we will want to tell more complex and mature stories. For example, Braid had an incredibly adult storyline, even though it didn't deal with sexuality."

So far, not many developers have chosen to tackle topics such as a character's sexual orientation in their titles. ESRB ratings, a risk-averse market, and lack of diversity in the developer pool are all factors that contribute to the slow social evolution of games.

"I don't think American developers have evolved to the point where they are comfortable with portraying characters like Kanji," says Destructoid's Bennett. "For the most part, any characters that are bisexual, gay or transgendered are either horrible stereotypes or their sexuality is just referenced on occasion."

"I would like to see more characters like Kanji in games, and what I mean is not just characters struggling to cope with their sexuality or inner demons, but characters who face more complex emotional, human struggles than just how to get the princess or fight some ultimate boss at the end of a game," she adds.

"I feel that the closer games bring us to reality the closer they come to evolution, where we play games not just for fun and entertainment, but to have compelling, resonant experiences as memorable as those in our real lives."

2009: The Year of Namie Amuro?

2009-02-11T09:25:00.001-08:00

Namie Amuro recently released her latest Vidal Sassoon ad, Bourgeois Gorgeous. The ad features the song "Dr."

Below is her new single: WILD/Dr. as well as ten additional songs that I absolutely love by Amuro. It was initially meant to be her top 10 singles but that quickly went by the wayside (while 9 of the songs are her singles, "Hello" was not released as a single, though it did get radio airplay in Japan). It's possible that 2009 may be the year of Amuro. She's currently in the midst of her biggest tour to date, had the second highest selling album in Japan in 2008 and is constantly appearing on magazine covers and tv shows, much as she used to do when she was an idol in the mid-1990s. I love both her new songs. I feel like WILD could be played in the US (if the lyrics were in English). It's the type of sound I'd expect to hear at Factory or some other dance club. But check out Namie Amuro. She's a sound to listen for in 2009!

Namie Top 10

PETA=KKK?

2009-02-10T16:50:00.001-08:00

One more reason to think PETA is full of racist crazies who just don't get it.

Stuff White People Do: trivialize white supremacy by comparing its victims to abused animals (from Stuff White People Do)

PETA surely know ahead of time that these specious parallels are going to piss off a lot of people. Indeed, that's clearly their purpose, as they repeatedly hail their own campaigns as "controversial," and thus attention-getting. There's no publicity like bad publicity, their thinking seems to go.

But I wonder--aside from these racist campaigns being wrong because they're racist, aren't they also counterproductive? Don't they turn off as any many or more people to PETA's cause as they attract to it?

If so, PETA people must be oblivious to how they keep shooting their organization in its foot. Another source of their oblivion is, undoubtedly, their overwhelming whiteness (unnamed Jewish donors notwithstanding). Indeed, as Tim Wise writes, these sorts of animal-loving extremists could be labeled "animal whites," not only in terms of their race, but also in terms of their habitual racial insularity:

That PETA can't understand what it means for a black person to be compared to an animal, given a history of having been thought of in exactly those terms, isn't the least bit shocking. After all, the movement is perhaps the whitest of all progressive or radical movements on the planet, for reasons owing to the privilege one must possess in order to focus on animal rights as opposed to, say, surviving oneself from institutional oppression.

Perhaps if animal liberationists weren't so thoroughly white and middle-class, and so removed from the harsh realities of both the class system and white supremacy, they would be able to find more sympathy from the folks of color who rightly castigate them . . .

Oh Chris Brown

2009-02-09T20:51:00.000-08:00

Oh Chris Brown. There goes that Doublemint campaign.And I guess it's a good thing Rihanna shouted SOS huh?

On the plus side, I wonder if my client project can now apply to Chris Brown. I mean, if convicted he will be an ex-convict with a felony record. maybe he'll need record expungement.

Leaving on an airplane

2009-02-05T17:47:00.000-08:00

Could you pack up your life in a suitcase or duffel bag?

What would you pack in your bag?

Terrible Towels at Superbowl XLIII

2009-02-01T19:26:00.000-08:00

Congrats to the Steelers for winning Superbowl XLIII! I'm a Steelers fan myself, having become a fan while at Oberlin. I was torn with the Cardinals though, since I'm from Arizona originally. But the game was great! And congrats to the coach. Mike Tomlin is the youngest football coach as well as the second black coach to win the Superbowl championship in the modern era.

Art + Race from Brazil

2009-02-01T19:22:00.000-08:00

The Future of U.S. Race Relations: Are We Starting to Think Like Brazilians?

Basically, most Brazilians deny that racism exists in their society. They point to never having a system of legalized segregation, as opposed to the United States; the ability of individual people of African descent to rise to positions of power, and the interracial mixing of the population as reasons none of this matters. While all these points have merit, it serves to obscure the severe racial problems in Brazil that extend back to slavery. The darker you are, the higher the chance that you are poor, live in a favela, experience police brutality, have limited opportunities for education, economic advancement, and access to health care.

Brazilians think about race in a very different way than Americans. The United States has long been defined by the "one drop" rule, where even people of only 1/8 African descent were legally defined as slaves. That Barack Obama is defined as black in our society is a sign of how powerful these ideas remain. The man is 50% black and 50% white, but he is black to most of us. In Brazil on the other hand, your behavior, social class, and way of carrying yourself, as well as your skin color, define your whiteness. Thus, you might see a very dark skinned individual, clearly of almost all African descent, refer to themself as "white," an assertion that would be accepted by much of society. Rather than focus on a blood quantum, it is behavior that matters.

Of course, all the positive attributes a person can have are considered "white." Skin tone, wealth, education, employment, neighborhood of residence, marrying a light skinned person, etc. Thus, all the negative attributes are "black." Living in a favela, gang membership, begging, unemployment, poverty, etc. Moreover, as people have pointed out in comments to Karthika's post, Brazilians will throw around racial epithets left and right, all the time denying that they are in fact epithets or negative in any way.

Art for Change

Artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh’s “Is he Black Enough” entry for the Manifest Hope show.

The MANIFESTHOPE: DC art show offered artists and activists from across the U.S. the opportunity to submit artwork in an online contest and if selected, have opportunity to display their work the week of the inauguration in DC.

Blank Slate

2009-02-01T16:02:00.001-08:00

Happy Superbowl Sunday everyone! Did everyone see that Dorito ad? Hilarious.

Sorry I haven't been updating much lately. Micahceous has been busy with schoolwork and moving to a new location but expect more posts soon! I first want to advertise for my friend, Rob. We go way back, running against each other during our high school track years. It's mostly music but he delves into politics and talks about the environment. Check it out!

blank slate

Obama around the world

2009-01-20T10:41:00.000-08:00

From Le Monde:
Obama promet "le triomphe de l'espoir sur la peur"

From TBS News in Japan:
オバマ氏、第４４代米大統領に就任

From BBC:
"Remaking America" - The inauguration of Barack Obama

10 OTHER things Martin Luther King Jr. Said

2009-01-19T15:58:00.001-08:00

Jay Smooth compiled some of his favorite MLK quotes to illustrate “there was much more to the man.” All still timely.

DC Metro

2009-01-18T11:48:00.000-08:00

Obama's Face On DC Metro Cards

Gearing up for inauguration, the DC Metro has put Obama’s face on Metro cards.

It's going to be glorious tomorrow. Too bad it'll be 15 degrees.

I am...tofu.

2009-01-13T16:44:00.001-08:00

I am tofu.
I am weak. I am fragile
Yet I am resilient.
I stand out.
I am not like the other foods
on the counter
Yet when I am with others
I mix with any recipe or flavor.
I am international, a taste
shared around the world.
And not the killer kind.
Liked when it's cold
Liked when it's hot
Tofu is incredible.
I am tofu.

Eat Ramen!

2009-01-13T14:07:00.001-08:00

It's such a filling meal and only $6.50!

Top singles of 2008

2009-01-12T10:43:00.000-08:00

This is way late but whatever.

1. "60s70s80s" by Namie Amuro
2. "Single Ladies" by Beyonce
3. "Closer" by Ne-Yo
4. "Womanizer" by Britney Spears
5. "Give It To Me" by Madonna
6. "Just Dance" by Lady Gaga
7. "Teenage Love Affair" by Alicia Keys
8. "Eat You Up" by BoA
9. "Love Lockdown" by Kanye West
10. "America Boy" by Estelle ft. Kanye West

Honorable Mentions
"Rock with U" by Janet Jackson
"Wow" by Kylie Minogue
"Damaged" by Danity Kane
"Bust Your Windows" by Jazmine Sullivan
"Forever" by Chris Brown
"Disturbia" by Rihanna

Unlike the list from last year, I left this list solely for songs that were released as singles (and thus can have radio airplay). Namie Amuro once again dominated my music charts with 60s70s80s, comprised of "New Look", "Rock Steady", and "What a Feeling". If you'll notice on the list too, a lot of these songs came out pretty late in 2008 (like Bust Your Windows) so there's a good chance that I'll be playing it more as 2009 progresses. But 2009 should be a good year for music. Namie Amuro, Utada, and BoA all have singles or albums coming out in 2009 and isn't Whitney Houston finally making something too? Should be a good year.

If anyone wants any of these songs uploaded for their hearing pleasure and see why I love these songs as such, feel free to ask. I'll happily share the love!

This Is So Good

2009-01-10T14:59:00.001-08:00

Yogurt is so Good... by Rachael Harris

Prop 8 & Race: part 985,632

2009-01-10T14:31:00.000-08:00

The Advocate has an article about the recent study that came out saying that blacks voted 58% for Prop 8, much in line with other ethnic groups. You'd think that would finally stop the hatred being pushed at blacks and the rhetoric by non-blacks in the community of "blacks hate gays more than any other group" but it's still alive and strong. Furthermore, CNN has yet to post a retraction.

Name: Dave
Date posted: 2009-01-07 5:19 PM
Hometown: Los Angeles

Comment:

This "new study" seems to be a fraud, designed to get those who voted for Prop. 8 off the hook. Communities of color daily preach hatred of gays. People of color are angry at gay's civil rights progress seeing it as taking "their" slice of pie. We hear this continually, esp. from racist gays such as Jasmyne Cannick, Keith Boykin, Pam Spaulding, etc. Prop. 8 passed because people of color went to the polls in vast amounts to vote for skin color and attack another minority: gays. Case closed.

Name: Pedro
Date posted: 2009-01-07 2:49 PM
Hometown: San Diego

Comment:

People LIE about knowing a gay person. There is no way more than 30% of the population KNOWS a gay person in real life. I believe the CNN and AP polls were correct or close to correct in the actual numbers of black voters casting their ballots for discrimination. I think this survey is an attempt to rollover to blacks who do not want to take responsibility for the overwhelming anti-gay hatred in their community and instead want to blame gay people for Prop 8.

Name: Harold P.
Date posted: 2009-01-07 6:00 PM
Hometown: Bendover, ME

Comment:

OK. Phew! It's MUCH better that only SIX out of ten black people hate us than having SEVEN out of ten black people hate us!!! I can go to bed at night not fearing black people trampling our civil rights now. That ONE PERSON really makes up for a WHOLE LOT!!! By golly, I think I'm going to go out and hug the first black person I come across, I'm so giddy at this news!

Murder + Study + Sluts

2009-01-09T10:26:00.000-08:00

Racism & The Murder of Oscar Grant III @ Racism Review

As I mentioned, there are multiple videos of this shooting taken by concerned passers-by. This may persuade some that there is incontrovertible evidence of this outrageous, criminal act. But, the institutionalized racism that creates black men as ontological suspects has already started denying the reality of this mobile phone video evidence. In one report, there’s mention that Grant possibly had a criminal record; in another, a BART spokesman calls the video evidence is “inconclusive”; and, reports are painting Mehserle as sympathetic for a variety of reasons, including the fact that he is getting death threats. For observers of racial politics in the U.S., this should all sound eerily similar to the kinds of strategies used in the trial of the LAPD cops accused of beating Rodney King. As you may recall, even though there was clear, stomach-turning video of those officers brutally beating and tasering the unarmed King, defense lawyers for the cops successfully portrayed King as a “monster” and a “thug” and cast the officers as “victims” who felt threatened by him. All the officers were acquitted of beating King, and if past is prologue, I expect Mehserle to walk without criminal prosecution.

This study is really interesting. Granted, i find that it's nothing new and I expected this sort of finding, but it's good to see an official study on it. It was a study on whites and seeing if they would call out racism if someone was behaving in a racist manner. It appears that is overwhelmingly not the case.

Taking Anti-Racist Action: Why Rare for Whites? @ Racism Review

Many of our white college students commented later in their diaries that they recognized their friends and relatives were indeed doing racist stuff, but said they were still “nice people” to be with–that is, whites doing even extreme racist performances are given a “pass” and viewed at though they are doing something relatively harmless, like picking their nose.

Highly Evolved He-Man Schools World About Sluts

It sounds like it's all a joke until you get to the final "how to know she's a slut" when he says blatantly "she's black."

An end to racism?

2009-01-09T10:18:00.000-08:00

Here's an open question for you.

How do you respond when someone says "We have a black president. Racism is over."?

Leave a comment with how you'd respond.

When Billionaires Commit Suicide

2009-01-06T10:28:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year indeed. Stuff Rich People Do: Kill themselves in wake of economic crises

German billionaire kills self, family says

Adolf Merckle was number 94 on the Forbes list of the world's richest people. He had fallen from number 44 on the Forbes 2007 rich list as his fortune declined from $12.8 billion to $9.2 billion in 2008. If he died over only having $9.2 billion, I'd hate to see how he'd feel if he shared my bank account.

Savage Errors

2008-12-29T18:18:00.000-08:00

The Stranger just featured its list of errors and mistakes. Naturally, Dan Savage didn't have anything to apologize for, as if he ever does.

Dan Savage, the editorial director of The Stranger, does not regret a single word he wrote in the wake of Proposition 8. He does regret the dismal state of reading comprehension today, as evidenced by the confused reaction to some of what he wrote. Mr. Savage would like to state for the record: "Your inability to read isn't evidence that I'm racist."

Tool. Thanks for nothing Savage. Onward to 2009!

Chocolate Skittles

2008-12-29T18:13:00.000-08:00

These aren't too tasty. It gives a new definition to the term "Shittles." Turning the package onto its back, I see it comes in five flavors: S’mores, Chocolate Pudding, Chocolate Caramel, Vanilla and Brownie Batter. Right, because Vanilla is so Chocolate. Why not white chocolate guys? Vanilla doesn't taste like vanilla anyway. Brownie Batter is just nasty.

Review: 17/40

Let's Talk about Race

2008-12-29T17:50:00.000-08:00

In the past few months, I've had many conversations about race, many of which have become quite heated. I understand that talking about race can be a very difficult subject for many. After all, a number of us don't encounter racism on a regular basis or live in communities where we don't have to think about race explicitly. So now as we embark on entering 2009 with our first black president (and yes ya'll, he's black. That's how he identifies personally so don't call him half. You would respect what a transgendered person wants to be identified as right?) I have to bring up more constructive ways to talk about this topic. But in order to talk about it, we need to be operating on the same level in terms of definitions.

In my understanding, I've taken racism to mean prejudice+power. Racism is a system, both invisible and visible in our society. I found this definition when I read Why Are all the Black Kids Sitting in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum. This book is an excellent read by the way if you're looking at how to look at race and white privilege and how it permeates education and the minds of youth. But this definition is key. Racism is not just hating someone because of their race. It comes from a larger system that supports it. Can a woman be sexist? Can a disables person be able-ist (or whatever the term may be)? This definition is abstract. So if race didn't exist as a construct, then we wouldn't have racism? Oh then I guess the next best thing is to be colorblind. It only exists as a viable definition if one chooses to live in a colorblind society and accept the notion that we're all on equal ground in terms of race. It ignores power dynamics that are always at play. We're not equal so this definition isn't the most appropriate for describing what racism is.

Race Relations 101 takes on Colorblindness.

Why is it loaded? Well, there’s the distinction I made above - that it casts my race as a problem rather than your inability to deal with it - but there are other things as well. A lot of people use the concept of colorblindness to advocate policies that are at best racial ostrich-holes (”talking about race perpetuates racism, so lets just stop talking about it”) and at worst outright harmful (“noticing race makes us racist - lets stop collecting racial statistics so we won’t be racist”), not to mention rude (”You keep talking about race, so you’re the real racist, not me!”).

Seeing the world in colorblindness is just not a smart idea. Sure, it sounded like a good idea back in the 1960s when the idea came up, but it's not helpful and further proves to mask racism in our society.

In that respect, talking about colorblindness with a person of color (or an anti-racist ally) is like talking to a feminist about gender equality or father’s rights; sounds good in theory, but often used as code for things that really suck.

Another good article on colorblindness can be read here, called Uprooting Colorblind Racism

The world is made of color, the world sees color, and people of color are regularly and routinely discriminated against in the present, as well as inherently disadvantaged due to hundreds of years of degradation and racism which kept them from the best jobs, education, and homes.

Colorblind racism is the well meaning attempt of privileged people to white-out history and call us even, who then don't notice the people with most of the advantages are white because there is no color anymore.

Colorblind racism is using "ghetto" instead of "black" and not liking it when the blacks outnumber you, but saying you're not racist.

So what's white privilege? Time Wise explains it very well here.

Taking things out of the racial context for a minute: imagine persons who are able bodied, as opposed to those with disabilities. If I were to say that able-bodied persons have certain advantages, certain privileges if you will, which disabled persons do not, who would argue the point? I imagine that no one would. It's too obvious, right? To be disabled is to face numerous obstacles. And although many persons with disabilities overcome those obstacles, this fact doesn't take away from the fact that they exist. Likewise, that persons with disabilities can and do overcome obstacles every day, doesn't deny that those of us who are able-bodied have an edge. We have one less thing to think and worry about as we enter a building, go to a workplace, or just try and navigate the contours of daily life. The fact that there are lots of able-bodied people who are poor, and some disabled folks who are rich, doesn't alter the general rule: on balance, it pays to be able-bodied.

Want more? Peggy McIntosh's Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack further shows more effects of daily white privilege.

Obviously, when talking about these concepts, they can become quite heated and tempers can flare, especially if you're white and are unaware of what is actually being spoken about in the conversation. How Not To Be Insane When Accused Of Racism (A Guide For White People). it includes 4 simple steps to help control onself in these times of debate. My personal favorite is #3 which I noticed a lot lately...:

Take the criticism seriously - do not dismiss it without thinking about it. Especially if the criticism comes from a person of color - people of color in our society tend by necessity to be more aware of racism than most Whites are, and pick up on things most Whites overlook. (On the other hand, don’t put the people of color in the room in the position of being your advocate or judge.)

Over in the LJ community debunkingwhite, there's a handy post entitled A clueless white person's guide to posting on debunkingwhite. While obviously meant to those looking to post on that journal, I think it's safe to say that what is mentioned is etiquette for all journals/blogs on privilege and its intersectionality as a whole. It's a much longer privilege with a number of other links in it but it's worth the read. Don't show your ass.

Another great article is from livejournal user paradox_dragon, in the post Baby-stepping away from racism: A guide for white people.

Baby-step: Learn the terminology. Love the terminology. Live the terminology. Educating yourself is a great thing to do while you are keeping your mouth shut. However, if you jump right into anti-racist discourse and activist circles, you will probably run screaming or start fuming and make an ass of yourself. This will be largely due to a lack of understanding of terminology. If I say "racist" and you hear "Klansman," we are going to have problems. I am going to be pointing out a pervasive social construct, and you are going to be denying that you ever burned a cross or said the n-word.

So there's another side of the coin. How about those of us who want to talk about race, but are afraid of making things worse? I assure you, it's not a bad thing! Conversation and dialogue is better than silence. We all make mistakes. I know I say things that can offend but it's okay! Furthermore, it's good to grow and we all want that right? We're human, so check out check out Race Relations 101 - What if I screw up?

The very worst thing you can do is stop talking. Refusing to join conversations about race reinforces the idea that race-based conversations are bad (or racist in and of themselves), and won’t help you grow.

Realize that you’re dealing with a lot of history.

It’s not all about you. If someone reacts poorly to something you said or did, remember that there’s a lot of history involved. When they’re reacting to your actions, especially in the case of pervasive social problems like racism, sexism, ableism etc., they’re reacting to them in the context of years of lived experience and decades of cumulative hurt.

Now I know having a bunch of articles aimed at white people may come off as demeaning but that's not the point. There are plenty of PoCs that also adopt this sort of framing too, but it's good to know what the literature is out there and also the other arguments and framing of the issue by others. In order to have a productive conversation, it's important to understand where I and other PoCs and anti-racists are coming from and how this works in the bigger picture. I write this not out of hate, but because I respect humanity and honestly want equality. But we can't have equality if we don't recognize our own privilege and how things we say can really hurt others.

Look, if there's a conversation on race occurring and as a white person you notice that the PoCs all take the same stance, stop and think for a moment. Ask yourself why it is that the PoCs are all on the same page and the whites are on another. And no it's not because of groupthink (not always anyway) nor is it because PoCs are monolithic. It takes us back to something mentioned above, that minorities experience things based on histories and see things that those in the majority won't notice. If I'm talking with women about something and they all view something as oppressive and I don't, I'm not going to argue with them and try to prove that my side is equally valid. Granted, it may seem unfair in my mind, but I don't know what it's like to face sexism in our society; I have male privilege. And I need to check that at the door if I'm going to have a conversation on something like reproductive rights or why it may come off as offensive for a man to tell a woman to smile as it further perpetuates the notion that women don't own their body.

Ultimately, we need dialogue in order to heal wounds that are 400 years old and still growing. From here we can talk about how we view ourselves and resolve these bitter conflicts once and for all. This is all a starting point, but I hope some of the literature out there can help us all begin to talk with an open heart and good ideas.

RIP: Eartha Kitt

2008-12-25T19:05:00.000-08:00

Earth Kitt, sultry singer and dancer, dies at 81.

Fall of Empires Hastened 'Little Ice Age'

2008-12-22T19:09:00.000-08:00

One more reason to be upset over the European conquest of the Americas.

From Discovery news: The demise of the Incas and Aztecs may have sparked global climate change

According to Nevle and co-author Dennis Bird of Stanford University, the killing left a lasting impact on the global climate. Suddenly as much as 500,000 square kilometers (193,051 square miles) of cleared farmland was no longer being tended, an area slightly larger than California. And as the rainforest crept back in, it vacuumed carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere in the process.

In all, the authors estimate that reforestation of South and Central America could've removed up to ten billion tons of carbon from the atmosphere.

They also note that the sun had something to do with it back in the 1600s, but it makes sense that losing 9% of the Earth's population may have an effect on the Earth.

Traveling for Sweet Tea

2008-12-22T17:09:00.000-08:00

So I recently came to Hotlanta for the holidays. I enjoy traveling by air just because you see so many different people living their lives and going to so many different destinations for so many different reasons. One of my favorate airports is the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. It's clean, has a great "southwest" design and it's very fitting of the city. Plus it has free wi-fi and that never hurts. Too bad US Airways sucks and charges for everything and still manages to have delays on 90% of their flights.

Anyway, so anyone who's been to the South knows, there's tons of Chick-Fil-A. TONS. They're like McDonalds (which also have amazing sweet tea). Speaking of sweet tea, I love it. And what's funny about McDonald's is that each McDonald's down here has the EXACT same tasting sweet tea and it's sooo good! It's sweet enough and you can still taste the greatness that is tea. I think they must have a pre-made package where they just add water.

One other thing I must note that I noticed at Chick-Fil-A which I'm sure is common at other restaurants. So I ordered a sandwich but they forgot to add something to the sandwich. I expected they would just add it and call it a day. However, they threw it away and made me a whole new sandwich. Now on one hand I'm happy they did that. It means they didn't touch my food and behave in an unsanitary manner. But at the same time, they threw away a perfectly good sandwich which i would've still eaten without the extra topping. And then I thought about starving families since it's the holiday season and all and thought "can't they donate that?" But I also know legal implications for restaurants and eateries to give food away. So this is a pseudo-policy dilemma. How can we get food to not be wasted? Obviously there's health issues but in an age with food shortages and me having a hunger that just won't cease, how can we be sure that food that's perfectly fine doesn't get thrown away because it's missing a topping?

STFU Already

2008-12-20T08:47:00.000-08:00

I just ran across this article. It's a piece by Jasmyne Cannick and the response to Obama inviting Rick Warren to his inauguration. While she simplifies Warren to some degree, the overall message for WHY Obama invited him is pretty laid out.

________________________________________

WHITE GAYS GUIDE TO DEALING WITH THE BLACK COMMUNITY for dummies:

CHAPTER FOUR: STFU ALREADY

At a time when you should be apologizing to and trying to build bridges with African-Americans after exposing your closeted racism towards us over the passage of California’s Proposition 8, you’re at it again.

The man isn’t even in office yet and you are all up in arms over the inaugural invitation of evangelical pastor Rick Warren by President-elect Barack Obama just because Warren opposes gay marriage.

Look—America already knows that you are unhappy with the outcome of Prop. 8…but as discussed in previous chapters, you have no one to blame for that but yourself (Please refer to Chapters 1, 2, and 3).

Instead of denouncing Obama’s choice to invite Warren, you should be hailing it as it shows a continued effort on Obama’s behalf to reach across the aisle in an effort to bring everyone to the table. You know that thing that you haven’t quite learned how to do yet.

If no one ever told you—the world doesn’t revolve around gay marriage. If it did, let’s face it, Obama wouldn’t be the President-elect, now would he?

It’s no secret that Obama isn’t exactly the poster child for gay marriage, and for the record, neither was your Hillary Clinton. However, that didn’t stop you from voting for her or me as a lesbian from voting for him.

And please stop reminding us that you voted for Obama. You didn’t do us any favors, you did yourself one. There is no reward for that. Sorry.

BACK DOWN MEMORY LANE

It wasn’t that long that then presidential hopeful Obama announced his plans to go on an “Embrace the Change! Gospel Concert Series” tour through South Carolina with gospel singers Donnie McClurkin and Mary Mary in order to drum up support for his campaign.

Well, it was no secret among Black gays that Donnie McClurkin went from being a gay man to being a heterosexual gay bashing gospel singer and preacher. Sister’s Mary Mary made it crystal clear last year in an interview with Vibe Magazine how they felt about gays when the likened them and their gay following to prostitutes and murderers.

And as usual, Black gays had to educate their counterparts of a lighter shade who hadn’t a clue about who McClurkin or Mary Mary were, and that while we were upset about their invite, we were not surprised by it because no matter if we agree with their views on gays or not, they are some of Black America’s most popular gospel singers.

Now at the time, there was an excellent opportunity to bring Black and white gays to the table to address the issue together. But sadly, that never happened. Partly I believe because your precious Clinton was still in the race and partly because your superiority complex dictated otherwise.

If you had sat down and talked with—not at—Black gays, we would have told you that forcing the Obama campaign to extend an invitation to a white openly gay pastor to address a mostly African-American audience in South Carolina, wasn’t going to win gays any fans and only further pushed the belief that whites are trying to push their issues onto Blacks. A smarter more thoughtful choice would have been someone like Reverend Michael Beckwith or Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, both of whom are highly regarded by Blacks but also get “it” when it comes to the lesbian and gay community.

So I ask once again, when will you learn?

THREE FUNERALS AND GAY MARRIAGE

I don’t know about you, but I’d think it would be pretty hard to get married if you’ve been shot to death.

Earlier this week, it was reported that New Orleans police identified three Black men who were gunned down in a 7th Ward home. The men were apparently gay, one possibly transgender, and police “believe the three victims knew their killers.”

The victims were all from Mississippi and living together in a home on the 2500 block of Pauger Street. They are identified as Felix Pearson, 19; Kenneth Monroe, 27; and Darriel Wilson, 20. Nola.com reported the men were found Saturday afternoon after the building manager “said he saw the lower half of a man’s body through a window and called 911.”

I know that Pearson, Monroe, and Wilson, aren’t Matthew Shepard or Brandon Teena. However I’d think that in a post Prop. 8 world and in the spirit of reconciliation and being at the edge of each other’s battles, the loss of life of three gay men one of whom is possibly transgender, would be more important than some mega church pastor who doesn’t want gays to be married.

I’m just saying…your privilege is showing and I wonder if they had been three white boys would I even have to say this.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The bottom line is that you have a lot of work to do. You really need to step back and get over yourselves and realize that creating unnecessary drama over a pastor who doesn’t support gay marriage doesn’t rank high on the list for people who are being laid off, losing their homes in foreclosures, and even worse—losing their lives to senseless violence.

This includes criticizing the first Black president before he even takes the oath of office for doing something that you haven’t been able to do, bring everyone to the table.

Take this much to heart…your anger with Warren isn’t going to win you any fans in the Black community and only further illustrates a superiority complex that dictates the needs of white gay men and women are more important than the ushering in of a new Administration and the hope of millions for better days. It also says that the lives of Black gays are still not as important to you as your right to get married.

In closing—and this is the most important part—STFU and go somewhere already.

Now run and go tell that!

I was doing some browsing on other stuff on her blog and found a line I like by Dr. Maulana Karenga, Professor of Africana Studies, California State University-Long Beach.

Indeed, there’s something obscene about members of a ruling race/class lecturing an oppressed people on its ethical understanding and assertion in the world. This is where Marvin comes in talking about things that “make you wanna holla, throw up both yo’ hands”. And it’s where some of us, like Langston Hughes, explain it as just “the ways of White folks”, i.e., the almost unconscious arrogance, the culturally constricted conception of others and the routine denial of the deep injury and violence all dominance carries within it.

Persona 4

2008-12-19T16:54:00.000-08:00

Persona 4 is a lot of fun. And I have to give major credit to Atlus. There's a queer character (though closeted) in the cast and you have fight in a bathhouse in order to find him and get him to join your team! And one of the other characters (a male) is has to confront his own sexuality, bite the bullet and enter the bathhouse too. Hows that for progressive Japan? The description may have your eyebrow going up, but without giving too many details of the game itself that's probably the most I should share. But he's an awesome character.

Well...here's one more image that's a bit more of a spoiler.
image from Japanese version

Racism and Sexism in Texas

2008-12-19T09:30:00.000-08:00

One more reason not to go to Texas. Or at least any area outside of Austin.

Police Get The Wrong House In Galveston, Allegedly Assault 12-Year-Old Girl

10 hints for my white friends

2008-12-13T15:12:00.000-08:00

Originally published at Racialicious. I'm a fan.

10 hints for my white friends by guest contributor Philip Arthur Moore, originally published at TheThink
Before taking my first ever study abroad trip, I was told that there would be certain social and cultural norms that I would have to adapt to without pressing the issue too much. I knew that as a visitor into the Vietnamese community, no matter how odd, foreign, hypocritical, or just plain weird the people seemed, it wasn’t my place to call them out on it. To be sure, I found myself frustrated at times that I was unable to cause some sort of communal change in areas that I found a bit off, but that was the price I paid to study abroad. I knew that no matter how close I got to the community, through my acquisition of the Vietnamese language or friendly conversations, there were some things I just could not do as a non-Vietnamese person.
It is with this train of thought that I feel the need to enlighten some of my white brothers and sisters about how not to approach the black community in the United States. Now, I realize that black Americans and white Americans live in the same political state, but often times they might as well be defined as two separate nations. Young black children in predominately white schools might as well be on a study abroad trip as far as I’m concerned. White Americans who dare travel into predominately black, brown, or yellow neighborhoods often feel like they are living in another country among a sea of non-white people.
Little is admitted about the real lack of integration in our nation while whites kick back and enjoy television shows like Flavor of Love and think they’ve truly just enjoyed a slice of black life in the U.S. Non-whites watch television shows like Friends and think that most white people drink bowl-sized cups of latte. Many watch the newest season of Survivor (Cook Islands) and actually believe they’ve been schooled on diversity.
Of all the races in the United States, white people have the hardest time understanding racial oppression. This is a fact. Much like the men (including myself) in the United States who just cannot understand what it feels like to be a woman who is judged by her bra and waist measurements, white Americans cannot put themselves in the position of racial other-ness on a daily basis. Unless of course they go abroad or to New York, Chicago, DC, Altanta, Detroit, Philly, LA, Houston, or anywhere else with more black people than say, Altoona, PA. This is not to say that white people cannot understand racial opporession. It’s just that, well, most of them don’t.
With that said, I’ve put together ten pointers that will help my fellow American citizens integrate themselves more easily into a black America. Granted, many of my white brothers and sisters will never feel the need to voluntarily put themselves around people shades darker than themselves (unless it involves sex, economic or sociopolitical domination), but for those who do want to take on a grand adventure of integrating themselves with blacks in a comfortable fashion, look no further.
What follows are ten rules that may help you blend in easier with black Americans and reduce frictions between yourselves and them. Consider it a study abroad guide to black America. Now, surely there will be some white people who read the following rules and get upset about them, but just remember, when you put yourselves around a lot of black people, you are on a study abroad trip. Suck it up, deal with it how you must, and keep it moving.
Things White People Shouldn’t Do…
(10 Rules from your Half-brother, With Love)
Rule #1: Say the word “Nigger”.
This one’s pretty self explanatory. I understand that a number of my white brothers and sisters feel the need to sing along with rap songs and repeat a lot of the things that black rappers say. But, I asure you, this angers a great deal of black people. Many of us are very uncomfortable with the word “nigger”, and far fewer of us use it than is portrayed on television. For your own safety and the safety of those around you, please avoid using this word. For more explanation, please continue reading about the word “nigger”…
Rule #2: Throw “ghetto” parties (unless one actually lives in the ghetto) or dress up in blackface, brown-face, yellow-face, or any other-face that contradicts one’s own skin tone (Halloween exemptions on a case by case basis).
It seems that as of late, white people have been on the up and up when it comes to throwing ghetto parties. Perhaps this coincides with the birth of hipsterism, I’m not sure. In any event, these ghetto parties can lead to nothing but sore relationships between black Americans and white Americans who believe that dressing like black people is flattering, funny, entertaining, or harmless. For your own safety and the safety of those around you, please avoid painting yourself with shoe polish for kicks and giggles. That hurts black peoples’ feelings, and you wouldn’t want to do that. Would you?
Rule #3: Invest too much time in racial satire (unless it involves white Europeans).
Whether it’s on TV, in the newspaper, or in music, racial satire is a pretty touchy subject. Try to acquaint yourself with your surroundings before popping off at the mouth some crude joke that might have worked in your all white community. I assure you, this does nothing but upset black people.
Rule #4: Talk about one’s family related problems when minorities bring up institutional and societal oppression (this also includes sexual assault, alcoholism, mental retardation, or various forms of cancer).
Rape is horrible. Alcoholism, mental retardation, and cancers all suck. But, in truth, no one wants to hear about all of that when a discussion is being held on racial oppression in the United States. I notice a lot of my white brothers and sisters bringing up their disfunctional family as a defense for their racism. This logic doesn’t really help anything in your relationships with black people. If the topic of discussion is about racial oppression, stay on racial oppression. I’m sorry about the rape. I really am. But now is not the time to talk about it in defense of your bigotry.
Rule #5: Condemn minorities for self-segregation.
I notice a lot of this in academic settings, especially at my university. When diversity comes up in conversation, white people are quick to jump on the “they self segregate!” bandwagon as a defense for their actions that cause racial, sexual, and religious minorities to pull away from the main stream. As I have noted before, not many white people are forced to be around people of color, unless it’s on a study abroad trip or political agression tip. For my white brothers and sisters who like to condemn minorities for self segregation, I’d like to point your attention to a widely read magazine called The Expat. This magazine would not be possible without the self-segregation of white people living in non-white nations. Should I condemn my white brothers and sisters for hanging out together in downtown Ho Chi Minh City instead of integrating themselves with the local community? Surely not. They look happy together.
Rule #6: Use the phrase “human race” when discussing racism.
Human beings are not a race. We are bipedal primates belonging to the mammalian species. So, please. No one really believes that you only see the “human race” when dealing with your fellow primates. The human race does not exist. Saying something like this comes off as disingenuous and it kills real dialogue. Please, no more “human race” talk.
Rule #7: Condemn minorities for having their own television stations, radio stations, and student groups (i.e. “Why can’t we have WET?!”).
This is another extremely popular talking point by American whites. Please avoid this subject in large crowds of minorities. The problem with the “WET Question” is that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of WET’s on TV already. And even the stations that are for non-whites are owned by whites. Also, the assumption in the “WET Question” is that whites are not on non-white stations. Watch BET for a while and you’re sure to find whites. Just about as many whites as there are blacks on CNN and ABC.
Rule #8: Bring up Freedom of Speech when defending one’s bigotry or racial mishaps.
We all love Freedom of Speech. But no one really believes that we have it. Oddly enough, I only hear the “1st Amendment” argument from my white brothers and sisters when the topic of racial satire (see Rule #3) comes up. I don’t see this argument much from non-whites. The first step to recognizing that this argument is flawed is realizing that everyone believes in Freedom of Speech, but no one believes in being treated like an animal. Please, when it comes to satire, jokes, or normal conversation, table the Freedom of Speech argument and come up with some other explanation behind your bigotry or racial mishaps, like how you were raised.
Rule #9: Bring up the success of European, Asian, African, or Latin American immigrants while in discussions about the status of black America.
One word. Slavery.
Rule #10: Whisper the word “black” or hesitate before saying the word “black” while in discussions about black people.
I understand that many of my white brothers and sisters are only accustomed to using the word “black” as a pejorative. But, I assure you, blacks use the word as an empowering word. To blacks, the word “black” is synonymous with powerful, strong, resilient, beautiful, rock solid, valiant, among a host of other nice words. When you hesitate before saying the word “black” or whisper it like it’s a bad word, it gives off a negative reflection of your views about black people. Say the word “black” loud and proud. Blacks have been doing it since 1968.
With these 10 hints toward smoother interactions between my white brothers and sisters and my black brothers and sisters, I hope that things do get better. And remember, it is not your place to try to shape black America’s feelings, reactions, or thoughts about the things that bother us. Our feelings are our feelings. Please respect those feelings. We are human beings too. I hope that with these hints, your travels and adventures into black America are far more enjoyable than anything else you’ve experienced up until this point. Happy Trails!!!

Black Vote for Prop 8 57%, not 70%

2008-12-05T15:05:00.000-08:00

From Kenyon Farrow

...in a story that came out last week in the Washington Blade, there is some new data soon to be released by David Binder that will show that 57% of Black voters in California supported Prop 8, not the 70% CNN originally reported (though it is buried in the Blade story) This is significant because it was this number that made Dan Savage and many white gays act as though Prop 8’s passage was as bad as the Dred Scott Decision, and black people were particularly to blame for its passage. I guess lip-synching along shirtless to Beyonce and Deborah Cox remixes at the club got confused with real political coalition with actual Black people. Whatever.
It’s not that I am happy that 57% of Black voters voted for that dumb shit, but can we get a little perspective here? Furthermore, it IS signigicant to point out the lies and flawed assumptions that led us into this conversation anyhow.

Care Bear Ethnic Cleansing

2008-12-05T14:48:00.000-08:00

So here's a hilarious clip where the Care Bears commit genocide on the Care Bear Cousins.

After watching this a few times and still finding it funny, I had to ask myself why? Genocide isn't a laughing matter, but why is it okay when the Care Bears do it? And then i asked myself, if I think it's okay for Care Bears to do it and find it funny, are there possibly real life people who are so disconnected from what's happening that they could find a genocide funny? it really begs the question of why we find certain things under certain conditions so hilarious. Granted, I think the video is also funny just because of the writing and lines used and maybe it's not the subject matter in and of itself, but because they are correlated I think it's a question to ask anyway.

Leanna Creel & LGBT

2008-12-05T14:46:00.000-08:00

Leanna Creel is a lesbian? I totally forgot about this video I saw. It's about Prop 8 and how it effects same sex couples. She and her partner are featured.

I knew she played that Tori role a little too well...

Gay is the New Black?

2008-12-05T14:40:00.000-08:00

Here's the cover story from the latest Advocate issue. Luckily, I find that the author does not entirely agree that gay is new the black.

Gay Is the New Black? by Michael Joseph Gross

Our oppression, by and large, is nowhere near as extreme as blacks’, and we insult them when we make facile comparisons between our plights. Gay people have more resources than blacks had in the 1960s. We are embedded in the power structures of every institution of this society. While it is illegal in this country to fire an African-American without cause and in most places it’s still legal to fire a gay person for being gay, we are more likely to have informal means of recourse than black people have. Almost all gay people have the choice of passing. Very few black people have that option. Of course, we shouldn’t have to make that choice, and our civil rights struggle is about making sure that we don’t have to.

On a deeper level, though, the gay civil rights struggle is about preventing discrimination based on our proclivity to love, as distinct from the messier foundation of racial discrimination, which primarily has to do with protecting white privilege and wealth. No one would deny that fear of mixed marriages significantly inhibited the progress of the black civil rights movement. (Blacks won employment and voting rights a full three years before the Supreme Court finally struck down miscegenation laws in 1967.) But love and sex were not, as is the case with gay civil rights, unambiguously the heart of the matter. This is the reason our progress has been slow: Love cannot be understood in the abstract. You cannot understand it until it touches you or you find your way into its orbit.

Based on this article and the horrible cover, I wrote a letter to the Advocate. Though it will be abbreviated in their magazine (or may not appear at all), I'm posting the full letter in this entry.

Your recent cover with "Gay Is the New Black" emblazoned over a black backdrop sparked a curious furor within me. While I have seen signs like this in the latest protests in Los Angeles after the passing of Prop 8, I find it ignorant, insensitive, and irresponsible that The Advocate would boldly showcase this as a title. Though the article ironically draws a different conclusion, those who see The Advocate in a store will only see that The Advocate supports the claim that it sees the gay American and Black American struggle are equal. I have come to expect the gay powers that be to have racist tendencies and throwing around this sort of slogan further proves my intuition. After the passing of Prop 8 and its falling out, I learned firsthand that we do not live in a post-racial world. "Gay is the new black" implies that race is over and that gay has taken its place. Yet when I visit online websites or go out to gay venues, I am reminded constantly that race does matter and that I am black first, homosexual second. Assumptions are made based on my race first and foremost. There isn't solidarity in the community, yet struggles by blacks are continually misappropriated for use by the white gay community. By saying "gay is the new black" as matter of fact rather than opinion, it places the black homosexuals like myself in a particularly tight bind. This sort of mantra silences us, pitting us against ourselves. We struggle with issues regarding white supremacy and homophobia, yet for some reason that is ignored. It brings up notions of entitlement and payback for "letting" America have its first black president. The idea that the black condition, being forced to sit on the back of the bus, not having the right to vote, fear of being lynched, being prohibited from going to school with whites, being accused of benefiting from affirmative action every time we achieve something, or assumptions made on sexual prowess and fetishization of the black phallus, compares to the gay white condition in our society today is wrong. The notion that being barred from marrying one another is akin to separate but equal under Jim Crow further creates a strong disconnect that is amoral to reinforce, further allowing white gays to think that they are second-class citizens when in reality they'll have more benefits than blacks like me ever will. A gay white male can enjoy the privileges of going to college, obtaining a loan, owning a home, buying a $1300 purebred dog, being able to afford to live in a community like the Castro and seeing people who look just like him on a daily basis. This is not comparable in any way to the black struggle, homosexual or heterosexual.

The gay rights movement tries to link itself to the black civil rights movement and it has ultimately failed, largely in part because those organizing the gay rights movement just don't get it. The black civil rights movement was about access to basic humans rights critical to economic and basic survival. By contrast, the gay rights movement is founded in privilege and motivated by individualism--"Give me my rights now." In a society where gays are some of the most affluent people, it's a large leap to equate the two movements. In your magazine or other gay-related media, representations of LGBT people of color are rare. Gay identity is synonymous with white identity. And as long as white gay racism continues, don't count on this black homosexual's support for your privileges. If you think a comparison is necessary in order for your rights to be legitimized, you don't have enough faith in your right to be homosexual without persecution. Gay is not the new black. Get your own Rosa Parks.

Buy a Book by a Black Author

2008-11-30T23:05:00.000-08:00

"Buy a Book for Somebody White This Holiday" (Carleen Brice @ White Readers Meet Black Authors)
What if every one of us bought a book by a black author and gave it to a white friend? So I'm naming December National Buy a Book by a Black Author and Give it to Somebody Not Black Month.

It might not be easy to actually get them to read it. Beverly mentioned that her friends were a little scared of the Ebonics they expected to find. But that's why your favorite African American authors really, really need your help. You, who they know and trust, can explain to white friends, neighbors, coworkers, classmates that there are books without Ebonics, and that books by black authors are much like any other book.

I know times are hard, but if you're doing any Secret Santa thing at work or planning to buy something for your kid's teacher, think about giving a book by a black author to a white (or Latino, Asian, Native American) reader. And, hell, if you really can't afford to buy a new book, regift one off of your shelf. I won't tell nobody!

I really like this idea.

Lindsay Lohan & the Colored President

2008-11-25T08:06:00.000-08:00

Did she or didn't she? At the 19 second mark she called Obama the first colored president.

What year is this 1952?

On a larger note, is this word acceptable in our society? What does it mean to be "colored" in US society? obviously it's used in other countries like South Africa, but what does it mean in America?

New URL

2008-11-21T15:17:00.000-08:00

We've moved! Micahceous has moved from http://ultramicah.blogspot.com to http://micahceous.blogspot.com. Please update your bookmarks, links, and RSS feeds accordingly. Thanks everyone while making the transition!

My new favorite family

2008-11-21T08:36:00.000-08:00

Racism (and other issues) among Gay Marriage Supporters

2008-11-13T14:19:00.000-08:00

Oh and here's one more post related to marriage/Prop 8 stuff that I just uncovered.

Racism (and other issues) among Gay Marriage Supporters by Jessie at racismreview.org

Beyond stopping overt racism, and learning about inclusion, white LGBT folk need to get much, much smarter about race. For those just beginning to think about race in the marriage equality movement, let me recommend this Open Letter to White Activists by laura.fo is a good starting point (hat tip: Lizhenry via Twitter). Included in her list are the following:

1) Think about the way you use civil rights imagery; 2) Think about you talk about “sex” and “freedom” ; 3) Think about how you talk about Black churches…

And, further down her list, “Stop assuming Black support.” To anyone that’s thought critically about race, there’s often a cringe-worthy quality to the rhetoric of the gay-marriage movement in the thoughtless appropriation of civil rights rhetoric while simultaneously assuming Black support and disparaging church folk (more about which, in a moment). This is not a winning strategy.

It's an article full of other links as well. I think it's a really good article to read and synthesize. It brings up issues of class, religion, and racism in a thought out way. And it's written by an anti-racist white lesbian so i think she gives a possibly different spin to things than I have.

Marriage Equality

2008-11-10T22:07:00.000-08:00

I have been putting a lot of thought on the notion of gay marriage lately and though initially I was neutral, I've changed my stance. I'm taking a stand. I am standing in opposition of the Marriage Equality Movement. I know the consequences of this. Undoubtedly I will be treated with disdain by my peers for dissonance, but if I don't act as a voice for a minority, then who will? To me, this is about standing up against something that I view as not right. I will be branded a heretic because I am questioning the orthodoxy that is the gay rights movement, but one thing my education has taught me is to be a critical thinker and if that costs me, then it's a risk I am willing to take. Let it be clear that I am not for discrimination. I just think that the priorities of the movement have not met expectations and that I do not support those making the decisions.

Let's look at the bigger picture. In the grand scheme of things that affect the gay community, HIV/AIDS, teen homelessness, drug use, hate crimes, gay marriage, while an issue of importance, just doesn't rank. And the fact that the people at the top aren't taking something like hate crimes seriously (Lawrence King anyone?), just proves how out of touch the people at top are with the rest of the community. Gay marriage is framed by those out of touch as the ultimate issue to rally for in the gay community and the most important. Of course queer people should be allowed to have their relationships recognized under the law, but I'd much rather make sure that my brothers and sisters can walk down the street without fear of being beaten, killed, or be denied basic human rights. Oh and no, marriage is NOT a human right. Plenty of people in this world live without marriage and they are fine. But there are plenty of people denied basic health coverage and dying.

Gay marriage is the last thing on someone's mind when they're being discriminated at work, not receiving justice, being told that their body type isn't ideal, have to deal with racism within the queer community, or doesn’t have the healthcare to pay for their HIV meds. There are bigger issues at stake and until the higher ups get their priorities straight, I cannot support Marriage Equality. And I think the exit polls (which I understand can be taken with a grain of salt as can most numbers, I'm an MPP after all) show just where in the priorities gay marriage is for Californians. Less than 50% of queers actually voted in this past election, and of those 30% actually voted NO on 8.

While I do believe that equality is a civil rights issue, gay marriage in of itself is not a civil rights issue. Dr. King fought for rights that everyone could and would benefit. Truth be told, gay marriage, as run by its upper/upper middle class white gay men have made it clear to me that I am not a priority. Marriage, whether for gays or straights, is a luxury good. It gives certain benefits but it is not a requirement to life in our society. And as such, it makes it very difficult to buy the notion that by denying gay marriage is the equivalent of separate but equal (via civil unions) or giving someone second-class citizenship. Furthermore, it's a slap in the face to the black civil rights movement to use its images and ride on the curtails for the gay movement. Don't bring Rosa Parks and water fountains into the argument.

Social movements are about making ground change that affect the collective, not a select few. Having gay marriage as the central proponent just fuels the notion that these leaders are not interested in change or have loyalty to the diversity that is the queer community. By making it central, these leaders are incorrectly speaking for many.

And I understand the other argument of "How will we get these other priorities without gay marriage?" And I think it comes from being united, moving outside of self-interest and build coalitions and connections with other groups and educate our nation. We need equal treatment before we can get to marriage. With gay marriage as the priority of the movement, we have to wonder what will happen next. The Lawrence Kings and Duanna Johnsons of our community will continue to go unheard and underrepresented while those that received what they wanted will not offer a hand to help.

I'm a queer male that is against the Marriage Equality Movement. I may be alone and it may be difficult to say it, but I am. I understand that many will disagree with me and have questions, comments, and even negative remarks. I also hope there are positives to this as well. All I ask is that when this topic arises that I am treated with dignity and respect and that people come with an open mind. Otherwise, why ask questions if we have no intentions of listening to other opinions or changing our opinions?

RIP: Duanna Johnson

2008-11-10T19:08:00.000-08:00

Bet you didn't hear about this one.

This summer a black transgendered woman was repeatedly punch in the face by a police officer in a Memphis jail.

According to news reports out of Memphis, she was found shot dead this weekend in Memphis. Eyewitness news reports:

Lawyer Murray Wells confirmed to Eyewitness News that the person who was killed is his client Duanna Johnson. He says Johnson was often in the area where she was killed.

Murray says Johnson was trying to leave Memphis and go back to her hometown of Chicago. According to Murray, Johnson was just about homeless trying to live in Memphis. He says the apartment where Jonson was living did not have power. Murray says he was helping Johnson buy a bus ticket to Chicago.

This is really sad and will undoubtedly be forgotten in our community. Thank you Kenyon Farrow for the story.

No On 8's White Bias

2008-11-08T13:42:00.001-08:00

I'm beginning to find articles about the other side now, from commentators that are essentially arguing a view similar to mine. Here's an Op-Ed piece from the LA Times by Jasmyne A. Cannick, a black lesbian. Called No-on-8's white bias, she really tackles in a way that perhaps I couldn't articulate why it shouldn't be an expectation for blacks to vote No on 8.

Maybe white gays could afford to be singularly focused, raising millions of dollars to fight for the luxury of same-sex marriage. But blacks were walking the streets of the projects and reaching out to small businesses, gang members, convicted felons and the spectrum of an entire community to ensure that we all were able to vote.

But the black civil rights movement was essentially born out of and driven by the black church; social justice and religion are inextricably intertwined in the black community. To many blacks, civil rights are grounded in Christianity -- not something separate and apart from religion but synonymous with it.

I really don't think I need to add more but I'm more than happy to answer questions for those that may have questions. I think Jasmyne Cannick really made it very clear in her article, but again, I also see the issue in a lens that many of you don't understand.

If A=B and B=C but C is not equal to A, then . . . WTF?" (nojojojo at The Angry Black Woman)

But it isn’t the same as the civil rights issues that have long been the focus of African American efforts, and I think many (white) gay-rights activists fail to recognize the nuances. It’s important to remember that the right to marry whom one wanted — racially at least, per Loving vs. Virginia, the case often cited by gay marriage advocates — was never a significant concern of the Civil Rights Movement. That right was fought for in the courts, not the streets, and by predominantly-white organizations such as the ACLU. It’s not clear whether there was ever popular support for interracial marriage within the black community — most AfAms still marry other AfAms, after all, and even now there’s a ton of ambivalence in the community about whether interracial marriage is a good thing. So back then, civil rights leaders understandably chose to focus their energies on more clear and present dangers such as the right to vote, the right to a decent education and livelihood, and the right to not be killed with impunity for stepping above one’s station.

So I have to wonder why the No on 8 people chose to present this as a parallel of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. To my mind, this helped trivialize their desire to marry, particularly among older blacks who remember when being able to marry white people was the least of their worries.

Proposition Hate by neo-prodigy

At best (and this is me being blindly optimistic and giving far too much credit here) we're dealing with a group of assimilationists who believe that by mimicking straights and playing to stereotypes society is comfortable with (effeminite eunuchs; Will & Grace, Queer Eye, etc.), we'll have the privilege of sitting at the table of our oppressors and we'll be handed scraps. They believe same-sex marriage to be the Civil Rights equivalent of trickle-down economics. If their privilege and wealth can buy them gay marriage then rights and liberties will trickle down to the rest of us. Basically if we're good little boys and girls we might have the privilege being pissed on. Watersports never work, in economics nor in Civil Rights.

At worst (and most likely) the gay marriage agenda is nothing more than an elitist classist power-play by a bunch of affluent gay white males looking to assimilate so they can further reap the benefits of their privilege. After all who benefits the most from gay marriage? Those who are financially able to get married? Not poor LGBTs, not homeless gay teens. This is why millions of dollars are spent on galas while organizations keeping kids off the street or HIV/AIDS hospices are severely under-funded.

But we shouldn't be shocked. The wealth and privilege of these so-called leaders has sheltered most of them from the problems and discrimination that most of us endure. They think their privilege and wealth will keep them immune from bigotry and institutional oppression. This is also why Log Cabin Republicans are in such abundance. That and self loathing.

N-Word Hurled at Blacks During Westwood Prop 8 Protest

Geoffrey, a student at UCLA and regular Rod 2.0 reader, joined the massive protest outside the Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Westwood. Geoffrey was called the n-word at least twice.

"It was like being at a klan rally except the klansmen were wearing Abercrombie polos and Birkenstocks. YOU NIGGER, one man shouted at men. If your people want to call me a FAGGOT, I will call you a nigger. Someone else said same thing to me on the next block near the temple...me and my friend were walking, he is also gay but Korean, and a young WeHo clone said after last night the niggers better not come to West Hollywood if they knew what was BEST for them."

More Savage Racism

2008-11-07T15:16:00.000-08:00

Homophobia Isn't a Problem in the African American Community

via Slog by DAN SAVAGE on 11/7/08

To get a handle on just how big a problem African American homophobia supposedly isn't, you might want to read this blistering blog post by TerranceDC—black gay dad—over at Pam's House Blend.

I no longer give a shit about defending African Americans against the notion that they're more homophobic than whites, for the same reason I no longer give a shit about defending a Black politician like Harold Ford against the racist attack ads the Republicans are running against him. Because Harold Ford is no different than the racist Republican candidate running in Virginia, and the students at Central State University are no different than the Klan or a gang of marauding skinheads. I don't defend anyone who would turn around and leave me and mine twisting in the wind. I no longer care.... They don't care what happens to couples like Alicia and Saundra or what happens to people like Michael Sandy or Tyrone Garner as much as they care about a two thousand year old book that damns them as surely as they believe it damns us; even as it leads them to lie down with politicians who will send their brothers and cousins and sisters off to die in a needless war, and leads them to stand beside politicians and a party who don't flinch at appealing to racism in voters or fielding racist candidates, who will turn around and attempt to bring back the poll tax, and who'll promise big things but leave you holding the bag.
But more than anything else, they don't care about the hell they create for their brothers, sisters, etc., in the name of a heaven that sounds about as plausible as the big rock candy mountain.

Go read the whole thing.

What's really sickening is the first comment by a reader in the original article. And gays wonder why I don't support gay marriage. This is why. Because of the rampant racism in the community. Funny how now it really begins to show.

Dan Savage on black homophobia

2008-11-06T16:45:00.000-08:00

Dan Savage, you're on my bad list. Here's what he wrote, courtesy of Racialicious.

African American voters in California voted overwhelmingly for Prop 8, writing anti-gay discrimination into California’s constitution and banning same-sex marriage in that state. Seventy percent of African American voters approved Prop 8, according to exit polls, compared to 53% of Latino voters, 49% of white voters, 49% of Asian voters.

I’m not sure what to do with this. I’m thrilled that we’ve just elected our first African-American president. I wept last night. I wept reading the papers this morning. But I can’t help but feeling hurt that the love and support aren’t mutual.

I do know this, though: I’m done pretending that the handful of racist gay white men out there—and they’re out there, and I think they’re scum—are a bigger problem for African Americans, gay and straight, than the huge numbers of homophobic African Americans are for gay Americans, whatever their color.

This will get my name scratched of the invite list of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, which is famous for its anti-racist-training seminars, but whatever.

Finally, I’m searching for some exit poll data from California. I’ll eat my shorts if gay and lesbian voters went for McCain at anything approaching the rate that black voters went for Prop 8.

Source

What,so you suppose that because blacks did liberal whites a favor and voted for Obama that they expected the favor returned with Prop 8? listen Dan, blacks are not a black monolith. We don't all think alike and you can't put all of us in one box. We're individuals with our own thoughts and opinions and for many, a vote for Obama did not equate a vote on no for Prop 8. So because white folks allowed a black president to be elected president they deserve not a fist bump but the assurance that because we are "colorblind", that black folks magically owe them something in return? And now they're made like the blacks betrayed them? When was this deal signed and why was I not made aware of it? And since when is it specifically black homophobia? First off, last I checked blacks only make 6% of the population in California. How the hell then did we take up 52% of the vote? And then to speculate on the inner workings of a community he has no part in is just wrong. Savage, you don't know the black community and as I've said so many times before, blacks don't see eye to eye with the queer movement. It's the same reason why gay men can be so racist (like yourself). It's how the game is played unfortunately. And you call yourself progressive yet you only stand to show how racist you truly are. Why is it that you think black homophobes pose such a large threat to gay Americans than racist white men are to people of color? Oh right, because you're self-involved and only care about things that affect your privilege as a "liberal" white gay man. Kudos to you.

Savage's white privilege and racism really shows in this post. I am further convinced that (queer) people of color are that much farther from achieving equality. This is a dark day for us when it should be one of the happiest days of our lives.

I voted NO on 8. But right now, I'm voting NO on you, Dan Savage.

Rights vs. Semantics

2008-11-06T14:16:00.000-08:00

For the first time in western civilization, a person of color (respective to their country) was elected to the highest office...but the gays are sad. A new hope has swept across the hearts and minds of Americans, Americans proudly waving flags...yet the gays are sad. People of color around the country and people around the world are seeing a new day, a brighter change for all. Self-esteem is returning to the American spirit and we're beginning to confront our own shadows in society...yet the gays are sad. All because Prop 8 passed in California. Right, I saw it coming too. And now I'm hearing all this talk about why it failed. "Oh it's because we were underfunded and Yes on 8 had more money." "First time black voters are religious and voted yes." Hmm, no. Last I checked when driving in South Central I didn't see any No on 8 signs. I didn't hear of volunteers going to more conservative areas or churches, those that would be in opposition, to provide an open dialogue. The only time I saw signs was in West LA, an area that is much more liberal than the rest of LA. Not to say that it deserved to be passed, but if one side is going to be blamed for why it passed, surely the other side must be able to look at its own faults.

I'm just going to say it. Marriage is not a human right. Sorry HRC, it's not. Get over it. Marriage is a word, a ceremony. Rights aside (which are based upon by the society you live in), a person can decide who they want to commit to for the rest of their life. They don't need a priest to say that their love is valid. On to rights, yes that's important. Equality is key and as a society we can't really allow everyone to live in our society if citizens cannot be treated equally under the law. So then, if this is about rights, why are the gays getting so wrapped up in the term marriage?

If your union was recognized by the state, what would stop you from calling that person your husband or wife and say "I'm married"? If marriage and civil unions/domestic partnerships had the exact same rights and the terms were synonymous, why would it matter if the paper doesn't say "marriage" on it? What is this about really? As an acquaintance put it:

"Civil unions do not convey the same dignity and honor as marriage. If you say we're in a civil union, that's different than saying we're married. It's about perception, honor and dignity. I'm concerned about being treated like an equal citizen. The rights are secondary and that's what this is about. It's not just about marriage licenses."

So if it truly is about the word, then this is a uphill battle. Today gays are protesting at the Mormon temple in West LA, trying to get the church to lose its tax exempt status. They have a website, mormonsstoleourrights.org. This is quite an uphill battle. Using hate to fight hate is not effective. And to fight a religion? I don't think there's ever been a time that people have fought a religion and actually won. Okay, not without the use of weapons. And I doubt California gays are going to take up arms to fight for this (though the militant gays may prove me wrong). The gay rights movement constantly equates this to the civil rights movement and though I honestly think it's completely different and is a bad analogy, the gay rights groups are further demonstrating how they aren't alike. Martin took his small victories until they became a force that could not be undone. In the case of gay rights, huge leaps are being made when baby steps and foundation are needed first. I would've thought that HRC would've learned its lesson in 2000 when marriage essentially came out of nowhere, but I was wrong and history has proven to repeat itself. And I'm sorry, but a guy not being able to marry another guy is not equatable to a person being hosed down or chased by dogs.

Here's what I suggest. Work to make civil unions and marriage as terms interchangeable. Make them synonymous. Furthermore, make it so anyone can get a civil union, hetero or homo. It's the rights after all. It's not a matter of it being separate but equal; there won't be a separation. And if anyone can get a civil union, then how is it separate from marriage? Marriage will be relegated to solely a religious/cultural status. And really, don't we want a separation of church and state? Screw the word. It's about rights. Civil unions for all.

Shouldn't we be celebrating our new president? Why are we letting that celebration suddenly stop? This is the first time that a western democracy elected a person from a minority group to lead the country. That's important! This is a huge social achievement. If I had to choose between getting Obama and getting prop 8 to fail, I'd rather take Obama. This is huge. Take victories in stride and let's support a new change in America.

Obama is president

2008-11-04T20:04:00.000-08:00

Obama will be our next president! At 8 pm he has 297 electoral votes!!!