February 2012
15 posts
4 tags
“I feel no “hierarchy of oppressions” is needed in order for us to...”
– Adrienne Rich, Compulsory Heterosexuality
2 tags
5 tags
The Disadvantages of an Elite Education →
marzyc:
tamburina:
One of the great errors of an elite education, then, is that it teaches you to think that measures of intelligence and academic achievement are measures of value in some moral or metaphysical sense. But they’re not. Graduates of elite schools are not more valuable than stupid people, or talentless people, or even lazy people. Their pain does not hurt more. Their souls do not...
“One Planned Parenthood clinic does more in a day to prevent abortions than the...”
– Helen Philpot (via feminishblog)
3 tags
“Well, chillen, whar dar’s so much racket dar must be som’ting out...”
– Sojourner Truth; Akron, Ohio; 1851
“There’s a push to make people ashamed of being offended by anything, as if it...”
– The 7 Stupidest Things That Make People Proud | Cracked.com (via upshot)
“Someone who offends you hasn’t ‘got’ you or ‘won’. What they said, and why, matters. They don’t get a free pass on being scrutinized on any of that just because they got a certain reaction.”
(via erikawithac)
I like the...
4 tags
The measures of government control around women's... →
1 tag
“I know you do not make the laws, but I also know that you are the wives and the mothers, the sisters and daughters of those who do; if you really suppose you can do nothing to overthrow slavery, you are greatly mistaken…. You can read on this subject. You can speak on this subject. You can act on this subject…. But some of you may say, if we do free our slaves, they will be...
“Capitalism is an institution, like our publicschool systems or our healthcare...”
– Richard Wolff
from The Sun Magazine
(via hedonisticheaven)
January 2012
36 posts
1 tag
this is so fucked up →
“Abilene’s lawyer, Edward Sanders, says: ‘It’s not about money for Abilene. It’s about hypocrisy. The Help’s big appeal is to white people. It makes them feel good because it’s about a white woman who reaches across the racial divide to help poor black servants.
Well, let me tell you, it hasn’t done anything to help Abilene. She feels Stockett is just one more white woman who has...
“Some problems we share as women, some we do not. You fear your children will...”
– Audre Lorde, “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference” (via arewomenhuman)
Super Bowl Raises Human Trafficking Concerns →
riotworthy:
“Each year at the Super Bowl, thousands of trafficked women and minors are brought to the hosting city to serve as prostitutes. An estimated 10,000 prostitutes were brought to Miami last year because the demand from men attending the game was so high. Indiana’s governor is concerned with this and is taking measures to help victims who will be brought to Indianapolis this year. Its...
3 tags
“The future of our earth may depend on the ability of all women to identify and...”
– Audre Lorde, Age, Race, Class, and Sex
“¡Cuántos debe de haber en el mundo que huyen de otros porque no se ven a sí...”
– La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes
“As we mark the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we must remember that this...”
– President Obama’s statement on the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade (via barackobama)
Truthout Interview with Professor Melissa V....
Mark Karlin: You state that your book is about how "black women attempt to stand upright in a room made by the crooked stereotypes" about them. What role models do individual black women use to accomplish this feat?
Melissa V. Harris-Perry: I am not a huge fan of the role model theory. Part of what I find extraordinary about black history in America has been the ability to imagine freedom, equality, and full humanity even when there was no living model. The capacity for moral and political imagination always outweighs the influence of role models in my mind.
That said, American history is replete with black women who have carved out authentic space for themselves in deeply unequal circumstances. I am particularly inspired the scholar, journalist, wife, mother, activist, writer and deeply human Ida B. Wells.
MK: You focus on three stereotypes: the promiscuous temptress, the kindly mammy, the angry Amazon woman. Why did you pick these specific stereotypes?
MVHP: Amazon huh? I am not sure I think the angry black woman is Amazon like, because unlike Amazons she does not have power and authority, just a biting tongue and sarcastic wit. My decision to focus on Jezebel, mammy and the angry black woman was based on the research. These are the primary stereotypes that dominate literary and cultural references. These are also the stereotypes that women in my focus groups told me had the greatest impact on their lives.
MK: How do black women develop in reaction to these stereotypes? How do some balance their lives and others overcompensate and others fail?
MVHP: I don't think some women succeed and other fail. I think all of us succeed in moments and fail in other moments. Or succeed in some aspects of our lives and fail in others. I reject any totalizing judgments of people who are struggling against such profoundly embedded negative stereotypes. My research tells me that some individuals have a variety of psychological and cultural resources that make them more resilient than others. But, because I am interested in political consequences of these stereotypes I spend less time writing about individual strategies than thinking through collective consequences of our difficult process of finding authentic political expression within contemporary American discourse.
MK: The role of black women and citizenship - and the challenge of negotiating stereotypes in politics - is central to your book. You mention how right-wing columnist and radio host Cal Thomas is typical of whites who use stereotypes to "kill the message" by putting the messenger in a cage. Thus, a black women who is angry on behalf of a cause is reduced to just being a stereotypical "Amazon." The cause gets lost in the stereotype. How do black female politicians overcome this?
MVHP: Again, I don't think I ever suggest Cal Thomas is typical of whites or typical of any given group, just that he is an example of this process of relegating black women's anger to a stereotypical reaction rather than an authentic complaint. Ignoring the content of black women's anger is certainly not just a problem of someone like Cal Thomas, it happens within black communities all the time. When black women express their anger at inequality or poor treatment they are often seen as irrational, spiteful and ridiculous. But this is as likely to happen on black urban radio as it is on Fox News. Still, anger is certainly a dual edged blade for black women in politics. Politicians need to be passionate advocates for their causes, but that passion can often be misread and therefore dismissed as irrational when it comes from black women. We can see many different ways that black women elected officials have dealt with this. Some have embraced their "anger" as a defining aspect of their political personas. Others have tamped down and present almost preternatural calm exteriors in all circumstances.
MK: Michelle Obama is, of course, discussed in your book (Chapter 8). She has seemed to strategically avoid even the hint of being strident in her voice or actions. Yet, the stereotypes continue due to her having such things as muscle-toned arms or even her encouraging of sustainable organic gardening. Isn't there a cul-de-sac for some black women, particularly in politics? They just can't escape stereotypes, no matter how they act?
MVHP: I think this is true for all black women, whether they are in public life or not. These stereotypes don't exist because they are accurate representations of black women. They exist because they serve the goal of maintaining racial and gender inequality. You can't overcome a stereotype by acting opposite of it. The point is not to convince other people that you are worthy of being a fully participating citizen, the point is to convince yourself of that truth and to act and organize accordingly.
MK: On a personal note, congratulations on your new MSNBC show. We can assume, like Paul Krugman, you won't be giving up your high-profile and highly respected academic career? Is that correct?
MVHP: Correct. I will never leave the academy. Professionally, I am a professor first. I love living in New Orleans and teaching at Tulane. Part of why I am so pleased to have the opportunity for a weekend show is because I don't have to give up teaching.
Interview Found At: http://www.truth-out.org/interview-author-melissa-v-harris-perry/1326131822
1 tag
“Many white Americans of good will have never connected bigotry with economic...”
– Martin Luther King, Jr. (via journolist)
Watchbrownbellejd:
“I find that experiencing racism tends to be worse than talking about race and racism.”
“People will often cry gross over-intellectualisation when popular culture is...”
– Simon Pegg, ‘Nerd do well’ (via lucy-vanpelt)
“As a white person, I always saw the terms honky or cracker as proof of how much...”
– Tim Wise on reverse racism and white privilege (via fattiesoslim)
3 tags
“Feminism is a struggle to end sexist oppression. Therefore, it is necessarily a...”
– bell hooks, Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center
"There is no such thing a white anti-racist" →
As a white anti-racist activist, this is really relevant.
paradelle:
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…
5 tags
4 tags
Sanele Vox: What is it Worth to be Black, Female,... →
sanelevox:
During the latter of 2011 and the start of 2012, I constantly find myself questioning the worth of being Black, female, poor, and smart. I have a 3.8 cumulative GPA, I’m passionate, talented, well-read, and see all of my endeavors out to their most successful ends. I LOVE being Black. I LOVE being…
4 tags
Women’s liberationists, white and black, will always be at odds with one another as long as our idea of liberation is based on having the power white men have. For that power denies unity, denies common connections, and is inherently divisive. It is woman’s acceptance of divisiveness as a natural order that has caused black and white women to cling religiously to the belief that...
awesomaticeric:
1.PLUG IN YOUR HEADPHONES
...
2 tags
“Under patriarchy, men are the arbiters of identity for both males and females,...”
– John Stoltenberg, Toward Gender Justice