unusualmusic_lj_archive | Entries tagged with minorities

Palestinians Shoot Back...With Cameras

So what happened next?

Quite. Behaviour unfitting of a commander. And expects to continue serving in the army. What fucktards.

Well we all know what the Bush Admin. would do, right? Here's compassionate conservativism for ya...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22805282/

toosense has a masterful breakdown here:http://halfricanrevolution.blogspot.com/2008/01/bush-admin-still-exploiting-katrina.html

I just want highlight the part that really hits the spot:

Of course, supporters of putting corporations ahead of regular people contend that the development will bring needed jobs to the region.

Supporters see the money switch as sound economic policy that will help the port capture additional business and provide a bonanza of high-paying jobs.

“In order to remain a viable port, we have to do a good job with this repair and redevelopment,” said Gulfport Mayor Brent Warr.

Anyone who has ever filled out a job application knows the deal: no phone, no home, no job. It doesn't really matter how many available jobs there are if the people who would do them don't have homes to live in or phone numbers where they can be contacted. Whatever jobs they have in mind, they aren't for those who really need them.

Now please bear in mind that this is the same gov't that gave out toxic trailors to the survivors of Katrina:http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/01/29/fema_coverup/

and
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/28/cbsnews_investigates/main3761948.shtml

So,lets recap. The gov't, to whom the poor pay taxes and elect to take care of them, will not build back low-income housing for the poor, but instead will spend that money further enriching corporations. Since the people living in trailers do not have addresses or phones, the jobs that this port building investment are going to generate will not come their way. And the trailers are contaminated and will cause illness, which, they probably won't be able treat because of a lack of health insurance. And any rise in crime and other societal ills will be blamed on those same people who are homeless and jobless through no fault of their own. Right then.

If you all want become activists and find out more go to:

http://www.equityandinclusion.org/

and

http://www.solvingpoverty.com/

The blogger "The Redstar Perspective" is also very informative:http://www.grahamad.com/blog/, just scroll down a bit.

The colour line. Oh yes, I'm going there.

delux_vivens got me thinking with this piece about the characterizations of Native Americans in romance novels.

Excerpt: For those who might have missed the literary content involved, Cassie Edwards main oeuvre is historical novels based on Native Americans.

Sort of.

She's penned 100 tomes, with titles like: Savage Illusion Savage Spirit Savage Secrets Savage Passions Savage Longings Savage Tears Savage Fires Savage Honor Savage Moon Savage Arrow Savage Obsession Savage Innocence Savage Heart Savage Torment Savage Paradise and the list goes on, and on, and on.

Ms Edwards is part Cheyenne, having had a full blood Cheyenne great granny (not just a cheyenne, but a FULL BLOOD!!!) and these Savage books (of which there are, literally, dozens) are part of the way in which she honors her Cheyenne heritage. And I quote:

I am writing these books now in a way to honor our Native Americans, past, present and in the future. And I am honoring my great grandmother who was a full blood Cheyenne. She would be so proud of me if she could read what I am writing about the Indians who have been so maligned for so long.

OK. Here's the thing: these books, as far as I know (I once tried to read one, but I couldn't slog through it, really, I tried) are all about white women climbing the ecstatic heights of passion's snowcapped mountains with Native men. Not Native women, who sometimes figure in her books, but not enough to actually, you know, be the heroines and get to climb the ecstatic heights of passions snowcapped mountains with Native men.

The full entry is here:
http://delux-vivens.livejournal.com/675168.html

This reminded me of another reason that I began to hate the average romance novel. It was the whole sale exoticification of other people's cultures in order for white women to get their jollies. Now, aside from the recently introduced lines of black romance, most romance novels feauture white women and white men or exotic men. By exotic I mean Italian, Greek, occasionally Russian and Native American, and sheiks. I have never seen a romance book featuring inter-cultural relationships that have black men and white women as protagonists, not surprising considering the history that behind that particular pairing.

( Read more... )

Oh Lord. This one is making me think. A couple of years ago, I stopped reading heterosexual romance novels completely. I'd been reading them since I was 10 or 11, against the rules of my parents. Mommy had 2 huge boxes of them, plus about 20 more on a shelf in the library next to my bedroom. I started with those ones on the shelf, old time Harlequin and Mills and Boon, you know, the ones with 18 or 19 year old fresh, innocent, virgin girls being wooed by 30 something jaded, experienced, men, with a sexay 20 something, sophisticated bitch lurking the background trying to fuck up the pure, true-love relationship. And also that Dutch writer, I can't rememeber her name now, whose protagonists were all plain young nurses who fell in love with aloof 30 something Dutch doctors (somehow they all ended up in Holland within the first couple in pages, which is where all doctor ignores me and is fucking rude, but somehow round the end of the book we find out that he was fighting his feeling for the pure, plain girl and he would neva fall in love with that beautiful bitchy slut that was lurking around in the background.

Then I graduated to the bigger books, Cassie Edwards, Connie Mason, and their ilk. Exotic men galore: sheiks, Indians, Spanish (men from Spain, that is). Also loads of pirates, dukes, kings, warriors, highway men (who usually turned out to be wronged dukes, earls etc., and so did the pirates); and other manly, powerful men. Never any peasants. Always young women, about 18 years old, always "sassy", "feisty", "fiery" who were kidnapped from their homes by these virile men, were raped, humiliated, sometimes spanked, or slapped but somehow in the end, all of this was rationalised by the hero as being done for love of the heroine. In one particularly distingusting case, the heroine was raped until she bled for defying the hero over some stupid thing or other, (I read it about 10 years ago, and have spent a hell of a lot of time trying to block it from my mind since) and right after the bullshit, he hugged her tenderly and said something to the effect that he needed to punish her because she wouldn't listen to him. At that point, I threw down the book in disgust and swore heatedly. There was no way my 12 year old mind as going to accept that raping a women was proof of your love, no way in hell! So I tried the others.

( Read more... )

By None

Denise Simmons

Cambridge - City councilors voted Monday night to make Denise Simmons the new mayor of Cambridge.

Simmons, a member of the council since 2001, is the second consecutive mayor who is black and openly gay. She is the first woman to serve as the city’s mayor since Sheila Russell held the office from 1996-1997.

Councilors voted Brian Murphy vice-mayor.

“It feels really great,” Simmons said. “When I first came to the School Committee, one of the things I always said was that I wanted to be mayor.”

This was the second time councilors voted after they were deadlocked last Monday. Simmons received three votes last week, the most out of any councilor, followed by Tim Toomey.

Though the vote was unanimous, it wasn't a smooth process Monday night. In the first vote, Simmons — who spent nine years on the city’s School Committee from 1992 to 2001— received support from herself, Ken Reeves, Sam Seidel, Henrietta Davis, Craig Kelley and Brian Murphy. Last week, only Seidel and Kelley voted for Simmons.

( Read more... )

If you really want to get the full measure of the man and his message, then check out this post:Martin Luther King Reference List

hattip field negro for pointing the direction.

http://racing.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=43022

Harris' Long Climb to the Top
by Jason Shandler
Date Posted: 1/7/2008 5:00:52 PM
Last Updated: 1/15/2008 4:18:48 PM

Sylvia Harris
Photo: Four Footed Fotos

A new weekly feature found only on BloodHorseNOW.com, "The Inside Track" is dedicated to the people in Thoroughbred racing that may not always make the headlines, but nevertheless are vitally important to the sport. Please enjoy this special free preview.

Other Inside Track features currently available on BloodHorseNOW.com:
The Quiet Man
Fighting For a Happy Ending
A Racetrack Original

On Dec. 1, a longshot wired the field in the final race on a cold day at Hawthorne Park, but it wasn’t seven-and-a-half length winner Wildwood Pegasus. The longshot was jockey Sylvia Harris, who overcame two decades of hardship to capture her first career victory at the age of 40 and became a part of horse racing history.

Aside from scoring her initial victory at an age when many riders are retiring, Harris also made headlines by becoming one of only a handful of female African-American jockeys in the United States to win a Thoroughbred race.

"It was the best," Harris said a few days after the race. "It was almost as if time stood still; like I was in a time warp. I started to cry. I leaned over and kissed the horse. It was a dream come true, a dream that took 30 years to fulfill. I’m 40 now and my prayers were finally answered.

"I worked with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and learned that we are not promised one minute, so take advantage of every one that you have. I will savor that moment forever."

If Harris’ comments seem a little cheesy or a bit over-the-top, you won’t think so after learning about the obstacles she overcame to complete her lifelong dream, including mental illness and homelessness, for a brief time.

Harris’ story began in Sonoma County, Calif., where her love of horses developed during visits with her father to Golden Gate Fields and Bay Meadows. Harris says she knew then that she wanted to be a jockey.

"I remember leaning over the fence and watching them run," Harris recalled. "I was enthralled."

Life had other plans for Harris, however. Discouraged by her parents from pursuing a career in horse racing, she forgot about becoming a jockey and instead went to college. After two years of school she had the first of her three children and was forced to support a family as a single mother.

( Read more... )

This was a series run by the Miami Herald last year in June.

mokamokamoka located it for me. (sends loads of thanks her way)

In this series, the black experience is unveiled through a journey: to Nicaragua, where a quiet but powerful cultural and civil rights movement flickers while in neighbouring Honduras, the black Garifuna community fights for cultural survival; to the Dominican Republic where African lineage is not always embraced; to Brazil, home of the world's second largest population of African descent; to Cuba, where a revolution that promised equality has failed on it's commitment to erase racism; and to Colombia, where the first black general serves as an example of Afro-Latin American achievements

read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/multimedia/news/afrolatin/index.html

From http://www.reappropriate.com/?p=970

January 14th, 2008
Black and Brown, But Never Yellow
Categories: '08 Presidential Stock, Activism, U.S. Politics and Politicians, Asian Americans

This morning on MSNBC’s “Meet the Press” with Tim Russert, Senator Hillary Clinton called this year’s Democratic primary “the most exciting election we’ve had in such a long time”. While Clinton was speaking of the historic show-down between a viable African American candidate and a viable female candidate for the Democratic nomination, I think that this year’s Democratic primary is proving to be an exciting election because of the unprecedented attention being placed on identity politics, and consequently, the communities of underprivileged racial minorities.

With the increased number of debates in this year’s primary season, several have focused on minority issues. Tavis Smiley’s All-American Presidential Forum last year grilled Democratic and Republican candidates on African American issues. At an annual conference held by the NAACP, Democratic candidates were again asked to focus on issues affecting minority communities, while most of the Republican candidates snubbed the event. In Iowa, the 6th Iowa Black and Brown Presidential Forum was held to question candidates on African American and Latino issues. And this Tuesday, in Nevada, where 24% of the population describes themselves as Hispanic or Latino, 7% are African American or Black, and another 6% are Asian Pacific Islander American, MSNBC is co-hosting a second Brown and Black Presidential Forum with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and other local minority-oriented organizations.

( Read more... )

Go here for video to see what exactly she was wearing: http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=67297&provider=top

http://www.charlotte.com/nation/story/449146.html

Muslim athlete disqualified over uniform
The Associated Press
School Athlete Muslim Clothing
AP Photo
Juashaunna Kelly recovers from a 5K race during a cross-country meet Oct. 5, 2007, in Washington. Kelly has been disqualified from an indoor track and field meet because officials said the custom-made outfit she wears to conform to her Muslim faith violated competition rules.

* Video from the Associated Press Muslim athlete disqualified over uniform

WASHINGTON --
A high school track star has been disqualified from a meet because officials said the custom-made outfit she wears to conform to her Muslim faith violated competition rules.

Juashaunna Kelly, a senior at the District of Columbia's Theodore Roosevelt High School, has the fastest mile and 2-mile times of any girl runner in the city this winter. She was disqualified from Saturday's Montgomery Invitational indoor track and field meet.

Kelly was wearing the same uniform she has worn for three seasons while running for Theodore Roosevelt's cross-country and track teams. The custom-made, one-piece blue and orange unitard covers her head, arms, torso and legs. Over the unitard, she wears the same orange and blue T-shirt and shorts as her teammates.

The outfit allows her to compete while adhering to her Muslim faith, which forbids displaying any skin other than her face and hands.

( Read more... )

hattip

blackfolk

from http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=2585

Jan. 11, 2008

Federal Court Decision Gives Airlines Right to Discriminate

Statement of Michael Kirkpatrick, Attorney, Public Citizen

In a decision released Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston has given air carriers a license to discriminate against passengers based upon their race or ethnicity.

In writing that safety takes precedence over civil rights, the court put its stamp of approval on racial profiling. We believe this decision opens the door for airlines to arbitrarily violate the rights of passengers.

The case, Cerqueira v. American Airlines, was brought by a passenger who was removed from an American Airlines flight, detained and questioned by the police, and refused service even after the police cleared him for travel.
hattip

In January 2007, a jury found that the airline had discriminated against John D. Cerqueira because of his “Middle Eastern” appearance and awarded him $400,000 in compensatory and punitive damages. The appellate court set aside the jury’s verdict, holding that a federal statute granting airlines the discretion to refuse passengers for safety reasons immunizes airlines from liability under the nation’s civil rights laws, even if the airline’s safety concerns are the product of racial profiling.

As Cerqueira’s counsel, we argued that there is no conflict between safety and civil rights because decisions based on racial profiling are irrational and cannot provide a legitimate basis for concluding that a passenger might be a security threat. The court of appeals disagreed, holding that “[r]ace or ethnic origin of a passenger may, depending on the context, be relevant information in the total mix of information raising concerns that transport of a passenger ‘might be’ inimical to safety.”

During the trial, a jury was asked to determine the motivation for the airline’s decision. The airline argued that had it acted out of a legitimate concern for safety; Cerqueira, a South Florida resident of Portuguese descent, argued that none of this would have happened had he not looked Middle Eastern. The jury sided with Cerqueira. We believe the court of appeals, in setting aside the jury verdict, essentially legalizes racial profiling in commercial air.

Rest here: http://www.citizen.org/litigation/forms/cases/CaseDetails.cfm?cID=190

I feel soooo secure now, really. We'll catch the terrorists for sure, now that we're rounding up all those Middle-Eastern looking people!

http://blackwomenvote.blogspot.com/2008/01/black-queen-know-your-terrain.html

BLACK QUEEN: KNOW YOUR TERRAIN

Queen,

The first lesson in the Queenly Art of Political Warfare is to fully understand your territories. You must learn how to fully master each one of these holdings in order to effectively rule your kingdom. Today, I will teach you of only one: the Territory of Communications.

Communications is the only tool used to establish your reputation. And a Queen’s ability to generate cooperation, build allies, and lead her people is in direct proportion to the strength of her reputation. -- Ujuzi

COMMUNICATIONS (THE MEDIA)

Black women must immediately understand how overwhelmingly critical communications are to the overall success of any political strategy. All strategists know that if you allow your opposition to define your reputation, your intentions, or your agenda to the people, then you have already lost the battle.

Black women in America do not fully realize or understand this principle, and for that reason, we have very few allies today. There is a picture of us in the mind of bankers, politicians, city planners, employers, governors, and teachers, and it’s not pretty. Many of these people are at best, indifferent to the collective pain that black women experience.

According to the established rules of The Art of Political Warfare, the very first move for us should be to establish a positive general perception of black women. (Notice that people want us to back off from the word 'positive' and replace it with an 'accurate' perception of us... however, they never seem to want to make that petty distinction when white men inaccurately portray themselves as the owners and saviors of the world.)

Strategists like Colin Powell will tell you that in all wars, the first objective of the military is to utterly destroy the opposition’s communications, by fair means or foul. For example, in Iraq, before even one soldier laid a pinky toe on foreign soil, the Air Force flew over the country and bombed every satellite dish, radio tower, radio station and television studio in sight.

Notice that Condoleeza Rice did not tip-toe to the Afghani studio executives, to politely request that they show ‘positive’ images of soldiers, to give Afghanis a ‘balanced view of America’.

When you take control of the communication of your image, likeness and reputation,

* Your enemies can not use the power of influence to create even more enemies against you.
* Your enemies can not interfere with your ability to create powerful alliances

Rest here: http://blackwomenvote.blogspot.com/2008/01/black-queen-know-your-terrain.html

http://daisysdeadair.blogspot.com/2008/01/where-are-old-women-bloggers.html

After turning 50 in September, I became somewhat obsessed with the age of bloggers. I discovered I could find a lot of male bloggers in the 50-and-older category. But where are the women?

I know, there are a few. And I am not talking about Arianna Huffington, who is 57 and a billionaire (and therefore looks 25), but about us ordinary bloggers, such as Raven, Jackie, Risa, JJ, Marion, Maitri and Shadocat. I try to find them and link them on my blog... they are like precious jewels.

I have wondered if the hyperventilating over WOMEN'S AGE might be the cause of this phenomenon; we might call it The Botox Effect. We cover up the "lines" in our writing, as we try to cover the lines in our face. We minimize that which makes us seem old. If there is something new we don't understand, such as contemporary slang, we don't dare ask for clarification and thereby give ourselves away. Perhaps, then, there are more of us than I realize? Many women pointedly do not provide their ages on their blogs, while men usually do; a silly, sexist and archaic cultural habit.

At times when I write about nostalgia, as I enjoy doing, I get replies from isolated people (who will not comment publicly, it is worth noting) thanking me for publicly remembering something that they agree needs recounting. But they say it in hushed, secretive emails, as if I have said something dirty out loud. THE PAST IS OLD, and therefore, not a good thing. NEW is good, new is revolutionary, new is a product that has been improved, reformulated, with all kinds of good shit added to it to make it a rockem-sockem, highly-evolved and BETTER thing... better car, better house, better suburb, better dishwashing liquid.

Various cultures throughout the world once prized the old, as those who had knowledge and wisdom. As American imperialism runs roughshod all over the world and into every nook and cranny of the globe, we see all that is old is shunned and shunted aside. Hatred of what is old is now invading hearts and minds and cultures everywhere. Universally, the belief that old age equals wisdom is fast disintegrating. NEW NEW NEW shall reign. The old is hidden or eliminated, and that includes old people.

Rest here: http://daisysdeadair.blogspot.com/2008/01/where-are-old-women-bloggers.html

The disturbing history of the doctrine that led to the near extermination of many minority groups throughout history, with special attention paid to the genocide of the American
Indians, and an analysis of why that doctrine has raised its ugly head today in US politics...

Part One

part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Part Six

Part Seven

Part Eight

Part Nine

Part Ten

Appendix

http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2007/11/forgotten-veterans.html

Sunday, November 11, 2007

The Forgotten Veterans

Friends,
Today is Veteran's Day. After what happened in the House Wednesday, I don't feel much like wanting to be an American any longer. I'm not even going to march in the Atlanta Veteran's Day Parade with the other GLBT veterans as I planned.

But, before I was told that I am not worthy to have the same rights as everyone else, the rights I gave eight years of my life to protect, I wrote the following article. I sent it to well over 100 straight publications across this country, and not one of them published it today. I figured that it is Sunday, so they would have the room for it, but I was wrong. So, I'm sending it to you, my friends and family. Even though the House took away my pride to being an American veteran, I will never lose my pride in what transgender veterans have done for this uncaring country. You will always be number one in my heart. Thank you for your service. Thank you all for your service.

Monica Helms
President of the Transgender American Veterans Association

TransGriot Note: Thank you, Monica for what you and other transgender vets did for our country. Yes, I said OUR COUNTRY. Never let anyone take away your pride in being an American citizen. If you do that, the Forces of Intolerance win.

I also thank you for your and other transvets continued service to our community in providing the leadership that is sorely needed as we continue fighting for our rights.

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

The Forgotten Veterans
Guest column by Monica F. Helms

Veterans Day is one the three most important days in this country when it comes to patriotism and pride. At the eleventh minute, of the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, we start the day