I did not watch the BET Awards. But I wish I had.
Why?
Because Jesse Williams gave a fiery, impassioned speech demanding justice for black people. It was incredible. And that’s why I’m sharing it here.
This is for all of us white people:
Shut up.
Listen.
Learn.
Transcript below the fold:
(Please note: the amazing, snarktastically awesome Iris Vander Pluym [read her blog here!] contributed to this little blog post of mine. Her part will be in the color of royal purple [because that is the color of royalty and, apparently, sarcasm, so…].)
Also content warning for discussion of rape culture and victim-blaming. Same content warnings, as well as trigger warnings for direct discussion of rape, apply to all links here, as well.)
Very recently, I put up a post declaring my support for Amber Heard. You can read the post if you don’t know what I’m talking about, and you should. One of the things I said was this:
I am on record as saying that I will always believe and stand with the victim until evidence comes out that they’re lying, because them actually lying is so incredibly rare that there’s no reason to entertain it; in our culture of victim-blaming, I do not believe that most people would think lying like this would be worth it.
In response I got a… fascinating comment, permanently languishing in moderation:
What make you think lying is rare among human beings in such situations as this?
Why didn’t you link to the police report?
Let’s start with that last one… Iris?
(Content note: rape culture)
So, if you haven’t heard (though I can’t see how you haven’t), a very horrid preacher was shouting “you deserve to be raped” at a bunch of high school students. A 19-year-old woman walked up behind him and whacked him upside the head with an aluminum baseball bat.
This has raised an interesting conversation, as many (myself included) have utterly no sympathy for him, and have, in fact, made fun of him over it. In fact, I commented, and then posted on my Facebook, the following:
To be completely fair, I think we need to ask some important questions…
What was he doing there, at that time of day, just being all provocative, and not even with a chaperone? Things happen when you go out like that. I mean really… he shouldn’t have expected any less.
And what was he wearing, anyways? Did he have on a provocative shirt, showing off too much?
And before you say it, no I’m definitely *not* victim blaming. All I’m saying is that there are ways he could have minimized his risk, and really… shouldn’t he be held responsible at least for his own actions?
(Content warning: domestic abuse)
Many of you probably know this already, but Amber Heard filed for a divorce from Johnny Depp back on May 21st. I’ve always been a fan of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard as actors, and have enjoyed most of their movies. I had heard about their marriage, and their recent divorce, but wasn’t aware of the details as I tend to not pay attention to celebrities outside of their art, unless that celebrity does something incredibly egregious…
Well…
Now I know the reason Amber Heard has filed for divorce. Alex Rudewell over at Skepchick posted a statement released by Amber Heard’s legal team. I’m going to post that statement here. Be aware that this statement contains discussion and descriptions of domestic abuse.
I just wanted to post this picture because I feel like it accurately sums up where the US is right now. I got it from the TWiBNation Facebook group (on a separate note; does anyone here listen to TWiBPrime? I highly recommend it.)
Picture with two columns and three rows.
First row..
On Left – “Largest Nuclear Waste Storage Site in US is Leaking”
On Right – “Meh”
Second Row…
On Left – “Shell Dumps Nearly 90,000 Gallons of Crude into Gulf of Mexico”
On Right – “Meh”
Third Row…
On Left – “Target Lets Transgenders go Pee in Bathrooms”
On Right – *face red with rage*
ETA:
I just realized that “transgenders” is not the appropriate terminology? I’m really sorry for that. I didn’t catch it initially. I should have. I wish I knew who made this, now…
This is from Amy Davis Roth at Skepchick: (note… this is an update about Kesha, who was (“allegedly”) raped by her music producer)
July 12, 2016 – I’m making some edits on this that have been bothering me for a while, to make it, I hope, flow a little better.
You’re going to see a decent number of updates on my blog today. I’m starting with this. I first posted it on my old blog on July 3, 2015, then brought it to Daily Kos on July 21, 2015. I feel as if it’s an important post to bring here, and so I am, on March 14, 2016. I hope you find it interesting. Also… I always end up doing some editing when going back over old posts, so if you do decide to compare this to its original on my old blog or at Daily Kos, and note some differences, that’s why.
So back in early May [2015], while the Baltimore protests were going on, Rabbi Benjamin Blech wrote an article about violence in the riots. I’m linking you to Aish.com, but I first saw it in the May 8th – 14th edition of the Long Island Jewish World. I wrote a response and looked for a few friends to edit it. I actually got around to finishing it a few weeks ago. First I sent it to Aish, who decided not to publish it but did forward it to the Rabbi. I also sent it to Alternet, but never heard back.
I’m sick and tired of white people crying about black people “violently” rioting against violent White Supremacy while those same white people condone the very violent White Supremacy that is instigating and causing this backlash in the first place. And I wanted to say something about it. Please note: I use the narrative of the Exodus because the Rabbi does; I don’t actually think that happened. I also did not use the Holocaust as an analogy. In hindsight, this probably would have been better, but I also feel as if my decision to present the alternate universe was a more direct (if ham-fisted) way of conveying what I was trying to say.