Quote
May 17, 2013
2,723 notes
"Nonviolence is an inherently privileged position in the modern context. Besides the fact that the typical pacifist is quite clearly white and middle class, pacifism as an ideology comes from a privileged context. It ignores that violence is already here; that violence is an unavoidable, structurally integral part of the current social hierarchy; and that it is people of color who are most affected by that violence. Pacifism assumes that white people who grew up in the suburbs with all their basic needs met can counsel oppressed people, many of whom are people of color, to suffer patiently under an inconceivably greater violence, until such time as the Great White Father is swayed by the movement’s demands or pacifists achieve that legendary “critical mass."

—

-Peter Gelderlos, Why Nonviolence Protects the State- Nonviolence is Racist (via tahlalaliaaa)

Note gelderloos is white and an activist who went to jail and learned a lot from within the system. Learned a lot from poc in prison and is pretty young too. I think he makes a lot of credits to poc and Black people make a large part of the biblio of this book from what I remember

(via strugglingtobeheard)

I like this. People always talk shit about the (old) Black Panthers, but they never consider that (1) the Black Panthers didn’t threaten violence until they were threatened themselves and (2) they were threatened all the fucking time.

(via specialkchocolateydelight)

(Source: fuckyeahradicalquotes, via tierracita)

Photo
May 09, 2013
115 notes
thesubversivesound: Written by ex-Black Panther turned anarchist Lorenzo Komboa Ervin, Anarchism and the Black Revolution is both an easy-to-read introduction to the fundamental principles of class struggle anarchism and an analysis of their relevance to the black liberation movement. Also contains a good section on why the author is an anarchist and why non-class struggle anarchists are useless. Anarchism & The Black Revolution - Ervin.pdf

thesubversivesound:

Written by ex-Black Panther turned anarchist Lorenzo Komboa Ervin, Anarchism and the Black Revolution is both an easy-to-read introduction to the fundamental principles of class struggle anarchism and an analysis of their relevance to the black liberation movement. Also contains a good section on why the author is an anarchist and why non-class struggle anarchists are useless.

Anarchism & The Black Revolution - Ervin.pdf

(via facelessinblack)

Photo
May 06, 2013
1,570 notes

(via manicpixiedreambakla)

Photoset
May 06, 2013
96,553 notes

unadoptable:

tuesdayblouse:

natashakline:

For all the artists out there. xoxo

need to remember this

Good advice!!!

(via emotionalbabehood)

Photo
May 02, 2013
138 notes
garconniere: Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo in the May Day march, 1929, photographed by Tina Modotti “Modotti joined the Communist Party in late 1927, often supplying it free photographs. Some of her photographs appeared in the Mexican Communist newspaper, El Machéte. To support herself, Modotti made record photographs for the Mexican muralists and of Mexican crafts for publishers. During this same period, some of her art photographs were published in the Paris Left Bank avant garde art magazine, transition. On the May Day Communist holiday in 1929, Modotti photographed a march protesting the persecution of members of the Communist Party. She covered the event from its calm beginning to its confrontational end. Most of the photographs that make up her narrative are small images made from a rooftop.” by Beverly W. Brannan, from Women Photojournalists

garconniere:

Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo in the May Day march, 1929, photographed by Tina Modotti

“Modotti joined the Communist Party in late 1927, often supplying it free photographs. Some of her photographs appeared in the Mexican Communist newspaper, El Machéte. To support herself, Modotti made record photographs for the Mexican muralists and of Mexican crafts for publishers. During this same period, some of her art photographs were published in the Paris Left Bank avant garde art magazine, transition. On the May Day Communist holiday in 1929, Modotti photographed a march protesting the persecution of members of the Communist Party. She covered the event from its calm beginning to its confrontational end. Most of the photographs that make up her narrative are small images made from a rooftop.” by Beverly W. Brannan, from Women Photojournalists

(via laborreguitina)

Quote
May 02, 2013
22 notes
"We don’t know how to say it: the shapes our hands make in the world we deserve, the names we call each other past gender and domination, the feeling of how free we could be and the ways we will recognize the signposts and markers for how we get there. The meaning of life that we are building with our breathing is so radically different from the structural oppression we live under, we couldn’t describe it if we wanted to. And we want to. Revolutionary poetics is about the shape of that desire, the queer untimely affirmation that another world is not only possible, but is here waiting for us to recognize its presence and transform ourselves accordingly. Anticapitalist Jamaican thinker Sylvia Wynter teaches that the poetic is the magic process of describing relationships between people and an environment that capitalism, as a relationship and as a language, make impossible."

— Left Turn Magazine’s “Revolutionary Poetics” introduction by Alexis Pauline Gumbs  (thanks for reminding me I said this during last night’s Poetry is Not a Luxury Dharmacast Vanessa Huang!)

(Source: blackfeminismlives)

Photo
April 19, 2013
178 notes
qwocmediawire: QWOC Media Wire is a media advocacy organization and online platform that amplifies the voices and thought leadership of sexual minorities around the world.  We are happy to announce that we’re seeking THREE new editors to join our team! Non-US candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. Applications now open via our online submission system. The ideal editor will be a seasoned writer, blogger, or publisher of online content. The ideal editor will identify as part of the queer and trans community of color (even if using a pseudoynm/alias), or as a racial/ethnic minority. (Note: As our site is dedicated to the voices and thought leadership of queer women, gender non-conforming and trans people of color, we give preference to editors who identify as such.) Who We Are Currently, we are: latina, African, mixed-race, femme, masculine of center, gender neutral, east coaster, west coasters, trans-nationals, professionals, scholars, activists. There’s still a lot that can be added to that. Who We’re Looking For We are actively searching for editors who don’t look like us—who share enough of our experiences as qpoc with multi-identities, but contributes a new lens to our collective vision. We aren’t looking for people to be marginally involved to deflect criticism; we are seeking people to be fully vested editorial partners, who are willing to volunteer time and energy alongside us to 1) recruit writers, 2) edit submissions, 3) moderate comments, 4) manage the space, and 5) grow QWOC Media Wire from a startup to a sustainable social enterprise. This is a Volunteer Position This will be a volunteer position. QWOC Media Wire is a labor of love. The funds for this site come out of our pockets. Therefore, we cannot provide any compensation for editors at this time. We do guarantee, however, that you’ll continually learn (we all do), you’ll be supported as an individual with their own career path, and your contribution to this project will be celebrated and honored. Lastly, but most importantly, as we recognize that this is a volunteer project (and we all have commitments outside of it), you’ll be part of a team that holds you accountable to your commitments, but also practices community care and support when critical. Strategic Growth and Planning (Hopefully With You On Board) Part of our strategy to become a full-fledged, sustainable media advocacy organization includes the recruitment and development of a team that is grounded in our principles and committed to our mission, before implementing a growth strategy plan for this social enterprise in 2014. Our team currently comprises a serial social entrepreneur and digital media expert, an organizational development consultant, and a scholar interested in exploring the way intersectionality is reported or consumed by the media. We look forward to adding more core strengths and expertise to our team! What would you bring? We hope to find out through your application. f you’re interested in being part of something exciting, intentionally innovative, strategic, and collaborative—while working within a fun, affirming, and very smart team—we strongly encourage you to apply. We strongly encourage you to use our ONLINE SUBMISSION FORM.  However, if you are applying from outside the US and/or unable to use the online submission system, please email us directly at team@qwocmediawire.com for a downloadable submission form. Note: We will be interviewing until we find the right people. But this particular call for applications will close on May 20th, 2013 (with a possible earlier start date, schedules permitting).

qwocmediawire:

QWOC Media Wire is a media advocacy organization and online platform that amplifies the voices and thought leadership of sexual minorities around the world. 

We are happy to announce that we’re seeking THREE new editors to join our team! Non-US candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. Applications now open via our online submission system.

The ideal editor will be a seasoned writer, blogger, or publisher of online content. The ideal editor will identify as part of the queer and trans community of color (even if using a pseudoynm/alias), or as a racial/ethnic minority. (Note: As our site is dedicated to the voices and thought leadership of queer women, gender non-conforming and trans people of color, we give preference to editors who identify as such.)

Who We Are

Currently, we are: latina, African, mixed-race, femme, masculine of center, gender neutral, east coaster, west coasters, trans-nationals, professionals, scholars, activists. There’s still a lot that can be added to that.

Who We’re Looking For

We are actively searching for editors who don’t look like us—who share enough of our experiences as qpoc with multi-identities, but contributes a new lens to our collective vision. We aren’t looking for people to be marginally involved to deflect criticism; we are seeking people to be fully vested editorial partners, who are willing to volunteer time and energy alongside us to 1) recruit writers, 2) edit submissions, 3) moderate comments, 4) manage the space, and 5) grow QWOC Media Wire from a startup to a sustainable social enterprise.

This is a Volunteer Position

This will be a volunteer position. QWOC Media Wire is a labor of love. The funds for this site come out of our pockets. Therefore, we cannot provide any compensation for editors at this time. We do guarantee, however, that you’ll continually learn (we all do), you’ll be supported as an individual with their own career path, and your contribution to this project will be celebrated and honored. Lastly, but most importantly, as we recognize that this is a volunteer project (and we all have commitments outside of it), you’ll be part of a team that holds you accountable to your commitments, but also practices community care and support when critical.

Strategic Growth and Planning (Hopefully With You On Board)

Part of our strategy to become a full-fledged, sustainable media advocacy organization includes the recruitment and development of a team that is grounded in our principles and committed to our mission, before implementing a growth strategy plan for this social enterprise in 2014.

Our team currently comprises a serial social entrepreneur and digital media expert, an organizational development consultant, and a scholar interested in exploring the way intersectionality is reported or consumed by the media. We look forward to adding more core strengths and expertise to our team! What would you bring? We hope to find out through your application. f you’re interested in being part of something exciting, intentionally innovative, strategic, and collaborative—while working within a fun, affirming, and very smart team—we strongly encourage you to apply.

We strongly encourage you to use our ONLINE SUBMISSION FORM.  However, if you are applying from outside the US and/or unable to use the online submission system, please email us directly at team@qwocmediawire.com for a downloadable submission form.

Note: We will be interviewing until we find the right people. But this particular call for applications will close on May 20th, 2013 (with a possible earlier start date, schedules permitting).

(via sistahmamaqueen)

Photo
April 19, 2013
1,673 notes
grrlyman: So let me just say that I love stealing from corporations and would even endorse stealing from small companies that treat their employees like shit, but I think it’s important to remember who is most at risk in these situations. People of color, disabled folks, women, poor folks, and people who are perceived to be gender nonconforming come under more scrutiny in stores because people assume they are going to steal. Many of these same folks will also incur harsher sentences than their more privileged counterparts. All I’m saying is people who are more privileged may need to start thinking about taking risks for those who you claim to be allies to. People who are white, class privileged, cis, straight, able bodied, and many configurations of this need to volunteer to be arrested at demonstrations, procure items our groups need(through theft or other means), and destroy/vandalize property with our words instead of letting the most vulnerable of us take the fall.

grrlyman:

So let me just say that I love stealing from corporations and would even endorse stealing from small companies that treat their employees like shit, but I think it’s important to remember who is most at risk in these situations. People of color, disabled folks, women, poor folks, and people who are perceived to be gender nonconforming come under more scrutiny in stores because people assume they are going to steal. Many of these same folks will also incur harsher sentences than their more privileged counterparts.

All I’m saying is people who are more privileged may need to start thinking about taking risks for those who you claim to be allies to. People who are white, class privileged, cis, straight, able bodied, and many configurations of this need to volunteer to be arrested at demonstrations, procure items our groups need(through theft or other means), and destroy/vandalize property with our words instead of letting the most vulnerable of us take the fall.

(Source: childofsodom, via myownflyingsquad)

Text
March 14, 2013
46 notes

Our Truth, Our Time

thespiritwas:

A few years ago the NYPD spokesperson Paul Browne lied and said I was the cause of police violence that ended the Sylvia Rivera Law Project five year anniversary celebration.  It wasn’t true on any level but it was yet another chance to watch how the NYPD lies to cover its own violence.

A few nights ago he lied again and that Kimani Gray was the cause of his own death by the hands of the NYPD.  That’s not true on any level and our communities are calling it out.

He’s the go to guy for NYPD lies about ourselves in order to sell the control our lives and the delivery of our deaths. And we don’t believe him. 

We don’t believe in what the NYPD says about themselves so why would we believe in what it says it will do for us? Or about who we are? Or about why Kimani Gray was shot in the back many times over.

We’ve stopped believing in authority & resumed believing in each other.  

We are the message!

(via fabianromero)

Quote
February 19, 2013
4,356 notes
"Prison is the only form of public housing the government has truly invested in"

— Marc Lumont Hill at the talk ‘End Mass Incarceration’ - Riverside Church, Harlem New York 2012. (via icecreamritual)

(via queersicles)