It's time for action. There is so much discussion on the major blogs about diversity and the blogosphere. The question often asked is how can we make the most popular progressive blogs more diversified. One component of the answer is simply to diversify the content. "Linking our Way to Diversity" is a model made for progressive sites to follow. Together, we can link our way to equality.
- Marisa Treviño over at Latina Lista spreads a very urgent request for donations for non-white victims of the wildfires in her post "Urgent Request for San Diego Fire Victims":
"I just received word that requests for supplies for fire victims (especially food, water, & clothing) are growing throughout the county as the amount of donations has dropped off significantly. Hundreds of people who were too afraid or unable to evacuate earlier in the week have now begun to ask for help, as the situation in our rural areas is dire.
At this point, the Chicano Park collection site has almost nothing, and they are receiving calls from Pala, Valley Center, Potrero, and other communities where the "mainstream" relief efforts have been slow or nonexistent."
- Angela Onwuachi-Willig over at Black Prof calls out the New York Times in "Do Blacks Truly Believe that White America Is Ready for the First Black President?":
There are many ways to interpret Clinton’s staggering lead over Obama among registered black Democrats...
But then, there’s that question that so many of us ask ourselves only in private. Is it that black Democrats prefer Clinton to Obama, or is just that black Democrats are simply hedging their bets-supporting the idea of a black president while pledging their vote to Clinton? In a way, Clinton’s lead over Obama among registered black Democrats can also be read as an indictment against American racism. It may be that black voters just do not believe, deep down in their hearts, that white Americans will ever elect a black man to be the President. And, I have to admit that I often wonder this very thought.
- Robert J. Miller at Native America, Discovered and Conquered posts news that "Univ. Illinois brings back offensive Indian mascot":
The Sunday New York Times reported yesterday that a likeness of Chief Illiniwek was allowed on parade floats months after the University officially retired him. Indian people and groups have long protested this team mascot of a non-Indian dressing up in buckskin and tribal regalia. But there were no protesters at the parade and maybe a thousand students wore some kind of Chief Illiniwek paraphernaila during the parade.
In 2005, the NCAA adopted a policy prohibiting athletic programs from using abusive images, thus the retiring of the Chief and the controversy at the University of North Dakota over the name and logo of the "Fighting Sioux," and issues at other colleges and high schools across the country.
- Aniruddh Vasudevan from Pass The Roti combines a confrontation against U.S. ignorance of LGBT life in Eastern countries and ignorance of U.S. Imperialism:
Despite the existence of desi queer collectives and communities here in DC, the responses and reactions of many Americans (both white and black people) to the visible presence of a queer person coming from India (me, in this case) have been a wee bit strange for me. As long as they assume I am a "queer from here" (the US), the conversation and their interest in talking to me goes one way. The moment they come to know that I am an out-queer living in India, everything changes...
One person even suggested that "continued US presence in that area will help to kill off fundamentalism and make this easy for you all"!
First, I really saw in my mind’s eye all Asian countries losing borders, melting and becoming a huge blob that he could conveniently call "that area"!
Secondly, it was a very confusing argument for me: that a queer-hating government’s deplorable attempts at ravaging Iraq, Iran and Afganistan only in the interests of access to oil resources, can even be validated as something that will prove to be easy on homosexual people in the long run.
That opinion was twisted at so many places that it sent me on a dizzy spell! The issue of homosexuality, freedom, war, plundering, imperialism, coercive thrusting of one brand of democracy etc. were all so generously conflated into one single statement that it left me speechless for a while as to which one I take issues with first.
- Marti Abernathey keeping it real at TransAdvocate by reminding us all that LGBT rights go wwwaaaaayyyy beyond marriage equality rights and gay and lesbian issues in the post "Mass Equality Forgets To Come Back For Transgender People?" :
The Boston Globe is reporting that Mass Equality is debating whether or not to disband the organization, after winning marriage equality in Massachusetts...
... gays and lesbians [In Massachusetts] have had [a non-discrimination act] in place since 1989 that prevented discrimination in housing, employment, insurance and public accommodations. Gays and lesbians in Massachusetts have enjoyed these protections for 18 years! But some still think it’s not the time [for transgender inclusion]...
It’s pathetic that a money and resource rich organization like MassEquality can’t seem to find a mission now that the marriage fight is over with, while the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition teeters on the verge of financial collapse. It’s pathetic that not one person from Mass Equality joined in MTPC’s lobby days. If now is not the time for the GLB community of Massachusetts to stand with the transgender community, when will it be?"
- RaceWire links to an NYT article exposing how as many Californians evacuated their homes to seek shelter from raging wildfires, some report that Border Patrol used evacuation centers to detain immigrants seeking shelter from fires:
""There were Mercedeses and Jaguars pulling out, people evacuating, and the migrants were still working," said Enrique Morones, who takes food and blankets to the immigrants’ camps. "It’s outrageous."
Some of the illegal workers who sought help from the authorities were arrested and deported. Opponents of illegal immigration, including civilian border watch groups, seized on news that immigrants had been detained at the Qualcomm Stadium evacuation center as evidence of trouble that illegal immigrants cause.
The Border Patrol also arrested scores of illegal immigrants made visible by the fires. Agent Fisher of the Border Patrol said 100 had been arrested since the fires started Sunday"
- And finally, La Lubu from Feministe posts a MUST-READ post titled "Trust, Mutuality and Co-creation Within Feminism: The Art of Building a Movement"
""I can’t take feminism as a movement seriously because I have a lack of trust in it."
That’s it. Right there. That accurately describes how many women feel towards feminism—a lack of trust. And that lack of trust is a critical barrier to building a movement. A movement that made tremendous strides toward improving the day-to-day lives of women, but whose momentum has withered (in the U.S.) in recent decades. Now, feminism is still kicking ass and taking names; despite the periodic premature announcement of its/our death in the mainstream media. Important work continues to be done concerning domestic violence, (hat tip: brownfemipower, whose blog should be part of your Recommended Daily Requirement of Feminism) reproductive justice, LGBT rights, racial justice, women of color in the media, women in the trades, women at work, motherhood.......all kinds of feminist organizing.
But. Our movement is fragmented. Our power is diffused. Old wounds have been allowed to fester. Old concerns remain current concerns. In fact, many of the same ills that exist within feminist movement also exist within the labor movement (save for one major difference—the labor movement has never been as geographically isolated as the feminist movement). Whining? If so, I’m in damn good company, and plentiful company at that.
And that’s key. Because there is a backlash. We have lost ground. And we cannot return to our former momentum of progress without solidarity. Without critical mass. Healing wounds takes time, and it often hurts. But the benefits outweigh the pain. So, let’s engage in little triage, hmm?" this is a small tease for an amazing post over at Feministe, please do check it out!
That's it for tonight everyone. I'm off to do the whole "college" thing.