mnemosyne

b. medusa 10 December 2007 8:07:35 am

today is International Human Rights day. so let’s begin shall we…

EDIT: just found this after completing the post:

Seven Year Old Alexis Goggins Shot Six Times Protecting Her Mother

A 7-year-old-girl is being hailed as an “angel from heaven” and a hero for jumping in front of an enraged gunman, who pumped six bullets into the child as she used her body as a shield to save her mother’s life.

Alexis Goggins, a first-grader at Campbell Elementary School, is in stable condition at Children’s Hospital in Detroit recovering from gunshot wounds to the eye, left temple, chin, cheek, chest and right arm.

“She is an angel from heaven,” said Aisha Ford, a family friend for 15 years who also was caught up in the evening of terror.

The girl’s mother, Selietha Parker, 30, was shot in the left side of her head and her bicep by a former boyfriend, who police said was trying to kill Parker. The gunman was disarmed by police and arrested at the scene of the shooting, a Detroit gas station. Police identified him as Calvin Tillie, 29, a four-time convicted felon whom Parker had dated for six months.
[...]
Ford said she dialed 911 on her cell phone as she walked into the station.“The first operator clicked off and I dialed again and told that operator a guy with a gun was holding me hostage with a mother and baby and threatening to kill us. I told her the name of the gas station and then she said they didn’t have a unit to send.”Ford said she paid for $5 of gas and slowly returned to the vehicle, stalling for time as she handed Tillie the change. She said she kept stopping and starting the pump, hoping the police would show up.“I told him I needed more gas and took money out of my purse and went back into the station,” she said. The attendant, Mohammad Alghazali, 30, said he noticed Ford was crying and she told him what was happening. He called 911 as he heard shots coming from the vehicle.
[…]
Alghazali said a police car on a street nearby arrived in less than a minute after his call.

an update on her condition can be read here. a fund has been set up for Alexis, checks should be made out to the Alexis Goggins Hero Fund & sent to the following address:

Campbell Elementary School
c/o Alexis Goggins Hero Fund
2301 E Alexandrine St
Detroit, MI 48207

for information, call (313) 494-2052

ADDITIONAL INFO (courtesy of all about race): Alexis is a special needs child, due to a massive stroke she suffered as an infant. she walks with a limp & has a weak left eye. her right eye was just removed.

Alexis, who walks with a limp, slipped momentarily on the icy sidewalk and as she helped the girl up, she saw the man and recognized him as Tillie. He was holding a gun.
[...]
Before Tillie could fire again, Alexis jumped over the seat between her mother and the gunman and begged him not to shoot her mother.

The police report said Tillie “without hesitation” pumped six shots into the child.

G*TD*MN M*THAF*CKIN SORRY *SS PIECE OF SH*T!!!!!

(i don’t usually bleep myself here, but i don’t want to be excessively disrespectful to my readers. all 2 of them.)

also contact the msm & ask them why they’ve ignored this story.

CNN
Phone: 404-827-1500

Fox News Channel
Phone: 212-301-3000

ABC News
Phone: 212-456-7777

CBS News
Phone: 212-975-4321

NBC
Phone: 212-664-4444

MSNBC
Phone: 201-583-5000

Newsweek
Phone: 212-445-4000

Associated Press
Phone: 212-621-1500

Reuters
Phone: 646-223-4000

United Press International
Phone: 202 -898-8000

i don’t have to tell you why this is a human rights (as well as police brutality) issue do i?

i can’t believe i missed this story until now. much respect & gratitude to Sylvia, Nez, Carmen D., Ann & all other bloggers covering this.

• activism , assholes , capitalism run amok , community , disability , domestic abuse , feminism , gender , history , imperialism , infrastructure , networking , oppression , organizing , police brutality , politricks , poverty , privilege , racism , rape , sexism , violence , war , war is a racket
• Comments(1)

b. medusa 25 November 2007 9:52:16 pm

of 16 days of activism against gender violence (see sidebar logo), running from Nov 25 – Dec 10. this year’s 16 day campaign theme is “Demanding Implentation, Challenging Obstacles: End Violence Against Women.” today (Nov 25) is The International Day Against Violence Against Women.

other important days include:

Nov 29 – International Women Human Rights Defenders Day
Dec 1 – World Aids Day
Dec 10 – International Human Rights Day

finally the Carnival Against Violence Against Women is being held @ Black Looks. deadline for submissions is Dec 6. please head over there for more info (additional info & links on the 16 day campaign can be found there also).

• 16 days , activism , feminism , gender , oppression , sexism , violence
• Comments(0)

b. medusa 4 November 2007 1:36:16 am

this shit frickin annoys and/or sickens me:

• infantilizing women

Why is is blogging for justice the same thing as “protecting our women”? Who do black women belong to in this case? Why do we assume that the person/people doing the protecting aren’t rapists themselves? Why is the answer to a rape culture to “protect” women rather than changing a rape culture?
[...]
And why are Megan Williams and the Dunbar Village victim the only survivors of sexual violence being talked about in this campaign??? Does violence against black women not count when it is black lesbian women being violated and imprisoned for protecting themselves?

some of the same questions/trepidations i’ve had. bfp articulates them beautifully.

• victim blaming

• Why did Megan Williams go out with this white guy, let him beat her, and then go back for more, only to be taken hostage by him and his family? Didn’t she know that one of these people had been convicted of killing his own mother or something? (via vox ex machina)

• women enabling or engaging in patriarchial boyshit isn’t bad enuf, some of them have to take it to the level of excusing rape?

now that fuckin infuriates me. it also hurts me.

vox has the best comeback i’ve seen yet:

It doesn’t matter what her IQ is. It doesn’t matter that she had a previous relationship with her tormenters. It doesn’t matter if a woman is a single mom, unemployed, a sex worker, walking alone after dark, or “dressed like a slut.” (or what some refer to as “groupies”, or “golddiggers”; where did you get those fucking terms from anyway? – b. medusa)

Believing any woman “deserves” to be abused, assaulted, raped, tortured, or murdered because she is “stupid” or “should have known better” or “was asking for it” is reprehensible.

• assumptions , gender , rape , sexism , violence
• Comments(3)

b. medusa 20 October 2007 2:19:18 pm

everywhere you can see the pink ribbons signifying that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month (rightfully so). but did you know that October is also Domestic Violence Awareness Month? don’t feel bad, neither did i until i visited the Document the Silence blog (via Anxious Black Woman). wearing red on the 31st is in response to violence (of all kinds) directed towards women of color.

We are responding to:

• The brutal and inhumane rape, torture, and kidnapping of Megan Williams in Logan, West Virginia who was held by six assailants for a month.
• Rape survivors in the Dunbar Housing Projects in West Palm Beach, Florida one of whom was forced to perform sexual acts on her own child.
• A 13 year old native American girl was beaten by two white women and has since been harassed by several men yelling “white power” outside of her home.
• Seven black lesbian girls attempted to stop an attacker and were latter charged with aggravated assault and are facing up to 11 year prison sentences.

sadly, this list isn’t even the tip of the iceberg. violence against women begins early, brownfemipower recently posted an [unfortunately] long list of institutional violence against girls.

did you wear black on 9/20? will you wear black on O22? have you worn a pink ribbon this month? wear red on Oct 31 (visit the Document the Silence blog for more info).

• activism , gender , sexism , violence , woc
• Comments(0)

b. medusa 9 August 2007 10:59:48 am

i’ve alluded to the fact that i’m a disabled veteran, but i generally don’t talk about it much. mostly i just try to put much of my service out of my mind, the good as well as the bad. the last four & a half years have made that hard. but stories like this & this tear holes in my soul.

i joined the army @ the age of 20 in 1979, not long after there stopped being a separate women’s army corp. the phrase sexual harassment didn’t even exist. not long after i reached my first duty assignment, a sista i went through basic training with was gang raped. her immediate supervisor was involved along with several others (i never knew the exact number, she & i never discussed it – the number i heard was somewhere between five & eight). nothing was done to the rapists, not even an article 15 (non-judicial punishment). the victim, on the other hand, was treated like a pariah, like she was crazy, like she was lying (even by other women on post). she was ostracized, & given shit work assignments. she remained under the supervisor who had been involved in her rape. she finally had a nervous breakdown. thankfully, she got transferred early (i think she had to reenlist to pull that off).

given all that, when i was raped by an acquaintance a few months later, i shut the fuck up. i confided in my roomates, but swore them to secrecy. most of them knew about the gang rape incident, all went along w/ my wishes (as far as i know). this was not my only encounter w/ sexual harassment, it is the only one i haven’t blocked successfully. another incident that occurred during a seond tour overseas (where i was one of about 50 women stationed with approximately 400 men) has been trying to push its way out of my subconscious, but i’ve blocked it for so long only tiny fragments come through. one thing that has come through is that in the entire nine & a half years i was on active duty, i received my only article 15 for not going to work the day after it happened. sexual harassment (or whatever actually happened) was no excuse because i didn’t report it. i had even forgotten that.

the incidents i’ve just described i never even brought up during my medical discharge evaluations, but i know they had/have serious implications on my mental state. the army discharged me because i was diagnosed w/ acute depression w/ suicidal tendencies, the va calls it psychosis. today i would just have ptsd. here’s another aspect of the atrocities that happen to women, in this case women in the military. every time (EVERY. FUCKING. TIME.) i hear about a woman in the military being raped or sexually harassed, i relive my own experiences. i know i’m not the only one. ha, i’m actually feeling remorse because i don’t feel this body slam of emotions for every woman. but actually i do, just not so acutely.

we have to fix this shit.

EDIT: please read the posts linked above & follow the links within those posts. Black Amazon, Vox ex Machina & Automatic Preference have also blogged on what is happening in the Cassandra Hernandez case. the more exposure we give to this injustice, the more likely this shit will be put right.

• feminism , gender , health , militarism , oppression , sexism , violence
• Comments(5)

b. medusa 7 July 2007 7:57:57 am

Fla. teens accused of gang rape attack

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Two teenagers were accused of gang raping a woman and forcing her 12-year-old son to join in the attack, then beating him and pouring cleaning solution into his eyes.

Authorities allege Avion Lawson, 14, and Nathan Walker, 16, were among a group of about 10 masked suspects who forced their way into the woman’s apartment in a crime-ridden housing project the night of June 18.

The two were being held without bail Friday on suspicion of armed sexual battery by multiple perpetrators, sexual performance by a child, armed home invasion and aggravated battery. Both were arrested this week, but formal charges had not been filed. Authorities said the two would be charged as adults.

read the rest of the story here

the thing i noticed (after i got over being horrified), was how AP titled the story – “Fla teens accused of gang rape”, even though one teen has admitted to committing this senseless act.

this makes me heart hurt for the mother & son.

• gender , oppression , privilege , violence
• Comments(3)

b. medusa 29 May 2007 10:14:34 am

from brownfemipower:

As you all may know, Women of Color Blog (brownfemipower.com) is currently directing readers and supporters to the blogs (and pay pal buttons) of some really great feminists of color media makers. These amazing women are raising money so that they can attend the Allied Media Conference being held in Detroit on June 22-24th. While there, they will have the opportunity to participate in the women of color track that is being sponsored by Incite! Women of Color Against Violence.

I strongly encourage you to dig a little into your piggy banks, sofas and sock drawers-cash in your pop bottles, pick up pennies off the sidewalk-and donate it to one of the amazing bloggers on this list. You will be helping to support ground breaking and necessary feminist action-ending violence against women of color and their communities in all it’s manifestations through the use of media technology.

To get more information and see a list of the bloggers who are accepting donations, please visit: http://brownfemipower.com/?p=1440.

• activism , community , feminism , fundraising , gender , journalism , media , networking , organizing , woc
• Comments(0)

b. medusa 2 May 2007 7:34:09 am

Have you ever wanted the chance to turn Rapunzel into a national football hero? Hercules into a world-class jazzercizer? Make Bert and Ernie their very own queen-size bed that they actually get to sleep in together? Now’s your chance! Let the synthesis of your feminist sensibilities and all the fairy tales that have hurt your feelings bring your imagination and creativity to a whole new level. Come hang out with other boys who always wanted to be the Little Mermaid, women who engineer dare-devil rollercoasters, and everyone in between. Jacinta Bunnell, co-creator of the Girls Not Chicks and Girls Will Be Boys Will Be Girls Will Be helps the children-at-heart of Baltimore make their very own radical coloring books! More info…

• art , author , books , event , gender , sexism
• Comments(0)

b. medusa 25 April 2007 8:38:58 am

link to the original post which inspired the flyer – here

• blackness , cluelessness , gender , hierarchy , oppression , privilege , racism , white supremacy
• Comments(1)

b. medusa 9 April 2007 6:38:59 pm

Join editor and illustrator Michelle Wright @ Red Emmas for a reading from Broken Utterances, an exciting new anthology of black feminist thought, published by Three Sistahs Press, a new independent Baltimore press we’re really excited to see. More info…

• art , author , books , class , event , gender , racism , sexism
• Comments(0)