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
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b. medusa 20 September 2007 4:45:23 pm

like every other site i have visited online regarding this story, i am disgusted, sickened, horrified. paralyzed into silence even for more than a few days by the horror of it (but sadly not shocked or surprised). since first encountering the initial story via Black Amazon & Vox ex Machina, the Anxious Black Woman has also weighed in on the DV aspect & the release of the victim’s name w/ some extremely thoughtful commentary . Black & Missing provides comprehensive coverage of the case. Elle, phd & Prof Black Woman bring us the news of the latest outrage of this case.

Vox ex Machina has several posts documenting hate crimes:

• the College Racism Roundup
• Hate Crimes on the Rise
• Hate Crime, Sex Crime

thanks to Tom @ Automatic Preference, i found the very comprehensive & detailed summary of the Jena 6 case over @ Black & Missing. She details what has been going on, who has documented the case up to this point, what strategies have been employed, who’s doing what, what folx can do to help, & provides links. all this in addition to her usual mission of documenting missing poc & making sure the missing receive the attention they deserve.

if you aren’t in Jena today (20 Sep), hopefully you have signed up & are participating in the Virtual March, wearing black, sporting an armband or @ the very least passing the word on. hat tip to Yobachi @ Blackperspectives.net for the word that Mychal Bell is still sitting in jail & heads up on the virtual march.

for those who’ve been shocked by what happened in Jena, here are a couple of perspectives on why some of us aren’t:

• Do You Understand Where You Are? (hat tip to BA)
• The Jena Six: An American Tragedy and a Shameful Reality

two very informative posts on hate crime in general (XP’s), and from up close & personal (Zuky). both posts are cited in Vox ex Machina’s post on Hate Crimes on the Rise (linked above)

finally, getting away from hate crime for a moment (or am i?), i’m sure you heard about the unnecessary use of force @ u of fl (student tasered @ event where john kerry was present). less known about is the beat down Lennox Yearwood got @ the capitol (the man will be on crutches for weeks), & like Cindy Sheehan i’d like to know why so many “fellow activists” silently stood by & watched while it was happening. i think i know, but i’d like to hear someone try to explain it w/o sounding totally fuckin’ lame. especially those who’ve wondered why the antiwar movement is so “white”.

• activism , hate crime , jena 6 , networking , oppression , organizing , rape , violence
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b. medusa 3 September 2007 9:51:32 am

(i’m totally serious about the required part, & this post may be updated).

• BFP does a guest post @ Kai’s place on Blogging & Race. this latest version of “where da poc’s at?” was bought about by the yearly kos thing in chicago early last month, but a thorough read of the entire post (& the comments too) is a must for all who’ve ever asked the question. or it’s companion – “how do we get poc’s involved in what we’re doing?” if you still “don’t get it”, after reading this post – start over & read it again. in fact, i suggest reading it twice anyway, just to be sure.

moving on to more generalized required reading:

• while you’re at it, it wouldn’t hurt to follow the links in this post either.
• and then get your butts over to Black Amazon’s & read the Carnival of Radical Action: Back to School Edition. read all of it & follow the links there too.

don’t tell me you don’t have time. make time. bookmark the pages & come back to them if necessary, but do read them thoroughly. this is continuing education, & its FREE. and to quote BA from the above post, “forget what you heard ignorance is not only NOT bliss, but DAMN ANNOYING to people who have to deal with you.” word.

• assumptions , cluelessness , discussion , information , networking , oppression , poc , white supremacy , woc
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b. medusa 30 August 2007 12:45:10 am

what an honor it is to share a birthday with this beautiful brother, so young, so wise, & taken from us much too soon.

EDIT: i set this post up to appear today a little over a week ago so that i could get away from the computer on my birthday. since then i was designated a Blogger for Justice, so i’ve edited this post to ask that you pick up a banner similar to the one on the far right sidebar (graphics may differ, but links provided beneath the banner are the same). i also invite you to visit (or revisit) this post. also visit BlackPerspective.net for a list of other Bloggers for Justice.

EDIT: in my haste to update this post, i forgot to include this important piece of information (which was the main point of the day of blogging for justice): please contact news organizations on this media list and ask them to cover the story. its not too late; email, call, or write the organizations on the list so we can get better coverage of this story.

• activism , birthday , black panther , information , media , networking , oppression , organizing , white supremacy
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b. medusa 25 August 2007 10:07:55 am

afrospear blogger D. Yobachi Boswell @ BlackPerspective.net has devoted a page or two to brainstorming new strategies for dealing with the Jena 6 case. currently plans are developing for a “Blogging for Justice” day in the very (very) near future. make sure you head over there to stay updated.

meanwhile, i’ve created a banner distributor download, modeled on the one i got from Tom @ Automatic Preference. please consider becoming a banner distributor, so we can spread the word (and the bandwidth drain ) around. you can download the distributor here.

EDIT: an example of the banner distribution page can be found on the Jena 6 banners page & each choice generates a banner similar to the one found in the far right sidebar. apologies for not making that clear.
—————-
Now playing: Buddy Miles – Down By The River
via FoxyTunes

• activism , community , jena 6 , networking , oppression , organizing
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b. medusa 15 August 2007 4:04:49 am

The 2007 Mid-Atlantic Radical Bookfair, bringing together radical and independent publishers, distributors, bookstores, and authors for a weekend of workshops, panel discussions, and performances, all free and open to the public, will take place on October 20th and 21st. As an added bonus this year, we’re also organizing a Radical Film Festival on October 19th to kick things off.

The bookfair will be taking place in Baltimore at 2640, the new cooperative events venue and social center launched this year by Red Emma’s, which also serves as one of the organizations behind the Bookfair. More info…

• author , bookfair , books , community , discussion , event , film , information , networking , organizing , workshops
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b. medusa 26 June 2007 12:56:39 pm

i’ve read some fantastic stuff about the amc & added a few new woc bloggers to my bookmarks. i will be adding to my blogroll shortly. obviously i’ll update this as more bloggers update their blogs after their return. but there’s plenny of great stuff they have to tell already:

• black amazon @ having read the fine print sez
  

  “So rather than try and create homogenous transnational movements, international solidarity between various self concerned peoples DOING WHAT MATTERS TO THEM can be just as effective.”

  and sez this

  “We have grown accustomed to being alone and discounted and thinking of our spoken experiences as us addressing personal needs to be heard.”

  (i’d just like to say, before i die i hope i get a chance to get one of those amazonian hugs.)

• nadia of no snow here has post amc reflections, & a more comprehensive roundup
• sudy (a womyn’s ecdysis) live-blogged (w/pics!) throughout & tied it all together w/ a beautiful poem. btw, i have had Grace Lee Boggs autobiography reserved @ the library since march, only to find out today that its no longer available.
• bfp (women of color blog) also live-blogged (& didn’t miss a step on what else was going on either). don’t miss her notes from the “Hijacking The Master’s Tools” panel & [if you're a woc or trans poc] the woc caucus notes.
• ubuntu has up a list of zines published by woc & an excerpt of Audre Lorde’s “Transformation of Silence Into Language & Action.

head on over to these outstanding blogs & read what they have to say dammit! hell, you shoulda been reading them before now anyway!

• activism , community , discussion , feminism , information , internet , media , networking , organizing , woc
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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
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b. medusa 5 March 2007 6:47:46 pm

Houston’s radical bookstore, Sedition Books was consumed by fire on 27 February 2007. Arson is suspected. In solidarity, Red Emmas will host a benefit concert on 9 March @ 2640, featuring Riot-Folk’s Ryan Harvey and radical folk singer Lars Din. Visit the Sedition collective’s myspace page for their statement and additional information regarding donations to get them back up and running.

• activism , art , benefit , community , event , fundraising , music , networking , organizing
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b. medusa 5 March 2007 6:29:44 pm

Are we really running out of oil? How soon? What impact will Peak Oil have on the political culture of the U.S.? Alexis Zeigler, author of the new book, Culture Change: Civil Liberty, Peak Oil, and the End of Empire will conduct a presentation and discussion of these issues.

• activism , author , books , community , event , networking , organizing
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