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 6 September 2007 2:41:04 am

i already posted this on my event calendar, but i just saw an article about their 3 year struggle on dissident voice:

The UWA, a human rights group founded by homeless day laborers in Baltimore, represents 800 low-wage workers who make up the pool of the 100-120 people who keep Camden Yards clean. Stadium workers — the people who clean out the bathroom stalls, sweep up the small mountains of cigarette butts and make the Camden Yards experience as pristine as promised — make poverty wages, just $7 an hour.

Work schedules for stadium workers can vary as well. Some workweeks can be well over forty hours; in other weeks, if the Orioles are on the road, the laborers don’t work at all. Take-home pay varies accordingly, depending on the number of home games in a week and how long the games last. The windfall earned from a game that goes into extra innings can make a real difference in the way a family eats in a given week.

Because they are doing “day labor,” members of the UWA who show up to work are sent home if they’re not needed. The wages are so low, and the job so “flexible,” that some workers live in homeless shelters. One worker was kicked out of public housing because her pay that month couldn’t match the monthly rent.

[...]

Also of note is that the UWA is largely composed of African-American and Latino workers. In an era when communities of color are often pitched against one another, their solidarity inspires hope.

excerpted from Cleaning Up After the Orioles by Dave Zirin.

read the full article. more info also @ http://unitedworkers.org/

IMPORTANT UPDATE!!! TOMORROW’S CONCERT NOW A VICTORY CELEBRATION!!!
visit the United Workers link above for more info. see also:
Stadium crews get raise|Maryland agency approves $11.30 ‘living wage’ next year
Hannah Cho, Baltimore Sun

Md. Workers Cancel Hunger Strike
Ben Nuckols, AP/Forbes.com

• activism , art , community , music , organizing , poetry , poverty , privilege
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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
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b. medusa 25 April 2007 8:41:13 am

…there were hand written journals & i kept one for about 16 years. last night i looked through the last journal for something i had written years earlier.

but first a word from a blogger i really admire:

The Primary Contradiction

I’m sharing this story with you all not to shame this person nor to start any public battles, but to relate an experience shared by too many people of color in the progressive movement. Anytime we try to hold white allies accountable for their actions, we take a huge risk. Whether that is the loss of a personal relationship, a smeared reputation, or simply the wrath of someone whose ego we have bruised, people of color in all strata of the left have an uphill battle in challenging white supremacy. Good people, you and I have seen and experienced many examples of white ally catastrophe.

and a word from a blogger i just discovered who did a three part series on racism:

Feline Formal Shorts

After all, so-and-so is such a good feminist/lefty/blogger/politico/”ally” that they couldn’t possibly be racist (or sexist, ableist, heterosexist, or what have you) . . . Mentioning race is a problem. Calling attention to your racial differences is a problem. Talking about racial group phenomena is a problem. If we ignore it, then it won’t be a problem any more, right?

finally, the words i wrote so many years ago after years of heartbreaking/disappointing intimate relationships:

its almost scary how easy its becoming to detach myself – physically & emotionally – from fucked up boyfriends. thank god, after all, haven’t i had enuf?

yesterday detachment served me well in separating myself from white so-called activist allies.

i’ll let a blog commenter have the last word:

nanette said (in response to TPC post above)

…Don’t look back or loop back around to give someone time to catch up (unless you want to) – the pathways are all well marked, the bridges built and it’s time for people to find their own ways across them.(emphasis mine – medusa)

• activism , assimilation , blackness , cluelessness , community , hierarchy , oppression , racism , white privilege , white supremacy
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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
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b. medusa 27 March 2007 6:30:35 pm

Nobody Passes starts by tearing binary gender norms to shreds, and then proceeds to examine the perilous intersections of identity, categorization, and community in order to challenge the very notion of belonging. From activism to academia, immigration to appropriation to cruising for sex, hip-hop to disability culture to trans communities, Nobody Passes challenges societal mores and countercultural norms, asking, “If we eliminate the pressure to pass, what delicious and devastating opportunities for transformation might we create?” @ Red Emmas. More info…

• art , author , books , discussion , event , gender , privilege , racism , sexism
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b. medusa 16 January 2007 4:11:45 pm

‘White Out: The Continuing Significance of Racism’
edited by Ashley W. Doane & Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, published 2003

“Whiteness studies adds that the “personal interrogation of position” will make whiteness visible and thereby undermine the perpetuation of an unjust racial order. There is an assumption here that if white people would only become conscious of their whiteness, more just behavior would follow. One might ask if becoming conscious of whiteness could not just as easily produce white-supremacist movements or lead white people to feel relieved that they have privilege and others do not…”

right off the bat an unquestioned assumption is challenged. i knew @ this point that this book was not going to be like most of the books i’ve read on whiteness. pleasantly, i was not disappointed. not only is ‘White Out’ a book on whiteness that doesn’t center on whites, it exposes the racism of color-blindness, something both whites & poc espouse, although whites are most likely to engage in color-evasive language. “What appears to haunt these color-evasive accounts, then, is the understanding that recognizing race might be construed as racist. But why is it that recognizing one’s culpability in racist practices,…is so difficult to acknowledge?”

if that wasn’t enough, it goes the extra step of examining the white privilege inherent in the designation biracial & multiracial. finally, ‘White Out’ speaks on the eventual “darkening” of whiteness, the negative impact this darkening (combined with ongoing separatism) will have on struggles for equality, & strategies for avoiding continued marginalization. the language is neither overly simple, nor needlessly arcane; it is neither accusatory nor apologist, & @ less than 300 pages it is not overly time consuming. clearly a book that can & should be widely read, so @ the risk of sounding like a cliche, ‘White Out’ is definitely a must-read.

• activism , color-blind racism , white privilege , white supremacy
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b. medusa 7 October 2006 9:44:50 pm

i just read a comment to a post on another blog that was so spot on! the gist is: any oppression is easier to see than one’s own privilege, BUT oppression is only seen on a superficial level until one’s own privilege is recognized.
i would add that one’s own privilege must be acknowledged & DEALT WITH. this requires a lot more than an hour or two spent @ a ‘wite privilege seminar’*, & a helluva lot more than just saying ‘i have wite privilege’ & continuing on in a slightly less clueless manner.

this isn’t just referring to wite privilege, its merely the first one which came to mind. male privilege is just as destructive, class privilege is usually gained from one or both (but usually elevated to a greater threat than either). i could go on & on, but all other privileges lead back to these three. take 2 equally downtrodden sistas, the one further oppressing the other is channeling gender/race/class privilege, when carefully analyzed.

privilege has to be constantly, critically analyzed, otherwise acknowledgement is mere apology until the next infraction; allowing oppression to continue from those who profess enlightenment.

* usually w/ more poc in attendance than wites. its good for poc to see the work being done (or not), but we don’t need to attend in greater numbers than wites. i would not say the same about a male privilege seminar, women are almost more adept @ boy shit than men.

• oppression , privilege , white supremacy
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b. medusa 7 October 2006 9:34:50 am

• would it be “emotional” blackmail if she were a he? smacks of boy shit re: hysteria.
• the proposal is not sudden, its been put forth in some form or other for @ least a year. the group has refused to meaningfully acknowledge & adjust. this is manipulative, similar to practices the group claims it doesn’t want to emulate. combined w/ people’s sacrifices that make the project viable (barely, these days), working shifts for this group reaches the same level of shitty as anywhere else, just in different ways. Continue Reading »

• assimilation , gender , hierarchy , white privilege
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b. medusa 15 September 2006 7:31:04 am

why aren’t there more people of color @ our events.” she said.* another statement – has to be a statement, the answer is obvious if its a question – that i’m thoroughly sick of. however, as if to prove me wrong regarding how obvious the answer is, a young man replies, ” we have to find ways to involve people of color in what we’re trying to achieve.” Continue Reading »

• activism , cluelessness , organizing , white privilege
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