soft as chalk

i emailed the writer of the article on jezebel and explained the situation to them, even linking my post about it on here, and i got this response:

Wed, 22 May 2013 21:14:02 -0500

jennyhenk:

angryasiangirlsunited:

Hello Jannat,

Jezebel, like most, if not all media outlets, quotes and references public content — articles, Tweets, Tumblrs, Instagrams, and emails — on a daily basis. We do not remove content once it has been published.

Best,
[Writer of the article]

this just re-confirms my belief that i don’t trust jezebel at all. i’m not surprised that they refused to remove my quote from their article, but i am surprised that i basically just got the company policy sent to me without so much as an apology or “we’ll do better next time.” i’m really not sure what i expected, but this seems awfully cold for the fact that i just sent them an email explaining how the article might garner AAGU negative attention, as well as the idea of responsibility for actually asking before you take other people’s words like that.

but this does tell us that jezebel officially doesn’t give a shit if they engage in that type of behavior, so fellow woc especially: protect your content. get a creative commons license or something. essentially, be careful out there.

-jannat

Always remember: Jezebel is not feminist. It is, fundamentally, linkbait trash.

(No matter how many Lindy West articles they publish.)

I’m not in the least surprised that they quoted a Tumblr post (without even using the author’s name as it was provided with the post) which was carefully interrogating Mindy Kaling’s show as “defending Mindy Kaling.”

They’re not into analysis or thoughtful critiques. They’re into publishing articles that will get them the most clickthroughs. Even if those articles are written by a man like Hugo Schwyzer, who is a man with a history of predatory behaviour and abuse who says he’s “reformed” but continues to make his living writing and teaching on women’s and gender issues. Even after it was revealed that he had attempted to kill a former girlfriend in a murder/suicide and he said he would step back from his “public feminist” role and then he didn’t.

Re: Lindy West - her Jezebel article on “hipster racism” which went viral, is one of the most egregious examples of mainstream publications stealing/co-opting the work of WOC without attribution.

Wow. I missed that Racialicious post (and, unsurprisingly, the original Jezebel post). Thank you for the brief.

I read the occasional Lindy West post on Jezebel if it gets linked somewhere else and I usually like her writing and her points. I’m not by any means a megafan.

Still, I’m disappointed to learn that she’s done the same exact thing that it seems that every white feminist/activist seems to end up doing: co-opting collective work and the individual work of others (particularly more marginalized people, especially people of colour) for personal gain.

There’s a young feminist activist I know IRL who’s building a public profile and I’ve already seen some of the potential for this in her. I’m trying to figure out how to talk to her about it.

siddharthasmama: provocatoria: socialismartnature: Amazing 9...

Wed, 22 May 2013 20:15:24 -0500

siddharthasmama:

provocatoria:

socialismartnature:

Amazing 9 year old Asean Johnson brings the crowd to their feet at Chicago school closings rally

Asean (ah-Shawn) goes to Marcus Garvey Elementary School, slated for closure by the Chicago Public School administration, an un-elected board who’s members are appointed by Mayor Rahm Elmanuel, former Chief of Staff for President Barack Obama

More Info On School Closings Protests Here

===

Daaaamn. Watch this 9-yr old student stand up and spit hot fire at a mass rally against the Chicago Mayor and Public School administration who are trying to close his and dozens of other schools in mostly non-white neighborhoods.

The future of social justice activism.

Crying. Black and brown children shouldn’t have to grow up so fast. This kid is absolutely amazing, but I wish we lived in a world where he could just play with his friends, hang out with his family or spend time worrying about if that girl down the street has a crush on him, instead of having to take on the responsibility of advocating for himself and other black, brown and low income childrens’ education. POC kids can never just be kids, man.

Bolded that last sentence for the cot damn truth.

dreambeam: Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to...

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:42:51 -0500

dreambeam:

Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this image in no way endorses a belief in the “JIF” pronunciation.

Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that GIF WAS AND ALWAYS SHOULD BE PRONOUNCED WITH A SOFT J, END OF STORY THANK YOU VERY MUCH

A guide to consuming ethically in capitalism

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:39:24 -0500

anarcheluxemburg:

Step One: You can’t

zuky: kynodontas: jhameia: kynodontas: tangledaxon: Cover...

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:07:09 -0500

zuky:

kynodontas:

jhameia:

kynodontas:

tangledaxon:

Cover reveal for Ascension. It’s gorgeous and I couldn’t be happier with it. I hope you love it too!

Art by Scott Grimando, cover design by Sherin Nicole.

#QUEER #POC #POLYAMORY

:’)

sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet

“Alana Quick is the best damned sky surgeon in Heliodor City, but repairing starship engines barely pays the bills. When the desperate crew of a cargo vessel stops by her shipyard looking for her spiritually-advanced sister Nova, Alana stows away. Maybe her boldness will land her a long-term gig on the crew. But the Tangled Axon proves to be more than star-watching and plasma coils. The chief engineer thinks he’s a wolf. The pilot fades in and out of existence. The captain is all blond hair, boots, and ego … and Alana can’t keep her eyes off her. But there’s little time for romance: Nova’s in danger and someone will do anything-even destroying planets-to get their hands on her.”

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sounds far preferable to anything involving yet another self-worshipping white male egomaniacal misogynist with a saviour complex.

I need to be reading this right this second.

misterlorde: awkwardpandalalala: bbones: photojojo: Flickr...

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:31:35 -0500

misterlorde:

awkwardpandalalala:

bbones:

photojojo:

Flickr just launched a new look. Not only do you get to upload photos at full resolution, but everyone gets a free terabyte of photo storage!

Flickr Launches Web Update

this is what im talkin about!!! its tight

I will have to start using my flickr again.

I was just about to post something about this! My faith in Yahoo has been restored. Things were looking up when they launched their iPhone app, changed their layout, and when folks left Instagram for Flickr – briefly – due to Insta’s TOS snafu, but things were quiet for a while. Too quiet.
The new layout is gonna take a little getting used to, but I really like where it’s going. Shit, I might start using my Rebel and Powershots again!

I was worried at first because I just renewed my Pro account. For me, 1 TB storage basically equals unlimited storage (which is what you get with Pro). However, you still need Pro to be ad-free, and I will definitely pay to avoid the ads, so it all works out!

"Star Trek Into Dark: Let me tellya something, Benedict Cumberpatch and Leonard Nimoy had the TWO..."

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:53 -0500

“Star Trek Into Dark: Let me tellya something, Benedict Cumberpatch and Leonard Nimoy had the TWO biggest punchlines in the whole movie. Wanna know why? because when Elder Spock called Harrison Khan by his full name, I just laughed. I really did. That man is named Khan? Really? what’s his history? cultural background? Oh ya’ll had to be really vague and confuse people no familiar with Star Trek? Oh, okay. It’s hilarious how even by dumbing down/ white-washing Star Trek’s progressive message, JJ Abrams’ still manages to waste a $100 million budget & still not have time to explain how a very very pale white guy is named Khan. Ain’t it funny. It was to me. I laughed in the theater. More on this tomorrow”

- (via polisyfyjesus)

Holy shit I had not even considered this aspect. It was fine to suspend disbelief that Nimoy Spock would recognize his former crewmates as played by new actors when the casting followed precedent in terms of race and ethnicity. But as if Nimoy Spock wouldn’t look at Khanberbatch and not say, “Who the fuck is that?”

(Also, full disclosure, I still have not seen the movie, I’ve just been picking up spoilers as they are presented to me, because I just don’t care.)

Star Trek: Into Darkness

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:56:13 -0500

tzikeh:

So… in the alternate timeline, the even-numbered movies suck.

Got it.

wickedclothes: Mermaid Pocket Knife Necklace This mermaid isn’t...

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:49:23 -0500

wickedclothes:

Mermaid Pocket Knife Necklace

This mermaid isn’t what she appears to be at first look, much like the legends claim.

Sold on Etsy.

erstwhilegirl: teroknortailor: ussawesome: anybody else notice that “to boldly go where no man...

Sat, 18 May 2013 20:46:34 -0500

erstwhilegirl:

teroknortailor:

ussawesome:

anybody else notice that “to boldly go where no man has gone before” got changed to “where no one has gone before” because they wanted to be more inclusive

of aliens

alien rights make me tear up inside

Er, also of, you know… women.

Holy fuck what is it with Trek fans being so abysmally clueless these days.

Imagine a World Without Colonialism: yellow-turbanfacing: You know-We don’t just hate things like...

Sat, 18 May 2013 13:20:14 -0500

Imagine a World Without Colonialism: yellow-turbanfacing: You know-We don’t just hate things like...:

yellow-turbanfacing:

You know-

We don’t just hate things like whitewashing, yellowface, redface, blackface, brownface, etc because they depict and promote horrible stereotypical representations of us and the way you think we look,

We don’t just hate them because they are the remnants of horrifically racist practices that were legalized and condoned,

We don’t just hate them because they are systematic ways of purposefully excluding us from being represented in the media,

We don’t just hate them because people STILL defend their use on grounds of ‘authenticity,’ whatever that means,

We don’t just hate them because people STILL think we look like that,

We don’t just hate them because they mean that we STILL live in a White world, where we’re all the deviations from the norm, the weird ones,

We don’t just hate them because their mere existence means that you will never see us for who we are but only for the commodified version of what you think we are,

We hate them because they promote the idea that no matter how high we rise, no matter how good we are at what we do and how well we represent ourselves, there will always be a white person who can do anything we can do better than we can- there will always be a white person that can depict us better than we can depict ourselves.

We hate them because when we do get in, when we finally get to show ourselves to the world, who we are is horrifically warped and neatly packed into a simplified, stereotyped version of us.

We hate them because they continue to exist and continue to be promoted and supported by the media and legions of racism apologists.

THAT’S WHY WE HATE THESE THINGS.

WE DON’T HATE THEM JUST BECAUSE OF THEIR PAST,

WE HATE THEM BECAUSE OF WHAT THEY MEAN IN THE PRESENT-

THAT WE’RE STILL, DESPITE WHAT PEOPLE THINK, NOT PAST RACISM,

THAT WE’RE STILL BEING UNFAIRLY TREATED AND REPRESENTED,

THAT WE STILL LIVE IN A WHITE WORLD IN WHICH WE ARE STILL INCAPABLE OF REPRESENTING OURSELVES

AND THAT ALL OF THIS

IS

STILL

GOING

ON

AND

IS

STILL

BEING

ENDORSED

BY

THE

MEDIA.

Don’t apologize for things like whitewashing, yellowface, redface, blackface and brownface.

HELP END THEM.

The Book of Right-On - May 16, 2013 by Jenny Henkelman on Mixcloud I’ve been uploading...

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:10:15 -0500

The Book of Right-On - May 16, 2013 by Jenny Henkelman on Mixcloud

I’ve been uploading episodes of my radio show to Mixcloud. You can listen if you want.

faineemae: “you’re khan? are you sure? you look like a...

Sat, 18 May 2013 00:40:52 -0500

faineemae:

“you’re khan? are you sure? you look like a baiganbharta cucumberraita to me”

kimyadawson: I was sitting on a bench when a girl around 5 yrs...

Sat, 18 May 2013 00:29:27 -0500

kimyadawson:

I was sitting on a bench when a girl around 5 yrs old, in a fancy party dress, looked me in the eye & said “Why do you look like a monster?”

And I was like….

Photo

Sat, 18 May 2013 00:27:03 -0500

polisyfyjesus: raw-r-evolution: ikenbot: Star Trek: Into...

Fri, 17 May 2013 23:07:11 -0500

polisyfyjesus:

raw-r-evolution:

ikenbot:

Star Trek: Into Whiteness

If there’s one thing that most fans of Star Trek will agree on, it’s the fact that Gene Roddenberry’s vision for the show — and, more optimistically, for human society — was predicated on the idea that all life is valuable, and that the worth of a person should not be judged by their appearance. Much of this was done through the old sci-fi trope of using aliens to stand in for oppressed groups, but Star Trek didn’t rely on the metaphor; it had characters who were part of the ensemble, important and beloved members of the Enterprise crew, who were people of colour. It had background characters who were people of colour. And, here and there, it had anti-heroes and villains who were people of colour … one of whom, Khan Noonian Singh, became well-nigh iconic.

Image 1: “Who is your favorite villain?” ; Actor John Cho (Lt Sulu) answers.

Image 2: TOS Khan looking at a watercolor of himself. Yes, he’s wearing a dastar (Sikh turban)

Image 3: Cumberbatch and Montalbán (as Khan)

And who is now being played by white actor Benedict Cumberbatch in the new JJ Abrams reboot movie, Star Trek: Into Darkness.

We’re all cynical and jaded enough to know the standard dismissal when it comes to matters of media representation: Paramount Pictures and most film studios are not interested in diversity or visibility, they only care about the bottom dollar. Star Trek as a franchise is too much of a juggernaut to affect with boycotts. There are too many people who love it, who love those characters and that world, and will go to see the movie. And for some of these people, this devotion to the idea of a future where even South and East Asian men get to pilot a starship and love swashbuckling, where Black women make Lieutenant on the Enterprise and actually get the boy, will be trivialized and eroded and whitewashed when the most formidable and complex Star Trek baddie becomes a white man named Khan.

It wasn’t perfect in the 60s when Ricardo Montalbán was cast to play Khan (a character explicitly described in the episode script of Space Seed as being Sikh, from the Northern regions of India). But considering all of the barriers to representation that Roddenberry faced from the television networks, having a brown-skinned man play a brown character was a hard-won victory. It’s disappointing and demoralizing that with the commercial power of Star Trek in his hands, JJ Abrams chose not to honour the original spirit of the show, or the symbolic heft of the Khan character, but to wield the whitewash brush for … what? The hopes that casting Benedict Cumberbatch would draw in a few more box office returns? It’s doubly disappointing when you consider that Abrams was a creator of the television show Lost, which had so many well-rounded and beloved characters of colour in it.

Add to this the secrecy prior to release around Cumberbatch’s role in the film, and what seems like a casting move that would typically be defended by cries of “best actor for the job, not racism” becomes something more cunning, more malicious. Yes, the obfuscation creates intrigue around and interest in the role, but it also prevents advocacy groups like Racebending.com from building campaigns to protest the whitewashing. This happened with the character of the Mandarin in Iron Man 3, as well as ‘Miranda Tate’ in The Dark Knight Rises, who ended up being Talia al Ghul but played by French actress Marion Cotillard. This practice is well in effect in Hollywood; and after the negative press that was generated by angry anti-oppression activists and fans when Paramount had The Last Airbender in the works, studios are wising up. They don’t want their racist practices to be called out, pointed at, and exposed before their movies are released — Airbender proved that these protests create enough bad feeling to affect their bottom line.

So the studio has now found a way to keep it secret and underhanded. Racebending.com was there for most of the production of The Last Airbender, and were even able to correspond with Paramount Pictures about it. This time, for Star Trek: Into Darkness, their hiding and opaque practices has managed to silence media watchdogs until the movie’s premiere.

As I said, this racist whitewashing of the character of Khan won’t affect how much money this Trek movie makes. And I’m happy that the franchise is popular, still popular enough to warrant not only a big-budget reboot with fantastic actors but also a sequel with that cast. I’m happy that actors I enjoy like Zoë Saldaña and John Cho are playing characters who mean so much to me, and that they, in respect for the groundbreaking contributions by Nichelle Nichols and George Takei in these roles, have paid homage to that past.

But all of that will be marred by having my own skin edited out, rendered worthless and silent and invisible when a South Asian man is portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch up on that screen. In the original Trek, Khan, with his brown skin, was an Übermensch, intellectually and physically perfect, possessed of such charisma and drive that despite his efforts to gain control of the Enterprise, Captain Kirk (and many of the other officers) felt admiration for him.

And that’s why the role has been taken away from actors of colour and given to a white man. Racebending.com has always pointed out that villains are generally played by people with darker skin, and that’s true … unless the villain is one with intelligence, depth, complexity. One who garners sympathy from the audience, or if not sympathy, then — as from Kirk — grudging admiration. What this new Trek movie tells us, what JJ Abrams is telling us, is that no brown-skinned man can accomplish all that. That only by having Khan played by a white actor can the audience engage with and feel for him, believe that he’s smart and capable and a match for our Enterprise crew.

What an enormous and horribly ironic step backwards. For Star Trek, for media representation, and for the vision of a future where we have transcended systemic, racist erasure.

(via RaceBending)

THIS IS PISSING ME OFF

Star Trek: Into Whiteness by JJ Abrams

cress-cross: supersonicelectronic: Paula Duro. Paintings by...

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:40:45 -0500

cress-cross:

supersonicelectronic:

Paula Duro.

Paintings by Paula Duro:

Read More

wow

Former NASA Engineer Awards Kiera Wilmot Scholarship to Space Academy

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:30:20 -0500

Former NASA Engineer Awards Kiera Wilmot Scholarship to Space Academy:

searchingforknowledge:

queennubian:

jalylah:

As a show of support, former NASA engineer Homer Hickam awarded Kiera a scholarship to attend the United States Advanced Space Academy (ASA), a branch of the famous Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama!

YESSSSSSSSS!

That’s what I’m talking about dammit!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Beautiful justice. <3 to infinity.

"Capitalism would have us believe that we only deserve to be here because of what we produce, and..."

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:20:15 -0500

““Capitalism would have us believe that we only deserve to be here because of what we produce, and even in our counter- cultures, even in our movements we reproduce the same idea. We only deserve to be here because of what we can produce that other people will buy with their money, time or attention. Our experience of our own lives is secondary, it is only the means of production, it is the products that matter, and unless we make ourselves into both factories and widgets we are not valuable.””

- Alexis Pauline Gumbs (via satyacake)

commiekinkshamer: i have no problem with pointing out that anyone of any gender can be an abuser,...

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:12:30 -0500

commiekinkshamer:

i have no problem with pointing out that anyone of any gender can be an abuser, rapist, pedophile etc because that’s absolutely true.

but the problem with always emphasizing “yes but it happens to everyone, not just women (or people of colour, or trans* people, etc)!” is that it depoliticizes the issue.

violence is not an accident, it is reflective of social power relations that permeate society at every level