A bomb went off at a branch of one of the largest and oldest civil rights organizations yet the coverage of the event has been pathetic. A bomb went off on American soil and yet major news outlets only write 3 sentences and there is no speculation of the bomber being a terrorist or mention of increased racial tension, or that bombing was historically used against black establishments.
I also want to give you some statistics on how the major news television stations have been reporting on the bombing or to be frank how they haven’t been reporting. There was 1 mention of the bombing on CNN and 0 on Fox News or MNBC.
Tag: important
Grand Juror Sues McCulloch, Says He Mischaracterized The Wilson Case
A grand juror is suing St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch in an effort to speak out on what happened in the Darren Wilson case. Under typical circumstances, grand jurors are prohibited by law from discussing cases they were involved in.
The grand juror, referred to only as “Grand Juror Doe” in the lawsuit, takes issue with how McCulloch characterized the case. McCulloch released evidence presented to the grand jury and publicly discussed the case after the grand jury decided not to indict Wilson, then a Ferguson police officer, in the shooting death of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African American.
“In [the grand juror]’s view, the current information available about the grand jurors’ views is not entirely accurate — especially the implication that all grand jurors believed that there was no support for any charges,” the lawsuit says. “Moreover, the public characterization of the grand jurors’ view of witnesses and evidence does not accord with [Doe]’s own.”
“From [the grand juror]’s perspective, the investigation of Wilson had a stronger focus on the victim than in other cases presented to the grand jury,” the lawsuit states. Doe also believes the legal standards were conveyed in a “muddled” and “untimely” manner to the grand jury.
In the lawsuit filed Monday in federal court, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri argues that this case is unique and that the usual reasons for requiring the jurors to maintain secrecy should not apply.
In this specific case, “any interests furthered by maintaining grand jury secrecy are outweighed by the interests secured by the First Amendment,” the lawsuit says, adding that allowing the juror to speak would contribute to a discussion on race in America.
As the grand juror points out in the lawsuit, the Wilson case was handled in a very different manner than other grand juries. Instead of recommending a charge, McCulloch’s office presented thousands of pages worth of evidence and testimony before the grand jury. At one point, McCulloch’s spokesman characterized the grand jury as co-investigators.
“From [Doe]’s perspective, although the release of a large number of records provides an appearance of transparency, with heavy redactions and the absence of context, those records do not fully portray the proceedings before the grand jury,” the lawsuit says.
McCulloch has done several interviews since the grand jury decision was announced on Nov. 24, but the grand jurors have been prohibited from speaking about the case. The county prosecutor admits that some of the witnesses were lying, but said the grand jurors were aware.
The 12 people who could say for sure are currently sworn to secrecy.
Although the county released redacted transcripts of witness and expert testimony, the grand jurors deliberated without a court reporter or member of the prosecutor’s office present.
The level of incompetency and flat out misconduct by Bob McCulloch is both baffling and disturbing. Hopefully this renews the call for a special prosecutor in the case against Darren Wilson for the murder of Mike Brown. #staywoke #farfromover
Someone just tried to tell me that slavery was largely abolished and rarer today than in the past.
Is that what they’re teaching kids in school cause there are actually more slaves today than there ever were at any point in recorded history.
The number of people living as slaves around the world right now is estimated to exceed 30 million.
And there are slaves in America, right now. Thousands of them. You can still buy human beings almost anywhere in the world with the money and connections.
And this is only going by strict, legal definitions of what constitutes inhumane, forced work with imprisonment. If we also count the countries where people just have little choice but to work in hellish conditions for pennies a day, or people taken advantage of through legal loopholes, the numbers are staggeringly higher.
Statistically, there are dozens of products in your home right now that were made by slaves, and whatever you ate today, slaves probably harvested several of its ingredients, especially if they were plant products. Fruits and veggies? Enormous amounts of slavery. Whole communities of slaves pick your produce.
Don’t let anybody convince you that slavery is something associated with older, more “primitive” cultures or just third-world countries. It’s building the world we’re living in right now, and feeding and clothing you. There’s no end to it in sight.
7.23.14
George Takei describes the moment when he and his family were sent to an internment camp.
“Another scene I remember now as an adult is every morning at school we started the day with the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag…there was the American flag flying over the camp but I could also see the barbed wire fence and the sentry towers pointing at us from my schoolhouse window as I recited the words ‘With liberty and justice for all’.” – George Takei, The Daily Show (July 24, 2014).
Full Episode (apologies, The Daily Show website does not have the best video player).
To Be Takei documentary official website.
– Mod Dawes Sr.
Let’s not forget either that while there are people alive who remember being in those camps, there are probably also people alive who supported those camps and possibly still do.
*grabs everyone by the shoulders*
say it with me: the interview isn’t some courageous revolutionary move against kim jong-un or his regime
it does not represent fighting back against his dictatorship, or, if that was intended, it certainly isn’t construed as such by the very people you’re trying to “”“”defend”“”“
nor should you be boycotting this movie because “NK could retaliate and kill us all!” no. that’s a terrible reason and it’s very improbable that it will happen anyway so sit your cowardly asses down
you should be boycotting the movie because
- it reduces the struggles of the North Korean people into some shitty entertainment for privileged folk
- it treats as comedy the realities of a people who don’t even have an option to fight back
- it will probably encourage the horrible anti-defector regime we’ve got going on over here in South Korea too like seriously stop giving them ideas
just face the facts, their struggles have never been real to you. stop kidding yourselves that you care about the movie’s release because it’s a voice of “democracy” or whatnot. you just want to laugh about kim jong-un and how ridiculous and fat and stupid he is, which is exactly what the movie seems to be all about.
The huge amount of pressure on young girls to let their boyfriends get away with everything and not to stand up for themselves, lest they stop being a ‘chill girlfriend’ and instead become a horrible, controlling harpy is such bullshit.
Stop teaching young girls that demanding to be treated with respect and courtesy makes them shrill, over-emotional, or unworthy of listening to.
yosuke-rolling-in-a-trash-can:
As someone who wants to study the human consciousness I found this very interesting.
Scott Routley was a “vegetable”. A car accident seriously injured both sides of his brain, and for 12 years, he was completely unresponsive.
Unable to speak or track people with his eyes, it seemed that Routley was unaware of his surroundings, and doctors assumed he was lost in limbo. They were wrong.
In 2012, Professor Adrian Owen decided to run tests on comatose patients like Scott Routley. Curious if some “vegetables” were actually conscious, Owen put Routley in an fMRI and told him to imagine walking through his home. Suddenly, the brain scan showed activity. Routley not only heard Owen, he was responding.
Next, the two worked out a code. Owen asked a series of “yes or no” questions, and if the answer was “yes,” Routley thought about walking around his house. If the answer was “no,” Routley thought about playing tennis.
These different actions showed activity different parts of the brain. Owen started off with easy questions like, “Is the sky blue?” However, they changed medical science when Owen asked, “Are you in pain?” and Routley answered, “No.” It was the first time a comatose patient with serious brain damage had let doctors know about his condition.
While Scott Routley is still trapped in his body, he finally has a way to reach out to the people around him. This finding has huge implications.
HOLY STEAMING SHITFUCKS
WHY IS EVERYONE NOT LOSING THEIR SHIT ABOUT THIS
What a fucking nightmare, just kill me.
I know a girl who was hit by a drunk driver and in that state for a year. When she woke up the first thing she did was tell off the doctor who tried to convince her mom to pull the plug. She heard *everything* while being called brain dead.
OH MY FUCK
“lesser” asian peoples that are important and ignored by most of tumblr bc of chinese japanese and korean pop culture is the only thing about asia western people know about
- filipino
- malaysian
- indonesian
- indian
- bengali
- laotian
- thai
- vietnamese
- singaporean
- north korean
- iranian
- iraqi
- afghanistani
- cambodian
- burmese
- lebanese
- taiwanese
- all indigenous people of all these countries
- and so many fucking more im just forgetting a lot because there is SO MUCH MORE
- asian people are not just attractive east asian people
- asian people are so much more than a couple of countries’ pop cultures
Trans men who are curvy are men.
Trans men who are skinny are men.
Just because some trans men have hips doesn’t make them any less of a man.
Just because some trans men don’t have a lot of muscle doesn’t make them any less of man.
Trans men who transition are men.
Trans men who don’t transition are men.
If you identify as male, you are male.
I needed to see this.
New video: Racism in America by the Numbers
The playlist discussed at the end of the video. (If you have suggestions for others, share them!)
SOURCES:
On average, black men’s prison sentences are 20% longer than white men’s for comparable crimes.
And also in New York (where the data isn’t quite as good but appears to be comparable to CA).
Those wrongfully convicted and later exonerated by DNA are disproportionately African American.
Black kids are far more likely to be tried as adults and more likely to receive life sentences.
Black former convicts get fewer employer callbacks than white former convicts.
Emily and Brendan are more hirable than Lakisha and Jamal.
Another study on racial bias in hiring.
Similar results have been found in the UK: and also in Australia. Also, this news story has some great analysis about employment and race.
The American College of Physicians report on racial disparities in U.S. health care.
This (dated) study is also damning, and there’s lot of good info here.
More info on increasing disparities in life expectancy between black and white people in the U.S.
The most recent polls show fewer white people thinking racism is not a problem than the ones I used in this video MY BAD (although still a huge divide): here and here and here.
Inheritance plays a huge role in the racial wealth disparity. (And a related wikipedia article.)
And lastly, the wealth gap is indeed widening.
Sorry for the wall of text, but I wanted to make sure I sourced everything.
The thing that struck me most in this video is how much I still don’t understand when it comes to knowing how deeply racism is rooted in American society. Hearing out the individual stories of people is so necessary – so here are some of the things that I’ve read and listened to recently that offer perspectives from those who feel and live the effects of racism. I’ll try to add to this list, and please send over any suggestions:
I Don’t Know What to Do With Good White People by Brit Bennett
Black Boy Interrupted by Ta-Nehisi Coates and The Case for Reparations by Coates, the latter of which is less of a personal account than the former but is nonetheless inimitable.
Sarah (who designed the cover of An Abundance of Katherines when she was 17) was among many people who offered helpful feedback on earlier drafts of this video. Her links are all great—I was especially moved by that TAL episode.
This Is a Backup Blog 