persnickety poet type

itsabuttloofah:

fishingboatproceeds:

I am pissed off because Laci Green, one of the most promising young content creators on YouTube, has been forced off the Internet by death threats—apparently driven by her casual use of the word “tranny” in a video she made more than three years ago. (She apologized and even took down the video.)

 Laci makes wonderful, hilarious, sex-positive videos that have been tremendously helpful to millions of people (including me). She makes people feel less alone and less ashamed. She’s wonderful, and YouTube and tumblr are very lucky to have her, and we should all be really pissed that her ability to make stuff has been compromised by threats.

Here’s the truth, although we don’t say it often: You want to know why there are so few women in the Top 100 most viewed lists on YouTube? Because women are far more likely to be stalked, threatened, and attacked on the Internet, and they are far more likely to see those attacks move from cyber-bullying to real life threats, which too often forces them to abandon their work and their audiences.

I’ve been making videoblogs for more than five years, and I have a large audience, and a few overeager fans have found out where I live over the years, and you know what they’ve done about it? They’ve left me candy. Now, to be clear, I was still very uncomfortable and freaked out by this. But they didn’t send me death threats with pictures of my apartment building the way they’ve done to Laci.

And Laci is not alone. Most of the women I’ve known from YouTube—from those with 5,000 subscribers to those with 500,000—have dealt with harassment and stalking, and it has affected their ability to create stuff.

It’s not acceptable. It’s not acceptable to respond to a transphobic comment with a threat to kill someone. It’s not acceptable to harass and stalk women because you want their attention. And it’s not acceptable to use threats and intimidation to silence women you disagree with.

YouTube and tumblr should respond aggressively to these reports, and we need stronger laws to combat this crap, because I’m tired of seeing brilliant women driven away from the Internet by trolls with nothing to contribute.

JOHN, I REALLY hope you’ll read this. Let me start this off by saying I DO NOT condone what this person is doing to Laci, not in the slightest. I agree with you that this is unacceptable; internet harassment is a HUGE problem. Everyone, Laci included, has every right to feel safe and be safe wherever they are, and I hope whoever is stalking her is found and charged.

That said, this doesn’t excuse her problematic behaviour. Yes, Laci has done lots of wonderful work spreading sex positivity to a wider audience. But she has a LOT to learn about intersectionality and not speaking over people (trans*, religious, and people of colour, to be exact). Some people have been saying for YEARS what Laci has been recently posting, and the only reason a lot of these topics are actually getting attention NOW is because they’re being presented by a conventionally attractive (read: white), cis woman. I’m not saying that’s bad (I mean it would obviously be preferable if these people would listen to trans* and PoC in the first place), but the way Laci deals with criticism is… awful.

When people call her out on oppressive things she says or does, instead of listening to that person, apologizing, and promising to do better, she gets up in arms and defensive, criticizes whoever is calling her out, and gives excuses and flimsy non-apologies instead. She acts like the victim, and that’s NOT how you do feminism. Hell, that’s not how you do being a decent human being. This kind of behaviour is inexcusable when she has such a vast audience/fanbase who can see everything she says and who take her advice.

She condemns Muslim women with a blanket statement that Islam is a “sexist religion” in this video here (read the description she has added as well to see her islamophobic/anti-religion non-apology, and see here why it’s bullshit). So, she advocates sex positivity, except for if you’re Muslim or Mormon. Yup, got it. I follow some Muslim women bloggers who identify as FEMINISTS, and were very angry to find this out when they had been previously impressed with Laci Green’s work. You’re doing sex positivity wrong if you exclude people. Period. She speaks for over Muslim women when she is not a practicing Muslim herself. This post explains that very well.

I appreciate that you addressed the misogyny in the youtube community where women vloggers are concerned, and you’re absolutely right. I’m disappointed and horrified at the stalking, and expect way better from fellow so-called “social justice bloggers.” But to be brutally honest, I can’t be sympathetic with Laci, when many other bloggers deal with the exact same kind of (or worse) harassment, stalking and death threats, but they’re completely ignored, because, you fucking guessed it, they’re trans* and/or PoC/WoC. The only reason there is such a huge outcry over Laci’s case is because she’s white and cis. Why can’t these bloggers get the same amount of support and solidarity that Laci seems to be getting when they’re threatened?

(PS: I do wish you had censored or not used the word tr***y at all. That’s not okay. That’s one of the reasons people are upset with Laci, because in her “apology,” for that old video, she used the very slur she was supposedly apologizing for using in the first place. If trans* people have not accepted her apology, then neither will I.)

To quote my good friend Jenna:

“Her behaviour was terrible. It does not excuse threats. Threats are terrible. They do not excuse her behaviour.”

You can like/appreciate Laci Green for the work she has done, go right ahead. But please don’t ignore the harm she’s doing as well. Her situation is shitty, and she absolutely deserves safety in her home, but that doesn’t erase that our criticisms of her islamophobia, cissexism, fatphobia, etc. are completely valid.

hyenaboy:

shorm:

harmonythebodyelectric:

strawberreli:

• Who is Laci Green, and why do people hate her?
• Another post about why people hate her, in case you think it’s just me.
• Another post, in case you STILL think it’s just me, also pointing out how passive her videos are, and how actually internalised misogyny plays a big part in all her videos.
• An image of her talking down to people who have pointed out her use of cissexist terms and language.
• Another horrible video where she perpetuates the stereotype of a “Jewish nose” and then makes light of domestic abuse.
• Transcript for aforementioned video, in case she pulls that one down as well.
• Also, her pathetic apology for her Islamophobic comment.
• The transcript for the video she recently pulled down, in which she used the slur “t——y.”
• Her pathetic apology regarding that video, in which she uses the word we asked her not to use, and uses the wrong terms to apologise.
• She also does not tag for gifs/epilepsy warnings, which is rather dangerous, and instead decided to tell people to get off the Internet if they couldn’t handle gifs.

Alright, there you have it. The first link contains links to her tumblr, her website, and both of her youtube channels that I am aware of. It also contains links to her disturbing videos in which she perpetuates the friendzone myth, bashes on religion, and bashes on religious ‘friends.’

tl;dr: she’s an intolerant, cissexist, privileged little white woman who has brought NOTHING else to the table that other folk haven’t been saying first. 

Right here.

This seems relevant to my dash right now.

‘Cause I never reblogged it before and I have been asked for it several times now.

ladyatheist:

Yeah I said it! Fuck her and fuck each and every person crawling up her asshole to tell her how much of a “wonderful” and “inspiring” person she is. She ain’t shit. While I don’t condone and I’m definitely not happy about the death threats she received, I’m not about to sit here and pretend she’s some type of pretty and perfect motherfucking princess.

What happened to Laci has happened to me and countless other People of Color, Women of Color, and Trans* Women of Color every god damn day ON THIS VERY WEBSITE. I have had pictures of my apartment complex along with the exact longitude and latitude posted publicly on someone’s blog. I’ve had death threats, rape threats, and I’ve been called things that I simply refuse to repeat. You wanna know what happened? Not a god damn thing. Ain’t a damn soul start no petitions for us, no “famous” youtube personalities are making long ass blog posts or videos about us, nobody is running to console us and tell us how wonderful we are. You wanna know what the fuck happens when we get shit like that? WE GET BLAMED FOR IT! We get told that we were “asking for it” or we should just “turn off anon.” We get asked what we did to “provoke” someone into threatening to lynch us. If we happen to get someone who sends us this shit non-anonymously and we lash back, we get even more hate for daring to speak up for ourselves and our harassers get to play the fucking victim!

Each and every criticism of Laci Green was valid. Her videos were fucked up and her “apologies” were nothing but bullshit. Instead of simply saying “I’m sorry for what I did and I won’t do it again,” she tried to explain away her actions and act like a victim. When people saw her apologies for the bullshit they were and called her ass on it, instead of fucking genuinely apologizing, she had to go and play the motherfucking victim. Does that mean she deserved the harassment and threats? NO! Does it mean she’s a complete asshole? Yes.

In closing, FUCK LACI GREEN, fuck her stans, and fuck the people rushing to defend her ass but ignoring EVERY OTHER FUCKING TIME THE EXACT SAME SHIT HAPPENED TO A POC.

facelessinblack:

univisionnews:

The officers claimed the act was in self-defense. 

By ALBERT SABATÉ

Mexican officials condemned a fatal, cross-border shooting of a Mexican citizen by U.S. Border Patrol agents that took place on Saturday, July 7.

At least two U.S. Border Patrol agents fired their weapons in reaction to rock throwing and after observing someone aiming a weapon at them near the Tomates-Veterans international bridge between Matamoros, Mexico and Brownsville, Texas.

Read More

lovely, now we’re just fucking shooting completely randomly as opposed to somewhat randomly

shannonclare:

Hey guys. I know times are tough and money is tight for everyone, but if you could spare a few dollars to help out a friend of mine, I’d be forever grateful. The following is copied from my friend Junior’s facebook:

My family is coming together to raise money for my aunt Griselda Lopez’s medical expenses, treatments and related costs due to her Systemic Lupus that she was diagnosed with back in 1997. Unfortunately she has been uable to work as of late because of this (and other complications with her illness) and now we are holding a fundraiser Saturday, July 28th from 6pm-2am at Viv’s tap Room in Crystal Lake, IL. There is a $5 dontation at the door, raffels and all the proceeds of this event are going to the Griselda Lopez Medical Fund.

Please check out www.griseldalopez.com for more information about Gris and how you can make a dontation! Also there is a facebook event that was created so if you are interested in coming please let me know and I will be more then happy to give you all the info!

Thank you!

Again, if you could spare a few dollars I (and Junior) would greatly appreciate it. If you can’t (completely understandable) could you please give this a signal boost?

Thanks, everyone!

karnythia:

deluxvivens:

sllw:

Native Americans secretly sterilized under Bush Sr. program

jalwhite:

rapeculturerealities:

TW - racism, white supremacy, forced sterilization, rape culture

gaelharjo:

As the title says, this article is about just one more totally disturbing example of how the continual efforts to finish genociding American’s native population, it’s a wonder there’s any of us left after 300 years of them trying their best to.

Please read the entire article to help understand the real magnitude of what’s now leaking out about what, if done to any other minority in this country, would have even ordinary white folk storming the gates of the castle demanding justice.

I will listen to no one that tries to tell us our anger and hurt are not valid. This is our living history.

Reblogging, but I do have to say that as far as “done to any other minority”? Sterilization of Puerto Rican women in the mainland US and Puerto Rico, who were also victimized by the research that has brought us the pill. 

There’s a tremendous history of reproductive abuse across many groups in the US. Most of it remains ignored.

Exactly. There’s always a push on to sterilize bodies of color while they claim it’s for science, or our own good or whatever. Black women have some of the highest rates of uterine fibroids, though they are also present in other groups. Guess which group is most likely to be immediately offered a hysterectomy as a solution & which group will be given options that preserve fertility first?

fuckyeahchoice:

makewudunotwar:

felt like bringing my first post out again and expanding it a bit.

I’m not even surprised to find once again a flurry of responses from Non-Muslim women crying out over the horrible oppressiveness of my religion.

Because they don’t comprehend that Muslim women have a whole lot more legitimacy in discussing gender relations in their own religious context.A lot of women see hijab as a symbol of empowerment contrasted with a glaring commodification of the female body displayed for the male gaze. Lets just admit it capitalism is hungry for the wealth accumulated each year by using overly sexualized images of women to sell products.

One thing that continues to both frustrate and baffle me is the hypocrisy of forcing someone to dress as you see fit to “save” them from the oppression of being forced to dress in the way you disagree with. I’m also irritated by the assumption that “the west knows best” and that I couldn’t possibly be an intelligent competent human being with the ability too even pick her own clothes. That of course I as a muslim woman must be micromanaged by some oppressive male relative. Is it that hard to believe that someone would choose something different. This is a message to all the feminists out there who want to make it their mission in life to save women like me. Stop making generalizations and assumptions. You lose all legitimacy when disagreeing with dress codes in conservative muslim countries when you support laws governing women’s wardrobes like those in france. To all the feminists who are able and willing to respect my choices even while not fully understanding them, I appreciate the respect and support.

 Bodies especially women’s bodies have become a marketing tool, the female body is commodity it’s become a billion dollar business but to me my hijab means my body is my business. 

Women like Laci Green do not get to speak over women like me. I don’t care that she has formerly muslim relatives, if she had a black friend or a mixed cousin she wouldn’t have the right to speak for people of colour same goes with religion. She neither is a scholar who has studied the religious texts in depth nor has she any lived experience as a practicing muslim. All she has is her own prejudice and I’m sick of White women using feminism as a platform to spout their own ignorant opinions about things they don’t understand.

The threats she has received are wrong, violence is never the answer to ignorance. I hope who ever sent them is caught and prosecuted because their actions are unacceptable. however the fact that someone has sent her those threats does not erase the validity of the criticisms that Muslim women and women of colour have brought up regard her video and her so called apology. A little advice when you apologize for being a horrible ally, that is not a platform for you to justify your earlier ignorance.  

Seriously little white girl first you insult my religion and my intelligence and when women like me point out your ignorance your stupid pride won’t let you give a real apology.  

Sums up my views on Laci Green pretty well. 

alexandraerin:

(In reference to this, and addressed to the people who defend the “joke” or attack the woman who walked out.)

Comedy often works by making us uncomfortable.

Not always, of course. Humor can distract us from pain. Humor can offer relief or at least release of tension… there is the tradition of so-called “gallows humor” or “graveyard humor”, which relates to the phenomenon of whistling in the dark.

But if you’re not the one up on the scaffold… if it’s not your neck on the line… then you’re not engaging in gallows humor… you’re just being an ass.

Good comedy makes us uncomfortable by shaking us out of our comfort zone, by waking us up to uncomfortable realities we were happy to avoid or ignore. It can also make those who are especially comfortable, those who are too comfortable, nervous.

Bad comedy takes something that is already uncomfortable and smashes it into our faces. It takes those among us who are already uncomfortable and points out their discomfort, for the amusement of those of us who are sitting pretty.

When I say “good”, I mean both in the sense of well done—well crafted, well executed—and in the moral sense. And when I say bad, I mean both cheap and shoddy, and venal and evil. Good comedy can make us better people by making us realizing the banality of evil in our midst. Bad comedy turns everyday evil from something mundane and invisible into something hilarious.

As with most things, it’s easier to do comedy badly than it is to do it well. There are more easy targets than there are deserving ones. People are happier about laughing at things that confirm their view of the world and their place in it than things that challenge it.  

That’s why comedians like Daniel Tosh will stand up and just repeat a premise like “Isn’t rape funny?” It’s something that sounds transgressive… but it’s not. Everybody who laughed at that joke has laughed at a rape joke before, or made one.

They laugh at it because it confirms that it’s okay to laugh at rape.

It also confirms that rape is something that happens to other people, involves other people, is done by other people. That girl at the party? It wasn’t rape, she didn’t say no. Or she eventually said yes. That horrible night? It was bad sex. That’s all. Not good sex, but not rape.

Otherwise, why would we be sitting here laughing at the idea of rape? Ha ha ha ha ha.

Then there are the people… and statistically, they are there in the crowd… who are really comforted by the joke. They’re laughing because everyone knows you have to say rape is bad, you can’t admit to it… but they also know that everyone does it. They’re sure of that, because they desperately need to believe that it’s true in order to live with themselves.

And the laughter resounding from around the room is the proof they’ve been longing for. So they laugh, long and loud and hard. It’s like meeting Jesus and finding out that not only is he a party animal like you but he drinks the same brand as you. You always worried that you might be a sinner, but now you know you’re in the clear. Hallelujah.

Mostly people are laughing because a comedian’s saying it, so it must be funny.

It’s uncomfortable.

He’s not supposed to be saying that! 

But he said it again.

Laugh. LAUGH. LAUGH!

There’s no craftsmanship there. Defending this kind of comedy as a man doing his job, earning his living… no. That’s someone dodging work. That’s someone sitting back to get out of the heavy lifting. That’s someone slacking off.

That’s someone standing up on stage and saying, “You all paid to see me because I’m supposed to have some special talent for comedy, but I’m just going to blurt things out until I find the laugh button and then I’m going to press it again and again.” 

I have a lot of respect for comedians. I have a lot of respect for the work they do the craftsmanship that goes into their writing and the honest-to-goodness hard work of getting up there under the lights and looking out at the crowd and being funny.

It’s a lot easier to be clever on paper. There’s no lights, no sound, no eyes on you, no questions of timing or delivery. There’s no question about it, comedy is a tough job and not everyone can hack it.

I’ve never caught enough of Daniel Tosh’s act to know if he can hack it or not, but I’ll say this: when he stood up in front of a paying audience and said “Rape jokes are always funny.”, he was choosing not to hack it. He tabled the question. He sidestepped it.

He was leaning in to get beaned by the ball so he could walk to first and pretending he hit a home run. He was skipping the low-hanging fruit and going for the ones rotting on the ground.

He wasn’t being a comedian, except on the class clown/anything for a reaction level.

Listen, I think it’s a function of comedy at its best that it afflicts the comfortable and comforts the afflicted.

You don’t have to believe that comedy has a function beyond laughter, that comedians have a higher purpose in society. You can think that their whole job is to get up and make people laugh and if that happens then they’re doing a good job.

But if there’s no higher meaning to what Daniel Tosh does, then it’s not really such a tragedy that he was momentarily interrupted, is it?

If the price we pay for going to a comedy club is that we might hear rape jokes, surely the price he pays for making them is that he might be held accountable for them in some small, fleeting way. You can’t say “You don’t have the right to go through life hearing nothing that offends you.” and not also believe that no one has the right to go through life saying whatever they want without offending someone. The consequences can’t be flowing in one direction.

You make rape jokes, you run the risk of people acting like you’re an asshole. What would you do if you paid to see a comedian and instead there’s some asshole on stage? 

katelinbrooke:

: So a Girl Walks into a Comedy Club…. (tw: rape)

darylpalumbo:

breakfastcookie:

This is something that happened to a friend of mine in her own words.

“So, on Friday night my friend and I were at her house and wanted to get out and do something for the evening. We brainstormed ideas and she brought up the idea of seeing a show at the Laugh Factory. I’d never been, I thought it sounded fun, so we went. We saw that Dane Cook, along some other names we didn’t recognize we’re playing, and while we both agree that Cook’s style is not really our taste we were opened-minded about what the others had to offer. And we figured even good ol’ Dane can be funny sometimes, even if it’s not really our thing. Anyhoo, his act was actually fine, but then when his was done, some other guy I didn’t recognize took the stage. Of course, I would find out later this was Daniel Tosh, but at the time I thought he was just some yahoo who somehow got a gig going on after Cook. I honestly thought he was an amateur because he didn’t seem that comfortable on stage and seemed to have a really awkward presence. 

So Tosh then starts making some very generalizing, declarative statements about rape jokes always being funny, how can a rape joke not be funny, rape is hilarious, etc. I don’t know why he was so repetitive about it but I felt provoked because I, for one, DON’T find them funny and never have. So I didnt appreciate Daniel Tosh (or anyone!) telling me I should find them funny. So I yelled out, “Actually, rape jokes are never funny!”

I did it because, even though being “disruptive” is against my nature, I felt that sitting there and saying nothing, or leaving quietly, would have been against my values as a person and as a woman. I don’t sit there while someone tells me how I should feel about something as profound and damaging as rape. 

After I called out to him, Tosh paused for a moment. Then, he says, “Wouldn’t it be funny if that girl got raped by like, 5 guys right now? Like right now? What if a bunch of guys just raped her…” and I, completely stunned and finding it hard to process what was happening but knowing i needed to get out of there, immediately nudged my friend, who was also completely stunned, and we high-tailed it out of there. It was humiliating, of course, especially as the audience guffawed in response to Tosh, their eyes following us as we made our way out of there. I didn’t hear the rest of what he said about me.

Now in the lobby, I spoke with the girl at the will-call desk, and demanded to see the manager. The manager on duty quickly came out to speak with me, and she was profusely apologetic, and seemed genuinely sorry about what had happened, but of course we received no refund for our tickets, but instead a comped pair of tickets, although she admitted she understood if we never wanted to come back. I can imagine the Laugh Factory doesn’t really have a policy in place for what happens when a woman has to leave in a hurry because the person onstage is hurling violent words about sexual violence at her. Although maybe I’m not the first girl to have that happen to her. 

I should probably add that having to basically flee while Tosh was enthusing about how hilarious it would be if I was gang-raped in that small, claustrophic room was pretty viscerally terrifying and threatening all the same, even if the actual scenario was unlikely to take place. The suggestion of it is violent enough and was meant to put me in my place.”

Please reblog and spread the word.

kimikkomi:

The italicized was taken from Ms. Magazine’s article: Black Herstory:
The Founders of the Feminist Party, written by Janell Hobson, a black woman. 

I thought it was extremely important since the many amazing and strong black women who did much work for the feminist movement tend to be forgotten by most modern-day young white feminists.

Consider this: Back in 1971, Flo Kennedy had the temerity to found The Feminist Party as an actual political party–you know, daring to envision feminism as a “political movement” and not simply as an “academic exercise” or “alternative lifestyle choice.” From that radical platform the next year, Shirley Chisholm was launched as a candidate for president of the United States–the first woman to run for the Democratic presidential nomination and the first major-party black candidate for president. Women like Chisholm, Kennedy and Murray were “unbought and unbossed”–as Chisholm titled her autobiography, and they laid the groundwork for modeling feminism that simultaneously tackled sexism, racism, classism and heterosexism.

The existence of these women should be enough to shut down all conversations that question whether or not black feminism is only a response to white women’s racism. Where would the women’s liberation movement be had it not included Flo Kennedy? In addition to launching Chisholm as a presidential candidate, she fought for the legalization of abortion and wrote Abortion Rap. She toured with Gloria Steinem in promoting the feminist movement and, when asked by men in audiences if the two of them were lesbians, famously responded, “Are you my alternative?”

What a bad-ass lady! 

In fact, Flo was notorious for her one-liners. About marriage: “Why would you lock yourself in the bathroom just because you have to go three times a day?”About women needing men: “A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle” (often attributed to Steinem). On abortion: “If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.” On freedom struggles: “It’s like taking a bath–you’ve got to do it every day.”

Her quote is even attributed to a white woman instead of herself! Most people think Steinem said that!

So why don’t my students know these women–real Founding Mothers (if ever there was such a term) of one of the most vibrant mass women’s movement in U.S. history–until they take my class? And why do I constantly encounter women of color, in particular, who treat “feminism” with suspicion, as if it were some exclusive “white women’s only club” to which they must be given an “invitation”? Black women were the ones who co-created the “club” in the first place!

Perhaps this is due to a new generation of feminists who read about the grievances feminists of color had with their white counterparts in the works of bell hooks, Audre Lorde, Cherrie Moraga, and Gloria Anzaldua and their groundbreaking texts such as as Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center, Sister Outsider and This Bridge Called My Back. Since these narratives are often presented in women’s studies courses as the sole experience of feminists of color, we tend to overlook the part black feminist founders also played in shaping the women’s movement–and not just “from the margins.”

And the 1970s wasn’t the first time we black women have helped to lay feminist foundations. Before the “first wave” of the women’s movement, Maria Stewart (1803-1879) became the first woman in U.S. history, in 1831, to speak in public about women’s rights, drawing on ideals of black liberation in the Haitian Revolution and other slave uprisings. It wasn’t until more than five years later that white women abolitionists Sarah and Angelina Grimke dared speak in public–and were just as loudly criticized by their male counterparts as was Stewart. It was gender discrimination in the anti-slavery movement that actually prompted the formation of a women’s movement, which later shifted its attention to woman suffrage (because so many white women were angered that black men got the right to vote before they did!).

There is nothing to gain in this erasure of women of color from feminist history. As Audre Lorde, another “Founding Mother,” warns, “When patriarchy dismisses us, it encourages our murderers. When [feminism] dismisses us, it encourages its own demise.”  The history reveals that no woman of color should ever be excluded from feminist organizing or have to enter through the back door–not when we built the house and created the home!

womenstudies:

The intensity of violence against female activists is on the rise in Guatemala. Lolita Chavez, member of the K’iche’ People’s Council, was attacked by armed men who attempted to lynch her as she was returning home after a peaceful protest against abusive extractive practices and projects affecting the environment. Photojournalist James Rodriguez from Mimundo.org explains:

During the morning of the 4th, roughly 400 residents of Quiché, along with members of the CPK, carried out a peaceful protest denouncing local mayor Estuardo Castro’s continuous arrogance and his lack of respect for the people’s refusal to sell their lands to transnational corporations, as proved during the 2010 community consultation.

As the protesters passed the community of Xetinap Quinto, a group of men armed with machetes, sticks and knives intercepted members of the CPK and proceeded to chase and beat several of them. These armed men were particularly interested in recognized leader Lolita Chávez, as they called out her name, chased her, and did manage to injure her, but not seriously. Lolita received cuts and bruises but managed to escape. Nevertheless, three other women were hospitalized due to injuries

Two weeks ago, in an area close to Guatemala City, Yolanda Oquelí Veliz, a human rights lawyer and leader of a movement against the expansion of mining activities, was also attacked when returning from a pacific protest. The blog FrontlineDefenders reports:

Yolanda is a woman human rights defender in San Jose de Gulfo who is a community leader resisting the Exmigua mine. From everything we’ve heard, from all sides, mining of minerals such as gold and silver, sand and alloys is a huge issue in Guatemala. Generally the community affected is not consulted. No objective information or public process of consultation takes place to allay fears about damage to the environment; whether the rivers will be polluted; whether the forests will be felled and thus their water supply compromised; and also, what will happen after the mining licence expires and the environment needs to be repaired and rebuilt

Yoly (as she wrote her name) has a history of intimidation because of her work. Her lawyer (pro bono) has lodged roughly 10 complaints through the legal process. She has been tear-gassed; graffiti had been written on her walls and threats against her and her children have been significant. Despite this, the Government to date has been mute.

Different networks issued Urgent Actions but the Government has not responded with the requested protection for the activists. Furthermore, civil society has been extremely quiet about the crimes.

alexandraerin:

bugbrennan:

I don’t remember when i installed the hit counter, but it wasn’t that long ago.

People are interested in this topic that I talk about a lot, this gender identity, this radical feminism, this notion that females don’t have to believe the lies the GLBT Organizations tell them.

I suppose.

Have a good night!

So it turns out that GLBT organizations are the enemy of Real True Lesbians, in Cathy Brennan’s mind. No surprise there. The bare minimum of attention they pay to trans* rights is just too much. If it isn’t all for her benefit, then somehow, somewhere she’s being robbed… that’s the very essence of the privileged mindset.

Of course, she doesn’t believe that anyone is actually discriminated against for their sexual orientation. Nope. So it’s no wonder she doesn’t have any use for LGBT organizations.

Wait… did I say she doesn’t have any use for them?

Huh, that’s funny. Despite believing that queer/LGBT culture is anathema to her feminism, she’s perfectly happy to have her pieces published by Baltimore OUTloud, a LGBTQ publication with an inclusive slant. She was happy enough to go to a trans-inclusive Dyke March, and was relying upon the philosophy of inclusiveness (that she disagrees with) to protect her message of exclusion. I can’t imagine these are the only times she’s associated with an organization or group or event whose principles she doesn’t actually share.

She’s perfectly happy to use inclusive organizations and LGBT organizations to advance her agenda of radical exclusion. She’ll ignore the fact that a space has been set aside as inclusive and use that inclusiveness to get in the door and try to change the nature of that space.

And when someone complains about this?

They’re not respecting her boundaries!

She’ll go into queer spaces even though she apparently loathes the label queer. She’ll go into LGBT spaces even though she doesn’t believe that discrimination by sexual orientation or gender identity exist. She’ll try to convert an inclusive space into an exclusionary one on the basis that no one should dare try to exclude her exclusionary viewpoints…

And then complain that no one recognizes her (in her mind, she represents all FEMALES everywhere) right to set boundaries.

There must be a pretty firm boundary set in her head to keep her beliefs and actions so completely separate.

daughterofassata:

historystickstoyourfeet:

I just got this message on my other tumblr: “If I could i’d hang your mud skin ass in my backyard and let your corpse just rot.”

It’s really frightening getting messages like this, and I’d like to see who it was so I can try and report them. If anyone knows how to track anonymous messages that would be great. Thanks guys

Signal BOOOOOOST

apihtawikosisan:

so…
here is the story behind this one sense i’m getting scorned on the internet for shooting a white woman in a native headdress.

just because this image has become a trend hardly means in disrespectful, i have been to many pow-wow and have collected many hand crafted items. the culture continues to fascinate and impress me. even when i was 5 i was listening to WOJB radio connecting me with the sounds of the reservation i grew up by.

i have been enthused with the cultures work ethic and morals on life. i have collected books and studied the beliefs. i respect and hope to adopt this way of life into my own lifestyle.
i’m very aware that this culture may feel inclined to speak up about the booming “trend” of young woman wearing the traditional material, but there are positives to this….

if you would like to look at this and scorn, i am sorry you are offended.

try to look at it as a positive, the trend is booming because of the beauty in hand craft, and if this is the case then more power to this culture for sticking to tradition. i admire and truly wanted to reflect that beauty in these photos.

http://spinmearoundagain.tumblr.com/post/26852023589/featured-photo-of-the-day-so-here-is-the#notes

This settler woman is upset that I called her out on this photo, and indicated to her that the model and photographer should reconsider the wearing of a headdress.  The quote above is her ‘explanation’ and complete lack of apology on the matter.

I initially linked her to an article I wrote on precisely why it is disrespectful to wear a headdress.  There is no indication she read it, as she certainly does not address any of the points raised.  To help her, and others like her, who are afraid of links, here is an excerpt on where the headdress comes from:

HEADDRESSES IN NATIVE CULTURES

For the most part, headdresses are restricted items.  In particular, the headdress worn by most non-natives imitate those worn by various Plains nations.  These headdresses are further restricted within the cultures to men who have done certain things to earn them.  It is very rare for women in Plains cultures to wear these headdresses, and their ability to do so is again quite restricted.

So unless you are a native male from a Plains nation who has earned a headdress, or you have been given permission to wear one (sort of like being presented with an honorary degree), then you will have a very difficult time making a case for how wearing one is anything other than disrespectful, now that you know these things. If you choose to be disrespectful, please do not be surprised when people are offended… regardless of why you think you are entitled to do this.

Even if you have ‘native friends’ or are part native yourself, individual choices to “not be offended” do not trump our collective rights as peoples to define our symbols.

If you want to pretend that this is sexism and that it’s super feminist to buck ‘the native patriarchy’, please check your privilege and read this.

There are natives who don’t care that you are wearing a headdress…(although I doubt you’ll find many among the Plains nations from whence the okimâwastotin originates), but do not conflate that with being happy that settlers are ‘celebrating this trend’.  They don’t care that you’re doing something ridiculous…but they aren’t cheering you on, either.

What else did she get wrong?

This woman seems to think that attending powwows entitles her to the headdress, or is proof that she ‘appreciates’ our ‘culture’. 

We are over 600 nations throughout the US and Canada.  Our cultures (plural) are incredibly diverse, and going to a powwow doesn’t entitle you to anything.  If you actually think of Native American ‘culture’ as a monolithic thing you can appreciate via the generic ‘native-themed’ shit so in fashion right now, you are deluded.  Scarily so.

Powwows are not traditional cultural events.  They are modern events, open to ‘tourists’ like this, with a smattering of ‘tradition’ related solely to specific dances and regalia.  Regalia by the way is what you call what we wear when we dance.  Not costumes or cultural wear.

And you cannot claim on one side of your mouth to be respecting native americans while the other side of your mouth screams at them for telling you specifically why what you are doing is disrespectful. 

I mean you can…but it’s ridiculous.

Educate yourself…before you wreck yourself

Here is another excerpt from my Open-Letter To Non-Natives in Headdresses that this woman didn’t bother to read:

TRY REAL CELEBRATION INSTEAD OF APPROPRIATION

It is okay to find our stuff beautiful, because it is.  It is okay to admire our cultures.  However I think it is reasonable to ask that if you admire a culture, you learn more about it.  Particularly when the details are so much more fascinating than say, out-dated stereotypes of Pan-Indian culture.

You do not have to be an expert on our cultures to access aspects of them.  If you aren’t sure about whether something is restricted or not, please ask someone who is from that culture. If people from within that culture tell you that what you are doing is disrespectful, dismissing their concerns because you just don’t agree, is not indicative of admiration.

If you really, really want to wear beaded moccasins or mukluks or buy beautiful native art, then please do! There are legitimate and unrestricted items crafted and sold by aboriginal peoples that we would be more than happy to see you with.  Then all the nasty disrespectful stereotyping and denigration of restricted symbols can be avoided, while still allowing you to be decked out in beautiful native-created fashion.

I’d like to add Beyond Buckskin’s Boutique to these links as well.  Please!  Go on and wear our stuff, it is awesome!  But when we ask you not to wear something, please respect that.

One last thing

MIYO-WÎCÊHTOWIN, LIVING TOGETHER IN HARMONY

It’s okay to make mistakes.  Maybe you had no idea about any of this stuff.  The classiest thing you can do is admit you didn’t know, and maybe even apologise if you find you were doing something disrespectful. A simple acknowledgement of the situation is pure gold, in my opinion. It diffuses tension and makes people feel that they have been heard, respected, and understood.

If you make this kind of acknowledgement conditional on people informing you of these things ‘nicely’ however, that is problematic.  The fact is, this issue does get people very upset.  It’s okay to get heated about it too on your end and maybe bad words fly back and forth.  My hope is that once you cool down, you will accept that you are not being asked to do something unreasonable.

And now you know.

Don’t be like this woman.  Don’t get it so wrong.

PS: for a look at how grossly unoriginal this trend is, take a look at my Hall of Shame, featuring nearly 1000 images of people who thought they were unique too.  And if you’d like to actually learn more about the issues we face as peoples today, in an age where so many settlers want to pretend racism and colonialism is a thing of the past, please peruse my Aboriginal Issue Primers.  You can show your appreciation and respect of our cultures by becoming more education on the subject.

karnythia:

Every 40 hours, police in the US kill a black person.

blackraincloud:

sabots-are-for-sabotage:

This past weekend at Everett & Jones restaurant in Jack London Square, there was a gathering of more than 10 mothers and members of their family who have all lost sons, daughters and husbands to police violence over the past 2 years… It was sobering, powerful and healing. It was also shocking to see so many families and hear story after story of how they lost loved ones to police terror. We heard from the mothers of Kenneth Harding, Derick Jones, Derrick Gaines, Rahiem Brown Jr, James Rivera and Oscar Grant..all gunned down by police.

The families came together for the second anniversary of Oscar Grant Verdict Day. This was the day that a jury in Los Angeles, handed down their controversial decision about Johannes Mehserle, the killer cop who shot an unarmed handcuffed Oscar Grant in the back at point-blank range in front of hundreds of BART subway riders in Oakland, Ca on New Years morning 2009. Millions of people all over the world saw the shocking video and just knew that Mehersle would go to jail for a long time over his egregious actions.

On July 8th 2010, the LA jury came back with a verdict of involuntary manslaughter which left thousands of people who had gathered in downtown Oakland stunned. Adding insult to injury,  the Grant verdict was overshadowed by another ‘controversial decision’ being made that day-What basketball team NBA starLebron James would choose. Many in the national media gave their time and attention to James and the NBA while folks in Oakland and the Bay Area were left pondering the injustice that was served before them after 18 long months of organizing and jumping over legal hurdle after legal hurdle.

Many that day walked away thinking that while the verdict was unjust that hopefully police got the message and would change their ways. There would be more caution and concern exercised by police departments, not just in Oakland, but all over the country.  This weekends gathering was proof that if anything the Grant verdict emboldened police to act with reckless abandon.

Unarmed Rekia Boyd was shot in the head by a Chicago Cop

Instead of a decline in police violence we seen a marked increase. Since the Grant verdict day, we’ve seen an outrageous 680 thousand people stopped and frisked in New York with over 90% of those stops being Black and Brown men with less than 5% resulting in any weapons recovered. Stop and Frisk led to the shooting death of unarmed Ramarley Graham We’ve seen police shoot a motorist Hernendez L Dowdy in Memphis, Tn after someone falsely accused him of car jacking.  We’ve seen police in Pasadena shoot 19-year-old Kendrec McDadefalsely accused of stealing a computer. We seen an officer in Chicago shoot an innocent bystander named Rekia Boyd after he mistakenly thought the man standing next to her had a gun… We seen police in White Plains New York shoot unarmed army vet, a senior citizen named Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. who accidently set off his medical alert pendant. The officer at the center of the killing has a sordid history of brutality and racism… We seen Oakland police shoot high school senior Alan Bluford in the back and then lie about the self-inflicted wound the officer suffered. He shot himself and blamed Bluford. OPD has still refused to officially identify the officer.

We could go on for days citing story after story along with the fact that in many cities all over the United States police brutality incidents and police killing civilians are on the rise… For example, in Los Angeles which was supposed to have drastically reformed their police department, we seen a huge increase in police shootings. The department tried to blame it on citizens attacking them more. That assertion has since been disputed. What’s crazy about LA is that police pushed to get the city council to support a law that will keep officers records sealed from the public.

The bottom line is this… Police are out of control, and when it comes to Black people they are even more so. Today the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement released a Report on Extrajudicial Killings. Its pretty detailed and extensive. It shows that since Jan 1 2012, they have documented 110 Black people being killed. That amounts to one Black person being killed by police every 40 hours… Since the shooting death of Trayvon Martin police and shot and killed over 80 Black people. This is outrageous and unacceptable.

“It shows that since Jan 1 2012, they have documented 110 Black people being killed.”

110. Just from police.

jalwhite:

paradiscacorbasi:

blacksentai:

It really needs to be stated that, while I’m actually all for punching people in the face, all this praise about it is unsettling. Cause, it’s all about white privilege. I do not have the ability to punch someone in the face at a bar. I would have my ass kicked and then be sent to jail, if the cops didn’t kill me first. A black woman would not have this chance either. Neither would a great deal of brown people. We’ve seen very recently with CeCe Mcdonald that at trans person of color has no rights to defend themselves against threats and violence.

It’s interesting how quickly we have forgotten all the stories of POCs protecting themselves and dying or going to jail for it. I have yet to see one single mention of this in all the high fiving going on over this. What we have here is white privilege. For those of you who don’t know: White privilege is being able to punch someone in the nose at a bar and not be dead or in jail because of it. It doesn’t matter why she punched him or how much he may have deserved to be punched.  What matters is that afterwards she gets hand claps and applause. 

I’m not saying we shouldn’t be happy for her or anything. I’m just saying that in the midst of all this celebrating we should stop and think about how the only way this works is if she’s white (or white passing). This was the FIRST thing I thought of when I saw the post on my dashboard, and I didn’t say anything because I was sure someone else would bring it up by now, and probably word it better. But if this discussion is being had, I haven’t seen it. So here I am to rain on everyone’s parade.

Hooray random white girl. I hope you’re able to keep this kind of thing up and never suffer the consequences. But to everyone else dancing in the streets, I’d like you to watch your language. I’d like you to be mindful of the world we live in. This is the kind of response that only a white person would be allowed to get away with. Angry black people who are constantly dealing with threats of violence and rape are not allowed to respond angrily to anything. Especially if the comments are not directed specifically at us. 

Let’s not forget this. That dude wasn’t talking to her. He was just talking to his friends about another random woman and this white woman punched him in the face. I hear random people saying absurdly violent and racist shit ALL THE TIME. But they aren’t talking to me. If I just walked up to someone and punched them in the face, I don’t get high fives. I get killed. I get killed if they are talking to me, but if they are specifically talking to someone else? Dead. All the way dead. Most POC don’t have the right to overhear really vile and offensive shit and interject, especially not violently.

So for serious, let’s chill out with the dance party. It’s cool she punched some dude for making rape jokes. I got no problem with that. Let’s just tone down how awesome we think this is. Cause it really isn’t that cool. It’s a white person doing something only white people can do. I’m really not about throwing parties for it.  

Editors Note: Did anyone ask for proof? Was anyone like “We don’t know what they really said?” Cause. When Dionthesocialist posted his story about the cops killing that dude there were nothing but people jumping up to say they needed validation.  It’s just a thought that crossed my mind. I don’t need validation. I believe every word of her story. I’m just saying that tumblr is big on not believing people (of color).

All valid points.  I could never get away with punching somebody upside the head for reasons blacksentai has mentioned above.  I’m glad she was able to, but the truth is the world doesn’t like it when us brown people get uppity and act like we deserve courtesy, common decency, safety, respect, etc.

I’m so glad that blacksentai mentioned CeCe.

johnisdollywood:

aranyerdinratri:

My dash has been consumed by this Laci Green thing for two weeks now.

Meanwhile, the last 12 months have been the warmest on record for the continental US, Timbuktu was destroyed by fundamentalists, and Quartavious Davis, a 20-year-old convicted of a first robbery offence, was sentenced to 162 years in prison.

SOMEONE HURT A WHITE GIRL’S FEELINGS, GODDAMMIT, THIS IS IMPORTANT

ladyatheist:

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating “For Whites Only”. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

—————

(Full video here)

althelamp:

Today Yesterday, there was a kid near Adventureland who was about 4 years old or so. he was a wearing a princess crown, had a princess wand, the autograph book was princesses, etc. and there was a grown man teasing him about “being gay”. A grown man.

Peter Pan likes to hang around the Adventureland bridge and he happened upon that scene. Not liking what he saw, especially from a grown up, he spoke up:

“Excuse me, sir, but I’m about to give you some advice I never tell anyone: grow up.”

kiriamaya:

This is your reminder that private insurance companies often refuse trans* people not only medically necessary transition care (which is seen by the insurance companies as “cosmetic” even though the medical community agrees it’s medically necessary), but also care which even the insurance companies consider medically necessary, on the grounds that transition is causing whatever the problem is and if you’d just stop transitioning, everything would be okay.

This is also your reminder that we have a feminist to thank for that.

karnythia:

bankuei:

pityplease:

coldeyesthatburn:

slavery ended 147 years ago

still fairly recent in history

ima need white folks to stop coming with these redic large numbers so they can feel better about saying get over it

Not to mention freed slaves were forced to buy, live and work under their former owners because the U.S. Government refused to give them any aid. Indentured servitude became their own means of survival.

They got freed on Sunday… but were put back on the plantation on Monday.

Slavery did not 147 years ago. We just stopped calling it that.

Also: Laws were passed that made it illegal for black people to “not work”.  If you were walking down the street and couldn’t name the white man you worked for, you were arrested, put in jail…. then rented out as convict labor.

So…

Yes, and even after slavery ended black people still had no legal protection from violence against them. Look at the reasons given for lynching & riots like those during the Red Summer of 1919 sometime, people were murdered for being too successful.