{advertisement}

Still Boycotting the Mall of America

I’m one of those silly Minnesotans who actually enjoys the Mall of America. I like the big indoor amusement park, I like the over-priced special exhibitions (the Star Trek exhibit was cool!). I like the indoor walking and people watching and window shopping and the Sea Life aquarium and the Mirror Maze and the giant Lego store. I like the visiting the shops that you don’t see anywhere else in this area, like the Peeps store and Paciugo Gelato.

But I did not like (ah, understatement) how the Mall of America responded to the nonviolent act of civil disobedience that took place in their rotunda on December 20th of this past year.

Continue reading “Still Boycotting the Mall of America”

Still Boycotting the Mall of America

Anti-Gay? Thanks for letting me know!

Last week RawStory reported on Oklahoma Democratic state Rep. Emily Virgin’s amendment to the outlandish and outrageous proposed Oklahoma Religious Freedom Act. Freaking RFRAs are popping up every which way this year. In the case of this particular one, certain wedding businesses would be allowed to deny services to anyone they don’t like just ‘cuz. Err…I mean – religious freedomz!!!

Rep. Virgin’s amendment would require that bigots clearly post their bigotry in a manner that would let potential patrons know which brand of bigotry they would be supporting by shopping with any particular store. From Rawstory:

The amendment to HB1371 introduced by Virgin on Tuesday would require religious businesses to come out of the closet.

“Any person not wanting to participate in any of the activities set forth in subsection A of this section based on sexual orientation, gender identity or race of either party to the marriage shall post notice of such refusal in a manner clearly visible to the public in all places of business, including websites,” the amendment states.

“The notice may refer to the person’s religious beliefs, but shall state specifically which couples the business does not serve by referring to a refusal based upon sexual orientation, gender identity or race.”

Yes! Please do let me know if I will be boycotting your shop. How convenient for me!

This is, of course, a stop gap. I cannot wait for us to cycle out of this ridiculous popularity of the “religious freedom” defense of asshattery. Soon? Please?

Anti-Gay? Thanks for letting me know!

Speaking Up

I don’t like to write about what I don’t know. But I need to talk about this, in part because I don’t hear as many people talking about this as I think there should be, and why not start at home? I mean, there are of course a lot of people talking about this, but what about the rest of us?

So many thoughts that I shouldn’t be talking about this; I don’t have the life experience, the academic, the professional or the activist experience. I don’t know the exact statistics of death by cop (only that they’re incontrovertibly stacked against POC and poor Americans), the sociological underpinnings of what drives police brutality, and while I do have some historical perspective of how black people have suffered at the hands of a mostly white justice system in this country, there’s so much more to know. I have no experience in police enforcement, criminal apprehension or law. I wasn’t raised to distrust cops, because cops were never the threat to my health, safety and freedom that they have shown themselves to be to black Americans. I’m a middle class white lady who grew up in a middle class suburb, and whose only fear of police has been getting slapped on the wrist for underage drinking. I have friends and neighbors who are police. My first response to this currently publicized epidemic of cops murdering black Americans would once have been NotAllCops. I have always had a level of trust and optimism in the system that outweighed the distrust. At one time I would have thought that this was surely just a few bad cops, right? Right?

So one of the reasons I’ve been quiet is probably because of some ridiculous feeling that it’s not my place to talk about the murders of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Darrien Hunt, Aiyana Stanley-Jones… That I’ll unintentionally make this about something other than the extrajudical killing of black people, like the good-intentioned fail that was #CrimingWhileWhite. But people are dying, and it doesn’t matter that I’m uncomfortable. People are dying, and there’s no time to hide behind “It’s not my place.” If I screw this up, I’ll take my lumps, try to learn from them, make my apologies as necessary, hope I don’t do damage along the way. Because this is too much to leave unaddressed.

Even if I don’t have any solutions and the issues seem too big to fix, silence is acquiescence, and I do not agree with the way these cases have been going down. Cops shouldn’t be able to murder their fellow citizens without consequence.

And non-indictment for murders? Not even a trial? How is that even… Cops need to be held accountable for killing human beings. Why are we as jurors deciding that killing human beings is justified by our police? What botched standard are we measuring against that we have decided that cops pulling their guns and shooting someone is the most appropriate response to a person who is being rude or angry or argumentative? That shooting an unarmed suspect in the back because they run is defensible? When did we decide that this is okay?

I have been in shock for some time over the violence that police have been getting away with. How can this keep happening? How? At one time I thought cameras would make it all better. Put a camera on every cop and in every cop car, and then the bad seeds can’t get away with picking their nose, let alone willful, unprovoked violence. And barring that, surely in this age of citizen activism and cell phone cameras with instant uploading we could discourage racist, power-tripping, violent behavior and bring to justice those cops who broke the law. But the cameras didn’t help. They haven’t helped. Cops are still getting away with using excessive force, with beatings, threats and intimidation, with murder. It’s all recorded there – the proof that they could once claim didn’t exist – and it’s not helping. The evidence isn’t outweighing the racism. When I say it like that, it seems obvious: When has evidence ever overcome racism?

People are dying and I don’t know how to make it better. But I’m not going to sit quietly and click my tongue in disappointment every time there’s another new story about someone getting killed by a trigger-happy cop. And I’m not going to sit quietly when my neighbors and acquaintances click their tongues in disappointment about “those protesters with their looting and why can’t everyone sit down and talk about this in a civilized manner.”

People are dying. We owe them more than our uncomfortable silences. If you’re like me and don’t feel like you’ve been doing enough, it’s time to start participating in uncomfortable conversations and to actively seek out ways to make positive change on this front. Right now it all seems too big, but there are always opportunities to lend time, money, support, signatures, and to start conversations. If you want to and are able to lend financial support, there’s the Legal Support Fund in Missouri, and memorial fundraisers for Tamir Rice’s familyEric Garner’s family, and Darrien Hunt’s family. I’ll let you know what else I find. Please feel free to point to organizations or efforts that you find worthy of support in the comments below.

Note: If you put in more than two hyperlinks, your comment will be held for moderation, but I will be keeping an eye out for those and getting them approved quickly should they appear. I won’t vouch for the organizations listed by commenters, but if I find any that squicks me out, I will remove them.

Also some local activism: Protesters shutdown I-35W in Minneapolis No arrests – traffic shut down for hours while protesters marched down the highway then through Minneapolis to City Hall where they laid down and chanted “I can’t breathe”

Speaking Up

CeCe’s Free

I’ve been thinking about CeCe McDonald a lot lately. That’s not surprising, really, since she was just released from prison. She spent 19 months in men’s prison for killing an attacker while defending her life.

I just…life is so fucking unfair.

I ranted about CeCe’s case in almost two years ago. She was sentenced to 41 months in prison, so she’s getting out early, but still. 19 months. Every time that I think about the fact that I live in a society that sentenced a transgender black woman to prison – a men’s prison! – for defending her life against bigots who targeted her because she is a transgender black woman it makes me angry and whatever the word for sad-angry-frustrated-helpless-to-tears is. And really, really angry.

I’ve been keeping an eye on her blog. CeCe turned 25 years old in prison. That was a heartbreaking post.

But as of today, she’s out. CeCe is out and she’s going to have a big ol’ party over at Intermedia Arts this Saturday.

Welcome back, CeCe.

CeCe’s Free

CeCe's Free

I’ve been thinking about CeCe McDonald a lot lately. That’s not surprising, really, since she was just released from prison. She spent 19 months in men’s prison for killing an attacker while defending her life.

I just…life is so fucking unfair.

I ranted about CeCe’s case in almost two years ago. She was sentenced to 41 months in prison, so she’s getting out early, but still. 19 months. Every time that I think about the fact that I live in a society that sentenced a transgender black woman to prison – a men’s prison! – for defending her life against bigots who targeted her because she is a transgender black woman it makes me angry and whatever the word for sad-angry-frustrated-helpless-to-tears is. And really, really angry.

I’ve been keeping an eye on her blog. CeCe turned 25 years old in prison. That was a heartbreaking post.

But as of today, she’s out. CeCe is out and she’s going to have a big ol’ party over at Intermedia Arts this Saturday.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvN4CTjR-Cg

Welcome back, CeCe.

CeCe's Free

Raped for Blowing Through a Stop Sign

Content warning: Rape, police brutality, medical procedures without consent.

What in the everliving fuck is happening in New Mexico?

From The New Civil Rights Movement

Police for the community of Deming, New Mexico, are under investigation by the law enforcement board, and several doctors have been referred to the state licensing board, after putting drivers stopped for traffic infractions through hours of invasive medical procedures, including, a rectal exam, enema, and a colonoscopy.

TRAFFIC INFRACTIONS?

The article describes not one but two men –  in two separate incidents – who have been subjected to what The New Civil Rights Movement sugarcoats as an “invasive search”, apparently performed in the name of drug searches. One of the victims, David Eckert, underwent a fourteen hour invasive search. After x-rays, two rectal exams, and enemas, they sedated him without his consent and gave him a colonoscopy. They knocked him unconscious and violated his body.

Invasive search? Bullshit. If this case turns out the way the media and Eckert’s attorney are telling it, this is was government-sanctioned rape.

From KOB4 Eyewitnes News:

Eckert’s attorney, Shannon Kennedy, said in an interview with KOB that after law enforcement asked him to step out of the vehicle, he appeared to be clenching his buttocks.  Law enforcement thought that was probable cause to suspect that Eckert was hiding narcotics in his anal cavity.  While officers detained Eckert, they secured a search warrant from a judge that allowed for an anal cavity search.

Government sanctioned rape, recommended by cops, OK’d by a judge and performed by doctors in the name of law enforcement and the war on drugs. The KOB4 website lists in horrifying detail all of the many ways the doctors abused the man. I wouldn’t recommend reading that unless you want to get good and pissed off.

This whole situation terrifies me. I’ve read a good many articles about police brutality, but this kind of methodical, multi-organization, coordinated abuse is so hard for me to wrap my brain around.

A lawsuit from David Eckert against…well, everyone…is pending.

Raped for Blowing Through a Stop Sign

Gay Marriage TONIGHT!

Okay…technically tomorrow. But in less than four hours and before I go to bed tonight, so tonight.

A little before midnight I’m going down to City Hall with friends to take in the smiles and tears and wedding couture and to celebrate the history in the making that will be the first several dozen gay marriages in Minneapolis.

GM2
Two women and two men cake toppers under a rainbow

There are marriage ceremonies happening all over Minnesota, including St. Paul, Rochester, Duluth and even at the Mall of America!

Other friends are heading down to the Minnesotans United Married At Midnight party at Wilde Roast Cafe

I’m so excited. And it feels surreal. It’s just…it’s HERE! After all of the controversy, the legal and political fights, the heart-wrenching personal stories, the injustices…People are GETTING MARRIED.

TONIGHT!

Click on the image below to be taken to the Star Tribune article on tonight’s marriages. R.T. Rybak, the mayor of Minneapolis, says a few words, and you can hear from Cathy ten Broeke. She and her SOON-TO-BE WIFE!!! will be among the first to be married at Minneapolis City Hall.

1st marriage

Gay Marriage TONIGHT!

An Amazing 12 Hours of News

I, along with an incredibly huge number of people, stayed up late last night to watch the clock count down on Wendy Davis’s amazing 13 hour filibuster against the Texas anti-abortion bill, SB5. After Senator Davis’s filibuster was ended at 10pm for some bullshit reason (in this case, that the topic of ultrasounds were not “germane” to the filibuster. “Germane” was one of the words of the evening, along with “parliamentary inquiry”), pro-choice legislators were able to stretch things out for another one hour and 45 minutes or so. With about 15 minutes left until midnight, Republicans tried to force a vote even as bill opponents protested. Frustrated with not being recognized, Senator Luticia Van De Putte asked:

LeticiaGraphic
Image shows Sen. Van De Putte with text overwritten: “At what point must a female senator raiser her hand and her voice to be recognized by her male colleagues?” – Source: Memographs via Joe.My.God

AND ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE IN THE CHAMBER.

People started screaming, cheering; there was thunderous applause. And then they didn’t stop. At one point they started chanting “WENDY!” over and over again. They screamed for almost 15 minutes! Here are a few of my favorite tweets from that time:

Texas State Representative Jessica Farrar tweeted: THIS IS THE CITIZEN FILIBUSTER! with this photo:

BNqUphZCQAAzCfx

Image shows part of the chamber floor and the packed balcony shouting at the top of their lungs and their arms raised in the air.

They cheered until the clock ran down. They cheered while police were hauling people out of the chamber in an attempt to restore order. And when the chamber was finally empty you could hear them chanting “SHAME!” outside the doors. In the end the diversion took just long enough to keep the vote from being called on time.

VotesAfterMidnight-1024x379

Screen cap of the datestamps of the vote.

See – the vote took place after midnight – after the special session ended. In one of many outrages of the night, bill proponents tried to fucking cheat. But in the end, the bill was dead. And we all rejoiced and praised the feminist army and donated to the political campaigns of Wendy Davis and Leticia Van De Putte and all of the other Senators who opposed SB5. Everyone was happy.

Oh…except for these people.

lifenews

Image is a screen cap from lifenews.com, an anti-choice website.

Dewhurst

Image is a Facebook capture of David Dewhurst’s status “I am furious about the outcome of the final day of this Special Session, when an unruly, screaming mob using “Occupy Wall Street” tactics derailed legislation intended to protect the health of Texas women and their babies. An unconscionable series of delaying actions by the minority party and their allies placed SB 5 in direct jeopardy of death-by-filibuster upon its arrival in the Senate. Pushing every parliamentary procedure to its limit, we passed SB 5 19-10, but the deafening roar from the gallery drowned out any possibility of adjourning with a signed bill. I pledge to Texas one thing: this fight is far from over.”

Lila Rose – anti-choice activist

rick_perry

Rick Perry haz a sad. Somebody bring him some some hot cocoa or a popsicle or something. Image shows Rick Perry looking pouty and resting his cheek against his fist. Image found at jessesublet.com

But enough about them – How about that other big news, right???? High five for five of nine SCOTUS judges!!!

I missed the media coverage of the DOMA statement and the the Prop 8 ruling, so all I’ll say on those is:

fyeah

Image has “FUCK YEA.” in rainbow font over the “fuck yea.” meme guy, and a rainbow flag on the left of the image.

Between Minnesota legalizing same-sex marriage, DOMA being overturned and SCOTUS ruling favorably in the Prop 8 case, it is going to be one hell of a party at the Twin Cities Pride Festival this weekend. Which reminds me, if you can, you should COME TO PRIDE IN THE PARK and THE PRIDE PARADE THIS WEEKEND!!!! Unless you don’t like big crowds, or you’re not in a place where you can feel safe at a LGBTQA celebration, of course. But if you can, it’s an amazing experience to be surrounded by such joy and support and acceptance. And yummy fatty food trucks and giant lemonades and way more taffeta and leather and body glitter than is usually seen on a hot July day and puppies and hippies with hoola hoops and seven inch heels and loud live music and drag shows and not nearly enough clothing on so many people and hugs and smiles and kisses and rainbow ALL THE THINGS!

Happy [social justice/civil rights/treating human beings decently] celebration day, everyone.

An Amazing 12 Hours of News

Out In Droves – Arguing Same-Sex Marriage

House Bill H.R.1054 was up for a vote in the Civil Law Committee on Tuesday. On that day the committee took testimony from any and all citizens who wanted to share their views on the bill. Many presented their own views and some introduced themselves as representatives for a group.

I don’t often watch political committee discussions (but when I do…), but this is a topic of great interest. H.R.1054 is a bill that, if passed by the MN Congress, would give same-sex couples the right to get married in Minnesota! I also wanted to watch because August Berkshire was scheduled to speak on behalf of Minnesota Atheists. August live-Facebooked the event. Fellow MN Atheist members Greg Laden and Stephanie Zvan also blogged about the committee meeting.

Continue reading “Out In Droves – Arguing Same-Sex Marriage”

Out In Droves – Arguing Same-Sex Marriage