Jose Maria Sison, Founder of Communist Party of the Philippines, Arrested

Carol P. Araullo, chair Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (New Patriotic Alliance, or BAYAN) comments on the recent arrest of Jose Maria Sison in the Netherlands and the Philippine’s government corrupt and deadly practices:

Simply put, the “peace” Mrs. Arroyo refers to would be the outcome of the projected defeat of the communist-led revolutionary movement through yet another “all-out war” effort with a supposedly much better trained and equipped military (courtesy of hiked US military aid and bigger budgetary allocations); resort to a dirty war that includes rampant violations of human rights as a means to terrorize the rebel movement’s mass base in the countryside and legal, unarmed activists in the urban areas; and forcing the NDFP panel to capitulate in the peace negotiations by agreeing to a purported “final peace agreement” that oversees laying down of arms by the NPA in exchange for illusory socio-economic and political reforms and some form of amnesty.

Advertisement

BET and WET

Rachels blogs about questions here students normally ask her on why is there a Black Entertainment Television and not a White Entertainment Television:

My first reaction to the BET question is to reject the premise of the question.  I tell students that there are many channels that are White Entertainment Television–they are called NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, the Home and Garden Channel, TLC, etc.  At this point, many of the students of color laugh (as do a few white students), but most of the white students have a look of puzzlement.  Then someone usually says, but those channels have black people on them too.  I respond by telling them that there are white people on BET.  At this point, I also take the time to explain how most shows on the white oriented channels have predominantly white casts.  It usually helps to give examples of shows like Friends, The Hills, and Everybody Loves Raymond, where all of the main characters are white.  I also explain that there are very few predominantly black (Asian, Latino, or American Indian) shows.  I often have students of color who explain how or why certain shows or networks don’t appeal to them, which helps drive home the point.

Many whites don’t notice whiteness, so this is a good opportunity to talk about how whiteness is often unmarked and invisible.

Oprah and Black Children

Terry Howcott comments on “Black do-gooders” and Oprah:

For me, the straw that broke the already weakened camel’s back was when Winfrey criticized Black children in the U.S. as an explanation for why she traveled to the other side of the planet – first – to invest in Black girlhood. She essentially suggested children of African descent in this country weren’t up to snuff with her skewed, extremely controlled, culturally cleansed perceptions and social standards.

San Francisco Popular Struggles Mural

Martin Travers blogs about a mural he is designing in San Francisco and is asking for support:

I am a firm believer in the right to self determination of all peoples all over this wonderful world we all inhabit. To stand by the right to that self determination by Palestinian people or any other people is by no means supporting terrorism or senseless violence or racism, to say that is in itself an injustice. My painting which was recreated on the mural in question is about that right, breaking through the wall that separates the Israelis from Palestinians and the Palestinians from each other is symbolic of the breaking of the walls that fence in the marginalised and the “unwanted” people everywhere because to see them is to be reminded of where and how Europe, north America and Israel got its wealth.

Responsibility and Values: Vick and Bonds

Asabagna blogs on the Bonds and Vick controversies surrounding the sporting world:

Which leads me to values. I have never been one to focus my energies to work towards the goal of being “equal to white people”…. in any way! There is nothing about them in particular that I desire to be equal with or to, especially when it comes to their moral and/or value system. The individualistic, materialistic and egocentric premise upon which “western” morality and values have been built, are the seeds of our own self-destructive behaviour.

Arabs Not Allowed

QArab blogs:

Last week the Knesset passed in preliminary reading a law that would require the Jewish National Fund (JNF) to allocate land that it owns only to Jews. Presumably this means that Jews who are not citizens of Israel would qualify, but Israel’s Arab citizens would be barred from access to land owned by the JNF.

Padilla Convicted On No Evidence

Tom writes:

Before 9/11 and “preventative detention” and legal torture and scary new laws like the USA-Patriot Act and the Military Commissions Act eliminated habeas corpus, Padilla would have sat in jail a day or two. He might have gotten roughed up. Then he’d have walked.

That was under democracy. In Bush’s neofascist security state, Padilla rotted in solitary confinement–in a military brig–for three and a half years. (Read Henry Charriere’s classic prison memoir “Papillon” if you doubt that solitary confinement is a form of torture.) No family visits. No lawyer. They subjected him to sensory deprivation, covering his eyes and ears to make him lose his mind.

And still no trial. Because the government knew Padilla was innocent.

Vogue: Skinny White Models With “Quant Token Africans”

Carmen Van Kerckhove posts a blog about a commenter on the New York Times blog fashion page:

Wow, this commenter on New York Times fashion editor Cathy Horyn’s blog really summed up how I’ve always felt about those “Out of Africa”-type fashion spreads in Vogue.

American Vogue is a sad joke–the racism and elitist mentality of Vogue is astonishing. The few minorities featured in this magazine reek of tokenism and I would respect them more if they simply had no African-Americans, Asians or Latinos in their magazine. The fact that they hide their racism and ignorance with subterfuge offends even more.

Vogue: Skinny White Models With “Quant Token Africans”

Carmen Van Kerckhove posts a blog about a commenter on the New York Times blog fashion page:

Wow, this commenter on New York Times fashion editor Cathy Horyn’s blog really summed up how I’ve always felt about those “Out of Africa”-type fashion spreads in Vogue.

American Vogue is a sad joke–the racism and elitist mentality of Vogue is astonishing. The few minorities featured in this magazine reek of tokenism and I would respect them more if they simply had no African-Americans, Asians or Latinos in their magazine. The fact that they hide their racism and ignorance with subterfuge offends even more.

National Reparations Day

Frances M. posts a blog about National Reparations Day on Oct. 10th:

As we all know slavery sucked. And the effects of such soul crushing devastation still haunt the United States today. Reparations is basically an apology from those who have benefited from such a hideous institution in the form of money. Who has benefited from slavery? All white people. Yes even you, your mama, daddy & so on.

Malcolm’s Religion and Elijah’s Religion

Michael Fisher, on the blog The Assault on Black Folk’s Sanity, writes about Malcolm X and his religious views after breaking with Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam:

Therefore, from the point of view of a White Supremacist, given the political content of Elijah Muhammad’s religion and that of Malcolm’s religion, which political content of which religion, Elijah’s or Malcolm’s would be less dangerous to the white supremacist?

I would argue that it would be that of Malcolm’s for it provides an “in” to what otherwise under Elijah would potentially have been a system which at the very least theoretically closed the white supremacists’ access to the minds of black people.

Under the system of White Supremacy the political content of Malcolm’s religion, I would argue, is less than useless. It is dangerous to black people. First, as we already know, the existence of “good” white people is, on balance, thoroughly irrelevant. In fact, an ally without power is a liability.

Malcolm’s Religion and Elijah’s Religion

Michael Fisher, on the blog The Assault on Black Folk’s Sanity, writes about Malcolm X and his religious views after breaking with Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam:

Therefore, from the point of view of a White Supremacist, given the political content of Elijah Muhammad’s religion and that of Malcolm’s religion, which political content of which religion, Elijah’s or Malcolm’s would be less dangerous to the white supremacist?

I would argue that it would be that of Malcolm’s for it provides an “in” to what otherwise under Elijah would potentially have been a system which at the very least theoretically closed the white supremacists’ access to the minds of black people.

Under the system of White Supremacy the political content of Malcolm’s religion, I would argue, is less than useless. It is dangerous to black people. First, as we already know, the existence of “good” white people is, on balance, thoroughly irrelevant. In fact, an ally without power is a liability.

Carnival of Feminists #43

Femtique hosts the first of this months Carnival of Feminists:

Welcome to the August 15, 2007 edition of carnival of feminists. These entries are extraordinary and diverse. Sit back, relax, and enjoy reading these submissions with a good cup of java or tea.

Gay Bashing and Hate Crimes

Terrance DC, at Pam’s House Blend, blogs about the recent gay bashing against Michael Wrenn:

Part of the reason I started the Hate Crimes on Wikipedia Project was to make information about the kind of hate crimes that have been committed against LGBT people more widely available, because that I think the facts are the most powerful resource we have in terms of making it clear what the hate crimes bill is really about.

I’m a couple of days late on this one, but I while catching up with my blog reading, I came across a story that underscores another aspect of the hate crimes bill. Jim Burroway posted the full text of the bill at Box Turtle Bulletin a while back. He also challenged the opposition to post the text of the bill on their sites, and point out where it threatens their religious beliefs or religious speech. To date, none of them have taken up that challenge that I know of, but I’ll refer to his post to show how the hate crimes bill might come into play, when police fail to investigate or report a hate crime.

Children in Black (Mud) Face. “Gut und rassistisch!”

Black Woman in Europe blogs:

Besides claiming that every single person in “Africa” isn’t educated, and doing so in an extremely patronising way, it is also disturbing that this organisation thinks blackfacing kids with mud (!) equals “relating to african children”. Also, the kids’ statements ignore the existance of millions of african academics and regular people and one again reduces a whole continent to a village of muddy uneducated uncivilized people who need to be educated (probably by any random westerner). This a really sad regression.
Bottom lines of this campaign are: Black = mud = African = uneducated.

Children in Black (Mud) Face. “Gut und rassistisch!”

Black Woman in Europe blogs:

Besides claiming that every single person in “Africa” isn’t educated, and doing so in an extremely patronising way, it is also disturbing that this organisation thinks blackfacing kids with mud (!) equals “relating to african children”. Also, the kids’ statements ignore the existance of millions of african academics and regular people and one again reduces a whole continent to a village of muddy uneducated uncivilized people who need to be educated (probably by any random westerner). This a really sad regression.
Bottom lines of this campaign are: Black = mud = African = uneducated.

Afro-Spear Monthly Carnival to Soon Come

Asabanga blogs:

In an effort to have more focused discussions, we are starting a monthly carnival with rotating topics. As I understand it, the way a carnival works is that those who wish to participate, post an essay on the topic on your blog page and forward the link to us at Afrospear@hotmail.com. We will post all the links and then have a discussion on the essays which have been submitted.

…

It has inspired me to submit for the first topic of our monthly carnival, the issue of education within the Black/African community. Some questions to consider: Are we currently suffering from mis-education? What is your opinion and/or perspective on how our young are being educated? Are they being mis-educated and if so, what are the dynamics and results of this process of mis-education that you see? Does education have the power to change our lives and if so, do we, as a people, truly value and take advantage of that opportunity? What solutions and/or strategies do you propose to the education dilemma which is facing our community(ies)? It would be beneficial and enlightening to hear from different regions of the Diaspora and from the Motherland itself.

The deadline is August 31st and the blog will be on the first Monday of September.

Hathor Legacy and Straight White Women

BetaCandy, who blogs at Blind Privilege, came to  a certain realization of an institute she administers for that studies the portrayals of women in the media:

Hathor was always intended to be about women and how they are marginalized. It wasn’t that I didn’t care how other people – people of color, queer people, etc. – were treated by the media. I’m very interested in those issues, too. I was just sticking to the issue of women because it’s where my expertise lies.

A few months ago, it hit me: some women are queer. Some women are of color. If you don’t cover them, it’s not a feminist media site. It’s just a site about white heterosexual women, and how we get marginalized.

Channel 4 Spreads Hate

Lenin comments on a recent police investigation of a Muslim mosque in Britain after an “undercover” operation by a Channel 4 news team in Britain which aired footage of Muslim clerics allegedly preaching a Wahhabist view of Islam and hatred toward the West:

this particular programme ran into trouble because the West Midlands police decided to investigate their claims to see if anyone could be banged up over it. What the police appear to have found is that statements were spliced together to fundamentally distort what most of the speakers they quoted were actually saying. A CPS lawyer reviewing the footage agreed.

Naturally, the right-wing papers are whinging that the police should be ‘doing their job’, which as they see it involves arresting Muslims and spying on their meetings. The fascists are obviously howling with indignation as well. However, if the police are right, then Channel 4 is possibly guilty of incitement to racial hatred.

Zapatista Women: Goals and Reality

Richmex2 blogs about women, Chiapas, and the Zapatista struggle and quotes  Marc Becker :

“Within Zapatista communities and more broadly in Maya society, there appears to be a gap between what leadership projects and what communities experience. For example, the Zapatista Junta de Buen Gobierno that governs the Caracol of Morelia is comprised of three men and three women. Plenaries at the Zapatista Encounter with the Peoples of the World in July at the Caracol of Oventic were heavily dominated by women. But during a short visit to the autonomous Zapatista community of Olga Isabel, we only met with three men and it appears that women played an insignificant role in community governance.”

Robert Murray Uses Tragedy to Attack Unions

Mike Hall blogs about Robert Murray, the CEO of Murray Energy, which owns the mine of the six trapped (or possibly dead) Utah miners. The mine was a non-union mine and used an extremely unsafe method of mining called “retreat mining:”

Murray has also used the spotlight to:

• Deny reports that a type of mining called retreat mining, that many safety experts warn adds danger to an already dangerous underground workplace, was being used at the Utah mine. But federal safety officials confirm retreat mining has been used at Crandall Creek.
• Dispute scientists who say that seismographic readings at the time of the collapse came from the magnitude of the collapse, not an earthquake that caused the collapse.
• Attack reporters and accuse them of posing questions provided by the Mine Workers (UMWA).
• Rant against the UMWA and its leaders, saying the union wants organize his workforce and “want to damage Murray Energy, Utah American and the United States coal industry for their own motives.”

It’s not the first time Murray has drawn down on the UMWA. The relationship between Murray and the UMWA goes back to1988 when Murray purchased an Ohio coal mine that came with a 300-strong UMWA-represented workforce.

Imagine…Being Your Husband’s Very Own Baby Machine

Holly, at Feministe, blogs about a new Nintendo DS game called “Imagine Babies:”

That’s right… it’s a game about TAKING CARE OF BABIES! I’ll give you one guess who it’s aimed at. OK, I’ll just tell you: it’s part of a series of games aimed at girls from the ages of 8 to 14, from video game giant Ubisoft — better known as the publisher games like Splinter Cell, Myst, Rayman, and Prince of Persia. According to their press release, the other titles in the series will include Imagine™ Fashion Designer, Imagine™ Animal Doctor, Imagine™ Master Chef, and Imagine™ Figure Skater.

Wow, Imagine™ all the things a girl can do! Making food, and making clothes, and making babies!! What’s next, Imagine™ Shoe Shopping and Imagine™ Housecleaning?

Link via Apurva.

Imagine…Being Your Husband’s Very Own Baby Machine

Holly, at Feministe, blogs about a new Nintendo DS game called “Imagine Babies:”

That’s right… it’s a game about TAKING CARE OF BABIES! I’ll give you one guess who it’s aimed at. OK, I’ll just tell you: it’s part of a series of games aimed at girls from the ages of 8 to 14, from video game giant Ubisoft — better known as the publisher games like Splinter Cell, Myst, Rayman, and Prince of Persia. According to their press release, the other titles in the series will include Imagine™ Fashion Designer, Imagine™ Animal Doctor, Imagine™ Master Chef, and Imagine™ Figure Skater.

Wow, Imagine™ all the things a girl can do! Making food, and making clothes, and making babies!! What’s next, Imagine™ Shoe Shopping and Imagine™ Housecleaning?

Link via Apurva.

YearlKos; AKA, the White Citizens YearlyKouncil

African American Political Pundit blogs about the YearlKos:

Come on folks, stop beating around the bush. Stop sugar coating it. Let’s stop playing Games. Let’s stop intellectualizing white blogger racism. Let’s call it the way it is, The Democratic Presidential candidates just went before the Yearlykos a 21st century White Citizens YearlyKouncil. An exclusive club of middle aged whites guys, who sit around playing the “liberal card” with all but a few black and Latinos who attended the YearlyKos event.

Serious Women Bloggers

Lynn Allen, who blogs at Evergreen Politics, writes about feminism and YearlKos:

So, I’d been wondering what the heck was going on in the world when women’s issues – equal pay, choice, the lack of public support for parenting – don’t get discussed in the public arena; when pharmacists could get away with refusing to dispense pills for women, when women candidates lose in a blue wave year.

I talked to several national women bloggers at YearlyKos about why they don’t write about women’s issues.  Across the board they said, “We won’t be taken seriously.”

What is it with this?