"It may be considered naive and unrealistic to assume I can eliminate prejudice, implicit bias, and long-held racial fears. Yet I won't ever stop trying for men and women... For all those unjustly imprisioned by a system unwilling or incapable of recognizing their humanity. To exist... to prosper... within that framework... takes a level of strength that would make even Superman envious. I'll be in your corner. I'll fight for your freedom. Always."

Truth & Justice (2021). "The Revolving Door."

Jamie Lloyd confirmed that right after his Olivier win as BEST DIRECTOR for 'Sunset Blvd.', he returned to rehearsals for 'Romeo & Juliet'.

The director took the opportunity to talk about the controversial racial attacks suffered by Francesca Amewudah-Rivers and the cast's position in the face of it —

“Everyone is focusing on the work. That’s how you win in the face of the people who hate. You focus on the work and I can’t wait for the world to see this exceptional cast and the amazing performance that Francesca is creating. The mood in the room is creative and compelling.”

This explains the company's decision to make a powerful general statement and leave the matter aside, so as not to give ammunition to the incels and racists who invaded social media. We know very well what the homophobic reaction was like with Tom Holland in The Crowded Room.

A second chance at life 

Summary:  You were done with life, done with being trapped and abused. But it was just your luck that you’d try to take your life on the borders with Port Mafia territory. And that there’d be an executive who had opinions. OR the time you found out that not all Mafia are heartless bastards. 

Pairing: Suicidal reader  x Chuuya Nakahara 

Raven’s Special prompt: “Hi Raven, I'm the same anon that asked for the Chuuya x fem reader where she's abused and runs away, I forgot to add that reader is poc (brown skin).” 

Warnings: Dark content with triggers, proceed at your own risk!

This fic contains: suicidal reader (who’s making an attempt- jumping), hint abusive-manipulative past/family, Cursing & mature language, Chuuya comfort/help, I think I didn’t miss anything.. i hope. Hope this brings you comfort and that you enjoy~

“ Oj don’ even think about it; I ain’t got any fucking wish to waste man-power on cleaning up civil splatter” 

You froze in your spot; your hands automatically re-grasped the safety bar of the rooftop,  keeping you upright and steady on the edge you were just about to leap off of. “ W-What?” you asked as you turned your head to the right, towards the stylish ginger haired man who had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Instead of trying to talk you down from your suicide attempt however he just proceeded to light himself a cigarette. He took a deep drag of it before he pointed towards the ground below. “ The fucking ledge bottoms out onto Mafia territory. You jump- my men gotta clean that shit up” he answered in the most unbothered tone anyone could master as he took several steps towards you in warning. Something told you that even if you were to let go of the bar, he’d reach you quicker and pull you back to safety than you could accomplish your goal. Then he’d no doubt hound your ass for ignoring him.

You did not have the energy for all that drama. But you didn’t know what to say to him. You were so tired of life; of being a bother. A burden to everyone around you. Not good enough for anyone- in fact it was better if you weren’t around. But were you selfish enough to cause him more work? You glanced back at him; took notice of the dark rings below his eyes. The paleness of his skin made him look almost sickly. A powerful yet exhausted man. “ Sorry” you mumbled as you moved your body into a sitting position in defeated surrender. It seemed you were incapable of even dying right. Silence lingered for a while- you thought he had finished up his cigarette and left. Instead you heard him light another one somewhere above you.

“ So, why aren’t you trying again elsewhere? Packing your shit and getting away from whatever’s driven you up here?” You snapped your head up to face him but he wasn’t looking at you. His body leaned against the railing, his focus onto the city below. An unreadable expression on his face. 

You scoffed at him. “ Please, where the hell would I go? I’m penniless and unlike those pretty white chicks, I won’t get a job overnight. Even as an escort” you didn’t bother saying that your family held onto your payslips with no chance for you to gather even a little bit of savings. You were literally trapped under their control- a puppet to be pushed and pulled at their every beck and call. “ Ehh so you think it’s easier for ‘em?” He sounded doubtful yet curious. “ I know it is,” you answered somberly, “ It took me a year to get the job I have now- had to beg an old classmate for her to recommend me. Still I’m the lowest paid among all my other colleagues with the same title and less experience. And get reminded daily that if I don’t like it, I'm replaceable.” You sighed and rested your head back on top of your knees. “ ‘round here it’s hopeless and I got no money to go elsewhere” In your eyes, you were trapped with no reasonable way out. It left you with suicide as your only option. Your only hope. And even it was stripped away from you, leaving a dull numbness in your body. A defeated surrender to your fate. Silence lingered for a while longer as he finished his cigarette and lit himself another. Clearly not denying your words as if understanding both the said and unsaid implications behind them “ You willing to work hard?” he asked suddenly. You snapped your head up and fixed him with a determined look. “ Harder than anyone you know.” you promised in a heartbeat. You did not care to know what his offer entailed. After all, what did you have to lose? Your enthusiasm amused him. It prompted the man to stretch a gloved hand down towards you. You stared at it for a long while before you finally rested your fingers in it. The leather was cool to the touch, his grip strong as he pulled you up to your feet in a single tug. He shifted his hold and then shook your hand, as though you two had just reached a deal. A mutual agreement. 

“ Well kiddo I got an idea what the Port Mafia’s gonna do with you.” he smirked a boyish grin. An action that should have filled you with dread, but instead, you felt hope. A ray of light amidst the suffocating darkness “ Port Mafia?” you asked instead making him bark out a laugh. “ Damned right. From now on you’re Port Mafia property, and I, Chuuya Nakahara, am your boss”  

Author note:  Sweden is placed in the top four for racial equality IN THE WORLD Still those with non Swedish sounding names get significantly less callbacks for job applications than those with Swedish sounding names. Of those called to interview, how many get rejected because of accent/way of pronouncing words, skin colour or religious expression is something we’ll never know. And the thought of what and how it is in the rest of the world just shows what a cruel, unequal and sad world we live in. Truly it is a heartbreaking reality we exist in. This fic tried to portray that while adding a tiny bit of hope that only Chuuya could gift.. Hope it served its purpose.

Liked this work and want to see more? Check out Raven's masterlist for more stuff to read! ©ravencincaide 2024. Do not copy/repost/translate or spread my work(s) without my explicit permission. If you see any of my work(s) reposted/copied anywhere else without my consent, please inform me!

Intersectionality according to the woman who coined the term

If you haven't actually read Kimberlé Crenshaw's original paper on intersectionality, go do so, you can read it for free at this link:

Link to Kimberlé Crenshaw's original 1989 paper on intersectionality

It is very good. It's quite a scathing critique of radfem concepts like "you are a woman first", a unified "female experience" or a "universal womanhood", in my opinion.

For all the radical feminists in my notes claiming that I don't know what intersectionality means and that I'm using it wrong...

If you think intersectionality is only about women, you haven't read the introduction to her paper, where Crenshaw states that she is introducing the concept of intersectionality by centering black women - but she is not saying intersectionality is only applicable to black women.

She is using race and sex as in introduction to the topic of intersectionality, but she has stated many times that intersectionality goes far beyond race and sex.

"Intersectionality is a framework for understanding how issues like sexism, racism, classism and more can overlap and affect people in multiple ways, Crenshaw has said." [link to CNN article]

This is a link to a TED talk she gave in 2016 where she discusses intersectionality in detail. It's 18 minutes long, and if you have the time I really recommend watching this as well. She once again centers black women in her discussion of intersectionality, what it is, and why it matters.

Content Warning for the video: From timestamp 14:49 onward, there are images that may be disturbing to some, that show the violence black women have faced. This is done as a tribute to these women, bearing witness to the violence they have faced as a way to honor them, but it may be triggering for some people.

This image is from the video, showing the intersection that Crenshaw uses as a metaphor and that she based the concept of intersectionality on:

Some important quotes:

"Many years ago, I began to use the term "intersectionality" to deal with the fact that many of our social justice problems like racism and sexism are often overlapping, creating multiple levels of social injustice."

"So what do you call being impacted by multiple forces and then abandoned to fend for yourself? Intersectionality seemed to do it for me."

"I would go on to learn that African-American women, like other women of color, like other socially marginalized people all over the world, were facing all kinds of dilemmas and challenges as a consequence of intersectionality, intersections of race and gender, of heterosexism, transphobia, xenophobia, ableism, all of these social dynamics come together and create challenges that are sometimes quite unique."

---

If you deal with an intersection of identities that become more than the sum of their parts, you can use the word intersectionalism to describe your oppression. It's ok. That's how the word is meant to be used. It is not just a word for women, it is not just describing how womanhood intersects with multiple identities.

“You Act White”

When Black people display their intelligence they are NOT imitating Whiteness because intelligence is not an inherently White trait. Black excellence is real and has nothing to do with White proximity.

For the people in the back: intelligence is NOT a racial indicator, NOT cultural appropriation, and does NOT have racial significance.

One word I didn't expect to hear describing Joe Biden's State of the Union speech was "energetic" – but there it was bigtime. 😎

Dark Brandon was in the House and wasn't taking any prisoners. His fervent advocacy for progressive and pro-democracy policies left no one in doubt that he is The Anti-MAGA.

President Biden sounded like an older version of Harry Truman though without swear words. And much of the speech was aimed directly at the Republicans and at the GOP Supreme Court – calling them out right to their faces.

Biden wasn't just energetic, he absolutely taunted Republicans on an issue they've shot themselves in both feet on – immigration reform.

Biden’s Border Taunts Clearly Hit a Republican Nerve

Finally, he arrived at the topic that he knew Republicans couldn’t resist, because it represents that party’s most embarrassing recent failure. He reminded the country that at Donald Trump’s direction, Republicans had killed the strongest immigration bill in years, one that would reduce the flood of asylum seekers and bolster security at the southern border. And immediately the boos poured in from the red side of the chamber. “What are you against?” he asked, finally laughing at the opportunity to expose a bit of rampant hypocrisy. “Oh, you don’t like that bill?” It would save lives and bring order to the chaos at the border, he said, reducing fentanyl smuggling and giving every president the ability to shut down crossings when the surge of migrants became too great. [ ... ] Biden’s provocation on this issue may have been the most successful moment of the evening, one that will be replayed many times in the months to come on the campaign trail. And the power of it could be seen in the downcast face behind him of Speaker Mike Johnson, who wouldn’t bring the border bill to the House floor. All he could do was shake his head and hope Biden changed the subject.

Democrats have reason to feel good about this speech and it showed. His departure from the chamber was delayed by enthusiastic Democratic House members who were asking for selfies and getting autographs from Biden while chatting with him. If they had thought the speech was a dud they would have fled immediately.

On a somewhat funny note, the extended post-speech coverage of Biden's socializing on the House floor delayed the start of the GOP reply by the rather wooden Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama. Many viewers may have tuned out before her speech finally started a little before 11 PM Eastern Time.

LET'S TALK ABOUT ZECORA!!!!!!!!!!

So we all know that the season 1 episode 9 of My Little Pony is the one where the ponies first meet Zecora, a mysterious Zebra that the whole of Ponyville finds frightening. I'm sure many of you are aware that it's a blatant allegory for racism, and for a children's show it does EXTREMELY well. It shows how fear of the unknown is such an extreme part of the human brain, as well as describing how this fear can be dangerous and even fatal. When the episode begins, five of the Mane 6 are already decided on their stance against Zecora, so when Twilight (who's more educated on the subject, and therefore more open to suggestion/changing of opinions) enters the scene, she's immediately bombarded with information from her most trusted friends about how evil Zecora is. She's skeptical at first, and tries to convince the others of her standpoint, but as the episode moves on, her opinion changes -due to miscommunication- to match that of her friend's. When the Mane 6 finally take a moment and actually talk to Zecora, they find out that she's been trying to help them throughout the entire episode, and due to their fear, they heard and understood none of what she was trying to say. The whole episode goes on a deep dive in explaining fear of the unknown, the connection between knowledge and judgement, and even how children are often significantly more open to change and new standpoints (E.G. how Applebloom is the first character to actually reach out to Zecora and find out who she really is). My point is, if a children's TV show created 14 years ago can do such an educated and intelligent analysis on racism (and bigotry in general) and still make it easy to understand for little kids, then we could ALL be doing better. We SHOULD all be doing better. Do better.

For context examples  of minority groups are 

Racial/Ethnic

Religious

Gender (Like trans people and intersex people)

Sexuality (Gay, Lesbian, bisexual, Asexual, etc.)

Disability (Physical mental or cognitive etc)

And many more of course 

But of course taken to account the country you live in For instance being Chinese in China means you're not a racial minority

AN OPEN LETTER to THE PRESIDENT & U.S. CONGRESS; STATE GOVERNORS & LEGISLATURES

Support Marijuana Decriminalization for a more Equitable USA

4 so far! Help us get to 5 signers!

I am writing to express my strong support for the decriminalization of marijuana at both the federal and state levels. The current approach to cannabis, rooted in policies dating back to 1971, requires urgent reconsideration given evolving social norms and scientific understanding.

The revelation by President Richard Nixon's domestic policy chief, John Ehrlichman, that the war on drugs was designed to target Black communities underscores the urgent need to rectify the injustices perpetuated by decades of punitive drug policies. The disproportionate impact of these policies on communities of color has fueled systemic inequities in our criminal justice system.

Decriminalization of marijuana would shift our focus from ineffective punitive measures to evidence-based public health strategies, emphasizing harm reduction and regulated use, whether medicinal or recreational. It's crucial to differentiate between decriminalization and unregulated use, prioritizing public health and equitable access.

I urge you to champion legislation that decriminalizes marijuana and addresses the racial disparities entrenched by outdated drug policies. By investing in research and public health initiatives related to cannabis, we can develop policies that protect public health while respecting individual freedoms.

In conclusion, federal and state-level decriminalization of marijuana is imperative to rectify the failures of past policies and promote equitable, evidence-based drug reform. I urge you to seize this opportunity to advance sensible, ethical drug policy reforms that reflect our evolving understanding of cannabis regulation.

Thank you for considering my perspective on this critical matter. I look forward to your leadership in championing meaningful drug policy reform.

📱 Text SIGN PWUITK to 50409

🤯 Liked it? Text FOLLOW IVYPETITIONS to 50409

💘 Q'u lach' shughu deshni da. 🏹 "What I say is true" in Dena'ina Qenaga

Letter to Canadian Government Asking them to Help Myanmar

Our names are _____. We are from _____. We are writing to you today to ask that you send military aid to the brave revolutionaries fighting the Myanmar military and fighting for democracy and ethnic equality in the country.

The Myanmar military has suppressed the power of the people for decades. It has created a Myanmar where the people are poor and inequality is high. Civil rights, political rights, workers rights, economic rights, and human rights have all been repressed. There has been so much racism and prejudice baked into the institutions of the country by the military. There was some hope after the country supposedly transitioned into a democracy, but the military coup that gave all political power back to the military has killed this dream. The Myanmar military has also committed genocide against ethnic minorities.

People have joined peaceful protests for a long time, but those protestors were met with murder, torture, and arrest by the Myanmar military. They realized that the only way they can fight for the freedom, equality, and very survival of all the people in their country was by engaging in armed struggle. And so the people are engaging in armed struggle. Vast majority of the common people of Myanmar are either in armed conflict for their freedom, or they’re materially and logistically supporting the people who are in armed conflict for their freedom.

We need to support them as they fight for the rights of the common people, the rights of all ethnicities, and the rights of the future generations. If we give them military aid, then they will have an easier time fighting the military. If they have good, reliable, powerful military equipment, they will have a much easier time fighting their oppressors and they will have a higher chance of winning the revolution.

So please give them military aid so that they have an edge against the oppressive military.

Sincerely,

Send to:

Prime Minister Trudeau- [email protected]

Deputy Prime Minister Freeland- [email protected]

Minister of Foreign Affairs Joly- [email protected]

Find your MP here: https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en

Minister of National Defence Blair- [email protected]

Associate Minister of National Defence Taylor- [email protected]