Latest Posts by foundinthegrass - Page 5
I love being Asexual
Because my acethetic is on point.
You're asexual? But...
“but sex is what makes us human!”
in 1916 a French officer in his twenties writes his
doctoral dissertation under
heavy mortar fire.
he sends it by mail, a page
at a time, to his wife.
a week before he’s to step up to the podium and
defend his work rather than hiscountry
he is killed in action.
even as the bullets rip
through him he still wishes he could have become a professor
in French literature and
the university awards him a posthumous Ph.D.
sex is
a woman breaks down in tears on the phone because
a week is not enough time to
get over a breakup.
her sister drives an hour across town,
comes up the front steps with
a gallon of ice cream and somebeer
and together they eat moose tracks and marathon
every
single
Godzilla movie
ever made.
sex is
she’s late for work but her car isn’t
starting and even through her coat and hat she’s cold.
she knows she can’t be late again because she’s missed
one time too many already because her
father’s nurse was sick with the flu and someone
needed to help him bathe.
the clock ticks past fifteen after and she hits
the wheel like it’s a heavy bag as though that will help
steps on the gas like the car will go
and wonders how she will pay rent
and how she will feed her father.
sex is
it takes three people to hold the predator down because
even with the cover over his head
a bleeding eye and shattered wing
he is trying to hurt them.
none of them have seen this bird before in their lives but
they bandage his wing and head and give him a painkiller and
put him in a warm place to sleep and heal because
it is right.
at first he is paralyzed and cannot
fly but soon he is taking steps
and then fluttering, and then soaring, and
six months later he is whole and healed and hunting.
once he is gone they never see him again
which means they’ve done their jobs right.
sex is
in 1969 a girl watches grey-and-white footage on her parents’ tiny television and
can’t quite believe that what she is seeing is not a movie set but
another planet.
the men on the screen look a little like
aliens with bulbous heads and no faces and fat
marshmallow arms
but they are still men.
her mother puffs on a cigarette behind her and declares that
this is progress
even if it was just a small step.
the girl grows up to be not an astronaut but a secretary
and her boss calls her ‘sweetheart’.
but sex is
a boy is taught that real men don’t cry so
he doesn’t.
when his best friend dies from a self-inflicted
gunshot wound, he locks himself
in the shower every day and sobs under scalding
water until it runs cold
so nobody will see him grieving
so nobody will see that tears are just love that
has no place left to go.
he learns to dull love rather than suppress its expression and
soon the owner of the liquor store knows him by name.
three DUIs, two evictions, and twelve steps later,
he is feeding people at a homeless shelter,
and telling them it’s all right to cry.
Sex is
the broken man tells the comedian
that he didn’t mean to step in front of the car but the rain
made it hard to see.
he seems okay but his leg
does not.
the comedian clutches a grubby receipt with the driver’s
plate number scrawled on the back
in pink pen, stands out in the rain so the broken man
can have his umbrella,
and gives him the comedy routine that ruined his career
so the man doesn’t think about the pain in his leg.
once he’s out of the hospital, the fixed man sends him a thank-you card
with kittens on it.
what makes us human
yawning is contagious,
and there is a species of bird whose young we call “pufflings”.
melodic collections of sound, spaced by silence,
can move us to tears.
the tallest building in the world is
two-thousand seven-hundred and seventeen feet tall.
in less than eighty years we went from our first powered flight
to touching the moon,
and in one-hundred from the first phone call
to instantaneous connection between thinking machines of our own creation.
we make pies out of tree organs
and let cow’s milk ferment until it hardens and then
we put them together, because apple pie with cheddar cheese is delicious.
what makes us human is
the earliest fossils of anatomically modern humans are
two-hundred thousand years old .
we have had pet dogs
for sixteen-thousand of those years, longer
than corn
or the wheel.
the steps we take are part of
one of the most energy-efficient gaits the
animal kingdom has ever seen.
we invented the concepts of love
and hate
and justice, and mercy
and we invented the language to convey them.
we sharpened rocks, then metal, to convince other people
who don’t hold the same idea of those things as we do
because we think
it’s right.
we are two hundred millennia of love and disappointment and
sorrow and innovation and
mercy and kindness and dreams
and failure
and recovery.
but sex is what makes us human.
Daily Affirmation 682.
Having sex does not make you human. Wanting sex does not make you human. Feeling sexual attraction does not make you human. You can have, want, or feel some of these things, or all of them, or none of them, and still be human. Humanity is an intrinsic part of your existence. Nobody gets to take it away from you because of your asexuality, regardless of what that means you do and do not want.
Reblog if you recognize pan/poly/demi/gray/asexual as legitimate sexualities
feel free to add more but i’m proving a point for the less recognized people
bi/ace/pansexual wallpapers!!! suggest other sexualities or genders if you’d like!
tagged by @ipackmycase
rules: tag 10 followers you want to know better!
nickname: Jack
birthday: April 25th
star sign: Taurus ♉
gender: Cisgender female
height: 5′4 1/2
favorite color: Grey/Gray
time right now: 6:31 AM
average hours of sleep: 6-12 (approximate values only)
lucky number: 9
last thing I googled: Yankee. I wanted confirmation that it was a proper noun, capitalization and all, because where I came from it was more of a dirty word, haha. And who capitalizes those?
favorite fictional character: Mm, I'm really not inclined to make value judgments along the lines of "favorite" much, especially since tastes can change with the hours sometimes... for now, though, let's say it's Julian Bashir. (Don't click the link if you're not ready to clap eyes on some serious season five ST: DS9 spoilers.) There are multitudes in him, all beautiful.
favorite famous person: I'm more than passing fond of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson these days.
favorite book: Dune
favorite band: EXID are topping my list at the moment – their MVs are a visual glut frame after frame and so conceptually clever, I can't get enough of them.
song stuck in my head right now: Stars are Stars - Echo and The Bunnymen
last movie I watched: The Best Offer
last tv show I watched: Hit & Miss
dream trip: Las Vegas, Nevada!ﾟ~*☆ But not for the usual casino-centered reasons - I'm thinking more along the lines of a sightseeing tour of as many nearby Fallout: New Vegas ingame locations as I could swing in one go, haha. Goodsprings, Nipton, Cottonwood Cove, Red Rock Canyon, The Old Mormon Fort, Searchlight... there are just gads of them to choose from.
dream job: Anything most efficiently done unpartnered, and back-end enough to preclude talking to clients or customers, that requires constant movement and physical exertion... oh, and that calls for NO MORE THAN FORTY HOURS A WEEK. Late/midnight/graveyard shift a plus.
i wonder if theres a grammatical rule out there that explains why “i’m a big sexy bug” sounds better than “i’m a sexy big bug”, yet “im a sexy little bug” sounds better than “i’m a little sexy bug”
things english speakers know, but don’t know we know.
RAW GIVEAWAY
Hi guys! I have 9 contributor’s copies of @rawfanzine to give away, along with most of the art and stickers and bookplates and one of the pins. (One of the books will be sans bookplate and art. That book gets the pin.)
If you want one, please:
be a legal adult; I don’t want to get in trouble with anyone’s parents
reblog and tag urself as US or International - I’m only going to send two or three of these international because I can’t afford to do more than that
make sure your asks are open / messaging is on so I have some way to contact you
If you can buy one from someone who’s selling them, please do. I’d prefer these go to people who couldn’t afford them otherwise. Thanks! <3
I’ll contact the winners by September 13th.
The rage that white men have been expressing, loudly, violently, over the very idea that they might find themselves identifying with characters who are not white men, the very idea that heroism might not be particular to one race or one gender, the basic idea that the human story is vast and various and we all get to contribute a page - that rage is petty. It is aware of its own pettiness. Like a screaming toddler denied a sweet, it becomes more righteous the more it reminds itself that after all, it’s only a story.
Only a story. Only the things we tell to keep out the darkness. Only the myths and fables that save us from despair, to establish power and destroy it, to teach each other how to be good, to describe the limits of desire, to keep us breathing and fighting and yearning and striving when it’d be so much easier to give in. Only the constitutive ingredients of every human society since the Stone age.
Only a story. Only the most important thing in the whole world.
The people who are upset that the faces of fiction are changing are right to worry. It’s a fundamental challenge to a worldview that’s been too comfortable for too long. The part of our cultural imagination that places white Western men at the centre of every story is the same part that legitimises racism and sexism. The part of our collective mythos that encourages every girl and brown boy to identify and empathise with white male heroes is the same part that reacts with rage when white boys are asked to imagine themselves in anyone else’s shoes.
Read more
I was tagged by @earlgreytea68
Countries I have lived in:
The United States. I've never so much as been out of it. I live in Michigan and haven't even taken the drive to Canada.
Favorite fandom fandoms:
Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Star Trek, Star Wars, Sherlock Holmes (ACD to BBC to Elementary), Hannibal...
Languages I speak:
*average American voice* English. Just English.
Favorite film of 2016:
I’m not much for playing of-the-year favorites in general, but especially with four months left. I did see Star Trek Beyond in theaters three times, though; it soothed something wounded in my Trekkie heart.
Last article you read:
"What to do when you're not the hero anymore" by Laurie Penny
Shuffle your library and put the first three songs here:
Cherry Blossom - Lana Dey Rey, What You Won't Do for Love - Bobby Caldwell, How's This? - Hyuna
Last thing you bought online:
A set of two acrylic tortoiseshell combs and the ten dollarest bottle of rose soliflore perfume I could find.
Any phobias or fears:
As the not-at-all good Doctor said in Hannibal, "Children transport us to our childhood." For that reason, being around young children for any length of time is... wearing, for me, to put it lightly.
How would your friends describe you:
"That's what I like about you, you're logical". "Jack's a sweetheart". "Delightful. Quiet, but delightful." "Bona fide."
How would your enemies describe you:
Pretentious ("gives herself airs"), rude, argumentative, unreliable, dishonest.
Who would you take a bullet for:
Oh, probably the usual suspects? Family, friends, my S.O. There's really no accurately predicting what you'll actually do in a situation like that, though, if I've learned anything about shock.
If you had money to spare, what you would buy first:
The best damn eleventh anniversary gift I could lay my hands on.
Now tag 10 people you want to get to know better:
Witch Tip
The color gray can help reduce loneliness or sorrow. This is also a color for neutralizing or balancing energies.
Tagged by: @nicegoth Tagging:
Name: URL: carletoncolton Nicknames: Jack Birthday: April 25th Gender: Cisgender female Sexual orientation: Panromantic demisexual Height: 5' 4½" Favorite color: Grey Time and date at the moment: 7:44 AM 9/3/2016 Average hours of sleep: Oh, well... if I'm honest it ranges from around seven to thirteen. If you called me a laggard/layabout/loafer I'd have no grounds from which to argue the point. Last thing I Googled: This emoticon: ( ಥ‿ಥ) No comment. One place that makes me happy: Aji Ten. As my family's habitual choice of restaurant for birthday dinners and the like, practically every corner of it's overlaid with the easiest kind of memories, the ones that are all tea and conversation. That, and there's an autographed photo of George Takei underneath their television over which he's scrawled that their food is "galactically delicious". How many blankets I sleep under: Would you believe that I've been blogging in mild apprehension of someone posing this exact question since my first ask meme? And that I've never managed to handwave my way past the presentiment, however unlikely it seemed? Well... it's twenty-four, and I'd have more if I could. As many as I could buy, beg, borrow, filch, abscond with, or outright steal. Altogether they're literally too heavy to sit up under, so I have to lift up one edge of the stack and sort of slither out of bed every morning like a trapdoor spider. All I have to say for myself is that I moved to Michigan from southern Georgia and if I ever get used to the cold then I'm a Dutchman's uncle.
Asexual Sexual Orientations 101
Sex Positive: I don't feel sexual attraction but I do enjoy the physical sensation of sex. (Maybe even crave it!)
Sex Neutral: I can have sex but I don't need it. To be honest I have no strong feelings about sex. But a slice of pizza would be better.
Sex Repulsed: I don't like sex. I don't want to have sex. I'm not going to have sex with you. I understand that people enjoy sex but I do not.
The presence of a libido does not invalidate any of these orientations. Dicks jokes and sexual humor do not invalidate these asexuals. These orientations are a SPECTRUM and are very fluid. Asexuals can and do exist in between theses definitions.
“Taking The Cake” is an illustrated zine and 101 about asexuality, created by Maisha in 2012. It includes the basic definitions, some of the nuances of asexuality, explains the types of attraction that exist (not all attraction is sexual), dispels myths, includes resources and takes on the topic of whether asexuality is included in the queer community or not. Some say no, some say yes. Anyway, very helpful information and the artwork is exquisite. You see that Black woman on the cover! ♥♠
And One More for the Road - Craig Boone x Courier 6
With three rows of tents set aside just for medical services, and nearly all of them full, it said quite a bit about Leigh that she was given one of the smaller ones all to herself. Doctor Richards is nothing if not attentive—chary and cold though he may be, he’s one of the better doctors the NCR has in Nevada. Other patients were more deserving of his care, Leigh argues at least once a day, but neither he nor General Oliver will hear it.
(“You’re a goddamn hero in my book,” said Oliver while she was too weary and sore to understand just how high that praise was, coming from him. “Remind me to offer you a cigar when you’re healed up.”)
Though she insisted Boone be looked over, he refused and the doctor agreed with him. He didn’t have more than a few scratches and bruises, and those healed days ago. Boone watches her, a bit like the way a nurse watches his elderly charge—don’t you move, you’ll hurt yourself, let me get it, it’s really no trouble—and she smiles when she thinks of him as a caregiver. It’s foreign, but humorous in its way when she can envision him doting over someone’s darling grandmother or chasing an all-too spirited child.
The latter spurs an ache in her chest, one much different from the stitched-up wounds crisscrossing the same area. Imagining him as a father—a happy one at that—is one of those scenarios that could almost be possible. It hurts even more to think of it in those terms.
Keep reading
carletoncolton - Six Selfies of 2k15
Tagged by: @nicegoth
Tagging:
A Tag Thing
Tagged by: @sunderlorn
Rules: Tag 9 people you want to get to know better. Being that ass friend who may or may not return your messages or even see your tags half the time I can't in good conscience bring myself to ask anyone to write anything. *sweats*
Relationship status: Committed, monogamous, etc., for the last ten (and a half or so) years.
Wake-up time: I'm unemployed at the moment, and've been that often enough for the way my sleeping schedule abruptly ceases to exist every time it happens to be downright predictable. Between that and my tendency to oversleep, lately it's been any hour of the day from about 10 A.M. to 10 P.M. Yesterday it was 8:30 PM. On the bright side, my cat appreciates the opportunity to lie on top of me at novel hours.
Cats or dogs: Cats. It's embarrassing, but I've never been able to repress my disgust for the distinctive stench that just wafts off dogs - the way it lingers on your hands after touching them sends me sidling off to the nearest sink to scrub it away as soon as I politely can. And that's leaving their breath aside... which wouldn't be nearly as much of an issue if they all didn't insist on licking every accessible inch of exposed skin on your body. Why, dogs? Why.
Call or text: Text. I'm soft-spoken and have a bit of an accent, so all the cell distortion and crackling over the lines doesn't do me any favors.
Chapstick or lipstick: Chapstick or balm, tinted ideally. I want it to be lipstick, but I can't hack wearing it. It's harder than it looks. The last time I tried, I got it on my teeth at least three times, my hands, my face, my friend somehow, and worst of all in half an almost perfectly classic lip print on the meticulously wrapped Secret Santa gift I was holding (which caused me some anxiety over how it would be received, haha).
Last song you listened to: Nothing's Gonna Hurt You, Baby - Cigarettes After Sex.
Tagging:
“If a man’s wearing his pants on his head or if he says his words backwards from time to time, you know it’s all laid out there for you. But if he’s friendly to strangers and keeps his home spick-and-span, more often than not he’s done something even his own ma couldn’t forgive.”
-No-Bark Noonan, for the lovely @carletoncolton!
We’re celebrating TOS’s Birthday - and 9000 followers - with a giveaway! Click picture captions for more info about prizes and feel free to ask us.
Rules:
You must be following us at textsfromtos
The giveaway will end on September 8th 2016, the official 50th anniversary :)
Reblog to enter. Only one reblog will be counted. Likes will not be counted.
URLs will be compiled and numbered; numbers will be selected through a random generator. Winners must be willing to reply to either @graceleewhitney or @howardtjmoon within two days to confirm their prize, name, and shipping address. (Please note that, while we can address your items to any name, you must provide your real address.)
If we contact you as a winner, please inform us of the three prize sets you are most interested in. We want to give everyone something they like, but if we cannot accommodate all requests we will let you know. Requests will be honored in the order of replies, so please get back to us quickly!
At this time, we are only able to ship prize packages within the United States because customs fees are sometimes prohibitive. If this changes, we will let everyone know. It would depend on where you live and what prize you want, so… we’ll have to wait and see.
If you have any questions, please ask here or message either mod directly.
Have fun and thanks for following us!
It’s my first giveaway, and since I’ve been wanting to do one for a while. I decided to make this the best one I can! Thank you to everyone who’s been following me, and thank you to my awesome mutuals who I’ve come to think of as friends!
The rules are the same as most other giveaways: just like or reblog this post and if you’re following me, you’re automatically entered! Every additional reblog adds one extra entry for you. You need to be following me to enter, but new followers are welcome. Just please only follow me if you’re genuinely interested in the content I post.
Now, the good stuff! Prizes! There will be three winners, picked randomly using a number generator.
First prize: One OTP-based oneshot written by me and one aesthetic board for an OTP or OC of your choice.
Second prize: One OTP-based oneshot written by me.
Third place: One aesthetic board for an OTP or OC of your choice.
Some examples of my writing are here, here, and here. As a quick list of fandoms I can write for is below, starting with what I can be the most versatile with:
Fallout 1, 2, and 3
Dragon Age: Origins, Awakening, II, and Inquisition
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and V: Skyrim
Fable I, II, and III
Mass Effect 1, 2, and 3
As far as aesthetic boards are concerned, I have no limitations. I can make boards for any character, even characters from original stories! Some of my boards are here, here, here, and here.
The giveaway ends on August 20th! Good luck!
Want a quality Starfleet uniform without the $200 price tag? Here’s your chance to get a great uniform for only $5!
Hey folks! I’ve decided that if I want to improve the quality of my uniforms, I need to get my hands on a serger. A serger is designed to finish the edges of cut fabric and prevent fraying, even through repeated wear and machine washing, which is something any good cosplay should be able to do! Unfortunately I’m already breaking bank (on Trek cons and fanseries, haha), so to help cover the cost, I’m raffling off a custom Starfleet uniform!
The Rules:
I’ll ship anywhere within or beyond the United States
You must be 18+ or live with someone 18+ who doesn’t mind you sharing your address (this is just a legality thing)
You do not have to be following either of my blogs, but if you like Star Trek and cats, you should check out my main @slightly-oblivvyous
The raffle ends on July 2nd when I return from New York and the winner will be chosen by Random Number Generator
How to Enter:
To enter, donate at least $5 USD (currency converter) to my PayPal here (use this link if you don’t have PayPal). Put your tumblr url and preferred email address in the “Write a Note” field so I can contact you. (This is important!) Multiples of $5 count as multiple entries, so $9 only counts as one entry, but $10 counts as two. Reblogs don’t count as entries but are greatly appreciated.
Prize Tiers: The prize for the raffle depends on how many people participate. I must get at least 30 donations (or $150 total) for the raffle to go forward.
At 30+ entries, one winner will get a FREE* TOS uniform or TNG crop top
At 50+ entries, full jumpsuit-style uniforms (DS9/VOY, TNG) become available along with jacket-style tops
At 75+ entries, there will be two winners; the Grand Prize winner gets a uniform of their choice and the second place winner gets a TOS uniform
If there are 100+ entries, I’ll offer two Grand Prizes and cry
The winner(s) will be chosen on July 2nd and will receive an email with a link to my commission form to pick out their uniform(s)!
*NOTE: If you want a rank above Ensign, you’ll have to pay for rank braid – I have to order it online and the higher ranks ain’t cheap. Sorry! (Still, even if you went for Captain, you’d be getting a hella rad uniform for $30. That’s not bad.) And if you’re outside the US, you’ll have to cover part of the shipping cost.
Even if you can’t afford to enter or aren’t in the market for a uniform, please help a fellow Trekkie out and signal boost! LLAP!
Shuffle Music Meme
You can tell a lot about someone by the music they listen to. Hit shuffle on your iPod/iPhone/iTunes/media player and write down the first 10 songs. Then pass this onto 10 people.
Tagged by: tu-surak (LLAP （ ･＿･）ｖ)
Tagging:
1. Lana Del Rey - The Other Woman
2. Yao Lee - Rose, Rose, I Love You
3. Gorillaz ft. Daley - Doncamatic (Lonsdale Boys Club Remix)
4. Chris Isaak - You Owe Me Some Kind of Love
5. FKA Twigs - How's That
6. Adore Delano - I Adore U
7. Massive Attack ft. Mos Def - I Against I
8. Strawberry Switchblade - Deep Water
9. James Darren - Sophisticated Lady
10. The Ink Spots - Don't Get Around Much Anymore
Nocturnal/Diurnal - Fired
(Nocturnal/Diurnal - Unfired)
carletoncolton - Six Selfies of 2k14
Tagged by: nicegoth
Tagging:
nicegoth reblogged your photoset "Nocturnal/Diurnal - Unfired" and added:
this is so neat
Thank you so much! (◕‿◕✿) And that reminds me - I've had these back from the kiln awhile now. It's time I properly photographed them fired, isn't it? In the meantime, here's a quick preview snap:
I mentioned this before, but I truly believe that maintaining credibility is important. I think spreading misinformation, exaggerations, and falsehoods does not help any cause. Sometimes it is very tempting to just hit that reblog button and share that terrible thing people…
What White People REALLY Mean When They Talk About Ferguson | Feminspire
Every 28 hours a black person is killed by a police officer. Yet another unarmed black person, 18 year old Mike Brown, was killed by officer Darren Wilson on August 9th in Ferguson, Missouri. People in Ferguson are taking to the streets, demanding justice and braving excessive and cruel force from local police and the National Guard. Those of us who wish we could be in Ferguson, but can’t be, are protesting, tweeting, writing, donating, screaming, crying, or whatever we can do to process the fact that black people are still subhuman in 21st century America, and to process the fact that white people still don’t understand that the murder of black folks at the hands of law enforcement is a serious problem in the country.
By now I’m sure you’ve seen, heard, or talked with white people who don’t seem to understand that Ferguson is indeed about race, or that the response to protesters is beyond excessive. So I’ve put together this guide to deciphering white proverbs about Ferguson, which should come in handy the next time you’re talking to a white person (or anyone for that matter) who just doesn’t get it.
1. What they say: Stop jumping to conclusions/we don’t know all the facts about the shooting/this isn’t about race.
What they mean:
They deny the centuries-long history of violence committed against black people by the state, police, and the criminal justice system. Or, they believe this violence ended long ago and no longer affects us today.
They believe that black people should delay their reactions until the case is closed, which could take months or even years, and that we are irrational for being angry before then.
They are more concerned with the possibility of a black man doing something that deserved his execution, than the reality that a black man is now lying in a morgue.
They would never say something like this about violence committed by a black person (especially against a white person). White people have a history of jumping to conclusions and arresting or killing black people when suspected of wrongdoing. (Emmett Till never got to explain himself before he was killed in 1955, and more recently, nor did Eric Garner or John Crawford.)
2. What they say: The protesters are violent and looting. They are destroying their own town. They should be peaceful and cooperate with police.
What they mean:
They are prioritizing petty crimes over the killing of a human being.
By conflating the looters with the peaceful protesters, they conflate resistance to racism with violence and destruction, and perpetuate the stereotype that black people are inherently violent.
They ignore protesters who protected stores from looting, and helped store owners clean up.
They excuse excessive police force used against peaceful demonstrators.
They forget about times when white people have rioted, such as Penn State students after Joe Paterno’s firing.
They deny the right of oppressed people to be angry about oppression. Centuries ago, they would have probably been against slave rebellions.
3. What they say: He robbed a convenience store. He was resisting or fighting with the officer. He smoked marijuana. He can’t possibly be a victim because he wasn’t innocent.
What they mean:
Black men deserve to die if they rob a few dollars worth of goods from a store.
Black men deserve to die even if they have their hands up.
Black men deserve to die if they resist arrest or defend themselves.
Black men deserve to die even if the gun they are holding is just a toy.
Black men deserve to die even if they are unarmed and doing normal things that white people do.
Black men deserve to die.
Meanwhile, white folks can proudly stroll through a Target store with assault rifles hanging off their shoulders, knowing that they will not get shot by a police officer. White people who refuse to pay grazing fees in Nevada can defend their assumed right to do so by pointing guns at federal agents without fear of being shot at. White terrorists and white mass murderers get taken away in police cars instead of being shot (not to mention sympathy from the media.) White people even write childrens books about how proud they are to use their white privilege to openly carry a gun without being mistaken for criminals. Must be nice.
4. What they say: The local police and National Guard are just doing their jobs.
What they mean:
Taking several days to release the name of the officer who killed Brown is acceptable.
The history of racist practices in the Ferguson police department is acceptable.
The police department releasing an unrelated video of a robbery that may or may not have involved Mike Brown, in an attempt to assassinate his character, is acceptable.
Failing to immediately interview witnesses, arrest Darren Wilson, and otherwise conduct a proper investigation, is acceptable.
Leaving a dead body on the street for several hours in the scorching heat, while family and neighbors look on, is acceptable.
Using military-like force, including tear gas, which is illegal to use at wartime, against peaceful protesters, is acceptable.
Intimidating the news media is acceptable.
Police ignoring proper protocol when it comes to black people and black neighborhoods, is acceptable.
Mistreatment of black people at the hands of the police, is acceptable.
5. What they say: Nothing at all.
What they mean:
They don’t care, and they think this doesn’t affect them.
Or perhaps, they aren’t sure what to do. (In this case, they should read this.)
This is what white people don’t understand about Ferguson: It’s not just about one black kid and one white police officer. This is about our place in this country, and in our country’s history. It’s about our 400 year long struggle to be seen and valued as human beings worthy of dignity and life.
So when someone says any of these things about Ferguson, they are saying that black lives don’t matter, that we don’t have a right to get angry, and that we should not resist oppression.
But we will.
We encourage you to share the link to this rather than reblogging the entire post (since this is frequently updated and we want to minimize the spread of outdated info!): bit.ly/FergusonAEM
As the folks from Sexplanations say: stay curious! Know that this is just one drop in the bucket. We encourage you to do your own research and follow the links so you can make your own informed opinion.
