"one hundred trillion neutrinos pass through each of us every second, yet we cannot feel them with sensual registers already discovered. there are things so very small, so small that even the word 'small' is too imprecise. yet. we are, likewise, so minuscule. we are so very tiny in comparison to the expanse of the universe. ...isn't it beautiful that something as small as we can experience such feelingly big emotions like joy and happiness and peace and love? and isn't it beautiful that we that are so small can experience loss and grief and heartache from those lived who have passed on and away? isn't it beautiful that the smell of earth and flowers and the taste of good food can move us deeply? and yet such things are nothing…? not nothing to us who experience such things, but nothing in terms of the great expanse of space-time, the great expanse of other worlds? beautiful."—Ashon Crawley, a beautiful writer and a neat person, who challenges me in all the best ways, to expect more of myself.
Fat Fashion
This is your semi-regular thread in which fat women can share pix, make recommendations for clothes they love, ask questions of other fat women about where to locate certain plus-size items, share info about sales, talk about what jeans cut at what retailer best fits their body shapes, discuss how to accessorize neutral colored suits, share stories of going bare-armed for the first time, brag about a cool fashion moment, whatever.
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I can't believe it's been more than a month since our last Fat Fashion thread! What the heck?!
And I still haven't bought anything new, so here's a recent pic of me wearing one of my favorite Old Navy tees—a staple of my summer and early autumn wardrobe—on a day when the misandry helmet was ON FIRE:
I really loathe that Old Navy has taken their plus size sections out of stores and put them online only, lest we fatties gross up their classy stores, but I can't find affordable t-shirts that fit and last as well anywhere else. Damn you, Old Navy!
Anyway! As always, all subjects related to fat fashion are on topic, but if you want a topic for discussion: Do you have to make any devilish compromises with retailers to access plus size clothing you like and can afford?
Have at it in comments! Please remember to make fat women of all sizes, especially women who find themselves regularly sizing out of standard plus-size lines, welcome in this conversation, and pass no judgment on fat women who want to and/or feel obliged, for any reason, to conform to beauty standards. And please make sure if you're soliciting advice, you make it clear you're seeking suggestions—and please be considerate not to offer unsolicited advice. Sometimes people just need to complain and want solidarity, not solutions.
Daily Dose of Cute
It's a day!
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
[Content Note: War; bombing] Fucking hell: "Airstrikes carried out late last night by the Saudi-led coalition in northern Yemen destroyed a hospital supported by the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), MSF announced today. The small hospital, in the Haydan District in Saada Province, was hit by several airstrikes beginning at 10:30 p.m. last night. Hospital staff and two patients managed to escape before subsequent airstrikes occurred over a two-hour period. One staff member was slightly injured while escaping. With the hospital destroyed, at least 200,000 people now have no access to lifesaving medical care. 'This attack is another illustration of a complete disregard for civilians in Yemen, where bombings have become a daily routine,' said Hassan Boucenine, MSF head of mission in Yemen." If you can afford to and would like to donate to Doctors Without Borders, you can do so here.
[CN: Police brutality; misogynoir; video may autoplay at second link] Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott says that Senior Deputy Ben Fields, who was captured on video violently assaulting a black teenage girl at she sat at her desk, "bears some responsibility" for what happened. Some, he says. And you know with whom he rests the lion's share of the blame: "If she had not disrupted the school and disrupted that class, we would not be standing here today. So it started with her and it ended with my officer." The rankest fucking victim-blaming. Meanwhile, he also defended Fields on the basis that he's dating a black woman. I mean. I love (ahem) how we're not only supposed to understand that means he's not racist, but also ignore that lots of men hurt female partners.
[CN: Misogyny; classism] Ian Millhiser: "Justice Ginsburg's Warning to a Dysfunctional Nation." Just go read the whole thing.
Serena Williams is the guest editor and cover star of the latest issue of Wired, and writes about why she feels her participation is so important: "We need to see more women and people of different colors and nationalities in tech. That's the reason I wanted to do this issue with WIRED—I'm a black woman, and I am in a sport that wasn't really meant for black people. And while tennis isn't really about the future, Silicon Valley sure is. I want young people to look at the trailblazers we've assembled below and be inspired. I hope they eventually become trailblazers themselves. Together we can change the future." She also gives an amazing shout-out to my friend Adria Richards: "And when we're not talking, we can get coding. Adria Richards (see "Take Back the Net") has suggested solutions to online harassment, including my favorite, Send-a-Puppy, where you'd send a digital doggy to support someone who's being harassed." WOOT!
Nepal has elected its first female president: "Communist leader Vidya Devi Bhandari was today elected as Nepal's first woman President by the parliament, weeks after it adopted a new landmark Constitution that declared the country a secular state. ...'I announce that Vidya Devi Bhandari has been elected to the post of Nepal's president,' Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar said, to loud cheers from lawmakers." I honestly don't know enough about Nepalese politics to know if her platform is a good thing for the country politically, but what I do know is that visibility of female leaders matters, even when those female leaders are the worst (*cough* Thatcher *cough*) because their very existence communicates what is possible to girls with very few global female role models in politics.
[CN: Misogyny; video may autoplay at link] Meanwhile, in the US, Bernie Sanders' "brain trust," apparently comprised of three dudes, tell some haha jokes about how Hillary Clinton would make a swell vice-president. "Look, she'd make a great vice president. We're willing to give her more credit than Obama did. We're willing to consider her for vice president. We'll give her serious consideration. We'll even interview her." Fuck. Off.
In other presidential election news, Rand Paul is a lying liar who won't stop lying about fake quotes from the Founders. Sounds about right.
[CN: Rape; video may autoplay at link] And Mike Tyson has endorsed Donald Trump, because of course he has. They have lots in common.
[CN: Gendered slurs] Do you want to read an amazing interview with Adele? Here is an amazing interview with Adele.
And finally! "Jealous Pup Epically Photobombs Owner's Engagement Pics." LOLOLOL FOREVERRRRRR.
Fox News Continues to Be Totally Trenchant
[Content Note: Misogyny.]
Yesterday, Fox News' terrific program Fox & Friends hosted a totally trenchant panel of dudes debating whether women should be allowed to wear leggings.
Steve Doocy: Leggings ain't pants. Does she have a point? We have brought in an esteemed panel of fathers right here to see if they would allow their daughters to wear leggings to school. Joining us right now we have Duck Dynasty's Willie Robertson—round of applause for Willie, ladies and gentlemen. Fox News legal analyst, Arthur Aidala, and Andrew Sansone is the father of two young girls and he happens to be married to our own Fox News' Julie Banderas. All right. Let's just start by asking general questions about leggings. Willie, are you comfortable with the women in your life parading in public in leggings?And it just got better from there!
Willie Robertson: I am.
Doocy: Because they ain't pants, I've heard.
Robertson: They ain't pants.
Now, instead of being uncharitable and getting all mad about this totally trenchant segment (hahaha feminists, amirite?!), I think we should be generous and instead helpfully offer Fox News some suggestions of other totally trenchant panels we'd like to see!
I for one would love to see some of these panels in Fox & Friends' future:
A panel of cis dudes debating the virtues and drawbacks of DivaCups vs. tampons. A panel of infants debating the efficacy and ethics of international sanctions. A panel of cats debating whether dogs should pee on fire hydrants. A panel of dogs debating whether cats should crawl in the blinds so much. A panel of fish debating whether birds are narcissists for flying. Side-debate: SELFIES!What have you got for our pals at Fox & Friends?
The Clown Car Is Parked and Ain't Going Anywhere
[Content Note: Bigotry; guns.]
I love everything about this Washington Post article by Dave Weigel and Jose DelReal, hilariously headlined: "Why aren't the GOP's presidential stragglers dropping out of the race?" HA HA GOOD QUESTION!
The article is largely about how it's because they all think they can win, by hanging on through the early primaries in which they hope voters will flinch when it comes time to vote for Donald Trump or Ben Carson and instead vote for a professional politician instead of a "celebrity candidate." Maybe! That could happen!
The less obvious reasons are, of course, that most people who run for the presidency are also running for the vice-presidency, in case the whole presidential nomination doesn't work out. And that running for president can eventually land you a sweet sinecure at a Beltway lobbying firm with all kinds of cool perks and sillymoney compensation, if you can prove you're a breathing organism whose pants don't generally fall down during public appearances.
But what I love most about this article is the further insight we get into what a cool cat Rand Paul is:
"I'm for the other nine quitting and just coronating me," Paul said, adding, "We'll actually have votes, and the votes will determine who the winner is."That first part is supposed to be a joke, with the second part a serious commentary on his ability to win this thing. But, in reality, it's the other way around. He definitely wants to be "coronated," and ha ha nope you will never have the votes to win.
His supporters are pretty awesome, too:
"With so many people still in the fray, it feels like you have to hang in long enough to let the others fall to the side," said Paul backer Vern Brooks, 40, a Second Amendment activist whose belt buckle was a fully functional .22-caliber pistol. "When I sit down and talk to people and we go over what they know and what they don't know, it's very easy to spread the message. There's no fundraising problem with this campaign. It's about getting over the shouting from Trump."I'm sorry, what were you saying? I couldn't concentrate when your belt buckle was threatening to kill me.
This is a common refrain among Paul supporters, and Paul himself has said as much: The issue is that Trump is sucking up all the oxygen in the room, and the media are too busy reporting his odious antics to pay attention to the Serious Candidates. All of the second- and third-tier campaigns are trying to figure out how to steal the spotlight, and it looks like Rand Paul has a plan: "Rand Paul Says He'll Filibuster Debt Ceiling Bill."
Of course he will.
None of the GOP presidential stragglers are dropping out of the race because they believe once people find out more about them, they'll win. It's convenient to blame the monster coverage of Trump for their woes.
But maybe it's time they considered that they're straggling because they're all terrible candidates. Just a thought.
SXSW Fail
[Content Note: Misogyny; harassment; threats; violence; disablist language.]
Y'all, I can't tell if Chris Kluwe is angry about SXSW's decision to cancel a panel on online harassment because the three women who would be sitting on it were being harassed. Can someone please read this and tell me if you can figure out if he's angry?
(LOL) (Thank you, Chris Kluwe.) (I love the smell of righteous anger in the morning.) (Also at any other time of day.)
In related news: BuzzFeed has threatened to withdraw from SXSW if they don't reverse their contemptible decision. GOOD.
I guess I'mma be the eleventieth person to observe that canceling a panel on online harassment because of online harassment is a bitter, bitter irony. Congratulations on being part of the problem, SXSW, and proving exactly why this panel was necessary in the first place.
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker Drazil: "What's the book you most often recommend that a new friend read?"
Instead of one book in particular, I tend to recommend whatever book I last read about which I was super excited. But probably the book I've recommended the most times since I first read it is Toni Morrison's Beloved.
The Walking Whoooooooooops!
A bunch of folks have asked me if I'm going to resume my Walking Thread recaps, especially since something big happened—OR DID IT?!—on Sunday night's episode.
I have been so overwhelmingly busy with various stuff in offline life recently that I barely have any time to watch the shows I enjoy, no less The Walking Dead, lol, but I will try to find some time to get caught up!
OR WILL I?!
(I will.)
Quote of the Day
[Content Note: Racism; appropriation; food policing.]
"In the United States, immigrant food is often treated like discount tourism—a cheap means for foodies to feel worldly without leaving the comfort of their neighborhood—or high-minded fusion—a stylish way for American chefs to use other cultures' cuisines to reap profit. The dishes of America's recent immigrants have become check marks on a cultural scavenger hunt for society's elite. ...This cultural appropriation stings because the same dishes hyped as 'authentic' on trendy menus were scorned when cooked in the homes of the immigrants who brought them here."—Ruth Tam, in a great piece for the Washington Post, "How it feels when white people shame your culture's food—then make it trendy."
(The article is from August, but I only just read it today, and I highly recommend reading the whole thing.)
This culinary appropriation exists at the intersection of food policing, racism, and classism. Tam focuses primary on the racist aspects, and does so brilliantly. Classism is a major feature of this, too: "Peasant food," as it is often called, is garbage food until it is the hands of a professional chef, who "elevates" it. Or doesn't even elevate it, but simply calls it "rustic fare."
Like many other issues, often the racism and classism of culinary appropriation overlap. And it doesn't even have to be "foreign" food: Southern US cuisine must be "elevated" by a professional chef to be considered gourmet, even if that chef's grandmother is still cooking at home the same recipes she gifted to hir.
Shaker Gourmet
Whatcha been cooking up in your kitchen lately, Shakers?
Share your favorite recipes, solicit good recipes, share recipes you've recently tried, want to try, are trying to perfect, whatever! Whether they're your own creation, or something you found elsewhere, share away.
Also welcome: Recipes you've seen recently that you'd love to try, but haven't yet!
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I haven't tried this recipe yet, as I just stumbled across it yesterday, but I am VERY EXCITED ABOUT IT! I love tuna salad and I love avocados, so I am finding this recipe for Avocado Tuna Salad extremely appealing! I can't wait to try it out. Yummmmmmmmm.
Tweet of the Day
[Content Note: War on agency. NB: Not only women need access to abortion.]
"If talking about equal pay, paid family leave, child care, & women's health is playing the gender card—deal me in."
https://t.co/hu1ELwXVp9
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 25, 2015Video Transcript: Hillary Clinton, speaking onstage before a large crowd at the Iowa Jefferson-Jackson dinner: "And don't you wonder—don't you wonder? You know, for people who claim they hate big government, Republicans sure love using government to step in and make decisions for women about our bodies and our rights!" Cheers and applause. "Well, I'll tell you—I'll tell you: I will do everything I can to protect a woman's right to choose and to defend Planned Parenthood!" Cheers and applause. "Now I know—I know when I talk about these things, Republicans say I'm playing the gender card." Shrugs. "I know." Audience boos. "Well, if talking about equal pay, paid family leave, affordable childcare, and women's health is playing the gender card, DEAL ME IN!" Cheers.
Daily Dose of Cute
Sophie, arising from the folds of the comforter on my bed.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
Damn: "China has reportedly summoned the US ambassador after Washington launched a direct military challenge to Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea with naval manoeuvres near two artificial islands. State television reported that the Chinese vice-foreign minister, Zhang Yesui, had branded the move 'extremely irresponsible' when meeting with the US ambassador to China, Max Baucus. Chinese authorities said earlier they had monitored, followed and warned US warship USS Lassen as it 'illegally' entered waters near the disputed reefs, and urged Washington to 'immediately correct its mistake.' ...The guided-missile destroyer reportedly received orders to travel within 12 nautical miles (22.2km, or 13.8 miles) of the Spratlys' Mischief and Subi reefs, which are at the heart of a controversial Chinese island building campaign that has soured ties between Washington and Beijing. Chinese officials were not informed of Tuesday's mission, US officials said."
The ink isn't even dry on the budget deal, and Congressional conservatives are complaining about it, because of course they are: "Asked about the tentative agreement after the briefing, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions replied: 'My knees quiver at the sound.' In an interview, Sessions expressed frustration that outgoing Speaker John Boehner was hammering out the deal just days before he plans to give up the gavel for good. 'What does Boehner got to do with it?' said an exasperated Sessions, the former top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee. 'I'm worried about how fast it's moving. I see no reason for that. Based on what I know now, it appears the president got whatever he wanted.'"
CBS' new Supergirl series premiered last night, to the fall's highest ratings: "The series premiere of the action-adventure series opened strong Monday night, delivering a fall new series record of 14 million viewers and a 3.2 rating among adults 18–49." I haven't watched it yet, but I will! Do you want to see star Melissa Benoist talking to Stephen Colbert about how it's a feminist show for a wide audience? Well, here you go!
OMG LOL FOREVER: "Texts from Hillary and 4 other DIY Hillary Clinton costumes for Halloween." A+
Dr. Ben Carson is beginning to edge gold toilet aficionado Donald Trump in national polling: "Ben Carson has taken a narrow lead nationally in the Republican presidential campaign, dislodging Donald J. Trump from the top spot for the first time in months, according to a New York Times/CBS News survey released on Tuesday. Mr. Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, is the choice of 26 percent of Republican primary voters, the poll found, while Mr. Trump now wins support from 22 percent, although the difference lies within the margin of sampling error. The survey is the first time that Mr. Trump has not led all candidates since The Times and CBS News began measuring presidential preferences at the end of July. No other candidate comes close to Mr. Carson and Mr. Trump." What a great party with such great candidates!
[Content Note: Privilege] GLAAD "has released its 20th annual report, which tracks the number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender characters on scripted, primetime television. The study found that while there is increasing LGBT representation on broadcast, cable and streaming television, the characters are overwhelmingly white." Intersectionality is central to meaningful visibility.
[CN: Misogynoir; class warfare] Speaking of intersectionality, this is a terrific piece by Akwugo Emejulu about how women of color are urged toward solidarity at the expense of their own needs: "The experiences of women of colour in left-wing anti-austerity movements in Britain and the Black Lives Matter movements in the United States highlight the persistent problem of our erasure in these supposedly radical democratic spaces. Women of colour's struggles to have our intersectional social justice claims taken seriously by 'allies' exposes the fragility, and in some cases, the impossibility, of building solidarity across race, class, gender, sexuality and other categories of difference in protest movements."
[CN: Pillaging] Oh for fuck's sake: "Federal authorities are investigating whether the owners of Hobby Lobby illegally imported stolen artifacts for their planned Museum of the Bible. U.S. Customs agents seized up to 300 small clay tablets shipped from Israel in 2011 to the Christian business owners' headquarters in Oklahoma City, reported The Daily Beast. A senior law enforcement official confirmed to the website that the Green family, which owns the arts and crafts retailer, has been under investigation for the last four years for illegally importing cultural artifacts from Iraq. ...Cary Summers, the president of the Museum of the Bible, confirmed the seizure of the tablets, which are inscribed in the cuneiform script of Assyria and Babylonia, and the federal investigation that remains underway—but he described it as a mere paperwork error." Even if it's legal, that doesn't make it ethical.
[CN: Homophobia] Predictable: "A City Council candidate from Indiana who opposes LGBT protections maintains a profile on a gay dating website." Listen, I've got nothing against this guy, who is divorced, doing whatever he wants to do! And I equally disdain any politician who votes against LGBT protections. But the hypocrisy is, as always, stunning.
[CN: Video may autoplay at link] Haha! "Space debris dubbed 'WTF' on collision course with Earth." Don't worry—"When the object enters the atmosphere, it will likely burn up completely, though whatever does not burn will likely plunge into the Indian Ocean." Be careful, sea monsters!
[CN: Video autoplays at link] And finally! "Kittens Meet Puppies for the First Time." It is exactly as adorable as you'd expect!
Fatsronauts 101: Fat Halloween
[Content Note: Fat hatred.]
Halloween is right around the corner—and thus Halloween costume parties—and, every year, after Halloween, I see pictures circulated on social media, without their subjects' consent, of fat adults dressed up as recognizable characters who aren't fat. (Very occasionally, I see this done to fat kids, too.) These pictures are inevitably shared to mock the fat costumed person, often under the presumption that the fat person doesn't understand how they look and frequently accompanied by resentful accusations that the fat person is "ruining" the character.
Don't do this.
Let me tell you that fat people dressed as thin characters understand we look different than the thin character. It's not that we don't know how we look; it's that we don't care what you think.
And why should we, when you think that a fat woman dressed up as Trinity or a fat man dressed up as Spock "ruins" the character? That's a garbage opinion. You're telegraphing to us that your opinion shouldn't be valued.
I have seen arguments on social media in which mockers of fat costumed people justify their mockery, their assertions that the characters are "ruined" by fat people, on the basis that "Batman could never be fat" or "Wonder Woman could never be fat," literally without a trace of fucking acknowledgment that Superman and Wonder Woman could never exist at all. It's a fantasy.
What they're saying, with their also-bullshit contentions about what fat bodies can and cannot do (which are almost always wrong), is that a fat body ruins the fantasy for them. Which is really their problem. Not the fat person in the costume.
And frankly, if one can imagine a man who can lift an entire skyscraper with one hand, but couldn't lift his own ass into the air if it were fat, one really doesn't have much of an imagination.
But the problem isn't a lack of imagination so much as it is a lack of decency. All year long, fat people are expected to hide ourselves away from view—to not take up space; to speak softly; to exercise, but not in public; to cover ourselves in yards of fabric to conceal the shapes of our bodies; to carry ourselves hunched and bowed, so that we might be smaller and convey the shame we are obliged to communicate for our very existence—and it's the same on Halloween. Best that we don't show ourselves at all, and certainly not dressed as a thin character.
The message is clear: You don't deserve to be that character, because you are fat.
Fuck that.
We aren't required to wait to live our lives, to do the things we want to do, unless and until we lose weight. We can live and do and thrive right now.
The public mockery of fat people in thin character costumes is explicitly designed to shame us back into hiding, into not living, unless and until we earn the right of participation by making ourselves thin.
I repeat: Fuck that.
And then there's this: I am a fat person who actively wants to dress up as fat characters for Halloween. And before Melissa McCarthy made it so that I could be a cop, a spy, a goddamned Ghostbuster, three whole characters, there wasn't a hell of a lot from which to choose. Not if you want to dress as a person. A fat person. Like yourself.
So, you know, if you're mad that a fat woman like me comes to your Halloween party dressed up as a fat Lara Croft, direct your ire at the rest of the fucking world, which denies us a delicious array of visible fat characters we can cosplay.
And if you really want to be mad at a fat Halloween costume, how about the costumes that treat fat people's personhood itself as a costume?
Because, honestly, if you're angry about a fat person dressing like a thin fictional character, but not angry about thin people dressing like fat people as though we're monsters, you have derailed.
Oh Jeb
[Content Note: War.]
I didn't expect that Jeb Bush would be the amazing candidate that lots of folks predicted he would be, but I didn't expect him to be this bad, either:
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush says his brother George W. Bush responded in an "awe-inspiring" way to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and suggests he would learn from his sibling's leadership if he wins the presidency.
..."The case study of leadership is how George responded to 9/11, period, over and out," Jeb told the audience of some 175 donors and supporters who gathered in a ballroom at a Houston hotel, according to a pool report.
"And the idea that a candidate could think that they could make political hay to create a new … narrative on the reality on how he led is a joke," Bush said.
..."How he responded to 9/11," Jeb Bush said of his brother, "was just awe-inspiring."
"People were united. And people really got it that he had a heart for them," Bush added. "At that time, as you know, kids were crying. All around people, children and grandchildren, didn't know what was going on."
"The whole world was turned upside down, and you had a president who was staid and sure and strong."
"Awe-inspiring."
Oh, I know, I know—I'm being so uncharitable. That's not what Jeb! meant. He meant in the weeks and months and years following 9/11. Like when his brother took us to war in another country that had nothing to do with 9/11, using cooked intelligence suggesting otherwise, promising it would take six months, instead of the eight years and trillions of dollars and countless lives and millions of displaced people and political chaos and the emergence of the Islamic State that were collectively the actual cost.
Jeb! says he's gonna learn from that "awe-inspiring" leadership. Okay. Well, unless he means learning what not to do—and he doesn't!—then he is unfit for the US presidency. One of many reasons.
Spring Valley Police Brutality
[Content Note: Police brutality; assault; descriptions of violence.]
At Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina, Richland County Senior Deputy Ben Fields was captured on video violently assaulting a black teenage girl at she sat at her desk, flipping her over backwards, and then dragging her from the classroom. I will not be reposting the video in this space, but it is viewable at a number of different sites, including here. The incident is being investigated.
[CN: Moving gifs of the assault at link] According to students who witnessed the assault, it began simply because the girl refused to leave the classroom:
A witness who posted a video of the incident on Youtube said the girl was asked by the teacher to get off her cell phone, but refused, and then would not leave the class room when asked by an administrator, so police were called. She allegedly refused the deputy's requests to get up from her desk, and that is when the videos begin.The video is difficult and upsetting to watch, but it is not surprising. At least, it shouldn't be. Not at this point. The only shocking thing to me is that there are still people who imagine that body cameras are going to be a meaningful and comprehensive deterrent to this sort of vicious abuse.
...The 15-second video was posted on social media just hours after the incident happened on Monday. It shows a white officer grabbing the black student by the arm as she sits in her desk.
Deputy Ben Fields, at one point during the incident, says to the girl, "Are you going to come with me or am I going to make you? Come on. I'm going to get you up."
In the video, Fields pulls on her arm, moving the desk and the girl and then grabs hold of her shoulder and neck area. He turns over the desk, throwing it and the unnamed student to the ground. He then drags her toward the door, pulling the desk along with her and then throws her out of it before jumping on top of her to handcuff her as the video ends.
Students in the classroom sit silently, as a teacher also watches.
...A student in the classroom tweeted his eyewitness account of the video, saying "to be clear," the girl was "sitting quietly at her desk," and did not provoke the deputy before the video started. Aaron Johnson said "nobody even knew what she did," and why he grabbed her.
Johnson said, "When I asked (their teacher) Mr. Long if he felt bad for what happened to her … his reply was 'she should have cooperated.'"
He added, "I think we were all in shock and afraid they would say something to us, he put another girl in handcuffs for standing up, like standing up for the girl."
I do not accept that a teenage girl who was noncompliant with an order to leave a classroom "provoked" this attack. I do not accept that there were no alternatives to this outburst of violence toward her. I do not accept that this assault could have been justified, in any way.
I am angry, and I hope that you are angry, too.
I've said before, and I will say again: #BlackLivesMatter cannot be and is not just about ending police killings. It's also about ending the violent, discriminatory policing that is fundamentally incompatible with freedom, safety, and justice. It cannot be and is not just about preventing death, but about preventing torment and state-sanctioned oppression against the living.
Please go read Prison Culture, who is spot-on, as always: "Black Girl Down…and Up."
