Queen: "You're My Best Friend"
The Friday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by Ghostbusters.
Recommended Reading:
Nicole: [Content Note: Racism] The Importance of an Origin Story: Looking for My Multicultural Family
Sameer: [CN: Police brutality; racism; death] Leaked E-mails Reveal More Alarming Aspects of the Laquan McDonald Video Coverup
Bene with Netta: How Activist (and Essence Cover Star) Johnetta 'Netta' Elzie Speaks Her Truth and What It's Like Fighting for Yours
Ragen: [CN: Fat hatred; appropriation] The Most Ridiculous Diet Show
Tressie: When Your Curriculum Has Been Tumblrized
Wagatwe: No, My Standards Are Not 'Too High'
Jennifer: Lupita Nyong'o Set to Star in The Queen of Katwe
Davina: You Oughta Know Alanis Morissette Is Now an Agony Aunt
Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!
Quote of the Day
"It's not that I don't appreciate jokes. I just don't like the fact that any accomplishment any women will achieve runs the risk of being overshadowed by Steve-O shoving meat down his pants and jumping in a pool of piranhas."—Eastsidekate, during an email exchange today between humorless feminists.
(Shared with her permission.)
You know, it is my experience that my female feminist friends tend to be exceptionally hilarious in conversations about how supposedly humorless we are.
Easy for You to Say!
As you may recall, Gwyneth Paltrow's last cookbook was called It's All Good, and Deeky bought it for me for my birthday, because he is a monster.
Her next cookbook is about to arrive on the reclaimed wood shelves of an artisan bookseller near you, and its title is, naturally, It's All Easy.
"Delicious weekday recipes for the super-busy home cook." But only weekdays, because any DECENT HUMAN BEING goes out for dinner or attends dinner parties at the homes of celebrity chefs on the weekends.
Granting that I'm obviously just jealous, I'll note yet fucking again the gross privilege central to Paltrow's lifestyle brand. Cooking isn't "all easy" for people who can't afford food, and it's not "all easy" for people with disabilities whose particular disabilities limit their capacity to cook, and it's not "all easy" for people who would, by Paltrow's standards, be extra super-duper busy by virtue of having to work multiple jobs to survive. Among others.
And, yeah, I get that a lot of cookbooks and recipes are advertised on the premise of being easy, with the understanding they're easy for the people who can and will be cooking them. But "It's All Easy" is more than that. It's all part of this aspirational lifestyle brand built around casually having it all and doing it all with the best of everything—if you're a wealthy, thin, straight, white cis woman.
Doesn't hurt if you're a second-generation celebrity, either.
[H/T to Kaiser.]
Daily Dose of Cute
Livs snuggling with Iain. (Shared with Iain's permission.)
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: Guns] President Obama has written an op-ed for the New York Times on guns and gun violence: "Guns Are Our Shared Responsibility." It's pretty damn good. I especially like this bit: "All of us need to demand leaders brave enough to stand up to the gun lobby's lies." And I like it because he flatly calls them liars. Still: The only thing that's truly going to reduce gun violence is fewer guns and less access to them.
[CN: Guns] Relatedly: President Obama did a townhall with Anderson Cooper on the same subject, and he got fired up when Cooper asked him "if it's fair to use the word 'conspiracy' when discussing people who accuse Obama of wanting to take away guns." Yes, it is a conspiracy theory. Unfortunately.
Planned Parenthood has announced it will officially endorse Hillary Clinton this weekend, which "marks the first time in the organization's 100-year history that Planned Parenthood Action Fund has endorsed a candidate in a primary." Explained Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards: "Let's be clear—reproductive rights and health are on the ballot in 2016. We're proud to endorse Hillary Clinton for President of the United States. No other candidate in our nation's history has demonstrated such a strong commitment to women or such a clear record on behalf of women's health and rights. This is about so much more than Planned Parenthood. Health care for an entire generation is at stake."
[CN: Bullying] Donald Trump's villainy is breathtaking: "Republican front-runner Donald Trump directed security to kick out Bernie Sanders supporters from his Vermont rally and to confiscate their coats. 'Throw them out into the cold,' Trump ordered security, as protesters shouted 'Bernie! Bernie!' during his rally Thursday night in Burlington, Vt. 'Don't give them their coats,' Trump added. 'No coats! Confiscate their coats.' Trump said it was 'fun' to have the protesters attend his events and kick them out. 'It's about 10 degrees below zero outside... You can keep his coat; tell him we'll send it to him in a couple of weeks,' Trump told security." I loathe this guy.
[CN: War on agency] Well, fuck: "National anti-choice organizations are opening up a 'new front in Colorado,' according to a report released this week by NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado. The report, 'Against Our Will: How National Anti-Choice Groups are Targeting the Pro-Choice Majority in Colorado,' states that last year Republican lawmakers in Colorado introduced five bills and one resolution based on copycat legislation provided by Americans United for Life (AUL), a Washington, D.C. legislation mill focused on overturning Roe v. Wade and ending legal abortion access across the country. Legislation mills produce templates for laws that can be proposed in governments across the country. None of the AUL legislation passed in Colorado, but the report notes that of '118 state laws restricting abortion from 2011 to 2014, nearly one-third were based on legislation from the AUL or with assistance from AUL staff or supporters.'"
[CN: Ciscentrism. NB: Not only women menstruate.] This is terrific: "Two California lawmakers have put forward a bill that would remove state sales tax from tampons and other feminine hygiene products. 'Menstrual hygiene is not a choice,' said Ling Ling Chang, one of the assembly members behind the effort. Chang and her colleague Cristina Garcia are arguing that tampons, sanitary pads, and other methods of handling a woman's monthly cycle are medical necessities rather than simply hygiene products." Damn right they are.
LOL LOVE: "Paul Feig Trolled Star Wars While Revealing Info About New Ghostbusters Toys."
RIP Pat Harrington Jr., whom most of us might best know as Schneider from One Day at a Time.
[CN: Moving gifs at link] Don't even bother trying to prank a raccoon. Because pranks are the worst, and raccoons are smart wee devils.
And finally! Animals sniffing flowers. Awwwwwwwwwww.
Mike Huckabee Concedes Social Conservatives Are Opportunists with Zero Integrity
[Content Note: Social conservatism; war on agency.]
So, Professor of Bible Bigotry and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee did an interview with Fox News pundit Todd Starnes on his podcast earlier this week, and addressed the giant honking elephant in the campaign of how evangelical leaders have largely failed to endorse or even support him, despite the fact that he is himself an ordained evangelical minister and constantly touts himself as evangelical presidenty man #1.
"A lot of them, quite frankly, I think they're scared to death that if a guy like me got elected, I would actually do what I said I would do, and that is, I would focus on the personhood of every individual. We would abolish abortion based on the Fifth and 14th Amendment. We would ignore the Supreme Court's same-sex marriage decision."Wowwwwwww.
Huckabee said that, as a result of his presidency, evangelical organizations would no longer be able to galvanize their supporters and fundraise.
"A lot of these organizations wouldn't have the ability to do urgent fundraising because if we slay the dragon, what dragon do they continue to fight? And so, for many of them, it could be a real detriment to their organization's abilities to gin up their supporters and raise the contributions, and I know that sounds cynical but, Todd, it's just, it is what it is," Huckabee said.
So, I don't believe for a moment (nor does anyone else on the globe, probably) that the reason Huckabee isn't getting more support from conservative evangelicals is because he would be TOO SUCCESSFUL. I'm fairly certain the reason he's not getting more support from conservative evangelicals is because he's run for president before and didn't get anywhere and won't get anywhere this time, and they're pragmatic enough not to waste their time on a loser.
But I'm fairly delighted that Huckabee just plainly stated what anyone who has ever read a dozen accounts of "sanctity of marriage" sloganeers being caught cheating, or heard stories of anti-choice protestors ushering pregnant daughters into the clinic they picket, or encountered stats about how hotel porn rentals go up when a conservative Christian convention comes to town, or any one of a number of other rank hypocrisies already knows: The leaders and activists of the social conservative movement don't adhere to the rules they want to impose on everyone else.
They're mendacious blowhards, who exploit people who hold a certain set of restrictive beliefs in order to raise lots of money and live very well indeed off the donations of true believers. (Who themselves largely don't follow those rules, either.)
And if they actually got what they wanted, what would they do then? Not only because it would suck for them to live with those rules, but also because the cash would dry up.
It's funny—in a perfect bit of projection, it's social conservatives who routinely accuse me (and other progressive activists) of generating faux outrage and demanding to know what we'd do if ever we got everything we wanted.
"Retire in bliss" is my answer. And the fact that they expect it to be something else is indicative of their own furtive goal, which is not to win but to remain in perpetual battle.
I don't imagine they think Huckabee is the guy who could slay the dragon, but I definitely agree with him that they don't want that dragon slayed. They want that dragon resting atop a mountainous pile of gold coins, sleeping soundly, but still breathing life into the power of its own menace.
Party of Moral Values
[Content Note: Racism.]
Here's yet another reason that it's complete garbage when the Republican Elite pretends to have any illusions about the nature of their base—and their entire party:
Drug dealers with stereotypically black names are importing heroin to Maine and leaving pregnant white women behind when they leave the state again, Gov. Paul LePage (R) told a town hall meeting on Wednesday.Incredibly, LePage's communications director insisted that the governor was "not making comments about race. Race is irrelevant. What is relevant is the cost to state taxpayers for welfare and the emotional costs for these kids who are born as a result of involvement with drug traffickers."
In a response to a woman named Cathy's question about what he's doing to combat drug abuse in Maine, LePage touted a bill he's proposed to institute stiffer criminal penalties on out-of-state drug traffickers.
"Now the traffickers, these aren't people that take drugs. These are guys by the name D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty," LePage said, drawing chuckles from the crowd in Bridgton, ME. "These type of guys that come from CT and NY, they come up here, they sell their heroin, then they go back home."
"Incidentally, half the time they impregnate a young white girl before they leave," LePage added. "Which is a real sad thing because then we have another issue that we've gotta deal with down the road. We're gonna make 'em very severe penalties."
He wasn't "making comments about race," despite the fact that he specified that drug traffickers "impregnate a young white girl before they leave." Okay.
This racist bullshit is entirely typical of Republican rhetoric and a clearly-stated Republican strategy dating back to the Southern Strategy. (And before, though it was not stated so plainly.) Where any Republican gets off suggesting that racism isn't a centerpiece of modern Republican politics and acting horrified by Donald Trump is beyond comprehension.
Happy Birthday, David Bowie!
Saint Bowie. A gift from Deeks, who gets me.
Today is David Bowie's 69th birthday, and also the release of his new album Blackstar. I am very excited for both! I am very excited that David Bowie is alive in the world and still making incredible music, because both of those things just make the planet a more wonderful place for me.
There are a lot of things I love about David Bowie—his music, his performance (I am fortunate to have seen him in concert, and it was even more amazing than you can imagine), his art, his acting, his style, his beautiful weirdness, his embrace of the feminine, his generosity with his collaborators, his willingness to experiment publicly, even when he has failed—but most of all I love his voice. In every sense of the word—his perspective, his speaking voice, what he says, and his singing voice. Maude, that voice when he sings. Impossibly, haunting and warm at the same time, and utterly unlike any other voice.
David Bowie: "Starman"
I have loved Bowie's music all my life. I have loved his voice so long I can't even remember when I heard it for the first time. It has always just been there, singing things I love.
Thank you for the lifetime of music, David Bowie, and for another new album. A gift to us on your birthday.
In honor of the day, Seattle-based KEXP is broadcasting an all-day marathon of his music. If you're on Spotify, you can listen to his new album here.
Happy Birthday, David Bowie.
[Related Reading: David Bowie Is.]
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker masculine_lady: "How do you like to waste time?"
I'm pretty sure my penchant for terrible television is well known in these parts by now, lol.
Today in Rape Culture
[Content Note: Sexual violence; descriptions of assault; hazing; toxic masculinity.]
At Think Progress, Lindsay Gibbs reports on a hazing rape at Ooltewah High School in Tennessee, where three basketball players "have been charged with the aggravated rape and assault of a 15-year-old freshman teammate on December 21."
The reported assault happened on an out-of-town team trip for a basketball tournament, and it was one of many reported assaults, though none were as severe as the rape: The three older players raped the younger player with a pool cue until they ruptured his colon and bladder.
The head coach, Andrew "Tank" Montgomery, took the boy to a nearby hospital the night of the attack, but he was quickly treated and released.The coach did not report the assault to police, and, in fact, the team "stayed in Gatlinburg and played in the tournament after the attack, and then participated in another tournament days later." The attackers were kicked off the team, but weren't suspended from school until days later, and the coach retains his position, despite the fact that the victim's family has called for the coach, his assistant coaches, and the school athletic director to be suspended while the investigation is ongoing.
"He was not given a proper exam and collapsed the following day," the family member said. "Once he collapsed, he was taken by ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville. He had to undergo emergency surgery."
The freshman spent eight days in the hospital, and now has to wear a catheter and colostomy bag. Physical recovery is supposed to take 2-3 months, but according to his family, the injuries go deeper than that. "[H]e is having nightmares. He has stated that he thought that he was going to die as a result of the assault."
It was more than two weeks after the assault before Hamilton County Superintendent Rick Smith held an emergency meeting and finally canceled the remainder of the basketball season, but only because "speculation about the team 'could threaten the integrity of law enforcement's investigation.'" Not because people who rape their teammates, or abet their teammates being raped, maybe don't fucking deserve to play basketball.
But when announcing the cancellation of the school season, Smith reinforced his support for Montgomery and his staff.This decision is not a reflection upon the coaching staff. That ain't something to brag about, Mr. Smith. Because it should be. It should be a reflection of a head coach, at minimum, who looked the other way during regular hazing incidents, who clearly never spoke to his players about the indecency and harm of hazing, who let a hazing rape happen on his watch, who did not take a rape victim directly to police, who secured him only the briefest of substandard medical care, and then prioritized a basketball tournament over his safety.
"This decision is not a reflection upon the coaching staff," Smith said. "Indeed, law enforcement officials have to date found no evidence any adult acted improperly. Likewise, this decision is not meant to punish the boys on the team who are innocent of any wrongdoing and simply want to play high school sports."
Maybe none of that is illegal, but it's aggressively unethical.
And while I'm quite sure that there are "boys on the team who are innocent of wrongdoing," namely the boys who have been victimized, I'm also quite certain that these three rapist dirtbags' behavior didn't emerge from a vacuum. There are without a doubt teammates who did not commit rape themselves who nonetheless facilitated it, whether by overt encouragement or complicit silence.
Facing evidence of the egregious harm fomented in the festering stew of toxic masculinity and the rape culture, Mr. Smith can do nothing but give us a sickening rendition of #NotAllMen.
I take up space in solidarity with the survivor of this vicious attack, and I hope he has access to the resources he needs to heal, from both his physical injuries and emotional trauma.
[Related Reading: Animal House.]
Quote of the Day
[Content Note: War on agency; ageism; anti-choice terrorism discussed at link.]
"#DearDebbie: I need you to understand that these are not just nameless, faceless Twitter accounts to me. I know these activists. I have spent time listening to them and watching them work. They inspire me every day and make my work—and yours—possible."—Katie Klabusich, responding in a terrific piece to Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz's comment about "complacency among the generation of young women whose entire lives have been lived after Roe v. Wade was decided."
The Make-Up Thread
Here is your semi-regular make-up thread, to discuss all things make-up.
Do you have a make-up product you'd recommend? Are you looking for the perfect foundation which has remained frustratingly elusive? Need or want to offer make-up tips? Searching for hypoallergenic products? Want to grouse about how you hate make-up? Want to gush about how you love it?
Whatever you like—have at it!
* * *
Another look on the pink-red spectrum, which tends to work well with my skin tone: Neutrogena SkinClearing Mineral Powder in Classic Ivory; Too Faced's Perfect Flush Blush in Something About Berry; ColourPop's (regrettably named) Slave2Pink eye shadow; Almay's Black Steel mascara; and ColourPop's Bossy lipliner and lipstick.
And, clearly, I still have no idea what I'm doing with my hair. I'm trying to grow it out, just for a change, but I am very much in that WHAT IS EVEN GOING ON I CAN'T STAND THIS I'M JUST GOING TO CHOP IT ALL OFF AGAIN stage, lol.
Anyway! What's up with you?
* * *
Please note, as always, that advice should be not be offered to an individual person unless they solicit it. Further: This thread is open to everyone—women, men, genderqueer folks. People who are make-up experts, and people who are make-up newbies. Also, because there is a lot of racist language used in discussions of make-up, and in make-up names, please be aware to avoid turns of phrase that are alienating to women of color, like "nude" or "flesh tone" when referring to a peachy or beige color. I realize some recommended products may have names that use these words, so please be considerate about content noting for white supremacist (and/or Orientalist) product naming.
Daily Dose of Cute
Matilda luxuriating in her blanket.
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: Terrorism; death] "French police have shot dead a man who was apparently trying to attack a police station on the anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo attacks. The suspect was carrying a meat cleaver and wearing a dummy suicide vest. Minutes earlier, President Francois Hollande had praised police in a speech commemorating the January 2015 Paris killings." Fuck.
[CN: Privacy] Heads-up if you're a Time Warner Cable customer: "Time Warner Cable Inc said on Wednesday up to 320,000 customers may have had their email passwords stolen. The company said email and password details were likely gathered either through malware downloaded during phishing attacks or indirectly through data breaches of other companies that stored Time Warner Cable's customer information, including email addresses. ...Time Warner Cable spokesman said it was recently notified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation that some customers' email addresses including account passwords 'may have been compromised.' The company said it is sending emails and direct mail correspondence to encourage customers to update their email passwords as a precaution."
On Tuesday, I noted that Hillary Clinton had unveiled her plan "to Support Children, Youth, and Adults Living with Autism and their Families," and hoped to hear some responses to her plan from people on the spectrum. In the Guardian, Sara Luterman who is "a left-leaning 20-something" with autism, writes that Clinton "just made disability history. For the first time, a mainstream political candidate prioritized the rights and opinions of autistic people by embracing policies that autistic advocates and activists have rallied around for years. ...It isn't just the shift in emphasis that I applaud, but the language itself. The extreme, pathological language that usually surrounds autism is almost totally absent from Clinton's proposal. ...She doesn't talk about combating autism. Instead, she provides concrete ways to improve the lives of autistic Americans. I am delighted. ...[I]n promising to help support and preserve the rights of people whose humanity is rarely acknowledged, she has proposed something more progressive than many, if not all, of her opponents' policies." I highly recommend reading the whole thing.
[CN: Moving gif at link] In other Clinton news: "Clinton signs 'I love you; thank you' to Ron and Annette Loader, who are both deaf, on the ropeline."
[CN: Birtherism] And in decidedly less thrilling news from the campaign trail: John McCain gets in on the Cruz Birtherism game. Oh.
[CN: Workforce reduction] Damn: "Major layoffs will be coming to Yahoo as part of its planned reorganization to get its business back on track. The company is working on a plan to cut at least 10% of its workforce, said sources familiar with the situation. The cuts would reduce Yahoo's headcount by more than a thousand employees and could begin as early as this month, the sources said."
[CN: Anti-migrantism; sexual violence; disablism] ICE is a fucking nightmare: "The nationwide raids against Central American families January 2 carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) may have been performed illegally, advocates say. Yale Law School's Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization, along with 150 organizations, served notice in a letter Tuesday to Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and Attorney General Loretta Lynch that 'a substantial portion' of the Central American refugees targeted in the immigration raids and many of those in removal proceedings before the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) are disabled, as defined under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Advocates say in the letter that 'a very high proportion of the Central American mothers and children now targeted for ICE raids have survived sexual assault or other forms of extreme violence and have mourned the loss of close family members to particularized violence.' These families, as a result of these raids, 'will suffer the inevitable consequences of exposure to this trauma.' The letter continues, 'Mothers and children who witnessed and survived arrest, torture, and murder of family members, and attempts on their own lives, will be grossly re-traumatized by ICE raids.'" I hate ICE and their heinous raids so much.
[CN: Sexual violence; rape culture] "Ten women on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Bill Gothard, who for decades was a major force in the conservative Christian homeschooling movement, charging him and leaders in his ministry with sexual abuse, harassment, and cover-up. Gothard, who urged Christians to shun things like short skirts and rock music, is accused of raping a woman. ...Gothard, 81, resigned from the ministry in 2014 after more than 30 women had alleged that he had molested and sexually harassed women he worked with, including some who were minors." As you may recall, the Duggars are major Gothard devotees.
[CN: Violence; disablism; Christian Supremacy] "A Kentucky woman was arrested on accusations she beat a disabled man with his metal cane until it broke, because he said he didn't believe in God, WDRB reports. Laura Reid, 49, was visiting the victim in his home, and at one point she asked him if he believed in God, police told the station. The man jokingly replied he didn't. Reid became so enraged by his answer that she allegedly picked up his metal cane and beat him over the head and body. She then robbed him. ...The man was forced to crawl to a local gas station in order to seek help, where paramedics took him to a nearby hospital. He suffered serious injuries, including a concussion, a broken arm, multiple bruises, cuts, and abrasions." Just like Jesus would do.
"Here's the bad news: You didn't win the monster Powerball jackpot Wednesday night. The good news: Neither did anyone else. That means the jackpot will roll over to an estimated $675 million—the largest lottery prize in U.S. history, according to Texas Lottery spokesperson Kelly Cripe—when it's drawn again Saturday night." Ughhhh the lottery: Ruiner of lives!
This is why Tom Hardy should be your internet boyfriend.
DAVID BOWIE DAVID BOWIE DAVID BOWIE! Also: DAVID BOWIE!
And finally! Self-described "crazy dog lady" and animal photographer Alex Cearns photographs smiling dogs and obviously the photos are THE BEST.
On the St. George's Abuse Allegations
[Content Note: Sexual violence; rape culture.]
Last month, St. George's School, a prestigious Rhode Island prep school for grades 9 to 12, disclosed that a year-long internal investigation had uncovered "that 26 students were sexually abused by school employees in the 1970s and '80s, and that while the administration at the time fired the employees, it failed to report the abuses to the authorities."
The school "expressed its 'regret, sorrow and shame that students in our care were hurt' and said it was taking responsibility for trying to heal their wounds," by offering to pay for therapy and establishing "a victims' support fund to provide reimbursement for past treatment."
Some of the victims quite reasonably did not feel that an internal investigation, done by the very institution that had concealed and abetted the abuse, was sufficient.
Anne Scott, a 1980 graduate who has said that [Al Gibbs, the former athletic trainer, who was fired in 1980 and died in 1996] molested and raped her, said Thursday that she was disappointed in the school's investigation because it was not independent. She noted that the chief investigator, Will Hannum, was a partner in a firm in which another partner represents and advises the school.Naturally, further reports have confirmed that the abuse did not end in the 1980s. Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that the scope of the investigation had "widened substantially on Tuesday as lawyers reported that at least 40 former students had made credible reports of sexual abuse, and in some cases rape, by seven former staff members and four students over three decades. ...Lawyers for the victims said that the abuse took place from 1974 through 2004."
"If he had been truly independent, he would have looked deeper and harder at the roles that the leadership has played in this," Ms. Scott said. "He would have looked more actively at the scope of the perpetrators, which goes beyond three. And he would have drawn lessons learned. There's nothing about the enormity of that and the depth of change that will be required."
She is among former alumni who began circulating an online petition calling for more action and a new, truly independent investigation. It contains nearly 500 signatures and numerous comments about sexual assaults at the school.
At least seven former staff members have been named. Four of them are still alive and "in at least two cases appear to be working in settings with young people. None have been charged criminally."
Which is because the school dealt with reports of abuse the way that we have seen institutions deal with reports of abuse over and over over: They prioritize their reputation, refuse to make criminal reports, and, if they take any action at all against the perpetrators, it's merely to terminate their employment in such a way that they can be hired elsewhere and continue victimizing children.
The familiar culture of silencing was enforced by the school, who refused to meaningfully address, or even acknowledge, students' reports of being abused by staff, thus abetting continued abuse. What resulted is one of the most vast private school sexual abuse cases on record. And, as more victims come forward, it may eventually be the largest. A grim record.
My friend and colleague Mustang Bobby of Bark Bark Woof Woof emailed me, which I am sharing with his permission: "I was a student at St. George's for one year (1967-1968) as a freshman. I knew first-hand about physical abuse by senior prefects (dorm monitors) on freshmen, and I heard much later about sexual abuse by one senior on a freshman; he told me about it over lunch in 1985. I left after that one year and returned to my old school in Toledo. My brother was a student there from 1971 to 1974 and knew many of the victims and perpetrators firsthand. I have been following the stories in the media with a mix of anger, sadness, and dread. Anger that the school has desperately tried to sweep it under the rug; deep sadness for the victims; and dread that this is only the beginning."
I have previously written about the costs of disbelieving survivors—the cost to individual survivors, the secondary trauma disbelief can cause, the disincentive communicated to other survivors who fear they will be disbelieved, the empowerment of predators, more and more victims.
The survivors of abuse at St. George's were not necessarily disbelieved, but simply ignored. They weren't cared about enough by the institution tasked with caring for them to address their abuse and prevent their fellow students from being victimized.
St. George's cared more about its reputation than it did its students. And then they used that reputation to bring more students (and their parents' money) into its space, with no regard for their safety.
What a breathtaking betrayal.
I take up space in solidarity with the survivors of sexual abuse at St. George's. I believe them, and I will not ignore them.
"It didn't happen by accident."
Via Aphra, this is a really interesting piece by Alyson Krueger about how "how the Hillary Clinton campaign built a staff as diverse as America."
The campaign's diversity extends far beyond career history. Over 50% of the campaign is female. Of the campaign's more than 500 staffers nationwide, more than one-third are people of color; nearly 40% of Hillary for America's senior staff are people of color. Regional press secretary Tyrone Gayle points out that these numbers roughly reflect national demographics.The entire article explaining how the campaign prioritized and accomplished staff diversity is fascinating, and I also really love this observation:
Obama made campaigns sexy again, opening up the path for her to recruit the young and upwardly mobile. "That's an enduring post-Obama change," says [Sasha Issenberg, the author of The Victory Lab: The Secret Science of Winning Campaigns]. "I do not think 12 years ago that people thought working on John Kerry's or Al Gore's campaign was cool or interesting. I think the innovation culture around the Obama campaign—which has gotten tons of media attention—[amplified] the idea that the things that happen in political campaigns are innovative and potentially at the cutting edge of fields unrelated to politics."For lots of people, a big part of what made Obama's candidacy exciting was the potential to finally break the streak of white male presidents. Diversity among candidates created an excitement that has facilitated greater diversity in candidates' staffs. Such a clear picture of how diversity matters.
Texas State Trooper Who Arrested Sandra Bland Indicted on Perjury Charges
[Content Note: Police misconduct; misogynoir; death.]
Sandra Bland was a 28-year-old black woman from suburban Chicago who, last summer, had just relocated to Waller County, Texas, for a job in student outreach at her alma mater, Prairie View A&M University in Texas. She was to start in her new position when she was pulled over near the university by a state trooper for improperly signaling a lane change. According to Sheriff's Department officials, she became "combative" with the trooper, who then restrained her and arrested her for assault on a public servant. She was taken into custody and was found dead in her cell days later. The Sheriff's Department claim that she killed herself.
Later, dashcam footage revealed that the arresting officer's account of events was garbage, and, as the investigation into her death got underway, the Waller County Sheriff's Office leaked information about Bland that tried to make the case that she was troubled and responsible for her own death.
In a bid for justice, Bland's family filed a civil rights lawsuit, while the criminal investigation continued. Slowly.
But yesterday, a grand jury [CN: video may autoplay at link] indicted Brian Encinia, the state trooper who stopped Bland, on perjury charges:
The announcement came late Wednesday afternoon at the courthouse in Hempstead, about 50 miles northwest of Houston, during the grand jury's fourth meeting since it was convened this fall to deliberate the circumstances around Bland's arrest and incarceration.So that's it. Encinia, whose lawyer says he will plead not guilty, has been indicted for perjury, and the Texas Department of Public Safety is "initiating termination proceedings against" him as a result, but there will be no further charges brought in her death, despite the fact that there is no version of events where police are not culpable for it.
Darrell Jordan, one of five special prosecutors, said the grand jury's indictment stemmed from a statement the trooper made in a one-page affidavit he filed in Bland's arrest, in which he said he pulled her out of her Hyundai Azera to "further conduct a safe traffic investigation."
"They just didn't believe it," Jordan said, adding that a warrant would be issued for Encinia's arrest.
...The indictment follows an announcement in December by special prosecutors that the grand jury had declined to indict any members of the Waller County jail staff or sheriff's office. Jordan said that while the grand jury will continue reviewing other Waller County cases, it had concluded its review of Bland's arrest and death.
I fervently hope the wrongful death lawsuit brought by Bland's family will yield something looking a little more like meaningful accountability.
But that trial date has been set for January 2017. And you know what they say about justice delayed.
Black lives matter. Black lives matter.
