strugglingtobeheard:

221badwolfstreet:

aswimmersparadise:

Let me tell you something about today. Today was the hottest day of the year in New Jersey, I woke up sweating despite air conditioning because it was 95 degrees. Now, i did what any logical person would do and I put on my favorite pair of shorts so i wouldn’t be sweating throughout the day.

        Even in my shorts i was sweating my balls off but I went through half of my day as normal, no boys stared at my ass or tried to grope me in public yet when i went to the the cafeteria a teacher told me to go to the office because he finds my shorts inappropriate. I head down to the office to find a group of girls wearing shorts and skirts sitting in a small room in the office, we where all ordered to call our parents or to change into the clothes they had offered us from the school store. These items of clothing included sweatpants and a large heavy sweatshirt. I obviously refused to where those because it was 95 degrees and when you are sweating the key to cool down is NOT to put on more clothes. They told me I would have to stay in that room the whole day if it came down to it.

      I was able to leave the office when my friend gave me a pair of yoga pants. The man who made me go down to the office brought down several other girls as I was leaving, at this point they didn’t care how long the shorts where they just sent everyone who was wearing a pair down. They warned me that if I put my shorts back on they would right me up. 

     I put them back on anyway because just walking down the hallway in those yoga pants made me faint, dizzy,and extremely hot. Thats the main issue, it is hot enough for people to pass out in school but to the school system they would rather a girl suffer from a heat stroke then to have a boy become  turned on. My shorts don’t say “COme fuck me in the middle of class” they say,”Its warm out”

The sexualizing of innocent students is not okay

Risking students health is not okay

and tHE LACK OF FEMINISM IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM WILL NEVER BE OKAY

Today was literally horrible

I hate our school so much

That male teacher is a predator. Ogling young girls and sexualizing them? Keeping them in small closed quarters in a group subject to his authority. Mmmhhmmm. Disgusting

tranqualizer:

[photo: image of a Black homeless man wearing a white t shirt and holding a white Abercrombie and fitch branded t shirt in front of him.]

Why Fitch the Homeless is a Really Bad Idea

In response to some comments made by Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries about not wanting large people in A&F clothes because he prefers “attractive…cool kids” in A&F clothes, there’s been a pretty big backlash, which is understandable. Most recently, I’ve learned about some “activism” aimed at giving Abercrombie and Fitch a “brand readjustment’” by giving Abercrombie and Fitch clothing to the homeless.

Because wouldn’t it be so awful for Abercrombie and Fitch clothing to be associated with homelessness and homeless people, because homeless people are so gross and disgusting, amirite? The video above says that it is striving to make Abercrombie and Fitch “the #1 brand of homeless apparel”. Maybe you’re thinking there’s no issue here because at least homeless people are getting some new duds and they were purchased from Goodwill, so what’s the big deal?

The big deal comes in when homeless people are being exploited to prove a point. Many homeless people are already widely disenfranchised and lacking a platform to be heard or to get access to the resources they need. By attempting to make a brand look bad by associating it with homelessness, the message is that homeless people are so gross, dirty, shameful (insert negative attribute here) that by associating the brand with these types of people, we are really making the brand look shitty, because these people are so shitty! get it? It’s all such a laugh! This type of “activism” is a farce. It contributes to and propagates a culture wherein homeless people can be used as props to further an agenda. This isn’t how you treat people. This is how you treat disposable objects. It isn’t funny, noble, or helpful to try and stick it to Abercrombie and Fitch by using homeless people as the medium for your message. Would the American population at large be comfortable with any other minority group being used to make a brand look “bad” by associating their clothing with that group? Sub out “homeless” for any other minority group and see how that sounds and feels. Pretty shitty, right?

Giving clothing, food, needed sundries, time, and other resources to the homeless or people who are in need is an awesome thing. But this isn’t about giving to the homeless. I don’t see any real or actual concern for homeless people in this “movement”. I see homeless people being used as the butt of a joke. The punchline? “Hahaha Abercrombie! You want cool and attractive people in your clothes and you claim to be exclusionary, so we’re going to give your clothes to homeless people because you would hate that!” The implication here is that homeless people are not cool or attractive and the brand can’t be exclusionary when worn by an already excluded group. This only “works” because homeless people are already part of an othered and excluded group, often left out of mainstream society, denied access to basic resources and the ability to have their needs met. Can’t.Stop.Laughing.

People who want to give to the homeless can do so at any time. Do it today! But giving a certain brand of clothing to the homeless in an attempt to make that brand of clothing look bad or unsavory or less-than-desirable is only possible when the population or group receiving the clothing carries the stigma you are trying to attach to that label. This doesn’t make Abercrombie and Fitch look bad. This makes Greg Karber and everybody supporting this “activism” look like an insensitive douche canoe who thinks homeless people are disposable props to be used to further an agenda, and that’s pretty sad and disappointing. Wanna help the homeless? Try not furthering the stigma surrounding homelessness by insisting that a brand being associated with homelessness would surely be less desirable or wanted. Wanna stick it to Abercrombie and Fitch? Easy Peasy! Don’t give them your money! It’s a simple solution that doesn’t involve stepping on the backs of the homeless in place of a soapbox.

(click through the link to watch the youtube video)

allisticntprivilege:

girljanitor:

goldenheartedrose:

joanthedeductionist:

allisticntprivilege:

fyeahpdp:

Privilege Denying Dude:
[Picture: Background: 8 piece pie style color split with red and teal alternating. Foreground: White guy with glasses and light shadow wearing a sweat shirt over a button down and short black hair. Has a smug, arrogant facial expression and crossed arms.
Top text: “ [People with learning disabilities] ” Bottom text: “ [should be paid less than minimum wage] ”]

I don’t think this needs a trigger warning but unfortunatly,this is a political view here in England. http://www.communitycare.co.uk/blogs/adult-care-blog/2011/06/tory-mp-let-disabled-work-below-minimum-wage-to-gain-jobs.html I’m not even joking, I wish I was. The link contains the “logic” behind this including quotes from the original claims made by a conservative MP (our prime minister is conservative) that people, like myself, are “less productive” and therefore should be paid less in order to “help us”.

I don’t think I even need to point out everything that is wrong with this, the exploitation that will result is apparent even to my less productive brain.

SO:

This is a UK story, and what is called learning disabilities in the UK covers at least intellectual disability and possibly some other disabilities in the USA.

This exists in the USA already in the form of sheltered workshops and has for years.

Also the bolded.

this is terrifying and disgusting wow

Yep. I really am surprised more people don’t know or care. Like, great, boycott the Salvation Army because they’re cissexist and heterosexist. Yes, do! But don’t you dare say Goodwill is a good company/ a good alternative when they pay disabled workers just PENNIES per hour. Don’t you fucking DARE.

To clarify:

It has been legal to pay people with disabilities subminimum wages since the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in 1938. Specifically, for more than seventy years Section 14(c) of the FLSA has allowed the secretary of labor to grant special wage certificates to entities that provide employment to workers with disabilities, permitting them to pay their disabled workers at rates that are lower than the federal minimum wage and excluding people with disabilities from the workforce protection of the federal minimum wage enjoyed by all other Americans.

And yes, this includes people with Autism, anxiety disorders, physical disabilities, and cognitive/developmental disorders:

Employed in a publicly funded sheltered workshop in Beaverton, Ore., Paula Lane has earned as little as 40 cents an hour. Lane, who has autism and an anxiety disorder, works with 100 other people with mental and physical disabilities.

Sheltered workshops hire people with disabilities to do simple labor, such as folding bags, packaging gloves, and shredding paper. The only nondisabled people the workers interact with are staff and managers. Their jobs don’t offer training for advancement, and environments can be noisy, crowded, and hazardous.

While promoted as stepping stones to mainstream employment, these ghettoized workplaces are often nothing more than sweatshops. The National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) published a scathing critique, called “Segregated and Exploited: the Failure of the Disability Service System to Provide Quality Work.” The report said that these job sites “have replaced institutions in many states as the new warehousing system,” one that “keeps people with disabilities in the shadows.”

More info, including on why sheltered workshops are bad.

covenesque:

anarcho-queer:

NYPD Illegally Raids House of Man They Brutalized For Throwing Gay Pride Party, Days Before Court Date (Please Read & Reblog)

A gay Brooklyn man is being targeted and harassed by the NYPD after filing a lawsuit against the officers who raided his home without a warrant and beat him unconscious.

It was early Sunday morning and Jabbar Campbell was hosting a gay pride party when two officers appeared at his house responding to a noise complaint. The officers told the party goers, some who were dressed in drag, to keep it down and left soon after.

10 minutes later, another group of police officers appeared. This time they tried to gain access to the building and began banging on the door with their flashlights. 

One officer reached for the building’s surveillance camera (bottom gif.) and turned it towards the wall, blocking the view. 

“I noticed them turning the security camera and I got scared,” Cambell said, according to the New York Post.

Campbell opened the door after a few moments only to be ‘bum-rushed’ by the cop. Two officers put Campbell in a shoulder lock while “5 to 7” cops beat him with their fists, flashlights and batons yelling “fag”, “homo” and “asshole” at him until he lost consciousness. 

“They said, ‘Stop resisting arrest.’ I said, ‘I am not resisting.’”

But the cops beat him up anyway, he said.

“I blacked out. I was concerned for my life,” said Campbell.

The NYPD then arrested Jabbar and questioned the party goers who witnessed the beating, asking them if they were engaging in “gay orgies” and “screwing each other.” They told the officers they weren’t and they also denied that Campbell was resisting.

Police charged Jabbar with resisting arrest and possession of drugs, allegations that Campbell insists are lies, which must be so because the police later dropped the drug charges after the reported on the story. 

The NYPD transported Campbell to Kings County Hospital where he received 9 stitches and was diagnosed with a concussion.

Since then, Campbell filed suit against police, but said more men armed wearing police jackets broke into his home without a warrant and their badges hidden from view just days before his court date. They harassed the guests who were at Jabbar’s house and wouldn’t give their names.

The men in blue allegedly asked if his security cameras were operational.

“I don’t know what they’re looking for, or if they were going to plant something,” Campbell said.

Campbell’s attorney said what happened to his client was a violation of the Fourth Amendment – illegal search and seizure. The NYPD’s Internal Affairs is investigating.

Campbell said he plans to sue the police department and at least nine officers for severe personal injuries.

I was able to get an interview with Jabbar Campbell who admitted to me that he believes the raid was intended to scare and frame him :

Anarcho-Queer: Before your attack, the officers blocked the view of a surveillance camera in front of your building by turning it towards the wall. Taking this into regard, do you believe your attack was premeditated?

Jabbar Campbell: Absolutely, the cops turning the camera, which would have been the best witness if not tampered with, shows ill intent.

AQ: During the attack, the NYPD yelled homophobic slurs. In your opinion, was the raid was motivated by hate against queer people and/or people of color?

JC: I strongly believe they (Cops) were targeting homosexuals. They were trying to portray me as some sort of disorderly, arm-flailing, drug influenced crazy homosexual. I also believe that they (Cops) didn’t expect so much brains inside of a dark skinned man in that neighborhood.

AQ: How many officers were involved in your attack?

JC: About 5-7 cops were beating me, approximately 20+ officers reported to the scene.

AQ: What weapons did the officers use to brutalize you?

JC: Fists, billy clubs, flash lights and things of such nature.

AQ: What physical injuries were sustained?

JC: Multiple injuries to my head, face, neck and back just to name a few.

AQ: After you filed a lawsuit against the NYPD, three police officers raided your home without a warrant and illegally detained your guests. Was this to intimidate you? If so, what message do you think they trying to send?

JC: I definitely think this it was an intimidation tactic and also a plot to frame me just to cover up their crimes. I think the message was that they don’t want people standing up to them.

AQ: What happened during the second raid?

JC: They broke in my home, searched my home and search my friends and colleagues taking their IDs and writing their names down. They had their badges turned around and would [not] give their names.

AQ: Are the officers who brutalized you still on the job?

JC: Yes, however, they are being investigated by IAB (internal affairs bureau) and the ADA.

not safe even in our own homes. ACAB

samorchard:

I did a comic about marriage equality…

setfabulazerstomaximumcaptain:

zeroambit:

anarcho-queer:

Police ‘Fend Off’ Hundreds of Hungry People Gathering Free Food, Remainders Tossed Into Garbage

Richmond County sheriff’s officers were called Tuesday to fend off crowds outside an Augusta grocery store hoping to make off with merchandise that had been set out during an eviction.

Officials estimated 200-300 people filled the parking lot at Laney Supermarket after word spread that the Richmond County Marshal’s Office was enforcing an eviction at the business.

Officials said onlookers became angry when they learned they would not be allowed to take away food and other sundries that were piled outside the grocery as “abandoned property.”

The crowd dissipated after a swarm of deputies arrived, along with Sheriff Richard Roundtree, to assist the three marshals who had been initailly assigned to the eviction.

“There is the potential to have people fighting and causing problems,” said Lt. Calvin Chew. “That’s not something we want.”

There were no arrests in the resulting confusion, but groups of people remained to watch the proceedings, many clutching empty bags and grumbling about the situation.

Tiffany Serles said she heard about the eviction from her aunt who lives nearby.

“She said they evicting Gurley’s,” Serles said, referring to the former name of the neighborhood market. “So, I came down here to get some of the stuff.”

Serles was watching with several friends while workers scooped up the food and other merchandise in trash cans which were in turn, dumped into two waiting garbage bins that officials said were destined for the Richmond County Landfill.

“It’s a shame that they are just throwing all this stuff away and not even donating it to a shelter or anything,” she said.

Johanne Vargas, an agent for property manager FirstService Residential Realty based in Sandy Springs, Ga., said she was unable to discuss the matter when asked why the groceries were not donated.

Joseph Young, who helps run a youth mentoring program in the same shopping center as the supermarket, watched marshal’s stand guard as food was tossed into the trash.

“We could have gotten some of this stuff and done something special for the kids this weekend,” Young said.

things are bad here in georgia guys, real bad.

I’m just gonna look away before I lose my cool and throw this laptop out the window

tranqualizer:

[photo: centered in the photo is a Black woman carrying a child in one arm with her other arm and fist raised. she is in the middle of chanting. there are others around her. a protest sign from the fast food strike in the background reads, “we are worth more. strike for 15. D15”

thepeoplesrecord:

Fast food strike wave spreads to Detroit, St. Louis
May 10, 2013

St. Louis, and last month’s in New York and Chicago, today’s work stoppage is backed by a local coalition including the Service Employees International Union, and the participants are demanding a raise to $15 an hour and the chance to form a union without intimidation.

Organizers say that over a hundred workers joined the St. Louis strike between Wednesday and Thursday. That included a group of Jimmy John’s workers who alleged that management humiliated them by requiring them to hold up signs in public with messages including “I made 3 wrong sandwiches today” and “I was more than 13 seconds in the drive thru.”

“Sometimes I walk for more than an hour just to save my train fare so I can spend it on Ramen noodles,” St. Louis Chipotle worker Patrick Leeper said in an e-mailed statement Thursday. “I can’t even think about groceries.”

A spokesperson for Jimmy John’s declined to comment on Thursday’s strike; McDonald’s and Wendy’s did not respond to inquiries last night.

As I’ve written elsewhere, the fate of the fast food strike wave carries far-reaching implications: Fast food jobs are a growing portion of our economy, and fast food-like conditions are proliferating in other sectors as well. Organizers say the fast food industry now employs twice as many Detroit-area workers as the city’s iconic auto industry. These strikes also come at a moment of existential crisis for the labor movement, a sobering reality that was brought into sharp relief in December when Michigan, arguably the birthplace of modern US private sector unionism, became the country’s latest “Right to Work” state.

Along with a shared significant supporter—SEIU—the campaigns in New York, Chicago, St. Louis and Detroit have apparent strategies in common. Rather than waiting until they’ve built support from a majority of a store’s or company’s workers, they stage actions by a minority of the workforce designed to inspire their co-workers. Rather than publicly identifying the campaign and its organizers with a single international union, these union-funded efforts turn to allied community groups to spearhead organizing. Rather than training all their resources on a single company, they organize against all of the industry’s players at once. And—faced with legal and economic assaults that have weakened the strike weapon—these campaigns mount one-day work stoppages that are carefully tailored to maximize attention and minimize, but not eliminate, the risk that workers will lose their jobs.

Whether these strategies can ever compel a fast food giant to negotiate with its employees remains to be seen.

“After what I would consider well over three decades of wage suppression, workers in this particular industry—and then I think it’ll go to others—are realizing that their only way up the wage ladder is through their own organizations,” CUNY labor studies lecturer Ed Ott said Wednesday. Ott, a board member of the community organizing group that spearheaded the New York fast food strike, added, “The only way these workers are going to be able to advance these jobs is through unionization. And I think that idea has finally gotten traction.”

Update (9:15 AM Friday): According to the campaign, a walkout by twenty workers at Detroit’s 10400 Gratiot Avenue McDonald’s prevented the store from operating. Some workers brought in as strikebreakers to replace those striking workers chose to join the strike instead.

Organizers say that by day’s end, today’s strike could be the largest fast food work stoppage yet, topping last month’s 400-strong strike in New York.

Source

transqueery:

Longtime ABC News producer Dawn Stacey Ennis revealed that she is transgender on Wednesday in a story in an exclusive interview with the New York Post. Ennis said on her Facebook page:

“This is not a game of dress-up, or make-believe. It is my affirmation of who I now am and what I must do to be happy.”

The Post reports that Ennis brought a cake to work on Friday, that co-workers left flowers on her desk, and that ABC News President Ben Sherwood wrote her a note of support. She said in a statement:

“I’m overwhelmed by the strong support I’ve received from my coworkers, and I’m looking forward to telling my story when I’m ready,”

Now, there is some shock value in this story, but it has nothing to do with Ennis or her gender identity; it has to do with the New York Post’s respectful coverage of her transition and the support she’s received.

queennubian:

theuppitynegras:

sancophaleague:

The 16-year-old Jasmine Thar was shot and killed in the front yard of a Chadbourn home on December 23, 2012.  The Killer James Blackwell, 23 year old White Man, who lived across the street, says his 700 Remington Rifle went off without pulling the trigger. Jasmine was in the car with her mother and the bullet actually hit both of them. Jasmine would die from the bullet wound.  The investigation determined that the death was the product of an “accidental discharge”.  When the investigators searched James Blackwell’s (The Killer) home they found Confederate flags and NAZI memorabilia. As of now they are saying James Blackwell WILL NOT be arrested.

It think ridiculous is an understatement for how disheartening these “Investigation conclusions” are. I will say this again stemming from my last post. THE RESPECT AND CARE FOR BLACK DEATH IS NON-EXISTENT. I used to scratch my head in frustration trying to figure out how much more obvious something needs to be for them to get that it was a Race Crime. Then realized that I was naive, they can see exactly what I see but their intention was to justify the crime not to punish the Criminal. How can you possibly expect her family to accept that she was killed by some guys rifle by accident? Is this a hunting area? This is so sad and such bullshit. White people kill blacks and know that the Police will give them “The benefit of the doubt”, Unwritten Rules: When you’re BLACK you’re GUILTY until PROVEN innocent, when you’re WHITE you’re INNOCENT until PROVEN guilty. You never hear of black people “accidentally” killing white people. Why? Because Black people know the POLICE, The prosecution, and White folks won’t tolerate it. We can get Killed by Zimmerman’s or Blackwells and they courts will take the side of the killer because of Privilege. Furthermore these BLACK DEATHS ARE A CONTINUOUS PATTERN.

People desperately want to feel like RACISM doesn’t exist and is a thing of the past. Some people  do not want to acknowledge racism. They ignore it and try to look at things from perspectives far from racism no matter if it’s right in their face. Lets get this clear ignoring racism and avoiding it in itself is RACIST. You are an enabler of Racism, just like someone who is aware of but quiet about another being raped, mistreated, ETC…Then people want to call you racist for pointing out some racist shit.

Black people have to stop being bamboozled by the “reports” and the media. Their agenda is always in favor of the agenda of the courts. Don’t allow their propaganda to desensitize you about something you Feel in your heart is Wrong. We cannot just pray about change ACTION is required. Blacks need to ORGANIZE and plan because this can happen to anyone of us at anytime.

I know “The Overseers” are going to come out and say “Well we kill each other everyday, why should we care about that?” Well that is true but does that justify Hate crimes by other races? Every race in the world “Kills each other everyday”  This post is about the Death of Jasmine Char and the mistreatment of her case. If you can’t understand that it’s not for you or your type of person.

“Nobody in the world, nobody in history, has ever gotten their freedom by appealing to the moral sense of the people who were oppressing them”~~Assata Shakur

Written By @Solar_InnerG

A fucking accident?! That motherfucker is posing with a Nazi flag that was not no fucking accident

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOST

thepeoplesrecord:

Diabetic high school girl beaten by police officer & arrested…for falling asleep in class
May 9, 2013

A student who was arrested and beaten for falling asleep at school is now suing an Alabama city, its police department and some school employees for civil rights violation, battery and negligent supervision and hiring. After the diabetic student fell asleep while in a room reserved for “in school suspensions,” a school police officer slammed her face into a cabinet and then arrested her. The incident occurred at a high school in Hoover, Alabama.

Ashlynn Avery, who has diabetes, asthma and sleep apnea, was suspended for cutting class, and had to sit in the in-school suspension room. While she was reading “Huckleberry Finn,” she dozed off. First, the in-school suspension supervisor walked over to her cubicle and struck it, which caused the cubicle to hit Avery’s head, according to the lawsuit. She woke up, but soon fell back asleep. The supervisor, Joshua Whited, then took the book from her and slammed it into the student’s chest.

Avery was then told to leave the room, according to the complaint, and police officer Christopher Bryant followed her. Bryant slapped her backpack, and then “proceeded to shove Ashlynn face first into a file cabinet and handcuff her,” the complaint states. While in the car, Avery vomited. She was taken to a hospital and had to wear a cast as a result of her injuries.

“Ashlynn required follow-up care to her shoulder, arm, and wrist, Ashlynn also required extended mental counseling for trauma caused by the defendants,” the lawsuit states. The Averys are seeking “compensatory and punitive damages for civil rights violations, battery and negligent supervision and hiring,”.

The case is another example of abuses committed by school police officers. Activists have long decried the “school to prison pipeline” which disproportionately affects communities of color. A PBS factsheet, as the Courthouse News Service notes, states that “70 percent of students involved in ‘in-school’ arrests or referred to law enforcement are black or Latino.”

“When police (or ‘school resource officers’ as these sheriff’s deputies are often known) spend time in a school, they often deal with disorder like proper cops — by slapping cuffs on the little perps and dragging them to the precinct,” wrote Chase Madar in the wake of the Newtown massacre. The school shooting in Connecticut has sparked more calls—from both Democrats and the National Rifle Association—for more police officers in schools.

Source