I don't care if everyone likes me. I care if I'm effective. To make progress on civil rights, you have to choose. I choose effective.
You will know that we were effective, when ~20% of the trans folk on Mastodon are Black. Today we're very far away from that number. Because Mastodon is not always safe for cis Black men, let alone Black trans women. But we're fixing that.
You might not be able to see "the people that are missing," but I can. I see who's not here. And I know why they're not here
How to read the news about the head of the Spanish soccer Federation (a man) forcibly kissing a player on the Spanish women's team on the lips, after winning the world cup. You might be thinking:
What's the big deal? They're European! It's their culture!
And she smiled afterwards!
It was just spontaneous! He was overcome with emotion!
She released a statement saying that what's important to focus on is the victory!
Situational power is what men rely on to get away with things like this.
There's a big difference between a greeting kiss on the cheek, and a kiss on the lips. He held her head to remove her chance of turning her face at the last second. Not OK.
Her immediate reaction was a nervous smile and laughter. Very common. Her 5 minutes later reaction was saying that the kiss was unwanted and that she didn't like it. Her 1 hr later "reaction" was the official statement.
Football executives should not place their hands on the sides of the head of their players and forcefully kiss them on the lips in a way that the player cannot possibly give consent, in front of hundreds of millions of people.
I've been patient and assumed good intent with you up to this point, but I'm starting to feel like my good faith was misplaced.
The unspoken context behind the "Battle of Montgomery" video:
When media mentions "blue collar" jobs, they usually picture rural white folk. But... most employed Black and Latinx people work blue collar jobs, and most people live in cities. In the US, blue collar employees are Black and brown.🤷🏿♂️
Blue collar employees are often asked to enforce rules, (like mask mandates).
When racist white people get drunk, they often use slurs against, spit at, or physically strike these Black workers.
When racist white people get verbally abusive towards, and physically violent against Black Blue collar employees, more often than not, no one helps.
The Black employee is often in an awkward situation where they have the physical capacity to defend themselves, but know that they will be severely and disproportionately punished if they do so. Because racism.
That's a big part of the reason for the restraint and professionalism shown by this Black UK student.
The University of Kentucky student who attacked the Black student withdrew herself from campus after an outpouring of support for the victim and the Black community. The attacker was later expelled from UK, banned from the campus, and is currently indicted. Thanks to video.
Flight attendants were asked to enforce airline mask mandates. Many flight attendants are Black or latinx. Many anti-maskers are Trump supporters. They get drunk, get on planes, and you know what happens next. 🤷🏿♂️
If it weren't for video evidence and social media, no one would believe Black people when they say how often they are physically struck or called racist names by unruly white customers. It happens a lot.
Many Black service workers have stories about racist customers calling them slurs, or putting hands on them, and no one helping, and the violent customer facing no accountability.
Video evidence + social media, is one of the only channels Black people have to get justice in these situations.
So when you hear folks talk about "We don't want an outrage machine!" and see social platforms building "better conversation" tools that prevent the sharing of these videos, and prevent the unmasking of serial racist offenders... you can understand why Black folk don't like that.
We can't just say "I don't condone violence!" I don't like violence either, because it escalates. But Black people have a right to defend themselves and others.
If one of the drunk white people had a gun on that boat, this would have been a very different outcome. The woman that was struck by the chair could have had a very bad outcome. Etc.
Even as it stands, several of the Black men in that video will now be Black, in Alabama, with a criminal record. That's bad. And now they can't even vote.
I don't like violence either. But if we only seem to say "I don't condone violence!" when talking about Black folk defending themselves from racist violence, then we very much are condoning violence. But we're only condoning it in one direction. 🤷🏿♂️
Delta Airlines has the most Black employees, and is the highest rated airline for Black employees. ♥️👍🏿
So... Delta now has 1600 people on their "violent passenger, do not allow to board" list. They want to share it.