In 1989, George Bush gave a speech about crack. During the speech he pulled out a bag of crack and said “this bag was seized right across the street from the White House in Lafayette park.” Turns out, his speech writers had the idea to pull out a prop during his speech and in order to make it believable they had the DEA plant crack on this random 18 year old black kid. They lured him there. He didn’t even know where the White House or Lafayette park was. When he got there, they arrested them. The plot was discovered by a journalist.

What journalist

Gary Webb

And then Gary Webb killed himself after he revealed that the CIA let crack infiltrate black communities through drug cartels making deals with the CIA. His wife left him and his career was ruined for exposing the drug war as a war against people of color.

There’s a really well done movie called Kill the Messenger (x) I suggest everyone should watch. It was done in partnership with his family and details the events from beginning to end.

Reminder that this was not some conspiracy theory or urban legend but really happened and happened practically yesterday, not during some bygone era we’ve learned or grown from as a country. Bush senior was only four presidencies ago. He left office in 1993 when I was eight or nine years old and almost everyone in control of the government then is still there now or passed their position down to immediate family.

— margaret atwood, excerpt of circe/mud poems

Three cheers for these guys [x]

This is how to be a good ally.

Using their Bro-ness for good, not evil

So a tiny story: on Black Friday a few weeks ago I went to Gamestop to buy my brother a game for Christmas, and I noticed this older man was watching me like a hawk. He was loitering around the front of the store without really buying anything, and every time I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye he was looking at me. I went to look at the PS4 games, and he was looking at something right behind me. I checked out the Nintendo games, and he was looking at them too. I was the only woman in the store, by the way.

By the time I got in line to pay he was loitering at the front of the store again, and I just had that feeling that he was going to try and take the game I just bought, or steal my purse, as soon as I left the store. OR, he was going to try and follow me home. And I know I don’t have to explain that terror to any woman reading this, but all I could think was that I’m in this Gamestop alone with at least twenty other men and something is about to happen. I’m beginning to freak out, to the point where I’ve just pulled my pepper spray out of my purse and into the pocket of my coat. 

So there I am, next in line to pay, and there is this GIGANTIC dudebro right behind me, and I say gigantic as a 6 foot tall woman. He says, “Ma’am? Don’t be offended, but would it be alright if I walked you to your car?” and I was like “Are you serious?” and he was like “There are some weird guys in here right now. Have you noticed that guy watching you?” and then I showed the dudebro the pepper spray in my pocket and he was like “Right on. Would you still let me walk you to your car?” and I said yes.

So I paid, and waited while HE paid, and he walked me to my car. And just as I was getting in, the weird guy who’d been loitering came out of the store, saw me and my dudebro, and turned around and walked away in the opposite direction. 

In short: men who recognize that women are unsafe in dark alleys, college campuses, grocery stores, gas stations and retail stores and do something about it are the kind of quality men that this world needs more of.

19 PowerPoint Presentations That Should Be In Every School Curriculum Ever

Margaret Atwood, True Stories (via wnq-writers)

THE PROPER WAY TO APOLOGIZE

Don’t say, “I’m sorry this offended you”. Instead say, “I’m sorry I was offensive.”

Don’t say, “I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Instead say, “I didn’t mean to hurt you, but intent means nothing because the damage is already done.”

Don’t say, “It was just a joke.” Instead sat, “Some things should not be joked about.”

Don’t say, “I wouldn’t try to hurt anyone like that.” Instead say, “I realize I hurt people with my words, and I’m sorry.”

Don’t say, “I‘ll remove the joke if it bothers you so much.” (if posted online) Instead say, “Yes, I said this, and it was wrong, and now I know not to say things like this again.”

Don’t say, “Well other people weren’t bothered by it.” Instead say, “Well some people weren’t bothered by it, but others were, and their concerns are just as valid and worthy of consideration.”

Stop accepting passive apologies that do not show the offensive party actively taking responsibility for their mistakes.

YOUNG UNARMED BLACK MAN SHOT AND PARALYZED IN HIS NEIGHBORHOOD BY FAKE COP FOR TALKING TO WHITE GIRL IN HIS CAR

On February 4, sitting in his own car in his own neighborhood, talking to a female passenger, Monroe Bird was shot in the neck by a security guard, Ricky Stone, a 52-year-old white man. The bullet pierced the C3 vertebrae in his neck. Standing 6 feet, 8 inches, Bird, a gifted athlete, is now unable to move his arms or legs and relies on a ventilator to breathe. 

Heres what you need to know:

PLEASE HELP HIM!! 

you can either Donate (doesnt have to be alot it can be as small as $5) or Call the healthcare group and demand they give coverage with the number listed above.

Source

PSA

YOU DON’T HAVE TO EXPLAIN YOUR DIETARY CHOICES TO ME.

I AM YOUR BARISTA, NOT YOUR NUTRITIONIST.

I DO NOT CARE IF YOU WANT TO CUT SUGAR OR CARBS OR THE BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT OUT OF YOUR DIET SO YOU CAN LOSE THE EXTRA WEIGHT IN YOUR LEFT ASSCHEEK.

I JUST WANT TO GET YOU IN AND OUT AS QUICKLY AND EFFICIENTLY AS POSSIBLE.

Just a friendly reminder that the brain of those who have suffered trauma is physically different than a “normal brain”. Trauma and abuse has a severe, long-term psychological and neurological effect. This is why you have difficulty concentrating, why you have trouble sleeping, why you can’t seem to stay focused, why you cry at the drop of the hat, why you’re not satisfied with yourself, why you think everything is your fault, why you think you’re toxic, why you’re full of regret and you don’t know why.

And get this. When you experienced this trauma, no matter how long it happened or how many times, your brain instantaneously made judgments about the world, your sense of self, and others. This is why you’re paranoid. Why you trust no one. Why you perceive things to exist that aren’t true in reality. It’s why people say you’re crazy, over-dramatic, or too emotional.

You may not heal in a day, but know this: it is not your fault. Your brain is responding to trauma.

this is also why you may have memory problems - undergoing severe trauma or prolonged periods of stress can cause the amygdalae in your brain to change shape, thus causing damage to long-term memory and troubles with making and maintaining short-term.

thank you

And I would pet 500 cats And I would pet 500 more

Just to be the man who pet a thousand cats To find cats to care for

MEOW MEOW MEOW (meow meow meow) MEOW MEOW MEOW (meow meow meow) Meow Meow m’meow mameow meow meow

This is a more emotional version of this song for me.

aka “I’m a 22 year old newb and needed to find some resources”. Here’s what I’ve found so far that has really helped me! Lots of these are youtube tutorials; I find it more helpful to see someone doing it rather than just reading about it.

General:

Dear white women

Please ask yourself- are you angry about the betrayal you feel that white men have not let you access all the spoils of white supremacy? Or does your anger come from a place of solidarity with non-binary people and women of colour?

YO DO YOU KNOW WHAT REALLY FUCKED UP THING I HAVE JUST LEARNED

okay so apparently when people die on mt everest they just leave the bodies there bc retrieval isnt possible and theres an estimated 200 bodies just like UP there and bc its so cold and oxygenless the bodies are perfectly preserved and people use them AS LANDMARKS most famously this one guy named green boots (so called bc hes wearing green boots and they dont know who he is) oh my god thats so fucked up???? why do people keep climbing this death mountain???? why cant we invent a way to get the bodies down we can go to fucking space but not the top of a mountain apparently???? oh my god????

Not going to lie that would be one hell of a zombie film.

I allow myself poetry on Flickr.

Happy National Poetry Month!

Walter is my cousin’s dog. He really has a thing for swimming.

that was a religious experience

this makes me so happy and sad i wanna be a doggy

if this isn’t art I don’t know what is

I feel like i just went on an adventure

You need this

Omg

Clergy had the most incredible response to police using Black mugshots for target practice

Fucking Dope

Watch: The FDA will allow gay men to donate blood, as long as they haven’t had sex in a year. Alan Cumming has the solution.

wsswatson

Since Alan Cumming himself is bi and not gay, I feel obligated to point out that the FDA’s ban applies not just to gay men, but any man who’s had sex with another man in the past year.

ACTUALLY, it also applies to women who have had sex with bisexual/poly men who have had sex with a man/men in the past year, too! I learned that the last time I went to donate blood (years and years ago) and was turned away. It pissed me off so much that I haven’t been back since.

Things Scorpio hates: The torture of small talk with someone they used to love

Let me explain why this is really important:  Because it takes a lesson every other show teaches you and corrects it.

Most shows will say “Be yourself!  Then girls will love you for you and you will have so many girlfriends!  So many!”

It’s another disappointing message to young boys that teaches them they are entitled to women.  That “hey just be you and you get girls, neat!”

Tino’s mom takes the time to say “No, be yourself because yourself is who you should be.  It won’t necessarily get you girls, some of them still won’t be interested but the most important thing is you like yourself.”

That’s a great message and if he follows through with it, it is likely to make him far more interesting as a romantic partner.

I don’t even know what this is from, but this is something I’ve never actually seen articulated before, and it’s SO IMPORTANT.

It’s from the Weekenders and it’s amazing