PI▲TH▲BI▲

Audio

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:39:26 -0700

sinidentidades: Decolonization in my heart and my machete

Tue, 21 May 2013 22:30:52 -0700

sinidentidades:

Decolonization in my heart and my machete

Photo

Tue, 21 May 2013 21:45:52 -0700

bed

Tue, 21 May 2013 15:33:14 -0700

miguu:

we lay
in
our country.
love makes us a homeland.

Photo

Mon, 20 May 2013 22:36:47 -0700

little-trouble-grrrl: Frida Kahlo by montse bernal

Mon, 20 May 2013 22:28:25 -0700

little-trouble-grrrl:

Frida Kahlo by montse bernal

Audio

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:46:32 -0700

lustnspace: Photographer: Francois Rousseau

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:01:25 -0700

lustnspace:

Photographer: Francois Rousseau

justice for melissa roxas! four years ago, melissa was abducted...

Sun, 19 May 2013 12:44:00 -0700

justice for melissa roxas!

four years ago, melissa was abducted in the philippines while on a medical mission. she was disappeared and tortured by the armed forces of the philippines, notorious for human rights violations against people fighting for genuine democracy and liberation from imperialism.

to this day, justice has not been served. the aquino government should be held accountable for its complacency and its lack of action - impunity against perpetrators of human rights violations must end!

to learn more, visit: justiceformelissa.org

fuckyeahmarxismleninism: May 19, 1925: Birthday of Malcolm X,...

Sun, 19 May 2013 09:08:48 -0700

fuckyeahmarxismleninism:

May 19, 1925: Birthday of Malcolm X, revolutionary internationalist and fighter for Black liberation.

last night: nikky finney had my peter-panning heart.

Sun, 19 May 2013 09:05:01 -0700

last night: nikky finney had my peter-panning heart.

TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly

Sat, 18 May 2013 22:30:33 -0700

TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly

venus x fa life.

Sat, 18 May 2013 22:22:12 -0700

venus x fa life.

"However, our dialogue about twerking reflects a larger system of cultural appropriation,..."

Sat, 18 May 2013 15:29:08 -0700

“

However, our dialogue about twerking reflects a larger system of cultural appropriation, commodification, and sometimes exploitation that has resulted in the birth of “ratchet culture.” Ratchet has become the umbrella term for all things associated with the linguistic, stylistic, and cultural practices, witnessed or otherwise, of poor people; specifically poor people of color, and more specifically poor women of color. (Yes, ratchet is a very feminine gendered term. See: Ratchet Girl Anthem). Remember when people who weren’t actually from the ghetto started to use the word “ghetto” to describe everything from their friend’s booty to a broken blender (real life examples)? The same phenomenon is happening with ratchet, even for those who do not use the word itself. It is super easy to borrow from the experiences of others as a way to be “fun,” or stretch boundaries on what is “acceptable,” without any acknowledgement of context or framework.

But being ratchet is only cool when you do it for fun, not if those are valid practices from your lived experiences. We watch shows like Basketball Wives, Real Housewives (of all the cities), and Bad Girls Club where women act ratchet as hell all the time. But they do so in designer clothes and at 5-star restaurants, and this paradox acts as a buffer for the ratchet that is the real reason for the shows’ success. Internet sensations like Sweet Brown are the perfect example of how “ratchet culture” is appropriated and commodified. “Aint nobody got time for that” has made its way to memes all over the internet and is used by folks from different backgrounds as punchlines and witty retorts. Sweet Brown has been contracted to sell everything from real estate to dental services. We witnessed the same trend with Antoine Dodson. It is becoming more and more common for folks to use “ratchet” to sell their not-at-all-ratchet products.

On an (inter)personal level, ratchet works to simultaneously police and defy gender, class, sexuality, and respectability norms. Folks with certain privilege are willing and able to float in and out of ratchet at will. The term ratchet became popular for me when I was still in undergrad about three years ago. All of us young, black scholars (constantly trying to justify the black side of the coin or the scholar side, as if they are polar opposites) were enamored with this term as a way to distinguish when we were or were not on the “right side” of the respectability table. When it was time to party we would say, “Let’s get ratchet!” But when I would go check my mail with my hair still wrapped in a scarf or was overheard talking to my friends from “back home” in our local dialect, I was just ratchet. Another example of the fluidity of ratchet was playing double dutch on the quad. At our predominantly white institution we were presenting a form of community building and fellowship that fell outside the boundaries of “appropriate” and “acceptable.” But our privilege as collegiate scholars allowed us to present ourselves in that way without the same push back we may have received if we were just black girls playing double dutch in a predominantly white community park.

I know that for me and many of my friends, the use of the term ratchet was a constant navigation of our identities as young, sexual, inner city hood Chicago-raised, black girls and privileged, college educated, Western women. I can’t stress enough that pop culture trends like twerking, “aint nobody got time for that,” or even just using the word ratchet to define the wild things that happened at last night’s party are all rooted in someone’s lived experience. Sometimes it’s your lived experience, but if it’s not, please stop for a moment to consider your privilege and what role you may be playing in the appropriation of someone else’s exploitation.

”

- Let’s get ratchet! Check your privilege at the door

By SESALI BOWEN

(via unapproachableblackchicks)

Photo

Fri, 17 May 2013 02:04:16 -0700

mishadventures: dijpoetess: l-ush: perfect This Yes yes...

Fri, 17 May 2013 01:49:07 -0700

mishadventures:

dijpoetess:

l-ush:

perfect

This

Yes yes yes!!!!!

bklynboihood: Shout out to Las Krudas, Cuba’s finest emcees.

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:42:38 -0700

bklynboihood:

Shout out to Las Krudas, Cuba’s finest emcees.

globalpost: Palestinians marked the 65th anniversary of the...

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:09:25 -0700

globalpost:

Palestinians marked the 65th anniversary of the “Nakba” or the Day of Catastrophe, which marks their displacement after the creation of the state of Israel.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians protested Wednesday on the 65th anniversary of the “Nakba” or the Day of Catastrophe, which marks their displacement after the creation of the state of Israel.

May 15 is the day Palestinians choose to commemorate the displacement of hundreds of thousands of their kinsman in the aftermath of the Arab-Israeli conflict in 1948.

Protesters chanted, “The right of return will not die.”

Palestinians mark Nakba (Day of Catastrophe) with protests

Photos by AFP/Getty Images

Nakba Day 2013: Palestinians mark 65th year of 1948...

Wed, 15 May 2013 14:24:53 -0700

A masked Palestinian throws back a tear gas canister during clashes after a rally marking the Nakba Day outside the West Bank town of Hebron, Wednesday ,(AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi

An Israeli border policeman fires a tear gas grenade during a Palestinian rally outside the West Bank town of Bethlehem (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)

A Palestinian protester argues with Israeli border policemen during a rally. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi

A Palestinian girl holds a replica of a house key, representing the front door key of am abandoned home. Gaza city. (MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images)

Palestinian women hold symbolic keys and chant "the right of return will not die," during a rally to mark the Nakba Day in the West Bank Wednesday, May 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Majdi Moha

Palestinian girls take part in a march in the West Bank refugee camp of Al-Fareah near Tubas to mark Nakba Day, Wednesday, May 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Mohammed Ballas)

Palestinian man is detained by Israeli border policemen during clashes near Damascus Gate at Jerusalem's old city May 15, 2013.REUTERS/Ammar Awad

A Palestinian man shows the deeds to his land during the Nakba or the 'Day of Catastrophe' commemorations in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, on May 15, 2013. (JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP/Getty Images)

A Palestinian woman holds replicas of house keys, representing the front door keys of abandoned homes in Gaza City, on May 15, 2013. (MOHAMMED Abed)

Nakba Day 2013: Palestinians mark 65th year of 1948 displacement

fuckyeahmarxismleninism: May 15th marks the 65th anniversary of...

Wed, 15 May 2013 14:20:13 -0700

fuckyeahmarxismleninism:

May 15th marks the 65th anniversary of the Nakba - when 750,000 Palestinians were displaced from the territory that became Israel. In 1948, more than 50% of the entire Palestinian population was ethnically cleansed.

In commemoration of the Nakba, and the displacement that continues today, we are releasing ‘An Ongoing Displacement’. The new visual quantitatively catalogues the multiple dimensions of Palestinian displacement and loss of land.

Visualizing Palestine