Blurred Lines

Trans.

Part of the cultural transformation taking place regarding homosexuality and civil rights in the United States right now has nothing to do with homosexuality at all, but with gender. Transgendered people are no more likely to be homosexual than anyone else, but the dominant thinking around the issue tends to pair the two. As acceptance of homosexuality increases, so too does acceptance of transgendered people, albeit much more slowly. Now though, transgendered people are pushing to the forefront of the conversation, not through civil action, through pop art.

Jacob Bernstein of the New York Times chronicled the rise of transgender-focused pop art this week in an extensive article profiling well-known artists and and prominent characters in popular shows like Orange Is The New Black. And Barney's has unveiled a new ad campaign consisting entirely of transgendered models. These kinds of respectful representations are incredibly important because of their ability to humanize transgendered people. In these images we do not see people in mid-transition, we do not see people poorly fit into their personas or skin, we see people, just like us, which is the most important element of acceptance.

We are long past the days of thinking it is acceptable to harbor bias against a group of people based solely on their status of being "the other". Gender assignment and association is a personal and private matter, and a matter of the simple human rights to the control of one's own life and self expression. Stop seeing gender, start seeing people.

To Read the New York Times Article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/13/fashion/the-growing-transgender-presence-in-pop-culture.html?src=dayp&_r=0

To See the Barney's Ad Campaign:
http://thewindow.barneys.com/brothers-sisters-sons-daughters/

The Long And Winding Road

Dream.

Fifty years ago Martin Luther King Jr. and 250,000 other people marched on Washington D.C. to protest systemic inequality in the American political and social structure.  Today, only one of the day's speakers, Representative John Lewis, is still alive to talk about it.  In 1956 Martin Luther King Jr. published a comic book about Montgomery, Alabama and the non-violent struggle to end segregation.  That comic book inspired a generation of young people to take action.  It stands as a demonstration of just how savvy Martin Luther King Jr. and many of the leaders of the civil rights movement were in terms of understanding the role of media in social change.  Representative Lewis, following their example, has published a graphic novel, March (Book One), about the civil rights movement in an attempt to reach out to a whole new generation of young people.  While the novel may be about the civil rights movement of fifty years ago, and while true racial equality still seems out of touch, Lewis has said that in the 21st century, the political struggle is rooted in money, rather than race.  In listening to him in interviews it seems clear that even from his position within it, or perhaps particularly so, the political system in its current form cannot be a vehicle for change or a path to equality, racial or economic.  In reaching out to a new generation his message is simple; march on.

To see Life Magazines photo retrospective of the event:

http://life.time.com/history/the-march-on-washington-1963-photos-of-the-epic-civil-rights-event/#1

References/Photograph:

http://www.npr.org/news/specials/march40th/

http://www.ep.tc/mlk/

Two Million and Counting

Barred.

The United States incarcerates more people than any other country.  In fact, we send so many people to prison that a new term has been coined for it; mass incarceration.  Mass incarceration.  More than two million of our citizens at any given time. We are increasingly criminalizing behaviors related to mental illness, drug addiction and poverty.  And we are punitive in our sentencing.  We send people to prison for a long time.  We incarcerate more people per capita than China.  Once inside the system, there is little to no opportunity for rehabilitation, education, or treatment.  Some of our prisons are tent cities in the desert.  Reincarceration rates are high.  And, contrary to our own stereotypes, increasing numbers of those incarcerated are white and female, a phenomenon most certainly related to the meth epidemic, but more importantly, prevents the mainstream from using racist generalizations to explain incarceration rates.  Across the board, Americans spend a lot of time in jail.

What purpose is this really serving us?  We are burdening ourselves with the cost of housing and feeding these citizens that with help, could be contributing to society.  We are entrenching a large percentage of our population in a criminal justice system that is characterized by recidivism, relapse, and heredity.  That this kind of system does nothing to change or eliminate criminal behavior is clear, even with mass incarceration we seem to have no shortage of criminals. That prevention, in the form of education, drug treatment, and affordable healthcare is needed is clear.  So is a change in attitude.  We need to end the era of mandatory minimum sentencing and allow our elected judges to do their job, judge what is best for each offender, for each offense.  We also need to pay close attention to what we criminalize and how those standards are enforced.  Perhaps we have lost some piece of our humanity to the our zealous pursuit of a crime-free society, perhaps we need to learn to see each others value.

Photo Courtesy of:

http://www.teenjury.com/supreme-court-rules-on-prison-overcrowding/

Soldier On

FBI.

In the spring of 1990 the car transporting Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney, vocal and influential activists for the preservation of the California Redwoods, exploded.  Bari was an organizer for Earth First! a well-known environmental group formed in 1979 that specializes in non-violent direction action.  Bari was a major organizer for their Redwood Summer, a series of anti-logging protests aimed at protection of the Redwood forests and the changing of logging practices.

Bari had received a series of death threats in the months leading up to the bombing. The FBI arrived at the scene in minutes.  Injured, both Bari and Cherney were taken into custody in Oakland after the bombing and charged with transportation of an incendiary device; they were being held for bombing themselves.  Bari never recovered, remaining severely disabled for the rest of her life.  Though the charges were dropped amid clear evidence of a third party being responsible for the crime, the most compelling of which being the placement of the device directly beneath the drivers seat, the FBI and national press painted Bari and Cherney as environmental terrorists and used the incident to marginalize the entire environmental movement of the early 90's.

No other suspects have ever been taken into custody.

The image of environmental activists as crazy, dirty hippies with no jobs and nothing better to do than drugs and violent petty crimes stems from incidences such as these.  Far from the successes of other non-violent movements, civil right, and labor for instance, the environmental movement of the late 20th century was unable to garner mainstream support or respect, instead becoming increasingly caricatured and ignored.  This allowed policy makers to largely ignore the environmental movement in its totality.

Perhaps the government and big business had learned a few things before the environmental movement was realized, perhaps the social climate was not ready for another cultural revolution, maybe it was a movement ahead of it's time, lacking the rigorous research and obvious signs of climate change and species loss we now  see daily on the news.  Whatever the cause, Judi Bari, what she fought for, and almost the entirety of the movement have faded from public consciousness.  Climate change, and the fact of dwindling resources have not.

Most distressing about this is the early, pre-911 association of non-violent activism, especially environmental activism, with terrorism.  There is good reason to know about Judi Bari, and not just for the protection of the Redwoods, but for the protection of our civil rights and the freedom of speech.  The fight to save the Redwoods continues.  

References/Resources:

John Muir in 1920 on saving the Redwoods:

http://www.yosemite.ca.us/john_muir_writings/save_the_redwoods.html

The Who Bombed Judi Bari Movie Official website:

http://www.whobombedjudibari.com/

The New York Times brief review:

http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/11/16/movies/who-bombed-judi-bari-produced-by-darryl-cherney.html?_r=0

EarthFirst:

http://www.earthfirst.org/

Image:

http://myinqi.deviantart.com/art/Fuming-Redwoods-141286665

Gag Order

unacceptable.

I want to talk about torture and I don’t want to talk about torture. I am at a loss to understand how any group of people can possibly endorse, legalize, or justify the brutal and vivid mistreatment of anyone, regardless of perceived threat or political climate. Let me be clear, I am not entering into a discussion or debate regarding this issue. I am not entertaining the possibility of sleep deprivation, the withholding of food, temperature extremes, stress positions or water boarding being acceptable behavior. Ever. There are no grey areas. There are no excuses. Every one of us knows cruelty when we see it. We are taught as children that violence is neither a solution to conflict nor a means to our desired ends. It is unacceptable for us to forget or fail to heed this lesson as adults.

Our detainees, prisoners, whatever we are calling them are people. They have souls. And they are in our care. We can make no real progress towards the formation of a peaceful, compassionate, and sustainable society while we, through our complacency and silence, endorse torture. We have to stop this, and we have to stop it now.

Write to a member of congress, the president, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, let them know that Americans believe in compassionate justice, that this is not how we choose to be represented in the world.

For a Congressional Directory:
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

To Email Barack Obama:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/

I tried to find an email address or contact information for Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, but couldn’t. Go Figure.

Photograph Courtesy of :
http://gallery.nen.gov.uk/gallery_images/0812/0000/0258/washday_005_mid.jpg

A Gay Affair

pro-love.

Yesterday Maine became the fifth state, following Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, and Massachusetts, to legalize same sex marriage. This decision followed in the footsteps of several other brave and groundbreaking states that are legalizing same sex marriage and providing civil rights protections for homosexuals based on voter mandates, Supreme Court decisions, and legislative bills. As one of the last groups to be recognized as human beings and therefore deserving of the same basic rights provided to the rest of us, the gay community must be overjoyed. As should the rest of us, since the withholding or erosion of civil rights in any form threatens the rights of us all. This is cause for great celebration, and I take it as a significant indicator that we as a country are beginning to remember that we value things like freedom and equality, not for some, but for everyone.

Philosophically, in my mind the issue comes down to this, are you pro-love or anti-love? In a pro-love world, the kind I optimistically believe I live in, we are all allowed to bond ourselves to whomever we choose. If we are brave enough to commit our lives to that person, then more power to us, as most people can attest, relationships, in any form, but particularly long-term, loving, life-sharing relationships are hard work. I like to think that we are all capable of recognizing that the choice of who we share our lives with has less to do with sex than with compatibility, mutual respect, and friendship. Good things come from people sharing their lives with one another, and we should encourage and celebrate it, even if it doesn’t fit our own image of a life union. Be a part of the revolution and ask someone today, are you pro-love?