An Un-calibrated Centrifuge

"I don’t expect gay people to prove to me, a straight person, that there’s actually homophobia. I..."

Fri, 17 May 2013 07:38:07 -0700

“I don’t expect gay people to prove to me, a straight person, that there’s actually homophobia. I don’t expect poor people to prove to me, a Harvard grad, that hunger and poverty are widespread problems. And if someone asked me, as an Asian person, to “prove” to them that racism exists, I would laugh all the way back to Chinatown. Marginalized groups are not responsible for explaining their marginalization to you. If you are actually concerned, you would take the initiative to do some research yourself instead of showing up at some oppressed group’s door step demanding a list of citations for things (racism, sexism, etc.) that are proven time and time again in the real world.”

- WORD (via holzers)

"White women and black men have it both ways. They can act as oppressor or be oppressed. Black men..."

Fri, 17 May 2013 07:36:44 -0700

“White women and black men have it both ways. They can act as oppressor or be oppressed. Black men may be victimized by racism, but sexism allows them to act as exploiters and oppressors of women. White women may be victimized by sexism, but racism enabled them to act as exploiters and oppressors of black people. Both groups have led liberation movements that favor their interests and support the continued oppression of other groups. Black male sexism has undermined struggles to eradicate racism just as white female racism undermines feminist struggle. As long as these two groups or any group defines liberation as gaining social equality with ruling class white men, they have a vested interest in the continued exploitation and oppression of others.”

- bell hooks, Feminist Theory: From margin to center (via orindamoraga)

famousbeyoncefans: Gabby Douglas and the Queen

Fri, 17 May 2013 07:36:11 -0700

famousbeyoncefans:

Gabby Douglas and the Queen

Photo

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:25:28 -0700

"All white women in this nation know that their status is different from that of black women/women of..."

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:23:12 -0700

“All white women in this nation know that their status is different from that of black women/women of color. They know this from the time they are little girls watching television and seeing only their images. They know that the only reason nonwhites are absent/invisible is because they are not white. All white women in this nation know that whiteness is a privileged category. The fact that white females may choose to repress or deny this knowledge does not mean they are ignorant: it means that they are in denial.”

- bell hooks (via riversofgold)

darkjez: zeram: The Origin of the phrase “Women of Color”...

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:22:43 -0700

darkjez:

zeram:

The Origin of the phrase “Women of Color”

Terms like ‘women of color’ are not just descriptions, but have political and ideological histories and current meanings. Here’s a clip of Loretta Ross, cofounder and national coordinator of SisterSong -Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, sharing one of the birthing moments of the term ‘women of color’.

“They didn’t see [Women of Color] as a biological designation… It is a solidarity definition. It is a commitment to work in collaboration with other oppressed Women of Color who have been ‘minoritized.’”

And remember, there would be no such thing as “Women of Color” without the political work of Black women.

"When feminists can see the problem with all male panels but can’t see the problem with all white..."

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:22:00 -0700

“When feminists can see the problem with all male panels but can’t see the problem with all white television programmes, it’s worth questioning who they’re really fighting for.”

- Reni Eddo-Lodge (via difference-is-happy)

"‘There’s a point, around age twenty,’ [he] said, ‘when you have to choose whether to be like..."

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:52:49 -0700

“‘There’s a point, around age twenty,’ [he] said, ‘when you have to choose whether to be like everybody else the rest of your life, or to make a virtue of your peculiarities.’”

- Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed. (via booksnippets)