What I’m Reading – April 26, 2015
Written by Ashley Kelmore, Posted in What I'm Reading
Police
– “In other words, State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez undercharged Dante Servin with a lesser crime that could not be proven whereas evidence and multiple eyewitnesses could show first or second degree murder.” Smoking gun: Prosecutor Anita Alvarez deliberately undercharged officer who killed Rekia Boyd (via @ShaunKing)
– “At the same time, according to Orta, the police began to follow him. They drove by his mom’s house, where he lived, late at night, shining floodlights into the windows. Orta told me cops stopped by the place where his then girlfriend, Chrissie Ortiz, worked, demanding a copy of the video. (They later arrested Ortiz, allegedly for fighting.) Orta told me his friends were searched after leaving his home.” Nine Months After He Filmed Eric Garner’s Killing, the Cops Are Trying to Put Ramsey Orta Behind Bars (via @mollycrabapple)
– “Eventually, Georgia turned to me and explained that my pass had been rejected because of a decision made by someone “higher up.” She wouldn’t tell me any other details. I asked for an explanation, since I’d attended in previous years without any problems.” Counterterrorism Conference Kicks Out Intercept Journalist
Health and Beauty Standards
– “Look, I know: I was un-bra-pared for this outfit. But for real, this top looks like an arrow pointing to my crotch. I look like a superhero who overslept and got the last outfit at the big superhero outfit sale.” This Is What Plus-Size Clothes Look Like On Plus-Size Women (h/t @thewayoftheid
– “Are women’s unaltered faces really so controversial that they deserve applause for letting them out in public?” Going without make-up isn’t a radical act. It’s just being yourself (via @JessicaValenti)
– “Nobody owes anybody else health or healthy habits by any definition. Each person gets to decide how to prioritize their health, and the path they choose to meet their goals. That’s why people are allowed to be professional bullriders and X games athletes, and NFL Players. The suggestion that fat people have some obligation over and above what everyone else has (which is none) is thinly veiled bigotry and nothing more.” Things You Don’t Owe Anybody
Intersectionality
– “Some companies are trying to make positions of power more appealing to women, Ms. Green said, inspired by the concerns set forth in books like Sheryl Sandberg’s “Lean In” and “The Confidence Code” by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman. But initiatives to help women build confidence or convince them to shoot for top jobs won’t help those who already know they want to lead.” Black Women Want Top Jobs (but They Aren’t Getting Them) (via @nytopinion)
Internet
– “The internet is not separate from culture, but a reflection of culture. It’s not “the internet” that is terrible, but the terrible people who comprise a global community that inhabits the internet who are terrible. And it’s not the internet that makes them terrible: It takes a special sort of cultivated ignorance to imagine that the anonymity of the internet creates the urges that underlie bullying, rather than merely empowering bullies to be uglier, meaner, bolder than some of them would be face-to-face. Why “The Internet Is Terrible” Doesn’t Console Me (via @Shakestweetz)
Racism in Entertainment
– “Loren Anthony, another tribal member and actor, told Indian Country that while he initially had reservations about appearing in the film, producers had assured him the jokes would not be racist. But from the very beginning, he said, things “started getting weird” and what were supposed to be jokes were simply offensive.” Native American Actors Walk Off Set of New Adam Sandler Movie Over Racist Jokes (via @MotherJones)
Racism and Transphobia in Radical Feminism
– “Ideally, you’d hope, feminism would be about fighting for the rights of all women and trying to free all people from oppressive gender stereotypes. In practice, though, the radical feminist tradition of Andrea Dworkin and Janice Raymond, who Murphy champions, has often built itself on exclusion rather than inclusion. Radical feminism’s radicalism is often defined by smearing other women — trans women, sex workers, women of color — as deluded dupes of men and patriarchy.” Laverne Cox Gets Naked, Exposes Radical Feminist Exclusionism (via @hoodedu)