ASK Musings

Fight Back

• “Here’s the thing. You either believe in justice and equality or you don’t. You either believe that people of color are human beings deserving of full rights or you don’t. There are no preconditions to that. There are no exceptions to that. You believe in my humanity or you don’t.” You Don’t Have To Like Me—You Just Have To Believe I’m A Human Being (via @IjeomaOluo)
• “Now is the time to confront the weak core at the heart of America’s addiction to optimism; it allows too little room for resilience, and too much for fragility. Hazy visions of “healing” and “not becoming the hate we hate” sound dangerously like appeasement. The responsibility to forge unity belongs not to the denigrated but to the denigrators. The premise for empathy has to be equal humanity; it is an injustice to demand that the maligned identify with those who question their humanity.” Now I the Time to Talk About What We Are Actually Talking About (h/t @alexisgoldstein)
• “The language could not be any more specific or clear. Donald Trump will breach the contract on Jan. 20, when, while continuing to benefit from the lease, he will become an “elected official of the Government of the United States.”” GSA’s Trump Hotel Lease Debacle (h/t @JuddLegum)
• “The truth is that social justice and economic justice are not mutually exclusive. Those who would sacrifice one for the other will end up with neither, which is of course what the unscrupulous narcissists manspreading at the gates of power are counting on.” No, identity politics is not to blame for the failures of the left (via @PennyRed)
• “Indeed, the parallels between the conservative and liberal movements right now are chilling: On both sides, white men are controlling the narrative. And on both sides, these narratives are relying on the scapegoating of minority groups, and the repudiation of a fight for civil rights (because, to be clear, “identity politics” is code for civil rights).” Why Are ‘Liberal’ White Men Asking Us To Stop Fighting For Our Rights? (via The Establishment)
• “Not everyone can, or wants to be, this public about their political views, however. “I’m an introvert and don’t feel comfortable putting myself out there.” “Making my political views public will get me fired.” “It’s not safe for me to talk about opposing Trump.”” 5 Ways To Be A Silent Trump Protestor (via The Establishment)

Health Disparities

• “The New York City Department of Health report on maternal morbidity, which is based on similar information as Howell’s report, found Black women experienced a rate of near misses of 386.9 per 100,000 deliveries, or more than a third of all near misses in the city. The highest rates of near misses are experienced by women living in the city’s neighborhoods with high percentages of residents with African heritage.” Segregation Increases Black Women’s Risks for Severe Birth-Related Injuries (via @Rewire_News)

Representation in Media

• “The black actors of Gilmore Girls rarely get to speak. Except here.” Gilmore Blacks (h/t @margeincharge)
• “If White Supremacy is ever going to be abolished, those who created and maintain it—white people—must remain accountable and fully invested in its abolishment, which includes dissecting the films and shows we create and the stories we tell. And after watching the new series, we’re left wondering: Were these stories worth telling?” ‘Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life’ Has A White Feminism Problem (via The Establishment)

Reproductive Health

• “Price has voted for extreme bans on abortion care and coverage and vowed to end Obamacare. This nomination is yet another signal that Trump plans to make good on his promise to repeal Obamacare, defund Planned Parenthood, and punish women who have abortions by making the Hyde Amendment permanent,” Destiny Lopez, co-director of All* Above All, said in a statement. “Trump has no mandate to take away women’s basic rights and we plan to fight these heinous proposals every step of the way.” Trump Taps ‘Entirely Unfit’ Anti-Choice Congressman to Lead HHS (via @Rewire_News)

Sexual Assault

• “The sequence of the butter is an idea that I had with Marlon in the morning before shooting,” Bertulocci said in an event held at La Cinémathèque Française in Paris in 2013. He added that he felt horrible “in a way” for his treatment of Schneider but defended himself, explaining that he “wanted her reaction as a girl, not as an actress.” Bertolucci Admits He Conspired to Shoot a Non-Consensual Rape Scene in ‘Last Tango in Paris’ (h/t @jes_chastain)

White Supremacy

• “Avoid using the term generically and without definition, however, because it is not well known and the term may exist primarily as a public-relations device to make its supporters’ actual beliefs less clear and more acceptable to a broader audience. In the past we have called such beliefs racist, neo-Nazi or white supremacist.” Writing about the ‘alt-right’ (via @AP)