ASK Musings

Fight Back

• “After a stop at the locked-down East Precinct at 12th and Pine, the huge three-block crowd of marchers made its way down 12th toward the King County Youth Services Center — also known as juvenile hall. Last week, activists learned that the the Hearing Examiner had dismissed an appeal blocking construction of a new youth jail and justice center at the site. In a decision issued last week, the examiner dismissed the appeal brought by Ending the Prison Industrial Complex’s asking for exceptions made in permits issued by the city to be overturned.” Protest march covers Black Lives Matter hot spots from Capitol Hill to youth jail to Midtown Center (by J Seattle for Capitol Hill Blog)

Horrific Executive Action and Legislation

• “Today, Governor Daugaard signed Senate Bill 149 into law, making South Dakota the first state in 2017 to pass anti-LGBT legislation. The bill will allow taxpayer funded agencies to refuse to provide any service, including adoption or foster care services, on the basis on the agency’s religious or moral convictions.” Governor Daugaard Signs Discriminatory Senate Bill (ACLU)
• “The officials told the Chronicle that agents feel free to engage in more “collateral arrests,” or arrests of people who are not the intended targets of the operation. These kinds of arrests were discouraged in the Obama years, when those with criminal records were the targets of raids. Now, agents are free to detain them if they’ve broken immigration law.” Immigration agents are reportedly basking in their new, less-regulated roles under Trump (by Matthew Rodriguez for Mic)

Transphobia

• “Adichie saying that trans women once experienced male privilege before “changing” genders and implying that this disqualifies them from being women without an adjective erases their experiences of womanhood at all stages of their lives. It further ignores the very real violence they face (Chyna Gibson’s name still fresh on our lips, images of Dandara dos Santos’s brutal murder splashed across social media, at least seven trans women of color murdered in the US since 2017 began) and leaves nonbinary trans people and trans men out of the conversation entirely.” Why Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Comments on Trans Women are Wrong and Dangerous (by Jarune Uwujaren for Unapologetic Feminism)
• “A lawyer representing the family told LGBTQ Nation this all started last month, with the parents trying to get medical help for their daughter, who has type 1 diabetes and epilepsy. Although they agreed to something called a “therapeutic separation,” the attorney confirmed the parents never signed any documents surrendering their parental rights or authorizing any treatment of her gender identity, and in fact have attempted to have her moved to another hospital.” Is Christian-run hospital forcing this 5-year-old transgender girl to be a boy? (by Dawn Ennis for LGBTQ Nation)

Racism

• “In addition, the majority of more than 1,800 innocent defendants framed by law enforcement since 1989 in widespread police scandals are African American, says the report, “Race and Wrongful Convictions in the United States,” published Tuesday as a companion to the annual National Registry of Exonerations. “Judging from the cases we know, a substantial majority of innocent people who are convicted of crimes in the United States are African Americans,” the report declares.” Innocent Blacks More Likely Than Whites To Be Wrongfully Convicted (by Matt Ferner for Huffington Post)

Health Care

• “His claim—that if people would just make the right choices, they wouldn’t be so ding-dang poor—is part and parcel of the GOP’s long tradition of demonizing low-income members of the public. Republicans have been spouting the same canards for decades, castigating people with low incomes as lazy, moochers, and on the endless hunt for free stuff. And somehow the GOP seems to consistently equate poor with Black.” Jason Chaffetz’s Stance on iPhones and Health Care Is Both Heartless and Unoriginal (by Imani Gandy for Rewire)

Representation

• “Despite this context, the creators of Speechless and the family drama Switched at Birth, both on air this spring, are talking to people with lived experience with disability, casting disabled people to play disabled characters, and using the structure of their respective genres to tell stories that ring true to a parent like me. And by incorporating unconventional families — which resemble my own in their battles over access and stigma — into classic American television genres, they are directing contemporary dialogues about disability straight at a mainstream audience.” The Shows Shaking Up Disability Representation on Television (by David M. Perry for Pacific Standard)

Misogyny

• “Co-host Allison Kilkenny, who is also Kilstein’s estranged wife (they separated last year), announced Kilstein’s departure from the show via a Facebook post last Monday in which she wrote, “Recently, some disturbing allegations have been brought to my attention entailing several women who have accused Jamie of being manipulative, emotionally abusive, and predatory in his behavior.” It’s not clear, however, whether any specific incident triggered the departure.” Progressive Performer Jamie Kilstein Ousted From Citizen Radio After ‘Disturbing Allegations’ (by Prachi Gupta for Jezebel)