Tag: racism

intrikate88:

shardsofblu:

agentrromanoff:

favorite action sequences
↳ captain america: the winter soldier – nick fury is attacked

Look at this. JUST LOOK AT HOW FUCKING BADASS THIS IS.

But you still truly fear for him, because this shit happens right in the middle of a city in broad daylight, where they’re gonna riddle him with bullets and tear him into pieces. And how most people would then regard him simply as a common criminal rightfully pursued by the police, who deserved the very public execution he’s about to get.

There’s a lot to be said about how they chose the “police” machinery to take down Fury, while Steve and company was pursued by nondescript Hydra thugs and the presumably private STRIKE team. They would have absolutely no problem to murder Fury then and there, but with Steve they know they simply cannot do it when there are witnesses around.

Not here, they say for Steve Rogers. But right here and right now for Nick Fury.

And also? Before the attack, Fury sees the white cops eyeballing him in his nice SUV and says “you wanna see my lease?” This man has decades of experience in intelligence operations. He’s been lead developer on an international security-based predictive analysis program. He’s an operations mastermind. 

AND NICK FURY DOESN’T SEE THIS ATTACK COMING BECAUSE THE WARNING SIGNS LOOK EXACTLY LIKE THE AVERAGE INSTITUTIONAL RACISM HE SEES ON A REGULAR BASIS. 

Lighten Up

tehnakki:

A Marvel colorist reflects on the subtle racism of shifting skin tones.

Ron Wimberly is an incredible artist and this comic really spoke to me (no joke, I’m still crying as I write this). I’m leaving it as a link to the website it’s posted on because the website works to display the comic accurately both on a computer and on mobile, and the layout of this comic is a big part of it’s impact. You should read this.

Lighten Up

Barack Obama, Ferguson, and the Evidence of Things Unsaid

Violence works. Nonviolence does too.

Black people know what cannot be said. What clearly cannot be said is that the events of Ferguson do not begin with Michael Brown lying dead in the street, but with policies set forth by government at every level. What clearly cannot be said is that the people of Ferguson are regularly plundered, as their grandparents were plundered, and generally regardedas a slush-fund for the government that has pledged to protect them. What clearly cannot be said is the idea of superhuman black men who “bulk up” to run through bullets is not an invention of Darren Wilson, but a staple of American racism.

What clearly cannot be said is that American society’s affection for nonviolence is notional. What can not be said is that American society’s admiration for Martin Luther King Jr. increases with distance, that the movement he led was bugged, smeared, harassed, and attacked by the same country that now celebrates him. King had the courage to condemn not merely the violence of blacks, nor the violence of the Klan, but the violence of the American state itself.

Barack Obama, Ferguson, and the Evidence of Things Unsaid

theorlandojones:

As we wrap up this terrible week and weekend some final thoughts before I get my black ass back to work tomorrow to fight fictional demons instead of feeling powerless against the real ones —

Although he wasn’t by any means a close personal friend, the death of Robin Williams affected by greatly. Working with him and David Duchovny on the film House of D was a privilege and seeing how he treated everyone he encountered regardless of race, class, gender or orientation remains a hopeful reminder that genuine kindness and empathy does exist in the world. Whatever the ultimate reasons for his decision to take his own life I pray for him, his family and all who suffer from the unrelenting grasp of depression and substance abuse. By shining his light on us all for the period of time he did, I am 100% certain that Robin left this world a better place than he entered it with a legacy that will not soon be forgotten.

That said, if we spent even a fraction of the time given to the tributes about Robin and the late Lauren Bacall also remembering the lives of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, John Crawford, Ezell Ford or Dante Parker (the 5 unarmed black men killed by police just in the past month) or honestly looked at the data about how often police shoot unarmed black men and women in this country we would all hang our collective heads in shame.

In the midst of thousands upon thousands of peaceful protesters who came out demanding answers and marching for justice with the powerful and heartbreaking refrain Hands Up. Don’t Shoot. the actions of a small few in Ferguson (many of whom were anarchists that intentionally came into the city to stir up trouble and perhaps a few others from the community who had simply reached their breaking point in the face of racial, economic and social injustice) gave the white power structure the cover to quickly change the narrative to one about the violence in the city (in reality almost entirely perpetrated by the militarized police rather than the demonstrators) instead of the murder of an unarmed teenager by a cop who “never meant for this to happen“ (and don’t even get me started on that fuckery which should instead read "a cop who never meant to be held accountable”).

In this way, a PROTEST became a RIOT. Images of demonstrators THROWING BACK tear gas canisters launched at them became stories of rioters throwing molotov cocktails AT THE POLICE (and yes I am aware of media reports showing that molotov cocktails were in fact used by protesters in some instances but not in the way that it was ultimately spun). And the police released incendiary and ENTIRELY IRRELEVANT information about Michael Brown that the media lapped up because it reinforced the all too familiar trope that “the violent black dude was a thug who got what he deserved”.

Black victims are regularly eyed with suspicion and contempt (and ultimately deemed responsible for what happened to them) while the media too often generates headlines that exhibit an air of disbelief at an alleged white killer’s supposed actions.

Even in our outrage at what happened at this week and the necessity for our voices to be heard so this story is not swept under the rug, we all know something like this will happen again. And again. And again.

Until each of us (black, white, brown, etc) demands accountability from our elected officials we will get the country we deserve. Tweeting is not enough. Feeling bad is not enough. Acting like we’re overreacting and it can’t really be that bad makes you an accessory after the fact (not to mention an asshole). 

Which is why, as the GIF above shows, I’m giving America a down vote.

So how can we stop feeling powerless? What can we actually do?

Honestly, there are people much smarter than me who can do a better job of answering that question.

But trying to answer that question for myself is a large part of why I do what I do for a living. Because representation matters. Because being in control of our own stories empowers us to show a wide range of depictions of blackness and “otherness” (shockingly, not only do we not all LOOK ALIKE but we also don’t all THINK ALIKE) that are far more interesting than what we’ve been spoon fed in the past. I’m the first to admit that we’ve still got A LONG WAY TO GO and that’s where you all come in.

Although my engagement in fandom is embraced by some and side-eyed by others, these spaces of interaction may in fact play one of the most significant roles in the future of media and representation as we know it. At the very least it will create a future generation of professional storytellers (and social justice advocates) who were raised in the trenches of Live Journal, Tumblr, ao3 and other platforms currently in use or yet to be created.

I know this is your turf and even though there are times some of you wish I’d go away I genuinely appreciate the opportunity to interact with you here.

Together, we can make a difference.

Trollando out.

Watch The Anti-Redskins Commercial That Will Run During The NBA Finals

The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation has bought airtime in seven major cities during halftime of tonight’s NBA Finals Game 3 for a one-minute spot criticizing the Redskins team name, and calling for it to be changed. Here’s the extended two-minute version of the “Proud to Be” video, produced by the National Congress of American Indians back in January, leading up to the Super Bowl.

When sports fans tuned into the NBA finals Tuesday night to see the San Antonio Spurs take on the Miami Heat, they got a look into another fierce standoff.

A California tribe paid for the anti-Redskins advertisement “Proud to Be” to run in seven major cities during halftime. The airing marked the first time the ad, which initially appeared online in time for the Super Bowl, had run before such a wide television audience.

The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, based about an hour northeast of San Francisco, would not say how much it spent for the coveted advertising slot, only that it was a “significant investment” that was deemed necessary to further what its leaders describe as an important discussion of racism.

“It’s just a time to get people thinking about putting an end to outward hatred and using sports as a tool to focus on racism,” Marshall McKay, chairman of the Yocha Dehe Wintun tribal council, said in a videoexplaining the tribe’s involvement in the name controversy.

The NFL and Washington team owner Dan Snyder have facedunprecedented pressure in the past year to change a name that has been described as derogatory. The criticism has increased since NBA Commissioner Adam Silver issued a lifetime ban against Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for making disparaging comments about African Americans.

Watch The Anti-Redskins Commercial That Will Run During The NBA Finals