7:50 am

Alexis Marie. Natural. Brooklyn. Poet. Actress. Artist. Black. Woman. Writer. Human.

First you’re taught to fear a phantom, a man in black, a man with a knife, a man who’ll pounce in dark alleys. Well-intentioned women—mothers, aunts, teachers—will train you to protect yourself: Don’t wear your hair in a ponytail; it’s easier to grab. Hold your keys in one hand; hold your pepper spray in the other. Avoid dark alleys. When you reach young adulthood, the lessons change. They acquire an undertone of disgust: Don’t drink so much. Don’t wear such short skirts. You’re sending mixed signals; you’re putting yourself at risk. If you follow the advice and it never happens—if you end up one of the three out of four—you can convince yourself that safety is a product of your own making, a reflection of inherent goodness. But if you’re paying attention, you realize something doesn’t add up. Because it keeps happening: to your sisters; to your friends; to little girls and grown women you’ll never meet, in places like Cleveland, Texas; Steubenville, Ohio; New Delhi. Good people, bad people, neutral. It keeps happening in TV shows and novels and movies—they open on the missing girl, the dead girl, the raped girl. If you’re paying attention, you begin to realize that it isn’t happening. It is being done. And you are not safe. You have never been safe. You were born with a bulls-eye on your back. All you have ever been is lucky.

The Female Gaze: SO MUCH PRETTY by Cara Hoffman - review Cara Hoffman’s really amazing, really important novel So Much Pretty at The Female Gaze this month. (via cocothinkshefancy)

This gave me chills. DId it give you chills? It gave me chills.

(via feminishblog)

crackerhell:

blackamazon:

illicit-pentagram:

Oxford University students on why we need feminism

I want to point out that we have four male presenting people

and 

NOT

A 

SINGLE

person 

as a 

VISUALLY IDENTIFIABLE PERSON OF COLOR .

and we’re talking about one dude enjoying his strap on and fiction

at one of the premiere university’s in the world

in a country that had riots because folks who don’t look like them are having problems surviving and getting educations

oh boy i sure love cracker feminism

tons of men

no WoC

WHELP! Guess that means that women of color don’t need feminism! Thanks white people!

No surprise that the top ten is dominated by skinny white women -_- Let’s shake it up!

I’ve entered e.l.f.’s “Beauty at all Ages” competition, and have come to the realization that all ages doesn’t exactly mean all races and sizes. The top ten of the competition is dominated by skinny white women, results which are symptomatic of the racism, and anti-fat prejudices perpetuated in this euro-centric, patriarchal world that we live in.

I entered not because I want to be a model, but because I think that it is important that women of color, and women of a larger body type are represented in these spaces. (Also the trip I might win was definitely an incentive, Lord knows I need it!)

When castings for models to represent a brand happens it is usually decided behind closed doors, and results in the same types of women being represented. However, in this particular instance there is a chance for someone outside of the archetypal model to win. Even if you don’t end up voting for me, at least scroll through the contestants and give some other woman a real shot.

So please vote for me!

 

 

tranqualizer: anarcho-queer: Submitted by: sydlow Thanks sydlow! I just sent this flier to organizers and they love it. Justice for Reynaldo Cuevas Reynaldo Cuevas was shot and killed by an NYPD officer on September 7th, 2012, after escaping from an armed robbery at the bodega he worked at. He was dragged 25 feet away by police and left to bleed for 20 minutes as witnesses yelled at them, informing police that he was an employee of the store. A few days later the community held a vigil for Reynaldo and marched with his family to the 42nd precinct to demand justice. Since then, the Cuevas family has held a candlelight vigil every Saturday at the corner of the block here he was killed. Less than two months later, on October 27th, the NYPD rammed into the dirt bike Reynaldo’s cousin and friend were riding, killing one and paralyzing the other. A witness from the scene says the NYPD rammed into the dirt bike purposely.  We need to let the NYPD know, they cannot get away with this. We will not give up. We are stronger. More information on facebook, search for “Justice for Reynaldo Cuevas” This is absolutely sickening. There is a war on brown bodies being waged in my streets. 

tranqualizer:

anarcho-queer:

Submitted by: sydlow

Thanks sydlow! I just sent this flier to organizers and they love it.

Justice for Reynaldo Cuevas

Reynaldo Cuevas was shot and killed by an NYPD officer on September 7th, 2012, after escaping from an armed robbery at the bodega he worked at. He was dragged 25 feet away by police and left to bleed for 20 minutes as witnesses yelled at them, informing police that he was an employee of the store. A few days later the community held a vigil for Reynaldo and marched with his family to the 42nd precinct to demand justice. Since then, the Cuevas family has held a candlelight vigil every Saturday at the corner of the block here he was killed. Less than two months later, on October 27th, the NYPD rammed into the dirt bike Reynaldo’s cousin and friend were riding, killing one and paralyzing the other. A witness from the scene says the NYPD rammed into the dirt bike purposely. 

We need to let the NYPD know, they cannot get away with this. We will not give up. We are stronger.

More information on facebook, search for “Justice for Reynaldo Cuevas”

This is absolutely sickening. There is a war on brown bodies being waged in my streets. 

isali3: weary-spine: themagicmelodicmask: kumikoala: lascocks: east-idegengar: I can’t pick my favourite these are things i would write Number #5 killed me These sound like things I would write. I love books with quirky first-person narration. I can’t decide which one’s my favorite omfg #9’s actually pretty clever, i find. XD but, oh god, #3… XD Up at 6:44am, working on editing my poetry portfolio for grad school apps. This post makes procrastinating SOOOOO worth it! I for one happen to think that #11 has such emotional pull!

isali3:

weary-spine:

themagicmelodicmask:

kumikoala:

lascocks:

east-idegengar:

I can’t pick my favourite

these are things i would write

Number #5 killed me

These sound like things I would write. I love books with quirky first-person narration.

I can’t decide which one’s my favorite omfg

#9’s actually pretty clever, i find. XD

but, oh god, #3… XD

Up at 6:44am, working on editing my poetry portfolio for grad school apps. This post makes procrastinating SOOOOO worth it!

I for one happen to think that #11 has such emotional pull!

(Source: niallthatvampiremoney)

ethiopienne: black feminist theory with an ill ass hook courtesy of lil’ kim back when she had her original black woman face Word to this. On another note, it really saddens me to see the way that Kim once celebrated herself shamelessly, only to then disfigure her body to fit more neatly into the Eurocentric standard of beauty. The pressures black women are constantly put under is insanely unique and disgusting. To be both Black and woman is to be constantly engaged in a struggle to assert your humanity, to (re)claim and define yourself. There is not a day that goes by that I do not hurt for myself and for my sisters.

ethiopienne:

black feminist theory with an ill ass hook

courtesy of lil’ kim back when she had her original black woman face

Word to this.

On another note, it really saddens me to see the way that Kim once celebrated herself shamelessly, only to then disfigure her body to fit more neatly into the Eurocentric standard of beauty. The pressures black women are constantly put under is insanely unique and disgusting. To be both Black and woman is to be constantly engaged in a struggle to assert your humanity, to (re)claim and define yourself. There is not a day that goes by that I do not hurt for myself and for my sisters.