just a vagabond

sometimes i write

[avagabondbrother]

nice people

I remember walking down the street and getting called from about a hundred feet behind me by a store owner inviting me to come into his store. A group of us were trying to go back to the school because we wanted to rest after a day of walking but he insisted so much we were like oh what the hell. He was really "nice", gave us tea even though we told him we didn't really want any, showed us his rooftop with a nice view of Tangier, and showed us all of his nice things. At the very end of the tour of his four story store we all took a seat waiting for what was next because remember we weren't looking for anything we literally got pulled into this ride. He concludes his tour by asking what we wanted to buy. All of us were like nah we didn't really come to buy anything. He got pissed af complaining about how nice he was to us, how americans are stupid and some other thing. He basically kicked us out of the store telling us to leave. Did we lead him on by going into the store or were we being event human beings by listening to someone calling to us? At what point was any of this consensual?

I'm asking all this and saying all this cause I think its important and related to the article I shared below. Showing basic human decency isn't something you should be rewarded for. The act of being a decent human being, if you're a nice person in the first place, should be enough. If you've felt like the nice guy that never gets any game, then consider reading this article.

"Being nice is not a ticket to a date with a person of your choice. And if he believes it is, he doesn’t respect your autonomy – which is not nice."

[avagabondbrother]

now

Was reading but now I'm in the colors of dawn through the trees and brush . I would love sleep rn cause I came here to work. Its 6 AM, ya boy got like 5 hours of night night. BUT, I'm awake.

Normally, I'd be peeved. But, it feels good to breathe right now.

I realize that I was beyond an Avocado tree in front of me. I can eat avocado.

[avagabondbrother]

13-year-old girl gets pregnant: thirteen is plenty old enough to take responsibility for your actions. if she was mature enough to choose to spread her legs, then she's mature enough to be a parent.

17-year-old boy rapes a girl: they're just kids, they don't know any better. they probably didn't know what they were doing was wrong. besides, do you really want to ruin the rest of their life over one little mistake?

[thewiseoldmoon]

Now someone please explain to me why this is even close to acceptable?

[educationalsystem]

How dare WOMEN have

bODIES?¿???

[numba1fanatic-deactivated201705]

they told her it was unfair to the TEACHERS

TO. THE. TEACHERS.

IF YOU ARE A TEACHER AND YOU ARE HAVING SEXUAL THOUGHTS ABOUT YOUR UNDERAGED STUDENTS THEN YOU ARE A PEDOPHILE WHO SHOULDN’T BE ALLOWED ANYWHERE NEAR PUBLIC SCHOOLS MUCH LESS TEACHING IN THEM

[adultprivilege]

“Can you not wear skinny jeans? Some of our teachers are pedophiles and it wouldn’t be fair for them to see a teenager who they can’t fuck.”

- the logic of this dress code

[thesmokersclubhouse]

[cutegirlonline-deactivated20181]

OMG

[oomshi]

This is katara

[avagabondbrother]

Lmaooooooo

[islam2011]

Bilal, a black man, was one of the most beloved people to the Prophet (peace be upon him). He was his close friend and companion. Think about that the next time you use foul language to describe someone with dark skin or feel as if someone is worth less than you only due to their skin tone.

[votedami]

Or how about this? How about y'all think of us as equals just because we’re people? I’m sick of Muslims using Bilal as the posterboy for accepting black people. If the Prophet’s only companion was Bilal, and he came to y'all saying Bilal wanted to marry one of you, or your sister, or your daughters, most of you would still hesitate because of the color of his skin. Leave him out of it, cus Bilal ain’t got nothing to do with this. All this has to do with is whether you’re willing to do the right thing or not. So what are you going to do?

[solitics]

Maybe not my place to say but whenever I see posts like the OP I think, if we didn’t know Bilal was black would you even bother challenging anti blackness? I’m honestly baffled by the fact this argument gets brought up so much

[avagabondbrother]

[avagabondbrother]

[avagabondbrother]

“Black women’s self-care is also subversive because to take care of ourselves means that we disrupt societal and political paradigms that say that Black women are disposable, unvalued. Indeed, people and things that aren’t cared for are considered expendable. So when we don’t take care of ourselves, we are affirming the social order that says black women are disposable.”

http://www.forharriet.com/2015/05/13-quotes-by-black-women-on-survival.html

[avagabondbrother]

modern day slavery and police

when i talk about slavery, i'll acknowledge human trafficking and such but what I really am urked by is the government's facilitation of this type of slavery (the free labor in prisons). I am so close to completely and absolutely dismissing reform as a tactic for structural change. people get mad at me when i mention that police used to be called slave catchers, but when people in prisons are working practically for free and the police are the ones that are the one setting them up in that position, i see no reason to stop calling them slave catcher

[avagabondbrother]

Letter to President Hennessy on Campus Climate

Dear President Hennesy,

I have received your letter in my inbox recently about how you and other administration would like to survey the student body on campus climate. I must express that I am extremely confused as the campus climate cannot simply be measured. That you would like to do so in a 10-15 minute survey is even more confounding, however I can try to express what I feel campus climate to be in this letter. Before I begin though, I may add that in order to adequately discuss climate it would be inaccurate if this message wasn't triggering. We can start with the native community being shamed on public forums such as the Fountain Hopper and in general by alumni wishing to bring back the Stanford "Indian" mascot. We could start with the Yik Yak statements calling students terrorists. We could start with rapists being invited to study as graduate students. We could start with the continuous libelous attacks on communities of color. We could talk about Stanford's complicity in the occupation and destruction of a people. We could talk about Stanford's complicity and responsibility in the destruction of the young people's earth. We could talk about how Stanford is creating the next generation of people that will rule this world unethically. We can talk about Stanford's simultaneous invitations of safeness, sustainability, diversity, gender awareness and its apparent lack of intent to actually embrace these ideas. We can talk about how low-income students on campus feel on the day to day. We can talk about the trauma of merely being at Stanford. We could talk about a lot of things actually many of which I have not mentioned that are perhaps more important. The truth is, I am not sure what the intent is behind this survey but it doesn't seem that anyone who is bringing it is genuinely interested in the dialogue that Provost Etchemendy recently defined . It isn't clear that Stanford's intent is in creating the actual dream of a university where ideas flourish and all biases cease to exist. Its okay though, I am not expecting much at this point, considering this has been the position of Stanford since it was founded. Considering that Stanford has always played a role in the oppression of communities some of which now find themselves on campus. I have long known that it hasn't the historical role of Stanford to upset the world, challenge old ideas and power structures, but to perpetuate and strengthen and renew current privilege and power. Perhaps it is the tension between what Stanford could be and what it is that is creating this warmer campus climate, or at least as perceived by students who matter. I make that distinction because some of us have always been feeling this tension and sometimes it rips us up and a survey cannot capture that. I just hope that these survey results are tossed, because I can't begin to imagine how damaging it will be to use them as any sort of metric.

Concerned student, Malcolm Lizzappi

[avagabondbrother]

Letter to Provost Etchemendy on Campus Climate

“I would like to ask our students which they would prefer: a senate composed of thoughtful, open-minded students representing the full range of student opinion, or a senate preselected to represent a filtered set of beliefs. If the answer is the latter, then I fear we have failed as a university,” - Etchemendy

Dear Etchemendy,

I think Stanford has failed as a university, but not because of the reason you mentioned. I think it in part comes from a faculty composed of thoughtful but close-minded professors that offer us up the world to consume at the expense of the rest. On another note, it seems as though your understanding of our communities of color are troubling. To be clear, we are bringing the diversity that you as well as other administrators brag about the rest of the world. That diversity is diametrically opposed to the understanding of the world that Stanford supports so perhaps this is the friction that you are now coming to see. On another note, anyone can be open-minded regardless of their beliefs, I would say some greek word explaining the faulty logic here but I never learned greek - just to add, I am open to learning it even though I know that I can trace current hegemony back to those days. I have no hate for them, only curiousity. To answer your question though, I would prefer a senate as you mentioned, in fact if this was a possibility, SOCC nor FLIP nor QueerCo nor Fossil Free nor GAIA would have to do any endorsements. The reason this not so is because our society is meant to be close-minded and limited, and drone-like. Thus the burden is upon every single minority student to represent themselves, lest others create us in their own mind to make up for what they know not about us. My words are not clear in my letter, but I hope you understand that this is me helping you understand me better and not me opposing you, so I feel no need to completely polish my arguments and thoughts. Thank you, for reading. Its so nice to have dialogue.

Peace and Justice, Malcolm Lizzappi

[avagabondbrother]

Campus Climate at Stanford

“Whether the issue is Israel and Palestine, sexual assault and due process, investment in fossil fuels, marriage and gay rights, black lives, or increasing disparities in wealth, we seem to have lost the ability to engage in true dialogue." -Etchemendy

Since when is our silence true dialogue Etchemendy? "Dialogue is not monologue times two. The essential feature of dialogue is not speaking but listening; listening with respect and then expressing, in turn, one’s own view with clarity, rather than volume.” -Etchemendy

Thank you Etchemendy, now can you tell me what it means when the student body demand a Fossil Free Stanford and a Stanford Out of Occupied Palestine and get arrogance? I am just wondering what listening can be done with an uninterested administration? Can we even call this dialogue?