Beautiful things.

20something.I am in the midst of figuring things out. I am hoping to remain in that state, always.

[iwriteaboutfeminism]

[thesylverlining]

literally in my 1st grade book that I read and learned about her for the first time, it described her as “a woman named rosa. rosa’s feet were tired.” 

that’s it. rosa’s feet were tired. 

that doesn’t begin to scratch the surface, and it’s so important that we know the rest.

[anightvaleintern-blog1]

Correction:  Rosa Parks was not only a trained activist, she and her activist buddies were specifically trying to recreate an incident that had happened earlier.

You see, the actual, spontaneous, unplanned incident was done nine months earlier by a black girl named Claudette Colvin.  She was in the section designated for black people, however, the front became crowded and she was told to move to make way for a white woman (who was actually fine with standing as it turns out, to show how adamantly racist the bus driver was).  She refused and was arrested.

Rosa Parks was a secretary at one of many chapters of NAACP and they had seen the incident but they had multiple reasons for not wanting to publicize it when it happened.  One was that Claudette was a minor.  Another possibility is that Claudette had some marks on her past that could have been considered questionable or immoral and they wanted someone that white people couldn’t pick apart as a villain or a thug for when it happened.

So they staged the incident all over again with Rosa Parks as the victim and when it played out just like they thought, they slammed it with as much attention and media as they could to publicize it.

[lotsoflavender]

I think THIS ^ is an important part of the story,for many reasons...

[lotsoflavender]

Lover 2

There are moments when you look at me and smile and your mouth calls me "beautiful girl" as if it is my name. I know there are people who would be upset by the assertion that I am a "girl", but i love how it reminds me of my own youthfulness, playfulness, softness.

[lotsoflavender]

My Vitamix is Grey

This is not a food blog. If it was, I'd need to seriously work on my presentation and the quality of my camera. But, I own a vitamix which is a very expensive kitchen appliance and every morning when I wake up and look at it I am reminded of something: I am not poor. My vitamix is my symbol of privilege. I didn't actually buy my vitamix, it was a gift from my boyfriends very generous parents, but I know it's cost and I know that my request for a vitamix says something about my hierarchy of needs. As in, they're met. My "need" was one of (if not the) most expensive blender on the market. This blender reminds me of my interest in food, my education about food, my access to information about food. I eat flax seed and chia seeds daily, I eat organic spinach, I recently bough a watermelon beet. Two years ago, I would never have purchased these items. My mother and father would never purchase them. Why? Because they don't see their value and nor did I until I began to research (a skill I learned and honed in college). I often think of privilege as something you're born with. White privilege, Income privilege, male privilege, but my privilege is growing. Is my knowledge of food a privilege? Is my access to a gym a privilege? And how much of an ally can or should I be?

[rnusicality]

fun statistics for adults! “when I was a kid, I had no help with college tuition, I was hardworking and paid it all myself” -Annual tuition for Yale, 1970: $2,550 -Annual tuition for Yale, 2014: $45,800 -Minimum Wage, 1970: $1.45 -Minimum Wage, 2014: $7.25 -Daily hours at minimum wage needed to pay for tuition in 1970: 4.8 -Daily hours at minimum wage needed to pay for tuition in 2014: 17.3

[lotsoflavender]

An interesting way to look at it

[momoyume-blog]

[endlessbutts]

baby otter with water for the first time

[findchaos]

I had a few names to choose from to reblog this amazingly cute video, but how could I choose anyone other than “endless butts”?

[lotsoflavender]

Lover

I want you to see how beautiful you look when you're fresh out of the shower, dark hair dripping like rain on tree trunks. You make me laugh before I am awake. You're mysterious in a way I did not grasp at first. It's not the kind of puzzle that can be neatly arranged to form something you forget and throw away. You are a puzzle to yourself.

[lotsoflavender]

Tug

It funny how much time we spend trying to guess the future and then reflecting on how it's never what you expect. I have yet to find proper justification for a friendship with you. Perhaps I cannot overcome the fear. Perhaps it is some grand sign of maturity. It may be a unique happiness, that which comes without emotional masochism. That being said I closed my eyes yesterday and sent a doubters-prayer to the universe asking for the sun to fall into your skin and remind you that the world is yours to have. That you are loved. There are some promises I've kept.

[bobbymoynihans]

[irrolyphant]

[luxgalador]

"So many of us choose our path out of fear disguised as practicality"

Actual idol

[unicornempire]

This is great advice, and a great inspiration.

[humansofnewyork]

"I started working in the fields when I was five. After that, I worked construction for thirty years. Eight years ago, I was between jobs and I wanted to do something useful, so I started going to school. It took me 8 years to get through middle school, because I could only go to classes when work was slow, but I finished with a 9.3 out of 10. Now I’m moving on to high school. The toughest part is Algebra."

(Mexico City, Mexico)

[catbushandludicrous]

[thefrogman]

[video]

[tristamateer]

I hope one day somebody loves you so much that they see violets in the bags under your eyes, sunsets in the downward arch of your lips that they recognize you as something green, something fresh and still growing even if sometimes you are growing sideways that they do not waste their time trying to fix you.

"So Much" Trista Mateer (via tristamateer)

[fastcompany]

This Animated Map Will Show You How Many People Each State Has Executed Since 1977

[odinsblog]

And ofc, those executions are disproportionately comprised of black and brown people

[lotsoflavender]

This map is super interesting and while I have NO doubt that the second comment is true (disproportionately comprised of people of color) can we please use information more recent than 1990?!! 

[owning-my-truth-deactivated2022]

"Motherfuckers will read a book that is 1/3 elvish, but put two sentences in Spanish and they think we’re taking over." Junot Diaz to the interview questions, "Do you think using Spanish in your writing alienates some of your readers?"

[lotsoflavender]

I love Junot and Sandra Cisneros

[humansofnewyork]

"Are you lonely?" "It’s been a lifetime of loneliness. I decided early on that I better get used to it. I go to movies by myself. If the movie theater is completely empty, I’m even happier. I learned early on that if I wanted to go to restaurants, I better learn to go by myself. One benefit to being big is that people don’t bother you. I’m shocked that you came up to me. Nobody’s ever done that. When I started to go to therapy, it took me several sessions before I even spoke a word. I’d just sit there and cry. And honestly, you caught me on a tough day. I was sitting here feeling really bad about myself. Because I went to the doctor today, and I was sure that I’d lost weight. But I’d gained some."

[lotsoflavender]

I am reposting this because it just kind of broke my heart a little 

[the-jade-of-it-all]

Sisters/Brothers/Siblings,

My name is Janit, and I have just been diagnosed with a pretty heavy hitting terminal brain cancer called Grade III Anaplastic Oligodendroglioma. I had neurosurgery to remove the tumor, but it’s not treatable by that alone, and honestly, it doesn’t respond well to other treatments either. The battle is going to be long, hard and exhausting. The average life expectancy is 3 1/2 years. I do not have a good relationship with my family, mostly due to my queerness, and am very scared of having to go home to them for care and living the remaining life I have left in a hellhole. I cannot work and was denied disability, making a lot of things hard to pay for. I am asking you for help. Below is my GoFundMe account where you can donate money to help me with things like rent, food, medical care, and therapy. Anything and everything helps. I am already overwhelmed with the generosity that has been given to me, but the care I need is expensive. I am lost and doing the last thing I can think of, asking the universe to provide and hoping that it does. I am young, scared shitless and begging for your help. If you cannot donate, I would appreciate if you could give this a signal boost. Help in any and all forms is immensely appreciated. Thank you, thank you, thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Feel free to follow me and watch my story unfold. I love and need friends right now

http://www.gofundme.com/be0xqc