Daring to Dream Something Different

...because I'm sick of all this shit that people are forced to live in.

[ordream]

"Deformidades Espirituales" by Bernardo Reyes of Mitla. stumbled into a random art shop whilst on my way to the archeological site, La Ciudad de Los Muertos/The City of the Dead, in Mitla. When the homegurl and I got off the taxi, a hipster looking dude with a beard, thick framed glasses, and paint-stained pants caught our attention. He knew we were heading to the site, so he pointed toward its direction and told us it takes five minutes to walk there (that's a lie, more like 15 minutes). I peered into his shop, noticed its sign said "arte radical," and got kinda curious, so I asked the homegurl if we can check it out. After a few seconds of indecisive back and forth, we decided,"fuck it! Lets check it out!" The homegurl noticed the religious theme of his art, and translated the quote on the sign, "you'll find what you're looking for here." Interesting. the artist then drew our attention to the sculptures pictured here. My first reaction,"wtf kind of creepy shit is this foo carving?" The artist then put my judgmental ass in place when he started to explain the meaning behind his sculptures. They each represents some form of "spiritual deformities," in which each figure needs to overcome their ego and addictions to transcend into a place of self-love through deeper connection with God (or other form of spiritual enlightenment and connection, in my own non-Christian reinterpretation). He then shared his own personal history that have informed his art, from growing up with his raging alcoholic dad to his suicide attempts. His art is his own autobiography and his own documentation of his spiritual journey to transcend his past. It is his own truth, as he explained, "how can I paint flowers, when that is not how I feel within?" Damn, that's deep af! It's inspiring to me how unapologetically honest he is with his experience through his art. Just like that, these creepy figures became beautiful to me. Everyone has their own journey, but only few are brave enough to be transparent for the world to peer into your pain. It's interesting that on my way to The City of The Dead, I found an artist who is living his life to the fullest. Trust where the path may lead... (at Mitla)

[ordream]

Thriving is a blessing from the hand that feeds you survival. (at Mitla)

[ordream]

Nopal bebé. When you a babe, but you gotta defend yourself against predators...while being resilient af in the desert. #montealban #oaxaca #mexico #fourcorners #travel #summer2k15 #nopal #cactus #VSCOcam (at Monte Alban Ruins)

[ordream]

Welcome to Oaxaca. First evening and I'm already learning a lot about the economic-political history and current events in Mexico. People in U.S. tend to think of Mexico in terms of the drug cartels and the violence. Little did they know, these drug cartels collaborate with the government and transnational corporations to extract the resources of Mexico at the expense of the local indigenous people here. Although the U.S. people like to trip about Mexican drug cartels "ruining America" or whatever and stigmatize the people and society here, little do they know, the role of the drug cartels is to carry out U.S. global economic policies and the interests of transnational corporations. However, indigenous resistance against the govt and the cartels do exist. The news media in the U.S. do not like to report that, because then it'll ruin that facade that the U.S. empire and the drug cartels have paint with the blood of resisting indigenous folks here. Be careful of the dominant narrative, they serve to mask what really is going on. #smokeandmirrors (at Oaxaca, Centro.)

[vodkaheaux]

Yano, everyone wants to glorify and worship girls with scars and cellulite and stretchmarks and I’m here for that 100% (I’ve got stretchmarks) but I never see people supporting or doing shit for girls with severe, chronic acne and acne scarring, or any severe skin condition that is incredibly obvious i.e psoriasis, eczema etc. So to all my fellow gals out there suffering from painful, noticeable skin conditions that require medicine and treatment creams and make you want to stay in bed and never show your face: we’re beautiful and we’re hardcore as fuck for living with this shit daily

[ordream]

This!!! Loving the skin I'm in despite the acne.

[ordream]

Turned in my thesis on Know Your Rights (when approached by the police) organizers' perspectives on the goals and outcomes of community rights education. Feelin #blessed #af that I got the opportunity to learn from folks working on the ground level to challenge unchecked police discretionary power, the lack of institutional accountability, and the overall structural violence. After all, if you can't depend on the state to uphold your rights and justice, you know, as tax payers to say the least (although the anybody has the right to life and due process), then fuck it. Got to do what you got to do, and do it yo self. Mad respect to folks who dedicate their time and energy, despite limited resources, to do that. And truly, thank you. I mean, honestly, I hate the research process within the institution, in which they try to water down what you gotta say, and what your research participants gotta say to some extent. But hey, that's why qualitative research that tells everyday folks' story is important to challenge the limited view and self-interest from up top. Objectivity is a myth created by a historically white, hetero, abler-bodied, cis, male dominated institution of (privatized) knowledge. Everyone has a bias and their own agenda, and to claim that you don't have one is the biggest lie ever. Hxstory tells us that even science was and still is not free from bias, preconceived ideas, and social norms and system of power. It's a matter of whose voice are privileged and valued, while whose get neglected, dismissed, and twisted. I just regret that I did not have time to reach out and interview more folks and include more womxn's, queer identified folks', youth's, folks wit undocumented status, and folks who experience homelessness' voices. Although the issue of police brutality is getting more media coverage, they still neglect (and dismissed and twisted) these folks story. But hey, the stories and testimonies don't stop there. They have always exist and so...To be continued... #ftp #reflection Apologize to the participants. A lot of data was gutted when I submitted to the committee. Due to the time constraint, I had to leave a lot of important stuff out. However, I do plan on creating some sort of blog where I will detail that information, while inviting more folks to share and run that blog . and also provide contact info for existing orgs who are working on this issue.

[ordream]

Thriving towards a world where many worlds co-exist. -#Zapatista #EZLN #IWD2015 #IWDLA2015 #decolonize #solidarity #intersectionality #bw #nosingleissuemovement #transnational #feminism

[mysharona1987]

[niadidas]

… Example number 4739208679 of how the media paints white criminals as simply adventurous, mentally incapable or troubled. In this case, adventurous.

[dekutree]

this is infuriating me

[conceptblogfromaconcepthuman]

othe dudes 19 and hte girl is 13

[thefoundco]

E  D  G  E   o f   t h e   W  O  O  D  S

“Everyone thinks of [fairy tales] in terms of poisoned apples and glass coffins, and forgets that they represent girls who walked into dark forests and remade them into their own reflections.” — Seanan McGuire, “Indexing”

Facebook // Indiegogo Campaign // Youtube

[angrywocunited]

Please signal boost this! This is a feminist/racebent dystopic retelling of fairytales, featuring a Chicana Little Red, an Asian Robin, and a Puerto Rican Cinderella. Their mission is “to challenge the typical narrative allowed Queer Women of Color and to create representation for those of us who are never offered any”. They’re currently running an indiegogo campaign to fund the film. Please support WOC actresses and filmmakers! 

[simchiller]

they outlawed this move just because she was the only woman who could do it. 

Surya Bonaly was infamous for (among other things) doing aone blade backflip in the 1998 Olympics, and is the ONLY figure skater who’s ever pulled that off. Not just the only woman, the only figure skater PERIOD. There’s like all ofthree Olympic-class male skaters who did backflips in their routines, and NONE of them could do it one blade.

But wait, there’s more.

Backflips were banned from the 1976 Olympics onward on the official justification that skating jumps are supposed to be landed on one blade, whereas backflips are landed on both blades. The unofficial justification was it was too dangerous, both to the athlete and to the rink — if you didn’t land it perfectly, you could not only break your ankle, but also punch THROUGH the ice surface.

Surya Bonaly was openly contemptuous of the figure skating judges, because they were a bunch of openly racist white men who always screwed her over by giving her lower scores than she deserved. That one-blade backflip was her ultimate FUCK YOU! to the Olympics judges, because she took an “illegal” backflip and made it legal by landing it on one blade. Pretty much DARING them to mark her down for being epic awesome and pulling a move that their precious coddled white girls didn’t have the guts to even think about.

They did, of course. White racism knows no bounds. But she utterly owned them with that move.

not only did she do a fucking backflip and land, she landed then went right into a triple loop. like holy fuck

[femroxx]

badass.

[itslaroneppl]

Black Excellence

[a6]

things u dont learn at school #204: Two muslim women named Fatima and Miriam Al-Firhi created the world’s first university, Al-Qarawiyyin, in 859 A.D

[owning-my-truth-deactivated2022]

Hurt a white woman and you get a restraining order and have to return all of your guns.

Kill a black kid and you get 0 punishment, and become a celebrated poster child for the right.

#GeorgeZimmerman

[tete-pownshend]

and let me introduce you others who cant stand: the millions of innocents butchered by this country

[graceebooks]

you know it is funny because no constitutional right of any living american has ever been credibly threatened by any foreign power whatsoever and yet the american government violates them on a fucking constant basis, including by illegally forcing children to stand for the pledge

[jethroq]

Alao who exactly has tried to invade the US and take away their quote unquote freedom?

[memes-4-communism-deactivated20]

^^^^^^^ exactly. 

[pragnificent]

Right-wingers using disabled ppl a prop from their bs nationalism. 

Cool. 

[chillona-deactivated20200528]

Really though what are they talking about when they say “they fight for your rights to—-“

Like??? Ain’t nobody doing damage to my rights exCEPT FOR MY OWN DAMN US GOVT SO MAYBE THE SOLDIERS SHOULD BE BATTLING AT THE WHITE HOUSE❔☕️

[brandieblaze]

But, also republicans will use disabled vets as props, but then be like “nah, you ain’t getting any benefits and I’m cool with you sleeping on a piece of cardboard”

[whiteguysdoingitbythemselves]

Republicans have made their choices for the House Judiciary Committee, and they are all white men who oppose abortion rights. Tip courtesy of angryblacklady. 

[toopsy]

nazism is illegal in germany. using nazi greetings and flying nazi flags is illegal in germany. why isnt the kkk unconstitutional in america. why arent white hoods and white supremacist propaganda illegal here. why.

[blackfemalescientist]

Because germany is ashamed of their bigotry. America is proud of it.

[linaxtic]

[illbegotdamn]

Proud of their “heritage”

[girlforce-deactivated20160106]

Depression is not Lana Del Rey music, with smeared black eyeliner and tears running down your face. It is not a blood-stained tub, or the blade sitting across from you. It is not being rocked back and forth by a boy as he kisses your head and whispers “I love you,” repeatedly in your ear. Depression is not the dread you feel when the person you love the most doesn’t text you back. Depression is disgusting. It is low and filthy and dirty and it eats you away, bit by bit. Depression is the stale smell of your room and your clothes, because you have no energy to clean anything. It is sitting in the bathtub for hours as you feel that dirty type of clean, letting the hot water run down your body in no aims to stand up and turn it off. It is the hunch in your back and the the defeated slouch in your shoulders, the kind that your parents always try to fix, exclaiming “Sit up straight,” but what good does that ever do. Depression is the hours spent lying in your bed, trying desperately to fall asleep but never being able to. It is your eyes being so heavy-lidded and the circles under them that don’t fade, even after a good nights sleep. Depression is the sinking feeling you get when you enter school and your mind is already set - why would you care about your grades when you don’t even care about your life? It is the darkest kind of dark, the kind that intoxicates your brain and turns your best friends to enemies, your family to people you simply push away so they don’t have to hurt just because you do. It is the raw feeling of emptiness, the kind that gnaws at your very insides and leaves you nothing more than a walking skeleton, incapacitated and incapable of feeling anything but sorrow and sadness for nobody but yourself. Depression is the deepest hole you could ever think of, the only one you could ever think of because you dug it yourself. It is being not only unable, but unwilling to pull yourself up, having the darkness swallow you whole. Depression is not rain. It is being unable to see the sun, even after the rain has passed.

It is 2015. Stop romanticizing depression. (via lighthowell)

AMEN FUCKING AMEN!

(via everybodyshurting)

[pocblog]

When will they learn

[hardlyonthis-deactivated2021010]

And then in the comments section on YouTube, you’ll see:

"Blacks are so aggressive"

"They’re animals"

"Typical Niggers"

"Niggers are violent"

But those SAME idiots REFUSE to take into account that these “pranksters” almost always target Black people in predominantly Black areas looking for a reaction like that to capitalise on 😕 it makes me sick.

Reminds me of the episode with those fools on OckTV that went into a “hood” and told racist jokes for laughs….. Naturally, in a community like that where everyone is on edge, you’re gonna be met with hostility, and boy that’s what they were met with! As per, the YouTube comments mirrored those above ^^^

When will they leave Black people alone and stop looking for trouble in the “hood” to reinforce a certain stereotype on YouTube?

[aestheticrequiem-deactivated202]

Shout out to ole boy in the car who didn’t miss a second to chase down and beat his ass.

[magicallybitchless]

Racist white terrorism is what this is. It’s about proving that “black people really are these criminal, bad hyper aggressive creatures”. The point of this is “Watch me, make this black person get violently upset.” this is gaslighting, this is abusive, this is not a prank. This is white folks going around terrorism black people, the only difference is that instead of physically lynching them afterwards, it’s an social lynching, through perpetuating the status quo of how non-human black people really are.