hey I'm Ceff and I use they/them pronouns and I'm 25. I don't post much anymore, but I'm still regularly online. Any of my art or drawings that I post will be tagged with ceff arts. feel free to reblog whatever. I follow back as einsamewache.
[Text description: a Twitter thread by Twitter user @ lhkuroda posted July 17, 2022. It reads:
1/ I teach Japanese (language) and one thing I often hear students say is that they want to become âfluentâ in Japanese. I donât think this is a reasonable goal. Instead I ask: what do you want to talk about fluently? Who do you want to talk fluently with?
2/ This is especially relevant when it comes to heritage speakers who have grown up in countries other than Japan. Why would you expect your Japanese to be the same as someone who lived their whole life in Japan? That would not have been advantageous to you.
3/ When Japanese people migrated to other parts of the world in the early 20th century, the Japanese they spoke changed too. Language adapts to circumstance because it is a tool for doing something, and you will need to accomplish different things in different places.
4/ When we think critically about how a student will or wants to use Japanese, it often turns out they want to talk to their family, or talk about manga, or read the news. Those are attainable goals that allow us to spend our time and resources in better ways.
5/ No native speaker of any language is completely fluent in their language bc no language is singular. If I were hanging around a group of rocket scientists speaking in English I would have no idea what they were talking about.
6/ Any language is almost always fissured by class, race, region, profession, even time (!) and the illusion that it is a singular thing that can be mastered is a myth created by nationalism / nation states
7/ Thereâs also no reason why ânative speakersâ should be the only benchmark by which you measure your progress as a language learner. People who were born and raised in Tokyo speak a particular kind of Japanese bc that is what is useful for their life. Maybe itâs not for yours!
8/ Donât have expectations for what youâll be able to do in a language youâre learning that are higher than the expectations you have for the language you use most of the time!
9/ Youâre also not going to progress if you live in a place where thereâs no need for you to use the language youâre learning. You have to alter your environment by creating the need to use it.
10/ Anyway learning a heritage language or reconnecting with a heritage language is a daunting task but I love to help people with it. Always open to DMs from heritage learners of JP or if you have thoughts on heritage languages
Why should low-carbon projects be permitted to destroy legendary Native American sacred sites? Yakama elders witnessed the construction of The Dalles Dam that flooded and silenced Celilo Falls on the Columbia River. Since time immemorial, Celilo Falls was one of historyâs great marketplaces. Multiple tribes had permanent villages near the falls. Thousands of people gathered annually to trade, feast, and participate in games and religious ceremonies over millennia. During spring, this natural monument surged up to 10 times the amount of water that passes over Niagara Falls today.
What must Indigenous people continue to sacrifice for energy development? The Seattle Times editorial board recently announced support for the Goldendale pumped-storage hydroelectric project to benefit the stateâs clean-energy portfolio [âGoldendale energy project can help meet stateâs clean-energy needs,â Sept. 2, Opinion]. The board constructed an alternate reality where tribal nations could find common ground with the developer and resolve objections to project construction. The board wrote, âA compromise that would allow the project to go forward while respecting tribal concerns would be a benefit for all.â The board ignores the realities of Native American history and the history of this project, which the Confederated Tribes and Bands of Yakama Nation (Yakama Nation) have objected to from the initial development proposal at this site.
The project site is situated on Pushpum â a sacred site to the Yakama Nation, a place where there is an abundance of traditional foods and medicines. The developerâs footprint proposes excavation and trenching over identified Indigenous Traditional Cultural Properties, historic and archaeological resources and access to exercise ceremonial practices and treaty-gathering rights.
Notably, the project site covers the ancestral village site of the Willa-witz-pum Band and the Yakama fishing site called Asânum, where Yakama tribal fishermen continue to practice their treaty-fishing rights.
Yakama Nation opposes the development. The developer proposes two, approximately 60-acre reservoirs and associated energy infrastructure within the Columbia Hills near the John Day Dam and an existing wind turbine complex. The majority of the nearly 700 acre site is undeveloped; the lower reservoir would be located on a portion of the former Columbia Gorge Aluminum smelter site. The tribeâs treaty-reserved right to exercise gathering, fishing, ceremony and passing of traditions in the area of the proposed project has existed since time immemorial. The tribe studied mitigation; it is impossible at this site.
Columbia Riverkeeper, and more than a dozen other nonprofits, stand in solidarity with Yakama Nation and oppose the development: The climate crisis does not absolve our moral and ethical responsibilities. Both tribal nations and environmental organizations have worked tirelessly to stop fossil fuel developments and secure monumental climate legislation in the Pacific Northwest. But we refuse to support a sacrifice zone to destroy Native American cultural and sacred sites in the name of combating climate change.
Environmental justice is on the line with the pumped-storage development. Seventeen tribal leaders sent a letter to Gov. Jay Inslee, urging him to reject development permits. The leaders explained, âOur ancestors signed Treaties with the United States, often under threat of violence and death, in exchange for our ancestral lands and sacred places. Through these treaties, we retain the rights to practice and live in our traditional ways in these places. Yet, the promises made by the government have been broken time and time again.â
Earlier this year, the Washington State Office of Equity, located within the governorâs office, released the stateâs inaugural five-year Washington State Pro-Equity Anti-Racism Plan & Playbook. Gov. Inslee stated, âWe will no longer replicate and reinforce systems, processes and behaviors that lead to inequities and disparities among various communities.â Now is the time to apply the playbook to climate change and energy siting.
There is no room for compromise. The choice is stark: Continue to advance our nationâs and stateâs history of sacrificing Indigenous resources through broken promises, or work with tribes committed to tackling the climate crisis while, at the same time, protecting the last remaining sacred sites.
â
Text by: Jeremy Takala and Lauren Goldberg. âStop sacrificing Indigenous sacred sites in the name of climate change.â The Seattle Times. 25 September 2022.
I'm white/a settler, can I learn a Native American language?
Of course, people can learn any language they can find resources for. So with this question, people are mostly looking for moral permission. Would it be harmful for me to learn one? Do I have the right to learn one?
The short answer: It depends. It depends on a lot of factors. Key things this post will focus on are:
Which one do you want to learn?
Why do you want to learn it?
How do you plan on learning it?
What are you going to do with it once you do get some fluency?
Some tribes feel very differently about outsiders learning it than others do. And individuals within tribes have an even wider opinion range.
There is no "one" correct answer, and I think if white people go about seeking to get a direct clear cut yes or no answer, that by itself is a sign that they are not very educated in Native American language activism and the needs of Natives.
To explore this topic, I organized a survey for Native people to share their thoughts. It involved questions about how they personally feel, how their tribe as a whole tends to feel, and how their opinion varies between white people vs other Indigenous people not from their own tribe. 53 respondents participated, and 3/53 choose to not disclose their tribe. Throughout the rest of this post, I use "Native" for short. Please see below the cut for all the results and exploration! Note: this is very long. But for all allies / people interested in learning these languages, it is well worth your time to read and learn from Natives.
The General Opinion
In total, only around 9% were in total support of white people learning a Native language, and around 4% were neutral. The remaining 87% had varying levels of concerns and discomfort.
The group that had concerns was further divided by their degree of discomfort:
Around 28% of all responses were firmly against white people learning their languages.
Around 17% of all responses also expressed extreme discomfort with white people learning, but they acknowledged certain circumstances they felt it could be okay.
Around 42% of all responses said they were mostly okay with white people learning, but they still had concerns and discomfort. Many people in this category also said they only were okay with it out of fear of the language dying out. Even if they felt white people could potentially help, they still felt extremely bitter and disliked it, especially since white people are the reason why the languages are in danger in the first place.
To contrast this with how respondents felt about other Indigenous people from different cultures learning their language, the results were around: 57% in total support, 24% mostly okay, 11% mostly against, 4% totally against, and again, 4% remained neutral.
Even people who did support white people learning Native languages, either fully or mostly, almost every single one expressed that they felt more comfortable with other Indigenous peoples learning them, as they would be more likely to respect the language.
These statistics by themselves mostly show that the general opinion is that of caution and unease around white people learning Native languages. Yet, as stated above and shown by the statistics, its not a clear cut yes or no. Now we will explore our more specific questions and results relating to those from the survey.
1) Which one are you interested in?
Since this portion focuses on trends within specific tribes, the responses from the 3 people who chose to not disclose their tribe is not considered. The 50 responses with tribes come from 25 tribes, though only a few are explicitly explained here.
The biggest group of responses came from Ojibwe / Anishinaabe people, with 10 responses total. Of those 10 responses, in reference to how they personally feel about white people learning, the results were: 6/10 mostly okay, 1/10 mostly against, 2/10 firmly against, and 1/10 neutral.
To contrast with this, when these same 10 Ojibwe / Anishinaabe people talked about how their tribe as a whole feels about white people learning their language, regardless if they agree or disagree, the results were: 1/10 totally okay, 2/10 mostly okay, 2/10 mostly against, 1/10 firmly against, 4/10 neutral or did not know.
Some important context for the Ojibwe / Anishinaabe case, is that they are one of, if not the, largest tribe north of Mexico. Despite having these numbers, it does not make the top 3 Native American languages in terms of reported number of speakers.
Which brings me to the next case study, Navajo, which is the Native American language in the U.S. with the most amount of speakers. This one is also an important case study because this language has something no other U.S. American Native language has: a Duolingo course. Albeit a very small one, it exists. 3 respondents were Navajo.
None of the 3 responses reported being totally okay with white people learning it, both in terms of personal feelings and from the tribe as a whole. One person reported both themselves and the tribe as a whole as firmly against it, one person felt more okay personally but said the tribe was more against, and one person was more neutrally aligned and believed it was best decided on a case by case basis. When discussing the Navajo experience of learning the language, all 3 expressed how while there are abundant resources, many of them are not adequate enough to actually teach the language properly, demonstrated by the extremely small Duolingo course and the inaccessibility of other resources. 2/3 respondents talked about how the language's history in WWII negatively contributed to white people's treatment of the language.
The final case study I want to highlight isn't so much one language, but the languages that people reported being firmly against outsiders learning. These are sorted by individuals not wanting white people to learn (I-W), individuals not wanting other Indigenous people to learn (I-O), responses saying the tribe is against white people learning (T-W), and responses saying the tribe is against other Indigenous people learning (T-O). Those tribes/languages are as follows:
Ojibwe: 2 (I-W), 1 (T-W), 1 (T-O)
Michif: 2 (I-W)
Zapotec: 1 (I-W)
Nahua: 1 (I-W)
Washoe: 1 (I-W), 1 (I-O)
Cherokee: 1 (I-W)
Cree: 2 (I-W), 1 (T-W)
Blackfoot: 1 (I-W)
Mi'kmaw: 1 (I-W)
Navajo: 1 (I-W), 1 (T-W), 1 (T-O)
Hopi: 1 (I-W), 1 (I-O), 1 (T-W), 1 (T-O)
Oneida: 1 (I-W)
Taino: 1 (T-W), 1 (T-O)
Lakota: 1 (T-W), 1 (T-O)
Atikamekw: 1 (T-W), 1 (T-O)
Paiute: 1 (T-W), 1 (T-O)
From these, only Hopi was expressed to be firmly against anyone who isn't Hopi learning it across the board, with Ojibwe and Navajo having firmly against in 3/4 opinion categories.
What I hope people have gotten from this section is that opinions deeply deeply vary. This does not mean that you should ask around until someone inevitably says yes, and then you go wild. It means that this is an on-going conversation that never ends, and that if you go through with it, you have to respect that many people are not going to be comfortable about it, and don't owe you anything. And if every single person you talk to says "no", perhaps that is a sign that you are better off finding other ways to involve yourself.
2) Why do you want to learn it?
The primary concern people had about white people learning their languages was motive. Within the survey, respondents were given the chance to discuss both good and bad motives for white people learning Native languages. The answers were very consistent across all responses, and all reported ones are listed here.
Reported bad motives include:
Colonial reasons like missionary work or anthropology
Just because they can, because they "like it", find it "fun", as it is an extensive of their white privilege to be able to learn these while actual Natives struggle to do so
Because they think its "exotic" and fetishize it
To falsely claim being Indigenous, to seem more like an ally without doing anything else, or just speak over Native people in general
Because they view it as a "challenge", to seem smarter/unique
Anything for a profit (teaching, for a brand, etc) - profit being either literal money, personal / social status, etc
Out of white guilt, as a way to try and get out of being held accountable for colonialism
Reported good motives include:
To communicate with Natives in their own language to displace usage of colonial languages like English, French, Spanish, etc
Learning for Native family members, romantic partners, friends, or if they have Native children to help ensure the child grows up speaking it
People invited to learn to do volunteer work / activism under the guidance of Natives and elders
Some motives had mixed views:
Learning the Native language of where you live. Those in favor viewed it as contributing to decolonizing by restoring that language's priority to the land. Those against viewed it as robbing opportunities from actual Natives to learn their own language and white people trying to "indigenize" themselves.
"Appreciating" the culture. Since appreciation and appropriation have such fine lines that white people readily cross often, this motive by itself can be a mixed bag.
Learning it as a person in power like a doctor, academic, lawyer, social worker, etc. Some say this can enable people to contribute and better support Natives, some think it will only further contribute to white people stealing our languages and making it harder for Natives to learn, or will enable white people in power to more easily abuse Natives.
Wanting to "save" the language. This topic will actually be explored in another post of mine in the future, so I won't say much on it now. To summarize it: Native languages thrive when Natives speak them, not when white people speak them.
From this section, the main thing to be considered is that Native languages cannot be treated like other languages, and mere "curiosity" isn't necessarily a compliment. The history white people have with them is not in the past, and these issues are very much still abound today. Bad motives for learning can be just as deadly as "ignoring" Native languages. Even in Europe, these motives paired with peoples' lack of literal interaction with Natives, can create an atmosphere of disrespect, even if unintentional.
3) How will you learn it?
Like motives, the respondents were given a chance to discuss both respectful methods of learning and disrespectful methods of learning. The good and bad reported reasons were mostly inverses of each other, and all responses could be sorted in 6 overarching answers of good/bad pairs.
Learning from Natives, and not white people. Any sources created by white people are inherently culturally inaccurate at best or outright colonialist and exploitative at worst. Any classes attended and resources consulted should be made and approved by the respective tribes.
Paying to learn, and not just using free sources. Considering that white people are the reason these languages are dying, many responses expressed that paying for the right to learn is the LEAST white people can do. Paying for education supports Native academics and communities, and shows respect, as using free resources just feeds into white entitlement.
Learning within a community, and not with other white people or by yourself. Many expressed that even if you buy a reputable textbook from a Native author, that isn't enough. Responses expressed that white people should be immersed within a Native community as they learn, since this is the only way to ensure they not only learn the language accurately, but so that they learn proper respect and cultural context. Many people did explicitly cite online programs like Duolingo as NOT being a good way for white people to learn. Even just learning with one Native friend is leagues better than self-study.
Learning in a way rooted in tradition, and not colonial values. By prioritizing oral usage, exploring cultural stories (that Natives choose to share willingly), and not pushing western concepts like standardization onto the languages, the languages are better respected and understood. As stated above, meeting this expectation requires connections to Native communities.
Learning with humility, and not prioritizing yourself. Not taking up limited space or copies of resources away from other Natives, not demanding to be taught more than what is shared, and being able to accept "no" as an answer is the bare minimum amount of respect and care.
Prioritizing decolonization over linguistic endeavors. White people who choose to learn a Native language should not only treat it as a fun language-learning hobby. Learning a language should be a secondary pursuit on top of the main cause of supporting and contributing to decolonization.
Much like the last section, a main thing to take away from this is that Native languages much be approached by white people in different ways than they might approach European languages. This section may particularly frustrate white people who are interested, especially if they feel they can't afford to pay for opportunities to learn. Yet working through that frustration, and putting in the work to learn in a respectful way, is necessary if one wants to be a good ally and to not assume a position of entitlement with these languages.
4) What will you do with your language knowledge?
This topic of debate does not end once you know some/much of the language. Assuming you learned a language with the right motives, and you learned in a respectful way, you now have the responsibility to not abuse and exploit what was given to you. And if those two assumptions were truly met, I would hope you don't want to abuse your knowledge! Much like the methods of learning, good/bad ways of using language knowledge formed inverse pairs. Response are summarized here:
Using it to give back to Natives, not white people. This isn't your new fun party trick to share with your white friends. If you reach a level of fluency, and then suddenly stop all engagement with the community and turn inward to your white circle, it was wasted on you.
Sharing with others when acceptable, not at your own discretion. Creating your own educational resources is not respectful, but sharing what you were given with other Natives of that tribe freely can be a way for you to use your privilege to give back. Many responses expressed that the primary time a white person should take on a position of "teaching" a Native language is if they have a Native child they are raising with it, and even then, they should always defer to their Native partner and their child's community to lead and guide that endeavor.
Integrating into the community, without taking on authority. As stated above, teaching of your own accord is not appropriate. If you are invited to help with teaching efforts, go for it! But in general, assuming the position of "language expert", correcting other Natives, and other such behaviors is never acceptable. That's not to say people can't make careers/livelihoods out of Native language advocacy - only to say that any such decisions should be made with and guided by connections to the respective community.
Letting it shape your understanding of the land, without claiming it as your own. Learning the original names for local landmarks, places, foods, and animals can help displace the normalcy of colonial-imposed languages. As always, language knowledge should motivate and guide people into activism for Natives in all areas, not just language-activism. And a major part of this is constantly checking yourself, your privilege, and unlearning every harmful notion taught by the colonial power. Having the honor to see the world in a new way can be a great tool for doing so.
The best way to summarize not only this section, but this entire grand topic as a whole, is that its not about a language. Its about healing a community, healing the land, and righting the wrongs of colonialism. For white people, their relationship to that endeavor is a very strong and very loaded one.
I'm sure this post will make certain white people very mad at me. And of course, the data for this came from a rather small sample size, and other Natives are more than welcome to add onto this. As stated numerous times, the goal of this post was not to say "yes you can" or "no you can't". The goal was to give insight to the wide variety of views, and to give guidance on ways to become involved that maintain the respect and autonomy of Natives. If you view this as me shattering your dreams of learning xyz Native language, then you have deeply misunderstood the message here. Respectful questions are more than welcome, yet I will be turning anon off just for my own safety. Any racism will be blocked.
most damaging idea of the 21st century: the conviction of vast numbers of people that human history will end within our lifetimes
climate change represents world-altering tragedy if unchecked, but not even in the worst-case scenario does it mean âliterally everyone diesâ
yet so many people have jumped already to âitâs over, the world is going to end, we can do nothing about itâ and are just paralyzingly cynical. How do I explain that the power to imagine a future is essential for creating it
you know the thing where trauma can cause you to just. not expect to live much longer so when you get to 30 you donât know what to do because you thought youâd be dead by 25
That is happening to all of us right now on a society-wide scale
[ID : A tweet by Mohammed El-Kurd @/m7mdkurd of a picture that reads :
Tuesday, 2 - Nov - 2021 â
Statement from the families of Sheikh Jarrah
We reject the âproposalâ by the âIsraeli Supreme Courtâ which would have rendered us âprotected tenantsâ at the mercy of settler organizations. We stand firm in our refusal to compromise on our rights despite the lack of institutional guarantees that would protect our presence as Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem.
The Israeli judiciary is circumventing its duty to adjudicate the case is forcing us instead to choose between our own dispossession or submitting to an oppressive agreement. Naturally, we refuse to commit someone elseâs crimes.
Such âcompromisesâ create the illusion of the ball in out court, fabricating a framing in which we reject a âgenerous dealâ, in a situation where our dispossession would still be imminent and our homes would still be regarded as someone elseâs. Such âdealsâ distract from the crime at hand: ethnic cleansing perpetrated by a settler-colonial judiciary and its settlers.
The international community has long maintained that settler expansion and forced expulsion in Sheikh Jarrah are war crimes. Thus it must respond to grave international law violations with real diplomatic and political repercussions. The culture of inaction and impunity must not be maintained.
It is time for our Nakba to end. Our families deserve to live in peace without the looming ghost of imminent dispossession.
Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place // Chen Chen, When I Grow Up I Want to be a List of Further Possibilities // Warsan Shire, Conversations About Home // Fatimah Asghar, Partition // Aysha, Diaspora Defiance // Ocean Vuong, On Earth Weâre Briefly Gorgeous // Kaveh Akbar, Do You Speak Persian? // Safia Elhillo, Date Night With Abdelhalim Hafez // Gustavo Perez Firmat, Bilingual Blues // Scherezade Siobhan, How to Welcome the Dead
Hundreds of workers at Nabisco bakeries across the country are on strike over a proposal to change their work shifts and health care benefit
Hundreds of union employees at three U.S. Nabisco bakeries that make Oreo and Chips Ahoy cookies and Ritz Crackers have gone on strike to protest proposed changes amid contract negotiations with parent company Mondelez International, Inc.
Approximately 200 workers at a factory in Portland, Oregon, have been on strike for two weeks and were joined on Monday by about 400 employees at Nabisco's bakery in Richmond, Virginia. On Thursday, workers at Nabisco's bakery in Chicago also walked off the job to go on strike.
Employees at a sales distribution center in Aurora, Colorado, also joined the strike on Aug. 12. All of the workers on strike are members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers International Union, which announced the Chicago strike on Thursday.
"This fight is about maintaining what we already have," Mike Burlingham, vice president of BCTGM Local 364 in Portland, told TODAY Food. "During the pandemic, we all were putting in a lot of hours, demand was higher, people were at home, and the snack food industry did phenomenally well.
"Mondelez made record profits and they want to thank us by closing two of the U.S. bakeries (last month) and telling the rest of us we have to take concessions, what kind of thanks is that? We make them a lot of money. It's very disheartening. How is that supposed to make us feel?"
The union is in the midst of negotiating a new four-year contract with Mondelez after the previous one expired in May.
Union leaders say that Mondelez has proposed switching from eight-hour shifts, five days a week, to 12-hour shifts, three or four days a week, without overtime, and with increased mandatory work on weekends without extra pay.
Oh man, this is gonna be messy. Iâve said it loads of times in both fantasy and real life, and it always rings true : you NEVER cross the bakersâ guild.
Read up on the New York bagel famines. Bagel Bakers Local 338 practically brought the city to a standstill back in the day.
If you also didnât hear, Danny DeVito got unverified briefly by Twitter for voicing solidarity with the union. Dan Rather got involved. Itâs messy. Donât cross the line if you can.Â
Indigenous peoples who want to reclaim their traditional names are told government systems can only print in Roman alphabet with some French
"On paper and to people who only know her by her government IDs, she is Michelle Nahanee.
To everyone else, she is Ta7talĂya Nahanee.
And yes, thereâs a number 7 in the ancestral name sheâs given by her Indigenous family in the Squamish Nation in North Vancouver. The number 7 is actually a âglottal stop, similar to the stop in the middle of the word oh-oh!â and the name is pronounced Ta-ta-li-ya.
After carrying her English colonial name Michelle in her IDs all her life, Nahanee was excited when she heard in June about the federal governmentâs new process to allow Indigenous Peoples, residential school survivors and their families to reclaim their Indigenous names on passports, travel documents, citizenship certificates and permanent resident cards.
But the Vancouver-based facilitator and strategist, whose work is meant to help undo colonial practices and impacts, says she was disappointed when she learned government systems can only print in Roman alphabet with French accents, meaning names with numbers and Indigenous characters and symbols wonât be accommodated."
[Image ID: A photo of a Black Ethiopian doctor, Dr. Asmamaw, holding a sign in front of a beach in Cornwall, England at the 2021 G7 summit. His sign reads, âI represent the global south who have no voice here. We are dying now from the climate and ecological crises caused by you.â End ID.]
For context: Dr. Asmamaw is an Ethiopian doctor and PhD. He is raising awareness at this yearâs 2021 G7 summit of the need for people in the global north to acknowledge & help spread awareness of the dire pandemic conditions in the global south. He also calls out the lack of global south voices speaking up at the summit itself.
Here is a link to the thread containing a recording of a live video where you can see him speak and address these issues. He begins speaking at 40:40. The video is very low quality, but his message is extremely important.
Viola Fletcher is the oldest survivor of the racist attack on the cityâs âBlack Wall Streetâ in 1921 that left up to 300 African Americans dead
Viola Fletcher is the oldest survivor of the racist attack on the cityâs âBlack Wall Streetâ in 1921 that left up to 300 dead
For nearly a century she was denied a voice by a culture of silence. Finally, at the age of 107, Viola Fletcher got a national stage on Wednesday to bear witness to Americaâs deep history of racial violence.
Fletcher is the oldest living survivor of a massacre that took place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on 31 May and 1 June 1921 when a white mob attacked the cityâs âBlack Wall Streetâ, killing an estimated 300 African Americans while robbing and burning more than 1,200 businesses, homes and churches.
She was just seven years old at the time.
For decades the atrocity was actively covered up and wished away. But Fletcher and her 100-year-old brother are seeking reparations and, ahead of the massacreâs centenary, appeared before a House of Representatives judiciary subcommittee considering legal remedies.
Yesterday, Israel bombed one of the biggest bookshops in Gaza. The Samir Mansour bookshop was one of the few publishing houses in Gaza as well. I saw a video of the owner of the bookshop fighting tears and talking about how much this bookshop meant to him and how he used to skip meals to be able to save money to get this bookshop going. This bookshop was part of the Kahil building which had various stores and offices.
In another video that was circulating, a guy from Gaza was explaining why Israel targets these buildings and towers. Every day you hear about a building targeted and leveled. He explains that these towers have been the main destination for the youth of Gaza as they usually contain coffee shops, bookshops, restaurants, educational and learning centres. So by destroying them, Israel is destroying memories and any potential for communal relationships.Â
This is what we mean when we say Israel is not only committing a full blown genocide as we have been witnessing publicly for days now, with over 200 deaths in the span of a week (as of May 19, 2021), but also this other form of incremental genocide that has been ongoing for decades; even when Israel isnât bombing Gaza on a daily basis, there has always been an effort to erase Palestinian history and culture, from appropriating tatreez and the Palestinian cuisine to destroying literary works.
Highly recommend watching The Great Book Robbery documentary for more on that as it goes into the details about Israelâs appropriation of Palestinian books during the Nakba.
Erasing culture is an essential component of settler-colonialism, and what Israel is targeting in Gaza right now is by no means coincidental or âaccidentalâ.
israel has been bombing residential towers, refugee camps, media offices and now there are reports that it plans to bomb two UN run schools in palestine. reminder that many ppl who have been rendered homeless by these bombings have found shelter in these schools. palestine's hospitals are overflowing, their top doctors are being killed in these bombings, and the pandemic is still raging while israel is blocking humanitarian aid as well. these are war crimes. this is a genocide.
5/6/2021 Today in Rio de Janeiro, the police massacred 24 Black people from the favela because President Bolsonaro wanted to send a message to the courts and the people of Brazil that he can do whatever he wants. It is one of the cityâs deadliest attacks. The favelas are where some of the poorest and most marginalized Black people live. You can read about the event in English here. [cw for police brutality and extreme violence to Black people]
There were executions of Black people who had already surrendered. I donât want to describe all of the horrible graphic details, but I accidentally saw some of the pictures and footage, and I honestly canât even eat.
Please signal boost this. These are some of our most vulnerable Black people in the entire world. What happened to them today was nothing short of genocide.
According to Black Brazilians, the fastest and most reliable way to get help to Brazil right now is through Voz Das Comunidades
Here is their Twitter with updates: https://twitter.com/eurenesilva
When people, especially white people, consider a world without the police, they envision a society as violent as our current one, merely without law enforcement â and they shudder. As a society, we have been so indoctrinated with the idea that we solve problems by policing and caging people that many cannot imagine anything other than prisons and the police as solutions to violence and harm.
People like me who want to abolish prisons and police, however, have a vision of a different society, built on cooperation instead of individualism, on mutual aid instead of self-preservation. What would the country look like if it had billions of extra dollars to spend on housing, food and education for all? This change in society wouldnât happen immediately, but the protests show that many people are ready to embrace a different vision of safety and justice.
Mariame Kaba, âYes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Policeâ
I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be @orionsknightsky - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
