Huey P. Newton: "sometimes our first instinct is to want to hit a homosexual in the mouth, and want a woman to be quiet."

"We want to hit a homosexual in the mouth because we are afraid that we might be homosexual; and we want to hit the woman or shut her up because we are afraid that she might castrate us, or take the nuts that we might not have." Here is the full speech held by Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panthers, at a Black Panther rally in New York City on 15th of August 1970.

During the past few years strong movements have developed among women and among homosexuals seeking their liberation. There has been some uncertainty about how to relate to these movements. 

Whatever your personal opinions and your insecurities about homosexuality and the various liberation movements among homosexuals and women (and I speak of the homosexuals and women as oppressed groups), we should try to unite with them in a revolutionary fashion. 

I say ”whatever your insecurities are” because as we very well know, sometimes our first instinct is to want to hit a homosexual in the mouth, and want a woman to be quiet. We want to hit a homosexual in the mouth because we are afraid that we might be homosexual; and we want to hit the women or shut her up because we are afraid that she might castrate us, or take the nuts that we might not have to start with. 

We must gain security in ourselves and therefore have respect and feelings for all oppressed people. We must not use the racist attitude that the white racists use against our people because they are Black and poor. Many times the poorest white person is the most racist because he is afraid that he might lose something, or discover something that he does not have. So you’re some kind of a threat to him. This kind of psychology is in operation when we view oppressed people and we are angry with them because of their particular kind of behavior, or their particular kind of deviation from the established norm. 

Remember, we have not established a revolutionary value system; we are only in the process of establishing it. I do not remember our ever constituting any value that said that a revolutionary must say offensive things towards homosexuals, or that a revolutionary should make sure that women do not speak out about their own particular kind of oppression. As a matter of fact, it is just the opposite: we say that we recognize the women’s right to be free. We have not said much about the homosexual at all, but we must relate to the homosexual movement because it is a real thing. And I know through reading, and through my life experience and observations that homosexuals are not given freedom and liberty by anyone in the society. They might be the most oppressed people in the society. 

And what made them homosexual? Perhaps it’s a phenomenon that I don’t understand entirely. Some people say that it is the decadence of capitalism. I don’t know if that is the case; I rather doubt it. But whatever the case is, we know that homosexuality is a fact that exists, and we must understand it in its purest form: that is, a person should have the freedom to use his body in whatever way he wants. 

That is not endorsing things in homosexuality that we wouldn’t view as revolutionary. But there is nothing to say that a homosexual cannot also be a revolutionary. And maybe I’m now injecting some of my prejudice by saying that “even a homosexual can be a revolutionary.” Quite the contrary, maybe a homosexual could be the most revolutionary. 

When we have revolutionary conferences, rallies, and demonstrations, there should be full participation of the gay liberation movement and the women’s liberation movement. Some groups might be more revolutionary than others. We should not use the actions of a few to say that they are all reactionary or counter-revolutionary, because they are not. 

We should deal with the factions just as we deal with any other group or party that claims to be revolutionary. We should try to judge, somehow, whether they are operating in a sincere revolutionary fashion and from a really oppressed situation. (And we will grant that if they are women they are probably oppressed.) If they do things that are unrevolutionary or counter-revolutionary, then criticize that action. 

If we feel that the group in spirit means to be revolutionary in practice, but they make mistakes in interpretation of the revolutionary philosophy, or they do not understand the dialectics of the social forces in operation, we should criticize that and not criticize them because they are women trying to be free. And the same is true for homosexuals. We should never say a whole movement is dishonest when in fact they are trying to be honest. They are just making honest mistakes. Friends are allowed to make mistakes. The enemy is not allowed to make mistakes because his whole existence is a mistake, and we suffer from it. But the women’s liberation front and gay liberation front are our friends, they are our potential allies, and we need as many allies as possible.  

We should be willing to discuss the insecurities that many people have about homosexuality. When I say “insecurities,” I mean the fear that they are some kind of threat to our manhood. I can understand this fear. Because of the long conditioning process which builds insecurity in the American male, homosexuality might produce certain hang-ups in us. I have hang-ups myself about male homosexuality. But on the other hand, I have no hang-up about female homosexuality. And that is a phenomenon in itself. I think it is probably because male homosexuality is a threat to me and female homosexuality is not. 

We should be careful about using those terms that might turn our friends off. The terms “faggot” and “punk” should be deleted from our vocabulary, and especially we should not attach names normally designed for homosexuals to men who are enemies of the people, such as [Richard] Nixon or [John] Mitchell. Homosexuals are not enemies of the people. 

We should try to form a working coalition with the gay liberation and women’s liberation groups. We must always handle social forces in the most appropriate manner. And this is really a significant part of the population, both women, and the growing number of homosexuals that we have to deal with. 

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panthers

- - - - - -
photographs via and via

One day...

"One day our descendants will think it incredible that we paid so much attention to things like the amount of melanin in our skin or the shape of our eyes or our gender instead of the unique identities of each of us as complex human beings."
Franklin A. Thomas

photograph via

I Am ... Somebody

In 1972, reverend Jesse Jackson shared the poem "I Am - Somebody" (originally written by pastor and civil rights activist William Homes Borders, Sr. in the 1950s) with children of Sesame Street.

I am ...[I am!] 
Somebody... [somebody!] 
I am ... [I am!] 
Somebody ... [somebody!] 
I may be poor ... [I may be poor!] 
But I am ... [but I am!] 
Somebody ... [somebody!] 
I may be on welfare ... [I may be on welfare!] 
But I am ... [but I am!] 
Somebody ... [somebody!] 
I may be unskilled ... [I may be unskilled!] 
But I am ... [But I am!] 
Somebody ... [somebody!] 
I am ... [I am!] 
Black ... [black!] 
Beautiful ... [beautiful!] 
Proud ... [proud!] 
And must be respected ... [and must be respected]! 
I must be protected ... [I must be protected!] 
I am God's child ... [I am God's child] (via)

- - - - -
photograph via

Our Own Sense of Somebodyness

Jesse Jackson's speech held on 20 August 1972 at the benefit-concert organised to commemorate the community of Watts after the 1965 riots:

This is a beautiful day… It is a new day… it is a day of black awareness, it is a day of black people taking care of black people’s business… We are together, we are unified… and all in accord… Because when we are together we got power… and we can make decisions… 

Today on this program you will hear gospel, and rhythm and blues, and jazz. All those are just labels. We know that music is music… All of our people have got a soul, our experience determines the texture, the tastes and the sounds of our soul. We may say that we are may be in the slum but the slum is not in us. We may be in the prison, but the prison is not in us. In what we have shifted from, burn baby burn to learn baby learn. We have shifted from having a seizure about what the man got, to seizing what we need. We have shifted from bed bugs and dog ticks to community control and politics. 

That is why we've gathered today, to celebrate our homecoming and our own sense of somebodyness. That is why I challenge you now to stand together, raise your first together, and engage in our famous black litany. Do it with courage and determination... (via).

- - - - - -
photograph (Jesse Jackson and Bobby Seale, 1972; AP Photo/File) via

El Salvador's Femicide Epidemic

El Salvador has the highest rate of femicide in the world: Statistically, every 24 hours a woman is murdered by a man (13.49 deaths per one hundred thousand women). The number is high despite the very fact that femicide statistics do not account for forced disappereances of girls and women ... in the first five months of 2018 alone, 209 disappearances were reported. In addition, the number is rising significantly, doubling from 2013 to 2017 with 218 femicides a year to 520.

Women are more likely than not to experience gender-based violence. 67.4% of women report having experienced some sort of it in their lifetime. Again, the number is high despite involving only the ones "lucky" enough to have survived the abuse. Of the femicide cases brought to court, only 5% end in a sentence and only 3% carry a guilty verdict (via).

El Salvador’s femicide crisis is fueled by an ingrained culture of virulent machismo, high levels of gang and narco-violence, and a corrupt, unaccountable police force, untrained in the appropriate handling of gender violence cases. Machismo permeates every sector of society, not only as a central tenet of gang culture but also as an ideology deeply embedded in law enforcement, including among both police and judges. (...) The machista ideology shows no signs of lessening among El Salvadoran youth, who were born after the end of the war. One 2018 OXFAM survey found more than half of young Salvadoran men aged 15-19 believe “women endure violent relationships because they believe violence in a relationship with a man is normal.” Eighty-five percent of young men agreed that “a decent woman should not dress provocatively, nor be out on the streets late at night.”

- - - - - -
photograph (1977)  via

"The F-word really is freedom."

“Fifty is a big corner to turn. It used to mean being put out to pasture, but it's the opposite with me. I feel more vibrant; I'm more active than I've ever been. The F-word really is freedom. It's the freedom to have dropped the rock-the rock of addiction, of family, of comparisons with other people. It's being fit and focused and kind of furious.” 

Jamie Lee Curtis

“I was doing a children's book on self-esteem, and I really felt like I wanted to shed the shame I'd been feeling - and maybe make it easier for women my age who had probably felt bad about themselves.” 

Jamie Lee Curtis

“I am appalled that the term we use to talk about aging is 'anti'. Aging is human evolution in its pure form. Death, taxes and aging .... We are ALL going to age and soften and mellow and transition.”

Jamie Lee Curtis

“I don't think any woman wants to be known for being beautiful or busty. I think you want to be known for who you are.” 

Jamie Lee Curtis

“Modern women are just bombarded. There's nothing but media telling us we're all supposed to be great cooks, have great style, be great in bed, be the best mothers, speak seven languages, and be able to understand derivatives. And we don't really have women we're modeling after, so we're all looking for how to do this.” 

Jamie Lee Curtis

- - - - - -
photograph of Jamie Lee Curtis and her mother Janeth Leigh via

Women in Animation Just Need a Ballsy, Single Parent, Militant Feminist, Lesbian Mother to Succeed

According to "Women in Animation", 60% of animation students are women but only 20 to 40% of professional roles in the industry are held by women. The industry seems to be a "boys' club" with "macho energy flying around". Usually, producers are women, men are directors and when a woman is a director she might "want to be more macho, speak louder or lower and make sure you’re not ‘screechy’ (...) behaving in ways that lose you energy because you’re trying to be something you’re not.”

“It is of course a matter of the total male domination in all powerful positions, that’s been going on forever.” Niki Lindroth von Bahr

Typically, “men are the creative leads and women are the jobbing crew animators or producers. Women are there to facilitate and enable the creative voice and vision of men because self-doubt is the patriarchy’s most insidious weapon.” Moving from education to career, women have “their more feminine qualities praised – nurturing, a willingness to please. It’s a restrictive pattern that upholds the status quo.” Kitty Turley

Technical roles (e.g. FX artists) are hugely male dominated: “It goes back to a time when boys were encouraged to like things such as technology and football, and girls to art and ballet dancing. These projected expectations have possibly fed into later interests and career choices. Gender roles and expectations are becoming more fluid though, which is an exciting shift.” Rosanna Morley

But there is hope since the right mother can give women the confidence they need to succeed in the animation industry. Anna Ginsburg says her upbringing by a “ballsy mother, a single parent, lesbian, militant feminist and lawyer" was quite helpful (via). Solution found.

-----
photograph (Disney, ca. 1969) via

"Lady, it’s official, your boy is a big fag."

In 1996, Jake Shears (Scissor Sisters) had "that chat" with his parents while spending their holidays in Las Vegas.

For spring break, my mom and dad wanted some family time, so we flew to Las Vegas. (...) Keeping my sexuality from my family was eating away at my happiness. The layers and compartments to which I tended, the juggling of selves – it was wearing me out, rubbing all sides raw. I was sick of hiding magazines under my bed, sick of sneaking boys in through the window, sick of announcing in the school hallway anytime my mom came to visit, ‘You guys, my mom is outside and she’s coming in. I’m NOT GAY. OKAY?’ I wanted to feel like a complete person, to be ashamed of nothing and apologize to no one. 

‘When we get back to Seattle, I want to talk to you about something.’ She adjusted her lip liner. 

I froze, one hand covered in gel, coaxing my strands to stand. What was ‘something’? Did this mean she suspected? She looked over at me and must have known I was going to ruin any chance of us coming out of this vacation happy. Christ, who cares? I thought. Here we go. 

‘Is it about me being gay?’ There, I had said it. Boom. The pale yellow tiles in the bathroom looked the color of sick. I felt nauseous. It was over. Out of the bag. Neon lights. Phase two. Lady, it’s official, your boy is a big fag. She paused, set down her brush, and extricated herself from the bathroom. I followed and sat next to her on the stiff bed. My father lay on one side, silent and watching TV. ‘Is that what you meant?’ I said. 

‘Is that what you wanted to talk about?’ Her eyes were seeing atrocities on an invisible horizon. ‘Mom, I’ve always been like this.’ 

‘Jason,’ she said, just under her breath. ‘Your father is trying to watch the news.’ We sat through the overblown Michael Crawford show, none of us able to focus on the stage. My parents ordered a bottle of wine at the table; it was the first time I saw either of them have a drink in about ten years. Dad was quiet and went back to the room after it was finished. Mom and I walked ‘to get ice cream.’ We paced and hissed, raising our voices in front of a buzzing food court. ‘It’s a death sentence,’ she said. ‘What did we do to make this happen?’ At one point: ‘I’m never going to have grandchildren!’

‘People do that now sometimes,’ I said between spoonfuls of Häagen-Dazs. ‘Mom, I can totally have kids.’ ‘Over my dead body!’ she shot back. 

We all flew back the next day and didn’t speak. On the way to drop me off at my dorm, we stopped at a gas station and my mom went inside to pay. My father faced forward as the car idled and the wipers swiped off the drizzle. ‘Dad? Are you okay?’ 

He glanced at me in the rearview mirror and gave one small shake of his head, eyes back on the windshield. ‘We’re simply devastated, Jason.’ (via)

- - - - - -
YouTube Links:
::: Scissor Sisters - Laura: WATCH/LISTEN
::: Scissor Sisters - Comfortably Numb: WATCH/LISTEN

- - - - - -
photograph via

Age + Poor Eyesight = Discrimination

According to a study of  7.677 adults aged fifty and over, those with poor vision report significantly more discrimination, i.e. they are 40% more likely to report being discriminated against (e.g. treated with less respect or courtesy, receive poorer service than other people in restaurants and stores, people act as if they think they are not clever) compared to adults who class their eyesight as good. Those experiencing discrimination, again, show a clear tendency to be depressed or feel lonely, and are more likely to report a lower quality of life and life satisfaction (Jackson et al., 2019).

"People with poor eyesight are at increased risk of loneliness and depression. Our results suggest that discrimination may be an important contributor to this. In addition to addressing the injustice of unfair treatment, tackling the issue of discrimination against people with poor vision could also have substantial benefits for their mental health and wellbeing."

Sarah Jackson

"Teaching coping strategies may help older people with poor vision mitigate the risks for mental health associated with discrimination. More importantly, there is a need for efforts to tackle the negative attitudes and discriminatory behavior toward people with visual impairment in society to reduce their exposure to these damaging experiences."

Sarah Jackson

-----
- Jackson, S. E., Hackett, R. A. & Pardhan, S. (2019). Association of Perceived Discrimination With Emotional Well-being in Older Adults With Visual Impairment. JAMA Ophtalmology, link
- photograph (Environment Transformer/Flyhead, 1968, by Haus-Rucker-Co) via

Eight Design Principles for De-Marginalising the Future

Consider the poor, and strive for a future where they have plenty. 

Remember those who mourn, and design a future that will alleviate their sorrow. 

Listen to those who are quiet, who doubt themselves, and whose voice is easily drowned out, as they have as much of a claim to the future as everyone else. 

Pay attention to those who advocate for social justice, and work toward creating a future that is responsive to them. 

Hold in high esteem those who are merciful, and design a merciful future for them. 

Remember those who can’t care for themselves, and build a future that cares for them. 

Elevate people who mend rifts and build bridges, and design a future that values their skills. 

Recognize those who are persecuted, and endeavor to create a future where they are not. (literally via)



photographs (Gelbes Herz by Haus-Rucker-Co) via and via