A reformed skinhead, Bryon Widner was desperate to rid himself of the racist tattoos that covered his face - so desperate that he turned to former enemies for help, and was willing to endure months of pain in a journey from
racism to
redemption.
[more inside]
posted by mannequito
on Oct 31, 2011 -
161 comments
This week has seen a lot of discussion of the American criminal justice system and its failings, and a lot of concern about what can be done to fix it.
In 1947, a working class black man looked like he was about to have the full weight of the system brought down on him for taking justice into his own hands. But after Chicago leftists - including labor unions, religious leaders, artists, civil rights activists & others - launched a movement,
James Hickman was set free after an all-white jury, in a trial presided over by a white judge, failed to convict, and the DA chose not to re-try because of the magnitude of public support for Hickman.
According to a
review in The Nation,
a new book tells the story in a way that turns the typical right-wing biases of the true crime genre on their head.
[more inside]
posted by univac
on Sep 22, 2011 -
11 comments
Deeply Embarrassed White People Talk Awkwardly About Race. 'Once I realized I was racist, it was, well, what am I going to do about it?' says Winn, a mild-mannered white guy in his 30s. 'That shifts the defensiveness.' [...] 'The test of how racist you are is not how many people of color you can count as friends,' I recall someone telling me—I can't remember who now. 'It's how many white people you're willing to talk to about racism.'
posted by shakespeherian
on Sep 7, 2011 -
256 comments
Vance Gilbert is, in his own words, "big in the music business like a barnacle is big in shipping". Performing solo with acoustic guitar, his
original music (including songs about
Old White Men,
Gilligan and
the planet Pluto) and some
well-chosen covers, as well as his
on-stage banter, have
charmed audiences all over* for umpteen years. He has
made a reply to CeeLo's infamous song,
performed alongside Arlo Guthrie while having an attack of gout and in his spare time, he makes
free-flying models of
antique airplanes. But sadly, he has just gotten the most publicity of his career... as an
unwilling participant in one airline's Security Theater. (Story picked up by
The Consumerist,
the Economist, and
James Fallows at the Atlantic.)
[more inside]
posted by oneswellfoop
on Aug 26, 2011 -
55 comments
The Atlantic's Ta-nehisi Coates sparks months of debate with his contention that
The Civil War Isn't Tragic. "The Civil War is our revolution. It ended slavery, and birthed both modern America, and modern black America.
That can never be tragic to me."
[more inside]
posted by Danila
on Aug 25, 2011 -
116 comments
The Burns Archive is a collection of over 700,000 historical photographs that document
disturbing subject matter: obsolete medical practices and experiments, death, disease, disasters, crime, revolutions, riots and war. Newsweek posted a
select gallery this past October, as well as a
video interview and walk-through with curator and collector Dr. Stanley B. Burns, a New York opthalmologist.
(Via) (Content at links may be disturbing to some.) [more inside]
posted by zarq
on Apr 26, 2011 -
15 comments
Orange County tea party members protest and hurl epithets at a local muslim organization's relief dinner to raise money for women's shelters and raise aid for homelessness and hunger in the US
Here is the video. Watch as members of congress show their support for this extreme show of xenophobia and racism.
posted by wooh
on Mar 3, 2011 -
364 comments
Microaggressions. This blog seeks to provide a visual representation of the everyday of “microaggressions.” Each event, observation and experience posted is not necessarily particularly striking in and of themselves. Often, they are never meant to hurt - acts done with little conscious awareness of their meanings and effects. Instead, their slow accumulation during a childhood and over a lifetime is in part what defines a marginalized experience, making explanation and communication with someone who does not share this identity particularly difficult. Social others are microaggressed hourly, daily, weekly, monthly.
posted by prefpara
on Jan 21, 2011 -
56 comments
Melvin Van Peebles made a documentary called Classified X in 1998, about the portrayal of black people throughout the history of American cinema. You can see it on YT in six parts:
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6. Apologies for the low video quality.
posted by Dim Siawns
on Nov 30, 2010 -
19 comments
