abOriginill.

tranqualizer: [photo: image of a Black homeless man wearing a...

Sat, 18 May 2013 16:15:27 -0400

[photo: image of a Black homeless man wearing a white t shirt and holding a white Abercrombie and fitch branded t shirt in front of him.]

Why Fitch the Homeless is a Really Bad Idea

In response to some comments made by Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries about not wanting large people in A&F clothes because he prefers “attractive…cool kids” in A&F clothes, there’s been a pretty big backlash, which is understandable. Most recently, I’ve learned about some “activism” aimed at giving Abercrombie and Fitch a “brand readjustment’” by giving Abercrombie and Fitch clothing to the homeless.

Because wouldn’t it be so awful for Abercrombie and Fitch clothing to be associated with homelessness and homeless people, because homeless people are so gross and disgusting, amirite? The video above says that it is striving to make Abercrombie and Fitch “the #1 brand of homeless apparel”. Maybe you’re thinking there’s no issue here because at least homeless people are getting some new duds and they were purchased from Goodwill, so what’s the big deal?

The big deal comes in when homeless people are being exploited to prove a point. Many homeless people are already widely disenfranchised and lacking a platform to be heard or to get access to the resources they need. By attempting to make a brand look bad by associating it with homelessness, the message is that homeless people are so gross, dirty, shameful (insert negative attribute here) that by associating the brand with these types of people, we are really making the brand look shitty, because these people are so shitty! get it? It’s all such a laugh! This type of “activism” is a farce. It contributes to and propagates a culture wherein homeless people can be used as props to further an agenda. This isn’t how you treat people. This is how you treat disposable objects. It isn’t funny, noble, or helpful to try and stick it to Abercrombie and Fitch by using homeless people as the medium for your message. Would the American population at large be comfortable with any other minority group being used to make a brand look “bad” by associating their clothing with that group? Sub out “homeless” for any other minority group and see how that sounds and feels. Pretty shitty, right?

Giving clothing, food, needed sundries, time, and other resources to the homeless or people who are in need is an awesome thing. But this isn’t about giving to the homeless. I don’t see any real or actual concern for homeless people in this “movement”. I see homeless people being used as the butt of a joke. The punchline? “Hahaha Abercrombie! You want cool and attractive people in your clothes and you claim to be exclusionary, so we’re going to give your clothes to homeless people because you would hate that!” The implication here is that homeless people are not cool or attractive and the brand can’t be exclusionary when worn by an already excluded group. This only “works” because homeless people are already part of an othered and excluded group, often left out of mainstream society, denied access to basic resources and the ability to have their needs met. Can’t.Stop.Laughing.

People who want to give to the homeless can do so at any time. Do it today! But giving a certain brand of clothing to the homeless in an attempt to make that brand of clothing look bad or unsavory or less-than-desirable is only possible when the population or group receiving the clothing carries the stigma you are trying to attach to that label. This doesn’t make Abercrombie and Fitch look bad. This makes Greg Karber and everybody supporting this “activism” look like an insensitive douche canoe who thinks homeless people are disposable props to be used to further an agenda, and that’s pretty sad and disappointing. Wanna help the homeless? Try not furthering the stigma surrounding homelessness by insisting that a brand being associated with homelessness would surely be less desirable or wanted. Wanna stick it to Abercrombie and Fitch? Easy Peasy! Don’t give them your money! It’s a simple solution that doesn’t involve stepping on the backs of the homeless in place of a soapbox.

(click through the link to watch the youtube video)

girljanitor: innocent-bystanders-inc: nudiemuse: princelesscom...

Sat, 18 May 2013 14:30:21 -0400

girljanitor:

innocent-bystanders-inc:

nudiemuse:

princelesscomic:

girljanitor:

Self Evident Truths

S. Ross Browne

Ummm…I am so VERY into this right now!

But Black people in period or fantasy settings totally makes the stories unreal.

Also holy shit I love these.

How come I don’t run across this stuff regularly?

Because of racism and the retroactive erasure of POC in Medieval Europe. Pretty much the same reason you almost never see these works of art either unless you’re already looking for them:

bolded because homeboy wit the white gloves looks a lot like me.

I’ve seen a few ppl post the petition to the President to remove Assata Shakur from the...

Sat, 18 May 2013 12:45:21 -0400

I’ve seen a few ppl post the petition to the President to remove Assata Shakur from the FBI’s “most wanted terrorists” list. First of all, he won’t ever do that. Secondly, labeling Assata this way is an act of terrorism on the part of the US government. I don’t negotiate with terrorists.

Racism only has real life effects for People of Color. Reverse racism does not exist.

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:15:23 -0400

fuckyeahcracker:

Effects Of Thinking White People Are “All Like That”:

Literally nothing other than white people having their feelings hurt on the internet

I’m not joking there is no real world consequence of this

Effects Of Thinking People of Color Are “All Like That”:

Saudi student is literally surrounded by FBI for cooking rice under terrorist suspicions

White people literally can not associate positive words with Black faces because of racism

More white people use drugs but Black people are sent to jail for drugs at 10 times the rate that white people are

Black people who “sound Black” earn less money than those who don’t because of associations with stereotypes. Black people who “sound Black” are less likely to get called back for jobs

Black children grow up literally associating being Black with being bad and ugly

White people when tested shot more unarmed Black subjects than armed and unarmed white subjects

Hate crimes increase after Boston tragedy

Moroccan High School Student is linked to Boston tragedy for being Brown

Bangladeshi man is beaten by people out of racism

NYPD Commissioner wants Black and Latino men to fear him after the police targeted literally 90 percent Black and Latino men in New York and humiliating them by frisking them in public under the assumption that they had weapons. Studies found that white men were the ones who overwhelmingly had weapons while Black and Latino men didn’t

White people blaming and convicting Black men for crimes they never committed and everyone believing them because of racism

Stop and Frisk, ruled unconstitutional was practiced by New York police disproportionately and unfairly affecting 90% Black and Latino men because of racism

Universities throwing racist ‘Fiesta Party’ homogenizing culture with extreme racism

Here are some of the numbers on hate crimes against People of Color and btw, Neo Naziism is increasing!

Every 28 Hours an African American is Extrajudicially Murdered in the U.S.

Black people 3 times more likely to be arrested for Marijuana

Black people receive much harsher sentencing than white people for the same crimes do I need to go on?

Indigenisation: All African States Must Follow Zimbabwe's Example

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:30:22 -0400

Indigenisation: All African States Must Follow Zimbabwe's Example:

“The ongoing competition between the US and China for dominance in Africa and for its natural resources destructively affects the internal stability and security of the continent.

Under these conditions all African states should focus on expanding relations with countries that historically proved their commitment to the true liberation of Africa and to the development of mutually beneficial cooperation.”

Is The 70-Hour Work Week Worth The Sacrifice?

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:45:22 -0400

Is The 70-Hour Work Week Worth The Sacrifice?:

Everyone talking that “grind hard, don’t sleep” mess; shut up.

Photo

Thu, 16 May 2013 16:15:28 -0400

the-absolute-best-posts: infinitylooper: Something to think...

Thu, 16 May 2013 14:30:24 -0400

the-absolute-best-posts:

infinitylooper:

Something to think about:

The Earth is 4.6 billion years old. Let’s scale that to 46 years.
We have been here for 4 hours. Our industrial revolution began 1 minute ago.
In that time, we have destroyed more than 50% of the world’s forests.

This isn’t sustainable.

We’re going to kill all the humans and a lot of the other life forms and then, hopefully Earth will restore herself.

I be tryna tell y’all!

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:45:10 -0400

I be tryna tell y’all!

Photo

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:15:21 -0400

The AfroFuturist Affair: Drexciya: Not Your Average Middle Passage Story

Wed, 15 May 2013 14:30:30 -0400

The AfroFuturist Affair: Drexciya: Not Your Average Middle Passage Story:

musicafrofuturism:

Drexciya was—and still remains—an enigma. No longer creating music, Drexciya was an electronic music group active in the early-mid 90s based out of Detroit, Michigan. James Stinson—who passed away in 2002—is their only known member, though Gerald Donald (techno…

deafmuslimpunx: afrofuturistaffair: lkrory21: Drexciya (2012)...

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:45:15 -0400

deafmuslimpunx:

afrofuturistaffair:

lkrory21:

Drexciya (2012) Trailer

Drexciya (28 Min., Super 16mm, Germany / Burkina Faso 2012) is a short science fiction film by Simon Rittmeier, inspired by the Drexciyan myth.

Plot: Thomas works as a trafficker for European refugees that are seeking a better life in Africa. One day his ship sinks and he finds himself as the only survivor washed up on the African shore. He tries to reach the next megacity: Drexciya, an advanced high-tech world. Somewhere in the desert he is stopped by a huge light fence. At the end of his rope a group of young Africans stumble across him: Sisay, Kanchebe and Dylis. After a while they decide to take him along. Yet their mission also seems to be a strange one. They are looking for an almost forgotten place. Lost in the wide desert they come to know each other - speechless, strangers in their own land. More info.

[via Darkfloor / Drexciya Research Lab]

Short film by German filmmaker inspired by Detroit techno legends Drexciya and the Drexciyan myth of an underwater subcontinent populated by the unborn children of pregnant African women thrown off slave ships that adapted to breathing underwater.

There is also a short film by Ghanaian fillmmaker Akosua Adoma Owusu of the same title, a post-apocalyptic portrait of an abandoned public swimming facility located in Accra, Ghana

http://www.factmag.com/2013/05/08/detroit-legends-drexciya-serve-as-inspiration-for-german-science-fiction-short/

Yeah! Another Afro Sci-Fi film. Badass.

Where can I find the full movie?

cosbyykidd: Man if you are gonna say “nigga” then just say it. Dont type “niggah/nigguh/n*gga”...

Tue, 14 May 2013 23:17:52 -0400

cosbyykidd:

Man if you are gonna say “nigga” then just say it.

Dont type “niggah/nigguh/n*gga” etc…

That just shows you dont feel comfortable saying it nor do you use the term in real life. Just chill and say something else.

The worst is ninja. FOHWTBS

10 pounds of meat worms removed from a man’s intestines.

Tue, 14 May 2013 16:15:00 -0400

10 pounds of meat worms removed from a man’s intestines.

yogachick: rawlivingfoods: Seattle’s vision of an urban food...

Tue, 14 May 2013 14:30:12 -0400

yogachick:

rawlivingfoods:

Seattle’s vision of an urban food oasis is going forward. A seven-acre plot of land in the city’s Beacon Hill neighborhood will be planted with hundreds of different kinds of edibles: walnut and chestnut trees; blueberry and raspberry bushes; fruit trees, including apples and pears; exotics like pineapple, yuzu citrus, guava, persimmons, honeyberries, and lingonberries; herbs; and more. All will be available for public plucking to anyone who wanders into the city’s first food forest.

“This is totally innovative, and has never been done before in a public park,” Margarett Harrison, lead landscape architect for the Beacon Food Forest project, tells TakePart. Harrison is working on construction and permit drawings now and expects to break ground this summer.

The concept of a food forest certainly pushes the envelope on urban agriculture and is grounded in the concept of permaculture, which means it will be perennial and self-sustaining, like a forest is in the wild. Not only is this forest Seattle’s first large-scale permaculture project, but it’s also believed to be the first of its kind in the nation.

Read More

Way cool. So Seattle.

science-junkie: First algae powered building goes up in...

Tue, 14 May 2013 12:45:20 -0400

science-junkie:

First algae powered building goes up in Hamburg

A 15-unit apartment building has been constructed in the German city of Hamburg that has 129 algae filled louvered tanks hanging over the exterior of the south-east and south-west sides of the building—making it the first in the world to be powered exclusively by algae. Designed by Arup, SSC Strategic Science Consultants and Splitterwerk Architects, and named the Bio Intelligent Quotient (BIQ) House, the building demonstrates the ability to use algae as a way to heat and cool large buildings.

Read more

satanic2chainz: afrofuturistaffair: lizardqueen8: Did you...

Mon, 13 May 2013 22:52:34 -0400

satanic2chainz:

afrofuturistaffair:

lizardqueen8:

Did you know the U.S. government dropped a bomb on the “back to nature” group MOVE a black compound preaching peace, simplicity, and truth? The group is composed of blacks with dread locks who believe in living simply… 1 cop killed vs. 11 MOVE members (5 being children) killed in 1985 PLUS a 3 week old baby killed previously in 1978 and pregnant mothers being beaten by police into miscarriage. Educate yourself!

Interview with Ramona Africa of MOVE

the cops also shot move members fleeing from the burning buildings

This is why “niggers are scared of revolution.” Even when we move non violently, we’re murdered.

docecomoacanela: mew2: incredible Jesus… White people can...

Mon, 13 May 2013 22:48:18 -0400

docecomoacanela:

mew2:

incredible

Jesus…

White people can definitely say nigger and know that when they do so, it is strictly a slur and not ever a term of endearment. They can also be physically attacked. I’m not saying they should be. I’m saying it’s something that can happen.

ftpmovement: “Obama uses Jay Z to Trap Assata Shakur”: Shades...

Mon, 13 May 2013 22:42:45 -0400

ftpmovement:

“Obama uses Jay Z to Trap Assata Shakur”:

Shades of FBI and Al Sharpton?

-Kalonji Changa raps with Dhoruba Bin Wahad

The FTP Movement has long taken the position that Black elected officials and Congresspersons should reopen the investigation into the counterintelligence program and what it has done to Black Leadership in the Black Community. Especially in light of this recent call by the FBI to place Assata Shakur on the top terrorist lists due to the history of the FBI and their terrorism in the Black Community.

I chopped it up with former Black Panther and BLA Co-founder Dhoruba Bin Wahad about his thoughts on his comrade Assata Shakur being added to the FBI’s “Most Wanted Terrorist List” and the increase of her bounty to $2 Million Dollars.

Kalonji Changa: On May 2^nd, the 40 year Anniversary of the case in which the New Jersey police vamped on a car occupied by Zayd Shakur, Sundiata Acoli, and Assata Shakur, in which Zayd was murdered and Sundiata and Assata were both wounded by gunfire; the FBI placed Assata on the “Most Wanted Terrorist List” and the State of New Jersey raises an already outrageous bounty from $1 Million to $2 Million dollars accusing Assata of murdering Trooper Werner Forrester. Why is this happening now?

Dhoruba Bin Wahad: Increasingly it is becoming clear that the Obama administration in preparation for its change in its Latin American policy has been using Hip-Hop millionaires as pawns to cover some of its most unsavory actions. Only a few astute old activists recognized early that Obama was using Pop-culture like Richard Nixon used Ping Pong diplomacy in opening up China to a new US diplomacy.

The recent visit of Millionaire Rap Mogul Jay-Z and his wife Beyoncé to Cuba served as a cover for unofficial back-door communications to the Cuban government conveying the Obama’s intentions to modify or lift the four decade old illegal embargo/blockade of Cuba and that the presence of former Black Panther, and Black Liberation Army member Assata Shakur could hinder or derail this diplomacy. Jay-Z’s delegation included a State-Department “reliable” personage who transmitted the Obama’s administration’s position. Once the Republican/Right got wind of this overture they screamed bloody murder, but could do little about it as lifting the Cuban Blockade is now crucial to the US reasserting dominance in a post Castro-Chavez Latin America as the geo-economic center for Latin American nations. So Assata is a pawn in the chess game of US imperial diplomacy.

Kalonji Changa: That’s aninteresting perspective. What’s your thought’s on the new Jay Z/ Will Smith funded film “Free Angela: And All political Prisoners”.

Dhoruba Bin Wahad: Leading up to the Jay-Z jaunt to Cuba was the release of a major film, which Jay-Z reportedly co-financed along with Will Smith, entitled “Free Angela: And All political Prisoners”. Only a few activists perceived why such a film was produced now in the final term of the Obama administration. Those who viewed it say the movie whitewashes Angela’s relationship to the anti-Black nationalist and dogmatic Communist Party USA (that refused to support BPP/BLA political prisoners during the height of COINTELPRO repression). It was the CPUSA that made Angela an international symbol of racist repression while the Ruchel Mcgee’s marinate in California Dungeons. After her acquittal on conspiracy murder charges and a (CPUSA) whirl-wind international tour to thank followers for their support, Angela along with CPUSA members formed the National Committee Against Racist and Political Repression, and set up its main office in the CP’s New York Headquarters. It was from these opportunistic beginnings that legends, fact and myths around Angela gradually assumed lives of their own resulting in the blurring of the distinction between Black feminism and revolutionary Black women. But the purpose seems served, the rewriting of the history of Black resistance to institutional violence and Police murder is once more obscured in some respects by conventional anti-sexism. Many supporters of Assata have overlooked entirely the connections between recent notoriety around Assata’s exile and a series of seemingly unrelated events.

This is because, as one of Assata’s comrades says “few people know the auspices of Assata notoriety”. Assata emerged publicly from the armed front of the Black Liberation/Human Rights movement as a target of the FBI’s “Newkill” and CHESROB investigations. Not from the center or margins of Black feminism. She was never a COINTELPRO target as such, but one focus of the governments “anti-terrorist” response to the emergence of the BLA, FALN, Weather Underground in the early seventies following the split in the BPP according to leading authorities on COINTELPRO. Using the term “terrorist” to define Assata today is nothing new, the FBI/NYPD Joint Terrorist Task Force, formed in 1970 to take up the slack left by the exposure of COINTELPRO clearly indicates this. Although the FBI is attempting to retroactively distance themselves from the state terrorism of its past, COINTELPRO actions are the major reason for identifying Assata now as a terrorist. It’s nonetheless clear that the FBI has little moral authority to label the historical targets of its illegal repression as terrorists!

We should be taking little for granted nowadays, when governments lie to their people and lead them into war and Black politicians cheerlead. It should have been instantly revelatory why the Obama’s State Department issued a “tourist visa” to Rapper Jay-Z several weeks before the FBI announced its addition of Assata to its “Ten Most Wanted International Terrorist” list. It was speculated then, by former comrades of Assata heavily involved in Pan-African/Latin American issues, that this seeming renewed attention to Assata by the Obama Justice Department was the result of national law enforcement’s push back against Obama’s plan to cut back funding for the War on Drugs in Latin America with a renewed emphasis of economic Aide and poverty reduction in the region. Such a policy shift would deprive U.S. Law enforcement of almost a Trillion dollars- money and resources currently used to wage America’s war on drugs in the Americas. So not only is Assata a sacrificial pawn (to the politics of domestic law enforcement) and in Obama’s enlightened imperialism, but her safety and continued freedom will become the litmus test for the Cuban Revolution’s principles in the coming years.

Kalonji Changa is Author of the best selling “How to Build a People’s Army” and the founder of the grassroots community organization, FTP Movement. (www.Ftpmovement.ning.com) He can be reached at defendingthepoor@yahoo.com or on twitter @damnriotstarter

yaoibutts: i love how potato in french is pomme de terre, which pretty much means “earth...

Mon, 13 May 2013 22:23:50 -0400

yaoibutts:

i love how potato in french is pomme de terre, which pretty much means “earth apple.”

like what stupid frenchman saw this:

and said “zis petite légume looks like a, how you say, APPLE! hmmm… but it grows in ze earth… HON HON HON! MAIS OUI! C’EST UNE POMME DE TERRE!”

My mom played a practical joke on me when I was like 5 years old. She sliced up a potato, put in in a bowl and told me it was apple slices. I bit into one and had a fit!

abOriginill.

tranqualizer: [photo: image of a Black homeless man wearing a...

girljanitor: innocent-bystanders-inc: nudiemuse: princelesscom...

I’ve seen a few ppl post the petition to the President to remove Assata Shakur from the...

Racism only has real life effects for People of Color. Reverse racism does not exist.

Indigenisation: All African States Must Follow Zimbabwe's Example

Is The 70-Hour Work Week Worth The Sacrifice?

Photo

the-absolute-best-posts: infinitylooper: Something to think...

The Earth is 4.6 billion years old. Let’s scale that to 46 years. We have been here for 4 hours. Our industrial revolution began 1 minute ago. In that time, we have destroyed more than 50% of the world’s forests.

I be tryna tell y’all!

Photo

The AfroFuturist Affair: Drexciya: Not Your Average Middle Passage Story

deafmuslimpunx: afrofuturistaffair: lkrory21: Drexciya (2012)...

cosbyykidd: Man if you are gonna say “nigga” then just say it. Dont type “niggah/nigguh/n*gga”...

10 pounds of meat worms removed from a man’s intestines.

yogachick: rawlivingfoods: Seattle’s vision of an urban food...

science-junkie: First algae powered building goes up in...

satanic2chainz: afrofuturistaffair: lizardqueen8: Did you...

docecomoacanela: mew2: incredible Jesus… White people can...

ftpmovement: “Obama uses Jay Z to Trap Assata Shakur”: Shades...

yaoibutts: i love how potato in french is pomme de terre, which pretty much means “earth...

The Earth is 4.6 billion years old. Let’s scale that to 46 years.
We have been here for 4 hours. Our industrial revolution began 1 minute ago.
In that time, we have destroyed more than 50% of the world’s forests.