the morrígan ✶ phantom queen ✶ goddess of war, victory and death

“Corporations supporting things like BLM and Pride is largely performative and shouldn’t be overly praised or focused on. They’re just trying to do what they think will earn them money” and “Corporations openly showing support for things like BLM and Pride are incredibly important” and not mutually exclusive ideas.

Corporation support is not the source of social change, it’s the visible indication of it. A mall covered in rainbow flags with ‘pride month sales!’ is nothing that makes LGBT people more accepted, nor do tweets from companies about supporting the BLM protests do anything to stop police violence, but they DO show the shift in public mindset. Corporations don’t take risks. They don’t make bold statements that they feel are unpopular or will lose them money or support. They’re a litmus test for when a statement or symbol that has been taboo becomes a commonly held belief. 

When a corporation makes these kinds of statements, it means that the people out there fighting every day for these movements are having an effect. Their fight is causing a change in social perception to the point where businesses who carefully choose every single thing they say can post about solidarity with protesters and feel confidant that they are saying something that represents the feelings and beliefs of the majority. A mall being covered in Pride flags is a sign that the country will accept a mall filled with Pride flags. That those working to make social and cultural change are succeeding. 

This this this this FUCKING THIS.

“it’s not nothing to have moved the needle so far that companies have decided the big money is on the side of pandering to us instead of to the people who hate us”

Also, remember, that the corporations have decided that the money they will inevitably lose from the people going ‘durr burr I’m never buying from them again!’ isn’t worth it anymore - they’ve decided that the money and opinion of bigots isn’t worth catering to.

And that’s important as fuck, because if the argument “well, I’m not buying from you again!” loses its strength (“oh no, customer is key, we need them to pay our bills”), it means that the bigots do not represent enough sales or capital to be taken into consideration anymore.

And that in itself, is one hell of a victory.

This reminded me that during last presidential campaign in Poland, not more than few weeks ago, our president started saying homophobic stuff to get re-elected (I will spare you details) and many of Polish companies and organisations changed their logos to a rainbow ones as a show of support, INCLUDING CD PROJEKT RED, the company responsible for The Witcher games. And that was SUCH a huge move, bc I’m not gonna lie, a lot of gamers in Poland are homophobic (and sexist) and they were SO LIVID, claiming they won’t buy their games anymore and CD PROJEKT RED just didn’t care about their opinion or money. That was powerful, especially in such a homophobic country as Poland.

So. Those things matter, truly. Even if they are made for money but the sole fact that they CAN be made for money? Only shows where the mainstream is now.

y’all saying BLM for one situation just don’t sit right with me, it goes beyond police brutality!!! it’s Black women dying at a higher rate during childbirth. it’s Black people being exposed to COVID-19 at a higher rate. it’s Black people being forced into low income communities. it's Black people being denied job opportunities due to the name on their applications. it's Black people being denied into higher institutions despite having the same qualifications as their non-Black counterparts. it's Black people having their creations and ideas stolen without being given credit simply because a good percentage of society still believes in 2020 that Black people are not creative enough or smart enough or skilled enough. it's decreasing the federal funding for schools in predominantly black neighborhoods due to gerrymandering. it's the kidnapping and murders of black men, women, and children that don't make it on the news. this isn't just about police brutality. this is deeper than that.

PLEASE DONT BUY YOUR BOOKS FROM AMAZON

100+ more bookstores here: https://aalbc.com/bookstores/list.php

Online black-owned bookstores for all those still quarantined: https://afrotech.com/10-black-owned-online-bookstores-to-support-while-at-home

There are no heroes. In life, the monsters win.

insp.

i haven't seen posts about yemen so im making one

here's how we can help them. sign these petitions and donate money

Kalsuma's Yemen crisis appeal - Emergency food aid - donate money

Stop the war and end the famine in Yemen - petition

Yemen emergency appeal - donate money

Yemen Crisis: Save Lives Before its Too Late! - donate money

Iftiak's Emergency Yemen Appeal - donate money

DONATE TO PROTECT CHILDREN IN YEMEN

Stop selling weapons to Saudi Arabia. They help fuel the Yemeni civil war - petition

SUPPORT OUR YEMEN HUMANITARIAN APPEAL - donate money

Yemen Food Appeal - donate money

Yemen is starving - donate money

can we signal boost

Matthew Rushin, a young black man with Autism and ADHD, was sentenced to 50 years in prison after being in a car accident, after which he was manipulated into pleading guilty for attempted suicide and murder with the promise he could return home to his mother who was battling cancer at the time. 40 years of the 50 were suspended, but he still has to serve 10 years.

There were serious injuries during the accident, but no one died. Matthew has never been in trouble before.

In the words of his mother, “Matthew has been my rock through my battle with cancer and understands what life is all about.Matthew exemplifies what it means to be a productive member our community, he is a loving, caring, compassionate about life and everything that surrounds it, student at ODU, worked at Panera and volunteered throughout our community.”

Here is the full story from his mother

Here is the petition for Governor Ralph Northam to review the case and reduce his sentence.

His case is not getting nearly the amount of attention it deserves. Please sign the petition and reblog this. Here is the official Facebook, and Instagram page is @ justice4matthewrushin

extensive thread of blm related petitions that still haven’t reached their goal

start pushing for prison abolition or at the very least widespread reform right now i mean it. you can’t say “fuck the police” and “all cops are bastards” and talk about alternatives to police, but say nothing about alternatives to prison and the crime against humanity that is the racist drug war and the U.S.’s mass incarceration, the financial machine behind the police industrial complex

as much as i love bon appetit i am not going to watch another video of them until rapoport is fired and all the editors of colour are properly compensated for their work and i encourage everyone else to do the same. ba has a huge amount of fans on tumblr and we bring a lot of revenue for them through yt so it’s vital that we take a stand with this

i’d also recommend unsubscribing from their youtube entirely if you’re subscribed!! you can always resubscribe once the boycott is proven successful

rapaport has resigned!!! now the editors of color need to be properly compensated in backpay and for all future work.

I don’t think “8 Can’t Wait” is the answer to our police problem.

I think it is time to defund the police.

Transcript:WHY DO PEOPLE SAY DEFUND THE POLICE? In the last few days, you might have seen #DefundThePolice trending on Twitter. Here’s a breakdown: What does it mean to defund the police? Defunding the police means reducing police budgets (& power) on a local and state level and investing that money directly into poor communities of color through public services. Reforming the police is not working. Policing reforms or “procedural reforms” are changes to police department protocols like implicit bias training, mindfulness, and police-community encounters These procedural changes cost cities millions and even billions of dollars, like in NYC Minneapolis was a model for progressive policing reform, but those efforts have been ineffective in stopping police abuse. In the last 40 years, police power and jurisdiction have expanded massively, especially in poor communities of color Police response doesn’t serve the best interests of poor communities of color The police answer to mismanaged schools? School policing (school to prison pipeline). Inadequate mental health services? Police. Drug overdoses? Criminalize users. The police has historically adopted a hostile and aggressive “war on crime” mentality that leaves Black or brown people imprisoned or killed. Instead of investing in poor communities of color, cities respond by putting greater police presence and granting them managerial authority. Defunding the police reduces their presence in poor communities of color, reducing poice-civilian interaction, and thus violent altercations. Public institutions are being defunded while police budgets are increasing Police budgets are consistently increased but community and public institutions are slashed, like schools, hospitals, and libraries. Then, infrastructure in poor communities deteriorates, and police are put there as a solution to “solve” every social problem instead of addressing the root causes. Redirected and reinvested public funds can uplift those communities while also reducing crime and increasing safety. Research shows that crime is a response to social conditions, so by defunding police and redirecting money into communities, violent crime is reduced and communities are uplifted. What does defunding look like?

Divesting & investing: money diverted away from police is redistributed to areas disproportionately affected by poverty and lack of infrastructure (often communities of color).

Redirecting resources into community-based initiatives: this helps local grassroots groups that have been doing work in these areas for so long and who know and have been engaging with their communities.

Implementing non-police solutions to social problems: Affordable housing, healthcare, employment - all are safety issues.

How can I get involved with calling for defunding police in my city?

Sources & more reading:

Watch to the end.

Activism

Supporting BLM or any social justice movement is not limited to the picket lines. Protests aren’t for everyone. But no matter your skill or ability, you can still drive change!

Protesting is one great way to get involved, but there’s dozens of others:

Artists

Writers

Scientists

Educators

White collar professionals

Blue collar professionals

Speakers and community leaders

Engineers and data scientists

Students

Medical professionals

Children and teens

Everyone!

Kindness is often mistaken for softness and let me tell you, friends… that is a mistake you don’t want to make.