Archive for March, 2009
Why Obama Proves A.G. Eric Holder’s Point of Cowardice in the Face of Racism
11:02 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Immigration|Politics|race · 3 Comments
4 Mar 2009Post-racial my Rican culo. It’s disturbing enough that the only time we have heard the Obama administration speak of immigration reform it has been in the Spanish language media, where it is perceived that English speaking eyes aren’t watching or in reaction to an ICE raid. Then the Obama administration announces that it is boycotting the second World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance.
The Administration will boycott the conference to protest what it deems the unfair equation of Zionism with racism in the outcome documents of the first conference held in Durban, South Africa, and now the second conference, also known as “Durban II, as well .” Other concerns cited by Administration officials, some of whom recently attended preparatory meetings in Geneva,in their justification of the boycott include a proposal to place restrictions on the defamation of religions and any language calling for reparations for slavery.
Looking at it from the perspective of a Latina whose community has seen an increase of hate crimes, I want to ask Obama, where is the change? As more and more communities of color live in dire economic conditions, not just because of the current economic crisis but because of pre-existing conditions of inequality built into the economic system, where the hell is the change? While the Department of Homeland Security is all too willing to send more militarized police to the U.S. Mexico border to help fight a drug war that the U.S. helped to create and whose enforcement is racist (not to mention imperialist) the U.S. is not going to talk about race?
Rather than join the rest of the world in Durban and in condemning the killing and discrimination on the part of the Israeli and other governments-including our own-, Obama’s boycott reflects his choice to pursue the more dangerous path to dealing with race, racism and discrimination: symbolism at the expense of real changes to very devastating policies. Such are the perils of our increasingly post-racial presidency in a racially-troubled world.
Political choices like the Durban decision or the blind eye turned to the indiscriminate killing of and discrimination against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank make one wonder if the Obama Administration has also chosen to become the black face of empire.
Check please and keep the change.
Teen Girl Attacked by Police Speaks Out
9:25 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Justice|New York City|race|Women|youth · 1 Comment
4 Mar 2009One comment here was curious to hear what the teen at the center of this horrific example of police brutality had to say. While there is no sound for the painful to watch, more painful to have lived, video, Malika Calhoun spoke to CBS the other day. The video of the attack is violent so feel free to listen and not watch.
Amiga BFP makes the important point that women of color are often not thought of as victims of police brutality and yet we are not just beaten but also suffer sexual assaults at the hands of those allegedly here to protect us.
Two police officers have been assigned to desk
duty while prosecutors and the police investigate
a complaint that at least one of them raped an
intoxicated woman after they escorted her into
her apartment in the East Village three months ago, the police said on Sunday.
Then when I write on how difficult it is for me to teach my 11 year old about interactions with the police, there is little listening and much attacking.
Police can be a danger to our lives.
Thousands Protest Racist Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Arizona
8:00 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Activism|arizona|Immigration · 2 Comments
4 Mar 2009
No evil deed goes unnoticed by a community united against hate and on Saturday in Phoenix, thousands united against Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
The crowd gathered at Steele Indian School Park in the morning to hear several speakers, musicians, religious and tribal leaders offer their thoughts and prayers before setting out south down Central Avenue towards downtown. The crowd steadily grew as the march advanced in the near-90 degree heat of the Arizona desert.
This latest exercise of 1st Amendment rights to assembly was in response to the escalation of anti-immigrant and anti-latino actions by Sheriff Arpaio since winning reelection in November 2008. The racial profiling has increased under his leadership and families continue to be separated by gestapo-like workplace & home raids that Arpaio claims are part of his oath to uphold state law. He also believes that it’s his duty as sheriff to segregate and humiliate migrant workers, treating them like animals by electrifying the perimeter fence around their tent city detainment facility.
The actions of Arpaio have attracted the attention of activist celebs like Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine, who was at the march.
“By parading human beings shackled in chain gang stripes,” said De la Rocha, “in a misguided effort to collectively humiliate and to terrorize an entire population, he reopened the wounds from which we all still suffer, by invoking the painful memories of slavery and segregation…by doing so, he has not only brought shame upon the state of Arizona, but is bringing shame upon the entire nation.”
De la Rocha also came down on the country’s new Secretary of Homeland Security, who was governor of Arizona before her current post.
“If Janet Napolitano seeks to perform her mission as head of the so-called Homeland Security Department,” admonished De la Rocha, “she must realize the dangerous threshold that the 287(g) agreements have crossed. She must deal directly and quickly with the real threat to peace and security here in Arizona, by terminating the 287(g) agreement with Sheriff Arpaio’s office and joining the courageous members of congress who have begun an investigation into his criminal behavior.”
Via / The Sanctuary and Latino Politico
We Realize This is Getting Annoying
7:43 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · VivirLatino · Comments Off
4 Mar 2009
moar funny pictures
VL has been stuck on dead in terms of posts for the past 2 days due to a problem with our new server. You guys have been able to access the site, but not read any new content, and for this we apologize. Thanks for hanging in there with us as we work out these annoying kinks…we know how disappointing it is to not find fresh posts, but we are here working behind the scenes to make things better for you.
Muchas gracias!
JLo and Marc Suing Stroller Company
7:01 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Celebrities|children|Chismes|Entertainment|Justice · Comments Off
4 Mar 2009
They might not be hurting for money, but JLo and husband Marc Anthony are going after some dough — 5 million big ones — in a suit against Silver Cross, Ltd., the makers of a baby stroller who they claim used their names and images without permission. Check out the video and get the whole story after the jump.
Is a Teen Kicking a Shoe Deserving of Getting Punched?
9:00 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Women|youth · 5 Comments
2 Mar 2009Above is a video of Deputy Paul Schene of King County, Washington kicking and punching a 15 year old teenager arrested for stealing a car last November. The girl can be seen kicking her show towards the officer which provoked a violent attack. The deputy, facing excessive force charges has declared himself not guilty. Defense attorneys are claiming that since the video has no sound it doesn’t tell the whole story. What on earth could this young woman have said to justify Schene’s actions?
Womanist Musings has a post up related to this horrible attack and gives a recent accounting of how black woman are impacted by police brutality.
Via / Pam’s House Blend
Second Attacker of Jose Sucuzhanay Arrested and Claims Self-Defense
7:00 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · GLBT|Immigration|New York · Comments Off
2 Mar 2009
Last week I wrote how one of the men who killed Jose Sucuzhanay in a racist and homophobic hate crime in Brooklyn was arrested. A second arrest has been made. Keith Phoenix was arrested on last Friday and is claiming that the fatal beating was provoked when Jose and his brother kicked the car door Phoenix was driving and that Jose looked like he was reaching for a weapon.
During Phoenix’s arraignment, his lawyer Jay Schwitzman told the court, “Mr. Phoenix went to break up the fight, and during the fight, there was a weapon brandished by the deceased…It is not gay bashing or a hate crime.” The lawyer also countered Friday’s accounts from Police Commissioner Ray Kelly that painted Phoenix as a cold-blooded killer who questioned, “What’s the big deal?” Schwitzman said that Phoenix is “remorseful and he recognizes the seriousness” of the accusations against him.
No weapon was recovered at the scene to my knowledge.
What disturbs me most about this defense is how it sounds like the defenses we have heard so many times coming from police officers who brutalize people, especially in people of color communities. Often the defense of “I thought he had a gun” has been enough to excuse brutal police behavior. I’m thinking cases like Amadou Diallo and Anibal Carrasquillo where no gun was ever found. To have people of color use this defense for the murder of another person of color really bothers me. To have this defense used for a homophobic murder really bothers me.
It makes me wonder how do we within people of color communities talk about and deal with how divide and conquer politics are contributing to anti-immigrant hate? How are we dealing with the homophobia we see in our communities. How do we build coalitions that create space to talk about these things and recognize and act together against hate crimes based on race and identity?
Via/ Gothamist
A Celebration of Words, Power & Latina Lesbian Identity
7:00 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Events|GLBT|New York City · Comments Off
1 Mar 2009Seems like this is a good way to start March.
Sunday
A Celebration of Words, Power & Latina Lesbian Identity
March 1, 2009 / 3p.m. – 5p.m.
LGBT Community Center
208 West 13th Street (close to 14th street trains: A, 1, 2/3, C)
NYC 10019
Hosted by Las “Buenas Amigas”
Refreshments served – $5 donation
Sinister Wisdom and Las “Buenas Amigas” co-host a stimulating,
scintillating, thought-provoking afternoon of “Words, Power & Latina
Lesbian Identity” – Issue74 available on site with signing by
authors
Sinister Wisdom “Issue 74″ features 76 Latina contributors –
Juanita Ramos, Guest Editor
“This issue of Sinister Wisdom brings together the voices of 76 women born in 12 Latin American countries and across the United States. It is an honor for me at this time to once again gather together the voices of so many Latina lesbians.”
“Este ejemplar the Sinister Wisdom reune las voces de 76 mujeres
nacidas en 12 paises latinoamericanos y los Estados Unidos. Es para mi un gran honor una vez mas poder exponer a las voces de tantas lesbianas latinas.”
Featured NYC Writers include:
Rosita Angulo Libre de Marulanda
Glorya Cabrera
Alina Galliano
Antonieta Gimeno
Juanita Ramos
Rose Santos-Cunningham
Sinister Wisdom is a multicultural lesbian literary & art journal, based in Berkeley California, committed to publication of voices of all lesbians be heard and documented.
Las “Buenas Amigas” is a Latina Lesbian educational, social/cultural, political, and recreational organization; based in New York, devoted to the ideal of creating a visible presence in our society, and a unique, safe space in which to address, discuss, inform, act on, and empower ourselves on the issues that affect our community the most (such as homophobia and any and all other forms of oppression).
For more information, contact: Glorya Cabrera @ lababycakes@ yahoo.com
Hola!
VivirLatino is a daily publication published by Mamita Mala Media, dedicated to featuring all the latest politics, culture, entertainment of interest to the diverse Latin@ diaspora.
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