Archive for March, 2009
White people are terrifying
6:36 pm By la Macha · Bizarro · 2 Comments
20 Mar 2009No comment from la Macha. Just sit back, and enjoy satire in action.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | M – Th 11p / 10c | |||
| The New White Face of Crime | ||||
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PSA Uses Rihanna Incident as a Lesson for Teens
11:08 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Activism|Celebrities|Controversia|society|Violence|Women|youth · 7 Comments
20 Mar 2009While some people downplay the brutal beating suffered by pop star Rihanna at the hands of her boyfriend Chris Brown, one organization is looking to make an example of it.
Non-profit organization DoSomething has taken the transcript of Rihanna’s declaration to police after the beating and used it, word by word, to re-enact the incident in a PSA in an effort to warn teens about the dangers of dating abuse. Check out the video above and let us know what you think.
Via / Yahoo News
More Obama on the Tonight Show : Ablism, Special Olympics and Tokenism
10:29 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Media|Obama|TV · 4 Comments
20 Mar 2009Now here’s the thing. To me Obama’s off the cuff comment about him being praised for a lousy bowling score can be read a few ways.
Is he making fun of the way the Special Olympics tokenizes and infantalizes those with disabilities? To me the Special Olympics always seems akin to awing as a baby rolls on it’s tummy except we are usually dealing with older children an adults. “Aww look at the disabled run, how sweet”.
Or is he making fun of the disabled who choose to participate in the Special Olympics or disabled people in general?
Apparently the President felt that something was off with his comment as well, so much so that even before the show aired he issued an apology. Pero the apology wasn’t to the disabled community. It was to the Special Olympics.
Edited to add: Apparently the Chairman of the Special Olympics reacted to the comment on Good Morning America.
What movement exactly is the Chairman talking about? I think it’s good that yes we talk about words and their danger pero is the Special Olympics the face of the disability movement?
Que creen?
Empowering Our Young Mujeres in the Bronx
9:33 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Activism|Events|New York City|Women|youth · Comments Off
20 Mar 2009THIS Saturday, March 21, 2009
My Sister’s Keeper: Empowerment Day for Women and Girls at The Point, CDC
More than a Women’s History Month Celebration, this event is in response to a series of incidents of young women being harassed, in the Hunt’s Point Community. There have been several incidents of young women being harassed, followed and in some cases attacked on their way to programming at Rocking the Boat on Lafayette, near the waterfront where it is very dark and isolated. Some of these girls also go to The Point for activities. On this peninsula, in this Borough, in this city we are one community and we are our sister’s keepers.
3pm – 3:45pm Teen-led Discussion – How to have a healthy relationship; exploring the issue of domestic/dating violence in our community.
4pm – 4:45pm Panel – Community leaders will discuss creating safer streets for youth and the specific needs and challenges faced by young women, followed by Q & A. Panelists: Anita Antonetty, Job Skills Advocate, Rocking the Boat and Danny Peralta, Director for Arts and Education, The Point CDC, Shihan Warixi Soto, Founder & CEO of F.A.S.T., Dayanara Marte, Executive Director of Casa Atabex Ache
5pm – 6pm Self defense Workshop –led by Shihan Warixi Soto who teaches F.A.S.T.Female Alternative Street Tactics, a class designed for women and the streets of New York City.
Showcase Hosted by Mariposa & melleSOL
6pm – 8:30pm
Featuring: The 4 Most Wanted, MeliD Indigo, TreZure the Empress, Leeia, Sheila Maldonado, Shihan Warixi , melleSOL, Mariposa w/percussionist Julissa Vale, Amalgamate Dance Company and surprise guest.
Raffle and Door Prize.
Free for all High School students (with valid ID)
$5 for college students and adults.
Proceeds will go towards seed $ to establish a
Young Women/Girls Empowerment Program at The Point.
Kelston’s Kitchen
The NEW Restaurant at The Point will be OPEN!
The Point, CDC< o:p>
940 Garrison Avenue, Bronx, NY, 10474
718.542.4139
www.thepoint.org
6 Train to Hunt’s Point
PLEASE FORWARD
HOPE TO SEE YOU HERE THIS WEEKEND!
Obama Speaks to Jay Leno about the Country’s Challenges
9:29 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · iran|Politics|TV · 2 Comments
20 Mar 2009It’s really refreshing to see a U.S. President address the country in a medium that resonates with the regular citizen: late night TV. Refusing just to stand behind a podium and stick to talking points, President Obama sat down with Jay Leno to chat about the country’s biggest issue: the economy. If nothing else, he has guts like no other president has ever had with regard to facing the public. Check out the video:
What’s also refreshing is that he’s explaining complex issues like the AIG crisis in layman’s terms. It remains to be seen what kind of president Obama will be, but at least he’s speaking clearly to the public and not just dodging bullets.
Another really good sign? His opening of doors to the people and the government of Iran. Obama recorded a special New Years video message which was distributed through the Voice of America network, and which you can watch after the jump.
Read more…
Ojibway Migisi Bineshii reminds us that today is the 3rd annual National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. American Indians and Alaskan Natives have the 3rd highest diagnosis of HIV/AIDS.
Baseball Player Booed for Supporting Chavez
12:03 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Celebrities|Controversia|Politics|Sports|Venezuela · Comments Off
19 Mar 2009
Being a Chavez supporter can have its ups and downs. It really depends on the crowd you’re with, and in the case of Detroit Tigers All-Star player Magglio Ordoñez, the crowd is the fans and the reaction to Ordoñez’s support of Huguito has been anything but positive. NPR reports that Ordoñez has had to face all sorts of criticism from fans, most recently at the World Baseball Classic:
After every at-bat boos rain down on Ordonez from his team’s own supporters, and cheers erupt from Venezuelans in the stands when Ordonez strikes out. At issue is Ordonez’s vocal support of Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president known for his commitment to socialism and the glee he takes in criticizing the United States. Other famous Venezuelan players past and present have voiced support for President Chavez, and the fans have cut them a break.Venezuelan baseball expert Leonte Landino says in the cases of Melvin Mora, Ozzie Guillen, Dave Concepcion and Francisco Rodriguez, fans acknowledge “you can think different from me, but still you’re a baseball player and you’re representing Venezuela.”
But Ordonez is in another category, says Landino, who was working as a producer for ESPN Deportes during the World Baseball Classic games. Ordonez actively campaigned with Chavez, even appearing at softball events held to promote a vote to change the Venezuelan Constitution and eliminate term limits. That effort succeeded, allowing Chavez to run for re-election again in 2012.
This has earned Ordoñez the wrath of some Venezuelans and Venezuelan Americans. Chavez himself has called Ordoñez a “patriot” and the fans’ reaction “shameful”.
This makes me wonder: if it’s acceptable to mix sports with politics, why don’t we boo all the baseball players who supported Bush?
Via / NPR
The Latino Who Wanted to be President Kills the Death Penalty in New Mexico
9:14 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · crime|Justice|New Mexico · Comments Off
19 Mar 2009
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson may not be president or be in the Obama cabinet, pero he’s not letting that get him down and made a really positive move for all people in the United States. Yesterday he signed a law that abolishes the death penalty in New Mexico.
Regardless of my personal opinion about the death penalty, I do not have confidence in the criminal justice system as it currently operates to be the final arbiter when it comes to who lives and who dies for their crime”…
“Faced with the reality that our system for imposing the death penalty can never be perfect, my conscience compels me to replace the death penalty with a solution that keeps society safe.”
Studies have shown that the death penalty does not deter crimes and ends up costing tax-payers more.
The New Mexico ban goes into effect on July 1st and is not retroactive, meaning that it will only apply to crimes committed after that date. This part is problematic to me. Why not commute the death sentences to life imprisonment? I am not an legal expert pero perhaps there is a legal reason for not making the law retroactive? Currently there are two men on New Mexico’s death row.
New Mexico becomes the 15th state to nix the death penalty.
Via / The Latin Americanist
Quote of the Day: Obama on Immigration Reform
5:29 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · California|Immigration · 20 Comments
19 Mar 2009President Obama was in Costa Mesa, California, yesterday to hold a “town hall” meeting and he finally brought up the hot-button topic of immigration, and more specifically, immigration reform. The speech was vague and lacking content, as was to be expected, but here’s the most salient part:
“You’ve got to say to the undocumented workers… ‘Look, you’ve broken the law. You didn’t come here the way you were supposed to. So this is not going to be a free ride … What’s going to happen is you’re going to pay a significant fine.’
“‘You are going to learn english. You are going to… go to the back of the line so you don’t get ahead of somebody who was in Mexico City applying legally.’”
“‘But after you’ve done these things over a certain period of time, you can earn your citizenship. So that it’s not — it’s not something that is guaranteed or automatic. You’ve got to earn it.’ But over time, you get people an opportunity.”
How do you interpret this? How will this rhetoric translate into real policy?
Via / SGGP
Immigrant Detention is the New Money Maker
11:17 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Immigration|Justice|Money · 3 Comments
18 Mar 2009
In these economic times, those with the least suffer the most and become the new fodder for the prison industrial complex.
Washington paid nearly $55.2 million to house detainees at 13 local jails in California in fiscal year 2008, up from $52.6 million the previous year. The U.S. is on track to spend $57 million this year.
The largest federal contract in the state is with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, whose 1,400-bed detention center in Lancaster is dedicated to housing immigrants either awaiting deportation or fighting their cases in court. The department received $34.7 million in 2008, up from $32.3 million the previous year.
Some smaller cities have seen their income rise much faster. Glendale received nearly $260,000 in 2008, triple what it got the previous year. In Alhambra, last year’s $247,000 was more than double the previous year’s payments.
For some cash-strapped cities, the federal money has become a critical source of revenue, covering budget shortfalls and saving positions.
Via / The LA Times y gracias to Nezua via the Twitter
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