Truly Outrageous

Dig!

A lot of people writing good, motivating stuff right now, including some newer finds for yours truly.

Over at diaries of an eccentric nerd atahba hijibiji, zooey live posts some reflections (and questions) on WOC feminism in the West and in the so-called Third World.

I mean, if we, the women of color living in US, begin to call ourselves “Third World women” or “Third World feminists,” then, where will the women from the material Third World go? And in my humble opinion, Sandoval’s repeated use of the term “US Third World Feminism” is problematic, because it obliterates the actual Third World and relegates the question of the division between the First World and the Third World solely into an US-American domestic issue of racial and class equality. In general, I agree that there is a Third World within US or within any First World country, just as there are First Worlds within most Third World countries. But is that enough to say, that as individuals or groups living in First World societies, we are not getting the benefits (however small they might be) of the infra-structural facilities of centuries of colonial/neo-colonial drainage of wealth? Is it enough, in that context, to say that just because we are POC/WOCs we should be exempt from that critique? And, I guess, this will automatically bring us to the question then, that how as WOCs living in US or other First World countries, we can form bonds with women from the Third World?

Fire Fly, among others, makes some interesting comments on the post, so make sure to check those out as well.

Vox ex Machina gives us lots of immigrant rights information and updates, including details on raids in California and Maryland, and the vastly different treatment given Haitian and Cuban refugees.

Malik at The Struggle Within has begun a series on ‘The Business of Racism’ and he is not mincing words.

Black people suffer the most from the pursuit of external validation. Racism renders our bodies themselves into commodities, and off-brand ones at that. At the most reductive and depraved level, black bodies are marketed as a taboo fetish, exotically erotic and repugnantly alien at the same time. At the economic level, racism imposes a permanent barrier to full participation in the pursuit of what passes for happiness in America. At the social level, the stress and hollowness of competing for counterfeit tokens of worth in a rigged system breeds alienation and despair. Those who are spiritually unequipped to cope with these constant assaults on their personal dignity frequently explode with impotent rage or succumb to the enticements of fast money and chemical dreams. At that point, the criminal justice system picks up the pieces. Thus, racism is more than an attitude or an ideology; it is a comprehensive system that encompasses the moral, economic, social and political aspects of life.

Before I forget, the field negro just celebrated his blogiversary (congrats, field!). He’s one of my favorite bloggers for presenting the news with zero bullshit and a great sense of humor, for example: some ignorant radio hosts over in Jersey who like to play ’spot the immigrant’. VOM.

On the healthcare front, Lauren at Faux Real Tho! breaks down the illogic of lack of dental/eyecare in most employee benefits packages (that is, if you’re lucky enough to not be one of the 47 million uninsured Americans). Echidne addresses bias in media reporting of healthcare. Her critique focuses on distortions in reporting gender results, although race and class biases play their part, as this post by Sylvia indicates.

I’ve got a couple of fun links for my fellow lit nerds: some awesome poetry comics (a collaboration between Nick Flynn and Josh Neufeld); and an interview with novelist Scarlett Thomas, who writes some fierce female characters and seems to know a little something about everything.

Speaking of writing, Sylvia and I would like to announce the next Carnival of Creative Writing, which will be held Friday, May 4th. Stay tuned for exact location, but please start sending submissions (poetry, fiction, short essay) to sylviasrevenge [AT] gmail [DOT] com and ppoussin [AT] gmail [DOT] com. The theme for this carnival is regeneration. It’s so easy to get burnt out blogging, especially since so much of the news we share is discouraging and, well, scary. So we thought we could all use some words on how to keep going. (But please, do not send us any damn Hallmark crap about crocuses on the first day of spring. Write about spring if you must, but if I see the word crocus it will be like a radical hot-off up in your inbox!)

Finally, because I’m hungry, Liz at As the Tumor Turns posted a yummy super-healthy muffin recipe. Anybody want to make me some?

WARNING: GRUMPY KITTEN BELOW.