Transphobia An Unacceptable Part Of A VA Middle School's Mass Shooting Drill

Because mass shootings on school campuses happen far too frequently in the United States, one of the facts of life for students currently attending our public schools is active shooter drills.

One recent active shooter drill at a Stafford County, VA middle school had a unnecessary helping of transphobia injected into it   

During the drill, a trans feminine student was not only barred from going into either the boys or girls locker rooms by school staff, she was told by the PE teachers to sit alone in the bleachers and subsequently in the hall while the cisgender students in her physical education class were immediately sheltered in the nearest locker rooms and bathrooms.

This is outrageous on many levels.   An active shooter drill happens so that kids are taught the basic procedures necessary to survive an attack like getting to shelter quickly.   Any hesitation in doing so can be deadly.

The PE teachers in question not only outed the student by doing this, they basically made the problematic statement to the world that you considered the mere presence of this trans child in the student body to be more dangerous than some assailant who is gleefully shooting up a school.

You also left that trans student, through your transphobic actions, exposed had this been an actual active shooter situation. 

Stafford County Public Schools spokeswoman Sherrie Johnson said in a statement concerning this disturbing incident:

"Stafford County Public Schools does not comment on individual student incidents to avoid divulging confidential information. However, the new superintendent has requested a review of all protocols and procedures to ensure that all children are treated with dignity and respect. We take such matters very seriously and they will be addressed. The welfare of all students is of the utmost importance for SCPS."

Ms Johnson, unfortunately the teachers at the SCPS middle school in question failed to demonstrate during the drill that the welfare of this SCPS trans feminine middle school student was of the utmost importance to them,

When asked by reporters if the trans feminine girl should have been allowed into the girls' locker room because she identifies as a girl, Johnson said that all the policies, practices and safety procedures are under review.

The Virginia and national trans community will be watching to see if the SCPS policy review is not only expeditiously conducted, but what recommendations or policy adjustments come out of it that protect this trans child and others that happen to matriculate in this district 

Of course, news of what happened to the still unidentified trans child has pissed some folks off. 
People in the district and the Stafford County area are planning to attend the next scheduled Stafford County Public Schools board meeting scheduled for tomorrow night at 6:30 PM EDT to let the board and new Stafford County Public Schools superintendent Dr Scott Kizner have it.

One thing that needs to be repeatedly stated until it drilled into the heads of every employee and administrators in that district, is that a trans child's life is just as valuable as any cisgender kid. 

And that includes protecting their lives in an active shooter situation.

Thoughts and Prayers Won't End Mass Shootings- Gun Bans Will

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.James 2:26

We are tired of after every mass shooting Republican politicians expressing their 'thoughts and prayers' ad nauseum for the victims of mass shootings, lowering flags to half staff, and then obeying their NRA masters and doing nothing about what will really stop the epidemic of mass shooting in this country.

Banning assault weapons.

This latest mass shooting in Texas happened in a church, so 'thoughts and prayers' weren't enough.

It's past time for legislative action that we know will stop these killings.  An assault weapons ban combined with instant background checks when guns are purchased.

These are the works that are needed to demonstrate that your faith is sincere.   If you can't do that, or start mouthing off a bunch of NRA talking points,  then we already know you are part of the GOP dry as dust religion and will not act to stop gun violence.

And I suspect the only thing that will move you from that do nothing position that gets you an A rating from the NRA is you or a family member being caught up in one of those mass shootings.

And even if that scenario happens, then I doubt that you GOP legislators will do anything to stop mass shootings except flap your gums about it.  '

What we need in this critical period in American history are legislators tough minded enough to pass those laws, judges who are willing to swat down the inevitable NRA lawsuit designed to kill that law, and people even more tough minded enough to enforce them.

Moni's Thoughts On Vegas Terrorist Attack

I woke up this morning to discover this 62 year old thug, Stephen Paddock opened fire from his 32nd story room at the Mandalay Bay Hotel on an outdoor country concert across the street from his hotel.

Paddock killed 50 people, and injured or wounded another 400 before killing himself in the worst mass shooting terrorist attack since last year's Pulse one.

It's sad that every time I hear about a mass shooting, the first though that crosses my mind is "please don't let the shooter be a person of color'  (or enter your marginalized group here). 

The way the white dominated media covered the shooting told me everything thing i needed to know about it before I even saw a picture of the alleged perpetrator.    The reluctance to call it a terrorist attack.   The insistence of the use of 'lone wolf' to describe this terror attack.   The reluctance to immediately put a photo up of the terrorist or call him that.   The attempt to humanize the perpetrator and refrain from demonizing him like they would if the person executing this attack was anything but a white male. 

So what does this say about white males and their propensity for violently shooting people?   When will Congress open up an investigation about that?

This Las Vegas terror attack also speaks volumes to non-white Americans about how the media and conservative politicians have racialized terrorism

Let's call it what it is and not sugarcoat it because a white male is involved.   It was a terrorist attack executed by another radicalized white male seeking to Make America Great Again when it comes to our unmatched ability to rain death upon our fellow citizens by stupidly allowing anyone with a pulse at the behest of the National Racist  Rifle Association to own an assault weapon. 

When police entered his room they found ten rifles and magazine and ammo

Spare me any chatter about 'this isn't the right time' to talk about banning assault weapons?  When will be the right time?  When you lose a loved one to the next terrorist attack executed by some radicalized white male?

Tell me when is the 'right time' to talk about gun violence?  Because it seems that the right time to talk about it for you ammosexuals and mass shootings overwhelmingly being committed by white males is 'never'.

And once again the Republican Party will do nothing.  They will 'offer prayers', then will back then up with the same inaction that we have seen for over a decade, and then wring their hands when the next terrorist attack involving assault weapons happens.
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Ugh, Texas College Campus Carry Law Takes Effect

Just what we needed on Texas college and university campuses, armed drunken frat boys.

In more GOP ammosexual idiocy sponsored by the NRA and the idiots comprising our Texas Republican legislative majority, campus carry is now allowed on the campuses of public Texas colleges and universities.  It is now the eighth state, after Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Utah and Wisconsin to do so.

What's the difference between campus carry and open carry?   Semantics.   Open carry is banned on Texas college and university campuses.  

But CONCEALED licensed permit holding ammosexuals have the rights as of today to carry their handguns on public Texas colleges and universities, and only the university presidents have the authority under the law to declare areas of the campus as 'gun free zones'

Texas private colleges and universities have the ability to opt out of the looney SB 11 law, and many of them like Houston's Rice University, Baylor University in Waco and others promptly did.  

There is also the ability to declare areas on Texas public college and university campuses as gun-free zones, but doesn't look like this is happening in the areas where it counts in classrooms and faculty offices, and only the university presidents can do so..

They had no problem however banning campus carry in on campus stadiums and arenas.  Nope, can't let those football and basketball attendees of our games that pay for the athletic programs become free fire zones, inside the classrooms are okay.

The law signed by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) took effect today, which happens to be the 50th anniversary of the 1966 day that 24 year old Marine trained sniper and UT architectural engineering student Charles Whitman, after killing his wife and mother before heading to the UT campus, climbed into the observation deck of the 27 story tower at the center of the campus that at the time was one of the tallest buildings in Austin, armed with rifles, pistols, and a sawed off shotgun.

Over the next terrifying 92 minutes, starting at 11:48 AM CDT Whitman killed 13 people and wounded 30 others on campus and up to two blocks away before he himself was gunned down by APD officers Ramiro Martinez, George McCoy and UT employee Allen Crum to end the carnage.

It was sadly one of the first mass shootings that happened on a school campus, and we would see that reprehensible list get longer at Columbine, Sandy Hook, and Virginia Tech just to name a few.

The reality based folks in Texas are pushing back against SB 11, with the most vehement opposition happening on that same UT Austin campus that witnessed firsthand 50 years ago the problem of having an armed shooter blasting away indiscriminately at unarmed people minding their own business people

But what we are seeing already before the fall semester even starts is the chilling effect it is having on free speech and debate in Texas public college academic settings, which is probably what the conservative authors of this law were hoping for when they proposed and passed it.

"Weapons designed to end human life have no place in the academic life of the University, except when carried by duly authorized law officers." the University of Houston faculty senate wrote in a resolution condemning SB 11 last year.  "The diverse campus communities and free academic discourse are especially threatened by the presence of deadly weapons in teaching, research and living spaces."

Amen, and proud of the faculty of my alma mater standing up for common sense.  Their thoughts are echoed by other faculty members across the Lone Star State.

I also feel for the dedicated campus police officers across our state who will have to deal with the headaches brought on by this idiotic law.

There are times when things happen in classrooms and discussions get heated.  I have seen testosterone fueled drama between frats at step shows and intramural sports blow up into fights.   Students and professors at times have heated arguments over grades and other subjects inside their offices and classrooms..  Professors have been pissed off when they get denied tenure.  Collegiate romantic relationships go sour.

Now imagine a gun being introduced into to all those situations I just mentioned.   What could go wrong?  

We sadly know the answer to that question.

Let The Tapdancing About This Latest Domestic Terror Attack Begin

Wednesday night 21 year old Dylann Roof walked into a side door of the historic Emanuel AME Church in Charleston SC and attended a Bible study happening there for an hour/

He then whipped out a concealed handgun and began shooting the attendees, killing 9 people and wounding three before being captured after a 14 hour manhunt yesterday.. 

His stated reason according to one of the survivors, was that "I have to do it.  You're raping our women and taking over the country. You have to go."

And homey was involved with white supremacist groups.   So what do you think the good people at FOX Noise had to say about this domestic terrorism situation involving one of those good conservative Americans?   That it happened because of 'America's acceptance of trans people like Caitlyn Jenner', bellowed Erik Erickson.

Yep, they are in full distract, deflect and 'blamed the victim. mode.  They are also trying to play that tired 'lone crazed wolf' card.

Anything to deflect from the fact that this is the living breathing manifestation of anti-Black hatred they have pushed on right wing talk radio and FOX Noise.    Hate thoughts + hate speech + unfetter gun ownership = hate violence.

So stay tuned to see how the conservative movement tries to whitesplain away this hate crime committed by another white male weaned on their relentless anti-Black talking points?

Archie Dies

One of my childhood pleasures which probably surprised some of my readers, was announcing my love for Archie comics. 

My dormant interest in the Archie comics and the Riverdale gang was reawakened after the six series arc of comics (that I own) in the Life With Archie series launched in 2010 was published which depicted him being married to Veronica and another marriage scenario to Betty.

It was interesting to note in those six issues how his life evolved along different trajectories in both instances based on whether Betty or Veronica was his spouse.

I was also intrigued by issues #608 and 609 in which he and Valerie Smith of Josie and the Pussycats briefly dated and issue #636, the gender swap one in 2012 in which the eternal love triangle between Archie, Betty and Veronica gets gender flipped and it's a female Archina being pursued by Billy and Ronnie.

But hitting the stands today is Life With Archie issue #36 in which our hero is shot while trying to stop an assassination attempt on openly gay  US Senator Kevin Keller.  

Keller is one of the newer characters in the Archie universe. He's a married military vet (issue #16) who is pushing for more gun control after his partner Clay Walker is shot in a robbery attempt
     

Archie unfortunately doesn't survive the shooting and dies.  In Issue #37 the story continues and skips ahead a year as all his friends honor his legacy as the series of comics that feature adult versions of Archie and his pals concludes.

As to who shot Archie?   That will be revealed as well. 

The Life With Archie series touched on the post Riverdale High School lives of our fave characters.  It also tackled more socially relevant storylines and topics that seems at times ripped from the headlines such as Keller's same gender marriage to Clay, the death of beloved teacher Ms. Grundy and sometimes Archie love interest Cheryl Blossom tackling breast cancer and affordable health care.

Now the Archie writers are taking one the issue of gun control and the senseless violence that plagues our society.

Countdown to Fox Noise and the conservafools slamming the issues in 5...4...3...2...1... 

If they haven't sold them out at my fave comics stands, I'll definitely be getting those two issues.

Do Transpeople Need A '2nd Amendment Remedy' To The Anti-Trans Violence Problem?

"It doesn't mean that I advocate violence, but at the same time, I am not against using violence in self-defense. I don't call it violence when it's self-defense, I call it intelligence."-Malcolm X

I'm pondering this quote and the gun debate in the wake of more infuriating news out of Philadelphia of another anti-trans violence incident. 

A gunman forced his way into a trans woman's third floor apartment, pistol-whipped her and shot her in the head.  She fortunately survived it and is recovering at Hahnemann University Hospital.

I stumbled across a January 2009 TransGriot post that I wrote during another wave of anti-trans violence incidents and began to examine once again the question of whether we should consider '2nd Amendment Remedies' to deal with the problem of the out of control anti-trans violence.

I live in Texas which along with 32 other states has an ALEC sponsored Stand Your Ground law I hated before the Trayvon Martin killing and I despise even more today.  My personal philosophy about guns is a mixed one.  

On one hand Malcolm X has a point in the quote I posted at the beginning of this essay.  When you are being repeatedly subjected to near genocidal levels of unprovoked violence, then it is a viable option for the people that unprovoked violence is being aimed at to intelligently consider using violence in self-defense 

Translation:  Bust a cap in 'em, but only in self defense.

But that conflicts with my personal philosophy on guns that primarily mirrors what FoxSports.com columnist Jason Whitlock wrote in a December 2012 column in the wake of the Kasandra Perkins-Jovan Belcher murder-suicide last December. 

"Handguns do not enhance our safety. They exacerbate our flaws, tempt us to escalate arguments, and bait us into embracing confrontation rather than avoiding it."

I'm quite aware that something has to be done about the unacceptable levels of anti-trans violence disproportionately affecting Latina and African-American trans women.  But I'm also not keen on additions to the over 300 plus million handguns already causing havoc on American streets.

I'm also concerned if we have an instance in which an armed trans woman found herself in a situation in which she shot and killed someone that instigated an unprovoked attack on her and then claimed the Stand Your Ground defense because of justified fear her life was in jeopardy, I submit that jacked up law would work no better for us than it did for Marissa Alexander.

Anti-trans violence is a multifaceted problem requiring a multifaceted solution.   While the gun manufacturers and their NRA shills might be happy to see more trans customers parting with their precious T-bills to buy their instruments of death in designer colors, I'm not. 

But at the same time I'm beyond sick and tired of the long lists of names we read at TDOR's around the world every November.   If the trans-haters out there know there is a possibility their desire to bash or kill a transperson may end up with them taking the long dirt nap instead of the transperson, that's a point in the favor of the trans folks packing heat in whatever color and caliber they desire. 

I'm not going to criticize trans people who believe that 2nd Amendment remedies need to be part of the discussion in terms of the measures we employ in putting a dent in and eventually ending anti-trans violence or who paraphrase the Pink Pistols slogan in that armed transpeople don't get jacked with.

But as I said at the conclusion of the 2009 post and will restate and remix here, I'd much rather see a resolution to the problem of anti-trans violence that doesn't involve busting caps in people and getting concealed carry permits.

But since the trans haters aren't going to renounce violence aimed at us anytime soon, it would be wise for us in the trans community to consider the intelligent use of violence in self defense.

Stand Your Ground Law Needs To Die, Not Our Kids

Jet magazine in its nearly six decades of publication has had many prominent African-Americans in the worlds of business, politics, sports and the entertainment world on its covers. 

It has had a long proud history of chronicling the inhumanity aimed at our people and especially our children..  Jet published in September 1955 the pictures of Emmitt Till's swollen, disfigured body lying in his open casket during his funeral.   Those photos are credited with galvanizing our community around the Civil Rights Movement and fueling our determination to see it through. 

At the newsstands this week will be the latest issue of Jet with Jordan Davis on the cover and an interview with his distraught parents

We're probably on the cusp of seeing the 21st century's 'Emmit Till moment' in the African-American community in terms of being sick and tired of being sick and tired of our kids dying at the hands of another proud accomplishment of the National Rifle Association, the Kill Black People With Impunity Stand Your Ground Laws.

The latest incident in Florida in which a Black teenager died at the hands of a white male assailant now claiming the 'stand your ground' defense is transpiring in Jacksonville, FL.

17 year old Jordan Davis was on his way home minding his own business along with two friends in their SUV outside a Jacksonville gas station November 23 listening to rap music after shopping at the mall during the after Thanksgiving Black Friday sales.  

46 year old Michael Dunn parked in the space next to the vehicle along with his fiance Rhonda Rouer to attend a wedding when they stopped at the store to buy a bottle of wine before returning to their hotel.  They parked next to the SUV containing Davis and his three friends as Rouer went into the store to buy wine to take back to their hotel room.. 

Dunn confronted the teens about their music and demanded they turn it down.   The teens responded by cranking up the volume and according to Dunn's attorney threatened him.   Dunn grabbed his gun out of his glove compartment, claimed he saw a shotgun in the SUV and fired eight to nine shots at the SUV that struck Davis who was sitting in the backseat before driving off. 

Police found no weapon in the teen's vehicle and Dunn was arrested a day later, charged and indicted on December 13 for the first degree murder of Jordan Davis.   Dunn of course is hiding behind the 2005 Stand Your Ground law that Florida Governor Rick Scott (R) and his task force claim there's nothing wrong with.

Tell that bull feces to the parents of Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis.  70% of the people who claimed the Stand Your Ground defense went free despite the fact that in 200 cases that were analyzed by the Tampa Bay Times, the defendants initiated the fight, shot an unarmed person or pursued their victim — and still went free.

And I guess Stand Your Ground doesn't work for Black people.  Marissa Alexander is doing 20 years in a Florida jail because she fired a warning shot at an abusive husband who admitted he has a domestic violence history and threatened to kill her during an altercation. 

And bottom line, loud music is no reason to whip out your gun and kill a 17 year old kid.  But as Jason Whitlock correctly stated when he commented on the Belcher-Perkins murder-suicide last month,

"Handguns do not enhance our safety. They exacerbate our flaws, tempt us to escalate arguments, and bait us into embracing confrontation rather than avoiding it."

 And as Melissa Harris Perry pointed out, when you're a Black male, being who are is threat enough.  

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It's obvious to everyone but the fetishistic vanillacentric privileged gun sales pimps of the NRA that their Kill A POC Kid With Impunity law has got to go.  Jordan's parents Lucia McBath and Ron Davis now know what Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin are going through.   They are vowing to lead the effort to push for federal action to take down the Stand Your Ground Laws in Florida (and 25 other states) that took his life, and we need to join them in that crusade before someone you love is the next victim of it.

The Stand Your Ground Law needs to die, not our kids.  

Call Me A Flip-Flopper, But I Have Reconsidered And Altered My Position On Guns

TransGriot Note: A must read post from Deep Thought's Eli Blake  

I've been remarkably consistent in my views on guns over the past few decades. Essentially, it has boiled down to the following statement, which I had posted in more places than I can count:

I support your right to own a gun. Any gun.

The Constitutional fact that Americans have the right to be armed aside, I fundamentally believe (as a liberal) that you have the right to read, download, drink, smoke, have sexual activity or whatever as you please as long as you are not harming someone else by it, and therefore also to buy what you please (and if it is a gun, then buy it.) In fact, until recently the debate on guns has been moving further and further to the right, where without changing a single position, I had gone from guns being one issue where I generally agreed with the right (when the debate was about registration and limitations on ownership) to where I was more likely to agree with the left (when the debate had moved past that to trying to force guns into more and more places like public buildings and private businesses over the objections of the business owners.) I summarized this several months ago in this post: The Debate on Guns has been Changing.

Recently though, in light of a spate of deranged gunmen killing large numbers of people, the debate has been moving back the other way. And in theory that would move me back to where I had been focused, against any new restrictions. To restrict individual rights, I believe in a high bar.

That bar has been reached. The slaughter of first grade children at an elementary school yesterday has been the point at which I have to reluctantly agree that the harm to society caused by allowing the ownership of a particular category of weapons-- assault weapons with clips capable of firing large numbers of rounds before reloading, and in rapid succession-- outweighs any good reason one could have for owning one.

And the fact is, this weekend was only a third as bloody as it could have been. In the past 48 hours you didn't read about another school shooting in Bartlesville, Oklahoma because of a brave student informant and an alert school administration, nor about a massacre in a hospital in Alabama this morning because of two alert hospital staff and two police officers, three of whom were wounded but who stopped the gunman before he could shoot anyone else.

You can read the rest of it at his blog

POTUS Comments On CT Mass Shooting

President Obama's remarks yesterday concerning the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT..

Two Fracking USA Mass Shootings

We always like to brag in the United States when we're number one in the world about something vis a vis other nations, but being number one in the number of people who die due to gun violence is not something to be proud of.

We've had two mass shooting in the States this week.   One was Tuesday at a mall in Clackamas, OR that killed three people and yesterday it was a mass shooting at an elementary school campus in Newtown, CT. that killed 27 people.  20 of the victims were children between the ages of 5-10 along with seven adults.

As someone who is part of a community that continues to experience a gun violence plague, I'm beyond sick and tired of seeing people die because some people have a fetishistic attachment to guns.  

I'm also beyond sick and tired of vanillacentric privileged card carrying NRA gun nuts pointing to the Second Amendment and immediately deploying their 'guns don't kill people' and 'if people were armed, it would have stopped the attack before it happened' spin lines.

Yeah right,.the shooters in the last three incidents were wearing masks and body armor.   There were armed people in the vicinity when former congressmember Gabby Giffords was nearly assassinated in Tucson by Jared Loughner and when James Holmes attacked the Aurora, CO movie theater. 

Someone was even mindnumbingly stupid enough to say that if the kids at the school had been armed it wouldn't have happened.  Don't even insult mine or anyone elses intelligence by trying to peddle that line. 

We always hear about protecting the rights of you gun owners.   How about protecting the rights of us Americans who don't want to own guns, but our safety and security are increasingly threatened by the out of control gun culture.  This is not the Wild Wild West anymore and the United States has a highly competent, well equipped professional army unlike in 1787 when the Constitution was adopted.  Our gun laws need to reflect that.   It's time to deal with the reality this fetishistic gun culture is killing innocent people and making our country less safe.  

And it's not just us liberals complaining about the flood of guns in the US making our streets less safe.   The guns are now spilling over across the Mexican and Canadian borders and negatively impacting their citizens and their nations, too.

It's past time for sensible gun control legislation that balances the 2nd Amendment rights of gun owners with the needs of people who don't want to come near a gun, but have just as much right to have the ability to go about their daily lives without the fear of themselves or their loved ones being shot or killed.

To paraphrase Spock from Star Trek, the needs of many Americans outweigh the needs of a few militant gun owners.

I asked this question when I wrote my post in the wake of the Aurora, CO shooting and it bears repeating once again.

How many more people have to die, be wounded or crippled in the United States, Canada and Mexico before y'all stop tripping and allow some common sense gun laws in this country that ban assault weapons, extended magazine clips and people with mental health issues getting their hands on weapons that kill mass quantities of human beings?

Can somebody in the National Rifle Association answer that question for me?  And this time, I think people in Clackamas, OR and Newtown, CT would be very interested in hearing the answer to that question. 

Costas Critiques Gun Violence, Wingers Start Tripping

During halftime of the Cowboys-Eagles Sunday night game, NBC sports anchor Bob Costas took some time to comment on the murder-suicide of Javon Belcher that occurred Saturday. 



Needless to say it the right wing gun fetishists have gone nuts over it.   In addition to the usual pro-gun talking points being spouted by the Right Wing Noise Machine, the gun fetishists have started trying to get Costas fired from the the network.   Good luck with that conservafools.  

Frack 'em.  It needed to be said, and bravo Bob Costas and Jason Whitlock for saying what need to be said about the unacceptable levels of gun violence ruining far too many lives in this country..

Don't Forget Kasandra

We're going to hear all about 25 year old Jovan Belcher, the Kansas City Chiefs linebacker who tragically murdered his longtime girlfriend and committed suicide in front of head coach Romeo Crennel at the Chiefs practice facility Saturday.   He'll be remembered and eulogized by his teammates from the Chiefs, his collegiate days, his high school and all the people who loved him.

But the person we haven't heard enough about is Kasandra Michelle Perkins, the 22 year old woman and mother of his three month old daughter Zoe that he killed.

I talk far too often for my tastes on this blog about the violence aimed at African-American and Latina transwomen.  But I'm also reading stories about cis women who are killed in incidents by the people they are in relationships with.

I'm sick of reading about gun violence intruding in relationships and it's one of the reasons I despise the NRA and their incessant devoid of logic prattling about 'Second Amendment gun rights'.  

How is owning a handgun as Jason Whitlock pointed out in his column going to protect little old individual you against a government equipped with predator drones and tanks?

Tell that bull feces to the family, friends and parents of Kasandra Perkins, who are going to have to experience something no parent should have to go through in terms of the unexpected pain of burying their child just before Christmas. 

Tell that to young three month old Zoey, who is going to grow up without both parents in her life.

Being an NFL player doesn't excuse Jovan Belcher from the deserved condemnation he needs to get for taking Kasandra's life.   I also agree with the premise that had the handgun not been available, the domestic dispute between Belcher and Perkins wouldn't have escalated into a situation in which both people are now dead and their child is orphaned. 

As Whitlock said in his column, "Handguns do not enhance our safety. They exacerbate our flaws, tempt us to escalate arguments, and bait us into embracing confrontation rather than avoiding it."

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/12/02/3945601/costas-advocates-for-gun-control.html#storylink=cpy

And it's past time Americans get that point.  .

Here's a story from the Kansas City Star about Kasandra, whose friends wanted to make sure she didn't get overshadowed and forgotten in the crush of media coverage that the unblinking media eye will aim at Belcher.

Here's a Facebook memorial page someone created for my fellow Texan (she was from Dallas) as well

The Cheapness Of A Black Life

I was going to comment on the latest infuriating instance of somebody 'standing their ground' and it ending up with another Black teenage kid dying, but Renee of Womanist Musings beat me to it.   This post of hers is definitely getting signal boosted.

As the mother of two Black sons, I would be lying if I told you that there aren't nights when I lie awake worried about their future.  I know that this is something all loving parents experience, but how many White parents of White children worry that their child will be perceived of as a threat and summarily shot? The only thing that eases my worries is the fact that we are Canadian and have much stricter gun control laws. The following story really struck a chord with me.

Michael David Dunn, 45, and his girlfriend were in Jacksonville Friday for Dunn's son's wedding when they stopped at a convenience store, Jacksonville sheriff's Lt. Rob Schoonover said.

Jordan Russell Davis, 17, and several other teenagers were sitting in a sport utility vehicle in the parking lot when Dunn pulled up next to them in a car and asked them to turn down their music, Schoonover said.

Jordan and Dunn exchanged words, and Dunn pulled a gun and shot eight or nine times, striking Jordan twice, Schoonover said. Jordan was sitting in the back seat. No one else was hurt.

Dunn's attorney Monday said her client acted responsibly and in self-defense. She did not elaborate.  (source)

Tell me again that all people are equal.  This confrontation started over loud music and it ended in the death of a 17 year old boy.  Of course Dunn felt threatened, he was after all in a confrontation with Black male youths and the message has been sent repeatedly that not only is Black life cheap, but that Black males are always violent and a threat to Whiteness.


Despite the medias constant presentation of the supposed Black male threat, there is nothing more terrifying than an angry armed White man.  Our children are dying in droves and reading stories like this has become a common occurrence, yet the myth of the violent murdering Black male continues to persist.  In fact, the more threatened White supremacy has become by the changing population demographics, the more violent it has become.  White male violence is glorified and deemed heroic, while men of colour are criminalized and deemed a threat to a safe society. This can be especially seen in the dystopian genre, where White men are often cast as all that is standing between humanity and destruction.  We are meant to see White men as the great savior and be thankful for their heroism, even as people of colour die in ridiculous numbers.

Guns and Whiteness are a recipe for Black death.  There can be no question if we look at the history of race relations since the first Black person set foot in the global north, Whiteness has murdered and raped with pure abandon, all while hiding behind the supposed barrier of protecting and civilizing the world. It is not logical to believe for one moment that Blackness represents a threat. 

I don't want to hear the bullshit about how we all bleed the same red blood, when the blood that is being spilled is Black.  I don't want to hear about how there is good and bad in every race, when Blackness is being criminalized and demonized everyday. Ridiculous euphemisms are not going to solve the problem and denying that the combination of Whiteness and guns are deadly, is only further minimizing the ongoing death and violence.

No matter how far we have come, Black life is still cheap and continues to be devalued by the inflation and elevation of Whiteness. As a Black mother, this is more than evident to me.  I often think about the history of Black mothers crying bitter salty tears and the line of coffins holding our loved ones. If anyone has a right to be angry and afraid, it is most certainly not the bitter, racist and entitled White men, who continue to commit these crimes against the very heart of our communities. The racist, angry White male has got to die, so that our children may live.

Hell No To Proposed 'Stand Your Ground' Polling Place Law

Every time I presume that conservafool fetishes with guns can't get any crazier, I see another jaw dropping article that convinces me conservative identified white people have gone fracking crazy since President Obama was elected in 2008.

The Republican 2012 platform already ratcheted up their fetishistic gun love another level by expressing support for Stand Your Ground Shoot an Unarmed non-white person gun laws and unlimited clips.  

Now if two Florida Republican sympathizers named Robert Stevens and John Nelson have their way, they want to have the ability to take the 'Stand Your Ground principle to a polling place near you.

They want the state of Florida to pass a “Protect the Polls" law under which “anyone suspected of committing voter fraud can be fired upon – provided the weapon is registered and operated by its licensed owner.”

Not no, but OH HELL NO.   And you want to know why I and other African-Americans have a severe distaste for Republicans and the conservative movement in general besides their racism that's on daily display.

I know you conservative white people are deathly 'scurred' of determined large numbers of non-white progressive voters using the ballot box to elect politicians with mandates to overturn your jacked up, mean spirited and unconstitutional policies and have been using every underhanded method to keep that from happening, but this is insane.  

It's also one more reason we non-white folks and our allies need to be ensuring right now we are registered to vote and on November 6 (or as soon as early voting commences) voting for every person at every level of government with a 'D' behind their name.

It's past time to throw the conservabums out, and make sure we exercise and strengthen our right to vote so that we can keep them out of power for the next 40 years.

It's time to end the conservamadness.  Because if we don't work to non-violently protect the polls and our democracy from fools like this and stupid ideas like this, there are monumentally stupid conservative legislators who may actually think this a good idea and file the bill to actually make this steaming pile of crap law.  

 

Moni's Aurora Shooting Rant

While I was preparing to get my learn on at the 2012 TTNS, some fool decided he'd use the lax gun laws to buy some weapons, multiple rounds of ammo and shoot up a movie theater in the early morning hours of July 20..

12 people are dead, including a six year old girl, 58 wounded because the NRA has stifled any rational discussion of gun control laws in the United States because of their racism, paranoid conservafool political stances and their overzealous interpretation of the Second Amendment.

Granted, the waste of DNA James Holmes is in jail now awaiting justice, but that's of little comfort to the families of the people he killed, the lives of others he disrupted, and the peace and tranquility of the lives of the citizens of Aurora, CO he shattered with this senseless act.

Society will also be denied the talents and potential contributions these persons could have made if their lives hadn't been violently cut short.

I can't stand the National Rifle Association because of their racism, vanillacentric privileged conservative political stances, and the rabid foaming at the mouth opposition to even the most minor common sense gun laws.   Wonder how they would feel if the gun violence was tearing apart their communities and affecting their loved ones?

But the NRA doesn't care about the entire country or any community that's affected by the gun violence, that's been obvious for decades.  They only care about a certain vanillacentric conservaslice of the electorate.  The NRA doesn't care about people who live in the urban communities who have had to deal with the consequences of the flood of guns their lax laws help enable in the name of 'protecting Second Amendment rights', especially if those folks don't look like them.

All that comes out of the mouth of NRA apologists is that tired bull feces spin line that 'if everyone in that theater (or fill in the blank area) had been armed, it would have stopped this shooting.'  

Yeah, right.  There were armed people at the Tuscon shooting and that didn't stop Jared Loughner.  Armed people wouldn't have stopped this fool either since he was wearing a bulletproof vest.  .

Every time one of these mass shootings happens (Columbine, Virginia Tech, Tucson) we hope this will finally be the tipping point event that starts a serious discussion about enacting serious gun control laws here only to fade away until the next mass shooting happens and we have the next one in which people are burying loved ones. 

How many more people have to die, be wounded or crippled in the United States, Canada and Mexico before y'all stop tripping and allow some common sense gun laws in this country that ban assault weapons, extended magazine clips and people with mental health issues getting their hands on weapons that kill mass quantities of human beings?

I'm not holding my breath that the needed discussion will happen, especially with less than 120 days to go until an election day.