Sydney Crossing

But here’s the thing: that’s probably not true at all.

Pretending it is discounts the harsher, scarier truth: that even decent, well-meaning people can be radicalised by dangerous, hateful, predatory groups, and given enough time they can become truly hideous versions of their former selves.

It can happen to me. It can happen to you. It can happen to any of us, given the right mix of circumstances. And over the past few years, we’ve seen it happen to one of the most famous children’s authors of our age.

This isn’t to apologise for her behaviour or rehabilitate her into some former activist who is still worthy of saving; it’s to contextualise her recent descent into TERFdom compared to her previous political stances she’s openly held. She was probably never going to be a staunch ally for equality and diversity, and yes, a lot of the HP series were very problematic in retrospect, but she could very easily have gone the other way and at the very least turned out to be less of a bigoted shitbag she is now. The fact that her politics in late 2000′s/early 2010′s were similar to so many people who are now activists and organisers for queer, BIPOC and vulnerable communities should tell us to be all the more careful about radfem ideology and transphobia in progressive spaces. 

It’s comforting to say “we should have known in hindsight that she was always going to become a TERF, the early signs were all there!” but that’s also not true. We have to recognise that the toxic ideology, the active harm she chooses to participate in, was a deliberate choice; this was a path she chose to go down, not one that was pre-determined for her. It’s also an easy way to separate ourselves from being critical of radfem influence; “JKR was always a right-wing bigot and that’s why she became indoctrinated with radfem bullshit. I’m not a right-wing bigot, therefore unlike her, I will never fall for radfem bullshit.” 

respectability politics is a trap.

Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura) has been suffering from Dementia for years. She’s lots most of her money, the home she loved and there is a fight for her conservatorship

Her sister has set up a GoFundMe site for her. The link is at the very bottom of this post. Please share this information.

Read the article below and please donate if you can. Even a couple dollars will help.

https://www.al.com/life/2021/08/nichelle-nichols-star-treks-lt-uhura-faces-heartbreaking-conservatorship-fight.html

1) Nichelle has dementia.

2) In 2010, this guy approached her all “hey so I want to make this movie with you as a costar, very good contract, please accept.”

3) she did.

4) he was lying.

5) during the next several years he moved onto her property and became a squatter, billing all his utilities and expenses to Nichelle. In other words, she’s paying for the privilege of him using her property.

6) during this time he also managed to get her to give him power of attorney over both financial AND MEDICAL decisions. Much of her savings has just kind of vanished, and it seems likely he’s been leeching it away.

Okay. So, recap: this guy is NOT a conservator. He got power of attorney, which is actually a very good and useful thing when appropriately applied. (Basically, it means if you become incapacitated you’ve already selected a person to handle certain kinds of affairs for you.) In this case, however, it’s pretty clear POA is being abused and seriously misused.

7) Nichelle’s son managed to become her conservator, with the goal of kicking the deadbeat off the property and ensuring his mom has access to her hard-earned funds so she can be old with dignity. (In a perfect world, this is how conservatorship would always be used. His interest is in protecting the person, not making a profit.) He has become her primary caretaker.

I don’t know how advanced Nichelle’s dementia is, but I can tell you from experience that as the disease progresses, being a caretaker can become a full-time job, and that, yes—this is one of those extremely limited cases where conservatorship might actually be a good idea. My grandmother had Alzheimer’s (not all dementia is caused by Alzheimer’s, but all cases of Alzheimer’s are dementia), and nearly burned down the house once because she turned on the stove, forgot she’d turned it on, and went to take a nap. Having someone of sound mind who can make arrangements for things like appropriate in-home care so this doesn’t happen is deeply important.

8) deadbeat is fighting to get conservatorship removed—and possibly reassigned to himself. That part is a little less clear. What is clear is that he does not have Nichelle’s best interests at heart.

9) this fundraiser is to help with legal fees to get deadbeat off the property and help assist Nichelle and her son in securing what’s left of her assets.