Stand Here Watching, Or Go Dance

The things he said weren’t his usual Trump bragging doucecanoe nonsense. He was 100% correct. Trump could grab anyone he wanted. He could sexually assault anyone he wanted. He has already. He’s done it to his wife. He did it to a 13 year old girl. There have been no consequences for him. Why would there be consequences for someone with money and power when even your average college student can get away with rape with impunity?

Paraphrasing from a powerful essay on rape jokes I’ll link to at the bottom… I do not think all men are rapists. I don’t think every man who likes Donald Trump is a rapist.

But rapists? They really do think that all other men are rapists too. And if you stand idly by and you won’t speak out against Donald Trump right now, you are teaching rapists that they are right. You are allowing them to think you condone sexually assaulting women. Your silence, your excuses, your dismissal– these speak VOLUMES. To women. To survivors. And to rapists.

One week to go - GET HYPED.

(you have your book, right? If not, click here, it’s not too late!)

Game of Thrones, HBO’s massively popular fantasy series, is catching flak again. Despite the addition of supporting cast members over the past few seasons, actor David Oyelowo recently criticized the show’s lack of diverse main characters, saying there was “no excuse” for it. “Even if for whatever reason,” he continued, “it’s a world in which people of color in those stories are subservient, or they are more in a helper role, that doesn’t mean they can’t have prominent storylines.”

I agree with Oyelowo, and as a medievalist, I’d go further in saying that, by not including people of color in major roles, author George R.R. Martin is creating a whiter medieval world than our own ever was.

Though medieval ideas about race differ from modern definitions, medieval European history and literature are full of what we would today call people of color. Sometimes they play supporting roles, but other times, they’re the main characters. In medieval European religious literature and belief, both St. Maurice and Balthazar were depicted as black Africans. Maurice was eventually named the patron saint of the Holy Roman Empire; medieval churches and cathedrals across Germany, Switzerland, and France were dedicated to him, and wealthy lords lavished funds on paintings of Balthazar in scenes of the Adoration of the Magi.

Reminder: Game of Thrones is a 100% fictional, made-up Fantasy series. Every casting choice and every spoken line is created by human beings today, on purpose, and with purpose.

Last week, a Blue Island, Illinois 15-year-old was punished for refusing to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance.

Shemar Cooper refused to stand for the pledge, because as he says “America does not expect blacks”. The first time he didn’t stand up she came up to him and told him to participate, however he didn’t give up. The next day he refused to stand up again, but this time he was forced to. His teacher made him do this and continued to harass him during the whole week.

After his mother found out about the incident she was outraged and she wants charges filed against the teacher.

This teacher needs to be punished for his actions. It’s against the law to violate kid’s First Amendment rights, so why do we even need rights, when we can’t exercise them?

RT: Star Wars ‏@starwars May 18 As seen on The #StarWarsShow, the first official image of Ciena Ree from @ClaudiaGray’s Lost Stars, for @FFGames!

May the poems be the little snail’s trail.

Everywhere I go, every inch: quiet record

Divinity (2016)     //    Valiant Comics

Divinity (Abram Adams)

Story: Matt Kindt, art: Trevor Hairsine

Get it now here

We’re told to never forget the Titanic.

We’re told to never forget 9/11.

And yet here we are in 2016 still telling black people to get over slavery and anti-black violence.