#bluebracelet

Sorry, but I just really don’t understand this criticism that the blue bracelet trend is bad and the “advocate don’t accessorize” crowd.

The blue bracelet trend (something I just found out about) is where people wear blue bracelets to show solidarity with minorities and to show that they are a “safe” person, since so many people voted for Trump and it’s hard to determine who is “safe” and who isn’t when you’re around people you don’t know as a marginalized person.

I don’t think all people who are showing this visual allyship think that’s the end of their advocacy (though I recognize that some might- even in that case though, at least they’re doing something and it’s a start, imo). People visually communicate all kinds of things, and as a minority in most ways a person can be (disability, ethnicity, sex, gender, etc.) having visual cues like that are so important in determining who I’m going to spend my time approaching.

I do agree that advocacy should definitely be more than visual communication, but this idea that no one should do it because they aren’t protesting and writing their representatives every single second that they are also visually showing support is just strange to me.

It’s like someone wearing an LGBT ally pin or hanging an indigenous land acknowledgment on their wall. It doesn’t tell me everything about them, but I feel like I’m much less likely to waste my time or put myself in danger approaching them. There have also been many times I have felt scared or overwhelmed in a new place and I’ve seen someone wearing some kind of anti-hate messaging or some kind of allyship symbol/statement and it made me feel more at ease and less alone. Me and my other friends who are marginalized in some way frequently discuss which people we think are safe to approach based on visual clues. If it’s not for you, that’s fine, but I don’t understand all of the bashing when many of us rely on visual cues of allyship like this, especially in majority-conservative environments.

I want people to show that they are safe!

LeatherByPeter

I guess we both                   broke our rules..

The faint turn of a smirk curled the side of her mouth as she huffed at his response. Mina wasn’t necessarily expecting a pep talk, but she knew better than to be silent with her reservations about situations on the job--her years of experience had at least taught her that.

“Upside down, huh? Does that mean we--who we are gets turned around too?” she turned her gaze away from the gaping hole in the ground and up toward him, trying to read his expression from his profile. 

Hopper's hands came down, clapping hard against the battered wood of his desk. Y'know what? Fine.

Mark could go get his dumb ass in more trouble and deal with an officer who'd probably throw him in the clink overnight. Opposed to the chief, who was admittedly a little too fair with the kid -- Jim just knew what it was like. Not wanting to be at home. Doing what you could, even if it was self-destructive and stupid, just to stay out. Away from your dad or -- whatever else.

But Hop wasn't in the mood to argue, console, or guilt trip; he just wanted to be done with this fucking shift. A beer was far preferable to having his goodwill tossed back into his teeth by a punk.

" You're also free to leave. I'm not holdin' you here, Mark. Go be on your own. Please. "

     The chief’s burly hands SLAM down onto the desktop. And Mark flinches, shoulders folding in, eyes cast to the floor. Not on purpose. But instinctual response. Loud actions. Aggression. 

     Scrunched in on himself, he remains cowered in the chair across from the desk. The HOT SEAT. The one where those who are in trouble get put, so they can get yelled at and reprimanded. Where he’d be crudely sat not ten minutes before, when that other cop - the tall, gangly one - had dragged him into the station.

     Nothing like being told what to do when that was exactly what you were avoiding. Adults. Annoying, pressing, in charge of everything. STUPID. Toes curl from within his sneakers, muscles tense and stiffened. Hands slide into those deep pockets of his hoodie, bringing shoulders hunched toward ears - as he shrugs it off anyways. "FINE.” he would. He will. Mark shifted, pushed himself out of the chair, and moved to leave. 

The balance between good and bad, Is as easy as walking on a tight rope. It’s difficult to find that middle ground, between right and wrong. But he walks it so easily.