“Original Fire”
{ photo } corwinprescott | website | IG | MM#: 285248
Philadelphia, 2015.
Month: June 2015
Something about being strung up on a wall and left to my own, er, devices.
“In 2002, having spent more than three years in one residence for the first time in my life, I got called for jury duty. I show up on time, ready to serve. When we get to the voir dire, the lawyer says to me, “I see you’re an astrophysicist. What’s that?” I answer, “Astrophysics is the laws of physics, applied to the universe—the Big Bang, black holes, that sort of thing.” Then he asks, “What do you teach at Princeton?” and I say, “I teach a class on the evaluation of evidence and the relative unreliability of eyewitness testimony.” Five minutes later, I’m on the street.
A few years later, jury duty again. The judge states that the defendant is charged with possession of 1,700 milligrams of cocaine. It was found on his body, he was arrested, and he is now on trial. This time, after the Q&A is over, the judge asks us whether there are any questions we’d like to ask the court, and I say, “Yes, Your Honor. Why did you say he was in possession of 1,700 milligrams of cocaine? That equals 1.7 grams. The ‘thousand’ cancels with the ‘milli-’ and you get 1.7 grams, which is less than the weight of a dime.” Again I’m out on the street.”
Note to self, you can be too smart to serve on a jury.
What the actual fuck
Pay attention to the “justice” system.
I had no idea they could even do this.
“This guy’s too smart to give us the verdict we want. Kick him out.”
Yep. It’s fairly routine. If you have “too much” education, or reveal that you think the system is flawed, they will screen you the fuck out.
I want to be like him when I grow up
“I’m not supposed to like you.”
“But?”
“I wanna do that again.”But I’m A Cheerleader (1999)
dir. Jamie Babbit
Whenever a conscious Black woman raises her voice on issues central to her existence, somebody is going to call her strident, because they don’t want to hear about it, nor us. I refuse to be silenced and I refuse to be trivialized, even if I do not say what I have to say perfectly.
Audre Lorde (via ablackwomansurvivingrape)
I find it not only disrespectful but, openly hostile to queer and trans people of color to invoke the Stonewall riots for this homonationalist white queer circlejerk. For you to say that Sylvia Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson and the other stonewall activists died for your individual right to get married is such a misnomber and a liberal interpretation of their radicalism. My trans sisters did not die so that you could get married, they did not die so that you could remove queer and trans people of color (especially twoc) from the LGBTQ rights movement, they did not die so that you could spend billions on your individual rights all the while ignoring queer and trans individuals dying in the streets (suffering from homelessness, abuse, violence, poverty, etc.), they did not die so that this movement that they built could become a movement led and dominated by white gay men. Because what you get wrong when you invoke these names is that these women, these phenomenal trans women of color, did not want integration into the current queerphobic and transmisogynistic society, they did not want the homonationalism and gay liberalism that is so prevalent now, they wanted queer and trans liberation.
I am so tired of seeing their names invoked, and their legacies erased in order to uphold homonationalism. Because how do you say “thank you Stonewall activists” but, at the same time ignore everything they stood for and their descendants of color? How do you disregard their message of liberation in favor of your goal of integration? Why do you insist on speaking over them? Why do you insist on changing their message? Why are marriage equality activists invoking their names all the while wearing Human Rights Campaign pins (an organization that facilitates racism and transmisogyny; and supports companies that perpetrate violence against queer and trans people of color).
Why are these trans women of color forced to endure violence and erasure even in death?
Signal boost
I made this for my informative speech in school~
Is there any incorrect or iffy information?? If so please send me an ask to let me know!!
EDIT 4: Most updated version as of May 6th!!!
