Category Archives: Viva!

E. Coli Flare-Up Is Largest Multistate Outbreak Since 2006

Not just the “trots” can be life-threatening and last for months. At least 84 people have been infected so far, according to health officials, who traced the illnesses to romaine lettuce from southwestern Arizona.

A mother Son dialogue

My son: Mom I was just laughing today during my Drawing exam.

Me excited: good.. why? ( after all, I was telling myself, this is where this boy expresses himself with liberty)

My son: I was just thinking about all your empowering words, about me being talented in drawing. I just could not but crack from laughing.

Me: you are ! ( inside me I am saying.. thank goodness he finally realized)

My son: I was just having a flashback of memories. Looking at the drawing, myself: I was just doing. Looked around other students work and to myself: Damn.. this woman has been playing in my head for so long convincing me I am talented, and all what I can do ( after a real course ) is this four year old retarded like drawings.

Me: silent

Me with a message later: You are talented. Actually, you are a natural.

 

PS

Some years ago, while I was having a mother-son conversation with my son over the phone about the gossip, the criticism from the family …. about me after my book. he suddenly said: I need to go now. I want to draw something.

less than half an hour later .. he sent me this …. saying : I named it the nadia .

31351514_10155373519292231_7970554089773727744_n

394-deactivated: thatpettyblackgirl: Waffle House Saraland Al…

foul racism!

394-deactivated:

thatpettyblackgirl:

Waffle House Saraland Al 2am April 22nd 2018

imageimage

for the people saying she was wrong. she did not threaten anyone she
wanted to get a number to call for the bad CS they received.

imageimagetumblr_inline_p7n2tve8gk1vrw93d_540.jpg

Update 4/23/18 17:30 ET:

Waffle House’s statement on Twitter:

image

Goldie the waitress:

image

Comment from person who originally tweeted this video:

image

Edited 4/24 2:00 ET: Wrong location, it’s a different one in the same city. Calling gets you a busy message, so try the contact form on the Waffle House website (requires a name, number, and address).

image

From @damethegod:

image

They pointed a taser gun on her while her hands were behind her back, pulled her dress down while her hands were restrained, and choked her as she was forced onto the ground, desperately asking what she had done. Screencaps:

imageimageimage

British Citizen One Day, Illegal Immigrant the Next

White British racism at its worst – sort of like how too many Germans feel about Turks who were brought in to work in German factories and North Africans into France and Spain for factories and agriculture. Money based racism! The “Windrush generation” — Caribbeans invited to Britain to help rebuild after World War II — has faced harsh treatment under a migration crackdown.

Philippines to expel Australian nun Patricia Fox after arrest for ‘political activities’

He is right to be afraid of a nun – she has more class and honor than he.

3768.jpg?w=300&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&f

Philippines cancels visa and gives nun 30 days to leave after president Rodrigo Duterte orders investigation

The Philippines has cancelled the visa of Sister Patricia Fox, the Australian missionary who was arrested for allegedly engaging in political activity, and has given her 30 days to leave the country.

The Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, had ordered an investigation into 71-year-old as an “undesirable” foreigner.

Continue reading…

Bavarian leader orders Christian crosses on all state buildings

just another Nazi in the shadows!

4049.jpg?w=300&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&f

Markus Söder sparks outcry after saying cross is a cultural rather than religious symbol

The premier of Bavaria has sparked uproar after his cabinet ordered that Christian crosses be fixed in the entrance halls of all public buildings.

Markus Söder, whose conservative CSU party faces a far-right challenge in state elections in October, declared that “the cross is a fundamental symbol of our Bavarian identity and way of life”.

Continue reading…

Whose Gun Rights? Black Woman Incarcerated for Self-Defense

Racism rules when it comes to guns and self-defense – why we need black lives matter.

Last month Detroit-based environmental justice activist Siwatu-Salama Ra was sentenced to two years in prison for brandishing an unloaded gun in an effort to protect her two year-old daughter and mother from an aggressor. Ra’s “felonious assault” conviction is a blatant contradiction of Michigan’s stand-your-ground laws – yet we haven’t heard anything from NRA supporters, proving once more that the gun rights movement is only concerned with protecting the “freedom” of white men. 

Michigan is an open carry state, with stand-your-ground laws which legally justify a defendant’s decision to use force instead of retreating from an attack. Other cases which have explored the stand-your-ground defense include George Zimmerman, who claimed to fear for his life when he shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

However, stand-your-ground laws are notoriously arbitrary and racist in their application. We saw this in Florida back in 2012 when Marissa Alexander was sentenced to 20 years in prison for shooting at a wall to to scare off her abusive husband. She tried to use Florida’s stand-your-ground law to prove her use of a weapon was in self-defense and though her husband even admitted to abusing her, the courts ruled against her.

In the wake of Alexander’s trial, the Urban Institute reported that in stand-your-ground states, 34% of homicides are considered justified by the law when white shooters kill black people, yet when black shooters kill white people, only 3% of cases are considered justifiable. Neither Alexander nor Ra shot or harmed anyone, yet as Black women they were denied the protection of the stand-your-ground law which is afforded to so many men.

Ra’s case is also a prime example of the questionable investigative policies of the Detroit Police Department. After Ra revealed her gun, Ra’s neighbor took photos as evidence and immediately filed a report to the police department and because the neighbor reported first, Detroit Police considered Ra the assailant and. Michigan’s stand-your-ground law only applies for self-defense, precluding Ra from using it. What’s worse, the state’s mandatory sentencing laws for crimes involving guns blocked the judge from using discretion on the case, which the jury was unaware of before  arriving to their verdict – all of which ended with Ra, pregnant, being sentenced to two years in prison without firing a shot.

Victoria Burton-Harris, one of Ra’s attorneys, summarizes the relationship between racism and criminal justice:

“You’re allowed to behave differently when you’re fearful based on the color of your skin. George Zimmerman was allowed to be fearful and to act on that fear… Juxtapose that next to my client who had a car coming at her mother, and that same car had just presented danger to her child. It was driven by the complaining witness, but Siwatu wasn’t allowed to be fearful and rely on her government-licensed and sanctioned firearm to ward off her attacker.”

To add to the situation, Siwatu-Salama Ra is expecting to give birth in July. Patrisse Khan-Cullors reported on Democracy Now that since being taken to prison, Ra has been shackled during doctor visits and will likely be shackled when giving birth. Restraining pregnant people is inhumane and harms both the woman and baby’s health. On top of this Ra, as a practicing Muslim woman, has been denied pork-free meals and a hijab for her five daily prayers. Without proper protein, she’s lost weight, potentially complicating her pregnancy.

Siwatu-Salama Ra is not the first Black woman unfairly targeted and abused by our criminal justice system. As students across the country demand gun reform, we must ensure that the experiences and needs of women and people of color, who suffer disproportionately from gun violence and criminalization, are centralized within the movement. Let’s call out the gun lobby’s movement for “freedom” as the racist farce that it is. Sign up for updates on Ra’s website, send her letters, and consider donating funds for her appeal.

Image Header Credit: Blavity