Day Without A Woman, March 8, 2017

Photos in this post are mine taken at CCB Plaza, Durham, North Carolina.

A Women’s Strike Reader

https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/international-womens-strike-reader-working-class-socialist-feminism

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There is a lot to process in thinking about the day, it's effectiveness and how different segments of the population reacted to it. 

At first blush, I thought well, isn't that what the men want? Then they can joke, have their locker room talk and not have to bother with equality. Maybe they'll decide they like it better that way and won't help right the system. On the other hand, when some teachers announced their intent to observe the day, even in our "right to work" state, a few school systems chose to close for the day. Some people recognized the impact and prepared for it. And if mothers who take kids to school, cook, clean, buy groceries, do laundry, whether or not they also have full time jobs outside the home were able to pull off striking completely in all work at least men might notice and even be compelled to switch up or divide labor differently than before the strike. This second example wasn't as widespread it seems, I even failed on several counts. Was it a failure then?

I considered striking as a privilege, though the history of strikes would negate that, some still maintain that. I did consider that those women who can strike might make more work for those who can't, though this might happen in other strikes, that you hurt the group you try and help.

This might help muddle through this point:
https://www.thenation.com/article/when-did-solidarity-with-working-women-become-a-privilege/

And what about this ability to strike? Is it that some of us are actually unable- or is it unique to women, unique to this strike - that we've been conditioned to not be disagreeable, to be too polite even when it means hurting ourselves hence we don't feel confident we can all walk out like in a predominantly male profession.

And there was this perspective. . . 

What to make of it- I don't think it's about the percent who participated in one particular way or evaluating your own self worth, as some have insinuated. It's a call to action to some, an education to others, or maybe a renewal of the commitment to anti-capitalism and the forces that perpetuate the patriarchy.

On Radio Dispatch coverage of the Women's Strike, there were two great articles detailing the history of the strike and movement:

Here are the two podcast episodes:
Analyzing Women’s Strike Coverage  March 10, 2017

https://btrmedia.s3.amazonaws.com/DJRadioDispatch031017.mp3

Women On Strike  March 9, 2017
http://www.theradiodispatch.com/2017/03/show-notes-for-todays-episode-3917/

And the two articles:
https://newrepublic.com/article/141160/strike

https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/from-the-archive-blog/2012/mar/08/clara-zetkin-international-womens-day

Among the good points in these two episodes:

• Breaking down a NYT piece about the "failure" of the strike
• Feminism for the 99% what it means
• Clara Zetkin, the movement's roots in socialism and the origin of the strike
• Dangers of lean in feminism- it can't be solely about arguing for higher pay, that marginalizes others, the pay gap is still an issue but leaves out a large portion, such as the trans women killed in February
• Be explicit in our politics (see Bryce Covert's piece, New Republic)-  woman president, women CEO, like Sandberg at Facebook is not victory for ALL women, it's a victory for some- read wealthy white women
• Name capitalism as the enemy, it'll reinforce misogyny, patriarchy-- think Clara Zetkin, reordering society 

Anyway, do yourself a favor and listen!

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 Trust women, get it??

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And some more examples of why we need feminism:

Ok, so this below is why I have gotten angry in some of my Twitler voter posts. Yes, I believe I can be friends with Cheeto's fans and yes I know we can differ on budget or health care plans and not be outrageously offended, BUT when it comes to racism and sexism or denying someone rights because they don't agree with your religious views, this should be UNACCEPTABLE. It should be unacceptable NOT because you have a black friend, a daughter or a wife, it is unacceptable because another human being is being treated as LESS. That absolutely should be offensive to you and outrage is justified. If you are not offended by people being treated as less that human beings on the basis of race or gender or religion, perhaps YOU should re-evaluate YOUR position and stop your complaining about hateful libtards and feminazis.

http://mashable.com/2017/03/07/what-men-secretly-say-about-women/

"The rest of the page's members, it appears, just looked the other way. They probably shrugged their shoulders and said to themselves, "It's just locker room talk." If that defense worked for the president of the United States, it'll probably work for a bunch of patriotic Marines."

#persisterhood
#notgoingback
#womensrightsarehumanrights
#blacklivesmatter
#respectexistenceorexpectresistance
#freedomofreligion
#freedomfromreligion

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a sexism experiment
http://www.attn.com/stories/15518/creative-sexism-experiment-female-co-worker?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=direct-share&utm_campaign=shares

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https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/kathycaprino/2016/06/12/why-men-and-women-are-held-to-dramatically-different-standards-and-women-are-punished/amp/


Discusses the disparity, but breaks down a bit on the solution. I think we need more than just to clean up our own house. Maybe it should start there, I can see that- how can you help anyone else if you can't stand up for yourself. But I don't know if that's the only thing holding us back.

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Does Hillary Clinton face a different standard for honesty?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/05/29/does-hillary-clinton-face-a-different-standard-for-honesty/?utm_term=.6c34af13cf9b


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Women Held To Higher Ethical Standard Than Men, Study Shows

http://www.npr.org/2016/06/02/480487259/women-held-to-higher-ethical-standard-than-men-study-shows

Riots and racism

I don't even know what or how to talk about what's been going on with the brutality/execution by police and recent riot in Baltimore after the funeral of a man there after being chased and apprehended by police, having his spine severed and dying as a result while in custody. 

I hear people say don't run from the police, and in general  that's good advice. If you're white. White people and black people have entirely different experiences and perceptions of even the simplest interactions with police. White folks have a very Sesame Street or muppet version of these interactions where they call them up if there's an intruder in their house or they have an accident or if they're a lost kid, find a policeman and they'll help him or her find the way home. Black folks, who are often assumed to be guilty unless they can prove innocence and routinely racially profiled have good reason to want to keep a safe distance from police to avoid unreasonable searches. I'm sure some white people will say well no, they've had plenty of complications and run ins with police, and while that may be true, I don't think this is helpful in understanding what is really going on. Segregation may have been struck down and we now promote equal rights outwardly, but there are historic wrongs and racism is institutionalized. I don't know how to fix it, but it certainly won't be by ignoring those facts and saying well I'm white and have suffered but I'm not angry like you. That's just self-righteousness and frankly, inexcusable ignorance.

There is a lot of condemnation of the riots for various reasons and I can see that on one level.  We want there to be a correlation. If I'm angry at news coverage, throw things at news bureaus. If I'm angry with large corporations, protest or loot those. 

A kind of funny response I heard was why can't people peacefully protest? Here's one reason. When I first heard about the riot in Balitmore, I heard nothing about the peaceful protests. The media showed up and only bothered to cover it when the violence erupted. Peaceful protests are ignored. And when it doesn't work (have we not seen peaceful protests about racism EVER??) and people who are supposed to be protecting you are killing you, THEN WHAT? Is rioting the answer, I don't know, I would say it's more of a result than a planned activity or solution. In the same way, the police killing these individuals recently isn't a planned policy, it's the result of the atmosphere, the profiling that isn't policy, but happens anyway, the broken system. 

And this is kind of what I just said but better. I heard it the day after I wrote this post:

When nonviolence is preached by the representatives of the state, while the state doles out heaps of violence to its citizens, it reveals itself to be a con. And none of this can mean that rioting or violence is "correct" or "wise," any more than a forest fire can be "correct" or "wise." --The Atlantic, Ta-Nehisi Coates

Yes we want to say that violence is never the answer. We want to believe there's always a peaceful way. (What would Iraq war supporters say about that. . . ? Never mind.)

BUT

"It is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard."

--Martin Luther King, Jr., 1968

Before cameras were on almost all phones, white people were able to explain away police brutality, say it was rare, that racism was over. There is understandable anger, now that there is visual proof that police statements of innocence on the killings are patently false after all this time of having these things easily swept under the rug for so many years.

There is another line of reasoning saying there were peaceful protests and thugs turned it into something very different. That may be true to some extent, but it doesn't mean we can or should ignore or explain away the cause or the riot. There is systemic injustice and racism and that needs to be addressed.


http://www.democracynow.org/2015/4/28/national_guard_deployed_as_baltimore_erupts

http://www.democracynow.org/2015/4/29/you_can_replace_property_you_cant

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/11/25/riot_as_the_language_of_the  (old- Ferguson)

Gaza Flotilla Murder Protest photos

I thought the protest went well. It was my first ever. I had wanted to before, especially in the run up ot the Iraq war when I was so mad that journalists had fallen asleep and weren't asking anyone anything, but just haven't until now. I was bigger on writing Congress, but when you get so many letters back about how great Israel is in response to concerns about Israel killing civilians, collectively punishing Palestinians, building illegal settlements, us supporting such horrible crimes against humanity both verbally and with billions of dollars in aid, you want to do more. Feinstein sent me a reply on Iraq once when I sent her a letter about Israeli war crimes in Palestine, as if there was any doubt that Senators didn't read my emails.

A lot of folks honked their support, waved, gave a peace sign, etc. More than I expected. I did see a middle finger and a few shouts of "I love Israel." The latter was obviously meant as a counter to us, but loving Israel and wanting them to follow the law are not opposites (we don't hate Israel), so it was a strange choice of words to counter the demonstration, I thought.

This is my sign, front and back- above and below. I bought supplies in the morning and put it together after work. The supplies. That was a near miss. The store I went ot had next ot nothing. No colored posterboard? Really? Cardstock taped together on the only foamboard I found saved the day and didn't look horrible. I was worried that the only thing I found to write on the black - window paint- wouldn't work, but with much effort, it came through for me.

I felt a bit like the kid who didn't do his homework, slapping it together in the car a few feet from the protest, but I think it turned out ok. I like making a poster. One of the few things I liked about school.

This is the end of the protest, above.

There were lots of Israeli flags present; here's a Palestinian flag. A local TV station said the Israeli flags were a counter protest, but since the event was by Jewish Voice For Peace, I'm not sure about that.

I should have moved the camera a bit to get "Free Gaza" instead of "Ree Gaza" !
Lebanon is here!

Lots of great signs!

Shouts of "Free Gilad Shalit" emanated from this corner at times...

What that has to do with Israel starving more than a milion people, forcing them to drink contaminated water, and killing those who try and help them, I sure don't know.

This criticism of Israel will undoubtedly make people say that I support terrorism and kidnapping. For the record, I don't support either.

Another great sign. Good idea with the pole. A good walking demonstration sign.

Enough is enough! was one chant. I can't remember them all.

The venue.

The Stuff Conspiracy Theories Are Made Of

Both of these have probably been the subject of exaggeration, urban legend and frantic mass email forwarding. Both bother me.

The first is really a near miss. There were some other issues involved and the issue was resolved favorably. I'd still put it in this category.

The second is for real, for real. Big Brother- and not the TV show. Unbelievable, really. But true. It involves anti-war protesters, so I doubt anyone's going to care much, except to poke fun or rant about how much they "whine".

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Religious Freedom?

This was referenced in a (rather conservative) religious publication I get and I heard it in the news, so I decided to look into it more. It was disconcerting to say the least if it was as it sounded at first…

Couple Ordered to Stop Holding Bible Study at Home Without Permit
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,522637,00.html?test=latestnews


While googling, I found the snopes.com entry. It doesn’t dispute this (listed as partially true), but does provide extra details regarding a car of a visitor of a neighbor being dinged by a study attendee and makes note of the results- they are allowed to hold studies. The study leader paid for it, but maybe the neighbor and his friend still held a grudge? Anyway, it appears it wasn’t necessarily as all about religion as Fox News painted it. Not that it’s not worrisome to entertain the thought of police crackdowns on religious practice in this country. I just don’t think it was happening this time.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/biblestudy.asp

It is not clear to me whether this land use and religious assembly law has more to do with religion or number of people. If it has purely to do with having 10 people for a weekly event at a home that grows to 1000 and being able to circumvent the freedom of religion claim that could be used to circumvent fire codes and a ton of other safety and logistical nightmares such a group converging on one home creates, then the law makes sense. But if it is unnecessarily restrictive for religious groups compared to other groups (given that other groups can’t cite freedom of religion), then we need to take a look at it. Other groups could cite freedom to assemble… I don’t know.

An apology from the county. I looked for it on Fox, since that was my first source, but I don’t know that they bothered to cover the result of the situation. Apologies are boring, I guess.

http://www.10news.com/news/19650728/detail.html

It also sounds like the "pastor" was the source of confusion about where the controversy is- parking or religion.

In this article, he talks about the parking and thinks it sparked an official complaint: http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/may/30/1n30bible00100-county-wont-force-permit-bible-stud/
This source is a reference from the snopes site.

In a response to truthorfiction.com, he said parking was definitely not the issue- it was definitely religious freedom.
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/p/Pastor-Dave-San-Diego-Permit.htm

Maybe his Fox experience convinced him it was more of a freedom of religion thing or maybe he just had time to think about it and reconsidered. It seems he changed his story either way, though.

It's definitely got legs with email, though! We'll be seeing this freedom of religion scare, minus the resolution where they are allowed to have the Bible studies without paying fines and minus the apology, for years to come.

The letters collected via email are here:
San Diego County Officials told pastor that he can not hold a Bible study in his home without a permit -Truth! but Decision Reversed!

San Diego County officials barred a couple from holding Bible study sessions in their home without a “major land use” permit.

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Government infiltrating and spying on anti-war groups

I hate to post so many Democracy Now links, but they do such a great job of summarizing the issues and asking questions and getting guests you won’t see on the big networks.

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/28/broadcast_exclusive_declassified_docs_reveal_military

Basically, this ex-military guy informs on innocent civilian protest and activist groups by infiltrating the group and asking police for info on specific groups-Students for a Democratic Society and Port Militarization Resistance. The reason for the spying, as I understand it, is not because they have done anything illegal or are putting people in danger, but they speak out against various government actions.

This is a WA site; I think it happened there.
http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/8882/34/

I don’t know anything about this site. I don’t know who is responsible for it, but it’s probably not the military or John himself.
http://www.johntowery.com/

This side is rightly complaining of possible rights and law violations, but there is something wrong with someone owning your name in this way… ☺

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Palestinian non-violent resistance

I posted these 2 questions on a forum- I think in response to hearing this week about the protests at Bil'in where Israel killed several people.

I can see why Israel wants to silence these people. They've got valid points that they're trying to get across peacefully and they are organized with their own conference and village website. Now that's more dangerous that suicide bombers! It should inspire fear in the hearts of those who thrive on oppression and hatred.

Bil’in’s conference on non-violent resistance
http://www.commongroundnews.org/article.php?id=25400&lan=en&sid=0&sp=0

The village's website:
http://www.bilin-village.org/english/

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How much do you know about the history of Palestinian non-violent resistance?

Do you think there is only suicide bombing and rocket launching?

Were you aware of any non-violent protests currently or in the past?

Do you think these non-violent protests have made a difference?

Should they continue?

http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article49

http://qumsiyeh.org/palestiniannonviolentresistance/
(scroll down on this one- it is very detailed when you get there)


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Do you know as much about peaceful Palestinian protest as you do about suicide bombers?
My guess is more Palestinians have peacefully protested than suicide bombed, but that's not the impression you get from the media.

What do you think?

Which do you think are actually more prevalent?

If more people indeed have peacefully protested than suicide bombed, why the opposite impression? Maybe violence sells? What does that say about us? Does it put us on the opposite side of peace?

Non-violent protests against West Bank barrier turn increasingly dangerous
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/27/israel-security-barrier-protests