m-o-cK up

It’s been just a little over a month since malintZINE hit the internets. In 40 days it’s already garnered more than 14,500 views. By the time you read this, it could easily be close to 16,000. That’s how fast it’s taken off.

The blog describes itself as a “an online zine by radical women and queer people of color.” From the blog, its grown to have a presence on Facebook, Twitter and tumblr. If you’re new to the blog, start from the bottom up to understand why it started — in reaction to an effort by some members of TUSD’s Mexican-American Studies movement discouraging discussion on domestic violence and the arrest of a former MAS leader.

MalintZINE aims to highlight sexual and gender violence issues front and center, rather than force women and others to be silent. Social movements don’t grow and evolve unless they are called out on their bullshit and that’s part of what this blog is doing. But it also features posts on Chicana feminism, gender identity, and poetry that reacts to what is taking place in Tucson right now.

Members of the collective have received a lot of unfounded criticism. Some complaints focus on the fact that most of the posts don’t have bylines. Perhaps this newest post offers an explanation:

Why do (some) people keep complaining that those of us writing original work for this blog are choosing to remain anonymous? Why are you so uncomfortable? Is it a problem because we don’t need credit for our words? Are you disturbed because our egos don’t need stroking with pats on the back and high-fives? Does it bother you to not have a specific target to aim at when you disagree? Are you afraid that it’s your sister, your girlfriend, your mother who’s writing—and you don’t know?

We speak collectively because of our politics. We do not claim authorship for each individual piece because our experiences are shared by many women. We are creating safety for ourselves and our sisters by speaking our truth. We are unnamed because we are everywhere. You should assume that every single piece that has been published so far was written by a different woman. That’s a lot of voices rising in unity!

1. Co-founding a Creative Arts program for children living in Queens, NY

2. Assisting with PR and Shoots for the lovely Alison Brady. You can support the release of her new Photography book, here.

3. Working on PR for WBAI’s Joy of Resistance

4. Data analysis on two NIH funded studies focused on bridging the gap between research and clinical practice for the underserved. 

5. Creating a tumblr for Disability Rights Issues with Dolores 

6. Assisting with the promotion of FAT film

fighting the good fight, and leaving for Jamaica tonight :) 

lovin’ life afta grad school.

PLEASE POST WIDELY

JOY OF RESISTANCE MULTICULTURAL FEMINIST RADIO

PRESENTS

“HOW BLACK WOMEN DEFINE BEAUTY”

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15, 2011 @ 9-10 PM, WBAI 99.5 FM

streaming live on the internet @ www.wbai.org

On May 16th, 2011 evolutionary psychologist and college professor Dr. Satoshi Kanazawa (London School of Economics and London Birkbeck College) posted a controversial, racist, and sexist article online. Kanazawa’s piece claimed that he had discovered evidence that Black women are less physically attractive than white, Asian, and Native American women. And, the same evidence showed that Black men were not less attractive than other men. The article was published by the Psychology Today magazine’s website.

But, it turns out that the article was based on shoddy evidence. A group of young scholarly Black women organized an All Hands on Deck Response. An online petition at colorofchange.org in opposition to Kanazawa’s racist and sexist statements regarding Black women was written and it was signed by over 100,000 people. The editor of Psychology Today’s blog responded to the outrage of the petitioners and issued a public apology and Kanazawa‘s article was eventually removed from the magazine’s webpage. More recently, Dr. Kanazawa was removed as a blogger for Psychology Today’s site altogether.   Aishah Shahidah Simmons, award-winning independent feminist filmmaker and producer of No! The Rape Documentary, a film that breaks the silence of Black women who are raped by Black men, is a writer, international lecturer, and activist, based in Philadelphia; she is also one of the organizers of the petition opposing Kanazawa’s article. Ms. Simmons will be one of the guests.   Akiba Solomon, a journalist who immediately responded to Kanazawa’s racist attempt to debase Black women by publishing her own analysis of the psychologist’s article on her colorlines.org, blog Gender Matters, entitled “The Pseudoscience of Black Women Are Less Attractive” will be another panelist. Her blog was viewed and shared by well over 2,000 people. Ms. Solomon is a former health editor for Essence Magazine, and co-editor of an anthology of essays and oral memoirs about Black women and body image, entitled Naked: Black Women Bare All About Their Skin, Hair, Hips, Lips and Other Parts. 

In addition, we will be joined by: Dr. Salamishah Tillet, Assistant Professor of English and Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She received her Ph.D. in the History of American Civilization in 2007 and A.M. in English from Harvard University and her M.A.T. from Brown University. She is currently a visiting fellow at the Center of African American Studies at Princeton University. She is also the co-founder of the gender violence prevention and expressive arts organization, A Long Walk Home, Inc., and a regular contributor to the online magazine, The Root. Her research interests include twentieth-century African-American literature, film, and popular music, cultural studies, and feminism.

 
Darnell Moore, Rutgers University Educator in Newark, researcher, writer, and activist for justice will also join the discussion regarding the racistl and sexist implications of Dr. Kanazawa’s article.
 
The hosts of “How Black Women Define Beauty,” Maretta J. Short and Fran Luck,willl elicit the expertise of the panelists and also discuss with them where their concerns intersect (or don’t) with early feminist demands for all women to be able to live free from external “beauty” pressures. The show will also include a new feature: Amanda Marcotte’s reproductive rights podcast, the Feminist News segment, music and more.

Joy of Resistance: Multicultural Feminist Radio @ WBAI airs on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month, between 9 and 10 PM. We cover the ongoing worldwide struggle of women for full equality and human rights. You can contact us at joyofresistance@wbai.org or leave a phone message at (212) 209-2987. Programs stream live at www.wbai.org.
 
WBAI broadcasts to New York, New Jersey and Connecticut and is part of the Pacifica Radio Network, one of the few alternatives to the corporate-controlled media that dominate the airwaves—but it needs your financial support to continue broadcasting. Please consider going to www.wbai.org and contributing whatever amount you can to help keep alternative radio alive. AND PLEASE SUPPORT US DURING FUND DRIVES. Thank you for your support.