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My name is: Michelle, but most people call me Dark online.
My gender-pronouns are: They/them/their.
I am: 26 years old, a feminist, liberal, an atheist, an omnivore, and an ISFJ.
The Feminist: Intersectional, body positive, pro-choice, and sex positive.
My privileged identities include: Female assigned at birth (trans* privilege), white, able-bodied, allistic (?), dyadic, monogamous.
My non-privileged/oppressed identities include: Gender-fluid, fat, gray-a, neuroatypical, and gay.
I have: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and Major Depressive Disorder.
I like: Pets & animals, animal welfare, pet care & pet care education, ~*SCIENCE!*~, anatomy & physiology, roleplaying, anime/manga, computer & video games, rock & metal music.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Still no justice for Aiyana: 7-yr-old victim of racist police murder
MORE THAN two years have passed since Detroit police murdered 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley Jones.
She was asleep on a sofa in her grandmother’s living room when she was shot to death by officers of the Detroit Police Department (DPD), as a reality TV crew filmed the tragic incident. Today, the Jones family has still not seen justice and continues to be brutalized by the DPD.
Detroit police raided the Jones family’s duplex around midnight on May 16, 2010. Police believed a suspect in a murder that happened a few days earlier was hiding in the home. Rather than wait for the suspect to leave the house, as police officers have since told the media is standard protocol, the cops chose to storm the house in a nighttime raid—bringing camera crews with them—despite the children’s toys scattered across the lawn.
Cops approached the home and threw a flash grenade into the living room through a first floor window, temporarily blinding the occupants inside. According to attorneys for the Jones family, video evidence shows that at that point, Officer Joseph Weekley, a regular guest on reality television, shot inside the home, killing Aiyana. The film has still not been released to the public.
The cops’ version of events has been inconsistent. First, they claimed that Weekley’s gun went off when Aiyana’s grandmother, Mertilla Jones, tried to grab it in a scuffle with Weekley. But Mertilla was arrested, drug tested and examined that night for gunpowder residue on her hands. All of the tests came back negative.
The police have since backed off that story, and now claim that Mertilla brushed against Weekly as she ran from the room, causing his gun to misfire. But there was “no contact with any cop,” Mertilla told reporters. “None. They’re lying.”
… IMMEDIATELY AFTER the incident, the media set out to cover for the police and blame the Jones family for the tragedy. The day after Aiyana’s murder, Rochelle Riley, a columnist for the Detroit Free Press, wrote that Detroiters “need to stop harboring criminals and averting our eyes to thuggery.”
The Free Press ran a profile of Officer Weekley the next day, saying that he “helmed several charitable endeavors…including one that raises money for children of domestic violence victims.” The profile neglected to mention that a group of Detroit cops, including Weekley, were under federal investigation for a 2007 incident in which police raided a home, shot two dogs to death and pointed guns at children, including infants.
Weekley was arraigned in October 2011, 17 months after the fatal raid, and charged with involuntary manslaughter. He faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. The family is still waiting for the trial, which begins in late October.
Meanwhile, Charles Jones, Aiyana’s father, has been accused of aiding in the murder that police were investigating. He has been charged with first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison.
Detroit’s millionaire Democratic Mayor Dave Bing released a statement following Weekley’s arraignment, saying that the city “must use this difficult moment to continue bringing our community and police department together.” But the Jones family has seen what it looks like when the police come together with—or rather, against—the community: terrorism.
In spite of the court system’s foot-dragging, the Joneses have not given up hope for justice. In April 2012, Mertilla Jones made a statement to the press, saying, “I know it’s people out there praying for us…While they’re reaching out, I’m going to grab a hold of their hand. It’s time for us to stand up and speak out for Aiyana.”
Beware Whiteness Bearing Gifts
KONY 2012: Invisible Children Founder Admits Group A “Trojan Horse” For God
Jason Russell, the founder of the internationally acclaimed and criticized group Invisible Children, which released the viral video “KONY 2012,” was caught on tape calling his organization a “Trojan Horse” that will allow them to enter the secular world and introduce Christian fundamentalism, according to a report published today by Truth Wins Out founder Wayne Besen.
“This audio clip incontrovertibly shows Invisible Children’s invisible agenda,” said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “It is not simply about Kony, but being phony and concealing the motivation behind its deceptive campaign.” Besen adds:
Truth Wins Out has obtained exclusive audiotape from a 2005 Christian conference in San Antonio where Invisible Children’s co-founder Jason Russell calls his organization a “Trojan Horse” to introduce the secular realm to his group’s version of Christian fundamentalism. The audiotape reveals that that his organization is particularly focused on targeting youth in public high schools. According to Russell’s remarks (0:44):
“Coming in January we are trying to hit as many high schools, churches, and colleges as possible with this movie. We are able to be the Trojan Horse in a sense, going into a secular realm and saying, guess what life is about orphans, and it’s about the widow. It’s about the oppressed. That’s God’s heart. And to sit in a public high school and tell them about that has been life-changing. Because they get so excited. And it’s not driven by guilt, it’s driven be an adventure and the adventure is God’s.”
Invisible Children is the group that launched a viral video, KONY 2012, that reached millions of viewers worldwide and became an Internet sensation. The ostensible reason for the video was to highlight the brutality of Ugandan LRA leader Joseph Kony.
However, the group raised alarms after researcher Bruce Wilson showed the group was funded by the National Christian Foundation, a fundamentalist outfit that finances extremist right wing organizations and anti-gay groups.
Wilson also discovered that Invisible Children was intimately linked to The Family, the secretive and powerful American fundamentalist group widely considered responsible for Uganda’s draconian “Kill the Gays” bill.
The New Civil Rights Movement has reported on The Family many times. For those still unfamiliar with the shadowy Christianist political group, a quick review:
The Family, also known as The Fellowship, hosts the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. every year, at which the sitting U.S. President always speaks. Past and present political members of The Family are believed to include Sam Brownback, Tom Coburn, Jim DeMint, Pete Domenici, John Ensign, Chuck Grassley, Jim Inhofe, Mark Sanford, Bart Stupak, John Thune, and Strom Thurmond.
The Family is believed to be one of the main principals behind Uganda’s Kill The Gays bill, and its author, David Bahati, is also believed to be a member.
Last month, well-respected investigative journalist and author Jeff Sharlet, who has written two books on The Family said Senator James Inhofe was “lying” when he told Rachel Maddow he was unaware of Uganda’s Kill The Gays bill.
KONY 2012 has had more than 100 million views on YouTube and Vimeo. The group, Invisible Children, today released “Kony 2012 Part II: Beyond Famous,” which purportedly addresses some issues critics have had with KONY 2012.
The Huffington Post notes today:
Invisible Children has released a sequel to its “Kony 2012″ film after more than 100 million viewers helped make the Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony infamous worldwide.
The new film “Kony 2012: Part II – Beyond Famous” released Thursday comes in the wake of worldwide criticism that the original video simplified complex issues related to the years of conflict in Uganda. The sequel aims to provide a more in-depth look at Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army, which turns children into soldiers and slaves as a means to destabilize the government.
In the video, Invisible Children offers what it calls a “comprehensive approach” to stopping Kony, which includes civilian protection, urging peaceful surrender, providing rehabilitation centers in post-conflict areas and arresting Kony.
…
Invisible Children co-founder Jason Russell, who suffered a highly public mental breakdown on the streets of San Diego, does not play a part in the film.
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whoever defended this shit can fuck off forreal
yeah, those assholes getting on our collective case for being skeptical of this shit? don’t be mad just because we remember how shit usually goes when white people suddenly wanna help out the ethnicks.
also: we told you so.
