#to remember

tastefulcrucifixparty:

browherenew:

ohnoagremlin:

tastefulcrucifixparty:

this has 100% been talked about before but younger members of the lgbt community (especially on tumblr) NEED to understand that “gay panic” doesn’t mean “oh no i’m a teen panicking because i might be gay” it means “literal legal defense used in cases where a person has murdered someone upon finding out they were gay”

the gay panic defense states that if someone finds out you are gay you do not need to have threatened them, spoken to them, or even know of their existence- they now have the right to murder you under self-defense laws bc you letting them find out you’re gay antagonized and “panicked” them.

Only a handful of states have outlawed this horrific legal tactic. Ten have conclusively banned it as of June 2020, and 12 states have put the topic on the table for debate. 

The American Bar Association is staunchly in opposition to this discriminatory practice being used by legal defense teams. They published this helpful article last July that explains the legal ins and outs of it, its legal history, and some action steps to take if you want to get involved in making sure ALL STATES get laws on the books that prohibit the gay/trans panic defense.

Content Warning: The article mentions incidents of violence and murder against LGBTQ+ individuals, when it gives examples of high-profile cases where the gay/trans panic defense has been successful and unsuccessful. To go straight to the action steps, scroll to the bottom where you’ll find a list.

i’m so glad this post has been gaining traction and that people have been adding more information; the two overwhelming responses to this post have been “yeah, this refers to hate crimes and it’s not right to dilute that” and “oh shit, i never knew! i need to remember this!”

if you never knew the history of this phrase, it’s not a personal or moral failing. it’s just information that hadn’t gotten to you but is important to remember. follow the links. do your research. take action. 

slfcare:

things to do when your day’s been bad

• lie down on the floor beside your bed
• take a shower, use the good soap
• listen to a song you liked ages ago
• write your thoughts out in all caps
• draw a head and then ‘decorate’ that head however you’re feeling (I drew a man with a hole for a face. It worked)
• listen to a song and try to focus on one (1) instrument at a time, baseline, drums, guitar, another guitar, repeating sound effect
• wash your face
• take a nap or go to bed early
• call someone. tell them about your horrible day or let them talk about theirs or both
• go through your camera roll (specifically the screenshots folder)
• go through your saved instagram posts / tumblr likes
• watch That One Really Great Live Performance of That Artist You Love, then read the comments of everyone having great taste like you do
• cry a little about it
• remember that this day will end and another will begin. it’ll be all new, never experienced before, no bad things will have happened, and you’ll be okay.

writing-and-nutmeg:

the-violet-writer:

avi-burton-writing:

okay, so here’s a thing i do that i never see talked about in writing circles: prewriting.

prewriting, for me, serves two functions: one, to stave off writer’s block and get me hyped up to write, and two, to make sure the tone of my writing stays consistent. i know we’ve all encountered that problem where we’re writing glorious purple prose, take a five minute break, and come back unable to write sentences more complex than those in a picture book.

prewriting is, in essence, any refresher of your wip that you look at before you start writing. my prewriting agenda takes about 15 minutes, and it goes like this:

For ~10 min i read a published book that has the prose i want to emulate (in this case, Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo)

For ~5 min I look at the WIP: moodboards or graphics i’ve made, my outlines, and most importantly, the chapter (or several chapters) that precede what i’m about to write. this is the most important step for me, as it reminds me of what’s going on and the flow of the story.

cons of prewriting: it’s very, very easy to get distracted by all the cool inspiration you have and not actually write. to prevent this, i set a timer. a loud one.

even though this might seem like obvious advice, consciously establishing a writing routine, including a proper setup, boosted my word count like mad, and i hope it benefits some of you as well. peace.

I need to do this ASAP

Ooh, this looks like a great idea, I can’t wait to try it!

peirokalos:

“You have a gift from above such as other people have not: you have talent. Do not disparage yourself to rouse compassion. Smash the vodka bottle, lie down and read. Develop the aesthetic feeling in yourself. Allow your heart to ache for what the eye does not see.”

—Anton Chekhov, from a letter to Nikolai Chekhov written c. May 1888. (via xshayarsha)

dk-thrive:

“If today gets difficult, remember the smell of coffee, the way sunlight bounces off a window, the sound of your favorite person’s laugh, the feeling when a song you love comes on, the color of the sky at dusk, and that we are here to take care of each other.”

— Chaplain Bob Keller, The Chaplain’s Corner (Washington46.org, May 7, 2020)

No one gives a shit, move on!

poet and a hugger (x)

lover-suggestion:

It’s gonna work out. It’s gonna work out. It’s gonna work out.

hopepunk-humanity:

“Survival” isn’t always about defiance, fighting, kicking and screaming. Sometimes it looks like keeping your head down, taking it one step at a time, and just doing your best to get through. That does not make you a coward. Listen to me: that does not make you weak. Any type of survival demands courage. If you’ve survived, rest assured you’ve done so bravely

hopepunk-humanity:

I really don’t believe there’s any such thing as a failed hobby. I think it goes back to “no love, however brief, is wasted” and “joy is never pointless”. Even if your hobby wasn’t quote-unqoute “successful”, I bet you still had fun with it, at least a little bit. You probably still learned something from it, or at least learned some limits to your abilities. And I think that makes it worth it

bigwarmth:

(x)

hater-of-terfs:

hater-of-terfs:

Most of the “keep up the work after the protests have ended!”-type posts I’ve seen are mostly focused on like, reading Black authors and listening to Black voices and unlearning racism, and obviously all of that is absolutely vital - but no amount of individual self-reflection will be able to dismantle institutional systems of oppression. So I wanted to put together some resources for continuing to build a culture of noncompliance and resistance to the police and prison system even after things have calmed down

But first, be aware that the protests aren’t over. It’s June 29th and there are still events and actions being planned regularly across the nation, and they still need your participation and support. If you’re able, please keep your focus there; this list is for what can be done long-term outside of the protests

• Know your rights. Giving the police any more information than you absolutely have to will never and can never benefit you or anyone else - positive evidence given to the police is regularly thrown out in court, whereas negative evidence will be used against you. Know what to say and what you have the right to refuse. You don’t have to answer any questions without a lawyer present, you don’t have to give the police access to your house or car unless they have a current warrant signed by a judge. They will try to intimidate you - learn your rights and don’t let up, don’t ever cooperate with the police

• Don’t snitch. If you see someone breaking the law in a way that doesn’t hurt anybody, keep your mouth shut. If cops knock on your door asking you questions about your neighbors or anyone you know, don’t answer

• Don’t call the cops. If you can solve the problem in a different way, do it. Cops have on multiple occasions murdered the people they were called to help (or bystanders) without provocation. Don’t be complicit in that. Learn how to handle situations as a community or with the help of qualified experts

• When you see an interaction with the police happening, stop and observe. If necessary, film the interaction. Organize and work with groups such as Copwatch to observe the police and hold them accountable

• Use proper opsec, especially if you’re involved with anything that might make you a target for the cops. Downloading Signal is a great simple place to start
  

• Learn about jury nullification, and spread the word. When serving in a jury, you have the right to vote not guilty on a defendant that you believe did commit the crime but doesn’t deserve punishment for it. Don’t be complicit in unjust punishment

• Refuse to do workforthe police or prison system. Workers keep the world running and the state relies on our compliance to keep our neighbors under their thumb. We can shut it down

• Continue to support bail funds, even for non-protesters. Cash bail is unjust, and people shouldn’t be in jail just because they can’t pay

• Continue to support legal defense funds as well, such as that of the National Lawyers Guild
  

• Write to prisoners, either by yourself or with groups such as the Anarchist Black CrossorBlack And Pink, and organize/support books to prisons programs,commissary funds,reentry programs, and other forms of prisoner support

• Organize and support community-run crisis response organizations like the CAHOOTS program in Eugene, Oregon or the Birmingham Peacemakers in my hometown

Here are some other organizations to join that are doing good work in this area:

• Black Lives Matter is obviously a huge voice in racial justice right now. The list of “official” chapters on their website is very incomplete, though, so you may have better luck doing a web search for “[your area] black lives matter” (beware of fakes though)

• Showing Up for Racial Justice is another very active and widespread racial justice network

• Critical Resistance is a grassroots prison abolitionist organization founded by Angela Davis

• The Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement is another active prison abolitionist organization

• The IWW’s Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee works with prisoners to organize strikes, phone zaps, and other actions combating injustice in prisons

• Again,the Anarchist Black Cross does great work supporting political prisoners through letter-writing and more. The link I’ve been including is to an unofficial federation of ABC groups, though - there may be a group in your area that’s not part of that federation, so a web search for “[your area] black cross” may be better

• Black And Pink is a prison abolitionist organization focused on queer people and people living with HIV/AIDS
  

• Antifascism is of course an important aspect of racial justice and community safety. See @antifainternational‘sguide to getting connected to your local antifascists - though, again, beware of fakes (the “antifa checker” accounts on fedbookandtwitter can help)

The police state and prison industrial complex rely on the complicity and cooperation of all of us to function and be effective. By building a culture of noncompliance and active resistance, we can drastically reduce the state’s ability to oppress communities of color. Don’t let the struggle be forgotten with the changing of the news cycle - keep up the struggle until all are free!

Boosts and additional resources are very much appreciated!

• Watch for and report speed traps using navigation apps that support that feature. Signal them to other drivers on the road - common signals are flashing your headlights for cars, and repeatedly patting the top of your helmet for motorcyclists
  
• Fight for an end to the War On Drugs and the stigmatization of addiction, and for adoption of much more humane and effective harm reduction strategies instead. Support and organize community-run harm reduction organizations like the People’s Harm Reduction Alliance in the PNW, as well as larger NGOs like the Harm Reduction Coalitionandthe North American Syringe Exchange Network
• Get involved with local mutual aid groups. Uplift your neighbors and work together to build a better life for everyone. Strong communities make police obsolete

arborealgargoyle:

diver-up:

i romanticize mundane things ab life too much i was watching a lecture for my animal behavior class and the prof mentioned that songbirds migrate at night guided in direction by the stars and i had to take a moment and pause the vid like oh songbirds look at the stars……

I think you are doing life the correct way my friend you only learn songbirds look at stars once after all

flowerais-deactivated20211031:

it doesn’t matter. you will still have fun baking a distastrous looking bread loaf. you will still have fun painting a technically bad painting. you will get happy brain chemicals dancing like a weirdo. be bad on purpose.

ourheartsareoldfriends:

i think the thing that makes me the most emotional in life is the realization that everything i have and everything i see has been touched by other people. someone designed the logo of my favorite tea bags and someone decided which paintings should go in the calendar hanging on my wall. someone built the roof above my head and someone paved the street outside my house. someone made this pair of glasses specific for me, someone picked the pear i ate with my lunch and someone designed my favorite sweater. every book i read, every song i listen to, every film i watch, tens, if not hundreds of people had to be there to make it happen. even if i am alone, i am always surrounded by other human beings - a fact that makes my heart squeeze in on itself everytime i remember it.

glowcowboy:

i love small joys so much!!!! yes i love my coffee in my favorite mug!!! i love the sun spilling in the window!!! i love the wind on my face!!! i love my blanket over my lap!!! i love the clouds in the sky!!!! i am seeking joy in every moment!!!!