#focus the ourage

[theliterateape]

In a Violent World, Non-Violent Protest is the Grown-up Choice

By Don Hall

What is it you’d like to happen in this moment?

A new tool in the casino management bag I carry around with me came to me when a guest of the hotel was losing his shit.

He was furious that A) he wasn’t informed by Booking.com that there was a $100 deposit on the room (standard for our specific clientele) and B) that the hotel couldn’t refund the money the online booking website took from him. He was given the number to call to cancel the reservation (he either didn’t have the C-note or didn’t want to pay it) but was caught in the modern maze of phone chains and just wanted to speak to a human.

He stood at the front counter, gesticulating like a loon, barking at our hotel manager, yelling at his phone, and protesting that it all was because he was a black man.

I intervened. I listened to a bit of his rant. Then it occurred to me.

“I think I understand. It’s frustrating. So, what would you like to happen in this moment?”

The question caused him to pause. He hadn’t taken the time to map out his expectations of the next steps. He was angry and wanted everyone to know it. What happened next wasn’t even in the picture.

“I want him to call whoever he has to call to get my money back!”

“Okay. That’s reasonable. What if I told you he would have to call the same number you called?”

“There’s another number! There’s always another number!”

There is not another number.

I’d love to write that this diffused his rage but it didn’t. He continued his tirade until I had to have him escorted off the property explaining to him that it had nothing to do with his skin color and everything to do with his increasing belligerence.

It did, however, give me a new approach. What would you like to happen in this moment?

In Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict, Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan analyzed data from 323 violent and nonviolent pro-democracy movements. They concluded that nonviolent protests were twice as likely to succeed as violent ones—53 percent of the nonviolent demonstrations achieved their goal, as opposed to 26 percent of violent ones.

The vast majority of demonstration events associated with the BLM movement are non-violent (see map below). In more than 93% of all demonstrations connected to the movement, demonstrators have not engaged in violence or destructive activity.

Yet, despite data indicating that demonstrations associated with the BLM movement are overwhelmingly peaceful, one recent poll suggested that 42% of respondents believe “most protesters [associated with the BLM movement] are trying to incite violence or destroy property.”

Groups like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) have documented organized disinformation campaigns aimed at spreading a “deliberate mischaracterization of groups or movements [involved in the protests], such as portraying activists who support Black Lives Matter as violent extremists or claiming that antifa is a terrorist organization coordinated or manipulated by nebulous external forces.”

SOURCE 

The difficulty faced by both BLM and Antifa is the same conundrum that artists confront: anyone can claim membership without credential or declaration of intent. In the wake of a contentious election with some ground to still cover, the question presented is how to maintain a non-violent presence and weed out the extremists whose aim is to paint a violent target on the whole shebang?

What would you like to happen in this moment?

The most effective protests are theater of a sort. Targeted. Strategic. Not a question of numbers but of intent. Where you protest matters. How you protest matters. Mobs of angry people screaming at lines of cops is only truly effective if the cops turn violent and the protesters do not fight back (see every successful protest in the ‘60s in America and everything protest-oriented initiated by Gandhi).

What would you like to happen in this moment? What would you hope to achieve tomorrow?

Remember, in order for a protest movement to be effective it has to capture the hearts of the millions not invested in your cause. Aim your message to the middle (or at least to the vast population unaffected by the source of your outrage). This is a communication not a tantrum. Be aware of how the media will portray your protest. If there is humor and restraint but a serious message aside from the Howard Beal “I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore!” you can at least attempt to visualize tomorrow’s headlines.

What would you like to change?

Your rage is useless as an expression of change unless you are able to channel it into a message of hopeful co-existence. Anyone can break windows, scream in the streets, and tear down statues including the jackasses looking to demonize your tactics. Change in America comes slowly because there are so fucking many of us and we have such a diverse population. Include everyone in your message and more will gravitate to it.

For at least a decade into my middle-age and beyond my over-the-hill capacity, I’ve been unmoved by the protest movements of the Left. This was not a stance against protest but a disdain for emotionally unsophisticated mobs so angry and so unmotivated to communicate anything but rage that the results have been consistently ineffective.

I’ve been around for awhile. During that half century plus, there are few absolute truths I’ve discovered. Among the very few capital “T” truths uncovered in my life are these:

Sports fans and political wonks are exactly the same

Every cheese is pretty goddamned good

The Beatles are the classical music of the twentieth century

Most of the most boneheaded and stupid decisions I’ve made in my life were due to letting my emotions drive them

The next two months may be incredibly exhausting. The pandemic is flaring up like something out of a Roland Emmerick film, the economy is just going over the first hill of the rollercoaster, and the exchange of power in Washington is going to be anything but peaceful.

Be thoughtful. Be strategic. Be furious but incredibly controlled or the protests will amount to wasted energy and harmed people.

If someone organizes a protest that includes a thousand people wearing dog collars and barking a version of “This Land is Made for You and Me,” I’m in.

[bombshellbre95]

BLACKPINK deserved to be nominated for the Grammys. This is some bullshit.

Honestly speaking, they have international success BUT exactly what US success did they have? BTS had Dynamite and they only got their nomination cuz the song is in full English. What song would BP even submit? And if it's Bet You Wanna, Cardi barely promoted it so that wouldn't work at all. I know yall are mad but seriously, we gotta be more realistic about these things. What Blinks need to do is not focus on the Grammys, which I knew they weren't gonna be nominated for, but instead focuz on why YGE isn't sending them to MAMA and the Melon awards. Focus on the girl's domestic success cuz all the end of the year awards are coming up we gotta get these votes in and get BP the awards in their own country first. We can't ever get anything done cuz yall be so ouraged and upset at these western awards. Yes the girls deserve some more recognition in the states cuz this has literally been their year, but the west is xenophobic as fuck. They not gon let two South Korean groups get a nomination. They don't even let artists of color qualify for anything unless they've been famous for at least 3 years. They also only put black ppl in the rap and r&b catagories. So let's focus on winning them the Korean awards cuz that's what truly counts.

[tywvin-archive]

Members of the fuckland war as vines

anon also asked: Members of the fuckland war as quotes & members of tsoasource as random mythological figures 🤔😏

i’m just gonna put everything together because i don’t want to spam y’all’s dashes but here you go (sorry that it took so long!)

@helenstroy​ : ‘so no head?’ | whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right —henry ford | medusa

@lilttlebird​ : ‘stop! i could’ve dropped my croissant!’ | the richest man is not he who has the most, but he who needs the least | medea

@volchistas​: ‘i’m a bad bitch u can’t kill me!’ | courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear —ambrose redmoon | calliope

@dorrianngray​: ‘this bitch empty, YEET’ | life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it —charles swindoll | thetis

@polydeuce​: ‘can i get a waffle? can i please get a waffle?’ | whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right —henry ford | brigid

@lesbianathene​: ‘when there’s too much drama at school, all you gotta do is walk away-y-y’ | no act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted —aesop | airmed

@deanerys​: the grinch yoga vine | how many legs does a dog have, if you call the tail a leg? four. calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg —abraham lincoln | caer ibormeith

@babylonnes​: ‘get yo fuckin dog bitch!’ ‘it don’t bite’ ‘ye he DO!’ | it is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light —aristotle | vid

@brekkerskaz​: ‘i want to see my little boy, here he comes!’ | it is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both —niccolo machiavelli | the morrigan

@zenik​ : ‘what would you do if there was a child right in front of you’ (but instead of child it’s spaniard jskssjkjsks) | do or do not. there is no try —yoda | artemis

@pltuo​ : ‘you wanna know what’s better than pussy? yes, a really good book’ | the cure for boredom is curiosity. there is no cure for curiosity—ellen parr | thoth

@tiebrute: ‘i smell like beef’ |  i haven’t failed. i’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work —thomas a. edison |  bastet

@lilyjevane : ‘i said whoever threw that paper, your mum’s a hoe’ | the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step —lao tzu  | phoebe

@nifelhcim : ‘hey, hey, everybody clap your hands! |  you cannot shake hands with a clenched fist —indira gandhi | colel cab

@wesper​ : ‘even though i look like a BURNT chicken nugget, i still love myself’ | when hungry, eat your rice; when tired, close your eyes. Fools may laugh at me, but wise men will know what I mean—lin-chi | uke mochi

@legohlas​ : ‘gimme that coffee. gimme that coffee. GIMME THAT COFFEE’ | don’t ever wrestle with a pig. you’ll both get dirty, but the pig will enjoy it —cale yarborough | persephone

@evanslilys​ : ‘dory says a lot of things in her sleep okay’ ‘i put a whole bag of jelly beans up my ass’ | even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there —will rogers| hachiman

@lokiofasgcrd​ : ‘fuck this shit i’m out’ | the point of quotations is that one can use another’s words to be insulting —amanda cross |  q'uq'umatz

@billdelacour​ : ‘detective this is a crime scene…’ ‘what, is this the murder weapon? get off my DICK!’ | what the world needs is more geniuses with humility, there are so few of us left—oscar levant | philoctetes

@bilbos : that vine in which the hsm song is playing and they fucking fly a kid to the roof and he breaks it | we don’t see things as they are. we see things as we are —anais nin | demeter

[thedrown]

Ghosts of the Separatists- Xekhad Eekal

 A Jedi knight from Kaleesh colonyworld Oben, Xekhad joined the order as a boy much to the pride of his tribe and people as he began his new path learning the ways of the force. Growing up within the temple walls he was a sociable learner finding companionship easily given his endless enthusiasm and confidence. His charisma was due wholly to his commitment to his Kaleesh heritage in spite of the Jedi teachings often working against his original customs, yet he remained unmistakenly true to his people choosing traditional clothing and the ever famed war mask when he came of age. By the time he was well into being a padawan things began to change however.

 The Republic intervention in the Huk War in which Republic sanctions killed hundreds of thousands Kaleesh in the resulting famine whilst Jedi lead the Huk warriors to enslave and slaughter the Kaleesh populace once more. Unable to contact his home an adolescent Xekhad quickly left to return home finding only fire and death where his home stood and with it, the vengeful faces of what were once his tribe. With even his own kin lunging at the opportunity to kill him Xekhad was forced to defend himself from his own family, friends, and neighbours hunting him into the wilds for days on end before shrieking of his exile from Kaleesh Space and vowing divine punishment should he ever return. Xekhad managed to escape back to Coruscant and was left petrified and shaken for months unable to come to terms with his exile feeling doomed as a shamed warrior in the eyes of his ancestors with the image of his kin trying to murder him burned into his memory. It would be many years for Xekhad to recover and he did so largely by placing his long lost enthusiasm into benevolence. He used his role as a Jedi Knight to help any he could and found peace in being a defender of the weak and symbol of the Jedi ways. He had put away his former fears and nightmares of his shame focusing on being a Jedi over a Kaleesh and though this ignored the root problem, he was able to become a great Jedi because he put his culture behind him. 

 It was until the Clone Wars that Xekhad was once again made to face his past as he was now directly standing against the very faction that his people had followed into war. Exacerbated by the fact that his people’s leader, Grievous, was no sooner revealed to be the Supreme Commander of the Droid Army. Anxious and emotionally clouded, the one thing that kept him together was the loyalty to the clone troopers under his command and often he would put himself at the forefront of attrition campaigns he was often at the frontlines of given his physical strength. His tunnel vision coping method now used during the war continued to keep him somewhat stable until his current assignment to assist in the capture of Jedi turned Separatist Acolyte Noma Yu and her compatriot, Kaleesh captain Sivkhalen San Ourag. While his role was focused on the Jedi Noma, his encounter with Sikha began his deep descent into his long held back mental instability in the face of yet another of his people trying to kill him with nothing but undying hatred in their eyes. She specifically targets him no matter how hard he pushes back or tries to focus on Noma, Sikha always ropes him back into a confrontation with her taunts and vindictiveness in a clear intent to kill him. Xekhad’s control over his emotions is deteriorating at a rapid pace manifesting his guilt, shame, and anger within his Separatist counterpart and becoming more aggressive and single minded in his own personal rivalry with her.

[acourtofthornsandshadows]

KING’S CAGE

4, 5 (I'm from Spain so sorry If I have any mistakes in my english) So, this book was awesome. I know, I know... some people just don't like slow, political, etc. books. I understand. But that doesn't mean an author can't write those types of books, even if the book is a 3 book in a series were the previous ones are action packed. Personally, I looooove political books with psycological games and, yes, slow pacing with character focus if It's done right.... and honestly? I really really liked the way Victoria Aveyard has written all this. And also, yes, this is clearly "bridge book", but I'm obsessed with It. The characters are great: Maven is probably my favourite one, just because he intrigues me so so much! Cal is adorable as always (even if he takes cuestionable choices) and his relationship with Mare is beautiful and interesting, we don't get to see those problems between love interest in YA, each of them having different thought about certain things... you know what I mean... Farley is my love. Seriously, she's the best of the best. I quite liked EVangeline, really. I want to know more about her. Aaaaand Mare. Wow, the hate she recives is ourageous.... and I don't really understand It. I love her because she is so so different from other YA female protagonisy, they're always so good, selfless and overly pure (not that I hate them, on the contrary some of my favourite heroins are a bit like that), but Mare reacts to trauma like a lot of human beings do: she's hateful, selfish, cinic, agry and moraly ambigous. And let me tell you: I've been through a couple of those emotions when a really bad thing happened to me and my family.... and It's normal. The red queen world is different, there's a war, people are killing each other, so Mare react according to her positions (not that is ok btw but It is what It is in a war situation) . Killing people and beang hateful and all those things is a bad thing obvs, and Mare really grows and realize her mistakes in King's Cage, and that's why I love her: She reacts to trauma like a lot of people around the world do, but with time and several other factors, realizes that she can't keep going like this, that she needs to focus on what's important, on the people who love her and take her of her. If people don't like her because she isn' as good as other female protagonist, is ok, but I really apreciate that Victoria Aveyard wrote a character like this. I loved every single thing about this book, and I cnnot wait to read the last!