#mhpshow

[bigjoanie]

Head over to @rslawards to watch @estellaadeyeri’s interview discussing our beginnings at @firsttimersfest, how @mhpshow inspired our single ‘Crooked Room’, meeting the #daydreamlibraryseries team (aka @thurstonmoore58, @extendedplays & @abbaphone) and eventually releasing ‘Sistahs’, @decolonisefest, @girlsrocklondon, #MeToo and more! Link in the @rslawards bio 📺 photo by @prsfoundation for @bbcintroducing at @sxsw 💥 #bigjoanie #rslawards #decolonisefest #melissaharrisperry #crookedroom #sistahs #firsttimersfest #diyspaceforlondon https://www.instagram.com/p/BwAGIEZAQs8/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=8kwm2mfljg7m

[trascapades]

🖤#ArtIsAWeapon

Check out the @apollotheater's Winter/Spring 2022 Season "The Renaissance Is Now" events: www.ApolloTheater.org

Reposted from @apollotheater #ApolloFam -

Our full lineup of IN-PERSON and VIRTUAL events includes the long-awaited return of #AmateurNightApollo (y'all get your CHEERS + BOO's ready!); an inspiring meeting of the minds with @TaNehisiPCoates and @BlackThought in conversation; a celebration of hip-hop history with the Lyricist Lounge 30th Anniversary concert; music of the diaspora with @SomiMusic at the #AfricaNow Festival, side-splitting sets at #ApolloComedyClub, genre-defying performances on our #ApolloMusicCafe stage,  change-making conversations at #ApolloUptownHall with Melissa Harris-Perry (@mhpshow) and Reverend Al Sharpton (@real_sharpton); and a whole lot more.

Tap the link in our bio and join us to laugh, groove, and raise your voice as we continue exploring our season’s theme: The Renaissance is Now! Apollo Members have access to our exclusive pre-sale and can start grabbing tickets today! General Public access begins Thursday, Dec 9 at Noon ET.

#apollotheater #apollotheatre #theapollo #harlemnyc #therenaissanceisnow #blacktheaterarts #mlkday #apollonewworks #artandactivism #hiphopheads #blackexcellence #thingstodonyc #BlackArts #BlackBrilliance #TraScapades

https://www.instagram.com/trascapades/tv/CXL3p_3jLRb/?utm_medium=share_sheet

[wikkedscorpion]

#Repost @elleusa ... “I would be an excellent running mate," @staceyabrams told ELLE, when asked if she would accept an offer from @joebiden. "I have the capacity to attract voters by motivating typically ignored communities. I have a strong history of executive and management experience in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. I’ve spent 25 years in independent study of foreign policy. I am ready to help advance an agenda of restoring America’s place in the world. If I am selected, I am prepared and excited to serve.” The rising democratic star talks to @mhpshow about voting rights, COVID-19, and being Vice President. Link in bio. (at Durham, North Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_CcfIbHXZI/?igshid=12mtxcrznoi6w

[blackonblackbk]

Full Disclosure: As I writing this post I did a quick fact check and the more accurate number is 53% of white women voted 45 into office. I stand corrected. . I have been thinking about this statistic a long time. Especially when I keep hearing “This is not the America I know. This is not who we are.” . Voting records begs to differ. . By Julie Kohler "To understand the “white woman story,” we must first acknowledge that white supremacy remains the prevailing force in electoral politics—that, as @mhpshow - Melissa Harris-Perry noted, “there is a race [voting] gap of enormous proportions and a gender gap of very slim margins in this country…. gender politics is a secondary game, not the main show.” Data consistently support this statement; the race gap between black and white voters in modern elections runs 40–50+ points, whereas the gender gap runs about 10. That said, white women are not a monolithic voting bloc, and their voting behavior is highly related to the interplay of several factors: heterosexual marriage, education, and religion. There was a 20-point gap in support for Hillary Clinton between college-educated (56 percent) and non-college-educated (36 percent) white women in 2016.” . #theother47percent #53percent #neverforget #whitewomen #familyseparation #immigration #blacklivesmatter #womensrights #wefight #weresist #wewillwin #outfittingtherevolution #deconstructtheconstruct #itslifeordeathforus #intersectionality #civilrights #humanrights #equality #equalityforall no #racism #classism #xenophobia #alliesandchampions #notagame #resistance (at Brooklyn, New York)

[howtobeblack]

Another backstage moment at the Apollo. @mharrisperry was in the house! #mhpshow #nerdland (at Apollo Theater)

[bestrong17]

Melissa Harris-Perry talking about the Hyde park list. I love this woman. Calling out universities across the country that make the victim the defendant, instead of going after the rapist.

[freemarissanow]

Free Marissa buttons are popping up everywhere!  Do you have one yet? Get yours now at the Free Marissa store! All proceeds go to the Marissa Alexander Legal Defense Fund.

Represent!

[medusasdharma]

A letter to the Montana judge who went easy on a child rapist — MSNBC Dear Judge Baugh: It’s me, Melissa. I’d like to think it’s a safe assumption that, of all people, a district court judge in Montana is intimately familiar with the laws in Montana. You know, since it’s your job and all. But your statements in court on Monday suggest that maybe you could use a bit of a refresher, so allow me to help you out. According to Montana law, a victim is incapable of giving consent if the victim is less than 16 years old. Incapable of giving consent. Because, Judge Baugh, a victim less than 16 years old—in this case a 14-year-old—is a child. A child, like 44% of those who are victims of rape. And the law codifies our collective understanding that children deserve special protections because their youth and immaturity makes them inherently dis-empowered in a sexual, as you call it, “situation”—with an adult. Which means Cherice, this child, was in no way capable of controlling or consenting to the actions of the grown man who had sex with her. She was no more able to prevent her rape than she was to somehow age herself beyond the 14 years she was at the time. So your statement that she was older than her chronological age—along with implicating her as a participant in her own assault—amounts to excusing the crimes of an adult while laying the blame on the child that he victimized. That child, Cherice, isn’t here anymore to speak for herself. But if she were she’d likely tell you that it’s this kind of shame—the idea that it is somehow our fault—that keeps so many survivors, including me, silent after their rape. And makes survivors four times as likely to contemplate the drastic action Cherice ultimately chose—to end their own lives. Judge Baugh, it’s bad enough that, thanks to you, an admitted child rapist will be a free man by the end of the month. But the day after the sentencing, you defended your decision by saying, “I think that people have in mind that this was some violent, forcible, horrible rape. It was horrible enough as it is just given her age, but it wasn’t this forcible beat-up rape.” If I didn’t know any better I’d think you were exchanging your judicial robes for a Republican seat in Congress. Because you’re sounding a lot like former senatorial candidate Todd “Legitimate Rape” Akin—before his comments got him voted out of office. So, let me remind you of a couple of the same things I reminded him. First? Rape is rape. Full stop. Second? You hold an elected office, too. Which means that as easily as you’ve been re-elected for the last 30 years, you can just as easily be voted out. And maybe then you’ll finally understand consent. When you lose your judicial seat with the consent of the voters who put you there. Sincerely, Melissa

[penda-kenya]

Full report is interesting, too.

[traciglee]

Dearest Beloved Girl,

This letter is an apology. An apology for being an adult who has failed to make the world safe for you. Because you should be safe. Even when you make the sometimes stupid, often naive choices that teens make, you should be safe.

Your vulnerability should not invite assault and attack of your body or your spirit. And so I am sorry, because  we have failed to teach your male peers that they have no right to touch you without your consent or to use you to meet their needs or to discard you if your victimization does not fit their life plan. I am sorry we have failed you.

This letter is also a note of gratitude for your willingness to report this crime, to take the stand, and to endure the viciousness hurled at you this week. I know the words that run in a loop in your mind. Don’t tell. If you tell, no one will believe you. If you tell, everyone will think you are a whore. Sometimes he is the one who says them first, spewing the words like mold spores that grow in the darkness of your silence. Sometimes it’s your own voice telling you, I can’t tell. No one will believe me. It’s the reason 54%of  survivors never report the assault. It’s the reason I kept my secret for nearly a decade. But not you, beloved. You demanded the right to be heard.

You may have lost your voice that night, but you found it again when you told the truth–even though you knew, didn’t you? You knew just how relentlessly they would try to silence you.

You knew that neighbors, and friends, and even members of the national media would mourn the loss of your attackers’ football careers more than the loss of your innocence. You knew that even those who claimed to be sympathetic would pass along the pictures of your assault with a tone deaf voyeurism that seeks to make you a thing instead of a person. I think maybe you knew, or suspected these things, but you spoke out anyway.

And that…that is astonishing. And I want to say thank you, because you did what so many of us never find the strength to do. You spoke for yourself. You spoke for the 44% of rape victims who are under 18–and you spoke for my 14-year-old self, who still hears that threat echoing in my head, “Don’t tell. No one will believe you.”

So, this is my apology and this is my gratitude. This is me saying, “I believe you.”

And I believe you are inherently valuable. Not as a character in some grotesque news cycle where your assault is all we know, but as a girl with hopes and dreams and ambitions and vulnerabilities and so much more growing up to do. I never need to know your name, but I need you to know you are not alone. Surviving is not a single occurrence, it is a lifetime of making choices that honor you and your right to speak. You have begun surviving. You will continue surviving. And if you ever get down, or wonder how you will go on, take out this letter and read it to yourself.

I believe you.

Sincerely,

Melissa

"You have begun surviving. You will continue surviving." 

Read it. Watch it. Share it.

[raphaellavaisseau]

Melissa Harris-Perry's advice to young women entering the workforce: "Don't smile and nod unless you are happy and agree." - 3.9.13 MHP Show on MSNBC

http://tv.msnbc.com/shows/melissa-harris-perry/

[newwavefeminism]

Today's topics: war (women in combat), abortion, homelessness

[willworkfortv-blog]

The internetz. My job. My hair.

Watching the panelists on the Melissa Harris Perry Show on MSNBC talk about black women's hair and the angst, politics, economics and, well, craziness that goes along with what grows out of my head reminded me of an email I got a couple of years ago after I did a segment on the Rachel Maddow Show.  The email was equal parts "Yay! Fanmail!" and "Sigh, this is still an issue":

Hello Shawna Thomas,

My name is [redacted] and my reason for writing to you is because I just saw you on the Rachel Maddow Show and I was so happy to see a black woman with natural hair on NBC. I watch MSNBC everyday (I would like to eventually have my own show or maybe co host with Tamron Hall or Rachel Maddow) but I've noticed that there aren't many black people working in front of the cameras. In fact, there aren't many well-known female TV personalities with unprocessed african american hair. I too have natural hair and I am currently pursuing my bachelors degree in communications at Jacksonville University. I hope to become a broadcast journalist in the future. I am aware that this will not be a walk in the park. I know that as a black woman with kinky hair I will face some difficulties because I am trying to break into a field where I will be different from the rest. I've realized that I will have to put in one hundred and ten percent in order to get those in the industry to pay more attention my talent and enthusiasm and less on the fact that I don't fit the profile, so to speak.

I know that you don't really do on camera appearances and you mainly work behind the scenes, but I just wanted you to know how happy it made me to see someone like you on the broadcast today. It reassured me that there is still a demand for talent and not just outside appearance. It reminded me that despite the fact that I am black, I have kinky hair (something many people associate with being ugly) and I differ from the typical TV reporter, I can still be successful. I would also like to thank you because you are a representative of black beauty. The way you wear your hair says that you are not ashamed of being black. You serve as a role model to those young women who are compunctious about being african american or about having kinky hair.

Please let me know if there is any advice that you would offer to an aspiring broadcast journalist. I would love to hear about the struggles and triumphs.

I am awaiting your response.

Thank you.

*************

In case you're wondering, yes I did respond to this email. I was touched and have a little bit of knowledge about the tv news business that I can drop on a person even if I don't have an on-camera position.

And this morning made me think about when my mother freaked out after I originally cut off all of my straight hair.   It's nice that I can work in this business whether my hair looks like this in the DMZ:

This on Air Force One listening to Jay Carney:

And this in Colombia while shooting scenics and looking for prostitutes #truestory:

Ok.  I was drinking coconut water out of a fresh coconut, but that's because I needed a break from the aforementioned task.  #humblebrag? #nah #bragbrag