knightlynightly

[knightlynightly]

the group chat when i ask whos available to hang out next week

[knightlynightly]

WOW TUMBLR

[knightlynightly]

<3

i don’t want to achieve equality by sinking to men’s level, i want them to get on ours! why should i have to unlearn the conversational art of waiting my turn, unlearn sexual self-restraint, unlearn trust in others’ good intentions, unlearn the impulse to cater to others’ needs, just to have a chance at success among savages? why can’t the men learn some fucking manners so we can all conduct our affairs in a civilized manner? i shouldn’t have to stop saying sorry, you say sorry!

[knightlynightly]

I can see fire riddled in your veins when they pop.

I can drink in your scream or your laugh; pouring you little, then pouring you half.

I can smell the brakes when we stop.

[knightlynightly]

how about unfinished thoughts in my drafts

how about watching my feet when i cook

how about cleaning what was already cleaned

how about tracing the space in my legs

how about pictures of you in my phone

how about running water inside of our house

how about thinking harder than now

[knightlynightly]

i could twist into any shape

if my arms were long enough to encircle you

[knightlynightly]

I wonder if we can all lay together again

Flat against our place

Unfurled

Living 

[knightlynightly]

Hilda Palofax’s “Cuando Baje La Marea” at Thinkspace Projects.

Currently on view virtually at Thinkspace Projects in Los Angeles, California is artist Hilda Palofax’s solo exhibition, “Cuando Baje La Marea.”

The artist’s absorbing works often contain the female form. The artist shares, “Girls, love, rain, and music are my biggest inspirations.” And whether it’s on canvas, paper, linen, ceramic, or adorning a wall, her work brings together those elements in fresh and uplifting ways.

-

Be sure to follow Supersonic Art on Instagram!

[knightlynightly]

*confused coughing*

[knightlynightly]

i love farrah su 

02.26.14

Hi, I am very happy. 

Today my Run River North album came in the mail. It debuted yesterday and I had to wait a day until it got to me. 

When I opened my package, to my surprise I found TWO albums. 

[knightlynightly]

that post was right i wouldn’t have a sense of humor without spongebob. its still some of the goddamn funniest shit i’ve ever seen. spongebob almost dying because he’s too polite to ask for a glass of water at sandy’s house. mr. krabs and spongebob killing the health inspector. smittywerbenjagermenjensen. “I was born with glass bones and paper skin. every morning I break my legs. and every afternoon I break my arms.” the perfume department on the flying dutchman’s boat. that time spongebob cleared his mind to be a fine dining waiter and forgot his own name because that’s how customer service just BE. the ugly barnacle that was so ugly everyone DIED. the END. the one where squidward buys a pie but it’s actually a bomb. and the MUSICAL numbers like??? the fun song. the christmas song. tony award winning song “this grill is not a grill”. the entire band geeks episode like…this is all from the top of my head!!!!! just from the top of my head!!! there’s so much more!!! thank god for stephen and all the laughs i’ve had because of him.

[knightlynightly]

imagine like. getting married and then moving into your home together. going to bed bath and beyond. getting a nice toaster. ah, love. one day…..

[knightlynightly]

Meanwhile, in prehistoric Canada…..

[knightlynightly]

Border Separation Myths

Dr. Michelle Martin is a researcher and professor at California State University, Fullerton. She has a Masters of Social Work, Masters in Global Policy, and a Ph.D. in Peace Studies (Political Science). She teaches Social Welfare Policy in the Master of Social Work program.

The following is her write-up on the separation of families at the border. She dispells a lot of common myths going around and provides sources which are linked. This might be helpful in your personal debates and discussions.

———————————————- 

There is so much misinformation out there about the Trump administration’s new “zero tolerance” policy that requires criminal prosecution, which then warrants the separating of parents and children at the southern border. Before responding to a post defending this policy, please do your research…As a professor at a local Cal State, I research and write about these issues, so here, I wrote the following to make it easier for you:

Myth: This is not a new policy and was practiced under Obama and Clinton.

FALSE. The policy to separate parents and children is new and was instituted on 4/6/2018. It was the “brainchild” of John Kelly and Stephen Miller to serve as a deterrent for undocumented immigration, and some allege to be used as a bargaining chip. The policy was approved by Trump, and adopted by Sessions. Prior administrations detained migrant families, but didn’t have a practice of forcibly separating parents from their children unless the adults were deemed unfit. 

[ source ]

Myth: This is the only way to deter undocumented immigration.

FALSE. Annual trends show that arrests for undocumented entry are at a 46 year low, and undocumented crossings dropped in 2007, with a net loss (more people leaving than arriving). Deportations have increased steadily though (spiking in 1996 and more recently), because several laws that were passed since 1996 have made it more difficult to gain legal status for people already here, and thus increased their deportations (I address this later under the myth that it’s the Democrats’ fault). What we mostly have now are people crossing the border illegally because they’ve already been hired by a US company, or because they are seeking political asylum. Economic migrants come to this country because our country has kept the demand going. But again, many of these people impacted by Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy appear to be political asylum-seekers. 

[ source ]

Myth: Most of the people coming across the border are just trying to take advantage of our country by taking our jobs.

FALSE. Most of the parents who have been impacted by Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy have presented themselves as political asylum-seekers at a U.S. port-of-entry, from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Rather than processing their claims, according to witness accounts, it appears as though they have been taken into custody on the spot and had their children ripped from their arms. The ACLU alleges that this practice violates the US Asylum Act, and the UN asserts that it violates the UN Treaty on the State of Refugees, one of the few treaties the US has ratified. The ACLU asserts that this policy is an illegal act on the part of the United States government, not to mention morally and ethically reprehensible. 

[ source ]

Myth: We’re a country that respects the Rule of Law, and if people break the law, this is what they get.

FALSE. We are a country that has an above-ground system of immigration and an underground system. Our government (under both parties) has always been aware that US companies recruit workers in the poorest parts of Mexico for cheap labor, and ICE (and its predecessor INS) has looked the other way because this underground economy benefits our country to the tune of billions of dollars annually. Thus, even though many of the people crossing the border now are asylum-seekers, those who are economic migrants (migrant workers) likely have been recruited here to do jobs Americans will not do.

[ source ]

Myth: The children have to be separated from their parents because the parents must be arrested and it would be cruel to put children in jail with their parents.

FALSE. First, in the case of economic migrants crossing the border illegally, criminal prosecution has not been the legal norm, and families have historically been kept together at all cost. Also, crossing the border without documentation is typically a misdemeanor not requiring arrest, but rather has been handled in a civil proceeding. Additionally, parents who have been detained have historically been detained with their children in ICE “family residential centers,” again, for civil processing. The Trump administration’s shift in policy is for political purposes only, not legal ones. 

See page 18: [ source ]

Myth: We have rampant fraud in our asylum process, the proof of which is the significant increase we have in the number of people applying for asylum.

FALSE. The increase in asylum seekers is a direct result of the increase in civil conflict and violence across the globe. While some people may believe that we shouldn’t allow any refugees into our country because “it’s not our problem,” neither our current asylum law, nor our ideological foundation as a country support such an isolationist approach. There is very little evidence to support Sessions’ claim that abuse of our asylum-seeking policies is rampant. Also, what Sessions failed to mention is that the majority of asylum seekers are from China, not South of the border. 

Here is a very fair and balanced assessment of his statements: [ source ]

Myth: The Democrats caused this, “it’s their law.“ 

FALSE. Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats caused this, the Trump administration did (although the Republicans could fix this today, and have refused). I believe what this myth refers to is the passage of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which were both passed under Clinton in 1996. These laws essentially made unauthorized entry into the US a crime (typically a misdemeanor for first-time offenders), but under both Republicans and Democrats, these cases were handled through civil deportation proceedings, not a criminal proceeding, which did not require separation. And again, even in cases where detainment was required, families were always kept together in family residential centers, unless the parents were deemed unfit (as mentioned above). Thus, Trump’s assertion that he hates this policy but has no choice but to separate the parents from their children, because the Democrats “gave us this law” is false and nothing more than propaganda designed to compel negotiation on bad policy. 

[ source ]

Myth: The parents and children will be reunited shortly, once the parents’ court cases are finalized. 

FALSE. Criminal court is a vastly different beast than civil court proceedings. Also, the children are being processed as unaccompanied minors (“unaccompanied alien children”), which typically means they are in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHS). Under normal circumstances when a child enters the country without his or her parent, ORR attempts to locate a family member within a few weeks, and the child is then released to a family member, or if a family member cannot be located, the child is placed in a residential center (anywhere in the country), or in some cases, foster care. Prior to Trump’s new policy, ORR was operating at 95% capacity, and they simply cannot effectively manage the influx of 2000+ children, some as young as 4 months old. Also, keep in mind, these are not unaccompanied minor children, they have parents. There is great legal ambiguity on how and even whether the parents will get their children back because we are in uncharted territory right now. According to the ACLU lawsuit (see below), there is currently no easy vehicle for reuniting parents with their children. Additionally, according to a May 2018 report, numerous cases of verbal, physical and sexual abuse were found to have occurred in these residential centers. 

[ source ]

Myth: This policy is legal. 

LIKELY FALSE. The ACLU filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on 5/6/18, and a recent court ruling denied the government’s motion to dismiss the suit. The judge deciding the case stated that the Trump Administration’s policy is “brutal, offensive, and fails to comport with traditional notions of fair play and decency.” The case is moving forward because it was deemed to have legal merit. 

[ source ]

Here is Michelle’s original Facebook post.

Michelle’s Social Media [ facebook | twitter ]

[knightlynightly]

Why play fool for the cameras when no ones around. Speak like screams in a mirror in the dark.

[knightlynightly]

I almost threw my phone.

[knightlynightly]

Two Years Straight

A light dust fell into my mouth and tugged a little bit on life. 

I coughed out and spat a clumsy teaspoon of spit near my bare foot. Whoops. She didn’t want shoes in here. She probably didn’t want that either. 

She poked her head out of the door and looked at the spit–looked at my soul. 

“Whatever. We’re moving.”

“You’re moving.”

“Excuse me, are you coming back to meet the new tenants or something?”

I laughed and choked on some leftover saliva. I sputter and drop the boxes I forgot I was carrying. 

She looked at me because what the fuck. 

“I mean yeah just drop shit on the floor. Why not?”

I’m wheezing at this point, but straighten back up quickly attempting to pretend I can live like a human does. I ask an elevated question as soon as I can. 

“I met you here.”

She looks at me as she sorts books I gave her for a birthday into a cardboard box. She probably never read them. 

“It kind of sucks that I’m moving huh?”

“Well I’m not driving to see you. No, like not every day. Maybe sometimes.”

She takes a long look and I latch on. This is the first long look we’ve both taken since she said out loud yesterday that she wouldn’t miss this place. There’s nothing that can be said for the place. It was one small room of two in the apartment. The other roommate, Jessica or Jennifer(?), had moved already. We weren’t close. They weren’t close. This is the way college is sometimes. 

“I met you here. I needed to pee really bad and I knocked everywhere on the first floor and no one answered. And then I knocked here.”

“You’re bladder united us.” 

I would hope all my stupid lack of body control would have evaporated from the conversation, but I was stuck in a memory. 

“I don’t know if I’m sad you’re moving.”

“I mean you’ll have to move too. Eventually.”

“Sure. But you’re moving in a different way.” 

I pace in what used to be her room and imagine the next round of college kids who will either confess or repress in the nondescript apartment space. I look out the window and see a bird shitting on the railing. 

We both start laughing, that made me sad. 

In the corner of my eye, I saw her stiffen. I still don’t think we’re that close. But maybe in a different way, not one I understand. Or honestly maybe in a way I’m scared of. Because it feels like there’s no way back. A half-built bridge going in two directions.

“Hey.”

....

“What.”

....

“I’m moving too.”

....

“I’m moving first.”

“That’s okay.”

I looked up again at the light dust. Two years straight. 

“Keep in touch.”