#Reparations Study

[ausetkmt]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden supports a study on whether descendants of enslaved people in the United States should receive reparations, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Wednesday, as the issue was being debated on Capitol Hill.

Psaki told reporters that Biden “continues to demonstrate his commitment to take comprehensive action to address the systemic racism that persists today.”

Reparations have been used in other circumstances to offset large moral and economic debts - paid to Japanese Americans interned during World War Two, to families of Holocaust survivors and to Blacks in post-apartheid South Africa.

But the United States has never made much headway in discussions of whether or how to compensate African Americans for more than 200 years of slavery and help make up for racial inequality.

HR-40, a bill to fund the study of “slavery and discrimination in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present and recommend appropriate remedies” has been floated in Congress for more than 30 years, but never taken up for a full vote.

Democratic Representative Sheila Jackson Lee reintroduced it in January.

Fellow Democratic Representative Steve Cohen, who chairs the House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, told a hearing on Wednesday it was fitting to consider HR-40 at a time when the country is reckoning with police violence against Blacks and a pandemic that has disproportionately affected African Americans.

Biden told the Washington Post last year that “we must acknowledge that there can be no realization of the American dream without grappling with the original sin of slavery, and the centuries-long campaign of violence, fear, and trauma wrought upon Black people in this country.”

But like nearly all of the Democratic presidential candidates at the time, he did not embrace the idea of specific payments to enslaved people’s descendants, instead promising “major actions to address systemic racism” and further study.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted last June following the death in police custody in Minneapolis of George Floyd, an African-American man, found clear divisions along partisan and racial lines, with only one in 10 white respondents supporting the idea and half of Black respondents endorsing it.

Calls have been growing from some politicians, academics and economists for such payments to be made to an estimated 40 million African Americans. Any federal reparations program could cost trillions of dollars, they estimate.

Supporters say such payments would act as acknowledgement of the value of the forced, unpaid labor that supported the economy of Southern U.S. states until the Civil War ended slavery in 1865, the broken promise of land grants after the war and the burden of the century and a half of legal and de facto segregation that followed.

[vespasien]

Il a été reconnu qu'aucune sourie n'a réussi à être réparée par un étudiant (même ingénieur).

[feminegra]

Seeking Justice through Reparations for Colonialism Amid British Imperialism and Racial Inequality

The influence of colonialism extends across the globe, leaving devasting impacts and unresolved issues that resonate in former British territories. Today, nations once under British rule are asserting their independence and seeking justice for past wrongs. Jamaica and Barbados are confronting their colonial legacies by demanding reparations and severing ties with the British monarchy, a symbol of…

[icryyoumercy]

@nimblermortal

first, because these things are important nowadays, i am not a medical professional, this is not professional medical advice, the WHO has helpful information about malaria, when living or travelling in a region where malaria happens, mosquito repellent and appropriate protective gear are mandatory and non-negotiable, and so on

quinine is made from tree bark, which makes it one of the two medically useful things made from tree bark i know of, and also makes me wonder how people learn these things. were they just. walking around biting random trees. is the desire to chew on tree bark just part of what makes humans human.

it has initially been used as a muscle relaxant by the quechua people, to treat uh. random shivering? which is apparently a thing people sometimes do? which i could look into, but then i'd probably get distracted

the spaniards brought it back to europe, as they did with so many things, and because things like germ theory and microbiology and chemistry were still centuries from being discovered, what people knew of malaria was that it causes fever and thus shivering with very noticeable periodicity. and they had just been told about a thing that can stop shivering, so might as well give it a shot. if the symptoms are all you are aware of, the symptoms are all you can treat.

and for some utterly baffling reason, it turned out it didn't just help against shivering, it actually cured malaria? which. wasn't what anyone was aiming for, but gift horses and all that.

rome, being located very conveniently in a swamp, and having a rather inconvenient amount of popes and other people important to the catholic church, was perfectly located to pioneer such treatment and make a great many of the rich and powerful (and thus by advertisment of word of mouth and rumor everyone else) want some more of this marvellous drug, which made quinine (that is, the bark it's extracted from) one of peru's most important stolen goods

then, of course, a lot of fucked up colonialism happened (including in africa, because it's hard to do colonialism while dying of malaria), because europeans were unwilling to engage in things like fair and equal trade with non-europeans, we get fun medical price gouging and attempts at monopolies and general unpleasantness, and someone finally managed to isolate the exact chemical compound instead of just grinding up the bark and mixing it with something that tastes better than tree bark

and around the 1940s, malaria treatments with fewer unpleasant side effects were discovered (which i know nothing about and won't look up because adhd), and by 2006 the WHO has declared that quinine shouldn't be used as the first choise in treating malaria for a variety of reasons, including resistant strains and aforementioned side effects

also, if you're really curious about the taste, tonic water is traditionally made with quinine, and has been used as a prophylactic against malaria. once it wasn't used for that purpose any longer, though, people have decided to add less quinine and more sugar and citrus because they didn't enjoy just how incredibly bitter that stuff was. also, the FDA says you can't have more than 83 ppm of quinine per liter of tonic water, so if you wanted to treat malaria with it, you'd need to drink some ten liters per day, and if you want to use it for prevention, you'd need around 20 liters per day, at which point malaria seems like the better option

what tonic water can help with, on the other hand, is muscle cramps! not sure how much of that is the quinine and how much is the placebo effect, but at that point, we're back to readily available and comparatively harmless

either way, in the 1860's, it was one of the few actually working medical things (along with chloroform and diethyl ether for general anaesthesia, and opium for pain relief), so they will throw it at anything that has even the slightest ressemblance to periodic fever (to be fair, a number of other things they did also had the required medical effects, they just ran afoul of paracelsus's basic adage of toxicity

Alle Dinge sind Gift, und nichts ist ohne Gift; allein die Dosis macht, dass ein Ding kein Gift ist. All things are poison, and nothing is without poison; the dosage alone makes it so a thing is not a poison.

—Paracelsus, 1538

by reaching the poisonous dosage at the same or a much earlier point than the therapeutic dosage)

[just-slightly-chayotic]

i think that perhaps going through the jeff tag in the morning was a mistake. now all i can think about is jeff not that i'm ever thinking about anything else

[loboto-bear]

So uhhhh, are you lot okay with the next instalment being longer than the first one? I can’t stop my yapping for this chapter it seems-

[phoenix-joy]

Excerpt: "Like all lyric poets of her time, Sappho was steeped in the affects and story world of Homeric epic, the language, characters, and themes of her lyrics often intersecting with those of Homer. Yet the relationship between these two poets has usually been framed as competitive and antagonistic. Mueller’s book charts a more promising way forward, setting Sappho and Homer side by side within the embrace of a non-hierarchical, “reparative reading” culture, as first conceived by queer theorist and poet Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick."

[please-picturemeintheweeds]

Me finishing up a long talk about labor politics and how airport 🛩️ workers should strike next -> logging on to girlblog about my favorite jet setting pop star Taylor Swift ✨🦄🎆💖⚡️ because having a fandom tumblr account or not isn’t actually praxis 🌹💪🏻👩‍🌾

[ausetkmt]

While debates around reparations for the descendants of slaves often focus on costs of such action, advocates believe discussions must also address other efforts for systemic change.

Financial estimates are wide-ranging depending on how they are projected and thoughts on what exactly will, or even can be paid for are also divided.

"Reparations is not a check in the mail," Raymond Winbush, author of Should America Pay? Slavery and The Raging Debate on Reparations and Belinda's Petition: A Concise History of Reparations For The Transatlantic Slave Trade, told Newsweek.

"We've got to look at the difference between changing symbols and changing systems."

The growing dialogue surrounding racial justice following worldwide protests sparked by the death of George Floyd has also brought the issue to the fore. The U.S. Conference of Mayors has got behind Democratic calls in Congress to enact a study on the matter of reparations being made to the descendants of those impacted by slavery.

House Representatives could hear a bill, H.R. 40, this summer in regards to forming a committee to discuss reparations. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said he could be in favor of cash reparations to African Americans and Native Americans if studies found this to be a viable option.

"I think that Black people are saying we've had enough and I think white people are coming to grips with the fact that this country owes a debt that has been unpaid," Winbush added.

How could a cost be calculated?

If payments were to be made, the amount that would be calculated could vary dependent on how the cost is estimated, applications of factors such as interest and who would be considered eligible.

A study in The Review of the Black Political Economy journal, first published on June 19, titled "Wealth Implications of Slavery and Racial Discrimination for African American Descendants of the Enslaved," looked at the Black-white wealth gap alongside the cost of slavery and discrimination to descendants of the enslaved.

Among its estimates for the costs were around $12-$13 trillion in 2018 dollars, based upon estimates looking at land-based, stemming from the promise made to freed slaves, and price-based, considering what slave prices were.

This amount, divided by 40,909,233 Black non-Hispanic descendants of the enslaved, could result in a total reparations payment per descendant of $151.63 million. This figure on the number of descendants may be overstated, as it likely includes some Black U.S. Residents who do not trace their ancestry back to slavery, the researchers note.

Another estimate, based upon wealth disparity, is around $14 trillion. Robert Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television, suggested this sum, which would amount to around $350,000 each for the estimated 40 million African Americans in the United States, giving them an amount signifying the wealth disparity between African Americans and white Americans.

This amount echoes that of a previous study, from University of Connecticut researcher Thomas Craemer, who was involved in the aforementioned study published June 19, that suggested an amount of up to $14.2 trillion.

This was calculated by tabulating the hours slaves worked between 1776 and 1865, multiplying the time they worked by the average wage at the time, then accounting for 3 percent annual interest, as previously reported by Newsweek.

As well as reparations based upon earnings, others suggest payment to backdate the failed promise of "40 acres" promised to slaves by Union Army General William Tecumseh Sherman. Land was set aside though the order was reversed by President Andrew Johnson.

The June 19 study suggests based upon these parameters, the reparations could amount to around $11.9 trillion, estimating around $291,186 per descendant, based on an estimate for 2018.

The case for reparations now

A Brookings Institution report, titled Why we need reparations for Black Americans by Rashawn Ray and Andre M. Perry refers to the value assigned to slaves in 1860 of $3 billion dollars as another point backing calls for reparations.

"Slavery enriched white slave owners and their descendants, and it fueled the country's economy while suppressing wealth building for the enslaved. The United States has yet to compensate descendants of enslaved Black Americans for their labor," the report said.

The report suggests payments to the descendants of slaves, as well as programs such as student loan forgiveness and down payment grants.

Speaking with Newsweek, Ray said Congress should have looked into reparations long before now.

"There should not be any blocks to simply forming a committee. It should be a no brainer and should have occurred long ago," said Ray, a David M. Rubenstein Fellow in Governance Studies at The Brookings Institution.

On what should be done, he said "wealth-building opportunities" might also be an option.

"While direct payments are one option, we might also think about wealth-building opportunities in the form of tuition payments, housing grants, and small business grants," he said.

Winbush echoed that the time for reparations had come.

"The reparations movement is old. I think that people think it's very young," he told Newsweek, suggesting people linking it to Black Lives Matter makes them think it does not go as far back as it does.

"It goes back well over 200 years in this country," said Winbush, also a research professor and the Director of the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University, commenting on how social media in recent years has brought it to the fore.

More than just money

Winbush also suggested that while handing out money is an option, other methods of reparations, focusing on systemic change, could be implemented.

"If we were to say, 'just give everybody a check,' that's only a partial solution. I think reparations has been narrowly defined as it's related to money," he said.

"It's acknowledgement by a nation that they did something wrong. One way of atoning for that is money. But it's a variety of solutions."

Roy L. Brooks, author of Atonement and Forgiveness: A New Model for Black Reparations and Sorry Isn't Enough: The Controversy Over Apologies and Reparations for Human Injustice suggested that reparations must look at factors other than simply money.

"One of the most important responsibilities of the commission would be to educate the American people, including African-Americans, not only about slavery and its lingering effects, but also about the fact that reparations come in many forms and are not the only way to redress slavery," he told Newsweek.

"Apologies, truth commissions, truth trials, and reparations are just a few of the ways to redress any atrocity, whether it is slavery, Japanese-American internment or the Holocaust. Calculations are complex but not impossible because they have been performed all over the world in the last 70 years."

Regarding the cost of reparations, he said African-Americans will have to work through the models and issues in the context of the commission.

"Until that happens, it is not only premature to talk about the "cost" of reparations (or more generally slave redress), it is irresponsible," said Brooks, who is also a professor at the University of San Diego.

The costs of slavery

Joe Feagin, author of The White Racial Frame and co-author of Racist America: Roots, Current Realities, and Future Reparations, and Racial and Ethnic Relations, similarly told Newsweek that there needs to be an examination of the "many other costs of slavery."

He said: "For example, how do you calculate the costs of great pain and suffering, and lives lost or cut short?"

Stating that most reparations estimates calculate "just the labor and wealth lost," he added, "I think it is at least as important to talk about the many other costs of slavery."

In terms of a starting point for reparations being paid, he suggested beginning with people who suffered under segregation.

"Start with reparations for Jim Crow, no questions there about the white nonsense about this harm happened centuries ago and we cannot figure out who did what to whom," he said. "Start with the living folks and then work backwards to slavery."

Deciding the amount

Craemer, whose research is mentioned above, suggested the work of a commission in looking at the financial costs has largely already been done—though stated issues that are difficult to quantify need to be looked at, with the descendant community integral in choosing an outcome.

"I would say, the commission's work has largely been done. It might be more reasonable to proceed directly to reparations," he told Newsweek.

"Otherwise, the need for further study may be misused by reparations opponents to indefinitely delay implementation. This has disadvantages not only for eligible recipients, but also for the U.S. government—reparations become exponentially more expensive the longer we wait."

With regards to the sum of reparations, he said estimates only address the financial aspect of slavery, not looking at its other implications.

"These specific estimates only address the value of slavery in the United States, they do not address colonial slavery, or racial discrimination after slavery. Also, they only address lost inheritances, they do not address loss of freedom, loss of other opportunities, or withheld compensation for pain and suffering," he said.

"In my view, it is up to negotiations between the descendant community and the federal government to determine whether the entire estimate should be compensated, or only a portion, at what interest rate, and using what estimation method."

Despite the increased discussion on the matter, polling from earlier this year found that only one in five asked felt the U.S. should spend "taxpayer money to pay damages to descendants of enslaved people in the United States," according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll which asked 1,115 adults in June.

Ray said the issue of reparations happening should no longer be a point of discussion.

"If 40 acres and a Mule was actually implemented we wouldn't be having this conversation," he told Newsweek. "Time is up. This needs to happen."

[ursie]

Brennan’s statement on Palestine :

[ ID: Statement from Brennan Lee Mulligan, on Instagram. It consists of three black squares with plain white text. The text reads as follows:

"I'm calling on my government officials to immediately demand a ceasefire and de-escalation in Gaza.

I applaud anyone and everyone calling for peace, with the understanding that real peace only exists if it deeply and honestly accounts for and fully ends violence in all its forms. Real peace addresses and corrects wrong-doing in the past and guards against it in the future. It goes hand in hand with justice and requires truth, restoration, reconciliation, reparation.

Peace cannot co-exist with collective punishment, ethnic cleansing and forced displacement. It cannot co-exist with blockades, embargoes, or with 2.2 million people, half of which are children, trapped with no hope of escape or political recourse. it cannot co-exist with murdered journalists, bombed hospitals, or years of protesters being shot and killed at the border. it cannot co-exist with illegal settlements, segregated roads, and the silent, imperial chill that settles over the gaps in the violence - the unspoken geopolitical consensus that a group of people need to unflinchingly accept permanent subjugation and occupation.

My hear breaks for every Israeli person who lost loved ones during the attacks of October 7th. It breaks for every Ukrainian person who has lost their loved ones. It breaks for every Congolese person who has lost their loved ones. I do not speak on behalf of Palestinians now because some lives are worth more than others. I speak on their behalf because I, and all Americans, have a responsibility to pressure our government because we are responsible for this. Some have said that this situation is complicated. The Unites States government clearly disagrees. It has definitively, categorically, militarily chosen a side, and I do not agree with that decision.

In wiring this, I have been wrestling with what I am sure many people like me wrestle with: There is a powerful narrative surrounding violence in the Middle East that asserts and ever-moving goalpost of self-education and study in order to even be qualified to have an opinion. As someone with a love of research, I have at times in my life fallen into the trap that I am not educated enough clever enough, or aware enough to have a worthwhile perspective, and that three more articles and two more lectures and one more book will do the trick. Unfortunately, democracy doesn't work that way - we, the citizens of any democracy, cannot possibly be experts on every aspect of the policies of our governments, and yet if we do not constantly weigh in an make our voices heard, the entire experiment falls apart. Not only do people constantly doubt themselves and the things they can see with their own two eyes, but old shortcuts for political action can fall apart as well: This specific issue exists along a raw, charged and unique faultline in American Politics. Nobody I grew up with has ever challenged me on my support for abortion rights, LGBT rights, Black Lives Matter, anti-capitalism, anti-fascism, none of it. The people in my country who would despise me for those positions are, for all intents and purposes, strangers to me. But there are people who I've broken bread with and shared honest affection with who will see the words I've written here and incorrectly conclude that I do not wish for the security, dignity and happiness of them and their loved ones, and that breaks my fucking heart. Full-throatedly condemning the actions of the Israeli government while battling rampant anti-semitism at home is an urgent moral necessity, and doing so is made unnecessarily challenging for the average person to navigate by the pointed obfuscations of cynical opportunists, bigots, and demagogues on all sides of the political spectrum who see some advantage in sowing that incredibly dangerous confusion.

So, I'm calling my representatives. I'm having hard conversations with friends and family. I'm here, talking to you. I should have done it sooner. If you're Israeli and hurt by this statement, know that I want freedom, dignity, security and peace for you, and that every ounce of my political awareness believes whole-heartedly that the actions of your government are not only destroying innocent lives, but doing so to the detriment of you and your loved ones' safety. If you're American and feel lost and confused - I understand and empathize. This, the whole country, only works when we get involved. I am constantly haunted by the specter that maybe I missed some crucial piece of information on this, or any, important world event. I'll just have to make my peace with that self-doubt and trust my gut by going with Jewish Voice for Peace, Amnesty International, the Geneva Conventions, the United Nations, etc. And if you're Palestinian and reading this: I unreservedly support your right to life, to freedom, to happiness and human flourishing, to full enfranchisement and equal rights, to opportunity, prosperity and abundance, to the restoration of stolen property and land, and to a Free Palestine." End ID ]

[hrrtshape]

things that my boyfriend does in my better cr that truly warms my heart ( aka emma yaps about coryo . . again )

i just have to say that like every time i am with him it might as well be raining rose petals because GRAH . i love this man so bad fuck

he steals the hair tie off my wrist mid-conversation just to snap it lightly against my arm. menace behaviour. then kisses the spot he snapped like it's reparations. it's not. but okay.

he uses my perfume when he misses me. pretends it was "accidental" because he was "in a rush" but i literally caught him spritzing it on his pillow. okay scented softboy.

him scribbling my name in the margins of his physics homework.

when i'm sitting on the counter he stands between my knees like it's just. where he belongs. like we're in a 2007 coming-of-age movie starring people with tumblr edits. which we are.

he bought a stupid little charm for my pandora bracelet when he went on a trip without me. i asked why that one. he said "it looked lonely." shut. UP.

he hates when i'm crying, like. goes feral. paces. brings me tea and tissues and then blames the weather. he’ll be like "it's always cloudy when you're sad" like okay shakespeare.

he always knows when i'm cold before i say anything. he'll just silently drape his jacket over my shoulders like it's a cape.

he keeps the receipts from our dates in a box. they're relics. we're going to bury them under a tree one day and kiss above the grave.

he'll grab my wrist when we’re crossing the street. dramatically. we're in a victorian and there’s a carriage hurtling toward me. we're literally on a suburban sidewalk.

he kisses my knuckles. ALL. OF. THEM. slow. one by one.

he makes me playlists with stupid names like "songs for when you're being dramatic (but i love u anyway)" or "music to study the divine tragedy of your smile to" and then says "it's not that deep." shut up it IS.

his mom super duper likes me because i helped carry the groceries once and he hasn't stopped bringing it up like i saved a child from a burning building.

he'll just. rest his head in my lap. no words. he's safe there!!!!!!!!!! that's home.

every time he kisses my temple i lose two years off my life expectancy. every. single. time.

he eats around the onions in my burger. without even saying anything. and then gives me the side-eye like how did you not check for onions.

he always opens my drinks for me. bottle caps, soda cans, vitamin waters. he lives to hear the hiss-pop and hand it to me like some sort of carbonated chalice. boycoded service.

he lets me pop his zits. i don't even want to unpack this one. i think it means we're married.

he pulled a leaf out of my hair and kept it in his wallet. it's still there. crunched and dry and maybe disgusting. romantic rot. ROMANTIC ROT.

every time we're walking past those claw machine games he makes me stop. wins me a plushie.

he saves the voice notes i send him.

he fixed the chain on my necklace with his teeth. we were running late. i was spiralling. and he just said "come here" and bit the clasp back together. yea. yea.

he let me win at chess once and i knew.

if i fall asleep anywhere near him, car, sofa, bench, airport floor, he'll tuck something under my head. his hoodie. his bag. his own arm. i'm never on tile. i'm on love.

i dunno if i ever said that....but yes....he has...indeed....put his jacket over a puddle.

he wrote "ema was here" in the dust on the back of his car. left it there for days. weeks. i checked. he washed everything else. not that. (p.s., i have an obsession with him writing ema instead of emma. just something about that.)

he carries my water bottle like it's his cross to bear but also refills it without me asking. i’m not a girl. i'm a beloved houseplant.

he figured out my coffee order before i told him and now i feel unsafe (in a romantic way).

my phone dies and he lets me use his. like "here. text your mom." and i'm like ??? i'm texting my pinterest mutual actually but thank you!!!

he keeps gum in his glovebox just for me. like i asked once. in january. and now it's always there.

when he walks behind me he'll tuck my tag in.

sings along to my favourite songs under his breath while driving even though he acts like he's too cool for them. you know. he knows every word.

when i wear lip gloss he won't kiss me right away. just stares. and says something stupid like "you're too pretty. it's a trap."

sometimes he picks me up and spins me like we're in a musical. usually in the kitchen. mind you, i'm just trying to get juice.

he learned how to tie a silk ribbon in my hair. doesn't talk about it. just does it when i can't get it right.

once i got mascara in my eye and he said "blink at me. i'll get it out" as if i was a disney princess.

he has my shampoo. doesn't use it. but. it's there. help.

he never lets me carry a takeaway bag. even if it's like. one (1) croissant. "you're not meant to suffer," he'll say, already loading five things into his arms.

he lifts me onto countertops. regularly.

he puts my earrings in his wallet if i take them off.

every time we hold hands he presses his thumb into the back of mine.

if i fall asleep in his bed he'll put socks (his!!!!!) on my feet and act like it's just something that happens.

when i talk about something i love, he looks at me instead of the thing. full eye contact. the whole time. THAT one image from pinterest. you know the one.

when i'm talking and he wants to kiss me, he just. does. mid-sentence.

once when i was crying he wiped my tears and went "you're gonna get dehydrated." (hrrtshape dot com is malfunctioning currently i need a moment)

knows how i take my tea. knows what brand. knows i like the ugly mug.

he put the 'emergency chocolate' in his bag. for me. not himself.

told me he dreams about me. casually. just said it.

when i send a selfie he'll say "come home."

he walks slower when we're holding hands so our steps match. who does that. freak behaviour. soulmate behaviour.

sometimes i catch him just watching me, smiling, and when i ask why he says "nothing." MHMHMMHMHMHMMmmmmmmm.

[gay-dorito-dust]

Sibling shit Dante and Vergil defiantly did do: a volume by a stressed and perpetually tired you from dealing with twins who share a brain cell when in proximity to each other:

Dante would get bored of reading his magazines, go to vergil’s room, stand in the doorway until his brother looks up from his book only to see that Dante was flipping him off with the smuggest grin on his face before leaving the room.

Vergil retaliates by doing the same shit not even five minutes later by standing in front of Dante’s room, waits for him to look up from his magazines, only to flip him off with the most deadpan expression and stabbing him with a sword and leaving without a word.

You were there for both instances in a referees outfit and a whistle incase you had to facilitate a fight and keep count on who was winning, you weren’t helping but this was better then saying ‘I’m not your babysitter, please stop asking me to referee your fights because neither of you can count and leave me in peace from your chaotic bullshit.’

While they might not like what the other eats, but they will wholeheartedly eat the others food when extremely petty.

Vergil ate half of Dante’s pizza because he wouldn’t give his book back, grimacing at the greasy and fatty food but has too much pride and continues to commit to the bit.

Dante eats whatever the hell Vergil had -if he ever eats- whenever he felt like pissing him off, he does this shit for the love of the game and it shows very evidently.

Asking you who the favourite sibling is; NEVER GET INTO THIS WITH THEM, it’s never fun seeing a half demon sulk like a child when you insinuate that you like one more then the other, it’s honestly the most stressful thing you’ve ever been put through and the worst thing was; no one was gonna help you out of it, you were on your own. Using the ‘I like the both of you equally’ doesn’t work, it’s a cop out to them both.

If there was an instance you favoured Vergil over Dante, then Dante would pout and huff as he stands in the corner and loudly question what he did to deserve this cruel, cruel fate all the while looking over you at times to see if you’d come for him. He’s a loud whiner and make it everyone’s problem, probably overused the phrase ‘I dunno ask Vergil since you like him more then me’

If you favoured Dante over Vergil, this man was silent as his face gave nothing away, but his actions were like that of a little kid trying to guilt trip you into feeling bad about not getting them candy when you should’ve. He’s not sharing his books with you, he’s not sharing his makeshift study with you, he pretty much withholds everything from you until you retract your statement even if you haven’t said it aloud. Huff and puff too but don’t tell him that Dante does the same thing, just don’t.

These were two fully grown men, powerful men and yet whenever they were within the vicinity of each other, they were children again and whenever they couldn’t come to a conclusion, these two powerful men would come to you like a pair of little ducks who’ve imprinted on a random stranger.

You weren’t getting paid to basically babysit two overgrown half demons, it wasn’t your job description, but it might as well have becuase everyone should be fucking thanking you that these two weren’t brawling out on the streets. You were basically pulling them both away from each other by their coat tails and saying ‘come on, keep it moving, we’re not fighting here there’s too many casualties and we don’t get paid enough to make the reparations needed after one of your fights.’

You love them both, you really do, but the moment someone calls you when you were away saying ‘I know you’re on holiday but-‘ you knew Dante or Vergil or both were too much for that sorry soul to handle and you were forced to cut your vacation short and come home to reign in the chaos twins with a simple ‘what are you two doing!?’

They’re smart, charismatic, strong, the pinnacle of what a half demon should be and talented within their own fields, but they lack caution and care when paired together and that spelt out trouble for whoever was on the receiving end because after all they were two siblings who loved to fight one another. You could easily see the care in the other’s eyes, but knew they’d never say it, so they let the fighting talk instead.

[trans-axolotl]

ID: [A poster created by Sean Saifa Wall and Micah Bazant of a Black parent holding their child. They are dressed in white and almost seem to be glowing, in front of a backdrop of multicolored waves that look like DNA strands. Colorful text reads "Protect Intersex Youth."]

"A Framework for Intersex Justice

Intersex justice is medical justice. Intersex surgeries hurt everyone.

These medical violations bring immediate harm to the child who is subjected to them.

Parents who consent to medically unnecessary surgeries participate in a culture of shame, silence and stigma, perpetuated by doctors, that allows these surgeries to continue. Parents are often left to fend for themselves as they navigate shame and guilt. The issue of parents consenting to these surgeries is especially complex when societies believe that children don’t have individual rights and that parents are always acting in their best interest.

Medical practitioners such as pediatricians, obstetricians, urologists, social workers, and endocrinologists all play a role in upholding an institution that continues to harm children with intersex variations. The practitioners, in turn, are protected by hospitals and state laws that grant them immunity.

This is why intersex justice is important.

Although the framework is evolving, the following is a definition of intersex justice co-created with Dr. Mel Michelle Lewis (they>she), an Associate Professor of Gender/Sexuality in Studio and Humanistic Studies at Maryland Institute College of Art: Intersex justice is a decolonizing framework that affirms the labor of intersex people of color fighting for change across social justice movements. By definition, intersex justice affirms bodily integrity and bodily autonomy as the practice of liberation. Intersex justice is intrinsically tied to justice movements that center race, ability, gender identity & expression, migrant status, and access to sexual & reproductive healthcare. Intersex justice articulates a commitment to these movements as central to its intersectional analysis and praxis. Intersex justice acknowledges the trauma caused by medically unnecessary and nonconsensual cosmetic genital surgeries and addresses the culture of shame, silence and stigma surrounding intersex variations that perpetuate further harm.

The marginalization of intersex people is rooted in colonization and white supremacy. Colonization created a taxonomy of human bodies that privileged typical white male and female bodies, prescribing a gender binary that would ultimately harm atypical black and indigenous bodies. As part of a liberation movement, intersex activists challenge not only the medical establishment, which is often the initial site of harm, but also governments, institutions, legal structures, and sociocultural norms that exclude intersex people. Intersex people should be allowed complete and uninhibited access to obtaining identity documents, exercising their birth and adoption rights, receiving unbiased healthcare, and securing education and employment opportunities that are free from harm and harassment. This framework serves a radical vision where intersex children are protected and survivors of genital cutting are cared for and respected. We owe that to intersex people and we owe that to ourselves.

The implementation of an intersex justice framework should include the following components: 1. Informed consent 2. Reparations 3. Legal protections 4. Accountability 5. Language 6. Children's rights 7. Patient-centered healthcare."

-Intersex Justice Project, founded by Sean Saifa Wall, Lynnell Stephani Long, and Pidgeon Pagonis.

[blackstarlineage]

Brother Khalid Abdul Muhammad (1948–2001) was a prominent African-American activist and orator known for his unapologetic views on race and social justice. He was a fiery speaker and a great figure in the fight against systemic racism and oppression.

Khalid Muhammad was born Harold Moore Jr. in Houston, Texas. He attended Dillard University in New Orleans, where he studied theology. Later, he furthered his studies at Pepperdine University in California. It was during his college years that he became involved with the Nation of Islam (NOI).

Khalid Muhammad rose to prominence within the Nation of Islam as a minister and a top aide to Louis Farrakhan. He became the National Spokesman for the NOI and was known for his powerful speeches advocating black empowerment, self-reliance, and resistance against white supremacy. However, his incendiary remarks, particularly in a 1993 speech at Kean College, led to his suspension from the Nation of Islam.

After leaving the NOI, Khalid Muhammad became active in the New Black Panther Party (NBPP), an organization that claims ideological lineage to the original Black Panther Party but with distinct differences such as being more pan african centred. He became the group's chairman in 1998, using his leadership to expand its platform of black empowerment and militant resistance to racial injustice.

The NBPP, under Khalid Muhammad's leadership, was known for its radical and militant stance. It advocated for black self-defense, reparations for slavery, and independence from systemic oppression. Critics, including members of the original Black Panther Party, accused the NBPP of distorting the original Panthers' legacy and focusing more on confrontational rhetoric.

Khalid Muhammad's speeches often emphasized black pride, self-determination, and unity. Khalid Muhammad supporters viewed him as a fearless advocate for the black community. His death in 2001 from a brain "aneurysm" marked the end of a contentious but impactful career in activism.

[angelsndragons]

how's it going, veilguard peeps? one of my favorite headcanons and theories is

the caretaker = felassan

and i'm gonna run down the (admittedly thin, heavy conjecture/inference) evidence we have supporting the theory.

spoilers ahead but first!

AnD, i hear you say, didn't Solas kill Felassan in The Masked Empire? Isn't that one of his great regrets?

fear not, fellow fans.

1. solas killed felassan In The Fade. that's kind of an important caveat. da2 established that mages killed in the fade become tranquil, they aren't outright killed. put a pin in this, we'll come back to it.

2. spirits, particularly ancient spirits, can fracture into different fragments upon death, some with their own personalities, experiences, and beliefs. we have falon'din and dirthamen, the two mythal fragments, solas' wisdom friend in dai, etc.

the point is that the ancient elves don't die easily and while felassan is probably not among the first generation of elves, he is still an ancient elf. we don't know if he was a spirit who gained a body or one of the first elves fully born in and of thedas. we do know that distinction matters very little, given that ghilan'nain was definitely of the later generation and yet she rose to become a god.

Okay, sure, AnD, but what does that have to do with Felassan and the Caretaker?

timeline:

felassan's notes are all over the crossroads and the lighthouse. not once does he mention the caretaker. even in the post-veil notes, the caretaker is not mentioned. the first time we Know that the caretaker has moved in to the crossroads and the lighthouse is from solas (we know it's from solas because of the paint):

This note has a smear of paint on one corner: Have they always been here? There are beings in the Crossroads unknown even to the wise, though the most ancient ones make any domain their own. Certainly, this Caretaker belongs here now. I wonder what we look like to them. Need is a scaffold, and the needs of the living ever rise and fall upon it. Hunger, thirst, sleep... imagine the constant cacophony to one sensitive to such things. Or am I too simple? Wants are fleeting; needs have deeper roots. Perhaps that's why I find this particular spirit's presence both comforting and disconcerting. The prospect that our heart's desire and our truest need could differ—or are even at odds—is hard to contemplate.

so sometime after he woke up in 9:39-9:40 dragon, solas made his way back to the lighthouse. he wonders whether the caretaker has always been in the lighthouse or if they are a more recent addition. whichever is the truth, solas immediately clocks them as ancient, comforting, and disconcerting.

now, as for when solas first encounters the caretaker, i'm going out on a limb to say that this encounter occurred after trespasser. we know solas carved his regrets out of himself via the paintings and statues to ensure he wasn't accidentally grabbed by his regret prison while moving the remaining gods. the office note states that he figured out his "perfect reparation" by studying the inquisitor's arm.

this is important because solas kills felassan in 9:40, leaving a gap of time where a fragment could reform and regain enough power to manifest once again.

so we've established a theoretical timeline in which felassan could have fragmented into the caretaker. now let's take a look at some links.

You are safe here, both those of flesh and those of Fade. Any who wish to help are welcome. The magic of the Lighthouse will provide for your needs, see to your comfort, and even help you understand different tongues, for those who escaped here from distant parts of the empire. Should you have any other needs, ask for the Slow Arrow, and I will help.

so i just want to highlight something here. felassan tasked himself with caring for the slaves and potential new rebels. he is explicitly linked over and over again with seeing to other people's well-being, with explicit concern for the innocent. it is his number 1 character trait outside of being solas' second. this man cares. he also specifically cares for solas, many of his codex entries include asides about solas' state of mind or words of comfort to his friend.

the caretaker tells rook that they "go where [they are] needed." felassan's notes on the vi'revas say "thus, we can travel wherever this rebellion needs us, with no fear of pursuit."

one of the caretaker's travel comments is "as needed," in response to rook's question if they're one spirit doing everything or multiple. aka the caretaker we know could be a fragment.

their first acts are to help rook navigate the crossroads, where felassan's notes are scattered all over the place. where elven spirits and fade spirits alike have come to take refuge from the gods, much like the ancient entry above. only this time, there is no solas and apparently no felassan. just a caretaker and a bunch of guardians. guardians which, according to bellara, are powered by spirits set to guard something. so like, fractured echoes or remnants of the original rebellion, is what i'm getting at. much like how the lighthouse is fractured, the veil broke the world and the fade, etc.

the caretaker holds dominion over the crossroads. they also say at the beginning that they do not have the power to help rook more due to the state of the crossroads. the spreading blight and weaponization of the wolf's regrets are leeching power from the place and the caretaker. the rune rook receives at the end of the game is called the salvation of felassan and its power is dictated by how much of the crossroads quest line the player completed.

however i would argue the strongest evidence that felassan fractured into the caretaker is thus: remember way back in the beginning of this monstrosity i said that felassan was murdered in the fade? remember how da2 establishes that mages killed in the fade become tranquil via feynriel? and remember how it's dwarves, innately tranquil because they are cut off from the titans, and tranquil mages who enchant objects in the previous titles?

remind me who's doing the enchanting in this game again?

that's a rhetorical question.

it's the caretaker.

yeah, just think about it for a second.

a spirit has been sundered from the fade enough that they can enchant items and even abilities.

felassan was an ancient elf murdered in the fade.

yeah.

i love this game.

[genderkoolaid]

Suddenly more and more women began to either call them­ selves "feminists" or use the rhetoric of gender discrimination to change their economic status. The institutionalization of feminist studies created a body of jobs both in the world of the academy and in the world of publishing. These career-based changes led to forms of career opportunism wherein women who had never been politi­cally committed to mass-based feminist struggle adopted the stance and jargon of feminism when it enhanced their class mobility. The dismantling of consciousness-raising groups all but erased the notion that one had to learn about feminism and make an informed choice about embracing feminist politics to become a feminist advocate. Without the consciousness-raising group as a site where women confronted their own sexism towards other women, the direction of feminist movement could shift to a focus on equality in the work­ force and confronting male domination. With heightened focus on the construction of woman as a "victim" of gender equality deserv­ing of reparations (whether through changes in discriminatory laws or affirmative action policies) the idea that women needed to first confront their internalized sexism as part of becoming feminist lost currency. Females of all ages acted as though concern for or rage at male domination or gender equality was all that was needed to make one a "feminist." Without confronting internalized sexism women who picked up the feminist banner often betrayed the cause in their interactions with other women.

— Feminism Is For Everybody: Passionate Politics by bell hooks