#freedom civil rights

[peaceresource]

We have choices to make...

"The minute we stand up, we are unstoppable. It's time to forget the lesser evil and fight for the greater good."…

“The minute we stand up, we are unstoppable. It’s time to forget the lesser evil and fight for the greater good. The clock is ticking. It’s in our hands.” ~Dr. Jill Stein Everything must change! https://youtu.be/mV0MK651fJk?list=RDmV0MK651fJk Nina Simone: Everything Must Change Voting for the war parties IS NOT WORKING!  We must choose peace over war,  The Green Party  over the war…

[luminalunii97]

saying F U to the regime again and again: a quick update on women vs IR regime

Famous Iranian actresses have been appearing in public without a mandatory hijab. This has been happening since the beginning of the protests. Last month, Kiumars Pourahmad, a well known Iranian screenwriter and director, committed suicide. He had a history of criticizing the regime's political decisions. At his funeral, some of the famous actresses attended without mandatory hijab.

You can see Fateme Motamedarya, Katayoun Riyahi, and Golab Adineh in these pictures from the funeral. Ms. Riyahi was one of the first celebrities who took her hijab off at the start of the Jina (Mahsa) Amini protest and for that she's been the target of IRGC harassment and has been to court.

Last week, in the ceremony of screening of the final episode of Lion's Skin (a persian crime show), actress Pantea Bahram participated without hijab. The manager of Tehran’s Lotus Cinema, where the ceremony was held, was fired for letting her attend without hijab.

Other than prosecution, the regime has blocked these celebrities' bank accounts. Basij and IRGC members have also attacked and harassed these women online and in real life.

Students on university campuses take off their hijabs. There's an installed version of morality police in universities that monitor students' styles. Female students must wear "appropriate" hijab and male students must wear "manly" clothes (one of my guy friends once was asked to go back home and change his shoes because they were red casual loafers. Apparently that's gay!). When you enroll in Iranian universities, the first thing you do is to go to the security office and sign an agreement that says you promise to follow the Islamic dress code. There are posters all over the campus that says things like "hijab is security" "respect the islamic hijab" and "not wearing appropriate hijab (tight short clothes, too much hair, makeup, etc) would result in legal action". So not wearing hijab on campus, where a lot of security cameras are installed and it's easy to identify you, is a big deal.

The regime's response to students taking off their hijabs is sending threatening messages to students' phones and increasing the security people. At the entrance of Universities, these security forces check people's clothes and if it's not proper they won't let you in. Some of the students wear the hijab at the entrance and take it off after they're in. They have warned our professors to not let non hijabi students sit in classes too.

One of my favorite trends in Iran now is when guys wear our hijab. These pictures are from universities. Guys wearing hijab make the security mad. This is a great act of solidarity with women against the obligatory hijab.

Some men have been doing either this or wearing shorts in public. The former is to ridicule the obligatory dress code and the latter is because wearing shorts in public is forbidden for guys too.

And women not wearing hijab in general. Though hijab is not our only issue, we want a whole new political system, one that is not theocratic or terroristic, hijab is something the regime won't back down from because it's one of their strongest oppressing tools. If they let us win the fight against obligatory hijab, I quote from a regime head, "people keep demanding more changes"!

So to put people against people to enforce the hijab law again, the regime has closed down many businesses (hotels, cafes, malls, bookstores, etc) for welcoming non hijabi female costumers. They have also warned taxi and bus drivers to not let non hijabi women in their vehicles.

Although not everyone is disobeying the hijab law (some believe in hijab, some don't want to pay the price), the number of women who take the risk and don't wear hijab in Tehran and many other cities is high enough that you feel encouraged to keep doing it.

[alwaysbewoke]

[cavalierzee]

Arresting Liberty

[sher-ee]

“Christian white men”.

[rebel-girl-queen-of-my-world]

Repost from @wawog_now:

SEIZE THE MOMENT THAT THE STUDENTS IGNITED. Over the past week, the student movement has shown us all what solidarity looks like. Putting bodies on the line; trading certain futures for the promise of liberation. University administrators have responded to this bravery by unleashing the state’s dogs on the students holding it down at encampments or occupying administrative buildings. Last night, the NYPD pigs brutalized protesters at Columbia University and City College, subjecting them to mace, drawing weapons on them, and pushing young people down concrete stairs. At UCLA, the LAPD stood watching as a right wing mob brutalized protesters for hours. Still, the students held their ground.

The struggle rages on. For every swept encampment, for every de-occupied building, thousands of comrades will rise and take up the fight that the students have escalated. Our struggle is rooted in Gaza, where the IOF is still massacring families and starving a besieged population. But the days of zionist impunity are numbered.

Solidarity with the students! Workers of the world unite!

The music you hear in the video is ‘Shaneera’ by Fatima Al Qadiri, the audio comes from Mumia Abu-Jamal’s address via phone call to the People’s CUNY on April 26th, 2024.

[canichangemyblogname]

If people in a position of authority are using calls of antisemitism to make mass arrests and justify police brutality, then I think it’s safe to say they don’t care about the safety of Jews and only about defending a colonial and neo-liberal status quo. Especially when Jews are disproportionately represented among arrestees.

[morninkim]

"Years of fighting. Bots and Cons falling left and right. Dying on our behalf. No more. We settle this now, Megatron." "Just the two of us then? To the death? Ahh, brings me back to the pits all those centuries ago. Very well then, today will be the day the great Optimus Prime finally falls by my hand." "Only one of us is walking away from this rock functional, old friend. It will not be you."

~ Audio from Optimus Prime's remains at the sight of his final confrontation with Megatron that ended the Great War. circa 2003.

Audio encoded by Soundwave, Memory bank recovered by Ratchet

[sleepy-bebby]

Shervin Hajipour is an Iranian singer known for his song Baraye, which has been described as "the anthem" of the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests. He was arrested shortly after publishing the song.

Spotify / YouTube

[peaceresource]

Empire, deconstruction and revolution

During a  70 year piece of time, America (in our name) fought wars with 30 nations, one or two at a time, for no particularly compelling reasons.  NONE of these countries attacked America.

[immaculatasknight]

How democracy dies

[3rdeyeblaque]

Today we venerate Elevated Ancestor El-Hajj Malik El-Shabaz aka Brother Malcolm "X" Little on his 98th birthday 🎉

A minister, scholar, orator, & legendary Freedom Fighter- who infamously bore the name "X" to signify our self-liberation from the shackles of a European legacy forced upon us during Slavery -, we elevate Brother Malcolm as one of THE most prolific voices of freedom, justice, self-determination, & Pan-Afrikan unity in modern history.

Born into a legacy of freedom fighters, Brother Malcolm was raised on the cusp between Black Nationalism unity & White Supremacist terror. His father was a member of Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), in which he served as an orator publicly advocating for Black liberation before his murder.

Though a gifted student, Malcolm dropped out of school when a teacher ridiculed his aspirations to become a lawyer. He later drifted into a life of hustling on the streets of Harlem. He cleverly avoided the draft in WWII by making the outrageous declaration that he'd organize Black soldiers to attack their White counterparts which classified him as "mentally unfit to serve". After his burglary arrest in Boston, Malcolm faced 10 years in prison. Here, he found Islam via the NOI.

Upon his parole release, Malcolm took the name "X" as he began to serve in the NOI as a speaker, organizer, and minister. He quickly grew in his prominence & drew national attention after an expose on the NOI was aired on CBS. Both, Black & White Americans, saw the stark contrast in his/NOI views from that of other Black religious leaders/organizations of the time. Thus planting the first seeds of warped perception & fear.

Meanwhile, Brother Malcolm's personal views & interests slowly began to split from the leaders of the organization he'd come to love. Malcolm grew increasingly frustrated with the NOI's bureaucracy & outright refusal to join the Civil Rights Movement. His forbidden response to the assassination of JFK earned him a 90 suspension from the NOI; at which time he announced his departure from the organization.

In March 1964, he founded the Muslim Mosque, Inc. Three months later, he founded a political group called, the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU). Malcolm firmly placed Black Revolution in a global context of an anti-imperialist struggle here, in Afrika, Latin America, & Asia. This is what set him & his work further apart from any Black leader & organization in the U.S. at the time. And this is what sparked the breadth of his influence & mapped out the future of his work.

Brother Malcolm toured North & East Afrika as well as the Middle East Region in the late Spring of 1964. He met with heads of state from several countries (i.e.: Kenya, Tanzania, Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria) before making his hajj to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Here, he added "El-Hajj" to his Muslim name, "Malik El-Shabazz". This journey into the Motherland & Self brought Malcolm to the realization that his revolutionary vision/influence superceded any colour line.

Once he returned to the U.S, he infamously declared Pan-African unity amid struggle for freedom “by any means necessary.” This marked a turning point in Malcolm's life & revolutionary fight against White Supremacy on a global scale. He spent 6, albeit unsuccessful, months in Afrika petitioning the U.N. to investigate the Human Rights violations of Black Americans by the U.S. Government. From then on, threats to his safety and that of his family & the OUAA mounted. Still, he continued the fight until his assassination that was ultimately orchestrated & carried out by the CIA.

"If you’re not ready to die for it, put the word ‘freedom’ out of your vocabulary" - Malcolm X

Today, Brother Malcolm rests alongside his wife at the Ferncliff Cemetery in upstate NY.

We pour libations & give him💐 today as we celebrate him for his incomparable leadership, love, commitment, & sacrifice for the socioeconomic & sociopolitical freedom of our people.

Offering suggestions: libations of water, read/share his work, & prayers from the Quran

Note: offering suggestions are just that & strictly for veneration purposes only. Never attempt to conjure up any spirit or entity without proper divination/Mediumship counsel.

[queengranola]

[safetaynet]

I'm just not feeling 4th of July this year... again... Here's why.

can i be honest?… i don't celebrate july 4th, or at least not this year again either. maybe this is just a phase. i don't know much about politics, but i know that human rights are basic rights.

last year it was the entire abortion ban laws / roe vs. wade stuff going on that lead me to go out in the streets on hollywood, crossdressing in all black and baggy clothing ( if i was the man, then i'd be THE MAN ). this year i just came to realize that this said freedom of america wasn't reciprocated for black people which is extremely unfair, and slavery went on for decades. how can you celebrate freedom for america when people of color weren't included? could've sworn it was "all men created equal" but america back then thought not if you're not white

i recall even in 2021 i didn't feel included celebrating 4th of july either. i'm of mexican and ecuadorian descent 2nd gen and my mind sometimes flashes back to the trump era of racism towards my people.

i just needed to get this off my chest, i just keep hearing ppl talking about celebrating and fireworks and this all comes to mind everytime. wow, i should write a song cause that ryhmed-

please don't take offense to my thoughts/ opinion.

[rebel-girl-queen-of-my-world]

PLEASE CALL YOUR SENATORS!

HR 6090 adopts the IHRA definition of antisemitism, codifying criticism of Israel as antisemitic. This is wildly unconstitutional, obviously, and we need all hands on deck.

Your local orgs may have call scripts, but here’s an example below you can just address it to your own senators!