#if i get banned for making the most clear and nonviolent post

[axolotlclown]

Alright, everyone's talking about the recent bans happening on Tumblr and I want to spell it out plain and clear for anyone lost or confused. Basically, what's happening is community guidelines are being enforced unfairly, and at times, nonsensically.

Here's what started it: a trans woman attempted to post some transition photos— one at the start of her transition and one of her now. The photos kept getting removed for "violating community guidelines." Most of us have seen this post. She kept trying to reply with the photos and every time they got removed. What community guidelines were violated was not made very clear. It seems that in the second photo, she was wearing cat ears and a fashionable choker collar. The photos may have been flagged as "fetish gear." But is that the line? Cat ears? No one can wear Hot Topic chokers anymore? How is this fetish gear if she was fully clothed? What happened?

I believe what happened was the post kept getting reported by TERFs. Tumblr infamously does not have many staff members and relies on bots and AI to scan posts for unwholesome content. With that, I am not confident that a human was involved in the original removal of these photos.

Frustrated, not just this trans woman, but multiple trans people have made posts expressing ways they hoped the CEO or Tumblr staff would cartoonishly die. For example, "I hope a piano falls on your head as you're walking out your front door." They have been banned because of this. There isn't a whole lot of weight to this decision, because clearly these users had no intention of bringing real harm to any staff members. What about the real harm and harassment that not only these trans women have experienced these past few days, but the entire trans community deals with on this app? This decision already felt like a slap to the face.

Then, the CEO threatened to get the police involved. Again, this threat holds little legal ground. These are clearly not real death threats. In order for the police to seriously consider a death threat, it has to be explicit. For example, if you make a post saying "I am going to shoot up the school tomorrow," then the police will investigate it. This is a realistic threat. If they find a gun and have reason to believe that you were actually going to shoot the school, you'll get arrested.

The CEO knows this, of course. That's not why he's made these threats. The banning of these blogs means that real staff got involved. They agree that these blogs have violated guidelines repeatedly and agreed that they should be removed. Keep in mind, the threats must have been reported multiple times as well, so there may have been more hands involved in this decision than it appears.

We have to remember that this website is full of trans people and allies. These decisions have rightfully outraged this community. The threats to involve the police were made to encourage the rest of Tumblr to stop talking about it. The problem is, we've been talking about this all along.

Society views trans people as a fetish. Over and over again we've expressed how frustrating it is that our bodies only exist in porn. Can you fathom how frustrating it is to hear that porn is allowed on this website but not cat ears? Trans people could breathe air, and we'd immediately be sexualized. It's a real world problem that is much bigger than this site.

To the Tumblr CEO and staff, you can't keep unfairly banning trans people. If you tried to ban every trans person on this site, you wouldn't have anyone willing to use it anymore. These decisions are going to cost you greatly. Please be clear about the community guidelines and enforcing them realistically moving forward.

And to my cisgender followers, please don't stop talking about this. You may have the privilege to forget about these issues, but we don't. Please keep posting about it. Please support the inevitable blogs that will be banned in the coming days because they dared to talk about it.

[whitehotharlots]

The point is control

Whenever we think or talk about censorship, we usually conceptualize it as certain types of speech being somehow disallowed: maybe (rarely) it's made formally illegal by the government, maybe it's banned in certain venues, maybe the FCC will fine you if you broadcast it, maybe your boss will fire you if she learns of it, maybe your friends will stop talking to you if they see what you've written, etc. etc. 

This understanding engenders a lot of mostly worthless discussion precisely because it's so broad. Pedants--usually arguing in favor of banning a certain work or idea--will often argue that speech protections only apply to direct, government bans. These bans, when they exist, are fairly narrow and apply only to those rare speech acts in which other people are put in danger by speech (yelling the N-word in a crowded theater, for example). This pedantry isn't correct even within its own terms, however, because plenty of people get in trouble for making threats. The FBI has an entire entrapment program dedicated to getting mentally ill muslims and rednecks to post stuff like "Death 2 the Super bowl!!" on twitter, arresting them, and the doing a press conference about how they heroically saved the world from terrorism. 

Another, more recent pedant's trend is claiming that, actually, you do have freedom of speech; you just don't have freedom from the consequences of speech. This logic is eerily dictatorial and ignores the entire purpose of speech protections. Like, even in the history's most repressive regimes, people still technically had freedom of speech but not from consequences. Those leftist kids who the nazis beheaded for speaking out against the war were, by this logic, merely being held accountable. 

The two conceptualizations of censorship I described above are, 99% of the time, deployed by people who are arguing in favor of a certain act of censorship but trying to exempt themselves from the moral implications of doing so. Censorship is rad when they get to do it, but they realize such a solipsism seems kinda icky so they need to explain how, actually, they're not censoring anybody, what they're doing is an act of righteous silencing that's a totally different matter. Maybe they associate censorship with groups they don't like, such as nazis or religious zealots. Maybe they have a vague dedication toward Enlightenment principles and don't want to be regarded as incurious dullards. Most typically, they're just afraid of the axe slicing both ways, and they want to make sure that the precedent they're establishing for others will not be applied to themselves.

Anyone who engages with this honestly for more than a few minutes will realize that censorship is much more complicated, especially in regards to its informal and social dimensions. We can all agree that society simply would not function if everyone said whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. You might think your boss is a moron or your wife's dress doesn't look flattering, but you realize that such tidbits are probably best kept to yourself. 

Again, this is a two-way proposition that everyone is seeking to balance. Do you really want people to verbalize every time they dislike or disagree with you? I sure as hell don't. And so, as part of a social compact, we learn to self-censor. Sometimes this is to the detriment of ourselves and our communities. Most often, however, it's just a price we have to pay in order to keep things from collapsing. 

But as systems, large and small, grow increasingly more insane and untenable, so do the comportment standards of speech. The disconnect between America's reality and the image Americans have of themselves has never been more plainly obvious, and so striving for situational equanimity is no longer good enough. We can't just pretend cops aren't racist and the economy isn't run by venal retards or that the government places any value on the life of its citizens. There's too much evidence that contradicts all that, and the evidence is too omnipresent. There's too many damn internet videos, and only so many of them can be cast as Russian disinformation. So, sadly, we must abandon our old ways of communicating and embrace instead systems that are even more unstable, repressive, and insane than the ones that were previously in place.

Until very, very recently, nuance and big-picture, balanced thinking were considered signs of seriousness, if not intelligence. Such considerations were always exploited by shitheads to obfuscate things that otherwise would have seemed much less ambiguous, yes, but this fact alone does not mitigate the potential value of such an approach to understanding the world--especially since the stuff that's been offered up to replace it is, by every worthwhile metric, even worse.

So let's not pretend I'm Malcolm Gladwell or some similarly slimy asshole seeking to "both sides" a clearcut moral issue. Let's pretend I am me. Flash back to about a year ago, when there was real, widespread, and sustained support for police reform. Remember that? Seems like forever ago, man, but it was just last year... anyhow, now, remember what happened? Direct, issues-focused attempts to reform policing were knocked down. Blotted out. Instead, we were told two things: 1) we had to repeat the slogan ABOLISH THE POLICE, and 2) we had to say it was actually very good and beautiful and nonviolent and valid when rioters burned down poor neighborhoods.

Now, in a relatively healthy discourse, it might have been possible for someone to say something like "while I agree that American policing is heavily violent and racist and requires substantial reforms, I worry that taking such an absolutist point of demanding abolition and cheering on the destruction of city blocks will be a political non-starter." This statement would have been, in retrospect, 100000000% correct. But could you have said it, in any worthwhile manner? If you had said something along those lines, what would the fallout had been? Would you have lost friends? Your job? Would you have suffered something more minor, like getting yelled at, told your opinion did not matter? Would your acquaintances still now--a year later, after their political project has failed beyond all dispute--would they still defame you in "whisper networks," never quite articulating your verbal sins but nonetheless informing others that you are a dangerous and bad person because one time you tried to tell them how utterly fucking self-destructive they were being? It is undeniably clear that last year's most-elevated voices were demanding not reform but catharsis. I hope they really had fun watching those immigrant-owned bodegas burn down, because that’s it, that will forever be remembered as the most palpable and consequential aspect of their shitty, selfish movement. We ain't reforming shit. Instead, we gave everyone who's already in power a blank check to fortify that power to a degree you and I cannot fully fathom.

But, oh, these people knew what they were doing. They were good little boys and girls. They have been rewarded with near-total control of the national discourse, and they are all either too guilt-ridden or too stupid to realize how badly they played into the hands of the structures they were supposedly trying to upend.

And so left-liberalism is now controlled by people whose worldview is equal parts superficial and incoherent. This was the only possible outcome that would have let the system continue to sustain itself in light of such immense evidence of its unsustainability without resulting in reform, so that's what has happened.

But... okay, let's take a step back. Let's focus on what I wanted to talk about when I started this.

I came across a post today from a young man who claimed that his high school English department head had been removed from his position and had his tenure revoked for refusing to remove three books from classrooms. This was, of course, fallout from the ongoing debate about Critical Race Theory. Two of those books were Marjane Satropi's Persepolis and, oh boy, The Diary of Anne Frank. Fuck. Jesus christ, fuck.

Now, here's the thing... When Persepolis was named, I assumed the bannors were anti-CRT. The graphic novel does not deal with racism all that much, at least not as its discussed contemporarily, but it centers an Iranian girl protagonist and maybe that upset Republican types. But Anne Frank? I'm sorry, but the most likely censors there are liberal identiarians who believe that teaching her diary amounts to centering the suffering of a white woman instead of talking about the One Real Racism, which must always be understood in an American context. The super woke cult group Black Hammer made waves recently with their #FuckAnneFrank campaign... you'd be hard pressed to find anyone associated with the GOP taking a firm stance against the diary since, oh, about 1975 or so.

So which side was it? That doesn't matter. What matters is, I cannot find out.

Now, pro-CRT people always accuse anti-CRT people of not knowing what CRT is, and then after making such accusations they always define CRT in a way that absolutely is not what CRT is. Pro-CRTers default to "they don't want  students to read about slavery or racism." This is absolutely not true, and absolutely not what actual CRT concerns itself with. Slavery and racism have been mainstays of American history curriucla since before I was born. Even people who barely paid attention in school would admit this, if there were any more desire for honesty in our discourse. 

My high school history teacher was a southern "lost causer" who took the south's side in the Civil War but nonetheless provided us with the most descriptive and unapologetic understandings of slavery's brutalities I had heard up until that point. He also unambiguously referred to the nuclear attacks on Hiroshmia and Nagasaki as "genocidal." Why? Because most people's politics are idiosyncratic, and because you cannot genuinely infer a person to believe one thing based on their opinion of another, tangentially related thing. The totality of human understanding used to be something open-minded people prided themselves on being aware of, believe it or not...

This is the problem with CRT. This is is the motivation behind the majority of people who wish to ban it. It’s not because they are necessarily racist themselves. It’s because they recognize, correctly, that the now-ascendant frames for understanding social issues boils everything down to a superficial patina that denies not only the realities of the systems they seek to upend but the very humanity of the people who exist within them. There is no humanity without depth and nuance and complexities and contradictions. When you argue otherwise, people will get mad and fight back. 

And this is the most bitter irony of this idiotic debate: it was never about not wanting to teach the sinful or embarrassing parts of our history. That was a different debate, one that was settled and won long ago. It is instead an immense, embarrassing overreach on behalf of people who have bullied their way to complete dominance of their spheres of influence within media and academe assuming they could do the same to everyone else. Some of its purveyors may have convinced themselves that getting students to admit complicity in privilege will prevent police shootings, sure. But I know these people. I’ve spoken to them at length. I’ve read their work. The vast, vast majority of them aren’t that stupid. The point is to exert control. The point is to make sure they stay in charge and that nothing changes. The point is failure. 

[bountyofbeads]

Hong Kong protesters defy ban as clashes escalate on key pro-democracy anniversary

By Shibani Mahtani and Timothy McLaughlin | Published August 31 at 9:47 AM ET | Washington Post | Posted August 31, 2019 10:19 AM ET |

HONG KONG — Protesters hurled firebombs and set blazes Saturday across Hong Kong as they defied warnings to stay off the streets on a key pro-democracy anniversary — touching off some of the most dramatic clashes during 13 weeks of unrest over Beijing’s influence on the territory.

Parts of central Hong Kong were thick with smoke after piles of rubbish and debris used to block advancing police were set ablaze by protesters. Some demonstrators armed themselves with metal poles and hammers and carried makeshift shields for protection.

Demonstrators were pursued through the city, chased by riot police using the full arsenal of their crowd control tools: volleys of tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets  and huge numbers of officers wielding batons. Water cannons use blue dye in an apparent effort to mark protesters.

Protesters on Saturday were marking an especially significant day in Hong Kong’s political history: Five years ago, Beijing announced a plan for only limited democracy in the semiautonomous territory, kicking off a 79-day occupation of city streets that invigorated a new generation of Hong Kong activists. 

The intensity of Saturday’s scenes underscored how neither protesters nor Hong Kong authorities are holding back, and the city looks even further from a resolution to the months-long crisis. 

Authorities had banned a march, organized by a group known for their ability to pull off large and non-violent assemblies, but tens of thousands showed up anyway.

“Of course I am not afraid of [the government],” said Eddie Wong, a 62-year-old protesters wearing a black face mask. “They want us to feel fear, but they are totally wrong about who were are.” 

A procession earlier in the day turned violent after several hours when police shot off tear gas to clear the crowd. The main focal point early in the day was Harcourt Road, outside Hong Kong’s legislative complex which protesters occupied some weeks earlier. 

Protesters responded with bricks, home-made gasoline bombs and flashed lasers at officers shooting at them. A forceful police advance sent them into the Wan Chai and Causeway Bay neighborhoods — known for their neon-lit bars and glitzy shopping malls. 

The clashes turned the city’s heart into a dizzying mix of flames, tear gas and deafening shouts from protesters and police alike. Two government helicopters hovered over the scene for hours.

The protesters had gathered despite authorities barring their march and after police arrested almost a dozen prominent activists and pro-democracy lawmakers the day before — widely perceived as a deliberately timed deterrent against further demonstrations.

A now-suspended plan to allow extraditions to mainland China floated earlier this year has again reawakened the sense that Hong Kong does not control its own future, and millions have taken to the streets over past months to protest Beijing’s creeping influence. 

China has responded with hardening rhetoric, branding the protesters rioters and even terrorists, while police have arrested over 800. 

On Saturday, China’s state broadcaster released a video of paramilitary police in Shenzhen conducting armed drills, a city that borders Hong Kong, with the caption: “Able to attack at any time!”

Hong Kong’s government has so far refused to give in to any of the protesters’ demands, including a full withdrawal of the extradition bill and an independent inquiry into the crisis and police use of force, despite widespread support for the two concessions. 

“Five years ago today marked the end of a constructive dialogue with the Chinese government,” said Johnson Yeung, a veteran activist who was arrested at a demonstration last month who was taking part in Saturday’s march. “They took true control of the executive branch of Hong Kong’s government.”

He added, “It really raised the bar for people and it laid the foundation of the civil resistance movement that is happening now.”

On Saturday, apparently responding to protesters’ demands for direct elections of Hong Kong’s leader and lawmakers, a government spokesperson issued a statement saying that universal suffrage is “an ultimate aim” but require constitutional changes which are “extremely controversial.”

“Rashly embarking on political reform again will further polarize society, which is an irresponsible act,” the government said.

The Civil Human Rights Front, the group behind huge, nonviolent demonstrations over recent months, had initially planned a rally through central Hong Kong to mark the anniversary. Police however declined to authorize the march, even after an appeal. The group on Friday said they would be canceling the rally.

“Our first principle is always to protect all the participants and make sure that no one could bear legal consequences for participating in the protests that we organized,” said Bonnie Leung, one of the leaders of the group. “We can see no way that we can keep this principle, and also continue our march and protest.” 

Some participants couched their procession in religious songs and paraphernalia, hoping that a religious gathering was a way to get around the police ban. Some carried bibles, posters of Jesus and Moses, and repeatedly sang: “Sing Hallelujah to the Lord,” a song that has become among the unofficial protest anthems. 

A separate group gathered in Causeway Bay, one of the main shopping districts in Hong Kong. They found creative ways of advertising their gathering — a day of mass shopping, a day of “viewing flowers” in neighboring parks — to get around the police ban. Among the marchers in Causeway Bay was Joshua Wong, a prominent activist and the face of the 2014 protests, who had been arrested and released on bail Friday. 

By midafternoon, police issued multiple warnings telling protesters to stop their “illegal acts” and repeated that protesters were participating in an illegal assembly, raising the specter of more arrests and clashes. Authorities had heavily fortified multiple points across the city — particularly Beijing’s liaison office just west of central Hong Kong, a planned focus of Saturday’s demonstration — with water-filled barricades and a heavy presence of riot police. 

The subway station closest to the liaison office was also closed Saturday afternoon as a “prudent measure,” said the MTR Corporation which runs the transportation network.

Saturday’s protests also came alongside what appeared to be a coordinated attack on the LIHKG messaging board, a website that has been essential to protest organizing and taking the public’s temperature on actions over the past months. Earlier in the morning, the website was hit by a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack “on an unprecedented scale,” according to a statement from the site. The site’s mobile app was most affected by the attack. Another message board also said it experienced a similar cyber attack Saturday morning.

In June, encrypted messaging platform Telegram, which is also popular among protesters, suffered a DDoS attack. Telegram’s chief executive, said the cyberattack was traced to “IP addresses coming mostly from China” and that it “coincided in time with protests in Hong Kong.” 

One 30-year old participant, who was also photographing the protest, said he felt “kind of afraid” before coming out on Saturday afternoon but was comforted by the large number of people on the streets. 

“People are still here, look at how brave Hong Kong is,” said the man who wanted to be identified only by his first name, Samuel. “They can’t fight against our freedoms.” 

Yeung, the veteran activist, said that it was a testament to the determination of the Hong Kong people,” that so many were willing to show up for an illegal rally. 

Five years ago, “only a small portion of the population as willing to risk punishment from the police,” he said. “Now, everyone on the street is at risk of arrest.” 

Gerry Shih in Beijing contributed to this report.

[yds4bds-blog]

YBDS

Whether I become YDS Co-Chair or an At-Large member, I plan on ensuring every YDS chapter we have across the country organizes for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel on their respective campuses. YDS as the student section of DSA must be at the forefront of working on meaningful international solidarity and true intersectional work. We have the potential to do this not just through supporting Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), but providing our own organizing, skills with the understanding that repression of SJP chapters across the country is part of the general increase in repression of leftist student organizing on campus.For YDS, I want to put forth the talking points and concrete steps we need to take to achieve a successful BDS campaign on campuses across the country in continuing posts on this blog. For now, let me explain in short how it is that Israel is violating Palestinian human rights, what BDS for those who don’t know, and a summary of how YDS can champion this cause and be the socialist organization that can put a dent in longstanding American imperial policy I know we can be.

 Israel is an imperial backed settler colonial project intentionally created through the ethnic cleansing of the non-Jewish Palestinian community from what is now known as Israel proper, known first as the Nakba and continuing in various forms since, including the military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, continuing today. It is an ethno-nationalist state that sees it current minority Palestinian population who survived the Nakba as a “demographic threat”, while continuously engaging in acts of military brutality against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, such as Operation ‘Protective Edge’, which murdered 2000 people in what the UN recognizes as the world’s largest open air prison, including 500 children; the administrative detention of Palestinians accused of crimes in a military court, which includes 500-700 children per year, while Israeli settlers in the West Bank are tried in a separate civilian court; 2016 being the deadliest year for West Bank Palestinian children, who were killed in military raids and unarmed protests; and most recently, how Gaza is under siege by Israel and the Israel backed Palestinian Authority, with electricity cuts and bombed infrastructure creating a medical and drinking water crisis that’s set to make Gaza unlivable by next year rather than 2020 like the UN originally predicted, as well as the de facto annexation of Jerusalem by Israel that attempted to place restrictions on Palestinian Muslims and Christians entering Jerusalem, and who have just today murdered Palestinians practicing the right to protest and civil disobedience. Israel is breaking multiple international laws every day; recently a UN report by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia was issued officially designating Israel as an apartheid state, with the head of that commission choosing to resign rather than adhere to pressure to retract the report. Israel’s apartheid wall, separate legal systems, occupation, and refusal to allow Palestinian refugees the right to return all breaks international law, and they do so with consistent US support.

 BDS is a nonviolent economic resistance movement primarily aimed at targeting corporations that profit from Israeli occupation and settlements, disrupting normalization of Zionism with speakers brought on campus, and cutting United States aid to Israel, which over the next decade is set to amount to $38 billion dollars, with the overall goal being to force Israel to start complying with international human rights law. The most notable companies are HP, Sabra Hummus, Sodastream, G4S and Caterpillar, all which have business deals with colleges throughout the country. The successful BDS campaigns we’ve seen on campuses throughout the US involve deshelving those products and passing bylaws that prohibit student funds from going towards companies or products associated with Israeli occupation. We have also seen campaigns to deplatform figures such as the ambassador to Israel from giving speeches meant to act as public relations for the Israeli state. This has been smeared as a violation of free speech even as Alissa Wise, a Jewish woman was just banned from entering Israel because of her support for BDS.

 My vision for YDS is students organizing for true liberation for all, and making the connection clear between US violence here and imperialism abroad. We are told there is no money for single payer for our children here while giving billions to Israel’s military that regularly hurts children abroad. Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) regularly trains US police officers, with the same tear gas canisters being used against protestors in Ferguson and Palestine. As socialists we must stand against ethno-nationalist states, against imperialism and for global socialism. I see YDS shutting down Israeli politicians the way we supported Richard Spencer getting shut down. I see YDS doing sit-ins in food courts until Sabra Hummus is off the shelves, passing out flyers on BDS around school, protesting their school board in ways that make contracts with HP too expensive/inconvenient to be worth it. I see us in YDS as standing against bills like the recent Senate proposal that would make BDS work a crime punishable by up to 20 years jail time and a $200,000 fine that none of the Turning Point USA nerds seem to think is a violation of free speech or the “free market”. I see us rejecting antisemitism and anti-Arab racism in this work to fight for a future in the region where Jews of all colors (there is much to fight against within Israel with how Mizrahi, Sephardic and Ethiopian Jews are treated as inferior to Ashkenazi Jews) and Palestinian Arabs can live side by side in peace. I see my role as learning about each YDS chapter and school that comes before me and helping to coordinate these actions, and working on a Palestine 101 and a BDS workshop as political education for its members and the general student body. I believe in us enough to know we won’t just pass that resolution on BDS and then do nothing with the excitement and momentum we’ve generated. We want to defend ourselves as being for the global oppressed and not just for white guys with beards in Brooklyn? This convention, let’s prove it.

Your comrade,

Rawan

[toldnews-blog]

New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/politics/watch-takeaways-from-president-donald-trumps-state-of-the-union/

WATCH: Takeaways from President Donald Trump's State of the Union

Transcript for Takeaways from President Donald Trump’s State of the Union

So last night was trump’s second state of the union address, and before we get into how we think he did, I want to show one moment that made both sides of the aisle get up on their feet. Watch. Exactly one century after congress passed the constitutional amendment giving women right to vote, we also have more women serving in congress than at any time before. Okay, so wait a minute. Is he so clueless that he actually thinks that the reason there are women in congress in these numbers is because he did something right? Yeah. It’s the opposite. Yeah. He’s taking credit when he really should take the blame. Am I wrong about this? Yeah. I thought they were trolling him. I think they were. I think they were, right? They ran because they didn’t like his policies. A lot of them. I found it to be just an empowering moment for women. I saw like trump ae not going to be in office forever and so there were a number of moments — He’s not? We do have term limits. I thought it was a moment we could get on our feet and be proud of how far we’ve come. Obviously I think the Republican party has a lot of work to do to get women to run and to win. Isn’t it unbelievable, the two sides. For me, I agree with your assessment that I did think it was trolling on their part. By the way, take the moment when it comes. State of the unions are so much a part of sort of signaling your politics in one way or another to your base of supporters. Yeah. He did that. And they did as well, even just wearing the white suits. Make no mistake, these are liberal democratic women. So for me as a woman, when you see women not applauding for the 20-week abortion ban which by the way 70 to 80% of women, Democrat and Republican, in the country are against, this women’s issue is complicated for me because I’m not a liberal woman. For me, I thought it was weird to see some people clapping when it’s like for me I’d like to see more conservative women in my vain, more conservative women get elected. The wave of democratic congressman who were recently elected, they were in the right taking in their moment last night. I was up late last night. I understand what you’re saying. I like the idea that women a there but I don’t want somebody like Sarah Palin or Michele Bachmann. Women’s issues be convoluted, like all women vote the same way, feel the same way about abortion. Look at this table. I think it’s misguided to have this applause for the president at the same time because this wave was real and it was a mass rejection of him by so many women com up. By the way, as conservative women, we need to see this bright and clear. There are not a lot of Republican women getting elected. I don’t remember the exact numbers. It’s like a four to one ratio. Why is that? Why don’t conserve women like you go out there and call it what it is, that the emperor is wearing no clothes. And can they be elected though? I don’t know if this fever because the trump fever is loud and strong. Over 80% of Republicans support president trump. For me, I’m a classic jack Kemp conservative and I can’t get on board with this populous phenomenon. It was weird to see Republicans by the way clapping against trade. We’re supposed to be the party of free trade. Why did they do that? Because the party has reinvented itself in the world of trump. What’s the purpose of that when I have this wonderful job here at “The view”? Exactly. Really, both sides are going after that, right? The address was received far better than his first state of the union. Some called it reagan-esque. Really? Yes. It was very — Let me show you something before you talk. Sorry. Economic miracle is taking place in the United States and the only thing that can stop it are foolish wars, politics, or ridiculous partisan investigations. Year after year capitalist Americans are murdered by criminal illegal aliens. In the past, most of the people in this room voted for a wall, but the proper wall never got built. I will get it built. First of all, let me just say that there’s so many things to say in those three things he just said. Number one was the — let’s go for the wall. The majority of Americans don’t want the wall. They think it’s stupid. Then crime amongst illegal or legal immigrants is so far down that mostly it’s Americans who are committing Americans in this country. That’s a lie. The other one about the investigations, does the name Richard Nixon ring a bell? Nixon said enough with the watergate, and less than 200 days later he was gone. Yeah. So these investigations, that train has left the station, honey, and there’s nothing you can do about it. You know what, look — That was very — my takeaway, I thought it was kind of a dark speech. It seemed to be at the beginning about unity and I was like, this sounds pretty good. It was reagan-esque in that sense but then it took a turn when he started talking about the wall. He wasn’t really reading the room well. I felt like that’s when people were like — it didn’t have that you lie moment but people started grumbling a lot. I felt that there were a lot of lies there. He started talking about undocumented immigrants and he was using that term illegal alien. He sort of resurfaced that. People are not illegal. Acts are illegal. I think we need to start saying that more and more and more. It’s about undocumented immigrants. That was the first thing that I noticed. Then he starts talking about undocumented immigrants, you know, committing more crime. Well, no, 44 — it’s less — I think the stats are they commit about 44 — they’re less likely to commit — there were about 44% less likely to be incarcerated than native born Americans so that’s not true. Keep in mind the room in the audience for 2020, a lot of the candidates who have already announced and will more than likely be announcing so this was virtue signaling which says a lot about immigration. I’m going to butcher this. Excuse me, I was up late on the coverage of this. The politicians with their walls and guarded security, that is a siren call to his base that’s watching right now and I think it started out, I agree with you, I was like, who doesn’t love astronauts and veterans and men who stormed the beaches of normandy. Those are all wonderful things I think everyone can get behind, and then intervened were his policies and virtue signals for 2020 which is Normal for a president to do. What was hard for me last night, I was prepping and getting ready and reading my notes beforehand and I get a notice that president trump had a meeting with the network heads a he had called sen chuck Schumer a nasty son of a bitch, Joe Biden dumb, said disparaging things once again of my father who passed five and a half months ago. So for me when he’s talking about we must reject the politics of revenge, politics and retribution, you aren’t being bipartisan near hours earlier obsessing over people you consider your enemies. For me it was a kabuki theat virtue signal. The entire speech last night towards his base, please don’t sit here and tell me you are grasping for bipartisanship when chuck schumers a son of a bitch and my father is, quote, bombed — To go after somebody who’s dead, my god. I D’t know why he keeps bringing it up because what do you gain by that, even if you’re in his base. They don’t care. What about the lies that are immediately fact-checked. I would think at this point, especially the lies about the wall, the lies about immigration, the lies about — he also said this, he said, oh, by the way, I want more legal immigrants common to the country than ever before. He has the lowest C for legal immigration. He only wants 30,000 legal immigrants to come. That’s the lowest in U.S. History. He doesn’t want them from any countries except the people — Doesn’t his base read. Meghan’s right — They know it’s lies. Go ahead. Can I speak now? Yeah. The state of the union at least for me is a time to find unifying messages and it’s a time when you’re the president you won the election, you have the platform. Obama talked about health care, moment famously when someone said you lied. There were strong moments last night. It was less about trump for me and more about inspiring stories and the guests invited to the speech that gave me chills. One of those was this moment that’s never happened in the state of the union where a happy birthday was sung to Judah Samet who turned 81 yesterday. He survived the mass shooting at the tree of life synagogue. I think we have a clip of that if we can play it. We don’t have a clip. We don’t. Well, there was that moment and there was also Alice Marie Johnson talking about criminal justice reform. There he is. I don’t know if we have the clip. In 1997 Alice was sentenced to life in prison as a first-time, nonviolent drug offender. In June I commuted Alice’s sentence. She is a terrific woman, terrific. Alice, please. I think there were some moments that if you could step away and say, loo — I want to give him credit, trust me, but I can’t. If you can focus on some things that areigger than the president right now. But political props, why is that — Talking about criminal justice — We’re actually going to come

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

[thewebofslime]

IN A CLOSED-DOOR meeting with activists from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Tuesday, presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., spoke about working closely with the organization and his desire to create a “unified voice from Congress” against the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement, or BDS. Booker spoke to AIPAC members from New Jersey at the organization’s annual policy conference in Washington, D.C., a gathering of thousands of activists from around the country, culminating in a lobbying effort on Capitol Hill. Booker’s appearance came at a contentious time; last week, the progressive advocacy group MoveOn called on 2020 candidates to skip the conference, and at least five of the Democrats declined to attend. Booker’s remarks, some of which were first reported by the Jerusalem Post, did not appear on a schedule of on-the-record events for journalists covering the conference. The Intercept obtained a 35-minute audio recording of the session from a conference attendee and is publishing the recording in full here. AIPAC did not respond to multiple requests for comment. A spokesperson for Booker reviewed a transcript of the audio and confirmed that it matched what was said, but declined to comment further. Booker began his remarks by thanking AIPAC president Mort Fridman for his “leadership and his friendship,” telling the crowd that he and Fridman “talk often” and “text message back and forth like teenagers.” Much of Booker’s address focused on opposing the nationwide rise in bigotry and anti-Semitism, and he cited the FBI’s finding that between 2016 and 2017, hate crimes in New Jersey alone rose by 76 percent. Later, Booker told a story about rushing to Dulles Airport after President Donald Trump’s Muslim ban was announced, and said he was inspired by Jewish activists to vocally participate in protests. “This is the Jewish way,” said Booker, paraphrasing the Torah. “Love strangers, for you were once a stranger in a strange land.” In describing his opposition to anti-Semitism, Booker continually brought up congressional legislation aimed at punishing BDS, a global movement focused on pressuring Israel to end human rights violations and its military occupation of the Palestinian territories. The disruption of BDS activism is an Israeli foreign policy priority, and AIPAC has successfully lobbied Congress, as well as numerous state and local legislatures, to sanction the BDS movement. “Let me be clear,” Booker said. “Anti-Semitism is un-American. It is anti- American. It violates, most deeply, our commonly held values, and we must take steps on the global stage against vicious acts that target hatred. That is why I’m a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 720, the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, which opposes international efforts to encourage BDS while protecting First Amendment rights.” The Israel Anti-Boycott Act, introduced by Sens. Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, would tweak U.S. export law to discourage American companies from joining international organizations in boycotting Israel. The bill steadily gained support until the American Civil Liberties Union announced its opposition, arguing that the text could be interpreted to allow criminal penalties for nonviolent activism. The bill was later changed to reflect those concerns, but it remains controversial, and Booker is the only 2020 Democratic candidate from the Senate who is a co-sponsor. BIPARTISAN UNITY WAS a major focus of Booker’s address, in which he denounced Vice President Mike Pence’s remarks to AIPAC earlier in the week as “rank partisanship” and “a cynical attempt to drive a wedge through the pro-Israel community.” Pence had called Trump “the greatest friend of the Jewish people and the state of Israel ever to sit in the Oval Office” and criticized Democratic candidates who skipped the conference. “I listened to the vice president yesterday,” said Booker. “There was no grace in his remarks. There was no ‘let’s reach out and unify Democrats and Republicans.’” In the past, AIPAC has always positioned itself as a staunchly bipartisan organization, winning near-universal support for its legislative priorities. Past policy conferences have made a show of Democrats speaking alongside Republicans. Last year, Reps. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., both leadership members in their respective parties, walked onstage together and spoke about their commitment to the U.S.-Israel alliance. But in recent years, Republicans and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have split with that tradition, and the Trump administration has tried to make the case to AIPAC’s constituency that it is more willing to deliver on Israel’s geopolitical priorities. The administration stopped abiding by the terms of the Obama-era Iran deal, which AIPAC opposed. They have moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem; recognized the occupied Golan Heights as Israeli territory; shunned Palestine at the United Nations; and cut the U.S. contribution to the U.N. agency supporting Palestinian refugees. Trump, more bluntly, has tweeted in support of a “Jexodus,” a so-called Jewish Exodus from the Democratic Party, but survey data does not suggest that Jewish voters — most of whom vote liberal and Democratic — are flocking to support him. But even as the progressive wing of the Democratic party has increasingly shown a willingness to criticize Israel, Booker has tried to smooth over the widening rift. “Don’t fall prey to cynical attempts to try to pit members of this great organization against the Democratic Party,” he told the audience Tuesday. “We, right now, need voices in our country that are going to show the tribalism that is deepening in our country, that undermines obvious things to do like condemning the BDS movement.” Booker also singled out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for criticism, accusing him of playing politics with anti-BDS legislation. In February, Senate Republicans passed a legislation package that included a Republican anti-BDS measure, authored by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. Booker argued that the package was not designed to get bipartisan buy-in, and McConnell should have advanced other anti-BDS legislation instead. Booker told the audience that he had sponsored an amendment that would prevent states and localities from making their employees promise not to boycott Israel, a measure that he said would make the bill acceptable to both parties. “Mitch McConnell, in a cynical way, put a bill on the floor,” Booker said. “So I turned to AIPAC, to my friends, the leadership, and said, ‘Well, here’s a perfect amendment that can cure this bill, get a united Senate voice against BDS.’ But my amendment wasn’t even given a vote.” Join Our Newsletter Original reporting. Fearless journalism. Delivered to you. I’m in Without naming Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Booker also condemned her recent remarks as “absolutely unacceptable.” Tweeting about AIPAC’s influence in Congress last month, Omar wrote: “It’s all about the Benjamins, baby” – referencing pro-Israel political action committees and their ability to raise money for candidates. Critics argued that the tweet invoked anti-Semitic tropes, and Omar later apologized, and said her intention was not to offend Jewish constituents. As part of his presidential campaign, Booker said, he had the “courage to speak to my own party” to try to find unity on a number of issues, including Israel. Booker also told the audience that when Netanyahu addressed Congress during the Obama administration in opposition to the Iran deal, Booker worked with AIPAC to try to stop fellow Democrats from boycotting the speech, “because we need to show a unified front in our support for Israel.” Before Booker took questions, Fridman told the audience that Booker was quick to assure conference organizers he would attend, despite pressure from progressive groups. “Cory was the subject of some fake news,” Fridman said. “An organization threatened a number of presidential candidates and said ‘don’t show up to AIPAC.’ I immediately got a call from Cory’s office saying well obviously Cory’s gonna be there… . Cory stands with the state of Israel. And Cory stands with the US –Israel alliance.” Correction: March 30, 2019, 3:52 p.m. EDT An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that Booker served in the House of Representatives during the Obama administration. Booker has been in the Senate since he won a special election in October 2013.

[funnythingshere0-blog]

The Terrifying Stupidity of Erasing People

New Post has been published on http://funnythingshere.xyz/the-terrifying-stupidity-of-erasing-people/

The Terrifying Stupidity of Erasing People

BY ED SIKOV

Community News Group

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What must it be like to wake up one morning and find that you have been vaporized? It must be odd, to say the least. You’re there; you can’t help but be there. You’re still you, after all. But somehow you’re not there anymore. You’re not anywhere. You no longer exist.

That is exactly what happened to our transgender brothers and sisters. They woke up one morning and found that they had all gone poof, just like that.

“Trump Administration Trying to Define Transgender Out of Existence: NY Times,” ran the headline from Reuters. The reporter, Daniel Trotta, went on to explain how this amazing disappearing act worked:

“The government of US President Donald Trump is attempting to strip transgender people of official recognition by creating a narrow definition of gender as being only male or female and unchangeable once it is determined at birth, The New York Times reported on Sunday.

“The Department of Health and Human Services has undertaken an effort across several government departments to establish a legal definition of sex under Title IX, the federal civil rights law that bans discrimination on the basis of sex, the Times said, citing a government memo that it obtained.”

“That definition would be as either male or female, unchangeable, and determined by the genitals a person is born with, the Times reported.”

Although I would like to try this vanishing trick on certain people, Donald J. Trump first and foremost among them, the whole thing is so patently stupid and yet so dangerous, so absurd and knuckleheaded, that I literally gagged on my morning coffee when I read it on Sunday.

“They are saying we don’t exist,” said Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Rights, in an interview. Issuing this statement was a very difficult feat, considering that Keisling doesn’t exist and therefore cannot be expected to say anything.

If it wasn’t so terrifying, it might actually be funny.

But it is terrifying. To render a whole category of human beings nonexistent by way of an edict would be the first step to fascism, except of course for the fact that the Trump administration has already taken so many steps down that road that we’re already hearing the sound of jackboots.

Trotta explained the circumstances this way:

“A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) declined to comment on what she called ‘allegedly leaked documents’ but cited a ruling by a conservative US district judge as a guide to transgender policy. Ruling on a challenge to one aspect of the Affordable Care Act, US District Judge Reed O’Connor in Texas found in 2016 that there was no protection against discrimination on the basis of gender identity.”

(Reed’s district court is the go-to venue for anti-LGBTQ litigation groups.)

One of the core concepts in gender studies is that sex is biological while gender is cultural, meaning — to put a gloss on a very complicated set of thoughts — sex is about genitals whereas gender is about practically everything else. We can change genders fairly easily; all you need to do is wear clothes that don’t conform to the expectations of sex. And not to medicalize the situation too terribly much (a gender studies no-no), sex reassignment surgeries have been performed since 1931, so there’s nothing much new with that particular concept.

The only light in this hellish story came the following day, when the ever-superb Jennifer Finney Boylan’s column appeared on the Times’ op-ed page.

“I was surprised to learn on Sunday morning that I do not exist,” she began. “This will come as sad news to my children, to whom I’ve been a mother for over 20 years now. It will come as a shock to my wife, too, to whom I’ve been married for 30 years. It would have been a disappointment for my mother, as well — the conservative, evangelical Christian Republican, who, when she learned I was transgender, two decades ago, said, ‘I would never turn my back on my child…’

“It is so disappointing, then, and more than a little embarrassing, to learn I’m imaginary — a creature no more real than the cyclops, or a hippogriff [Pssst — I had to look it up, too, having never read a single Harry Potter book]. President Trump and company should be prepared for the consequences of this decision — because the people most likely to be disappointed in this Glum New World will be themselves.

“They will be disappointed to find themselves — if they are men — standing in a men’s room with me. Even though I have breasts and a vagina and a clitoris (and I do thank you for asking), in the new world that they’re creating I’ll be right there in the boy’s room with them, checking my bra straps and putting on eyeliner — you know, because of the Y chromosome that they insist is the only gender marker that matters.

“Don’t like this world? Well, you could have left us alone… All it will do is make people suffer.

“Can any good come out of this miserable moment? Well, I can hope that this will inspire people, more than ever, to fight back — not just trans people — but our spouses, and our children, and our allies, too. Their numbers will include people not unlike my late mother — conservative Republican women who just can’t stand to see their children bullied by the one person in the country who ought to be most concerned with keeping us all safe.

“Don’t like this world? Mr. Trump, you could have left us alone.”

It has become increasingly difficult for me to write anything of value; I can say that our country has been kidnapped by stupid people only so many times before even I get bored. Trump rallies look like Nazi rallies; Trump’s lies — like the one about how the thousands of Central Americans trudging north through Mexico are doing so because of “the Democrats,” and on and on and on. They are so pervasive and so outrageous that they’re impossible to argue without losing your mind in the process.

I’m beginning to think that ostriches have the right idea.

A fun fact to know and tell: By this point we are all familiar with the name and gruesome fate of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post columnist who walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and came out dismembered. Watching Trump flail around for a reasonable response to what was obviously a barbaric murder committed at the behest of his pals in the Saudi royal family has been like watching Maxwell Smart, the ridiculous detective in the 60s sitcom “Get Smart”: “Would you believe it was ‘a plot gone awry?’ Would you believe it was done by ‘rogue killers?’’”

But in all the coverage I’ve seen and read of the Khashoggi murder, I haven’t seen anything about the fact that Jamal Khashoggi was the nephew of the sleazebag arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi. As Stephen Kinzer wrote in Adnan Khashoggi’s obituary in the Times on June 6, 2017, “His appetites were gargantuan, beyond the limits of vulgarity. At the peak of his wealth, he presided over 12 estates, including some in Europe and the Middle East; a 180,000-acre ranch in Kenya; and a two-floor Manhattan residence at Olympic Towers, next to St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue, that was made from 16 existing apartments… He owned a 282-foot yacht, Nabila — used in a James Bond film and later sold to Donald J. Trump — and three lavishly refitted commercial-size jets. His parties were known for rivers of champagne, bevies of women, international celebrities and endless personal attention from the host, known to his many friends as A. K.”

Well, I remember that A.K. attempted to buy a little respectability in the 1970s by offering scads of money to Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, and Haverford colleges to launch an Arab Studies center. If I’m not mistaken, Swarthmore and Bryn Mawr actually considered taking the money before being shamed into saying no thanks. Only Haverford, which attempts to run itself on nonviolent Quaker principles, made it clear right off the bat that an arms dealer’s millions were not enough to turn the college’s moral code on its head.

Follow @EdSikov on Twitter and Facebook.

Updated 10:42 am, October 25, 2018

©2018

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Source: https://www.gaycitynews.nyc/stories/2018/22/poof-2018-10-25-gcn.html

[typhoonprecious-blog]

I became a college marijuana activist to find friends who smoked weed, but got an education on social injustice instead

I became a college marijuana activist to find friends who smoked weed, but got an education on social injustice instead

I first started exploring my political identity during my first year of high school. I'd been raised on conservative Catholic values, and I wanted to challenge them in an entirely new environment. So when I got to college, I joined my campus's chapter of NORML (National Organization of Marijuana Laws). While joining an organization like NORML was a great way to expand my horizons, I'll be honest that politics wasn't the major reason I first sought it out. Mostly, I was looking for friends who smoked weed, and NORML focused on the legalization of marijuana.

The club embraced its reputation of being a NORML chapter that held meetings without passing a joint or ripping the bong. We were up to some serious business and didn't fit the “lazy stoner” stereotype. We held annual Know Your Rights events geared towards first year students, hosted guest speakers who discussed medicinal benefits of cannabis, and held events about the War on Drugs to raise awareness about the criminalization and over-policing of Black and Latinx communities.

Like it does for many students, college exposed me to a more liberal environment, but getting involved with the legalization and decriminalization of marijuana took it a step farther for me. Our advocacy challenged everyday power structures like capitalism and police racism. And instead of being taught by professors, I was taught by activists, organizers, industry experts, and even classmates and peers.

View this post on Instagram

A Florida Circuit Court judge has ruled that a legislatively enacted ban on the smoking of medical cannabis in private by qualified patients is unconstitutional. “This ruling is a victory for Florida voters and, in particular, Florida's patient community,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. “These legislatively enacted restrictions arbitrarily sought to limit patients' choices in a manner that violated the spirit of the law, and cynically sought to deny patients the ability to obtain rapid relief from whole-plant cannabis in a manner that has long proven to be relatively safe and effective.” Read more on the NORML Blog.

A post shared by NORML (@natlnorml) on May 26, 2018 at 5:32am PDT

This frame of thinking is what helped me understand the dire reality of United States imperialism. Imperialism, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is the practice of a country increasing their power “by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of other areas.” In other words, the U.S. meddles in a lot of other countries' politics, elections, and economic decisions (see: the Phillipines, Hawaii, Cuba, etc.) As I learned more and more about the U.S.'s role in drug trafficking abroad, I began to understand just how powerful-and disastrous-imperialism can be.

Latin America, for instance, is still hurting from the global War on Drugs, which claims to be a mission to prevent illegal drugs from entering the U.S. While you're probably familiar with what the War on Drugs looks like here in America, globally, it looks like the U.S. sending its military abroad to break up cartels and organized crime groups controlling drug trades in the region. The Drug Policy Alliance explains that, across Latin America, “there has been an upsurge of violence, corruption…and human rights violations” because of those cartels. In Latin America, there are politicians and activists who want to decriminalize and legalize marijuana in order to lessen the power of cartels and combat their violence. But rather than supporting these efforts, the U.S. military continues to solely focus on the War on Drugs.

When more Americans are arrested for marijuana than for committing violent crimes, it's clear that the priorities of our justice system are completely out of order. The “war on drugs” has destroyed too many lives. It's imperative that we legalize marijuana. pic.twitter.com/QawDOIhAvy

- Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) October 8, 2018

And it's impossible to discuss the War on Drugs abroad or in the U.S. without discussing racism. Vice explains that “drug addiction had been framed as an infection and contamination of white America by foreign influences.” 100 years ago, anti-drug propaganda focused on demonizing people of color, and Mexican, Chinese, and Black people were especially considered a so-called threat to the white race; the government claimed that under the intoxication of drugs, including cannabis, they would rape white women. (This assumption is a racist and xenophobic myth because drugs don't cause rape. Rapists cause rape. And a rapist can be of any race.)

Since the U.S. is a capitalist nation founded on the genocide of native peoples and African slavery, this history led to racist drug laws that still allow the U.S. to make money from mass incarceration. Most prisoners are behind bars for nonviolent drug offenses (many related to cannabis), and a vast majority of those serving time are Black and Latinx people. In 2010 alone, cops arrested someone for cannabis every 37 seconds, and the ACLU reports that Black people are four times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana.

View this post on Instagram

Today is #OverdoseAwarenessDay. Data repeatedly illustrate that marijuana laws can play an important role in reducing opioid overdose fatalities, opioid dependency, opioid-related hospitalizations, and opioid use. Today, #NORML urges you to #TakeAction and help #EndOverdose. Follow the link to write your lawmakers in under 30 seconds! bit.ly/2N1E0W8

A post shared by NORML (@natlnorml) on Aug 31, 2018 at 5:00am PDT

Throughout college, even while I learned all of this, many of my peers dismissed our organization as the “pot club” and never took it seriously.

But today I am a journalist, and looking back now, I realize that a huge part of my job as a reporter is not only understanding the benefits of cannabis, but also the intricacies of white supremacy and U.S. imperialism. That education-unlearning myths about cannabis, other drugs, and the world around us-began with college campus marijuana advocacy. And that education is what I hope to relay in my writing.

The post I became a college marijuana activist to find friends who smoked weed, but got an education on social injustice instead appeared first on HelloGiggles.

[inkundu1]

I became a college marijuana activist to find friends who smoked weed, but got an education on social injustice instead

I became a college marijuana activist to find friends who smoked weed, but got an education on social injustice instead

I first started exploring my political identity during my first year of high school. I'd been raised on conservative Catholic values, and I wanted to challenge them in an entirely new environment. So when I got to college, I joined my campus's chapter of NORML (National Organization of Marijuana Laws). While joining an organization like NORML was a great way to expand my horizons, I'll be honest that politics wasn't the major reason I first sought it out. Mostly, I was looking for friends who smoked weed, and NORML focused on the legalization of marijuana.

The club embraced its reputation of being a NORML chapter that held meetings without passing a joint or ripping the bong. We were up to some serious business and didn't fit the “lazy stoner” stereotype. We held annual Know Your Rights events geared towards first year students, hosted guest speakers who discussed medicinal benefits of cannabis, and held events about the War on Drugs to raise awareness about the criminalization and over-policing of Black and Latinx communities.

Like it does for many students, college exposed me to a more liberal environment, but getting involved with the legalization and decriminalization of marijuana took it a step farther for me. Our advocacy challenged everyday power structures like capitalism and police racism. And instead of being taught by professors, I was taught by activists, organizers, industry experts, and even classmates and peers.

View this post on Instagram

A Florida Circuit Court judge has ruled that a legislatively enacted ban on the smoking of medical cannabis in private by qualified patients is unconstitutional. “This ruling is a victory for Florida voters and, in particular, Florida's patient community,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. “These legislatively enacted restrictions arbitrarily sought to limit patients' choices in a manner that violated the spirit of the law, and cynically sought to deny patients the ability to obtain rapid relief from whole-plant cannabis in a manner that has long proven to be relatively safe and effective.” Read more on the NORML Blog.

A post shared by NORML (@natlnorml) on May 26, 2018 at 5:32am PDT

This frame of thinking is what helped me understand the dire reality of United States imperialism. Imperialism, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is the practice of a country increasing their power “by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of other areas.” In other words, the U.S. meddles in a lot of other countries' politics, elections, and economic decisions (see: the Phillipines, Hawaii, Cuba, etc.) As I learned more and more about the U.S.'s role in drug trafficking abroad, I began to understand just how powerful-and disastrous-imperialism can be.

Latin America, for instance, is still hurting from the global War on Drugs, which claims to be a mission to prevent illegal drugs from entering the U.S. While you're probably familiar with what the War on Drugs looks like here in America, globally, it looks like the U.S. sending its military abroad to break up cartels and organized crime groups controlling drug trades in the region. The Drug Policy Alliance explains that, across Latin America, “there has been an upsurge of violence, corruption…and human rights violations” because of those cartels. In Latin America, there are politicians and activists who want to decriminalize and legalize marijuana in order to lessen the power of cartels and combat their violence. But rather than supporting these efforts, the U.S. military continues to solely focus on the War on Drugs.

When more Americans are arrested for marijuana than for committing violent crimes, it's clear that the priorities of our justice system are completely out of order. The “war on drugs” has destroyed too many lives. It's imperative that we legalize marijuana. pic.twitter.com/QawDOIhAvy

- Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) October 8, 2018

And it's impossible to discuss the War on Drugs abroad or in the U.S. without discussing racism. Vice explains that “drug addiction had been framed as an infection and contamination of white America by foreign influences.” 100 years ago, anti-drug propaganda focused on demonizing people of color, and Mexican, Chinese, and Black people were especially considered a so-called threat to the white race; the government claimed that under the intoxication of drugs, including cannabis, they would rape white women. (This assumption is a racist and xenophobic myth because drugs don't cause rape. Rapists cause rape. And a rapist can be of any race.)

Since the U.S. is a capitalist nation founded on the genocide of native peoples and African slavery, this history led to racist drug laws that still allow the U.S. to make money from mass incarceration. Most prisoners are behind bars for nonviolent drug offenses (many related to cannabis), and a vast majority of those serving time are Black and Latinx people. In 2010 alone, cops arrested someone for cannabis every 37 seconds, and the ACLU reports that Black people are four times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana.

View this post on Instagram

Today is #OverdoseAwarenessDay. Data repeatedly illustrate that marijuana laws can play an important role in reducing opioid overdose fatalities, opioid dependency, opioid-related hospitalizations, and opioid use. Today, #NORML urges you to #TakeAction and help #EndOverdose. Follow the link to write your lawmakers in under 30 seconds! bit.ly/2N1E0W8

A post shared by NORML (@natlnorml) on Aug 31, 2018 at 5:00am PDT

Throughout college, even while I learned all of this, many of my peers dismissed our organization as the “pot club” and never took it seriously.

But today I am a journalist, and looking back now, I realize that a huge part of my job as a reporter is not only understanding the benefits of cannabis, but also the intricacies of white supremacy and U.S. imperialism. That education-unlearning myths about cannabis, other drugs, and the world around us-began with college campus marijuana advocacy. And that education is what I hope to relay in my writing.

The post I became a college marijuana activist to find friends who smoked weed, but got an education on social injustice instead appeared first on HelloGiggles.

[theinternetismylyfe-blog]

I became a college marijuana activist to find friends who smoked weed, but got an education on social injustice instead

I became a college marijuana activist to find friends who smoked weed, but got an education on social injustice instead

I first started exploring my political identity during my first year of high school. I'd been raised on conservative Catholic values, and I wanted to challenge them in an entirely new environment. So when I got to college, I joined my campus's chapter of NORML (National Organization of Marijuana Laws). While joining an organization like NORML was a great way to expand my horizons, I'll be honest that politics wasn't the major reason I first sought it out. Mostly, I was looking for friends who smoked weed, and NORML focused on the legalization of marijuana.

The club embraced its reputation of being a NORML chapter that held meetings without passing a joint or ripping the bong. We were up to some serious business and didn't fit the “lazy stoner” stereotype. We held annual Know Your Rights events geared towards first year students, hosted guest speakers who discussed medicinal benefits of cannabis, and held events about the War on Drugs to raise awareness about the criminalization and over-policing of Black and Latinx communities.

Like it does for many students, college exposed me to a more liberal environment, but getting involved with the legalization and decriminalization of marijuana took it a step farther for me. Our advocacy challenged everyday power structures like capitalism and police racism. And instead of being taught by professors, I was taught by activists, organizers, industry experts, and even classmates and peers.

View this post on Instagram

A Florida Circuit Court judge has ruled that a legislatively enacted ban on the smoking of medical cannabis in private by qualified patients is unconstitutional. “This ruling is a victory for Florida voters and, in particular, Florida's patient community,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. “These legislatively enacted restrictions arbitrarily sought to limit patients' choices in a manner that violated the spirit of the law, and cynically sought to deny patients the ability to obtain rapid relief from whole-plant cannabis in a manner that has long proven to be relatively safe and effective.” Read more on the NORML Blog.

A post shared by NORML (@natlnorml) on May 26, 2018 at 5:32am PDT

This frame of thinking is what helped me understand the dire reality of United States imperialism. Imperialism, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is the practice of a country increasing their power “by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of other areas.” In other words, the U.S. meddles in a lot of other countries' politics, elections, and economic decisions (see: the Phillipines, Hawaii, Cuba, etc.) As I learned more and more about the U.S.'s role in drug trafficking abroad, I began to understand just how powerful-and disastrous-imperialism can be.

Latin America, for instance, is still hurting from the global War on Drugs, which claims to be a mission to prevent illegal drugs from entering the U.S. While you're probably familiar with what the War on Drugs looks like here in America, globally, it looks like the U.S. sending its military abroad to break up cartels and organized crime groups controlling drug trades in the region. The Drug Policy Alliance explains that, across Latin America, “there has been an upsurge of violence, corruption…and human rights violations” because of those cartels. In Latin America, there are politicians and activists who want to decriminalize and legalize marijuana in order to lessen the power of cartels and combat their violence. But rather than supporting these efforts, the U.S. military continues to solely focus on the War on Drugs.

When more Americans are arrested for marijuana than for committing violent crimes, it's clear that the priorities of our justice system are completely out of order. The “war on drugs” has destroyed too many lives. It's imperative that we legalize marijuana. pic.twitter.com/QawDOIhAvy

- Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) October 8, 2018

And it's impossible to discuss the War on Drugs abroad or in the U.S. without discussing racism. Vice explains that “drug addiction had been framed as an infection and contamination of white America by foreign influences.” 100 years ago, anti-drug propaganda focused on demonizing people of color, and Mexican, Chinese, and Black people were especially considered a so-called threat to the white race; the government claimed that under the intoxication of drugs, including cannabis, they would rape white women. (This assumption is a racist and xenophobic myth because drugs don't cause rape. Rapists cause rape. And a rapist can be of any race.)

Since the U.S. is a capitalist nation founded on the genocide of native peoples and African slavery, this history led to racist drug laws that still allow the U.S. to make money from mass incarceration. Most prisoners are behind bars for nonviolent drug offenses (many related to cannabis), and a vast majority of those serving time are Black and Latinx people. In 2010 alone, cops arrested someone for cannabis every 37 seconds, and the ACLU reports that Black people are four times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana.

View this post on Instagram

Today is #OverdoseAwarenessDay. Data repeatedly illustrate that marijuana laws can play an important role in reducing opioid overdose fatalities, opioid dependency, opioid-related hospitalizations, and opioid use. Today, #NORML urges you to #TakeAction and help #EndOverdose. Follow the link to write your lawmakers in under 30 seconds! bit.ly/2N1E0W8

A post shared by NORML (@natlnorml) on Aug 31, 2018 at 5:00am PDT

Throughout college, even while I learned all of this, many of my peers dismissed our organization as the “pot club” and never took it seriously.

But today I am a journalist, and looking back now, I realize that a huge part of my job as a reporter is not only understanding the benefits of cannabis, but also the intricacies of white supremacy and U.S. imperialism. That education-unlearning myths about cannabis, other drugs, and the world around us-began with college campus marijuana advocacy. And that education is what I hope to relay in my writing.

The post I became a college marijuana activist to find friends who smoked weed, but got an education on social injustice instead appeared first on HelloGiggles.

[gayyogurt-blog]

I became a college marijuana activist to find friends who smoked weed, but got an education on social injustice instead

I became a college marijuana activist to find friends who smoked weed, but got an education on social injustice instead

I first started exploring my political identity during my first year of high school. I'd been raised on conservative Catholic values, and I wanted to challenge them in an entirely new environment. So when I got to college, I joined my campus's chapter of NORML (National Organization of Marijuana Laws). While joining an organization like NORML was a great way to expand my horizons, I'll be honest that politics wasn't the major reason I first sought it out. Mostly, I was looking for friends who smoked weed, and NORML focused on the legalization of marijuana.

The club embraced its reputation of being a NORML chapter that held meetings without passing a joint or ripping the bong. We were up to some serious business and didn't fit the “lazy stoner” stereotype. We held annual Know Your Rights events geared towards first year students, hosted guest speakers who discussed medicinal benefits of cannabis, and held events about the War on Drugs to raise awareness about the criminalization and over-policing of Black and Latinx communities.

Like it does for many students, college exposed me to a more liberal environment, but getting involved with the legalization and decriminalization of marijuana took it a step farther for me. Our advocacy challenged everyday power structures like capitalism and police racism. And instead of being taught by professors, I was taught by activists, organizers, industry experts, and even classmates and peers.

View this post on Instagram

A Florida Circuit Court judge has ruled that a legislatively enacted ban on the smoking of medical cannabis in private by qualified patients is unconstitutional. “This ruling is a victory for Florida voters and, in particular, Florida's patient community,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. “These legislatively enacted restrictions arbitrarily sought to limit patients' choices in a manner that violated the spirit of the law, and cynically sought to deny patients the ability to obtain rapid relief from whole-plant cannabis in a manner that has long proven to be relatively safe and effective.” Read more on the NORML Blog.

A post shared by NORML (@natlnorml) on May 26, 2018 at 5:32am PDT

This frame of thinking is what helped me understand the dire reality of United States imperialism. Imperialism, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is the practice of a country increasing their power “by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of other areas.” In other words, the U.S. meddles in a lot of other countries' politics, elections, and economic decisions (see: the Phillipines, Hawaii, Cuba, etc.) As I learned more and more about the U.S.'s role in drug trafficking abroad, I began to understand just how powerful-and disastrous-imperialism can be.

Latin America, for instance, is still hurting from the global War on Drugs, which claims to be a mission to prevent illegal drugs from entering the U.S. While you're probably familiar with what the War on Drugs looks like here in America, globally, it looks like the U.S. sending its military abroad to break up cartels and organized crime groups controlling drug trades in the region. The Drug Policy Alliance explains that, across Latin America, “there has been an upsurge of violence, corruption…and human rights violations” because of those cartels. In Latin America, there are politicians and activists who want to decriminalize and legalize marijuana in order to lessen the power of cartels and combat their violence. But rather than supporting these efforts, the U.S. military continues to solely focus on the War on Drugs.

When more Americans are arrested for marijuana than for committing violent crimes, it's clear that the priorities of our justice system are completely out of order. The “war on drugs” has destroyed too many lives. It's imperative that we legalize marijuana. pic.twitter.com/QawDOIhAvy

- Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) October 8, 2018

And it's impossible to discuss the War on Drugs abroad or in the U.S. without discussing racism. Vice explains that “drug addiction had been framed as an infection and contamination of white America by foreign influences.” 100 years ago, anti-drug propaganda focused on demonizing people of color, and Mexican, Chinese, and Black people were especially considered a so-called threat to the white race; the government claimed that under the intoxication of drugs, including cannabis, they would rape white women. (This assumption is a racist and xenophobic myth because drugs don't cause rape. Rapists cause rape. And a rapist can be of any race.)

Since the U.S. is a capitalist nation founded on the genocide of native peoples and African slavery, this history led to racist drug laws that still allow the U.S. to make money from mass incarceration. Most prisoners are behind bars for nonviolent drug offenses (many related to cannabis), and a vast majority of those serving time are Black and Latinx people. In 2010 alone, cops arrested someone for cannabis every 37 seconds, and the ACLU reports that Black people are four times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana.

View this post on Instagram

Today is #OverdoseAwarenessDay. Data repeatedly illustrate that marijuana laws can play an important role in reducing opioid overdose fatalities, opioid dependency, opioid-related hospitalizations, and opioid use. Today, #NORML urges you to #TakeAction and help #EndOverdose. Follow the link to write your lawmakers in under 30 seconds! bit.ly/2N1E0W8

A post shared by NORML (@natlnorml) on Aug 31, 2018 at 5:00am PDT

Throughout college, even while I learned all of this, many of my peers dismissed our organization as the “pot club” and never took it seriously.

But today I am a journalist, and looking back now, I realize that a huge part of my job as a reporter is not only understanding the benefits of cannabis, but also the intricacies of white supremacy and U.S. imperialism. That education-unlearning myths about cannabis, other drugs, and the world around us-began with college campus marijuana advocacy. And that education is what I hope to relay in my writing.

The post I became a college marijuana activist to find friends who smoked weed, but got an education on social injustice instead appeared first on HelloGiggles.

[cowgirluli-blog]

I became a college marijuana activist to find friends who smoked weed, but got an education on social injustice instead

I became a college marijuana activist to find friends who smoked weed, but got an education on social injustice instead

I first started exploring my political identity during my first year of high school. I'd been raised on conservative Catholic values, and I wanted to challenge them in an entirely new environment. So when I got to college, I joined my campus's chapter of NORML (National Organization of Marijuana Laws). While joining an organization like NORML was a great way to expand my horizons, I'll be honest that politics wasn't the major reason I first sought it out. Mostly, I was looking for friends who smoked weed, and NORML focused on the legalization of marijuana.

The club embraced its reputation of being a NORML chapter that held meetings without passing a joint or ripping the bong. We were up to some serious business and didn't fit the “lazy stoner” stereotype. We held annual Know Your Rights events geared towards first year students, hosted guest speakers who discussed medicinal benefits of cannabis, and held events about the War on Drugs to raise awareness about the criminalization and over-policing of Black and Latinx communities.

Like it does for many students, college exposed me to a more liberal environment, but getting involved with the legalization and decriminalization of marijuana took it a step farther for me. Our advocacy challenged everyday power structures like capitalism and police racism. And instead of being taught by professors, I was taught by activists, organizers, industry experts, and even classmates and peers.

View this post on Instagram

A Florida Circuit Court judge has ruled that a legislatively enacted ban on the smoking of medical cannabis in private by qualified patients is unconstitutional. “This ruling is a victory for Florida voters and, in particular, Florida's patient community,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. “These legislatively enacted restrictions arbitrarily sought to limit patients' choices in a manner that violated the spirit of the law, and cynically sought to deny patients the ability to obtain rapid relief from whole-plant cannabis in a manner that has long proven to be relatively safe and effective.” Read more on the NORML Blog.

A post shared by NORML (@natlnorml) on May 26, 2018 at 5:32am PDT

This frame of thinking is what helped me understand the dire reality of United States imperialism. Imperialism, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is the practice of a country increasing their power “by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of other areas.” In other words, the U.S. meddles in a lot of other countries' politics, elections, and economic decisions (see: the Phillipines, Hawaii, Cuba, etc.) As I learned more and more about the U.S.'s role in drug trafficking abroad, I began to understand just how powerful-and disastrous-imperialism can be.

Latin America, for instance, is still hurting from the global War on Drugs, which claims to be a mission to prevent illegal drugs from entering the U.S. While you're probably familiar with what the War on Drugs looks like here in America, globally, it looks like the U.S. sending its military abroad to break up cartels and organized crime groups controlling drug trades in the region. The Drug Policy Alliance explains that, across Latin America, “there has been an upsurge of violence, corruption…and human rights violations” because of those cartels. In Latin America, there are politicians and activists who want to decriminalize and legalize marijuana in order to lessen the power of cartels and combat their violence. But rather than supporting these efforts, the U.S. military continues to solely focus on the War on Drugs.

When more Americans are arrested for marijuana than for committing violent crimes, it's clear that the priorities of our justice system are completely out of order. The “war on drugs” has destroyed too many lives. It's imperative that we legalize marijuana. pic.twitter.com/QawDOIhAvy

- Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) October 8, 2018

And it's impossible to discuss the War on Drugs abroad or in the U.S. without discussing racism. Vice explains that “drug addiction had been framed as an infection and contamination of white America by foreign influences.” 100 years ago, anti-drug propaganda focused on demonizing people of color, and Mexican, Chinese, and Black people were especially considered a so-called threat to the white race; the government claimed that under the intoxication of drugs, including cannabis, they would rape white women. (This assumption is a racist and xenophobic myth because drugs don't cause rape. Rapists cause rape. And a rapist can be of any race.)

Since the U.S. is a capitalist nation founded on the genocide of native peoples and African slavery, this history led to racist drug laws that still allow the U.S. to make money from mass incarceration. Most prisoners are behind bars for nonviolent drug offenses (many related to cannabis), and a vast majority of those serving time are Black and Latinx people. In 2010 alone, cops arrested someone for cannabis every 37 seconds, and the ACLU reports that Black people are four times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana.

View this post on Instagram

Today is #OverdoseAwarenessDay. Data repeatedly illustrate that marijuana laws can play an important role in reducing opioid overdose fatalities, opioid dependency, opioid-related hospitalizations, and opioid use. Today, #NORML urges you to #TakeAction and help #EndOverdose. Follow the link to write your lawmakers in under 30 seconds! bit.ly/2N1E0W8

A post shared by NORML (@natlnorml) on Aug 31, 2018 at 5:00am PDT

Throughout college, even while I learned all of this, many of my peers dismissed our organization as the “pot club” and never took it seriously.

But today I am a journalist, and looking back now, I realize that a huge part of my job as a reporter is not only understanding the benefits of cannabis, but also the intricacies of white supremacy and U.S. imperialism. That education-unlearning myths about cannabis, other drugs, and the world around us-began with college campus marijuana advocacy. And that education is what I hope to relay in my writing.

The post I became a college marijuana activist to find friends who smoked weed, but got an education on social injustice instead appeared first on HelloGiggles.

[dragons-in-bowties-blog]

I became a college marijuana activist to find friends who smoked weed, but got an education on social injustice instead

I became a college marijuana activist to find friends who smoked weed, but got an education on social injustice instead

I first started exploring my political identity during my first year of high school. I'd been raised on conservative Catholic values, and I wanted to challenge them in an entirely new environment. So when I got to college, I joined my campus's chapter of NORML (National Organization of Marijuana Laws). While joining an organization like NORML was a great way to expand my horizons, I'll be honest that politics wasn't the major reason I first sought it out. Mostly, I was looking for friends who smoked weed, and NORML focused on the legalization of marijuana.

The club embraced its reputation of being a NORML chapter that held meetings without passing a joint or ripping the bong. We were up to some serious business and didn't fit the “lazy stoner” stereotype. We held annual Know Your Rights events geared towards first year students, hosted guest speakers who discussed medicinal benefits of cannabis, and held events about the War on Drugs to raise awareness about the criminalization and over-policing of Black and Latinx communities.

Like it does for many students, college exposed me to a more liberal environment, but getting involved with the legalization and decriminalization of marijuana took it a step farther for me. Our advocacy challenged everyday power structures like capitalism and police racism. And instead of being taught by professors, I was taught by activists, organizers, industry experts, and even classmates and peers.

View this post on Instagram

A Florida Circuit Court judge has ruled that a legislatively enacted ban on the smoking of medical cannabis in private by qualified patients is unconstitutional. “This ruling is a victory for Florida voters and, in particular, Florida's patient community,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. “These legislatively enacted restrictions arbitrarily sought to limit patients' choices in a manner that violated the spirit of the law, and cynically sought to deny patients the ability to obtain rapid relief from whole-plant cannabis in a manner that has long proven to be relatively safe and effective.” Read more on the NORML Blog.

A post shared by NORML (@natlnorml) on May 26, 2018 at 5:32am PDT

This frame of thinking is what helped me understand the dire reality of United States imperialism. Imperialism, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is the practice of a country increasing their power “by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of other areas.” In other words, the U.S. meddles in a lot of other countries' politics, elections, and economic decisions (see: the Phillipines, Hawaii, Cuba, etc.) As I learned more and more about the U.S.'s role in drug trafficking abroad, I began to understand just how powerful-and disastrous-imperialism can be.

Latin America, for instance, is still hurting from the global War on Drugs, which claims to be a mission to prevent illegal drugs from entering the U.S. While you're probably familiar with what the War on Drugs looks like here in America, globally, it looks like the U.S. sending its military abroad to break up cartels and organized crime groups controlling drug trades in the region. The Drug Policy Alliance explains that, across Latin America, “there has been an upsurge of violence, corruption…and human rights violations” because of those cartels. In Latin America, there are politicians and activists who want to decriminalize and legalize marijuana in order to lessen the power of cartels and combat their violence. But rather than supporting these efforts, the U.S. military continues to solely focus on the War on Drugs.

When more Americans are arrested for marijuana than for committing violent crimes, it's clear that the priorities of our justice system are completely out of order. The “war on drugs” has destroyed too many lives. It's imperative that we legalize marijuana. pic.twitter.com/QawDOIhAvy

- Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) October 8, 2018

And it's impossible to discuss the War on Drugs abroad or in the U.S. without discussing racism. Vice explains that “drug addiction had been framed as an infection and contamination of white America by foreign influences.” 100 years ago, anti-drug propaganda focused on demonizing people of color, and Mexican, Chinese, and Black people were especially considered a so-called threat to the white race; the government claimed that under the intoxication of drugs, including cannabis, they would rape white women. (This assumption is a racist and xenophobic myth because drugs don't cause rape. Rapists cause rape. And a rapist can be of any race.)

Since the U.S. is a capitalist nation founded on the genocide of native peoples and African slavery, this history led to racist drug laws that still allow the U.S. to make money from mass incarceration. Most prisoners are behind bars for nonviolent drug offenses (many related to cannabis), and a vast majority of those serving time are Black and Latinx people. In 2010 alone, cops arrested someone for cannabis every 37 seconds, and the ACLU reports that Black people are four times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana.

View this post on Instagram

Today is #OverdoseAwarenessDay. Data repeatedly illustrate that marijuana laws can play an important role in reducing opioid overdose fatalities, opioid dependency, opioid-related hospitalizations, and opioid use. Today, #NORML urges you to #TakeAction and help #EndOverdose. Follow the link to write your lawmakers in under 30 seconds! bit.ly/2N1E0W8

A post shared by NORML (@natlnorml) on Aug 31, 2018 at 5:00am PDT

Throughout college, even while I learned all of this, many of my peers dismissed our organization as the “pot club” and never took it seriously.

But today I am a journalist, and looking back now, I realize that a huge part of my job as a reporter is not only understanding the benefits of cannabis, but also the intricacies of white supremacy and U.S. imperialism. That education-unlearning myths about cannabis, other drugs, and the world around us-began with college campus marijuana advocacy. And that education is what I hope to relay in my writing.

The post I became a college marijuana activist to find friends who smoked weed, but got an education on social injustice instead appeared first on HelloGiggles.