#marginalized youth

[beingjellybeans]

Sun Life donates Php40 million to promote healthier lives among marginalized youth across Asia

Sun Life, a leading financial services company, is set to breathe new life into basketball courts and inspire healthier lifestyles among marginalized youth in communities across Asia with a generous donation of PHP 40 million. This philanthropic initiative, undertaken in partnership with Beyond Sport, a global sport-for-social-change foundation, aims to tackle the alarming rates of physical…

[angst-fairy]

HEY, Important! READ!

KOSA is a national bill in the USA getting ever closer to passing. This bill is not being thoroughly discussed, but is still passing through voice votes. This bill has a lot of important parts in it that are not properly defined, which would make it very easy for major Tech Companies to abuse it, especially by attacking marginalized communities with it. We all know many communities typically discriminated against, are home to people, especially youth, who face mental health problems and/or abuse. This bill could cause tech companies to censor content that gives support to at risk people, whether out of fear or purposeful discrimination against such people. KOSA as it is could cause an incredible amount of harm, and not just to ones who live in the USA. Companies would likely censor content that could be considered "controversial" in any place there content is seen, not just the US. Suicide rates among marginalized communities have shown to be considerably higher than that among the general population time and time again. If KOSA passes, I believe it is extremely likely that the current suicide rate will rise even higher, especially among youth. KOSA would also result in many challenges for small businesses, as they would have to navigate through the legal walls and censorship that will be placed in front of them. Politicians have tried to threaten big companies, especially tech companies, for many years and KOSA has been made with similar purpose. Small businesses could very easily be caught in a tug-of-war they do not have the ability to navigate correctly.

The government is meant to help and protect civilians, but have proven to do the opposite many times before. WE have a voice, and it is not too late to use it! There are some politicians who want to and have listened to us before, we just need to keep telling them.

Please read the websites below for more information, especially the highlighted ones:

https://energycommerce.house.gov/events/innovation-data-and-commerce-subcommittee-markup-of-three-bills

https://www.techpolicy.press/house-energy-commerce-subcommittee-markup-of-the-american-privacy-rights-act-kids-online-safety-act/

https://www.stopkosa.com/ GO HERE TO HELP FIGHT WITH AN EMAIL AND CALL TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVE!

https://www.fightforthefuture.org/news/2024-05-22-listen-to-kids-billboard-outside-house-hearing-raises-up-voices-of-lgbtq-youth-who-oppose-kosa/

https://touchgrass.fightforthefuture.org/unserious-attempt-1-562-to-rollback-section-230/

[saturngalore]

something so evil and insensitive with people saying that they want to (and even petitioning to?!) “adopt” palestinian children as they get displaced, harmed, and forcibly separated by their families during all of this like no way that’s your first thought rn

[ex-foster]

You know liberal feminists, we could have used your allyship. Many girls and women from foster care are marginalized and vulnerable members of society. When you look at the statistical outcomes of former foster kids, girls and women from foster care are overrepresented among sex trafficking victims. Former foster kids are also 200 times more likely to experience homelessness than their peers (which is a factor in why former foster kids are overrepresented among trafficking victims). And yet, how are women and girls treated by liberal feminists? Well either as pawns in the abortion debate or as a class of women where sexual exploitation is socially acceptable. Many liberal feminists smear those who expose the links between foster care and sexual exploitation. Our concerns for the welfare of women leaving foster care are misrepresented as religious arguments against sexual liberty when in reality we are concerned with the high rate of sexual violence against girls/women from foster care.

We are called SWERFs (sex worker exclusionary radical feminists).

The conclusion that I can draw as a woman who aged out of foster care is that liberal feminists do not care about the issues faced by girls and women from foster care. Our vulnerability is ignored and mocked, even by woke ideologues who insist that marginalized members of society should be "centered".

[blondiest]

(girl who is completely off the rails voice) wow... the way mello / near parallels marceline / princess bubblegum...

[trans-leek-cookie]

the thingw the orcs in dunmeshi is sth i skirt around bc like u said it is. not a great modern take on orcs. obv not the worst it could be and kui at least did engage w trying to write a more involved lore on them rather than just having this be the same “orcs are big uncivilized brutes” version 8000000 but that element is still there. and i do think “its not the worst” is hardly what i would want to set my highest expectations to jdhdgksgd

tumblrs being a bitch n not letting me put images in so I'll just paste the text from the other ask

Nodding. ty for the info on the ways halfling racism can be compared to irl examples in “the middle east” like that rly is such a close comparison i wonder if it was at all intentional… AND FR on the whole . wishing we knew what they called themselves bc the “halfling” “half foot” thing i rly cant help but think abt how it feels like irl examples of certain groups being denigrated to category slurs its like. LOL. dunmeshi makinh me feel party to fictional racism and microaggressions against my will...

Idk Abt skirting around bc I think it's smthn we should face head on, but at the same time I'm not in a place where I can really add onto the discussion wrt orcs as a white/East Asian person. IIRC ppl have said tolkiens orcs are black and/or central Asian (Mongolian I believe) coded, which is meaningful cause he's influenced so much of modern fantasy, and thats. Y'know. Not great. Also the orcs in dungeon Meshi are essentially an indigenous group from what I remember so that's also a whole mess. Again, my opinions arent very meaningful when it comes to this, but I feel like it's incredibly disappointing to see an author who's clearly capable of nuanced and interesting commentary on racism in the context of real life and fiction (even if it's not always great it's clear she's thinking about it in some depth) really just. Fall back on tropes. Bc for the other races - human is a wider category than usual, tall men aren't always the Everyman, elves are long lived but that doesn't make them wiser, and halflings are mature, worldly and resourceful, which I feel like does a lot to break free of typical fantasy pigeon holeing. But the orcs are just sorta... The Bad Guy but Not That Bad I guess? Theoretically it's a departure from the "super evil forever no exceptions" idea of the but it's still so far behind what needs to be done to make it less of a lazy, racist trope.

Yeah, again I'm not west Asian or Arab like I said, but between reading stuff ppl online write n talking to my Iraqi friend + rereading dungeon Meshi and really trying to analyze it, it kinda stood out to me. I will say I was a little unconfident posting about it bc it's 3 things (4 if you count the name note) but theyre still really notable at least to me. The hand/foot cutting is I feel the most explicit? Because that's such a fucked up stereotype it just stands out immediately. I don't necessarily know if the half foot/middle east connection was intentional, because I assume Japan/Asia in general has a different relationship with West Asia (since they are the "far east" in comparison, so "Middle East" wouldnt really make sense?), but it could be one of those things that colonialism managed to spread. I'm not very knowledgeable about that, but even if it wasn't intentional I think it's a very interesting parallel in how language can be used to categorize people as "normal/other". So i can't say if its intentional or not, but it's definitely an interesting lens to consider the story thru. Id also say I believe halflings are said to be native to a place that's east from where the story takes place, but not the eastern continent (which is p much easy Asia). I've seen some ppl take this to mean eastern Europe, and I don't think that's wrong, but I think u could also think of it as west Asia? Idk if we ever got much info on it in story, so I might be missing some details. (Honestly I'd personally HC that halflings are generally mixed Eastern European/West Asian- not to conflate the two, but rather Im imaging the majority of them are in a kinda blended culture).

[sickgraymeat]

Modern human au bubbline adopt a pet and can’t agree on a name bc all of Bonnie’s are like Fancy Guy the Tuxedo Cat and all of Marcy’s are like Gloopy or smth

[glittertimes]

Listen I get working class solidarity and my parents are teachers I know how overworked they are.

My dad is retiring this year and is extremely burnt out and comes home exhausted these days. I support teachers strikes and higher pay for educators.

However I still have a really hard time feeling empathy towards teachers as a whole. My parents were also abusive, and then I went to school and I was punished and shamed for my trauma symptoms. I was never given any kind of emotional support or counseling as a child, and I learned to shame and hate my trauma symptoms which has made healing from abuse take so much longer.

I’m still in emdr therapy unlearning things that my elementary school teachers taught me, trying to understand that their behaviors were not my fault.

I think the education system is built off of the oppression of children and teens, and many teachers assume that they’re entitled to respect but not all teachers treat their students with respect.

they choose punishment and shaming because it’s easier in the moment, rather than supporting youth to feel their emotions and work through the difficult situations they face.

I’ve always wondered how we expect teens and children to model emotional regulation and intelligence when most adults don’t model it?

And yeah, everyone has responsibility over their behavior and how they respond to their emotions, I take accountability for how I’ve harmed people and I’ve done so much healing since I was kid. But I also know if literally one teacher had sat down with me for a moment to understand what was happening in my life at the time, I’d be a completely different person today.

Obviously there are many teachers trying to fix this and creating more ethical ways to teach, but again they are overworked and overwhelmed with little support.

I also feel like if we truly valued children, teachers wouldn’t be as burned out and stressed and have so little resources. Schools in the US exist in a culture of white supremacy and capitalism, where we spend billions on the military and imperialism and deprioritize education and social services that would ensure that kids could come to school with the food clothes, school supplies and safe homes that make it possible for children to learn.

I’ve said it before but anti-capitalist movements should include the rights of children and teens. Teachers especially should recognize this since their struggle is inherently tied to the students they teach. It’s also incredibly important since teachers have an inherent power dynamic over their students.

[seoafin]

there's a lot of great anime this season and my friend said that mahou shoujo magical destroyers looked interesting but upon checking out the summary on mal im side eyeing it

[whileyoureinschoolidothisallday]

Y’ALL lmao I don’t usually bring booktwt drama over here often but

apparently barnes and noble will only be shelving the 1-2 most popular books from each publisher

yeah I’m gonna be sticking with fanfic for awhile lmao

[downthetubes]

Comics Youth launches first young person led publisher in the UK

Marginal Publishing House will host their official, belated launch at a free event at Williamson Art Gallery & Museum in Birkenhead later this month

[thethief1996]

you really should not be encouraging people to attend PSL protests/linking them as viable actions to attend. please do some goddamn research

Can you point me to it so I can remove it? I quickly scanned through all the links and have found only one mention of a PSL organized movement (assuming you're talking about the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which I have just looked into), but it's a past event

[mapecl-stories]

BILD Urheber: AdiJapan

[ex-foster]

You know liberal feminists, we could have used your allyship. Many girls and women from foster care are marginalized and vulnerable members of society. When you look at the statistical outcomes of former foster kids, girls and women from foster care are overrepresented among sex trafficking victims. Former foster kids are also 200 times more likely to experience homelessness than their peers (which is a factor in why former foster kids are overrepresented among trafficking victims). And yet, how are women and girls treated by liberal feminists? Well either as pawns in the abortion debate or as a class of women where sexual exploitation is socially acceptable. Many liberal feminists smear those who expose the links between foster care and sexual exploitation. Our concerns for the welfare of women leaving foster care are misrepresented as religious arguments against sexual liberty when in reality we are concerned with the high rate of sexual violence against girls/women from foster care.

We are called SWERFs (sex worker exclusionary radical feminists).

The conclusion that I can draw as a woman who aged out of foster care is that liberal feminists do not care about the issues faced by girls and women from foster care. Our vulnerability is ignored and mocked, even by woke ideologues who insist that marginalized members of society should be "centered".

[shotmrmiller]

tw: mentions of roofies, murder, then smut:)

cbf!simon would absolutely kill for you.

cbf!simon has always been your partner in crime.

even in your youth, back when he was built like a daffodil, he was always by your side. kept you safe from the mean girls at school, always got in trouble for throwing hands at boys who made crass comments at you and the like. then he'd left his butcher job to join the military. "I gotta learn how to keep you safe, love. i'll always come back to ya."

and he had. he returned to you almost four times his size; he left a boy and came back a man. down to your very bones, you knew that he would always keep you safe.

which is why he was the first person you called when the guy next to you at the bar roofied your drink. the beer fizzed irregularly and had an almost milky colour even though it was an ipa.

the idiot had dared to smile at you, an oily, crooked grin with yellow teeth, and lifted his own glass to toast with you.

you bolted out of your seat in seconds, heading straight to the ladies' room, and dialed.

he answered on the second ring.

"please come get me." you hadn't meant to sound as terrified as you felt.

"be there in 5," then hung up.

he lived 15 minutes away from the dingy bar.

true to his word, he was there in 5, texting where you were at.

inside the ladies bathroom.

he let himself in, put his jacket around your quivering shoulders, and with a strong, comforting arm, guided you toward the exit and into his truck. simon remained silent as he sat you in the passenger seat, gently pulling the seatbelt over your chest, clicking it into place.

he stood next to you, his hands resting on your jean-clad thighs, waiting patiently for you to explain.

your teeth sink into your bottom lip as you sort out your thoughts. you no longer felt afraid, that much was certain. simon has always been your pillar of strength. there was nothing to fear with him at your side.

so why do your hands continue to tremble? digging deeper, you realize that you're angry. no.

furious.

some imbecile thought he'd take advantage of you. if you'd been any more drunk, you would have been a victim— wound up lifeless in a dirty ditch.

you burned with fury, your blood boiling under your skin. how dare he? how dare he?

simon softly touches your tightly clenched hands, coaxing your fingers to unfurl.

everything pulls hard to port when your eyes land on his disfigured knuckles— scarred by battle. you've never liked what simon did for a living. he just fought and killed people that some higher-up told him were the bad guys.

in war, there is no good or bad side. the field is too soaked in blood for anyone to recognize where the line is if there even was one to begin with.

until now. just this once, you couldn't be more grateful that simon possesses the skills he does.

you make your decision. "there was a guy in there. green hat, ugly brown jacket with yellow, crooked teeth. he drugged my beer, then toasted me so i would drink it."

his hands tighten around yours marginally. "and now i'm here, safe, with you. but he's still in there, with potentially a pocket full of pills, on the lookout for his next victim. how am i supposed to sleep tonight, knowing that if someone goes missing tonight, the blood will be on my hands?"

you cut your eyes to his dark, hardened ones, and the words tumble out of your mouth with surprising ease.

"there's trash in there that needs throwing out, simon."

nothing but a wretched mongrel that needs to be put down.

simon's nod is subtle, but it's there. you exhale a shuddering breath, heart slamming against your ribcage.

he's a gun in your hand, and you've just pulled the trigger.

simon hands you the keys to the truck. "are you sober enough to drive home?" he quietly asks.

hard to keep a buzz when you almost became a victim of—

"yes."

he's opening the glove compartment, taking out his skeleton gloves, and a tac knife that he tucks inside the waistband of his jeans.

"go home. i'll see ya in a bit." his voice is flat, lifeless.

simon closes the door and raps his knuckles on the hood of the truck before heading inside.

and so the elephant marches to war.

-

it's well past midnight when he crawls in through your window. one moment his boots are on the windowsill, the next he's pinning you onto your mattress, hips flush against yours.

his chilly, clean hands lift the hem of your loose shirt, dimpling the soft skin that his fingers dig into— his bare lips grazing the shell of your ear.

"he is no longer a problem."

he grinds his clothed erection against the flimsy fabric of your sleeping shorts.

"you did the right thing by telling me what he did."

simon trails a path of open-mouthed kisses from your ear down to your mouth, licking your bottom lip.

"nothing gets me harder than when my girl looks at me to keep her safe."

your breath hitches when a hand begins to move south, lifting the waistband of your bottoms and sliding his fingers over your slick pussy. "it seems you like it too. does it turn you on, ordering me around like a dog? i bark at your command, pet."

one finger sinks into your wet heat, his groan drowning out your own.

"you like having this much power over me? how easily i bend to your will?" he croons.

there are two fingers in you now, so much thicker than your own, and the way they curl and drag along your nerves has your toes tingling. he takes you to the precipice at frightening speed— the expert hands that kill without remorse are the same ones that are bringing you your pleasure.

he thrusts his fingers into you with an obscene squelch and a thumb circles your slippery clit.

"i'd burn the world to ashes if you asked it of me."

the coil in your stomach is tight, your body tense in anticipation.

"so... would you? would you ask me to bring the world to its very knees?"

the answer sits on the tip of your tongue when you climax around his fingers, walls pulsing rhythmically, arousal dripping from his knuckles.

later will be a good time to reflect on how you don't feel even remotely guilty for what's been done.

for now, you focus on how good simon feels as he slowly sinks into you, splitting you wide open with his heavy cock.

-

simon finds no pills in the guy's pockets. no baggie, no bottle.

nothing.

shame that his little love has declared the guy's life forfeit.

your wish is his command.

[fiercynn]

poetry outlets that support a free palestine

after finding out that the poetry foundation/POETRY magazine pulled a piece that discussed anti-zionism because they "don't want to pick a side" during the current genocide, i decided to put together a list of online outlets who are explicitly in solidarity with palestine where you can read (english-language) poetry, including, except where otherwise stated, by palestinian poets!

my criteria for this is not simply that they have published palestinian poets or pro-palestine statements in the past; i only chose outlets that, since october 7, 2023, have done one of the following:

published a solidarity statement against israeli occupation & genocide

signed onto the open letter for writers against the war on gaza and/or the open letter boycotting the poetry foundation

published content that is explicitly pro-palestine or anti-zionist, including poetry that explicitly deals with israeli occupation & genocide

shared posts that are pro-palestine on their social media accounts

fyi this is undoubtedly a very small sample. also some of these sites primarily feature nonfiction or short stories, but they do all publish poetry.

outlets that focus entirely on palestinian or SWANA (southwest asia and north africa) literature

we are not numbers, a palestinian youth-led project to write about palestinian lives

arab lit, a magazine for arabic literature in translation that is run by a crowd-funded collective

sumuo, an arab magazine, platform, and community (they appear to have a forthcoming palestine special print issue edited by leena aboutaleb and zaina alsous)

mizna, a platform for contemporary SWANA (southwest asian & north africa) lit, film, and art

the markaz review, a literary arts publication and cultural institution that curates content and programs on the greater middle east and communities in diaspora

online magazines who have published special issues of all palestinian writers (and all of them publish palestinian poets in their regular issues too)

fiyah literary magazine in december 2021, edited by nadia shammas and summer farah (if you have $6 usd to spare, proceeds from the e-book go to medical aid for palestinians)

strange horizons in march 2021, edited by rasha abdulhadi

the baffler in june 2021, curated by poet/translators fady joudah & lena khalaf tuffaha

the markaz review has two palestine-specific issues, on gaza and on palestinians in israel, currently free to download

literary hub featured palestinian poets in 2018 for the anniversary of the 1948 nakba

adi magazine, who have shifted their current (october 2023) issue to be all palestinian writers

outlets that generally seem to be pro-palestine/publish pro-palestine pieces and palestinian poetry

protean magazine (here's their solidarity statement)

poetry online (offering no-fee submissions to palestinian writers)

sundog lit (offering no-fee submissions to palestinian writers through december 1, 2023)

guernica magazine (here's a twitter thread of palestinian poetry they've published) guernica ended up publishing a zionist piece so fuck them too

split this rock (here's their solidarity statement)

the margins by the asian-american writers' workshop

the offing magazine

rusted radishes

voicemail poems

jewish currents

the drift magazine

asymptote

the poetry project

ctrl + v journal

the funambulist magazine

n+1 magazine (signed onto the open letter and they have many pro-palestine articles, but i'm not sure if they have published palestinian poets specifically)

hammer & hope (signed onto the letter but they are a new magazine only on their second issue and don't appear to have published any palestinian poets yet)

if you know others, please add them on!