1. how did i just find out that macklemore has a song called “white privilege”

     
     
    Now nod your head and wake up.

    I see so many people lost who really try to pretend
    But am I just another white boy who has caught on to the trend
    When I take a step to the mic is hiphop closer to the end?
    ‘Cause when I go to shows the majority have white skin
    They marketed the windmill, the air flair and head spin
    And white rappers albums really get the most spins
    The face of hip hop has changed a lot since Eminem
    And if he’s taking away black artists’ profits I look just like him
    Claimed a culture that wasn’t mine, the way of the american
    Hip hop is gentrified and where will all the people live
    It’s like the central district, beacon hill to the south end
    Being pushed farther away because of what white people did, now
    Where’s my place in a music that’s been taken by my race
    Cultural appropriated by the white face
    And we don’t want to admit that this is existing
    So scared to acknowledge the benefits of our white privilege
    Cause it’s human nature to want to be part of something different
    Especially when your ancestors are European Christians
    And most whites don’t want to acknowledge this is occurring
    Cause we got the best deal, the music without the burden
    Of being black in a system that really wants you to rock
    Cause all you need is a program and you can go and make hiphop
    And we hate the mainstream cause we’re the ones that took it
    Now we listen to Aesop Rock and wear t-shirts that say Brooklyn
    But it’s not about black and white right
    I mean good music is good music regardless of what you look like
    But when you don’t give them props isn’t that selfish?
    That’s like saying rock was actually started by Elvis
    So where does this leave me?
    I feel like I pay dues but I’ll always be a white MC
    I give everything I have when I write a rhyme
    But that doesn’t change the fact that this culture’s not mine
    But I’m gonna be me so please be who you are
    This is something that’s effortless and shouldn’t be hard
    I said I’m gonna be me so please be who you are
    But we still owe ‘em 40 acres now we’ve stolen their 16 bars
    Hiphop started off in a block that I’ve never been to
    To counter act a struggle that I’ve never even been through
    If I think I understand just because I flow too
    That means I’m not keeping it true, nope
    Hiphop started off in a block that I’ve never been to
    To counter act a struggle that I’ve never even been through
    If I think I understand just because I flow too
    That means I’m not keeping it true, I’m not keeping it true
    Now I don’t rap about guns so they label me conscious
    But I don’t rap about guns cause I wasn’t forced into the projects
    See I was put in the position where I could chose my options
    Blessed with the privilege that my parents could send me to college
    Now who’s going to shows the kids on the block starving
    Or the white people with dough that can relate to my content?
    Marketed the music now adapted to the lifestyle
    What happened to jazz and rock and roll is happening right now
    Where’s my place in the music that’s been taken by the media
    With white corporations controlling what their feeding ya
    I brought up aesop rock but I’m not even dissing dude
    We love hiphop and what do you think caucasians are listening to
    And I speak freely when I write this
    If a black emcee examined race there goes half their fan base, white kids
    And this is so true. and we didn’t even have to fight the system
    We just went and picked up the microphone too
    And we got good at it so we should be rapping
    But only supporting them is like burning Jimi and buying Clapton
    Now Clapton’s incredible. but no Jimi no foundation
    So here comes history and the cultural appropriation
    White kids with do rags trying to practice their accents
    From the suburbs to the upperclass mastering a language
    But hiphop is not just memorizing words
    It’s rooted in authenticity something you literally can’t learn
    But I’m gonna be me so please be who you are
    This is something that’s effortless and shouldn’t be hard
    I said I’m gonna be me so please be who you are
    But as I’m blessed with the privilege, they’re still left with the scars

    Hiphop started off in a block that I’ve never been to
    To counter act a struggle that I’ve never even been through
    If I think I understand just because I flow too
    That means I’m not keeping it true, nope
    Hiphop started off in a block that I’ve never been to
    To counter act a struggle that I’ve never even been through
    If I think I understand just because I flow too
    That means I’m not keeping it true, I’m not keeping it true

  2. post mlk party continuing updates

    The director of the school of theatre was toooo geeked to tell me they just hired new acting faculty and he’s black and Leslie god bless her who is i think the only black theatre faculty rn was like squealing to herself and apparently he’s just the greatest person soooo

    And they’re planning 6 Theatre and Race symposiums for the upcoming year and the director was talmbout telling faculty to put it in their syllabi and make it required and the faculty are still doing their diversity retreat next semester to learn about privilege and they’re all getting a copy of this book about microaggressions and she was saying everyone on campus knows about the issues in the department so now they need to step up ans be a good example and they were saying they might look into bringing this guy who specializes in boal and theatre of the oppressed and we might host the YWCA racial summit in the center for the performing arts

    Like

    Y’all.

    I did this. With y’all’s help and support lil ol me actually had an impact

    Don’t listen to people trying to shut you down or saying that talking on the Internet doesn’t accomplish shit because they are dead motherfucking wrong and you can tell them that straight from me.

    Next stop… autism ~awareness~ month… I’m comin for y’all.

  3. basically every year the theatre department has these end of the year fake awards called the goldfarbs, “Please remember that these are meant to be fun and sometimes offensively fun. Nominations that are viewed as hurtful by the Theatre of Ted board may be removed. However, please remember that, most of the time, these are meant as jokes. Please do not take them too seriously and have fun!!”

    etc etc

    but just like

    really tho

    in the category of can u not, the nominee is

    • the school of theatre

    and the winner of can u not is

    • the school of theatre

    -single clap-

    thank

    sorry that being told you’re doing racist things is way more hurtful and terrible than the fact that racist shit is being done and like okay please keep making a joke out of the fact that i was working to bring light to a very serious issue???

    i am so ready to graduate

    (also if you’re new to the party hit my /tagged/mlk+party and… enjoy)

  4. The young men involved in the incident had also engaged in a program called a “peace circle” after the incident, according to William Merritt, during which Herrmann continued to display a lack of understanding regarding his actions. “You have to look at it as them being teens and not understanding the history behind what they had done,” he said of the young men. “Maybe if they had learned more in school they would understand the level of their behavior.” Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130227/beverly/man-convicted-noose-incident-sentenced-write-black-history-essay#ixzz2MAqY006R Look at that quote in bold. Just fucking look at it. Why do we need Black History Month again?

    The young men involved in the incident had also engaged in a program called a “peace circle” after the incident, according to William Merritt, during which Herrmann continued to display a lack of understanding regarding his actions.

    “You have to look at it as them being teens and not understanding the history behind what they had done,” he said of the young men. “Maybe if they had learned more in school they would understand the level of their behavior.”



    Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130227/beverly/man-convicted-noose-incident-sentenced-write-black-history-essay#ixzz2MAqY006R

    Look at that quote in bold.

    Just fucking look at it.

    Why do we need Black History Month again?

  5. No Siree - From The Comedy Musical “LearningTown” starring Paul & Storm

    next time you get into a fight with some privilege-flaunting douche my sincere hope is that you will automatically picture him like this because omfg i can’t deal with thissss

  6. The internet is failing me on a specific question about cultural appropriation: I understand why it is bad to appropriate things from a culture I, as a white person, don't understand(i.e. Harlem Shake), but why is it okay for a person of color to do so (i.e. Beyonce appropriating Eskista for "Run the World" video). Also, some cultural exchange is natural over time - is it appropriative for me to vogue, when it came out of the gay harlem culture like the harlem shake?
    Anonymous

    it’s not okay
    cultural appropriation is never okay
    i remember in october there were still hipster pictures of black girls dressing up as ~native americans~ for halloween
    still not okay
    when you get kpop/jpop groups blatantly ripping off black american styles/dances
    not okay
    but i think people, well particularly white people are less likely to call that out because they don’t want to come off as racist or they don’t know how to approach it or w/e but it’s still not okay.
    and while some cultural exchange is natural the problem with the harlem shake thing is bigger bc it’s being completely plucked from its context and is eclipsing the actual record of the thing & white ppl are profiting off of this decontextualized thing
    here’s an article i wrote about it cuz im kinda braindead rn but i explained it better — http://tmblr.co/ZCKrWyeOPsai
    and i have no idea about voguing but
    is that like a significant part of your life
    idk i’m tired but i hope some of that answered something

    & the harlem shake situation isnt technically cultural appropriation bc it’s not even the original thing that’s being appropriated, it’s more like cultural co-opting & rebranding but its still problematic

  7. Harlem Reacts To “Harlem Shake” Videos

  8. lawl~~~ hows your fight against isu/rob/the theatre department/every white person alive? oh that's right you failed....
    Anonymous

    yeah it’s going terribly

    the entire theatre faculty is gonna be doing a diversity retreat to examine their privilege & biases
    they’re working to bring in visiting artists from mixed blood theatre and a couple other places that focus on multicultural theatre
    they’re going to start implementing class surveys to measure inclusivity in the classroom
    we might be developing discussion groups to supplement the curriculum & there’s talk about how to restructure the curricula to incorporate more diversity, as well as more diversity in the theatre season
    & i know for a fact there’s a couple people in DC who want to talk to rob when he’s there for kcactf about the dangers of publicly being an asshole
    lets see what else… oh, renewed effort to develop new works with the help of mixed blood or other chicago theatres
    oh and they’re gonna form a teaching/learning community with the help of this organization that does that sort of thng for faculty/grads in the theatre department and they’re gonna be working off bell hooks’ Teaching to Transgress: Education As the Practice of Freedom & Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope

    yeah it sucks to fail at things

    image

  9. Let me tell you about a guy named Kyle Werth.

    Kyle Werth is a racist.

    Recap from yesterday:

    We got this crime alert

    Person with weapon last seen near Watterson Towers. Be alert, do NOT approach, and seek shelter. Suspect is a Nathan Thomas, described as a black male, approximately 6 feet 1 inch tall with dreadlocks. Last seen wearing a white hat, a black coat with red and black stripes on the waist and wrists, and baggy pants. Visit http://IllinoisState.edu/ for more information.

    which was ODDLY FUCKING SPECIFIC for a crime alert

    never once have we gotten shit this detailed

    but i’m thinking… hmm… you know this dude’s whole life story and not a word about the weapon??

    ISU police say there was no weapon involved in an incident between a Chicago man and an Illinois State student earlier today.

    Although an alert was issued saying the man was believed to have a weapon, police later determined that the woman told police he had a weapon because she feared he had access to one, but never saw one, police said in a statement this evening.

    And then this became a trending topic that I’ve thoroughly documented here.

    Now, I’ve got a full dossier on all the people in my screencaps, but I wasn’t gonna put anyone completely on blast just yet — til I saw Kyle Werth was fucking with my friend Diamond, and NOBODY says shit to my baby birds while I’m guarding the nest. Nah.

    Kyle Werth, according to Illinois State University’s people search, is a junior at ISU, and an undeclared major.

    How are you gonna be an undeclared junior and try to talk shit about literally anyone ever in life? 

    He went to New Trier, so I’m not really all that surprised.

    But here you go, undying public record of the internet.

    Kyle Werth is a racist.

    And it’s too bad he put his Twitter on private a little too late.

  10. Today In Black History: February 7, 1926 - Historian, author, and journalist Carter G. Woodson Pioneered the celebration of “Negro History Week,” to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass — later to become Black History Month.

    Woodson’s reasoning for advocating a Negro History Week was that in his work as a historian (including a Ph.D from Harvard), he noted that the contributions by Black Americans “were overlooked, ignored, and even suppressed by the writers of history textbooks and the teachers who use them,” and that anti-Black prejudice “is merely the logical result of tradition, the inevitable outcome of thorough instruction to the effect that the Negro has never contributed anything to the progress of mankind.”

    In 1926, Woodson was ostracized by his contemporaries who insisted that “Negroes” were Americans with the same American history as anybody else — this “logic” was used to continually keep Black culture and history proper out of the curricula of institutions, including those we now know as HBCUs, despite Woodson’s advocacy.

    In 2013, advocates of Black History Month continue to be derided with the same “logic” as Woodson was in 1926. Much as in 1926, the people who are most vocal in their criticism of “teaching separate history” today make no attempt to advocate for Black history during the rest of the year.

  11. Today In Black History: February 6, 1990 - Harvard student Barack Obama becomes the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review; this role is considered the highest student position at Harvard Law School.

    In 2010, third-year Harvard Law student and Review editor Stephanie Grace circulated an email that began “I absolutely do not rule out the possibility that African Americans are, on average, genetically predisposed to be less intelligent.” The email was forwarded to the entire Black Law Students’ Association.

    The Harvard Law School has been described as a “racist breeding ground,” and Stephanie Grace’s email represents just one of many more incidents that still contribute to a hostile climate for students of color at Harvard Law and other college campuses nationwide.

  12. okay. now for the LONG, LONG, LONNNGGGGGGG PAINFUL VERSION


    i literally just wasted two wholeass hours on this theatre student. nah. i need to get my life together. prepare to play bingo.

    lemme know if i fucked up any shit. i got heated.

     

    [name deleted]

    Sorry, but your argument is invalid. I, as what you would assume as “Asian-American”, because I have “yellow” skin and black hair, they way you categorized Diana Son as an “Asian-American” in your very FIRST post and have the gall to chastise someone for using “African-American” because THE Reverend Jesse James sought to have that term be deemed for the “black” Americans in the 1980s shows you as a hypocrite who has absolutely no knowledge of a past in which you deemed yourself a defender of. Why did you use “Asian-American” when describing Diana Son? Diana, who has deemed herself an AMERICAN playwright, without discerning her nationality. I AM AN AMERICAN, end of story. Because I was born and raised in America, my cultural beliefs and understandings are American, I’m Baptist, you better never deem me Asian-American, just because I look like an Asian. Until you realized that skin color is a completely ignorant view of what cultures are, you will forever be blinded to the fact that OUR generation is fighting for equality by letting go of skin color differences and only recognizing the capabilities of a person. According to Martin Luther King Jr., “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” WHY do you constantly refer back to skin color when Martin Luther King himself did not wish to? All you’re doing is prolonging the fact that we, as a nation, ARE trying to rid ourselves of these inequalities, but people like you wish to keep it around. MULTICULTURAL a term you like to use DOES NOT imply MULTICOLOR. big difference, learn it.

    To the color-blind casting, the post has no relevance to the issue above in our department. Do you realize that they wanted to do a lot of other shows that were mostly black or mostly asian? NO? because you aren’t part of the committee that discusses these? You should join it and see why they have to choose what they choose. You HAVE to understand that the department bases their plays on 2 things, the content of the play, and who is in their department at that time.

     

    Read More

  13. here’s a chunk from a very, very long conversation i will be posting in a bit

    (this is with someone who’s in the ISU theatre department just… so ya know)

    20:06

    [name deleted]

    because its the debates that makes us who we are, we aren’t sheep.

    20:06

    Ianthe Marie Belisle Dempsey

    anyway, here’s what it is, take it or leave it:

    “That the entire infrastructure of American society is based upon and emanates from the Western canon; that European Americans raped the continent and decimated its indigenous peoples, instituted a system of society- and government-sanctioned chattel slavery for over three centuries; that the present population that is deemed “White” is still benefiting from these systems and institutions; these, it appears, are all points to be ignored.

    By ignoring the historical specificity of the construction of race by “Whites,” as a tool to ensure that group’s supremacy and subsequent degradation of “others,” and by promoting the concept of racism as abstract hypothetical, White society not only can ensure that the system of White supremacy remains intact but can, in fact, successfully create smoke screens that actually implicate “others” in the maintenance of such a system.”

    20:07

    [name deleted]

    again, its another person’s quote…

    20:07

    Ianthe Marie Belisle Dempsey

    okay

    20:08

    [name deleted]

    why cant i get a straight answer from you, ianthe. who is probably has a lot more to say than another person’s while antiquated quote

    wow, i must be getting tired, let me try that again.

    why cant i get a straight answer from you, ianthe. who probably has a lot more to say than another person’s well antiquated quote

    20:18

    Ianthe Marie Belisle Dempsey

    white supremacy is the fact that american society is based on white people from the west, their language, their literature, their government. it was founded on the exploitation of other groups. white supremacy is the fact that white people still benefit from these early oppressions and that minorities still suffer for it. white supremacy is the freedom to ignore the past and pretend the present is perfectly fine. whtie supremacy is the idea that everyone is already equal and nobody is at a disadvantage in this system. white supremacy is the fact that white people don’t even realize that they have white privilege. white supremacy is the fact that given two job applications, the one with a “dashaun” or “shaniqua” will automatically be judged a certain way. white supremacy is the fact that 2 broke girls can still be on the air with its horrifically racist caricature of an asian man. white supremacy is the fact that we skipped over the chapter on asian theatre in theatre history. white supremacy is the fact that while people of color have always adapted and learned white history, when you suggest that we should add more people of color into the season people say that “white people can’t relate t othe stories of people of color” without realizing that people of color have to do that all the time. white supremacy is thinking that having a black president means that racism is over. white supremacy is thinking that anybody who is offended is “too sensitive” and that if you aren’t offended, it can’t possibly be offensive. white supremacy is the death of trayvon martin. white supremacy is voter ID laws and cutbacks on early voting days. white supremacy is “missing white woman syndrome.” white supremacy is believing in “the race card.” white supremacy is selectively showing houses to certain people to create de facto segregation. white supremacy is fetishizing other cultures for financial gain. white supremacy is asking why we need a black history month. white supremacy is the white-washed, cuddly version of martin luther king, jr. white supremacy is the fact that rosa parks was chosen by the NAACP to advance their court case because she was the most “wholesome” of the people they could have chosen to go up against white judges. white supremacy is not being able to find makeup that works with your skin, bandaids that blend in, “flesh” colored things that arent light peach, and products that work with your hair texture. white supremacy is viewing AAVE as “uneducated.” white supremacy is nicknaming people with “difficult” names. white supremacy is denouncing rap music for its misogyny and never thinking to denounce rock music for the same. white supremacy is struggling to find people who represent you/your culture in magazines, movies, or on tv who aren’t caricatures or stereotypes. white supremacy is disregarding the experiences and opinions of other people. white supremacy is what you try to ignore, because once you start recognizing it, you realize it’s everywhere and it sometimes gets overwhelming to even think of being able to make the slightest dent in affecting it. white supremacy is not having to constantly defend your right to be treated as valid.

    20:18

    Ianthe Marie Belisle Dempsey

    is that good enough for you

    [name deleted]

    do you really believe in all of this? like not finding matching color bandaids or makeup? because they make those, fyi, do you think that “blacks” don’t use the race card to advance? I don’t watch tv so i don’t know of broke girls. but what about shows like Tyler Perry’s House of Perry, they make fun of “white” folks. Do you rally think you can’t make a dent in affecting it?

    20:29

    Ianthe Marie Belisle Dempsey

    i believe in all of this because it’s the truth. and if what you chose to pick on out of that WHOLE LIST was the bandaids and makeup? really? you wanna ignore all of the rest of the list to harp on something i included as a tiny example to counterbalance all the huge ones.

    oppression is not being made fun of. i typed out that longass thing and you still can’t see it and that’s why this conversation isn’t going anywhere. if you’re really interested, racismschool.tumblr.com is a great place to start learning about this stuff, and so are posts like http://ianthe.tumblr.com/post/33146075754/stfuconservatives-vasundharaa-this-is-a. but if you don’t wanna learn or thikn i’m not listening, fine. because i really literally have handed you everything and you still aren’t biting.

    anyway — the fact that black people have to advance at all is white supremacy. that’s the whole damn point. and it’s not a card that you play, you’re black the day you’re born, black at your 8th grade dance, black on graduation, black when you get your diploma, black at your wedding and black in your casket. no yugioh shit about it.

    forreal. i got homework.

  14. "

    The policy-makers of the white society have caused the darkness: they created discrimination; they created slums; they perpetuate unemployment, ignorance, and poverty. It is incontestable and deplorable that Negroes have committed crimes, but they are derivative crimes. They are born of the greater crimes of white society.

    When we ask Negroes to abide by the law, let us also declare that the white man does not abide by law in the ghettos. Day in and day out he violates welfare laws to deprive to poor of their meager allotments; he flagrantly violates building codes and regulations; his police make a mockery of law; he violates laws on equal employment and education and the provisions for civic services. The slums are the handiwork of a vicious system of the white society; Negroes live in them, but they do not make them, any more than a prisoner makes a prison.

    Let us say it boldly, that if the total slum violations of law by the white man over the years were calculated and were compared with the lawbreaking of a few days of riots, the hardened criminal would be the white man.

    In using the term ‘white man’ I am seeking to describe in general terms the Negro’s adversary. It is not meant to encompass all white people. There are millions who have morally risen above prevailing prejudices. They are willing to share power and to accept structural alterations of society even at the cost of traditional privilege.

    "
    Martin Luther King, Jr., The Trumpet of Conscience
  15. im gonna scream

    im gonna scream

About me

ianthe (pron.: /iːˈɑːn.teɪ/; listen)



i like she/her pronouns but i'm not cis i just like those pronouns okay thank

#TeamBelize


SEND ME YOUR MOST HEINOUS FROWNS FOR HEINOUSFROWNBLOGGING2K13

if i like you you are more than welcome to ask for my facebook/skype/phone number/firstborn/etc
this motherfucker ate a whole stick once

rayquaza u can't sit with us


if you wanna help me buy groceries:

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