This isn’t something that should be celebrated though. Yes, R. Kelley is horrible and deserves to face punishment for his crimes but using lyrics to put people in jail is fucked up. Prosecutors use this tactic mostly against up and coming (read struggling) black rappers, especially when the prosecution has little to…

I’m not familiar with Arizona so forgive me if I’m stereotyping, but this seems like he was threatening her to me. There are a lot of places where just being outed as transgender could be a threat to your physical safety - that’s why he kept asking what she needed it for. Like he was daring her to say it out loud and…

Thank you! I keep a mental note of the people who are appreciative of admins and try to reward them (like I’ll put out their favorite candy in the bowl or let them know earlier when there’s free lunch hanging around the office). But yeah, all it takes is a simple thank you to make someone feel seen.

(admin @ engineering firm) Your mentor was right. As someone whose actual job is to do menial office drudgery no one will ever appreciate it and if anything it’ll encourage people to not take you seriously. 

Something like this happened to me. When my mom died, I only got 3 days (really 2 but they gave me an extra one since it was sudden). But since she lived 900 miles away, I wound up burning through the 3 days plus all of my vacation time (which I had luckily been hoarding) just to plan the service and clean out her…

But it doesn’t necessarily have to come from the HR department. I work as an admin and if I had cornrows I know HR wouldn’t say anything to me, but my boss would. I’ve wanted to get braids for months, but other black women at the company have told me their bad experiences with wearing protective styles at work so I’ve…

Yeah, but you don’t deserve a pat on the back for apologizing either, it’s the bare minimum. 

People are always hiding behind science when they get called out on transphobic bullshit as if scientists have never been wrong before (see entire Eugenicist movement, sexism and homophobia in the DSM 5, etc.) At the end of the day, people bring their biases into what they do. It’s ridiculous, and extremely…

He’s the worst, the moment he started instagram beefing with his first son is when he should’ve been cancelled. What kind of asshole has the nerve to be a deadbeat dad and then get shitty at his son when’s he’s called out for it.

I agree, but I’m doubtful that this is something that’s possible when the characters you’re supposed to connect to are the same ones you’re supposed to critique. At the end of the day, I feel that a child would see that their views were prejudiced, but if the heroes of your book are prejudiced (full disclosure, my…

But ultimately, the kids will get to see a human and empathetic version of settlers while never getting the same empathetic storytelling depicting the indigenous population. Which is how we end up where we are today, where we’ve got media publishing a million think pieces post-election humanizing neo-Nazis. 

Yeah, but I mean they could just exist and see racism today. It’s not like it’s gone away. Besides, a kid would probably remember a follow up “why racism is bad” discussion about things that happen in real life more than they would on a particular plot in a book that they might not ever read again.

I doubt it, I grew up in Indiana and we didn’t learn about this either. Maybe at a place like Boston Latin but when I was in high school (not too long ago) we really didn’t learn anything about slavery, my parents had to make sure we were educated about it. It’s especially frustrating because people still act like…

There’s a good documentary (I wanna say PBS) where a Newport woman found out that her ancestors, who were heavily involved in the Episcopal church, were also the largest profiteers of Slavery in the country. She took her family with her to some of the property they used to own and they follow the Triange Trade in…

I was wondering why all of a sudden there were all of these feel good videos of Chris Brown and Royalty on Instagram. Bless her heart, she’s going to have a sad revelation when she gets older.

Clearly you’re not interested in what I’m saying. We can’t judge people by social conditions that don’t yet exist. I’m not in favor of the current outdated gender norms, but I can’t pretend that they don’t influence our current interactions just because I don’t like them. The first step in progress is acknowledging…

No, I’m saying that he’s a man who has a long history of objectifying women (treating them like conquests, not people) so it’s hard to see him as a victim in this instance given his history of what I would think is much more unhealthy behavior.

Hmm, I guess this is where I get stuck then theoretically. I tend to place more emphasis on the power dynamic. I get your point though about the continued unwanted sexual advances, and I agree but for some reason it makes me nervous - maybe I’ve got more to think about on sexual harassment than I initially thought. I…

When it comes to social interactions (obviously not physical violence) yes. Sure, there are some circumstances where that’s not necessarily the case but in our society, we value masculinity and men more than women and femininity, affording them privilege and power that women often can’t access. So when we’re talking…

So we’re really caping for Leo DiCaprio, captain of the pussy posse, as a victim of sexual harrassment? I think was obvious to both parties that she wasn’t seriously trying to pursue a sexual relationship with him (everyone knows he only dates white women) but to make a joke at his expense. I know this will sound…