Brittany

anarcho-queer:

Series of Brooklyn Billboards Put Racial Inequity on Display

Billboards are everywhere in New York City. They’re on subway trains and in stations, and on top of and inside taxis. But few, if any, have been anything like a series of anonymous billboards that have popped up on bus shelters in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. They’re not selling anything but a declaration: that racism still exists.

That’s also the name of the appropriately titled campaign. At least half a dozen billboard sites have sprung up around the neighborhood since August, with each month dedicated to highlighting racial disparities that impact black people in America. So far, the billboards have touched on topics ranging from the entertainment industry, education, fast food, smoking, policing, and black wealth. Each month’s billboard is also accompanied by an detailed post on Tumblr that provides background information, news articles, studies, charts, and statistics to back up each claim. 

A brief statement on the Tumblr page says, in part, that “RISE is a project designed to illuminate some of the ways in which racism operates in this country.” But who’s behind the project remains a mystery.

For the time being, the project seems dedicated to its anonymity. Both the Tumblr page and the billboards themselves are devoid of any contact information. Similarly, the private advertising company that’s contracted by New York City’s transit agency to host advertisments and billboards said that it does not give out information about who paid for the advertisements. 

Even local activists who spend their time dedicated to working on racial justice issues can’t figure out who’s behind the billboards. Nonetheless, they’re intrigued by the campaign. This month’s billboard is dedicated to Stop-and-Frisk, the controversial NYPD tactic that’s drawn national criticism for its disproportionate impact on black and Latino men. The billboard’s provactive text reads, “Don’t want to get stopped by the NYPD? Stop being black.” On the heels of New York City’s 2013 mayoral race and the prominent role that critics of Stop-and-Frisk have taken in city politics, the billboards have become a meaningful part of local discussion.

It’s no accident that of all of New York City’s neighborhoods, the billboards have targeted this one. A historically black neighborhood, Bed-Stuy has become one of the most contested spaces in New York City. A 2012 study from the Fordham Institute found that Brooklyn is home to 25 of the country’s most rapidly gentrifying zip codes. That’s created a stark contrast between those in the neighborhood who have more upward social and economic mobility than others. Several high profile media accounts have recently noted Bed Stuy’s so-called “hip” transformation and “resurgence”, but the borough’s medium per capita income in 2009 was just $23,000, which was $10,000 below the national average.

The content of the billboard’s messaging may not exactly be news for most residents, but the presentation has nonetheless been powerful.

Things I would do if I were wealthy: awareness billboards.

(via queerveganfeminist)

stfuprolife:

loveyourrebellion:

An estimated 10,000 activists flooded the streets of Dublin on Saturday to protest Ireland’s stringent abortion policies. The predominantly Catholic country has a total ban on all abortion services, with a narrow exception in cases where a pregnancy may threaten a woman’s life. But the recent death of Savita Halappanavar — the 31-year-old Indian woman who died of blood poisoning after an Irish hospital refused to terminate her pregnancy — highlights the fact that women in Ireland struggle to access reproductive health services even when their lives may be at stake. Halappanavar’s tragic story is quickly becoming an international controversy, prompting the Irish government to promise to reexamine its abortion policy.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets today with signs and banners bearing Halappanavar’s image, vowing that the tragic events of her death will “never again” happen in their country (all images via Broadsheet)

This is incredible.

(via brujacore)

A 72-year-old grandfather, Liu Xianping, has become something of an internet sensation after he began modelling for his granddaughter’s online clothing store.

Liu’s granddaughter runs Yuekou, a partnership between herself and four other recent college graduates. While Liu was helping the girls unpack, “he picked up one piece and tried to give some advice on how to mix and match. We thought it was fun so we started shooting.”

“Why unacceptable (for someone like me) to wear women’s clothes? Modelling for the store is helping my granddaughter and I have nothing to lose. We were very happy on the day of the shooting. I’m very old and all that I care about is to be happy.” — Liu Xianping

(via glitterencrustedbunghole-deacti)

Licia Ronzulli, member of the European Parliament, has been taking her daughter Vittoria to the Parliament sessions for two years now.

This rules!

(via rookiemag)

thefluffingtonpost:

Twin Cats Always Mirror Each Other in Sleep

Scientists are baffled by twin cats, Merry and Pippin, who reportedly always sleep in an exact mirror image of one another.  

“Even if we place them in disparate starting positions or in separate rooms, they somehow always wind up sleeping exactly like the other,” said leading cat biologist and feline sleep expert Dr. Tobias Winslow.  ”I’ve never seen anything like it.”

A polysomnogram revealed nothing out of the ordinary about the cats’ brain functions, eye movements, muscle activity, breathing or heart rhythms.  ”We had expected to find that Merry and Pip were synched up on an internal level,” explained Winslow, “but it is literally just in the way they position their bodies for slumber.”

More tests will be done later this month during a scheduled comprehensive sleep study.

Via  0mumu0.

(via drewlindentellsall)