Operation Rescue’s Racist Ploy: Open Thread for Your Comments

• • popular culture, protests, racism

Well, it appears that most any U.S. problem is worse than racism. (H/T: ColorLines) I have heard many discussions of whether sexism or classism is worse that racism, but this seems to set a new low standard for inanity in such comparisons. At the Denver Post, Kirk Mitchell reports this story, “Abortion foes using racism to make point at DNC,” which is about planned protests at the Denver Democratic party convention next week:

Operation Rescue leaders vowed today to pass out hundreds of thousands of racist pamphlets and to stage sit-ins. . . . Handing out the pamphlets is the group’s way of spotlighting a greater evil than racism, [Randall] Terry said. “The flier is meant of offend. Do you think racism is abhorrent?” Terry asked at a news conference. . . . He said child killing is much worse. Anyone who votes for Sen. Barack Obama supports the killing of babies…. “Which is a worse crime: slavery or murder? The correct answer: murder. A slave can get free, but a murder victim cannot get ‘undead.’ “

What do you make of this kind of political and moral logic? Please add your comments below to this open thread.

Speaking Truth to Power: Spotlight on Women of Color Bloggers

• • blogging, racism, women

Audre Lorde wrote that “… what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood. That the speaking profits me, beyond any other effect” (excerpted here). Audre left us in 1992, but her legacy continues. Today, there’s a network of women of color (WOC) bloggers that are bringing the tradition of Audre Lorde to the digital age. Despite the disabling rhetorics about the digital divide, and the near fetishism of the white-male-mainstream-blogger, these radical women of color speak truth to power. And, since the New York Times is highlighting the work of one WOC blogger at the Democratic Convention (hat tip Pam via Twitter), I thought it would be a good time to highlight just a few of these brave women here:

The Angry Black Woman

Diary of an Anxious Black Woman

Aunt Jemima’s Revenge

Black Looks

Brownfemipower / La Chola

CyberDiva

Dark Daughta

Maria Niles

Pam’s House Blend

Professor Kim

What About Our Daughters

WOC PhD

Lots of these blogs are covering mainstream politics, such as the presidential election, yet these voices are rarely the ones that mainstream news outlets read and draw on for commentary.   Let’s hope that’s changing.  Perhaps these blogs can offer a different angle of vision in the social and political landscape, while providing a mechanism for speaking truth to power.