The best 20 seconds in cinematic history.
This was for an assignment on grief. Everyone else did tsunami victims and all I could think about was Kim Kardashian blubbering.
20”x 30”
charcoal and graphite
(via hina-ta)
How to not be a White Savior when in Africa
- Don’t assume those you intend to help even wanted your help.
- You are not there to ‘help’ anyone. Help assumes you are in authority and they depend on you.
- You are there to work with people.
- Those people are not charity cases: they are human beings with feelings history and personal identities. Like you. Treat them as such.
- That means stop thinking its so goddamn ’beautiful’ to hold a black child’s hand or ‘inspiring’ when you wear their clothes and practice their customs or ‘amazing’ when you see a person wear western clothes.
- You’re exotifying people based on racist and ignorant ideas you had of them. Go back to no. 4
- The people you work with don’t exist to make you/your life look better.
- Don’t assume you know what’s best for them. Ask. Listen.
- Listen to them more than those you view as your ‘equals’ (fellow volunteers/white ppl)
- Don’t expect those you work with to be thankful to you. They didn’t ask you to work with them in the first place.
- You are not there to ‘save the day’.
- Treat them the way you treat your friends; be there for them when they want/need you, offer advice but don’t act butthurt if they don’t take it.
- You do not have all the answers. Nobody does. So don’t act like you do. It shows.
- Don’t describe those you work with as ‘underprivileged’ or other demeaning eurocentric words. What you are doing is comparing your own life to theirs and assuming everyone wants the type of life you have. Go back to no. 6 & 7
(this also goes for working with kids, women’s groups, people with certain disabilites etc. whether in your own country or abroad. Feel free to add more points that hasn’t been covered and reblog. End the White Saviour Complex)
Very good; definitely most of the stuff we discussed in my International Development Studies course. Also great personal note to keep in mind when I inevitably engage in internships/volunteer experiences abroad.
(via racismfreeontario)
I’m not going to censor myself to comfort your ignorance.
GRILLS: A comedy about the experiences of a group of grills in their early 20’s.
There are exactly three countries on Earth that do not provide guarantees for paid maternity leave. Papua New Guinea and Swaziland are two of them. Care to guess the third?
(via pteris)
One of the ironies of white racial identity is that white Americans tend to see themselves in non-racial terms, as the norm against which all other groups are compared. This perception of whiteness as “normal” distances all other groups and reinforces the power relationships that have been imbedded in U.S. society since colonial days. Whites regard themselves as “just people” and see only “others” as having race.
For example, in causal discussions and everyday conversations, whites often mention the race of non-whites, even when racial identities are not relevant to the story. For example, a white American might say, “This black guy asked me for directions to city hall,” identifying race even though it plays no particular role in the anecdote. When people are not identified by their race (“This guy asked me for directions to city hall.”), the assumption is that they are white: normal people who need not further description.
This view places whites in a highly privileged status. “Other people are raced, we are just people”…. There is no more powerful position than that of being ‘just’ human. The claim to power is the claim to speak for the commonality of humanity. Raced people can’t do that—they only speak for their own race.
Just as whites tend to be unaware of their racial identity, they also tend to be unaware of the privileges that attend “whiteness.” Sociologist Peggy McIntosh notes that whites (like men) are reluctant to acknowledge their privilege vis-à-vis non-whites (women). This denial is a way of protecting the privilege—if it doesn’t exist, it doesn’t have to be explained, examined, or defended.
Joseph F. Healey, Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender (via humanformat)
For the cheap seats.
(via racialicious)
This is so true. Even I’ve been guilty of it (although I think most PoC, especially lighter ones).
But I’ve been taking steps in the past couple years (when I started noticing it) to curbing that - for example, I don’t describe people using skin colour but rather other details like clothing, height, location etc. It’s actually not as hard as you might think and really gives you the opportunity to be creative :)
(via delacroix)
A jean shirt … that’s all I ever wanted.
Yup, currently looking for a well-made affordable one.
Tomatoes are in the air!
(via warningdontreadthis)
