James Brown 1933-2006

The Godfather of Soul, James Brown died on Christmas Day at the age of 73.
His last words were

I’m going away tonight

I’ll miss you, your music and your incredible performances.

Technorati Tags: music

Duke Rape Charges Dropped

I didn’t wade into the raging discussions about the Duke rape case because of the hidieous outpouring of hatred that appeared all over feminists blogs (and I was in the middle of my own crisis with haters on my main blog). However, I read today that rape charges have been dropped against the white boys involved although DO NOT FORGET this case is not over. They still face kidnapping and sex charges.

This has caused screams of delight across blogland and cries of “She lied !” and “I told you so !” Another sad day for all victims of rape because we are now even less likely to be believed after this high-profile case.

Lucky White Girl has a post on being unapologetic about our solidarity with the woman.

First and foremost, I’m proud to have stood in solidarity with the woman then and I’m proud now to stand in solidarity with her now. Why? Because even if it can’t be pr oven that rape as defined under NC law was committed it’s clear that something unsavory went on at that party that reeks of racism, sexism and classism

She goes on to say in a her eloquent post

What does it all mean? In the end I think we did the right thing. We listened to a poor, young black woman who accused wealthy, young white men of a crime. We took her seriously. Thirty years ago it might not have even gone this far. If the fact that these boys behaved as they did is cause for shame, the fact that the rest of the nation reacted as we did –with shock and outrage– is cause for hope.

Spotted Elephant posts her angry response at Bipolar View

The racism in this case is overwhelming. The sexism is so standard that I want to scream. If you think the fact that the woman worked as a stripper is relevant, you’re a sexist. If you think it’s irrelevant that the woman who was assaulted was African American and the boys who attacked her were white, you’re not only a racist, you’re a fool. If you immediately disbelieve a woman who says she’s been raped, you’re a waste of human tissue.

I imagine the backlash against both these posts will be swift and ferocious too. Whatever the outcome of this case, rape victims will be the ones who are affected most especially if they are black. People will have this particular rape case in their minds for many years to come. It is already hard enough to come forward and report rape. Most of the time the woman is not believed anyway. How much harder will it be now ?

In solidarity

Technorati Tags: duke rape, america, rape

BNP Ballerina

Racists never look like monsters… some of them look like Simone Clarke (below)

Should someone be fired because they are a member of the BNP (British National Party) and hold racist views about immigrants even though they work in a multicultural company ?
The Sugar Plum Fairy in English National Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker had to confront angry colleagues before yesterday’s matinee performance after she was revealed to be a member of the British National Party.
Simone Clarke, 36, was named by a newspaper that had infiltrated the party and obtained a membership list.
She believes that immigration has got out of hand even though 9 out of ten of the prinicpal dancers in the company are immigrants. As is the father of her child.

The dancers were instructed not to comment yesterday, but Clarke said in a recent interview that she does not mix with the other performers outside working hours. “I don’t socialise with people in the company,” she said. “It’s all too much.”

Personally, I would not want to work with someone who is a member of the BNP but I suppose people cannot be fired because of membership to a political party but perhaps she will not get a principal role in the next production ?

The audience reactions were varied

A look inside the shady world of the BNP

Technorati Tags: multicultural, neo-nazi, britain, racism

Christmas Holidays

Cross-posted from THIS IS NOT MY COUNTRY

My Christmas holidays start today… so here’s wishing you all a very happy, loving and peaceful festive break. Thank you to all my friends here on my blog for making this venture something worthwhile. To all of you, best wishes for the rest of the year and high hopes for 2007. I will be spending this time with my beautiful family and my fabulous friends and reminding myself how lucky I am to have them.

I will be back sometime next week (I will be checking in though, so all vile comments will still get deleted. You know who you are and I really hope you can find it in yourself to spread some love instead of hate, even if it’s just for Christmas. Peace. DD

Technorati Tags: blogging, holidays, personal

Carnival of Feminists

The 29th edition of the Carnival of Feminists is up at the imponderabilia of actual life.

Go and read now.

New Direction

So here’s my new sister blog to THIS IS NOT MY COUNTRY. I will still be posting on issues I care about but will attempt to look at them in a more global sense with more linking to news articles and blog posts relevent to them. I hope you will enjoy the new outlook…