racial profiling

Morning Bitch readers! Here’s some news to start of your day.

• Ok, so Jorge Bergoglio is the first Pope elected from a Latin American country, and apparently he rides a bus instead of a limo, but is he any more progressive than his papal predecessors?  Unfortunately, it seems like he isn’t.  [Alternet]
• Ever wonder where the bi women of color are in black and women’s history? QWOC Media Wire profiles the hidden B in LGBTQ. [QWOC Media Wire]
• According to this article in The Atlantic, not only is racial profiling a danger to a person's legal rights, but it’s a danger to their health.  [The Atlantic]
• Thanks to sexism, JT gets it easy. But if he were a woman, the media would probably treat him like a social pariah. [Vulture]
• It looks like the White House might finally be taking the statistics on domestic violence seriously.[Whitehouse.gov]
• Check out this project to bring dozens of African women writers to meet in Ghana. [Ms. Magazine]
• Outraged at the University of North Carolina’s threat to expulse a student survivor of rape for trying to seeks justice? Add your name here. [WatchDog]

That's all for today! Stay tuned.

Given mainstream Hollywood's fondness for glamorous actors and happy endings, it is a wonder 2008's Frozen River's lead actress Melissa Leo got an Oscar nomination for Best Actress and first-time writer-director Courtney Hunt a nod for Best Original Screenplay. Surprising none of its fans, both women went home empty-handed.

We've all heard about the continuous saga of human rights violations in Arizona, from legalizing racial profiling, to eliminating ethnic studies, to preventing anyone with an "accent" from teaching English (read: anyone who doesn't sound like an old white man from the eastern/northern states since I'm pretty sure we ALL have accents) and this extremely racist, oppressive, colonial, and cultural genocide list goes on.

What's been happening in Arizona is horrific on so many levels to so many people and communities – but it has really had me reflecting. When do certain issues get considered "feminist" and when do they not? And when do they require a real feminist response in action?