I got to thinking that I may annoy others because I send so many article suggestions over FB. So, here is my effort to be more discerning and to discipline myself about what I share. I’m going to try summarizing five or six (in this case eleven) in a blog post, from time to time.
Not to Speak is to Speak although a little convoluted comes from the quote by Bonhoeffer below. And I connect with it because that thing in me that is often “outraged” is what compels me to share with others so that they will be outraged too.
Of course, some of this is about justice. Other articles are about spirituality and growth as a human being, yet others simply interesting. Hoping there is something for everyone. Enjoy!
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil:
God will not hold us innocent.
Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
— Bonhoeffer
I cannot promise that these updates will be on any one topic today it ranges a lot.
Here We Go Now!
How racism in the media keeps African American children in foster care, especially boys.
From the Maynard Institute whose goal is to improve Cultural Diversity within American Journalism the article: Does the Media Help Keep African American Boys in Foster Care? African American children who enter foster care after the age of 5 are much less likely to be adopted than their White peers and the situation is more grim for African American males. Experts on the foster care system say the media play a role in painting negative stereotypes of African American boys that make the job of placing them in adoptive homes more difficult. Chet Hewitt is President of Sierra Healthcare Foundation. He served 6 years as the director of Alameda County Social Services Agency, one year overseeing the Child Welfare Department and was a foster parent for 12 years. Hewitt believes the way young African American males are depicted in movies, how they’re described in literature and how a Black youngster involved in a violent incident is described in the news media all affect the public’s perception of Black youths.
Sometimes I get tired of reading only the voices of men. Don’t you?
The blog Lady Journos! features anything in journalism written by a woman. You can share the links, hire these writers, and help close the byline gender gap. Why? Why not?
Look at incredible statistics about the percentages of women to men in your most popular magazines and journals.
Take a look at these statistics from VIDA: Women in Literary Arts. As VIDA says on their website as you scroll slowly down notice the red. You will see numbers from The Atlantic, Boston Review, Granta, Harpers, London Review of Books, New Republic, New Yorker, NY Times Book Review, New York Review of Books, and many more… “The truth is, these numbers don’t lie. But that is just the beginning of this story. What, then, are they really telling us? We know women write. We know women read. It’s time to begin asking why the 2010 numbers don’t reflect those facts with any equity.”
Researchers at epolitix.com say in an article titled Does the Glass Ceiling Exist? “Our own research shows that equal pay for men and women won’t be in place until 2067.” Sigh.
Exploring the notion of being the outsider through the prism of this illness.
In 1995 Sarah Manguso was diagnosed with the rare autoimmune disease which poisons the blood. In this fascinating article titled My Body in the Aliens issue of GRANTA, she explores the notion of being the outsider through the prism of this illness. It’s quite incredible.
One way to respond to the immigration conversation.
Immigration reform, destabilized children, Christians seeking asylum from atrocities… are we not accountable to God for the impact of use of terms that mask the reality that we are talking about human beings made in God’s image; the discounting of the importance of their lives; of American laws and systems on these men and women and children. “God has chosen the people who are scorned and without importance in this world, that is to say, those who aren’t anything…” If you’re conflicted or confused about how to respond to the immigration conversation the website UnDocumented.tv is insightful and this article God’s Chosen helped me think. “… I’ve observed a de-humanization in many of the comments that I hear that is reminiscent of much of the rhetoric around the issue of abortion: the use of terms that mask the reality that we are talking about human beings made in God’s image; the discounting of the importance of their lives; the attitude that we are not accountable before the God of the prophets for the impact of American laws and systems on these men and women and children.”
I cannot believe the earthquake in Christ Church, but these pictures from THE DAILY BEAST brought it home.
I highlight this important article Bailouts, Federal Debt, and the End of Responsibility asks “Is it possible that the moral values of the bailout economy have left us less able to confront our problems with debt?” Um. yeah!
And why the international press is covering the protests across the ‘Arab World’ but ignoring the rest of Africa?
Just thinking! And that’s all for now.
Logic & Imagination 
I have heard first hand accounts from many people who are white and more than willing to adopt or foster black children that they cannot. The people in charge of picking the foster and adoptive parents want black children placed only with black parents in many many cases. It is even a stated policy. So it is indeed racism. But not the kind you mean.
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