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Unfortunately

Women Healers vs. Science

NO. 1

From the 16th century women were seen as healers, or the nurses, abortionists, counsellors, and midwives, whereas since the 19th century and onward male professionals have taken over the role. These roles today are seen as jobs, where the service is being paid for; before, under the tutelage of women, these roles were as a way of life. In healthcare, women are the majority, of course. But they are considered workers, (clerks, dietary aides, technician, maids), whereas the bosses of these industries are usually men. So what changed? What occurred for this major switch?

NO. 2

Women healers have always been the standard, history can attest to that fact. But unlike male doctors who care for the rich, and clung to untested doctrines, it was woman healers have cared for the sickly and the poor, and therein lies the problem. ‘‘The suppression of female healers by the medical establishment was a political struggle, first, in that it is part of the history of sex struggle in general. The status of women healers has risen and fallen with the status of women. When women healers were attacked, they were attacked as women; when they fought back, they fought back in solidarity with all women. It was a political struggle, second, in that it was a part of a class struggle. Women Healers were people’s doctors, and their medicine was part of a people’s subculture. To this very day women’s medical practice has thrived in the midst of this rebellious lower class movements which have struggled to be free from the established authorities. Male professionals, on the other hands served the ruling class—both medically and politically, with interests with advanced by the universities, the philanthropic foundations by the law.’’

NO. 3

So the change began when the terminology changed. When healing the sick was seen not as a testament to their abilities, but as witchcraft. In the age of witch-hunting, from the late early fifteenth to early sixteenth centuries, from Germany to England, which was also the age of feudalism and well lasted into the age of reason. Witches symbolized the political, religious and sexual threat against the Catholic and Protestant Church, as well as to the state, so the witch hunts were all a well organized and financed campaigns of violence against the female peasant population. ‘‘Women made up some 85% of those executed—old women, young women, and children. Their scope alone suggests that the witch hunts represented a deep—seated social phenomenon which goes far beyond the history of medicine. In locale and timing, the most virulent witch hunts were associated with periods of great social upheaval shanking feudalism at its roots—mass peasant uprisings and conspiracies, the beginnings of capitalism, and the rise of Protestantism. There is fragmentary evidence—which feminists ought to follow up—suggesting that in some areas witchcraft represented a female-led peasant rebellion.’’

NO. 4

Witches were seen as a rebellion not just of the Church, but from God himself. You see, witches consorted with the devil, and were therefore evil, and in the eyes of the Church, was derived through sexuality. Sexuality was always associated with women, and pleasure in sexuality was sin and evil, and her power was from sexuality. Even those who were good, and used her gifts of healing to help, were deserving of death, just as all witches deserved death. ‘‘Witch healers were often the general medical practitioners for a people who had no doctors, no hospitals, and were bitterly afflicted with poverty and disease. In particular, the association with the witch and the midwife was strong. When faced with the misery of the poor, the Church dogma that experience in the world fleeting and unimportant. The wise woman, or witch, had a host of remedies which had been tested in years of use. Many of the herbal use remedies developed by witches still have their place in modern pharmacology. They had pain killers, digestive aids and anti—inflammatory agents. The witch—healer’s methods were as great a threat( to the Catholic Church, if not the Protestant) her results, for the witch was a empiricist: She relied on her senses rather than on faith or doctrine, she believed in trial and error, or cause and effect. She trusted in her ability to find ways to deal with disease, pregnancy, and childbirth. Her attitude was not religiously passive, but actively inquiring. In short, her magic was the science of her time.‘‘

The Abuse of Police Power

Occurrences on the news shows police brutality almost every day; just recently, Dereck Chavin, the cop who murdered George Floyd was charged with murder, and though that was a serious win, at the same time Makiyah Bryant was killed by the Columbus Police Department. The system has and always will be a discriminatory one based on race and class, and unless there’s real.

The first documented and filmed case of abuse of police power was the beating and death of Rodney King; then in 2014 the death of Micheal Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Normally, the Bill of Rights is supposed to protect your rights from normally being harassed from a task or police force, like the fourth amendment, which involves the right against unreasonable searches and seizures, which means the Constitution declares a person has the right to be secure in their homes and in their persons against unreasonable searches and seizures. A person has the right against arrest without probable cause and the right to due process of law. Not every police member is a racist, but every police member is a part of a racist and oppressive system.

Forty years ago, the Bill of Rights used to protect every citizen from brutality, wasn’t taken as seriously as it is today in court justice proceedings around the country, most likely because modern technology hadn’t progressed as it has now, where if you hear any word of police assaulting a citizen, you can be sure it will be filmed. ‘’Police operations during that period were often far more informal than they are today, and investigating officers frequently assumed that they could come and go as they pleased, even to the extent of invading someone’s home without a search warrant. Interrogations could quickly turn violent, and the infamous “rubber hose,” which was reputed to leave few marks on the body, was probably more widely used during the questioning of suspects than many would like to believe. Similarly, ‘doing things by the book’ could mean the use of thick telephone books for beating suspects, since the books spread out the force of blows and left few visible bruises.’’

Every branch of the government, including the legislative, judicial, and presidential branches of the government is supposed to be held accountable by the other branches. The system was designed to ensure that no other individual or agency can become powerful enough to take away the rights and many freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution but without that accountability, a police agency can have absolute power based more on political considerations and personal vendettas than objective considerations on guilt or innocence. The court systems would become the area for resolution, not just between citizens and the agencies of government. After handling by the justice system, individuals who feel that they have not received respect and dignity under the law can appeal to the courts for correction. Those appeals can be based on procedural issues and are independent of more narrow considerations of guilt and innocence. In the case of search and seizure, there have been many court cases that involve illegally searches and seizure, which is any evidence seized without regard to the principles of due process as described by the Bill of Rights, particularly the fourth amendment, which says, ‘the rights of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the individuals or things to be seized’; most illegally seized evidence is the result of police searches.’

The Fourth Amendment, a part of the Bill of Rights, was adopted by Congress and became effective on December 15, 1791. The first case concerning search and seizure was that of Weeks. U.S (1914), whose case was upturned because federal agents found the right man, suspected of breaking a federal crime by using the U.S mail to sell lottery tickets, but unfortunately the case was overturned because those federal agents conducted a home search without a warrant; nevermind that they found incriminating evidence. Which means that Weeks, whom federal agents could have proved to a federal/Supreme Court that he was guilty, was set free because the police were also guilty. The Weeks case forms the basis of what is now called the exclusionary rule, which holds that evidence illegally seized by the police cannot be used in a trial. The rule acts as a control over police behavior and specifically focuses on the failure of officers to obtain warrants authorizing them either to conduct searches or to effect arrests, especially where arrest may lead to the acquisition of incriminating statements or to the seizure of physical evidence. The decision of the Supreme Court in the Weeks case was binding, at the time, only on federal officers because only federal agents were involved in the illegal seizure.

There are exceptions to the exclusionary rule, of course, like the exception of the fleeting target that permits law enforcement officers to search a motor vehicle based on probable cause but without a warrant, and is predicated on the fact that vehicles can quickly leave the jurisdiction of a law enforcement agency. Any search and seizure that was illegally obtained or violated due process will be seen as ‘tainted evidence’. The Silverthorne Lumber case (1920) created a new legal principle that excludes from introduction at trial and any evidence later developed as a result of an illegal search is called the fruit of the poisonous tree. When an emergency search is needed, it is justified for the police on the basis of some immediate and overriding need, such as public safety, the likely escape of a dangerous suspect, or the removal or destruction of evidence. Several cases improved the light on this, like Maryland vs. Buie (1990), which extended the authority of police to search locations in a house where a potentially dangerous person could hide while an arrest warrant is being served. Searches like this can save lives by disarming felons or by uncovering medical reasons for an emergency situation; they may also prevent suspects from escaping or destroying evidence. Emergency searches can fall under the exception to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment. The Legal Counsel of Division of the FBI provides the guidelines, after the 1979 case of Arkansas v. Sanders, where the Supreme Court had ruled, ‘‘where the societal costs of obtaining a warrant, such as danger to law officers or the risks of loss or destruction of evidence, outweigh the reasons for prior recourse to a neutral magistrate.’ The guidelines and conditions apply that 1.) There was probable cause at the time of the search to believe that there was evidence concealed on the person searched, 2.) there was probable cause to believe an emergency threat of destruction of evidence existed at the time of the search, 3.) the officer had no prior opportunity to obtain a warrant authorizing the search, 4.) and the action was no greater than necessary to eliminate the threat of destruction of evidence.

Old dude came in the shop and when I said "lemme know if you have any questions" he goes "what was the name of Alexander the Great's horse," thinking he was so funny. I told him Bucephalus, and he was so disappointed. Like his whole day was hanging on beating me at trivia. He says "you're only the second person who knew that" and I said "well, probably the third if you count Alexander the Great." He left without buying anything, and did not say goodbye. I think I honestly hurt his weird little feelings! Sorry I'm a bitch, old man!

I recall someone asking a long time ago “how can white people go see a movie like “the hunger games,” root for Katniss and shit but then go home and vote Republican?“ Ryan explains it perfectly.

I like Mulan better

Being poor is dangerous. Being POC while poor? Even more dangerous.

NO.1

The question, ‘‘Is being poor dangerous’, an easy question to answer for those who suffer from being poor. Yes, it is highly dangerous, spiritually, emotionally, and physically. People usually move to cities in the U.S, and cities are segregated. Each person, family, etc. has a different background, therefore they have a different connection with others unlike themselves. That means different habitus’ and different inequalities, for those who are not rich.

NO.2

This all has to do with the economic structure, between poor, middle class and rich. Segregation is everywhere, and in cities, it is an intermix of ethnicity, citizenship, indigeneity, and class, and when they are intertwined, they create systems of labor, respect and suffering. The physical differences in the conditions of life, especially barbaric. Throughout the hierarchy of suffering, the opportunities decrease and the social hardships increase as you go down the ladder, and depending on what race you are, the more dangerous, psychologically strenuous and physically stressful it can be. Everyone is structurally vulnerable, and each person can participate in what is called the Gray Zone.

NO.3

Primo Levi defines it as the knowledge of the corrupt system but trying to survive within it, whether you’re at the top or at the bottom, and when you are at the bottom, the system is designed to make people remain there. For Mexican workers who choose to make the difficult journey to work in the strawberry fields in Southern California, they are kept segregated by race, class, and citizenship, they have limited opportunities to afford the basic needs we use every single day, either access to affordable healthcare or able to get a decent paying job. Collective bad faith, or as Nancy Scheper-Hughes calls it, is the self deception to help you feel okay about the work you do in the moral gray zone. One example would be the strange concept of naturalization, like black deaths at the hands of police officers. A more basic definition would be seeing an oppressed people and saying that they like being oppressed, making you feel better about the injustice. Since we see it go on for so long, the moral injustice, we normalize it, or that it just part of ‘the game’. The game is to thrive, survive, and suffer in the social world, where you are both dominated and dominant. We justify it because they are different, and say it is normal.

NO.4

‘‘For decades, experts have agreed that racial disparities in health spring from pervasive social and institutional forces. The scientific literature has linked higher rates of death and disease in African Americans to such ‘social determinants’ as residential segregation, environmental waste, joblessness, unsafe housing, targeted marketing of alcohol and cigarettes, and other inequalities; Racism, other researchers suggests, acts as a classic chronic stressor, setting off the same physiological train wreck as job strain or martial conflict: higher blood pressure, elevated heart rate, increases in the stress hormone cortisol, suppressed immunity. Chronic stress is also known to encourage unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking and eating too much, that themselves raise the risk of disease.’’ From How Racism Hurts—Literally.

The Black Women Movements

         NO.1

Many movements came out after the Emancipation (freeing of the slaves) Proclamation, and even though some were hand-chosen, they were mostly male oriented, whereas women movements were pushed aside and forgotten. 

    The Black Women’s National Club Movement was the first woman movement set in the 1890s, where their primary concern was for family and the community. They desired freedom by using centering family values and unity, and the dynamic relationship between black women and men. ‘’Black women organized, throughout the nineteenth century, at first on a local, later on a state and national level, to undertake educational, philanthropic and welfare activities. Urbanization, the urgent needs of the poor in a period of rapid industrialization and the presence of a sizeable group of educated women with leisure led to the emergence of a national club movement of white women after the Civil War. Similar conditions did not begin to operate in the black communities until the 1890s, when local clubs in a number of different cities began almost simultaneously to form federations.’’

       Other movements, like the National Federal of African American women started in 1895, where their concerns were resistance to slavery, black women’s concern for education, the lynching of children, men and women, sexual abuse from white men, healthcare, childcare for orphans, care for the elderly, job training for the youth and various but broad subject for social justice. 

       The National Council of Negro Women was another important movement, ‘’ founded and organized in 1935 by the late Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune for the purpose of planning and directing Negro women to greater economic, social, educational and cultural development in local communities and on the national and international levels. The aspects of the national program are therefore varied and include departments which deal specifically with citizenship education, human relations, international relations, education, labor and industry, archives and museums, public relations, religious education and fellowship, social welfare and youth conservation. The National Program Committee feels that conferences may be used effectively as a technique to synthesize the activities of these various departments.’’

  NO. 2

 Most of these movements were discarded and disbanded because of the lack of support from black men and the racism they were also receiving by white women and men alike. The attitudes of sexism and racism go hand in hand, and as we progress through the centuries, a study comes out of that: Black Women’s Studies. ‘’Black Women’s Studies emerged in part because of the failure of Black and Women’s Studies to address adequately the unique experiences of black women in America and throughout the world. Attempts to celebrate the existence of distinct black female literary tradition in America, which can be traced further back in time, also fall under the rubric of Black Women’s Studies because they acknowledge the politics of sex as well as the politics of race in the texts of black women writers. This celebration has taken place in two phases. The first phase is characterized by efforts to document that such a tradition exists.’’ 

   Education is power, since knowledge, the knowledge of our past and our present can only help us persevere to our future, and that has been denied to us since the time of slavery. ‘’Education has persisted as one of the most consistent themes in the life, thought, struggle, and protest of black Americans. It has been viewed as a major avenue for acquiring first class citizenship. There is a large body of research that takes into account the educational experiences of Afro-Americans. Black female educators such as Mary McLeod Bethune, Charlotte Hawkins Brown, Lucy Laney, Fanny Jackson Coppin and Nannie Helen Burroughs are mentioned in some Afro-American history sources and in some instances are receiving attention in theses and dissertations. While this publication documents ‘the historical significance of black female educators in twentieth century America, beyond the role of teacher’, it is important that we establish to some extent an historical context for understanding the very basic struggle in which black women have been engaged to acquire an education and to utilize that education as a professional.’’

   NO. 3

     The main statement discussed repeatedly in Black Women studies is centered around race, class, gender and sexuality, which all have an important part to play while surviving in America. That it is why it is so important to discuss such serious topics with like-minded individuals, those who yearn for the freedom and privileges that other citizens have, because even though we have our freedom, oppression is still prevalent. Around the world, women of every origin face the same problems. ‘’ The history of women’s movements in the Middle East has received much attention in recent years. Studies have been devoted to the advent of these movements, their development, activities, politics, organizing style and central figures. Preliminary attempts at comparative analysis of these women’s movements have also been made. In 1999, Ellen Fleishmann published a comprehensive comparative article entitled, ‘The Other ‘Awakening’: The Emergence of Women’s Movements in the Modern Middle East, 1900-1940’. In this first stage, ‘The Awakening’, women and men began to raise the issue of women’s status and to question related social practices. This stage is also typified by the emergence of varied women’s organizations and by women’s efforts to enhance girls’ education. In the second stage, ‘‘Women and Nationalism’, women adopted nationalism as a liberating discourse linking their involvement in nationalist movements with women’s emancipation. The third stage, designated ‘State Feminism’, is characterized by ‘women’s co-optation by, and collusion and/or collision with, the state-building project, resulting in the evolution of state feminism.’’

     NO. 4  

 In Ireland, the ‘problems is that most mechanisms for choosing representatives tend to refract, not reflect, the composition of society, and some groups will always be marginalized even if not formally. The Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition is only one example of a movement party. Though unusual, more than 50 women’s parties have formed the world over 1945, in places such as Israel, Belarus, Russia, India, the Philippines, Belgium, and Iran. The experiences of these parties are diverse but in at least two other situations, Iceland and Israel, strong scholarship demonstrates that women’s parties have succeeded in drawing public attention to issues of female marginalization and put ‘gender politics on the political map for the first time.’ In Iceland, in particular, the effect of the women’s party in pressuring the other parties to adapt their behavior and policy commitments to facilitate inclusiveness is well documented.’’

     In conclusion, women deserve to get attention for their efforts to change society just as much as anybody else who has felt the sting of oppression no matter what the gender. Race, sex, class and gender all define who we are in the society, and it is without the benefits of education given to all the people no matter where they come from, are we truly lost.

The History of Greek organizations in Black HBCU's.

NO. 1

Black Greek sororities: black fraternities and sororities have a significant impact on students and faculty, providing them with the tools to success and a good development/enhancement towards good leadership skills. These ‘organizations’, placed on many contemporary cases in the U.S produce hundreds of college future leaders. And though both fraternities and sororities produce academic success, lower dropout rates, and leadership opportunities for those members, one of the critiques is that it also excludes others from similar opportunities.

N0. 2

‘‘Among African American students, two student collegiate groups—Black student organizations and historically Black Greek-letter organizations (BGO’s)—have been found to be the benefactors of leadership experiences unique to their culture and to create unique leadership opportunities for their members. Despite these plaudits, fraternities and sororities have received increased negative publicity in recent years, causing many in society, and in higher education specifically, to question the rights of these organizations to exist, due to recent serious and widely publicized pledging (or hazing) cases.’’

N0.3

Hazing as a ritual is seen as no more than bullying and brings extensive problems to the life of a college student trying to fit in, as she/he is subject to peer pressure by other students. Many of these concerns of BGO’s were up to question and remained unresolved, like the legitimacy of ‘Greek life’ as it relates to the academic vision of higher education. ‘‘Between 1906 and 1920, eight of the most prominent Black Greek-letter organizations were established. The creation of the Black fraternity had a dual purpose.

No. 4

First, these organizations were established for the greater purpose of pooling the resources of African Americans in the hopes of acquiring an education. Second, these organizations were formed as an attempt by Black students to gain acceptance into American society. Despite the great influence and vast membership that these organizations possess, the activities of the Black Greek letter organization have included secret meetings, selective membership, and a preference for lighter-complexed members. Moreover, the failure and shortcomings of the Black Greek-letter organization have allowed Black elites to create a separate privileged society based on snobbery and arrogance and have thus enabled these organizations to perpetuate the vicious cycle of racial prejudice and White Supremacy.

MAG-FUCKING-NIFICENT!!!