Monthly Archives: November 2015

An Attack By Any Other Face is Terrorism

24 Tuesday Nov 2015

Posted by in Race and Racism

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Five Black Lives Matter protesters were shot last night.

They were shot approximately one block from Minneapolis’ 4th Police District Headquarters, where they were exercising their constitutional rights to assembly and free speech to demand justice for the extrajudicial killing of unarmed, 24-year-old Jamar Clark. They were shot by white supremacists who quickly escalated from online plotting of confrontations with BLM protesters to taunting protesters in person to opening fire, and yet police are still not sure whether or not to call it a “hate crime.” Let’s be frank — this wasn’t a hate crime, it was terrorism.

Even scarier is that it’s having  its intended effect. Continue reading →

Refugees and Feminism

20 Friday Nov 2015

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After the Paris terrorist attacks, a plethora of US state governors came out against welcoming refugees to their state. This sort of xenophobic isolationism is nothing new, but it is incredibly dangerous. The ability of people displaced by conflict to find safe passage to a safe destination is a moral imperative, and, what’s more, it’s a feminist issue.

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Women Rabbis in Orthodox Judaism: The saga continues

10 Tuesday Nov 2015

Posted by in Empowerment

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This post is written by a guest contributor, Chavie G. 

While women rabbis are fully accepted within the Conservative and Reform movements, the legitimacy of women Rabbis, or even of women taking on roles traditionally associated with those of rabbis, is hotly contested among followers of Orthodox Judaism.  The disagreement intensified when, last week, the Rabbinical Council of America, currently the major Jewish Orthodox rabbinical council in the United States, released a statement forbidding its members from ordaining or employing women rabbis or any women taking on a role that resembles being a woman rabbi.

A quiet-yet-stern backlash ensued from liberal orthodox Jewish communities, with some orthodox Jewish leaders declaring the RCA vote of having been more political than religious.  Others pointed out the importance of women’s formal involvement in legal interpretation within a religion so heavily based upon a traditional legal code.  The controversy continues to reverberate even into this week, and a lot of really good writing has come out of it about the importance of formal opportunities for women’s leadership in Orthodox Judaism, and about the experiences of the women who are forging the way toward new roles for women in Orthodox religion and society. Continue reading →

Speak up and stop this shit

04 Wednesday Nov 2015

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Content note for police violence against children of color.

Last week in South Carolina, a white school officer, Deputy Ben Fields — or officer slam, as he has been known among the school’s students prior to this incident — attacked a non-resisting, silent teenage girl by violently throwing her from her seat, causing her multiple physical injuries and emotional trauma.  Her crime?  Earlier in the class period, she did not immediately comply with a teacher’s request to put away her cell phone.  Additionally, she was black.

Fortunately, one of her classmates took out his phone and videotaped the encounter.  In the video, as many have pointed out, it is clear that the officer made no attempt at intervention, other than to move the girl’s laptop off her desk, indicating that he had decided to attack her (which is the proper verb for when an adult man throws a teenage girl onto the ground) from the very beginning of the encounter. Continue reading →