Tag Archives: social justice

Policy

Trigger Warning: Survivors’ Agenda

Are you a survivor of sexual abuse, assault, or harassment, or of domestic or intimate partner violence? If so, Survivors’ Agenda wants to hear from you to help shape policy, education, and community initiatives. You can stay anonymous, skip any questions, and answer others as fully as you want.

We are a collective of organizations who believe that survivors should shape the national conversation on sexual violence. The Survivor’s Agenda will be written and informed by your input and used to call for people in power to pass laws and enact institutional and systemic change on behalf of survivors, and for more survivors themselves to be positioned to help drive change.

This survey is anonymous, and will take about 15 minutes to complete. Participation is not a requirement to work with or receive services from any organization. You do not need to identify as a “survivor” to take this survey, though we are interested in hearing from people who have experienced some form of gendered or sexual violence or harassment at any point in their lives.

Social justice

On Capitalizing Color When Talking About Race

I have, for some time, mostly consistently used a capital B to begin ‘black’ when it refers to a racialized and demographic grouping. I have done this for a few reasons: to show respect, confer social power, and reduce or eliminate ambiguity. I have not been capitalizing ‘white’ for two reasons: because I associate that usage style with White supremacists and White nationalists, and because White people as a group don’t need any more empowerment. I have not capitalized ‘brown’ because I have not seen that usage style used more than a handful of times, and those only in academic contexts. Today, my mind has been changed, and I will be changing the style guide (such as it is) for Damnwalr.us going forward to capitalize all racialized groupings.

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Current events, People

RIP John Lewis

Today we are grieving the loss of longtime member of Congress and personal hero Representative John Lewis of Georgia, as well as celebrating his life and tremendous contributions to American civil rights. I’m sure most of you are well aware of his work both in the Civil Rights Movement and in Congress, where he served as a conscience for the body, speaking to colleagues about the effects legislation and policy could and did have on Americans, especially his constituents in Atlanta. Continue reading RIP John Lewis →

Social justice

Social Justice Walrus

“SJW” is commonly used as a pejorative by the American right wing these days. According to Google Trends, the term “social justice warrior” was first used in August 2011, picked up steam in 2014 and 2015, and hit its peak (so far) in December 2016, the month after failed businessman Donald Trump was declared the winner of the American presidential election. “SJW” quickly followed as a recognized shorthand for “social justice warrior”.

Continue reading Social Justice Walrus →