niyad
niyad's Journal'Why must we be silent?': horrific attack in Kyrgyzstan puts focus on violence against women
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Case in which man cut off his ex-wife’s nose and ears – while on probation for raping her – causes huge debate in country where femicide and domestic abuse rife
Last modified on Fri 27 Oct 2023 05.53 EDT
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Asel Nogoibaeva sits up in her hospital bed, with her mutilated face hidden behind bandages so only her eyes can be seen. In a hushed voice, she recounts the day last month when her ex-husband turned longstanding abuse and threats into a vicious attack at the home she shared with her sons in Selektsionnoye, in northern Kyrgyzstan. “He hit me twice on the head with his fists, then began to strangle me,” she says. “I heard my youngest son screaming and crying, then I lost consciousness. I woke up on the kitchen floor. Everything was covered in blood.” Nogoibaeva could not work out where the blood was coming from. It was only later that she found out that her ex-husband had cut off her nose and ears.
. . .
Nogoibaeva’s is just the latest of many similar cases of femicide and violence against women in Kyrgyzstan, a mountainous central Asian country where activists say public indifference is exacerbating the problem. Campaigners at the Femicide in Kyrgyzstan project have identified at least 300 murders of women – at the hands of their husbands, boyfriends or former partners – between 2008 and 2020. In 70% of the cases, the killer attempted to dispose of the body to hide the crime, they said. During the first eight months of 2023, 8,512 cases of domestic violence were officially registered, according to the ministry of internal affairs. Just 2% have gone to trial. In 2022, only 2,709 of 6,580 registered domestic violence cases went to trial.
. . . .
?width=620&dpr=1&s=none
Asel Nogoibaeva: ‘I cried with fear. I told the court that he came to my house and said he would kill me, but they didn’t listen.’ Photograph: Aigerim Turgunbaeva
Her lawyers and relatives are calling for an investigation into the actions of the judge who released Estebesov. They also want an explanation as to why police ignored her complaints after he had broken the terms of five restraining orders in the past year. The case has caused a debate in Kyrgyzstan, with a lot of sympathy for the family but also criticism of them for going public. Shortly after Nogoibaeva spoke out, one MP, Mirlan Samyikozho, said such cases should not be discussed publicly. “It is necessary to control where such information comes from and who distributes it,” he told parliament.
Tinatin Kataganova, Nogoibaeva’s mother, says only public outrage could change the culture of violence in the country. “Some MPs say we should not give interviews and not talk about what happened. Why should we be silent? After all, it is the judicial system that is to blame for the fact that my daughter went through so much and was on the verge of death. The judge must be punished,” she says. She adds that while there may be a public outcry over individual cases, many people in the country accept that violence and humiliation of women by their husbands are simply facts of life.
In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/oct/27/why-must-we-be-silent-horrific-attack-in-kyrgyzstan-puts-focus-on-violence-against-women
'Why must we be silent?': horrific attack in Kyrgyzstan puts focus on violence against women
‘Why must we be silent?’: horrific attack in Kyrgyzstan puts focus on violence against women
Case in which man cut off his ex-wife’s nose and ears – while on probation for raping her – causes huge debate in country where femicide and domestic abuse rife
Last modified on Fri 27 Oct 2023 05.53 EDT
?width=620&dpr=1&s=none
Asel Nogoibaeva sits up in her hospital bed, with her mutilated face hidden behind bandages so only her eyes can be seen. In a hushed voice, she recounts the day last month when her ex-husband turned longstanding abuse and threats into a vicious attack at the home she shared with her sons in Selektsionnoye, in northern Kyrgyzstan. “He hit me twice on the head with his fists, then began to strangle me,” she says. “I heard my youngest son screaming and crying, then I lost consciousness. I woke up on the kitchen floor. Everything was covered in blood.” Nogoibaeva could not work out where the blood was coming from. It was only later that she found out that her ex-husband had cut off her nose and ears.
. . .
Nogoibaeva’s is just the latest of many similar cases of femicide and violence against women in Kyrgyzstan, a mountainous central Asian country where activists say public indifference is exacerbating the problem. Campaigners at the Femicide in Kyrgyzstan project have identified at least 300 murders of women – at the hands of their husbands, boyfriends or former partners – between 2008 and 2020. In 70% of the cases, the killer attempted to dispose of the body to hide the crime, they said. During the first eight months of 2023, 8,512 cases of domestic violence were officially registered, according to the ministry of internal affairs. Just 2% have gone to trial. In 2022, only 2,709 of 6,580 registered domestic violence cases went to trial.
. . . .
?width=620&dpr=1&s=none
Asel Nogoibaeva: ‘I cried with fear. I told the court that he came to my house and said he would kill me, but they didn’t listen.’ Photograph: Aigerim Turgunbaeva
Her lawyers and relatives are calling for an investigation into the actions of the judge who released Estebesov. They also want an explanation as to why police ignored her complaints after he had broken the terms of five restraining orders in the past year. The case has caused a debate in Kyrgyzstan, with a lot of sympathy for the family but also criticism of them for going public. Shortly after Nogoibaeva spoke out, one MP, Mirlan Samyikozho, said such cases should not be discussed publicly. “It is necessary to control where such information comes from and who distributes it,” he told parliament.
Tinatin Kataganova, Nogoibaeva’s mother, says only public outrage could change the culture of violence in the country. “Some MPs say we should not give interviews and not talk about what happened. Why should we be silent? After all, it is the judicial system that is to blame for the fact that my daughter went through so much and was on the verge of death. The judge must be punished,” she says. She adds that while there may be a public outcry over individual cases, many people in the country accept that violence and humiliation of women by their husbands are simply facts of life.
In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/oct/27/why-must-we-be-silent-horrific-attack-in-kyrgyzstan-puts-focus-on-violence-against-women
'Why must we be silent?': horrific attack in Kyrgyzstan puts focus on violence against women
‘Why must we be silent?’: horrific attack in Kyrgyzstan puts focus on violence against women
Case in which man cut off his ex-wife’s nose and ears – while on probation for raping her – causes huge debate in country where femicide and domestic abuse rife
Last modified on Fri 27 Oct 2023 05.53 EDT
?width=620&dpr=1&s=none
Asel Nogoibaeva sits up in her hospital bed, with her mutilated face hidden behind bandages so only her eyes can be seen. In a hushed voice, she recounts the day last month when her ex-husband turned longstanding abuse and threats into a vicious attack at the home she shared with her sons in Selektsionnoye, in northern Kyrgyzstan. “He hit me twice on the head with his fists, then began to strangle me,” she says. “I heard my youngest son screaming and crying, then I lost consciousness. I woke up on the kitchen floor. Everything was covered in blood.” Nogoibaeva could not work out where the blood was coming from. It was only later that she found out that her ex-husband had cut off her nose and ears.
. . .
Nogoibaeva’s is just the latest of many similar cases of femicide and violence against women in Kyrgyzstan, a mountainous central Asian country where activists say public indifference is exacerbating the problem. Campaigners at the Femicide in Kyrgyzstan project have identified at least 300 murders of women – at the hands of their husbands, boyfriends or former partners – between 2008 and 2020. In 70% of the cases, the killer attempted to dispose of the body to hide the crime, they said. During the first eight months of 2023, 8,512 cases of domestic violence were officially registered, according to the ministry of internal affairs. Just 2% have gone to trial. In 2022, only 2,709 of 6,580 registered domestic violence cases went to trial.
. . . .
?width=620&dpr=1&s=none
Asel Nogoibaeva: ‘I cried with fear. I told the court that he came to my house and said he would kill me, but they didn’t listen.’ Photograph: Aigerim Turgunbaeva
Her lawyers and relatives are calling for an investigation into the actions of the judge who released Estebesov. They also want an explanation as to why police ignored her complaints after he had broken the terms of five restraining orders in the past year. The case has caused a debate in Kyrgyzstan, with a lot of sympathy for the family but also criticism of them for going public. Shortly after Nogoibaeva spoke out, one MP, Mirlan Samyikozho, said such cases should not be discussed publicly. “It is necessary to control where such information comes from and who distributes it,” he told parliament.
Tinatin Kataganova, Nogoibaeva’s mother, says only public outrage could change the culture of violence in the country. “Some MPs say we should not give interviews and not talk about what happened. Why should we be silent? After all, it is the judicial system that is to blame for the fact that my daughter went through so much and was on the verge of death. The judge must be punished,” she says. She adds that while there may be a public outcry over individual cases, many people in the country accept that violence and humiliation of women by their husbands are simply facts of life.
In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/oct/27/why-must-we-be-silent-horrific-attack-in-kyrgyzstan-puts-focus-on-violence-against-women
Welcome To Wonkette Happy Hour, With This Week's Cocktail, Corpse Reviver #2!
Welcome To Wonkette Happy Hour, With This Week's Cocktail, Corpse Reviver #2!
For that voodoo you do.
Matthew Hooper
Oct 27, 2023
Is Not Actually A Scary Cocktail. It’s super light and refreshing.
https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F69a712ec-939b-471e-8a02-44337b9881b1_4032x3024.jpeg
Greetings, Wonketeers! I’m Hooper, your bartender. Today I’ve got a refreshing pick-me-up for your Halloween cocktail — a little sumpin-sumpin to get you perked up before Halloween sets in, or to help you recover from the evening’s festivities. Let’s unearth another classic cocktail and serve up a Corpse Reviver #2. Here’s the recipe:
Corpse Reviver #2
1 oz. Boodles Gin
1 oz. Lilet Blanc
1 oz. lemon juice
1 oz. Stirrings Natural Triple Sec
Absinthe
1 star anise pod
Spray a mist of absinthe over (not into) a chilled coupe glass. Shake remaining ingredients and double strain into the chilled coupe. Garnish with a star anise pod.
The Corpse Reviver is one of a series of cocktails designed to pick you up after a hard night of drinking, in a “hair of the dog that bit you” sort of fashion. The original Corpse Reviver may date back as far as 1871; there’s record of one monster of a cocktail that features half a wine glass of brandy(!), half a wine glass of Maraschino liquor(!!), and two dashes of bitters (...why?). That much liquor is definitely a pick-me-up for the damned. The Corpse Reviver #2 first showed up in Harry Craddock’s Savoy cocktail book in 1930; Trader Vic copied the recipe faithfully in Trader Vic’s Bartender Guide as well. Craddock helpfully points out that “Four of these taken in swift succession will unrevive the corpse again.”
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The numbering on the Corpse Revivers gets a little vague. There are probably four, but some purists insist that a given cocktail might be #3a, instead of #4. I’ve heard rumors of a Corpse Reviver #Blue, which uses blue curacao instead of triple sec. The #4 is a glorious hobgoblin of a drink — one part each of brandy, Fernet, and white creme de menthe. As a Fernet fanatic, I’d guzzle this in a heartbeat (and then probably run for the bathroom). The various Corpse Revivers don’t have a lot in common, but I believe that the successful ones use a strong spice and herbal component to jump-start the target.
In the Corpse Reviver #2, the combination of absinthe and lemon juice is what gets you back on your feet. Absinthe shows up fairly often in classic cocktails but only as a rinse or mist. The Vieux Carre, a classic New Orleans cocktail that still hangs on in some bars, is a prime example. Absinthe is heavily anise flavored, extremely sweet, and is generally high proof. Quality absinthe will turn cloudy when you add cold water to it; the fennel and star anise will precipitate out of the alcohol solution, creating what liquor snobs call the absinthe “louche.” Louche is a really cool phenomenon; the guys at Serious Eats talk a lot about it here.
Absinthe is pretty amazing, but it will definitely not make you hallucinate. The miniscule amounts of modern absinthe we use in cocktails are harmless. Old-school absinthe doesn’t seem to encourage sightings of the green fairy either. A moral panic, stoked by struggling French brandy distillers, seems to be the root cause of that myth. The tipping point came in 1904, when Jean Lanfray, a Swiss laborer, murdered his wife and two little daughters, and his defense attorneys claimed he had been suffering psychosis from the absinthe he had drunk with lunch. They neglected to mention the seven glasses of wine, six glasses of cognac, one coffee laced with brandy, and two crème de menthes Lanfray had already consumed. The damage was done, however, and outraged citizens signed petitions to ban absinthe in Switzerland. Other nations followed, and the industry was obliterated. It’s a testament to the strength of the myth of absinthe madness that the spirit is only now making a comeback.
Let’s talk ingredients:
https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1aac5380-fd78-4ed7-b320-450f7554db32_4032x3024.jpeg
Ingredient Shot. The cocktail shambled off to its end shortly after this photograph was taken.
. . . .
https://www.wonkette.com/p/welcome-to-wonkette-happy-hour-with-e40
Why are women in 'feminist paradise' Iceland striking?
( a most important read)
Why are women in ‘feminist paradise’ Iceland striking?
While Iceland is viewed as a great place to be a woman, many feel there is still room for improvement.
?resize=770%2C513&quality=80
Prime Minister Jakobsdottir told local media that she would not be coming into work, urging her colleagues in cabinet to do the same. [File: Markus Schreiber/AP Photo]
Published On 24 Oct 202324 Oct 2023
Tens of thousands of Icelandic women, including the country’s female prime minister, are taking to the streets on Tuesday in a nationwide protest against gender inequality and sexual violence. Billed as the biggest women’s strike in decades, the walkout will see women drop all paid and unpaid work – including domestic tasks – for the day, waving banners reading “Kallarou þetta jafnretti?” (“You call this equality?”). Iceland is widely considered to be a great place to be a woman, ranking number one in the World Economic Forum’s gender gap index for 14 years in a row. The country is led by a woman – Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdottir. Nearly half of its MPs are female. A high number hold managerial and executive positions. Parental leave conditions for mothers and fathers are so good that nearly 90 percent of working-age women have jobs.
?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80
Icelandic Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir talks to supporters of her Left-Green Movement at a party event in Reykjavik on September 25, 2021. Jakobsdottir is today joining a nationwide women’s strike against gender inequality [Tom Little / AFP]
. .
Why are women striking? While Iceland is viewed as an equality paradise, many women feel there is still room for improvement.
Women still lag behind men in terms of earnings despite equal pay rules dating back to 1961. In 2018, lawmakers went further, obliging companies to prove they are not paying women less than men. Yet inequality persists. According to Statistics Iceland, the overall pay gap was 10.2 percent in 2021, widening to 29.7 percent in finance and insurance jobs. Women are also more likely to work in undervalued, lower-paid jobs, such as teaching or healthcare.
And toxic masculinity persists. More than 40 percent of women have experienced gender-based or sexual violence. A study by the University of Iceland in 2018 revealed that one in four women had been raped or sexually assaulted, with most reported cases failing to make it to trial.
. . . .
?w=309&resize=511%2C340&quality=80
Johanna Sigurdardottir, Iceland’s former prime minister, awaits the start of a televised election debate in Reykjavik, April 24, 2009. After her election in 2010, Sigurdardottir would become the world’s first openly gay head of government [Bob Strong/Reuters]
. . .
But the dozens of organisations behind today’s strike say that the demands of 1975 have still not been met. While some might question the need for today’s action, Steingrimsdottir insisted that it was precisely because of Iceland’s global reputation that it had a responsibility to live up to expectations.
https://www.aljazeera.com/editorial/2023/10/24/why-are-women-in-feminist-paradise-iceland-striking
Why are women in 'feminist paradise' Iceland striking?
( a most important read)
Why are women in ‘feminist paradise’ Iceland striking?
While Iceland is viewed as a great place to be a woman, many feel there is still room for improvement.
?resize=770%2C513&quality=80
Prime Minister Jakobsdottir told local media that she would not be coming into work, urging her colleagues in cabinet to do the same. [File: Markus Schreiber/AP Photo]
Published On 24 Oct 202324 Oct 2023
Tens of thousands of Icelandic women, including the country’s female prime minister, are taking to the streets on Tuesday in a nationwide protest against gender inequality and sexual violence. Billed as the biggest women’s strike in decades, the walkout will see women drop all paid and unpaid work – including domestic tasks – for the day, waving banners reading “Kallarou þetta jafnretti?” (“You call this equality?”). Iceland is widely considered to be a great place to be a woman, ranking number one in the World Economic Forum’s gender gap index for 14 years in a row. The country is led by a woman – Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdottir. Nearly half of its MPs are female. A high number hold managerial and executive positions. Parental leave conditions for mothers and fathers are so good that nearly 90 percent of working-age women have jobs.
?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80
Icelandic Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir talks to supporters of her Left-Green Movement at a party event in Reykjavik on September 25, 2021. Jakobsdottir is today joining a nationwide women’s strike against gender inequality [Tom Little / AFP]
. .
Why are women striking? While Iceland is viewed as an equality paradise, many women feel there is still room for improvement.
Women still lag behind men in terms of earnings despite equal pay rules dating back to 1961. In 2018, lawmakers went further, obliging companies to prove they are not paying women less than men. Yet inequality persists. According to Statistics Iceland, the overall pay gap was 10.2 percent in 2021, widening to 29.7 percent in finance and insurance jobs. Women are also more likely to work in undervalued, lower-paid jobs, such as teaching or healthcare.
And toxic masculinity persists. More than 40 percent of women have experienced gender-based or sexual violence. A study by the University of Iceland in 2018 revealed that one in four women had been raped or sexually assaulted, with most reported cases failing to make it to trial.
. . . .
?w=309&resize=511%2C340&quality=80
Johanna Sigurdardottir, Iceland’s former prime minister, awaits the start of a televised election debate in Reykjavik, April 24, 2009. After her election in 2010, Sigurdardottir would become the world’s first openly gay head of government [Bob Strong/Reuters]
. . .
But the dozens of organisations behind today’s strike say that the demands of 1975 have still not been met. While some might question the need for today’s action, Steingrimsdottir insisted that it was precisely because of Iceland’s global reputation that it had a responsibility to live up to expectations.
https://www.aljazeera.com/editorial/2023/10/24/why-are-women-in-feminist-paradise-iceland-striking
Why are women in 'feminist paradise' Iceland striking?
( a most important read)
Why are women in ‘feminist paradise’ Iceland striking?
While Iceland is viewed as a great place to be a woman, many feel there is still room for improvement.
?resize=770%2C513&quality=80
Prime Minister Jakobsdottir told local media that she would not be coming into work, urging her colleagues in cabinet to do the same. [File: Markus Schreiber/AP Photo]
Published On 24 Oct 202324 Oct 2023
Tens of thousands of Icelandic women, including the country’s female prime minister, are taking to the streets on Tuesday in a nationwide protest against gender inequality and sexual violence. Billed as the biggest women’s strike in decades, the walkout will see women drop all paid and unpaid work – including domestic tasks – for the day, waving banners reading “Kallarou þetta jafnretti?” (“You call this equality?”). Iceland is widely considered to be a great place to be a woman, ranking number one in the World Economic Forum’s gender gap index for 14 years in a row. The country is led by a woman – Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdottir. Nearly half of its MPs are female. A high number hold managerial and executive positions. Parental leave conditions for mothers and fathers are so good that nearly 90 percent of working-age women have jobs.
?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80
Icelandic Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir talks to supporters of her Left-Green Movement at a party event in Reykjavik on September 25, 2021. Jakobsdottir is today joining a nationwide women’s strike against gender inequality [Tom Little / AFP]
. .
Why are women striking? While Iceland is viewed as an equality paradise, many women feel there is still room for improvement.
Women still lag behind men in terms of earnings despite equal pay rules dating back to 1961. In 2018, lawmakers went further, obliging companies to prove they are not paying women less than men. Yet inequality persists. According to Statistics Iceland, the overall pay gap was 10.2 percent in 2021, widening to 29.7 percent in finance and insurance jobs. Women are also more likely to work in undervalued, lower-paid jobs, such as teaching or healthcare.
And toxic masculinity persists. More than 40 percent of women have experienced gender-based or sexual violence. A study by the University of Iceland in 2018 revealed that one in four women had been raped or sexually assaulted, with most reported cases failing to make it to trial.
. . . .
?w=309&resize=511%2C340&quality=80
Johanna Sigurdardottir, Iceland’s former prime minister, awaits the start of a televised election debate in Reykjavik, April 24, 2009. After her election in 2010, Sigurdardottir would become the world’s first openly gay head of government [Bob Strong/Reuters]
. . .
But the dozens of organisations behind today’s strike say that the demands of 1975 have still not been met. While some might question the need for today’s action, Steingrimsdottir insisted that it was precisely because of Iceland’s global reputation that it had a responsibility to live up to expectations.
https://www.aljazeera.com/editorial/2023/10/24/why-are-women-in-feminist-paradise-iceland-striking
The Wonderful Karma of Black Women Saving American Democracy
(A most informative, lengthy read)
The Wonderful Karma of Black Women Saving American Democracy
10/22/2023 by Robert S. McElvaine
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has succeeded in getting Donald Trump’s co-conspirators—especially key insiders Sydney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro—to plead guilty and testify against the former president and others. This move is the latest example of Black women leading the way in defense of our endangered democracy. “The horror … the horror,” Marlon Brando’s Col. Kurtz whispered at the end of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 film, Apocalypse Now. Something similar is likely what Donald Trump is thinking, who faces being made to wear “one of those jumpsuits” in prison. Still, most of us who believe in U.S. ideals, will have the appropriate reaction to the prominent roles Black women—people in two of the categories who were long excluded from the promise of American democracy—are playing in opposing Trump’s attempts to undermine American democracy: “The beauty … the beauty.”
Fani Willis began her comprehensive investigation of the plot to steal the election as it was still ongoing in January 2021. For more than two years, she and her team put together the enormity of the conspiracy for American citizens to see. Now she has gotten key attorneys who conspired with Trump to flip. Stacey Abrams and numerous other African American women in Fair Fight and other organizations registered and got to the polls the voters that provided the margin of victory for Biden (and for a Democratic Senate through the election of Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock).
. . .
Even as they were excluded, as Richardson wrote, “Black people, people of color, women, and workers had never lost sight of the Declaration of Independence.” In times of “pervasive and violent repression, people who were legally excluded from equality kept the idea of American democracy alive for everyone.” What the Black women in the forefront of saving American democracy today understand is that because it means rule from below, democracy is feminism and democracy is racial equality.
Donald Trump has spent his life practicing misogyny and racism. In that, he is a living relic of the anti-American ideals side of our history, which makes the central role of Black women in blocking his attempt to end American democracy especially fitting. Here’s where one would say, “Karma’s a bitch,” but that word, like almost all other derogatory terms we use, associates evil with women and is utterly sexist. So, let’s say instead: Karma is beautiful.
https://msmagazine.com/2023/10/22/fani-willis-black-women-democracy/
The Wonderful Karma of Black Women Saving American Democracy
(A most informative, lengthy read)
The Wonderful Karma of Black Women Saving American Democracy
10/22/2023 by Robert S. McElvaine
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has succeeded in getting Donald Trump’s co-conspirators—especially key insiders Sydney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro—to plead guilty and testify against the former president and others. This move is the latest example of Black women leading the way in defense of our endangered democracy. “The horror … the horror,” Marlon Brando’s Col. Kurtz whispered at the end of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 film, Apocalypse Now. Something similar is likely what Donald Trump is thinking, who faces being made to wear “one of those jumpsuits” in prison. Still, most of us who believe in U.S. ideals, will have the appropriate reaction to the prominent roles Black women—people in two of the categories who were long excluded from the promise of American democracy—are playing in opposing Trump’s attempts to undermine American democracy: “The beauty … the beauty.”
Fani Willis began her comprehensive investigation of the plot to steal the election as it was still ongoing in January 2021. For more than two years, she and her team put together the enormity of the conspiracy for American citizens to see. Now she has gotten key attorneys who conspired with Trump to flip. Stacey Abrams and numerous other African American women in Fair Fight and other organizations registered and got to the polls the voters that provided the margin of victory for Biden (and for a Democratic Senate through the election of Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock).
. . .
Even as they were excluded, as Richardson wrote, “Black people, people of color, women, and workers had never lost sight of the Declaration of Independence.” In times of “pervasive and violent repression, people who were legally excluded from equality kept the idea of American democracy alive for everyone.” What the Black women in the forefront of saving American democracy today understand is that because it means rule from below, democracy is feminism and democracy is racial equality.
Donald Trump has spent his life practicing misogyny and racism. In that, he is a living relic of the anti-American ideals side of our history, which makes the central role of Black women in blocking his attempt to end American democracy especially fitting. Here’s where one would say, “Karma’s a bitch,” but that word, like almost all other derogatory terms we use, associates evil with women and is utterly sexist. So, let’s say instead: Karma is beautiful.
https://msmagazine.com/2023/10/22/fani-willis-black-women-democracy/
The Wonderful Karma of Black Women Saving American Democracy
(A most informative, lengthy read)
The Wonderful Karma of Black Women Saving American Democracy
10/22/2023 by Robert S. McElvaine
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has succeeded in getting Donald Trump’s co-conspirators—especially key insiders Sydney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro—to plead guilty and testify against the former president and others. This move is the latest example of Black women leading the way in defense of our endangered democracy. “The horror … the horror,” Marlon Brando’s Col. Kurtz whispered at the end of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 film, Apocalypse Now. Something similar is likely what Donald Trump is thinking, who faces being made to wear “one of those jumpsuits” in prison. Still, most of us who believe in U.S. ideals, will have the appropriate reaction to the prominent roles Black women—people in two of the categories who were long excluded from the promise of American democracy—are playing in opposing Trump’s attempts to undermine American democracy: “The beauty … the beauty.”
Fani Willis began her comprehensive investigation of the plot to steal the election as it was still ongoing in January 2021. For more than two years, she and her team put together the enormity of the conspiracy for American citizens to see. Now she has gotten key attorneys who conspired with Trump to flip. Stacey Abrams and numerous other African American women in Fair Fight and other organizations registered and got to the polls the voters that provided the margin of victory for Biden (and for a Democratic Senate through the election of Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock).
. . .
Even as they were excluded, as Richardson wrote, “Black people, people of color, women, and workers had never lost sight of the Declaration of Independence.” In times of “pervasive and violent repression, people who were legally excluded from equality kept the idea of American democracy alive for everyone.” What the Black women in the forefront of saving American democracy today understand is that because it means rule from below, democracy is feminism and democracy is racial equality.
Donald Trump has spent his life practicing misogyny and racism. In that, he is a living relic of the anti-American ideals side of our history, which makes the central role of Black women in blocking his attempt to end American democracy especially fitting. Here’s where one would say, “Karma’s a bitch,” but that word, like almost all other derogatory terms we use, associates evil with women and is utterly sexist. So, let’s say instead: Karma is beautiful.
https://msmagazine.com/2023/10/22/fani-willis-black-women-democracy/
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