Transcript: “We are dying here. And I cannot fathom the thought that the greatest nation in the world cannot figure out the logistics for a small island of 100 miles by 35 miles. So, I am asking President of the United States to make sure somebody is in charge that is up to the task of saving lives. If anybody out there is listening to us: we are dying. And you are killing us with the inefficiency and the bureaucracy. We will make it with or without you because what stands behind me is all due to the generosity of other people. Again, this is what we got last night: four pallets of water, three pallets of meals and 12 pallets of infant food which, I gave them to Comerío, where people are drinking out of a creek. So I am done being polite. I am done being politically correct. I am mad as hell. So I’m asking members of the press to send a mayday call all over the world. We are dying here. And if we don’t stop and if we don’t get the food and the water into people’s hands, what we we are going to see is something close to a genocide.“
What does it mean when the State goes to such lengths to avoid upholding even a facade of accountability? They’re afraid. Because it’s not just the cops, not just the courts, this runs to the heart of the USA, of America. From settler colonialism, to white supremacy, to capitalism, the Police exist to uphold these processes which are ongoing, under the guise of “Law and Order”. They’re scared that they can be stopped. They’re scared we can stop them.
wait….are any americans aware that the cia overthrew the democratically-elected premier of iran in 1953 because he wouldn’t concede to western oil demands….and how that coup was the reason for the shah’s return to power, the iranian revolution, and the resulting fundamentalist dictatorship…..like, america literally dissolved iranian democracy and no one knows about it???
No. No we don’t know about it.
Americans aren’t told this shit.
The only thing we’re taught about any Middle Eastern country in school is that 1) the region exists 2) it’s where The War is happening and 3) Muslim people live there. That’s it. Maybe if you’re lucky you’ll get into the Hammurabi Code and some early Babylonian stuff but American schools seem to think that if it happened outside Europe and before the colonial period, or makes America look bad and isn’t about A Very Watered Down Version of What Slavery Was, it’s not important.
Info on this is almost notoriously hard to find. It’s not in any texts on American and Russian involvement in the Middle East during the Cold War that I can find. You have to specifically look for a book about the Shah’s return to power, and even then you’d be hard pressed to find a book like that at your local bookstore. Once you get into some higher level college courses you might know about it, but the people who can afford those are more likely to already be indoctrinated into a certain Way of Thinking (read: they’re racist as shit) by the time they get there. And it’s almost like you have to know about it beforehand if you want to find information on it.
The only reason I knew about it is because there’s a thirty second summary of the event in Persepolis. Those thirty seconds flipped my entire worldview.
“All the Shah’s Men” by Stephen Kinzer is a good, accessible text for people who want to know more about this.
!!!
I had to explain literally this to one of my co-workers, who is so fuckin racist against Middle Eastern people it’s insane.
She’s 60. She never heard of this.
As I was explaining this and how, during the Regan years, we funded Osama Bin Laden to fight against Russia, leading to the destruction of much of the infrastructure in the region, one of the plant workers came in to get his badge fixed.
He works in the quality control lab. He served 15 years active duty in the Army. Super smart guy, has a masters in chemistry and another masters in biology, raises saltwater fish in his spare time for sale, has the saltwater aquarium setup of the gods. Raises rare corals too, some of which he donates to be used in re-seeding reefs around the world, but that’s a side tangent.
And he listened for a minute, then nodded and said “Yeah. I was there during that. I helped train people to fight. They wanted us to help them build schools and hospitals, after, but we were only interested in them as cannon fodder. Left the whole area in ruins. I wasn’t surprised when they hated us for it later. Told people then it would happen. We let them know then that they were only valuable to America as expendable bodies. Why wouldn’t they resent us for that?”
And she just looked floored.
“So…” She started, after a few minutes. “What do you think of Trump?”
“I hate him. He’s a coward and he’s going to get good people killed.” He didn’t even blink. “
She looked back and forth between us for a second, and then asked how I knew all this.
“I research things.” I said. “Google is great.” He nodded enthusiastically.
And she just sat there for a second and then said, really quietly, “I didn’t know.”
She lived through it.
American schools don’t teach you any of this sort of thing.
I thought of Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi too. Never underestimate the power of a good book.
Every year in my entire schooling in small town Indiana, we’d start the year studying the revolutionary war. By the end of the year we would reach world war 2. The next year, the cycle would repeat. Every year. Revolutionary war to world war 2. Rinse and repeat.
We never studied the Vietnam War. Korea. No current events. No ancient cultures. No history of other countries. When 9-11 happened I was in high school, and me and my classmates legitimately had no idea who would attack the U.S. or why. We were baffled. Because we were taught our entire lives that America is always the good guy.
the new york times and the washington post both waited until air force one took off, then each published separate Really Big stories with not a ton of overlap, almost like they’d made a backroom deal to decide which paper got which story and that they should both wait until the president was out of the country to drop them
Do not leave disabled people out of your activism. This was a disabled POC. She needed her medication and was denied that. People with disibilities are more likely to suffer abuse by government agencies and those who are minorities are at a higher risk. Her name was Ralkina Jones and she was a disabled black women who is dead because of ableism and racism.
AAAJ (Asian Americans Advancing Justice) has created a website here where you can report anti-Asian hate crimes.
This is real life! This is real shit happening to real people! I don’t want to hear any more discourse that acts like Asians or Chinese people in particular are gonna be safe or don’t need to worry about the new regime
This is where we’re at, and this is what must be done. In the face of horrors and in the midst of helplessness, despairing that no one is coming to save you, look around you and find someone that YOU can save. We’re all we have, but let’s get around to showing just how much that is.
Thousands got out today in airports to protest against Trump’s Muslim Ban singing “This Land is Your Land.” and a Federal judge has been able to block the Muslim Ban but it’s only a temporary fix so pls if you’re american Call your member of Congress and demand they overturn the ban for good! if you can’t or aren’t american but able financially pls donate to the ACLU.
To everyone who is protesting at airports: you are heroes. To everyone currently detained: you are loved.
White liberals, this is your chance to put your corny jokes to a rest and actually – physically, materially – do something for Muslims, refugees, and immigrants in the United States. You can save your tweets in the drafts and do something worthy and commendable instead of getting retweeted and ♥-ed.
If you can’t afford to donate, there is no shame in that. You can offer support to local mosques and community centers by simply going over, checking in with people, making sure they feel at home. But please, for fuck’s sake, give the shitty corny done-to-death jokes a rest.
I'd Much Rather Have a Dragon 