Oregon: A State for Women

Two things I noticed today:

• Kate Brown became Oregon’s 38th governor today. She is the second woman in Oregon history and first openly-LGBT person in United States history to take office as governor (Jim McGreevey of New Jersey came out as gay in his announcement of resignation after two years in office).
• In November 2014, Oregon passed a state-level Equal Rights Amendment, becoming the 22nd state (since California in 1879) to pass a constitutional amendment banning discrimination on the basis of sex.

I find it gratifying that women in Oregon are making such strides, particularly to enshrine such “equality under the law” on the basis of sex into their constitution.

Unfortunately, even after the unsuccessful fight for the federal ERA in the 1970s and after so long since the Nineteenth Amendment’s passage in 1920, these 22 states (and their various extensions of protection from mere employment to full equality under the law) stand alone out of so many states which have not constitutionally-enshrined gender anti-discrimination law. We don’t have such protection which could greatly benefit the future of half the U.S. population enshrined into the majority of constitutional documents in this country.

Why can’t we in the other 28 states spell out equality in the sexes to our states’ residents through the second highest laws of our states? Why are we so reticent to spell out gender equality? Do we even believe in the government recognizing our equality, or are we still ruled by people who represent the interests and privileges of half the population of our states?

And then we wonder why New Hampshire can’t bring forward a constitutional amendment to define equality for all sexual orientations?

Our collective mindset is our most potent enemy. We must change that mindset at all levels.

Congrats to Oregon and Gov. Kate Brown!

‘Big Hero 6′ Director Talks Sequel, Key to Film’s Success

Harry Underwood:

“No sequel will ever get made unless the directors want one and feel strongly that there is a story that needs to be told. No sequel will ever get made unless the directors want one and feel strongly that there is a story that needs to be told.” Hopefully, with all that they had to cut out in order to center the film, Disney Animation will have enough left to be a platform for a sequel. I just wonder what it will be titled.

Originally posted on Variety:

Oscar nominee “Big Hero 6” is on track this weekend to become the No. 3 all-time domestic earner for Walt Disney Animation Studios, passing the $218.9 million of “Beauty and the Beast” (after “Frozen” and “The Lion King”). One factor in the film’s success is the new approach at Disney Animation, says president Andrew Millstein, “which is about elevating storytelling and putting filmmakers at the center of the process.”

It sounds like a no-brainer for a film company to focus on filmmakers. But in the past, Disney Animation was often administrative-driven, with layers of notes from executives that dictated content and bogged down the creatives.

“Big Hero 6″ provides a one-two punch for the studio after last year’s “Frozen.” “Big Hero 6″ boasts flashy work in the San Fransokyo setting and the action sequences, but the center of the film is the relationship between inflatable robot Baymax and tech prodigy Hiro. “It’s the absolute key to the film and the reason the…

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The colonization counterfactual

Harry Underwood:

An alternative map of Africa to consider, particularly if European colonization/settlement hadn’t happened. #SwordAndSoul

Originally posted on Rachel Strohm:

One of the questions I’m often asked by friends who haven’t studied African history is what might have happened to the continent if it hadn’t been colonized.  It’s interesting to look at the following map of African politico-tribal units circa 1844 by Swedish artist Nikolaj Cyon in the light of this question:

[click for full size – it’s worth it!]

I haven’t been able to find any firm documentation on the origin of the name Alkebu-lan, although a variety of questionably sourced websites suggest that it’s an Arabic phrase meaning “land of the blacks” – supposedly an original name for Africa.  Cyon notes in a presentation that the map represents the culmination of an alternate history where the Black Plague killed significantly more Europeans than was actually the case, presumably reducing the amount of early colonization which would have occurred.  Thus, while many of these territorial groupings appear feasible to…

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Four Free Women: 1916 Emancipation Reunion « A’Lelia Bundles

Within a few minutes of online research, though, I discovered two more photos taken on the same day in 1916 by Harris & Ewing at an Emancipation reunion.  As the official White House photographers of the early 1900s and then the nation’s largest photo news service, they rarely snapped shots of African Americans.

But on that sunny fall afternoon, they posed a group of black mostly octogenarians and nonagenarians in front of Cosmopolitan Baptist Temple at Tenth and N Streets, NW.

Now propped on canes and dressed in their finest clothes, these men and women had spent the first four to five decades of their lives in slavery. That the four women in the initial photo all were centenarians—and strong enough and determined enough to stand—made the image all the more remarkable.

via Four Free Women: 1916 Emancipation Reunion « A’Lelia Bundles.

McEwen has a watchful eye | QNotes

McEwen believes — and has often been able to prove or link together — deliberate attempts by rightwing groups to twist facts, mischaracterize scientific studies and malign LGBT people in the process.

“They say they are standing on God’s principles and God’s law,” he said. “Okay, if you’re doing that, why do you have to lie? Why do you have to do all these other things?”

Exposing the right’s hypocrisy and their intentional efforts at discrimination defines nearly all of McEwen’s passion and citizen journalism. He’s challenged some of the biggest names on the right, and even got one to admit the truth, he said.

“I had a conversation with Robert Knight,” McEwen recalled of the man who has worked with Concerned Women for America and the Family Research Council, two of the nation’s largest anti-LGBT groups. “I asked him about how he used junk science. He said, ‘Yeah, we use it. So what?’”

via McEwen has a watchful eye | QNotes.

The Freedom to Marry Comes to Alabama – YouTube

http://youtu.be/r2cP2GiHKdk

via The Freedom to Marry

Serenata Immortale

Harry Underwood:

Loving this song! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHIQ2ins9sQ

Originally posted on Anthony Frisina's Blog:

This is something that I have come across which was gifted to me from a friend and has inspired me immensely.  The music is quite powerful, and I had always seen it as an omen that this perfect example of my musical taste had come into my life.  This evening, I found this recording after forgetting about it for a long time, and decided to look up the lyrics.  Having now read them, I understand why I always felt this piece of music to be an omen.

And, to anyone who actually reads this blog, even looking forward to new writings, bear with me.  I am transitioning greatly in my life at the moment and I am practicing silence (somewhat) in working to understand it.

Serenata Immortale

Music and Lyrics by The Immediate

La flama fortuna                                            The fortune of burning love
La terra murmure                                         …

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