Links & Bits for 6/23/11

Badass Ladies of History: Sylvia Rivera (Persephone Magazine)

She became famously involved with the Stonewall riots in 1969, as an eighteen-year-old. She would be quoted as saying that she started the entire damn thing as she was the first person to throw a beer bottle at a cop. The Stonewall incident would become the catalyst that ignited the gay liberation movement. “I’m not missing a minute of this, it’s the revolution. You’ve been treating us like shit all these years? Uh-huh. Now it’s our turn!” Rivera later said regarding Stonewall.

Love in a Time of Calling Out  (Feministe)

However, after two strokes and ninety years, you can imagine how it’s a steeper hurdle for my grandfather. He often had difficulty getting my name right before I transitioned (mentioning his son’s name instead), and this hasn’t made things easier. He still can’t really grasp what the transition *is*, and I think he’s past the point in his life where he could. He tries, he really really does.

Kreayshawn: Another Case of Appropriating Black Culture (Clutch Magazine)

White rappers aren’t the problem. Exploitation of Black culture is.

Black culture is diverse with various meanings; and how one defines Black culture varies from individual. In the case of Kreayshawn, I’m referring to her misinterpretation of what she thinks Black culture and hip-hop is.