Links & Bits: 11/3/11

The Woman is Red: The Racebending of Billie Frechette (Racialicious)

When Hollywood sought to adapt the story of my ill-fated, almost-aunt Evelyn “Billie” Frechette, they made it clear that despite the fact she and her sisters were actresses they would not have been welcome at the casting call. She was the victim of “racebending” in its most unadulterated form. The kind that transformed Audrey Hepburn into an “Indian”, saw Michelle Phillips, a singer from the Mommas and the Papas, turned into Billie onscreen. A Menominee girl who grew up on reservation and went to a mission school was portrayed by a white pop star.

How Audre Lorde Made Queer History (Ms Magazine Blog)

Sister Outsider also contains her oft-quoted “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle The Master’s House,” a poignant critique of the white feminist intellectual as activist in academia. And in “An Open Letter to Mary Daly” she confronted the philosopher and challenged the racism between feminists in search of a common ground for sisterhood. In my personal favorite, “Transformation of Silence into Language and Action,” Lorde insists on the power of speaking out, because silence will not protect you.

Young Woman Captures Her Father's Abusive Actions on Tape (Feministe)

A young Texas woman with cerebral palsy was whipped and beaten by her father for downloading games and music — and she stealthily recorded the whole thing, then posted it to YouTube. A major wrinkle is that the girl’s abusive father is allegedly Aransas County Court-At-Law Judge William Adams.