Eleanor Rooseveldt and Zoot Suit Riots

Put this On has a short slideshow and rundown of LA’s Zoot Suit Riots.

June of 1943 found literally thousands of servicemen roaming the streets of the barrio, beating any and every young Latino they saw.  Mobs went into movie theaters, pulled out Chicanos and beat them.  Police intervened – to arrest the Chicanos on charges of vagrancy and delinquency.

…

Eleanor Roosevelt had the temerity to describe the violence as race rioting, and the Los Angeles Times published an editorial accusing her of communist sympathies.

But what exactly did ER have to say about it all?

On June 16th, 1943, Eleanor Roosevelt commented in her column that, “The question goes deeper than just suits. It is a racial protest. I have been worried for a long time about the Mexican racial situation. It is a problem with roots going a long way back, and we do not always face these problems as we should.” Los Angeles’ response was typified by the June 18th headlines of the Los Angeles Times, “Mrs. Roosevelt Blindly Stirs Race Discord,” and she was accused of communist leanings in the accompanying editorial. Governor Earl Warren (later Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court during their landmark desegregation cases) convened a committee to investigate the riots and recommended punishment for all involved in the riots, servicemen and civilians. Other than the charges filed against the Mexican American victims, no punishment was ever meted out. Via.

How to date in ’38

This dating guide is pretty much 13 different ways to say “shut up and look pretty.” Ho-hum.

Image of the Day

via, with special thanks to Aminatou at Instaboner.

Sad thing is, Uggs is right.

The performance in question:

Imagebloggin’

1.) This is a total tatooboner:

And ya’ll should check out Needles and Sins while you’re at it. It’s probably the best tattoo blog on the Internet.

2.) I just sort of think this is hilarious.

Comick Booking

I’ve got a couple of articles up at Campus Progress on my fave obsession of all time: Comics. Please check them out and tweet/share/repost widely!

XOsb

Webcomics: The New Female Geekdom

Comic books have long been a province of male geekdom. From Frank Miller’s tortured noir heroes to R. Crumb’s psychedelic underground scribblings, the canonical writers, artists, and producers of American comics have historically been men.

…Though comics have been published online since the mid-1980s using early subscription services such as CompuServe, in the last five or six years the number of female webcomic producers has grown exponentially. Artists are no longer limited by syndicates, newspapers’ editorial pages, or the boys club typically associated with comics. With the Internet, artists can convey an image how they want to, using any idea, for as long as they need to tell the story.

I Need a Heroine

The new Spider-Woman is a secret agent, alien hunter, member of the New Avengers, and is the title character of Marvel’s first foray into Motion Comics. Today’s Batwoman, a lesbian of Jewish descent, has taken over for the now-deceased Bruce Wayne and is leading a 12-issue run in DC’s longest running title, Detective Comics. …

In many ways, heroines have mirrored the feminist movement and are excellent artifacts of popular opinion. Recent industry developments are encouraging because they mirror a new wave of women—and also tell a powerful story about the impact that online activism and community-building can have upon entrenched industries.

links for 2009-10-10

• The details of your abortion online? – Broadsheet – Salon.com
  SALON – Feminists for Choice alerts us to a new Oklahoma law (yes, law, not "proposed legislation" or "some kind of sick joke") set to go into effect Nov. 1 that would collect detailed data about each abortion performed — and post it all on a public Web site called ShameOnYouWhore.com.
  (tags: tmcmedia tmc healthcare healthcaretmc reproductivehealth prochoice women health abortion religion)
• Outrageous Oklahoma Law Will Post Details of Women's Abortions Online | Reproductive Justice and Gender | AlterNet
  ALTERNET – On Nov. 1, a law in Oklahoma will go into effect that will collect personal details about every single abortion performed in the state and post them on a public website.
  (tags: tmc tmcmedia healthcaretmc healthcare abortion prochoice womensrights feminism reproductivehealth)

Daydream Believer

Blago on the Blogo!

This is probably the best street art I’ve seen in a while. I wish I could pair it with a circa 1997 midi file of “Man on the Run,” but alas, the internet has not been so kind to me today. Oh well.

Product Placement

Holy bajeezus, this is amazing. I kind of can’t believe what a jam this mashup is. Sorry friends. Prepare to have “You’re Gonna Love My Nuts” stuck in your head all day.