Be There

It was hot, hot, hot. We heard (and distantly saw) Lin-Manuel Miranda, America Ferrara, Alicia Keyes, faith leaders, and a very good high school choir that led the crowd in Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror." We marched passed the White House and booed and jeered under the watchful eyes of the impassive police and Secret Service, and then again when we passed the Trump Tower Hotel on our way to the Department of Justice. When Miranda spoke, he mentioned that the crowd was 30,000 strong.

So this happened: Oh Dear: SFWA Bulletin Petition.

It's probably not of interest to anyone but science fiction literature fans. It's a continuation of the shenanigans that started last summer when several foolishly misogynistic things happened, one after the other, in the professional rag of the Science Fiction Writers of America, followed by a stunning piece of racism on the SFWA official Twitter (see timeline/summary here). The result was that most of the SFWA members voted to change the way the content management of the SFWA Bulletin would be handled.

The petition in question objects to the proposed changes, which the writers consider to be overly "PC." There were two versions of this document. The one that was actually submitted is a tough read, full of extracts from correspondence and invocations of Freedom of Speech and concluding with a quotation from Charlton Heston, who is cited as an "early civil rights activist." The earlier version, which is also available online, was positively appalling. At one point, the writer compared the hard-working writers who will be thoughtlessly slapped around by the new rules to slaves picking cotton, at the mercy of the folks in the Big House.

No, I am not kidding.

If you can make yourself do it, follow one of the links to the actual (final) petition, and take a look at the signatories.

Who happen to include someone for whom I've long had all the respect in the world.

Damn.

The Con or Bust auction closes Sunday, February 24, at 11:59 p.m. (U.S.) Eastern Time.

The auction's goal is to help "people of color/non-white people attend SFF conventions ... under the umbrella of the Carl Brandon Society, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization whose mission is to increase racial and ethnic diversity in the production of and audience for speculative fiction.... its goal is simply to help fans of color go to SFF cons and be their own awesome selves."

IIRC, this effort grew out of the observation that because fen of color often felt uncomfortable at cons (which tended to be more homogeneously white than is the actual readership of speculative fiction), they were reluctant to spend scarce funds to attend cons, and thus they were missing out on the chance to network and to take part in the awesome discussions and cross-pollinations of ideas that are among the most important aspects of SF&F cons. (Read more about the program.)

Anyway, awesome stuff! If you have a fannish friend or relative with an upcoming birthday, this list of lovely swag can solve your gift-buying dilemma! First editions, signed editions, gaming miscellany, great new comics, steampunk stuff, beautiful handcrafted jewelry and knit goods, cookies, and more! (I myself have bid on too many lovelies ... I'm sincerely hoping to get outbid on at least some of it ... .)

Go! Find something cool!

Maryland Gay Marriage: Governor Martin O'Malley Signs Bill Allowing Same-Sex Couples To Wed

Looks like it's going to go to the ballot in November. It's going to be tense: the Mr. says he's expecting a huge voter turnout. But I have lots of hope.

I've been reading, over the past few days, Debbie Reese's posts on her blog American Indians in Children's Literature about the recent fiasco in Tucson. In response to the mandate from the state government that specialized programs like Mexican-American Studies no longer be taught, school officials demanded that books used in these classes be removed from classrooms. The removal was carried out during school hours - in one case, right before the eyes of the students as a class was taught. The teachers will have to jettison the rest of the year's lesson plans and come up with new ones - for general literature instead.

Also troubling is Arizona Superintendent for Public Instruction John Huppenthal's statement about what he saw and heard when he visited one of the classes in question. He was outraged by a poster of Che Guevara on the wall and says that the teacher called Benjamin Franklin racist. This is rather puzzling: when I took Russian history in high school in 1975, we had pictures of Stalin etc. on the wall, and no one flipped out. As for what the teacher said about Franklin that day ... a student video crew was filming, and the video is available online (link from the AICL blog).

Meanwhile, Indian Country Today supplied a link to this video, which shows another type of response:

You can check out the group's Website as well.

The issues aren't always what we think they are. Neither are the consequences.

Abortion Saved My Life

"My two kids at home were going to lose their mother because someone decided that my life was worth less than that of a fetus that wasn’t going to survive ... ."

February is Heart Month, and today is Wear Red Day, to draw attention to heart disease in women.

You may not think you know any women who are affected by heart disease, but yes you do, because you know me. XD I had an angioplasty more than 20 years ago, at the tender age of 31. I was pretty active and only a bit overweight, but heart disease runs in my family.

I decided to post this today after hearing about the death of Melissa Mia Hall.

Of course, heart disease was only the thing that actually killed her - she really died of a lack of health care and the insurance to pay for it.

When someone says something like "Are you for human rights? Or for individual rights? There is a huge difference. The two cannot occupy the same space," I don't feel like listening to them any longer.

(Person is definitely on the conservative/Libertarian side ... the Young Lady showed me how to hide the posts.)

rachelmanija has been involved with the Virginia Avenue Project for many years. They're a free afterschool academic and theatre program in Los Angeles. 100% of participating children graduate from high school. 95% go on to college. 98% are the first person in their family to go. Over the years, Rachel has talked about watching the kids go on to exciting and varied lives; one even has a job at the White House.

Unless the Project raises $15,000 by mid-March, they'll lose their centerpiece program to budget cuts. In this program, the One-on-Ones, professional actors and writers write a short play to act in with a kid, rehearse it with them in a lovely camp in the country, and then perform it back in Los Angeles. This program has been running for twenty years.

helptheproject is an auction to benefit the Virginia Avenue Project and help them keep the One-on-Ones. Current offerings include knitted animal-ear hats, baked goods, a custom-designed cookbook full of hand-tested recipes, autographed books, original fiction and poetry from professional authors, and regionally themed packages from several areas. Bidding runs until midnight of March 1st. Please consider bidding and offering items for auction -- and keep an eye on the offers, as more cool stuff keeps being put up there.

My graphics offering and opalmatrix' fanfiction offering are still at their minimum bid! Get a bargain! Let me make pretties for you! Make her write het, even ... Black Lagoon, SDK, BotI ... ! ;-)