The Snowflakes were contrasted with he 'Claybanks' (based on the color of the local clay) who wanted a gradual transition out of slavery for slaves, & the 'Charcoals'/'Brown Radicals', who wanted immediate emancipation for black people.
And did you know that #woke became a byword for social awareness in 2008, with Erykah Badu’s song “Master Teacher”?
'Stay woke' became used in parts of the black community for those who were self-aware, who questioned the dominant paradigm, & who strived for something better.
#Woke was popularised in 2014, following the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, when it became entwined with #BlackLivesMatter movement; instead of just suggesting awareness of injustice or racial tension, it became a word signalling action.
Free speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions & ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction.
The term "freedom of expression" is often used synonymously.
Freedom of expression includes any act of seeking, receiving, & imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used.
Freedom of expression is recognized in international human rights law in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). However...
Article 19 states the exercise of these rights carry "special duties & responsibilities" & may "be subject to certain restrictions" eg "respect of the rights or reputation of others" or "the protection of national security or of public order, or of public health or morals".
Free speech is NOT absolute: limitations relate to libel, slander, obscenity, pornography, sedition, incitement, fighting words, classified info, copyright, trade secrets, food labeling, NDAs, the right to privacy & dignity, the right to be forgotten, public security, & perjury.
It's my contention that - contrary to what many on the Right keep misleadingly claiming about both younger people & especially people on the Left - absolutely NOBODY is "anti-free speech".
Free speech has ALWAYS existed on a continuum, & always will.
Challenging the “free speech” of pathological liars, racists, paedophiles, anti-Semites, neo-Nazis, homophobes, transphobes, Islamophobes, people who glorify terrorism & those who deliberately spread dangerously misleading disinformation, is always the correct thing to do.
Another constant refrain from those on the Right determined to fuel a divisive 'culture war' concerns "cancel culture" & "no-platforming".
'No platforming' in particular actually has a noble history, & CAN BE an ethical, legitimate, appropriate & very effective tool.
Brave & heroic individuals “no-platformed” Oswald Mosley in the 1930s, the National Front in the 1970s, the BNP in the 1980s & 1990s & Islamic extremists in the noughties.
Allow me to briefly discuss the case of Oswald Mosley, Leader of the British Union of Fascists.
While Mosley's anti-Semitic & racist politics found some success in some pockets of London, they failed spectacularly in trying to establish a foothold among the vast majority of northern working class voters.
In 1937, his followers were growing & he decided to visit parts of the country where he didn't have as much support, with the aim of converting the working classes to a new, fascist ideology.
Of course people tried to 'no platform' him, but the authorities allowed him to tour.
On October 10, Mosley arrived in the Liverpool. His plan was to stand on top of a loud speaker van & tour the city.
He got up on the van, gave the crowd a fascist salute but before he could even speak a single word, stones were thrown from the crowd & hit Mosley in the head.
In the 1930s, Mosley’s fascists were also attacked by workers, anti-fascists, socialists & communists in Devon, Manchester, Newcastle, London and Stockton.
I do not support violence, but imho, there are times when 'no-platforming' IS entirely appropriate.
"Cancel Culture" is not new either: boycotts & call-outs leading to job losses have forced positive social change across the world. Think of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, & few would think neo-Nazi groups being subject to “cancel culture” has been bad for Britain.
Finally, a brief word about 'Identity Politics': the suffragette, the abolitionist, civil & gay rights movements were ALL primarily 'identity politics' - as is challenging the exploitation of the working class by the powerful.
We need nuance, not reductionism & absolutism.
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Americans who care about democracy, justice & the planet have to come together to prevent another Trump administration, which would attempt to introduce the regressive, antidemocratic & dangerously irresponsible policies laid out in the Heritage Foundation's #Project2025
Biden has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him as the nominee.
Before outlining some essential information about Harris, I'll quickly summarise the process be for choosing the Democratic nominee as described by Newsweek.
In a statement emailed to Newsweek, Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Jaime Harrison said that the party would "undertake a transparent and orderly process to move forward as a united Democratic Party with a candidate who can defeat Donald Trump in November."
Professor of History & Public Policy at Duke University & author of the terrifying award-winning bestseller 'Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America', Nancy MacLean, recently discussed #Project2025.
Law professor & social critic Kimberlé Crenshaw interviewed MacLean about what the prescriptions in the Heritage Foundation’s #Project2025 mean for parents, public schools, & for multiracial democracy.
CRENSHAW: These wars on curricula are not new, of course; they go far back in our history. What folks might not know is that the Heritage Foundation, the main convenor of #Project2025, cut its teeth on curricular wars in the 1970s.
'The Republican blueprint for power contains the seeds of its own demise. It is not too late to stop the descent of the American political order into tyranny, oligarchy or anarchy', writes Timothy Snyder.
Pete Buttigieg is an American politician and former naval officer who is serving as the 19th United States secretary of transportation. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 32nd mayor of South Bend, Indiana, from 2012 to 2020, which earned him the nickname "Mayor Pete".
Buttigieg is a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Oxford, attending the latter on a Rhodes Scholarship. From 2009 to 2017, he was an intelligence officer in the United States Navy Reserve, attaining the rank of lieutenant.
Hitler survived assassination attempts. We know what that led to. Reagan & Thatcher survived assassination attempts. They gave us neoliberalism. Trump survived. He's chosen JD Vance as his running mate. If elected, America will become a dystopian free-market kleptocracy.
The 0.01% is gearing up to all but destroy US democracy.
Leading the charge & donating tens of millions of dollars to Trump's campaign are Silicon Valley's libertarian Tech billionaire extremists, led by Peter Thiel & Elon Musk - two of the most dangerous men on earth.
What's unfolding right now is like something from a dystopian sci-fi novel.
Except it's not fiction - it's real.
And it's a fucking nightmare assault on truth, fairness, equality, minorities, women's right, the environment & humanity, which democracy will struggle to survive.
"What first made Reform UK's white, privately educated multimillionaires Farage, Tice & Rupert Lowe oppose DEI?"
'Diversity Equity Inclusion' is a framework which promotes the fair treatment & full participation of ALL people, but particularly underrepresented groups...
Many people know that the term ‘DEI’ is being weaponized as a racist dog whistle (a coded, deniable bit of language that allows people to communicate ideas that would be too offensive if done explicitly).
There’s nothing new about using racist dog whistles. But the way DEI is used to play into racist sentiments is uniquely powerful, & may well be much more potent than other culture war terms.