#becoming abolitionists

[angelsaxis]

"...[W]e must continue to challenge the societal arrangements that leads to preventable pain and suffering. Marriage can be quite beautiful and sacred, for example. Marriage can also privatize dependence: it encourages people to enter relationships for resources and benefits, like health care, savings, and tax deductions. I was nineteen years old when I got married, mostly informed by my faith tradition. I was also in love, but very poor, and marriage offered me a stability that I never had as a child. I was so lucky that the person I married was kind, thoughtful, and also very much trying to figure out his relationship to Christianity and his evolving manhood.

When we divorced nine years later and became friends and co-parents, I realized how the marital benefits I once aspire dot have did not make sense. I could remove him from my health insurance to account for the divorce, but I couldn't add any of my uninsured siblings, whom I would be related to forever. And our children had two options for insurance because they had parents who went to college and worked jobs that offered it, but independent contractors in my family did not have an option that wasn't a financial sacrifice.

If we focused on meeting the healthcare, employment, educational, and housing needs of people in society, then those who want to marry could more freely enter those relationships in their terms, and people who needed to escape because of violence could more easily leave without worrying what will happen if they get sick and need to see a doctor.

We should heed to calls for investment in the programs, opportunities, and laws that make everyone free and safe. Here too, universal basic income can help, allowing people to meet their basic needs and not rely on potentially sexually exploitative intimate relationships for income. Removing benefits from marriage accomplishes this, too. With universal health care, and other programs like free and quality childhood education, people vulnerable to violence have more free range to move, live, and practice healthy lifestyles."

-- Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom by Derecka Purnell

#angel posts #angel reads #becoming abolitionists #derecka purnell #the more i read this book the better it gets tbh #every page she's talking about a new activist or abolitionist she's met #she's BUSY #and im googling the orgs here bc i wanna get more active too #but this passage made me think of the tradwife thing #people fail to realize that tying economic stability to marriage is so dangerous

[thatdiabolicalfeminist]

I recently finished Becoming Abolitionists by Derecka Purnell and I recommend it to people new to the idea of prison/police abolition.

I'll definitely be recommending it to many of my liberal and newly leftist friends and family, mostly those who are less informed on racial justice movements in the US.

I think it does a good job of introducing some of the ways abolition ties into other justice movements as well, like feminism, LGBT+ rights, environmental justice, and disability rights. The book feels mainly like it's putting abolition into context.

You can check out the audiobook from your library on Libby here:

Or check out the ebook from your library here:

If your library doesn't have it, you can use the overdrive app to request that they get it.

If you can scroll social justice posts on Tumblr, you can read this ebook a bit at a time. If you can scroll social justice tiktoks, you can listen to this book a bit at a time.

It's aimed at people new to the idea of abolition, and there isn't anything you won't be able to understand.

#abolition #prison abolition #abolish the police #becoming abolitionists #derecka purnell #book recs #to be clear i don't HAVE conservative friends or family

[captainjonnitkessler]

Sometimes I wish we would start calling out the performative radicalism on this site for the poser bullshit it is. "Remember, it's always morally correct to kill a cop!" "Don't forget to firebomb your local government office!" "Wow, it sure would be a shame if these instructions on how to make a molotov cocktail got spread around!"

Okay. But you're not killing cops or firebombing government offices. You are posting on a dying microblogging website to a carefully-curated echo chamber that has radicalized itself into thinking that taking the absolute most extreme position on any subject is praxis but that anyone discussing the most practical way to effect actual change is your sworn enemy. You do not have the street cred OR the activist cred to be talking about killing cops, babe.

#thinking about the person i saw saying that if you're at a protest #and other protesters try to stop you from becoming violent you should just kill them bc 'peace police are still police' #even taken as hyperbole that's simply dumb as shit on every conceivable level #it's also pretty blatantly hypocritical coming from people who are usually self-avowed prison/death penalty abolitionists #like i'm sorry but you don't get to be a death penalty abolitionist and also call for the death of your political enemies online #this isn't a major issue or anything i'm just bored and annoyed

[mtsu4u]

#mtsu4uMISC #abolition #kiese laymon #derecka purnell #becoming abolitionists #social work

[neechees]

I realized that like, Little Women is the antithesis to Gone with The Wind, but Little Women is actually more accurate and was written by someone who actually lived through the Civil War, but GWTW was written by someone who only heard biased secondhand accounts from their relatives

#Like in GWTW the characters are slave owners with a plantation who become less rich for a while #and Scarlett cheats and steals and kills and does everything she possibly can to stay rich including continuing slave labor for her mill #and ghe characters are in the South #vs Little Women where the characters are less rich specifically bc they used money to help the poor #and theyre an abolitionist family from the North who inconveniences themselves to help the poor & fight for the North #& advocate for not only an end to slavery but ALSO to end segregation & go out of their way to not wear silk bc of slavery

[trans-axolotl2]

In my last residential treatment stay, I did have one psychiatrist who I trusted and had a positive relationship with. Her name was Dr. R, and when I came in on the first day of treatment and told her that I would not take any psych meds and that I had a lot of past psych trauma, she validated me and told me that she would not bring up meds unless I did. Throughout my stay there, she was empathetic, listened to my concerns, helped advocate for me, and generally made me feel heard. At the same time, when management took away our doors-she did nothing. When I needed to get a feeding tube--she lied to me about how long it would be in, and what I needed to do to get it out. She enforced policies about restricting outside breaks, restrictions on items, and contributed to treatment plans that my friends felt were unfair and damaging.

She was a good person and I liked her, but she was choosing to work within a system where she could not control the dozens of things happening there that harmed us every single day. This is what I mean when I say there is no such thing as a good psychiatrist in inpatient units--she was a progressive, validating, nice person --but her very job description made it impossible for a “good provider” to exist. To be a provider who wasn’t a part of the harm that was occurring on that unit, she would have had to quit, because the very requirements of her job required committing ethical violations, restricting peoples autonomy, and perpetrating iatrogenic harm. If she had stopped enforcing harmful policies and challenged her coworkers publically, she probably would have gotten fired. And that really is the problem--causing iatrogenic harm has essentially become a job requirement on inpatient units, and being a “good provider” by the metrics of the system require you to participate in that harm. 

I think Dr. R did a better job than most inpatient psychs in mitigating the harms she participated in, and finding ways to resist shitty systems when possible. I was glad she was there and I think she made my treatment better, but the two of us had a lot of conversations together where she acknowledged the fucked up things happening in the treatment center, acknowledged her role in them, and also stated that she did not have any power to change them. She could not fix the system by working within the system. 

I get a lot of questions by people who are interested in careers in the mental health system, and asking me on whether I think it’s okay for them to work there. My first response is usually if you’re asking because you’re feeling guilty after seeing what psych survivors say, I’m not someone who’s going to give you permission to ignore that guilt. The second thing I usually say is this: you need to go into this job aware with the fact that you will cause people harm, you will get into ethical dilemmas, and there will be times where you will either have to betray your personal values or quit. There isn’t one right answer on how to engage with mental healthcare as a provider, with the reality that until we build up alternative systems of care, the current structures still exist and have people who need support inside of them.  If that’s something that you think you can navigate in a way that lets you create the least harm possible, then that’s something you need to decide for yourself, and to think really deeply about if the reality of the psych system matches up with your goals.

#antipsychiatry #antipsych #mad studies #disability justice #psych ward tw #i think u also need to understand that if u go to school to work professionally in mental health #if u become a psychiatrist or a therapist or a social worker #even if you're one who does it outpatientt. even if you're an abolitionist social worker #that means there are probably going to be barriers to community spaces. that some people might not trust you any longer. if you are #coming into spaces as a professional #part of that decision might be grappling with the fact that even as you gain legitmacy from a societal side. that as u gain #new opportunities for jobs. to work within systems #you might also lose community trust. opportunities within activism spaces. opportunities #to share and be in those spaces as a survivor and patient #and im not saying this as a judgemnt or to put moral value on it #but i think that's just something you Also need to understand and weigh. sure you will gain something. by getting liscenced #but what will you lose? why might people not trust you in community spaces any longer? #what trade offs will you be making and are they worth it to you? what new communities can you build #what matters to you and what are your passions #<- all things i am really grappling with right now as i decide whether or not i want to go get my masters in social work

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

We can't stop there, bestie. Now I'm yearning for some harry potter au headcanons.

Also unrelated but I like to imagine that both Tommy and Jake got good grades, just by different means. Tommy understood concepts with relative ease and enjoyed learning whereas Jake was too determined/stubborn to let himself fail, especially when Tommy was doing so well (sibling logic) and so he worked hard to keep up even if he wasn't all that academically inclined. He would definitely cut corners where he could though don't get me wrong.

HAHA okay here I am for everyone's least serious headcanon asks. Ask me what dumbass shit the modern Sully's do, send me all your stupid omegaverse asks. Harry Potter au's and your insane, idk, fucking Maximum Ride au asks or some shit.

-When they were in Hogwarts, pure of heart dumb of ass Jake Sully was trying his fucking hardest to send his brother to an early grave doing stupid Quidditch tricks every day. I think you're right, he is a hard worker and he does get good grades. Listen, if you get the grade it doesn't matter how you got there even if you cheated a bit. He loves to go on long jogs around the grounds before his accident.

-Our man is determined to be an auror, and he spends the summer in a program for young 17 year old wizards going into the program.

-Jake is held back a year when he looses a leg in an accident involving dark magic. He's lucky to be alive, some others weren't. He comes back really disillusioned about the fucking wizard cops, really sullen, and really lost. Tommy graduated in the year he was gone and Jake had a long year of nothing to recover. And he can't do his favorite thing anymore which is fly.

-Neytiri moved to the school the last year and is now in Jake's year. She moved there because her mom is the new healer. Jake meets her on his first weekly check in about his leg, as she is there helping her mother in the Hospital Wing.

-When they are walking out together she tells him she's sorry about his leg. He says he doesn't mind the leg as much, he just wishes he could still fly. Neytiri says he doesn't know why he couldn't.

-That weekend she takes him into the forbidden forest and shows him the thestral, creatures he's never seen before, but after the incident where he lost his leg, he can. Neytiri's sister died in front of her, and she can see them as well.

-Cue a year of intense thestral flying lol, thestral racing, jEYTIRI ALWAYS FALL IN LOVE VIA FLYING. God I guess there should be a Top Gun au for them. I gotta fit flying into the modern au.

#this got outta hand #the specific questions always beget something insane #i didn't even tOUCH the second generation #and i couldn't have jake enJOY the wizard cops #he is fighting the system obvs #him and neytiri are activists now #tom sully who always hated the wizard pigs getting his letter from jake about losing his leg: finally but at what cost #jake sully #neytiri sully #jeytiri #tommy sully #mo'at #mo'at cameo #eytukan is the care of magical creatures teacher and jake is gonna become so charlie weasley coded #charlie the least problematic weasley #except the twins they have been abolitionists from jump #theres a story here of jake on a dragon preserve learning to be a dragon trainer from neytiri's dragon training family #avatar #avatar the way of water #james cameron avatar #melissa's asks #melissa on avatar (cameron) #avatar hp #we are mindmelding get in

[bloodpen-to-paper]

How the Kendom's Patriarchy Reflected the Patriarchy Within Ken

I know the title sounds stupid bear with me

I noticed the film made a point to show how much shittier the Kendom was to the Barbies than Barbieland was to the Kens. in the world we live in, women are conditioned to be considerate of others, sometimes at our own expense, while men are conditioned to conquer and pursue their goals without considering who that effects. This is what caused patriarchal ideals of women being something for men to "pursue" rather than people. We talk about this when discussing the male vs female gaze, how the male gaze objectifies while the female gaze aims to humanize. The Barbies simply ignored the Kens, the Kens could've made their own society if they chose too, while the Kens brainwashed and subjugated the Barbies. While the movie makes a point to say neither gender group having power over another is good and the gender field should be equal, patriarchal teachings have resulted in way more harmful consequences for women than anything to come out of the femcel/radfem sphere considering patriarchy is the current reality we live in.

Usually this would be enough to make its own point, but Greta didn't include this just to make more commentary on how the patriarchy effects women, but to specifically show what it does to the men within it. Ken's final arc revolved heavily around the idea of men "getting the girl" and feeling useless after Barbie rejected him, because that's a huge part of patriarchy. Patriarchy tells men that women are objects to be won, and that once they win a woman they are true men who have achieved their life goal. Many men base their entirely personality around being attracted to women, and it shows in how they talk, their jokes, how much they sexualize, etc. And when these same men fail to "get a girl" (because we are, in fact, people with our own wants and desires) they feel useless. That anger often leads them to the incel pipeline of thinking they are owed women's time, attention, and bodies, but above all it leads to them feeling hopeless and failed by false promises. The Kendom was fueled by that rhetoric, with Ken breaking down when he realized he couldn't make Barbie love him because that's all he's ever wanted. He was taught that was his life purpose, and he didn't know what to do when he realized Barbie is a woman who exists outside of him, and that he can't seem to do the same.

By doing this, Greta shows the nuance that comes with systemic oppression. Ken's arc is something that holds men accountable and doesn't make them seem like some untouchable and unavoidable boogeyman, but as people who make deliberate choices that negatively effect women. Similarly, because they are people, and because systemic oppression is never good for anyone, the movie shows how the Kens were also brainwashed by this system, and how its hurting them as well. The Kens, and really men, are pumped full of the same lies as women, and the movie calls for them to work on themselves to unlearn these teaching so that they can be better people to those they hurt, and be people to themselves. Not a conqueror, not a mate, but humans who don't need to obsess over their sexuality and ability to get female partners to be worth something. Men's worth doesn't rely on their interactions with women, just like women's value doesn't rely on their interactions with men. The two groups exist and need to start co-existing, because the gender divide has made all of us treat each other as another species rather than a person like anyone we'd find in our families, friend groups, etc. Gender should not be a roadblock, nor a source of fuel for how you interact with people; it should just be, in the same way hair color and height are. This message is not something that will resonate with all, but its important, and Barbie very effectively made it for all those who needed to hear.

#I'm a gender abolitionist #in case that wasn't clear #not like “you there stop having a gender right now!” #but in the way where we need to stop putting such heavy emphasis on it #it means a lot to some people but the more we normalize the nuances the less of a big deal it will become #and that's how you achieve equality #love your gender #celebrate it with all your heart #but don't let it keep you from making meaningful connections with people that are different #anyway #barbie #barbie movie #barbie 2023 #ken #greta gerwig

[neroushalvaus]

I hate hate hate the way sgt willis and molesley pressure & guilt trip Baxter into testifying against her ex. "Sergeant Willis isn't the enemy" well to Baxter, who spent three years in prison, he sure seems like the enemy. "We just want to help the young women uwu" no you don't, you started to care about them when you realized you could use them to get a guy jailed. Ugh. Season six is so annoying.

#so here's my pitch for season seven where baxter&anna become abolitionists – #downton rewatch

[clamorybus]

there needs to be a benjamin franklin biopic that covers every aspect of his life. like the dude inadvertently invented the jersey devil and popularized cunnilingus. he was insane

#i don't want it to gloss over his political career but i don't want it to be patriotic y'know? #like that dude was a slave owner #who *did* in his later years become an abolitionist and freed some of his slaves #but also arranged for his other slaves to remain slaves and not to be freed until his death #so ideally id want it to cover that as well without softening it #honestly a 6 part tv series on hbo would probably work best if you wanna cover everything #mickey.txt

[angelsaxis]

Image ID: page 56 from Derrecka Purnell's book "Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom".

Second paragraph reads:

"the history of policing that I became most interested in did not start with cops, but with freedom. The people who suffer the most from police violence descend from peoples who were once free from it. Border creation creation and patrol and response to indigenous and Mexicans are just one example. It is similarly true for people of African descent. To make the slave trade possible, capitalists, the owners of the companies that profited from slave labor, paid people to catch, kidnap, purchase, and kill people who are free. The various free peoples of Africa did not willingly skip to the ships to be transported across the atlantic, so the portuguese, dutch, spanish, french, and English developed and refined many tools, tactics, and practices of subordination to create and maintain slavery, including policing.

Because Africans were free, they had to be trapped. Because Africans ran away, new cuffs had to be designed to hold their hands, shackle their necks, and Link their ankles, because Africans fought with weapons, Europeans had to use more powerful ones. Because Africans hid, Europeans had to develop bands to search for them. And because Africans constantly planned rebellions and revolts on the way over, Europeans at the top of the ship had to develop systems of patrols, surveillance, caging, and even African informants to hold the black bodies at the bottom of the ships.

In his comprehensive study of ship revolts, Eric Robert Taylor found that nearly a quarter of ship insurrections resulted in the freedom of at least some of the bondspeople. But success is relative. There were more than 36,000 slave trading voyages between Africa and the new americans, and thousands more between the ports in the americas. Scholars explain that without the ship rebellions, Europeans would have transported even more Africans than the millions that they did."

(emphasis mine)

#angel posts #i used voice to text for this so if theres a goof pls let me know #derecka purnell #becoming abolitionists #police abolition #angel reads

[cornerfolks]

twin peaks depicts both though.

#Laura palmer to me is the poster child for 'haunting the narrative' and Cooper is doomed from the start #before the start even #i could go into details but i don't feel like it #it becomes particularly interesting when analyzed through a police abolitionist lens

[scoobydoozombieisland1998]

at this point its ethans dogs like he has said he doesnt train them and im just like bro please just because they are small doesnt mean you can do that hasans dog is a lot better trained shes just a puppy though so it makes more sense

no definitely, hasan is a very good dog owner by my extreme pet care industry veteran standards and i certainly dont think ethan is a bad owner, but when it comes to introducing dogs/letting them interact freely its not about who is better trained its just a total behavior thing, and its really unfair to expect any dogs, especially small ones, to have measured emotional reactions when they have no idea whats going on, nor is it fair to let dogs police each other particularly when they dont know each other. ive just worked in daycare for too long to have that much trust in dogs social skills without handlers setting them up for success individually

ethans also funny cause he does have an understanding of stuff like barrier frustration regarding leashes but he trusts dogs to be chill too much

i dont ACTUALLY care that much, i dont think anyones in danger and i think kaya is way too chill of a dog to be meaningfully negatively affected by a little ritualized aggression from a yorkie(? idk i only listen while i work) partly bc hasan has been doing a good job from what i can see raising her to be a well adjusted dog

my only quibble is with the language and rhetoric they use when they talk about it. we have to Leftify dog training. its not about showing dominance its about insecurity.... just like in people who wouldve thought! if a dog feels safe and secure it wont react like that

TLDR: more nuance to dog stuff than dominance

#i have been working alllll day and its so hot and im so tired and i sat down to check something before i showered and spent an hour on this #its just so interesting but i feel like im not good at explaining my dog training philosophies #to be clear its not actually hard to watch the show or anything the dogs are a very small fraction of it but #its my life so i hyperfocus when it comes up #i will come back to this to make sure it makes sense later #anon #no but fr how are you an abolitionist whos like Just show your dog whos boss. what #also you are definitely right about the small dog thing because people dont see them as a threat they arent taken seriously #which is part of the reason they become so reactive #because their feelings arent taken seriously even tho how fucking scared would you be if you were that big......

[sayaratyriea]

rage against america is so real and so legit and BOY do i feel it too. but also no power on earth will make me stop celebrating Explode Things Day because exploding things is a form of catharsis that i value deeply and lighting shit on fire is a fundamental human joy

and sometimes the thing you explode is decorated with some annoying patriotic rah rah USA bullshit, which means it’s actually REALLY satisfying to light that shit on fire y’all

#taz talks #true american values are setting the government on fire when it treats you wrong #true american values can be burning [redacted] in effigy attached to a firework #for legal reasons this is a joke #i think the most american thing anyone can do is protest and fight back against oppression #not in the name of the cocked up founders but in the name of the slaves and the indigenous and the abolitionists and the unions #the people who truly built the most unique and defiant parts of this country #i think july 4 should be a day for that. for appreciating the values of freedom and liberty and justice for all #the words are really nice. they aren’t true yet but i would like to see them become so #i refuse to cede my homeland to the fascists without a fight #and today i’m celebrating and cheering to those who lead the charge against the rot that pervades this country #they can take this stupid broken nation from our cold dead hands and no fucking sooner #of course: if you are celebrating rah rah explode shit day please be respectful of neighbors and animals #warn people around you before exploding things and find a safe Elsewhere place to do it if it triggers your neighbors #bring a fire extinguisher don’t blow shit up near trees don’t be wasted while doing it et cetera #but i do think everyone deserves to enjoy a good round of controlled bright sparkly explosions in their day

[fictionadventurer]

I have to talk about Chester Arthur. His story makes me go crazy. A mediocre president from the 1880s who's completely forgotten today has one of the best redemption stories I've ever heard and I need to make people understand just how cool his story is.

So, like, he starts out as this idealist, okay? He's the son of an abolitionist minister and becomes famous as a New York lawyer who defends the North's version of Rosa Parks whose story desegregates New York City's trolley system.

Then he starts getting pulled into politics and becomes one of the grimiest pieces of the political machine. He wants money, power, prestige, and he gets it. He becomes the right-hand man of Roscoe Conkling, the most feared political boss in the nation, a guy who will throw his weight around and do the most ruthless things imaginable to keep his friends in power and destroy his enemies.

Because Arthur's this guy's top lackey, he gets to be Controller of the Port of New York--the best-paying political appointment in the country, because that port brings in, like, 70% of the federal government's funds in tariffs. He gets a huge salary plus a percentage of all the fines they levy on lawbreakers, and because he's not afraid to make up infractions to fine people over, he is absolutely raking in the dough. Making the rough equivalent of $1.3 million a year--absolutely insane amounts of money for a government position. He's spending ridiculous sums on clothes, buying huge amounts of alcohol and cigars to share with people as part of his job recruiting supporters to the party, going out nearly every night to wine and dine people as part of his work in the political machine. He's living the high life. Even when President Hayes pulls him from his position on suspicions of fraud, he's still living a great life of wealth, power, and prestige.

Then in 1880, his beloved wife dies. While he's out of town working for a political campaign. And he can't get back in time to say goodbye before she dies. Because he's a guy who has big emotions, it absolutely tears him up inside, especially because Nell resented how much his political work kept him away from home. He has huge regrets, but he just moves in with Roscoe Conkling and keeps working for the political machine.

And then he gets a chance to be vice president. The Republican Party has nominated James Garfield, a dark horse candidate who wants to reform the spoils system that has given Conking his power and gave Arthur his position as Port Controller. Conkling is pissed, and he controls New York, and since the party's not going to win the election without New York, they think that appointing Conkling's top lackey as vice-president will pacify him.

They're wrong--Conkling orders Arthur to refuse--but Arthur thinks this sounds like a great opportunity. The only political position he's ever held is Port Controller--a job he wasn't elected to and that he was pulled from in disgrace. Vice President is way more than he could ever have hoped for. It's a position with a lot of political pull and zero actual responsibilities. He'll get to spend four years living in up in Washington high society. It's the perfect job! Of course he accepts, and Conkling comes around when he figures out that he can use this to his advantage.

When Garfield becomes president, Arthur does everything he can to undermine him. He uses every dirty political trick he can think of to block everything that Garfield wants to do. He refuses to let the Senate elect a president pro tempore so he can stay there and influence every bill that comes through. He all but openly boasts of buying votes in the election. He's so much Conkling's lackey that he may as well be the henchman of a cartoon supervillain. On Conkling's orders, he drags one of Garfield's Cabinet members out of bed in the middle of the night--while the guy is ill--to drag him to Conkling's house so he can be forced to resign. He's just absolutely a thorn in the president's side, a henchman doing everything he can to maintain the corrupt spoils system.

Then in July 1881, when Arthur's in New York helping Conkling's campaign, the president gets shot. By a guy who shouts, "Now Arthur will be president!" just after he fires the gun. Arthur has just spent the past four months fighting the president tooth and nail. Everyone thinks he's behind the assassination. There are lynch mobs looking to take out him and Conkling. The papers are tearing him apart.

Arthur is absolutely distraught. He rushes to Washington to speak with the president and assure him of his innocence, but the doctors won't let him in the room. He gets choked up when talking to the First Lady. Reporters find him weeping in his house in Washington. Once again, death has torn his world apart and he's not getting a chance to make amends.

Arthur goes to New York while the president is getting medical treatment, and he refuses to come to Washington and take charge because he doesn't dare to give the impression that he's looking to take over. No one wants Arthur to be president and he doesn't want to be president, and the possibility that this corrupt political lackey is about to ascend to the highest office in the land is absolutely terrifying to everyone.

Then in August, when it's becoming clear that the president is unlikely to recover, he gets a letter. From a 31-year-old invalid from New York named Julia Sand. A woman from a very politically-minded family who has been following Arthur's career for years. And she writes him this astounding letter that takes him to task for his corrupt, conniving ways, and the obsession with worldly power and prestige that has brought him wealth and fame at the cost of his own soul--and she tells him that he can do better. In the midst of a nationwide press that's tearing him apart, this one woman writes to tell him that she believes he has the capacity to be a good president and a good man if he changes his ways.

And then he does. After Garfield dies, people come to Arthur's house and find servants who tell them that Arthur is in his room weeping like a child (I told you he had big emotions), but he takes the oath of office and ascends to the presidency. And he becomes a completely different man. His first speech as president mentions that one of his top priorities is reforming the spoils system so that people will be appointed based on merit rather than getting appointed as political favors with each change in the administration. Even though this system made him president. When Conkling comes to Arthur's office telling him to appoint his people to important government positions, Arthur calls his demands outrageous, throws him out, and keeps Garfield's appointees in the positions. "He's not Chet Arthur anymore," one of his former political friends laments. "He's the president."

He loses all his former political friends. He's never trusted by the other side. Yet he sticks to his guns and continues to support spoils system reform. He prosecutes a postal service corruption case that everyone thought he would drop. He's the one who signs into law the first civil service reform bill, even though presidents have been trying to do this for more than ten years, and he's the person who's gained all his power through the spoils system. He immediately takes action to enforce this bill when he could have just dropped it. He becomes a champion of this issue even though it's the last thing anyone would have expected of him.

He oversees naval reform. He oversees a renovation of the White House. He still prefers the social duties of the presidency, but he's respectable in a way that no one expected. Possibly because Julia Sand keeps sending him letters of encouragement and advice over the next two years. But also because he's dying.

Not long after ascending to the presidency, he learns he's suffering from a terminal kidney disease. And he tells no one. He keeps going about his daily life, fulfilling his duties as president, and keeps his health problems hidden. Once again, death is upending his life, and this time it's his own death. He's lived a life he's ashamed of, and he doesn't have much time left to change. He enters the presidency as an example of the absolute worst of the political system, and leaves it as a respectable man.

He makes a token effort to seek re-election, but because of his health problems, he doesn't mind at all when someone else gets the nomination. He dies a couple of years after leaving office. The day before his death, he orders most of his papers burned, because he's ashamed of his old life--but among the things that are saved are the letters from Julia Sand, the woman who encouraged him to change his ways.

This is an astounding story full of so many twists and turns and dramatic moments. A man who falls from idealism into the worst kind of corruption and then claws his way back up to decency because of a series of devastating personal losses and unexpected opportunities to do more than he could have ever hoped to do. I just go crazy thinking about it and I need you all to understand just how amazing this story is.

#history is awesome #presidential talk #i thought about his story again this morning #and was once again struck by the desire to chase people down and make them understand just how amazing this story is #and instead of harassing random strangers i decided to inflict it on tumblr again #my original essay was rather too long and dry and tangled up in too many other details #and didn't quite capture the 'i want to chase you down and look you in the eye and make you freak out about this with me' vibe of this stor #this still doesn't quite capture it but at least it's shorter #and prevents me from rambling to unsuspecting family members #sorry for inflicting this on you again but what else am i supposed to do?

[vouam]

Something that’s crazy about me becoming a TERF is that I was actually trying to become a better trans rights activist.

My family are transphobic and I was not. Some of their questions I couldn’t answer. In particular, the famous “What is a woman?” I searched twitter posts and tiktoks and every TRA definition just sounded misogynistic as fuck. Until I kept scrolling and found posts by TERFs that just clicked something in my brain.

I had also always had views of a gender abolitionist. Combining this with my TRA past I even considered if that meant I was non-binary, because I didn’t match with this socialised version of ‘woman’. But I never felt comfortable with a non-binary identity because I am perceived as a woman, I suffer from being a woman, AND SOCIALISED STEREOTYPES ARE NOT WHAT MAKES A WOMAN.

I couldn’t continue debating and defending trans people and gender ideology anymore as all I could hear was myself as a misogynist. I knew the world would be a better place with gender abolition rather than gender liberation. I came to the realisation that gender ideology enforces the socialised gender binary that was designed to oppress women.

#radblr #radical feminism #radical feminist safe #radical feminists do interact #gender critical #radical feminist community #terfsafe #gender abolition #terfblr