State rape laws, Sandra Bland's mother speaks out, & more - Sunday Links

by Abaki Beck

Sunday links pairs recent news stories with related social justice readings and resources.

News (and related resources) of the Week:

Oklahoma courts made a confusing and preposterous ruling this week, saying that state law does not criminalizes oral sex if the victim is completely unconscious. That’s right - if the victim is completely unconscious oral sex is not considered rape. How, one may ask, is an unconscious victim supposed to give consent to giving oral sex? They can’t. Throughout the country, patchwork laws like this endanger sexual assault victims.

Here are resources to learn more about sexual assault, specifically in communities of color:

• Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color by Kimberle Crenshaw

• The Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline: A Girls Story by the Human Rights Project for Girls, the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality, and the Ms. Foundation for Women

• What to do When you Are Raped: An ABC  Handbook for Native Women Girls

Sandra Bland’s mother, Geneva Reed-Veal, spoke before the newly formed Congressional Caucus on Black Women of Girls earlier this week.Bland is a young black woman who died shortly after being arrested on a traffic violation. The arresting oficer was fired.In her speech, Reed-Veal lamented Congressional inaction in response to deaths of black people behind bars or at the hands of police, and reaffirmed that she does not believe her daughter committed suicide. She concluded her speech by saying:

“I will create a riot, I will set off so that people will understand that this is real. Movements move. Activists activate. We have got to stop talking and move. So I leave you with this: it is time to wake up, get up, step up, or shut up.” (you can read or listen to her full speech on the link above)

Police violence permeates in communities of color; both of those who are arrested, like Sandra Bland, and people who were killed unarmed. Here are some resources about combatting police violence:

• Citizens Police Data Project is an online, Chicago based platform to inform citizens on law enforcement misconduct and increase police accountability

• A Visual Guide to the Police Misconduct Complaint Process (Chicago specific) by Jean Cochrane

• Police Union Contract Project focuses on police union accountability across the nation.

• Masked Racism: Reflections on the Prison Industrial Complex by Angela Davis

Before you head out, here are some more rad resources to check out:

Website of the Week:

Seriously Badass Women

Video of the Week:

“Immigration as Radical Imagination,” a TedX Talk by Jess X Chen, a Chinese Canadian poet and filmmaker.

Reading of the Week:
How our communities can move beyond access to wholeness by Mia Mingus

Pop Culture of the Week:

Southside With You trailer, a John Legend-produced film about Barack and Michelle Obama

And

“What to read after watching Lemonade” by Nichole Perkins of Fusion