0 What We're Reading Today (6-28-13)

Jay-Z -- dropping the word 'bitch' doesn't begin to cover it - Guardian
Tricia Rose

The Fight For Black Men - The Daily Beast
Joshua DuBois

All sorts of terrible Supreme Court decisions - Son of Baldwin

What Happens Without Affirmative Action: The Story of UCLA - NPR
NPR Staff

'I would rather be a cyborg than a goddess' Intersectionality, Assemblage, and Affective Politics - EIPCP
Jasbir Puar

Yeezus Lives: 30 Albums to Try If You Like the New Kanye West - Vulture
Andy Battaglia

Supreme Court Guts Voting Rights Act - Color Lines
Brentin Mock

On Wendy Davis, the Supreme Court, and Speaking Out As Women - New York Magazine
Ann Friedman

Tammy Duckworth Is Not Taking Your Sh*t - Angry Asian Man

An Open Letter to Paula Deen - Afroculinaria
Michael W. Twitty

Trayvon Martin Crime Scene Photos Shown to George Zimmerman Jurors (GRAPHIC PHOTOS) - Huffington Post
David Lohr

The Quote That Should End the Trayvon Trial - Esquire
John H. Richardson

The (Black) Human Body: Thoughts on the Death of Trayvon Martin - Black Girl Dangerous
Martina "Mick" Powell

When You Make Fun of Rachel Jeantel, You Make Fun of Us - Ebony
DA Lovell and France Francois

Thank You, Rachel Jeantel - The Nation
Mychal Denzel Smith

Zimmerman Trial Live Stream - WESH

George Zimmerman Trial Over Trayvon Martin Shooting Enters Fifth Day - Huffington Post
Kyle Hightower and Mike Schneider

On Lolo Jones Coming for Rachel Jeantel - Son of Baldwin

To Rachel Jeantel, With Love - Crunk Feminist Collective

A Letter To Rachel Jeantel, The Prosecution's Key Witness In The George Zimmerman Trial - Role Reboot
Khadijah Costley White

0 Tiny Victories: Satiation is Death, On SCOTUS this Week

We are living in a time of progress of thought, ideas, and justice. And in the name of progress, the Supreme Court  of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled to strike down section 3 of Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) which didn't recognize same-sex marriage federally. This adds to a growing fight for equality nationwide, allowing persons who have already been legally married in their state to receive federal benefits. This is a victory, for so many queer-committed persons.

However, this “monumental” ruling will in many ways overshadow most of the terrors/traumas enacted on women, people of color and the disenfranchised this week. This tiny victory has the power to erase the myriad of wars going on in this country. This morsel of “hope” will satiate so many “activist” and “allies” for the next 5, 10, 20 years-- all while injustice still frames, enslaves, and disenfranchises this country. To contextualize the triviality of today’s ruling I offer three other SCOTUS rulings and the impact they have on already marginalized persons.

First, and most personally horrifying, was the strike down of a critical portion of the 1965 Voter’s Right Act. This ruling allows states to change their election laws without federal regulation. We live in a country where unbiased words allow for social enslavement. Lawmakers of the time were fully aware that left to their own devices, states would continue to limit the laws and further marginalize Black voters. This law, now gutted, put thousands of poor, Black, and Latino voters at risk of being denied their right to vote. This unbiased language makes room for problematic legislation that if passed will be virtually impossible to revoke. We are not past-race; this legislation proves that. It took Texas less than two hours redraw voting districts and limit the types of ID allowed to vote. This law makes it now exponentially harder for poor, disabled, Black, and Latino voters to vote considering they are most likely to not have government issued ID’s. We are not post-disenfranchisement.

But SCOTUS, was not just giving free reign to law makers to deny voting right, they also problematized our justice system. In Salina v. Texas, SCOTUS struck down the right to remain silent before one is arrested. Again seemingly not problematic, let us consider what this statute allows. In times of pre-arrest questioning, before Miranda rights are given, your Fifth Amendment right can be used against you. This ruling sanctions confessions from, many undocumented/ unregulated interrogations. In the day of DNA exoneration and the prison industrial complex, this is a blow to fair and due process. This is ammunition for a continuing criminalization of the disenfranchised.

But our SCOTUS did not stop there, workers rights were compromised in the case of Vance v. Ball State University. A worker can now be subject to day to day harassment by a supervisor as long as the “supervisor” doesn't have the power to “hire, fire, demote, promote, or reprimand”. This is ludicrous because of the semantics. It is torture rather than death. The marginalization can continue; the subjugation can remain. For anyone who works in an entry level or lower ranked position this is a blow to work safety. Workplace equality which has historically been a gendered space now becomes immensely more treacherous for all. The workplace that has been unsafe for queer person now becomes another battleground.

If these SCOTUS rulings show us anything, it is that there is still a war on people of color, a war on women, and a war on working class persons. And despite the rainbow wishes of peace and understanding, there is still a scathing war on queer people. We must see these tiny victories for what they are. Tiny morsels, served top down to satiate the countless hours, and funds, and work of millions of marginalized people. This tiny morsel of “marriage equality” is not even that. It gives already privileged married persons equal rights.

My fear is this; such satiation will make activist content. Such satiation will help white “allies” forget the injustice of the Voter Right’s Act. Such satiation will prevent employee safety. Such satiation will allow for decades to pass before state and federal marriage is passed. Do not be merely satisfied with morsels. Such morsels will tide you over till death. 

0 What We're Reading Today (6-18-13)

Being a good student in the back of this TFA session.

You Are The Second Person - Guernica Mag
Kiese Laymon

Arizona Gets Rare Smackdown From Justice Scalia - The Atlantic
Garrett Epps

How Caffeine Can Cramp Creativity - New Yorker
Maria Konnikova

The 4 Weapons of Exceptional Creative Leaders - Fast Company
Charles Day

Jay-Z's Android Deal Shows How Race Colors Smartphone Market - Color Lines
Jamilah King

Linking Home and Classroom, Oakland Bets on Community Schools - The Atlantic
Trey Bundy and Sarah Butrymowicz

False Accuser Ordered to Pay Banks $2.6 Million after Sending Him to Prison - Your Black World
Dr. Boyce Watkins

How Do You Teach the Civil Rights Movement? - NPR Code Switch
Cory Turner

For People of Color, a Housing Market Partially Hidden From View - NPR Code Switch
Gene Demby

The 35 Most Spectacular Wildlife Photos From the National Geographic Photo Contest - Buzzfeed
Summer Anne Burton

Battle-Tested Tips for Effective Explanations - Harvard Business Review
Lee LeFever

Assata Shakur: Prisoner in the United States (An Interview) Parts I (here) and II (here) - Prison Culture

Why the Spying Scandal Is a Serious Racial Justice Issue - Color Lines
Imara Jones

A New Definition of Fatherhood - Color Lines
Julianne Hing

GOP in the Lions' Den: Why Do Republicans Talk to Liberal Media - The Daily Beast
David Freedlander

Study Drugs Under Fire: Can Chuck Schumer Stop 'Academic Doping'? - The Daily Beast
Caitlin Dickson

via The Daily Beast

0 What We're Reading Today (6-16-13)

White America Is Here to Stay - The Nation
Mychal Denzel Smith

A Rising Tide Lifts All Yachts - The Atlantic
Ta-Nehisi Coates

Color-Blind Policy and Color-Conscious Morality - The Atlantic
Ta-Nehisi Coates

The Sword Drops on Food Stamps - The Nation
George Zornick

Obama Tumbles Down Syria's Slippery Slope - The Nation
Bob Dreyfuss

Race vs. Class: The False Dichotomy - New York Times
Sherrilyna A. Ifill

Gazi to Gezi: Turkish Protests Unite Minorities Who Distrust Each Other - The Atlantic
Sulome Anderson

'Rise of the Colored Empires' - The Atlantic
James Hamblin

Immigrants Reach Beyond a Legal Barrier for a Reunion - New York Times
Rebekah Zemansky

Chicago Tactics Put Major Dent in Killing Trend - New York Times
Monica Davey

George Zimmerman's Father Says The 'True Racists' Are African-American - Think Progress
Judd Legum

Cory Booker: the inexorable rise of Newark's neoliberal egomaniac - Guardian
Jason Fargo

Social Conservatives Still Control the GOP - The Atlantic
Molly Ball

The Security Industrial Complex - The Atlantic
David Rhode

Man of Steel: The Dark Knight-ification of Superman - The Atlantic
Christopher Orr

Rape of Iraqi Women by US Forces as Weapon of War: Photos and Data Emerge (10-3-09) - Asian Tribune

Behind Kanye's Mask - New York Times
Jon Caramanica

AT&T's Deregulation Campaign - The Nation
Leticia Miranda

0 What We're Reading Today (6-10-13)

First and foremost, congrats to Jameelah on her NEW JOB!

Second, sorry for the delay.  This is basically a "What we've been reading the past few days because my tabs are so cluttered."  There is a lot of fascinating business in the news though ranging from the NSA, to the George Zimmerman (Trayvon Martin) trial, on to more shootings in the US, and the happenings in Gezi Park.

Battleground America: One nation, under the gun - New Yorker
Jill Lepore

Sean, Oscar, and Trayvon - The Nation
Mychal Denzel Smith

What's Really on Trial in George Zimmerman's Case? - Color Lines
Eric Mann

ULTRA-magnetic FCs: The Soccer Fans at the Heart of Turkey's Uprising - The Nation
Dave Zirin

J.D. Speaker Josie Helen Duffy speaks at Harvard Law 2013 Commencement - YouTube
Josie Hellen Duffy

We're a Movement, Not a Market: What would Pride look like without corporate America's stamp of approval? - The Media
Allison Francis

Has America progressed? - ESPN
Kiese Laymon

How Mayor Emanuel locked the parking meter deal in place - Chicago Reader
Mick Dumke

From 9/11 to PRISM: A Nation Gone Dotty - New Yorker
John Cassidy

Why 'Game of Thrones' Red Wedding packs such an emotional impact - AV Club
Tasha Robinson

Birth of the Surveillance State - The Atlantic
Michael Hirsh

PRISM's Legal Basis: How We Got Here, and What We Can Do to Get Back - The Atlantic
Margot Kaminski

Government Phone Surveillance for Dummies - The Atlantic
Megan Garber

When The Beautiful Game Turns Ugly - ESPN
Wright Thompson

How I Taught Myself to Code in Eight Weeks - Life Hacker
David Sinsky

The Battle for Aleppo - The Nation
James Harkin

John Lewis's Long Fight for Voting Rights - The Nation
Ari Berman

0 Help Snakes Compile a List of Summer Essentials

SUBMIT HERE

Hey everyone,

right now, the homies here at Snakes on McCain want to throw together a list of essential summer consumables for everyone as they have their hot weather adventures.  Originally, this was going to be just a summer reading list but we're tempted to think about all kinds of media (and maybe even food and drink) that we should all be taking in.  That said, we want your help.  Seriously, we do.

Myself, Jay, Jameelah, Munir, Meredith, and Jacob (who runs the Twitter) are trying to figure out our favorites that we think everyone should engage with this summer.  However, we know that there is nothing quite like a well crowd-sourced curriculum and so we made this snazzy Google Form for you to submit your suggestions.

You can access the form here.

All we ask is that you please keep your suggestions to something that anyone could readily access with the internet and maybe a little bit of effort.  Otherwise, we would love to hear about the best books, articles, movies, lectures, songs, and so forth that you want the rest of the world to know about.

If we have enough content we can make MULTIPLE LISTS which is as exciting to unveil as it is to type.  If not, I mean, we're cool with stuff to read.

Thanks for your help, y'all.  Stay hydrated!

0 What We're Reading Today (6-2-13)

Happy June, everybody!  In the next few days, be on the lookout for a little update from Snakes on McCain that will summarize what we have planned moving forward.  Thanks for all the love, everyone and welcome to summer!

Breadwinning Wives and Nervous Husbands - New York Times
Richard H. Thaler

Black Chicago in the 1970s, Through the Lens of John H. White - Chicago Magazine
Whet Moser

I'm Biracial, and That Cheerios Ad Is a Big Fucking Deal. Trust Me. - Jezebel
Meagan Hatcher-Mays

Istanbul Erupts In Violence After Protests Against Razing Of Gezi Park - The Daily Beast
Mike Giglio

Zimmerman Lawyers Admit Misstep - The Daily Beast

What If George Zimmerman Were Black? - The Daily Beast
Allison Samuels

The Inside Story Of The Harvard Dissertation That Became Too Racist For Heritage - Think Progress
Zack Beauchamp

Beyoncé's Chime for Change: Concert to Advocate for Girls' Rights - The Daily Beast
Tom Sykes

The Racist Redskins - The Daily Beast
Michael Tomasky

Black women heavier and happier with their bodies than white women, poll finds - Washington Post
Lonnae O'Neal Parker

Can Technology Pave the Road for Peace in the Middle East - The Atlantic
David Rohde

How Meals Win Wars - The Atlantic
D.B. Grady

Who Even Needs the Nation-State in the 21st Century - The Atlantic
Eric Schnurer

How Did Work-Life Balance in the US Get So Awful? - The Atlantic
Derek Thompson

How the Protests Will Impact Turkey at Home and Abroad - The Atlantic
Victor Kotsev

Why the Hell Are There So Many High School Valedictorians? - Jezebel
Doug Barry

Americans Are Just Not Happy - Gawker
Max Rivlin-Nadler