"Pangur Bán and I at work, Adepts, equals, cat and clerk: His whole instinct is to hunt, Mine to free the meaning pent. More than loud acclaim, I love Books, silence, thought, my alcove. Happy for me, Pangur Bán Child-plays round some mouse’s den. Truth to tell, just being here, Housed alone, housed together, Adds up to its own reward: Concentration, stealthy art. Next thing an unwary mouse Bares his flank: Pangur pounces. Next thing lines that held and held Meaning back begin to yield. All the while, his round bright eye Fixes on the wall, while I Focus my less piercing gaze On the challenge of the page. With his unsheathed, perfect nails Pangur springs, exults and kills. When the longed-for, difficult Answers come, I too exult. So it goes. To each his own. No vying. No vexation. Taking pleasure, taking pains, Kindred spirits, veterans. Day and night, soft purr, soft pad, Pangur Bán has learned his trade. Day and night, my own hard work Solves the cruxes, makes a mark."
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Latest Posts by pangurbanourcat - Page 6
“It’s Giving” AAVE, and the Denied Yet Undeniable Impact of Black Culture
I grew up knowing it as Ebonics; I didn’t hear 'AAVE' until I was an adult. Apparently it’s used derogatorily- I did not know. But when Robert Williams coined the term in the 70s, its meaning was:
“…the linguistic and paralinguistic features which on a concentric continuum represents the communicative compentence of the West African, Caribbean, and United States idioms, patois, argots, ideolects, and social forces of black people…Ebonics derives its form from ebony (black) and phonics (sound, study of sound) and refers to the study of the language of black people in all its cultural uniqueness.”
Familiar Examples include but are not limited to:
The History
It was unbelievably difficult to find a solely Black perspective on the subject. I’m gonna need everyone to let Black linguists talk, it’s literally their job. Anyway, I need y’all to actually WATCH this video. Don’t skip it thinking I’ll summarize. Watch it. Actually listen. That’s part of the problem to begin with, is not listening. Even if you have to read this lesson later, so be it.
One of the points emphasized in this video was that AAVE was formed of the need to communicate, and specifically to communicate in a way that hid what we were saying and thinking from antagonistic white society.
“…“the disguise language used by enslaved Africans to conceal their conversations from their white slave masters to the lyrics of today’s rap music, [the magical power of] the word has been shaped by a time when, as observed by Harlem newspaper writer Earl Conrad, ‘it was necessary for the Negro to speak and sing and even think in a kind of code.’””
Because it was in a form that white people could not understand, as well as already existing racist biases against the humanity and intelligence of Black people, naturally it was assumed that our way of communicating was ignorant and ‘false’. Even acknowledging it as a valid language was seen as abhorrent, by nonblack and certain Black people.
“For decades, linguists and other educators, pointing to the logic and science of language, have tried to convince people that Black English exists, that isn’t just a politically correct label for a poor version of English but is a valid system of language, with its own consistent grammar. In 1996, with the unanimous support of linguists, the Oakland School Board voted to recognize AAVE, or the more politicized term “Ebonics” (a portmanteau of “Ebony” and “phonics”), as a community language for African American students, a decision which might have opened up much needed additional funding for education. Instead it resulted in intense public backlash and derision due to the still widespread, incorrect belief that Black English was an inferior, uneducated form of English associated with illiteracy, poverty, and crime. It’s hard for a language to get ahead when it keeps getting put down. Some linguists, such as John Russell Rickford, have noted how even sympathetic linguistic research, which has derived a lot of benefit and understanding from Black English grammar, can unknowingly focus on data that represents African American communities negatively, giving “the impression that black speech was the lingo of criminals, dope pushers, teenage hoodlums, and various and sundry hustlers, who spoke only in ‘muthafuckas’ and ‘pussy-copping raps.’” The term “Ebonics” even now is used mockingly by some as a byword for broken English.”"
(Some of) The Rules
AAVE is a full dialect with grammar and social rules. But the ones most people are familiar with include:
Th becoming D (“dats”)
Double Negative (“I ain’t see nobody”)
Habitual Be (“It’s cuz he be on that phone”)
Possessive s absence (“I’m going to my grandaddy house”)
Question word order (“who that is with the ice cream and cake?”)
Zero copula (“who that?”)
"Why do you talk like that" Would you rather I code switch?
“Code switching, or adjusting one’s normal behavior to fit into an environment, has long been a strategy for BlPOC individuals to navigate interracial interactions successfully. Code switching often occurs in spaces where negative stereotypes of Black individuals run counter to what are considered appropriate or professional behaviors and norms in a specific environment, and regularly happen in work settings.”
In this context, you might recognize it better as “using your white people voice”.
Some Black Americans, for varying reasons including internalized antiblackness and a desire for assimilation, hate AAVE! Some people will hate that you don’t use AAVE! Never assume we’re all on the same page about its use! My own mother used to be big on speaking ‘proper English’.
Regional Differences
The same way regional differences affect standard pronunciation, it’ll affect the AAVE used. Culture in the area as well will affect the words that come from it. So someone Black using a phrase in Philadelphia might not automatically know what someone Black from Compton is saying.
Someone did their dissertation on this topic, and while I’m going to link the summary for yall to give it a shot, Imma be honest- I do not understand this. I tried. It’s interesting how something that comes so innately, once written out like this is like WHAT. But the research has been done!
Easier examples include:
"Aaron earned an iron urn"- Baltimore
GloRilla and "Mursic"- Memphis
A lot of AAVE from New York City is popularized; so you might hear words from anywhere that originated from Harlem or Queens, or New York Ballroom culture
Tonal Languages
One major source of misunderstanding AAVE is people not understanding tonality. AAVE is often tonal, similar to many African languages, languages in general- meaning that unless you hear it or are innately familiar with how it’s spoken, you might not know HOW I’m saying something and therefore will not understand what I’m trying to convey. Given the history, this was on purpose!
Black language- Black culture in general, really- is often conveyed orally. Everything we say and do is not going to be written down for someone else to study. Doesn’t mean we weren’t saying or doing it. If you want to understand, you have to listen!
“Linguist Margaret G. Lee notes how black speech and verbal expressions have often been found crossing over into mainstream prestige speech, such as in the news, when journalists talk about politicians “dissing” each other, or the New York Times puts out punchy headlines like “Grifters Gonna Grift”. These many borrowings have occurred across major historical eras of African American linguistic creativity. Now-common terms like “you’re the man,” “brother,” “cool,” and “high five” extend from the period of slavery to civil rights, from the Jazz Age to hip-hop: the poetry of the people. This phenomenon reflects how central language and the oral tradition are to the black experience.”
Some examples:
1) "You Good" can mean, depending on how it is said and the context in which it is spoken:
Are you okay?
Do we have a problem?
You’re okay.
You don’t want these problems so chill.
Do you have enough money/resource?
It’s fine! Don’t worry about it.
2) This was an interesting experience, watching the misunderstanding of AAVE occur live. It’s the realization that people read this as “This is something Bugs Bunny would wear” versus “Bugs Bunny would wear the fuck outta that outfit”. But if you didn’t know that, if you aren’t familiar with the tonality of AAVE, of course you’d think the first one is what it meant! And it's not wrong-wrong - he would wear it, but that's not necessarily all it meant.
3) “Chill-ay” versus “Chile”. Yeah, we didn’t forget that. This is often why AAVE is used to sound “aggressive” on the internet- if you perceive (however subconsciously) how Black people speak is aggressive, then when you decide to emulate my speech in your moment of aggression, it is because you think my Blackness will make you seem more intimidating! You find Blackness… intimidating. Same reason you think it makes you funnier than if you were to deliver the same joke using your own dialect. It means the jokes not funny; my language is what’s funny.
Black American Sign Language
We even communicate differently in sign language; there’s an entire history and culture behind the Black deaf experience.
“In April 2020, Nakia Smith, aka Charmay, created a TikTok account introducing five generations of her Black Deaf family and how they communicate in Black ASL. As a social media influencer of Black ASL content, Charmay made a series of educational and informative videos on the history and practice of Black ASL. Charmay’s video went viral, landing in a New York Times article, Black, Deaf and Extremely Online, and Blavity: TikToker Has Gone Viral For Putting The Culture On To Black American Sign Language. Additionally, Netflix requested Charmay to explain the difference between Black ASL and ASL.”
Everyone doesn’t speak AAVE!
If your Black character is not Black American, and has never once been connected with Black American culture or people, they are probably NOT going to speak AAVE! They’re going to speak whatever dialect THEY have! And that doesn’t make it any less “Black” of them!
Different dialects and languages across the diaspora include but are certainly not limited to:
Black British English
Haitian Creole
Gullah
Jamaican and Caribbean Patois
Everyone Owes Rihanna an Apology
Y’all remember the song Work. I know you do. It was mainstream’s love and joy when this song dropped to be overtly racist about it, Black Americans included. Everyone claimed it was ‘gibberish’, that she was just mimicking language on a song and ‘it would be popular’.
Meanwhile, it was her singing in her native island patois! The people who spoke her language understood it! Anybody who actually tried to understand it, understood it! Another popular song, Sean Paul’s Temperature, is also in patois! And I thought we loved that song!
So next time Black people speak and you find yourself thinking- ‘wow, this makes no sense’, I want you to think to yourself: ‘does it make no sense, or do I just lack the context/knowledge/language to understand it?’
NOW THAT WE’VE HAD SOME EXPLANATION BEHIND THE LANGUAGE!
Writing AAVE
Me personally, I admit I don’t like it being used in stories where it is clear the author doesn’t understand the dialect, or where it’s clear the only person who speaks it is the “Black character who OMG DID I TELL YOU THEY WERE BLACK”. I’d rather it be the regular Queen’s English. We speak that too. I’m not going to decry your fanfiction or your regular modern-day original story as “bad” if you choose to use whatever language your region commonly uses. We know how to speak it. We will be okay. Using AAVE is not going to sell me that this character is “Black” if the rest of the character writing is still bad.
If it means that much to you, because it is important to the character, then you as the writer need to commit to learning proper AAVE! This isn’t going to be a “look up every turn of phrase on google” or “ask Ice what every single thing means”. You’re going to have to do what everyone who learns a language does- immerse yourself in it! If you can’t be bothered to learn my language, I’m going to know that when I read your work.
Obviously if there’s a context where the Black people involved do not know how to speak a language, it is perfectly fine to show that, as long as you are showing that it’s not due to some innate stupidity or other stereotype that this person cannot communicate the same way others communicate around them.
“The N Word”
I know someone’s thinking it, so let’s address it. There’s a translation for this word in damn near every language that’s ever come across Black people. So don’t go “oh we don’t have that word in my language-” I bet money you do.
Yes, it could be used in historical context- the ‘hard -er’. Yes, it could be used in social context- the ‘-a’. It follows the tonality rules I discussed earlier; that is, the way it’s used and who is using it makes ALL the difference in how it will be received.
Everyone is not on the same page about the use of this word within our community. Some Black people think it should never be used, period, even by us! Some Black people think that it should be reclaimed and use it as such! The only thing we’re on the same page about is that YOU should not be using it.
I say this to say to nonblack writers: put the pen down.
My stance is, if you can’t understand AAVE, you CERTAINLY aren’t going to be able to incorporate the social use of this word. Period. If you scared of the potential smoke incurred if you fuck it up- and if we see it, you will catch it- don’t bother. Trying to “write realistically” does not cut it. You should be doing everything in your power to understand and write a great Black character in all ways before ever thinking this is something you should do. In fact, if you're that thirsty to use this word, you have some other things you need to consider.
In the historical context, just watch yourself. If you’re gonna drop that word, you need to be damn well-researched on every other aspect of Black life and oppression in whatever era you’re writing. Just dropping this word to say “life is racist” shows a lazy lack of understanding of antiblackness. You don’t even have to drop the whole word. A “ni-” at the end of the sentence is enough for me to know exactly where we’re going! But if you not gone do the rest of the work… you know what they say about stupid games.
The Fundamental Disrespect
If you watched the prior videos (and you should have) and paid attention up to this point, you have already heard the struggles that both AAVE as a dialect and those that speak it go through.
There’s a societal connotation of stupidity, aggression, and silliness behind the way I speak. None of those things are true, and it’s hard to be told that even the way you communicate with others is bad.
But the other reason it’s so hard is because we spend our lives hearing that those are the connotations… when WE speak it. It is not the language- it’s ME that makes it so! And that gets into the other part of this lesson, something that AAVE is oft victim to.
This part is a little scarier for me to write, because people don’t like it when you talk about Black Americans as a separate entity from the US of A as it is known. I’m gonna put on my political hat for a second, but I promise this ties into my overall point so stick with me!
Stolen Cultural Hegemony
The reality is that the United States of America has forced a cultural hegemony upon the planet (amongst other forms). Yes. That is due to the capitalism, colonialism, imperialism and damn near just about every other -ism at the US government and military’s disposal. I am not saying that part somehow changes, of course not. That’s just facts. There are people far smarter than I (Edward Said, take the wheel) who could explain this far better. But I’m only here to explain this one point.
What DOESN’T get acknowledged is how much of what is deemed American pop culture across the world is both 1) stolen 2) Black culture! We do not have equivalent political power despite what our hypervisibility would suggest, but our social currency is raw diamond- so naturally, it has to be plundered! The white American dollar might mean far more than my life, but it’ll pay for my creations- even more so when I’m not involved!
The issue is that if your society says that I am less than, how can you justify how you covet everything I create? If I’m supposed to be so much less than you, why do you seek my language, my fashion, my music, my body? Why do you feel entitled to my creation, but you think you should have it… Without me?
Sit on that one for a second!
Appropriation of AAVE
Let's refer back to that chart at the beginning. How many of these have you seen or even used before? How long did it take for you to know it was AAVE? Don’t get me started on the influence of AAVE in queer spaces!
Of course I’m going to get started. Ballroom culture, created by Black and Latino people in New York City in the 80s (Paris is Burning, anyone?), has spawned so much popular “gay” lingo, and it’s not even just “gay”- it’s of color! Black English in particular is the source of many of the words that queer people use now in casual conversation, brought into the ballrooms, normalized, and then proliferated with other communities.
I can always tell when a new phrase from AAVE has hit nonblack audiences because it’ll suddenly be in every sentence I see, often butchered. Remember that historical context- of having to speak in code. Have you ever considered why AAVE is always evolving? Why we have to find new ways to communicate with each other? Have you considered that when people are constantly taking and misplacing your words, they may lose meaning or value, and so you have to come up with something else?
Appropriation of Black Music
Jazz, swing, the blues, disco, rock and roll, pop, even rap and hiphop have all been subject to appropriation- intentional or not. Far more intentional than you might want to believe. And it all comes back to money!
White audiences in the 1900s loved Black music- as long as they didn’t know Black people were singing it! Often, songs would be completely lifted and given to white bands to re-record. When Frankie Lymon first came on stage to perform, some of the audience was stunned! Even you know Itty Bitty Pretty One!
A more modern-day example: not to pick on the K-Poppies, but unfortunately it’s a low hanging branch example.
What K-Pop groups are doing now is heavily influenced what Black pop, rap, and R&B artists were doing from the late 90s to this very day. Part of the reason I enjoy K-Pop is because it reminds me of the stuff I used to listen to growing up. How many times have you heard someone think a Korean rapper in a K-Pop group is “fine”, but “don’t like” rap otherwise? Or will listen to K-Pop groups, but have very few to no one Black of the same sound on their playlists?
Examples:
Rover by Kai (2023) vs Swalla by Jason Derulo (2017)- Idk how popular Kai is outside of EXO, but I do know that some influence was had. And I like the song, btw! I prefer the music video! It’s just not the first time it’s been done!
Sweet Juice by Purple Kiss (2023) vs Say It Right by Nelly Furtado on a Timbaland beat (2006)
Taemin and Michael Jackson, period. Taemin having a song called The Rizzness. How did ‘rizz’ get to him? How did he know? More relevantly, how did the people who wrote his music know? How did something that started with Black people in Baltimore get all the way to Taemin in South Korea without influence?
I’ll use another example, so it doesn’t feel like I’m picking on K-Pop. I’m currently listening to CĂN NHÀ TRANH MÁI LÁ (Vietnamese, if you couldn’t tell) and as much of a banger as it is, with its own amazing cultural spin on the delivery… it is CLEARLY influenced by Black American rap. He nicknamed himself Vietgunna. Yall.
A non-American musical example: Afrobeats has taken the music industry by storm… How many of those people who enjoy an afrobeat from a nonblack artist will enjoy it from Wizkid or TEMS?
Those polls, where they ask how many Black artists you listen to… try paying attention to see just how much of your music takes inspiration from Black creators, but there’s a non-equivalent amount of Black artists that you support!
Political Bastardization of Powerful Black Colloquialisms
The appropriation of Black English isn’t always for entertainment. Sometimes, it’s a purposeful, malicious tactic to demean the words, and therefore the intent behind them.
“Woke”
“Michael Harriot, columnist at TheGrio and author of the upcoming book, Black AF History: The Unwhitewashed Story of America, explains that this kind of insidious takeover and flipping of Black vernacular to anti-Black pejorative has numerous parallels in America’s past and runs all the way up to present day. “When you look at the long arc of history and America’s reaction to the request for Black liberation – every time Black people try to use a phrase or coin a phrase that symbolizes our desire for liberation, it will eventually become a cuss word to white people,” Harriot says in an interview with [Legal Defense Fund]. It’s perhaps this very context — Black people’s awareness of their history and their power to resist injustice — that made woke so ripe for the pernicious mutation it has now undergone. Indeed, the forced transformation of the colloquialism echoes how countless other Black ideas and intellectual contributions have been maligned. “When people during the civil rights movement began saying ‘Black power,’ all of a sudden it became a term that people equated with communism and anti-white sentiment — and then it eventually gave birth to ‘white power,’” Harriot tells LDF. “The ‘1619 Project’ [which centers the ramifications of slavery and the contributions of Black people in American history] has become an insult. ‘Black Lives Matter’ became an ‘anti-white sentiment’ that was banned in school and spawned ‘all lives matter’ and ‘blue lives matter.’”
#SayHerName
This discourse is happening again, it happens like every six months on here, and it’s one of the things on here that fills me with a hatred that I struggle with every single time. It is hard, I literally feel that hatred in the pit of my chest right now as I type this.
Kimberle Crenshaw (Black woman and the originator of the legal term ‘intersectionality’), the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies, and African American Policy Forum coined the hashtag in 2014. TWENTY FOURTEEN.
It was meant to highlight the violent deaths of Black women and girls at the hands of police, which happens at a high rate like Black men and boys, but often goes far less acknowledged. By appropriating the hashtag, you are actively choosing to speak over the very names and deaths of Black women and girls we don’t know, because we are NOT SAYING THEM, and therefore are allowing those deaths to continue as though they do not matter.
I’m going to stop before I get more upset. But know what violence you’re contributing to in your negligence.
How to Avoid Cultural Appropriation while Showing Appreciation
Everything is obviously not appropriation. It is possible for people to appreciate, replicate, and take influence without being disrespectful! It happens! And because it is possible, is why it’s so infuriating that it does not.
It’s frustrating that when something is on me, it’s ghetto, ugly, ignorant. But when it’s on the right stick thin pale girl, it’s chic, it’s fashionable, it’s new. So if it’s not the language, and it’s not the fashion or music you don’t like… It must be… Me. I am somehow not worthy of respect for the very culture I create.
Can you imagine being told that? That you are not worthy of being… you?
If you are worried about cultural appropriation, both in your writing and in your life, the easiest way to avoid that is to:
1) acknowledge and support the culture that created what you’re saying or doing and
2) actually treat them like human beings instead of zoo animals or a species to study. Show respect! It’s not hard!
This is my body, my language, my creation. It’s not just to entertain you! It’s my life! I talk like this because this is how I speak, not because I want to get Tiktok cool points. If I’m around people who treat the way I talk like childish babble, it makes me feel stupid and disrespected. We can see that, and we can read it in your writing.
And yes, you may be saying “well none of that is unique to AAVE, that’s how other languages work!” Okay then go speak those languages then lmao. But if you’re absolutely determined to understand and utilize mine, then you need to treat it with respect and not like the Gen Z slang babble (or worse- the threat) y’all treat it as. It’s a form of antiblackness that is so normalized that we don’t even think about it… but now that you’ve read this lesson, you can start! You can start taking the time to actively dedicate a thought to what you’re saying and doing and where it came from. You can take the time to notice when something isn’t right- and maybe even choose to speak up, because it’s the thought that counts, but the action that delivers.
Please pay attention to mona‼️🫁 .
Https://gofund.me/e98bf79a
I ask for your help,I want to breathe like everyone else,I sleep from the night cough, and constant chest pain, all because of the cold air here in our tent ⛺️
I went to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, the doctor asked me for a x-ray of the rib cage, as a result of the X-ray showed that I had a sharp inflammation of the airways 🩻 💔.
Then I was asked to make a farm for phlegm that comes out of my chest, and the result of the farm was that there are infections and harmful bacteria in my lungs as well🫁❤️🩹.
As a result, he wrote to me to :
take intravenous (anti-inflammatory) treatments, sprays, steam device and capsules, and told me to wear winter clothes, and should drink warm drinks in addition to sleeping with padded winter covers, mona should always be warm, also tell me to stay away from fire smoke, but what do we do, every day I cook on the fire and we don't have cooking gas 😔🔥💔💔
Donate here
Help me to provide me with treatment as soon as possible, all I want is breathe like everyone else.😭🫁💔💔💔💔
Help by donating through the link or if you can't, share my campaign with your family and friends🥹🙏🏻❤️🩹
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Las fuerzas de ocupación "israelíes" dejaron estos explosivos, disfrazados de latas de comida, para engañar a los hambrientos Palestinos de Khan Younis. Explotan en el momento que se abren.
via. IG: abdul.eyad
what the israeli army is doing is absolutely disgusting. the fact that people will turn a blind eye because it’s supposedly in ‘self defence’ is disgusting. genocide is not self defence. please try and boost as many posts about gaza that you can whether that’s by liking, commenting, reposting etc
FREE PALESTINE 🇵🇸
After the ICJs ruling on provisional measures, the headline you would have expected is that western countries ceased funding and arming Israel.
Instead, they are pausing funding for a UN agency for Palestinian refugees, when there are almost 2 million of them in Gaza who are in dire need of humanitarian assistance as acknowledged by the ICJ itself!!!
All because of Israel allegations that 12 out of 13,000 of the agencies employees MAY have been involved in Oct 7th.
Even IF this were true, this amounts to #collectivepunishment of Palestinians in Gaza and failure to abide by state’s obligations to prevent acts of gen0c!de.
Please consider donating directly to unrwa so they can continue their life-saving work. You can find the donation link in their instagram account or webpage.
Please also make your voice heard; demand your government resumes\/continues funding unrwa and don’t stop speaking up for Palestine.
In our thousands, in our millions we are all Palestinians!! 🇵🇸❤️🍉
Remember Hind. Remember Reem. Remember all the little boys and girls who are more than mere numbers. They are dreams, humanity's innocence, and most importantly they are not to be forgotten.
“On February 25, 2024, my life changed forever. While I was looking for a living for my family under difficult circumstances, a bullet exploded in my left hand while waiting for humanitarian aid at Nabulsi roundabout. I lost my hand, and with it a large part of my ability to work and live with dignity. My sister is pregnant, my father suffers from a serious illness, and I am responsible for supporting my family. I need your help to undergo a bone transplant, so I can return to my normal life and work again. Every donation, no matter how small, will help me overcome this difficult ordeal.
#Gaza #Donate #Help #Humanitarian #Amputation #Bone_Transplantation”
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Anatole Kuragin (act. Vasily Lanovoy) Character from movie ''War and Peace'', 1965—1967
VETTED!
They reached out to me. We have been doing really well with mutual aid efforts, and they haven't had much progress with their fundraiser <3
This fundraiser is vetted by:
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We are currently at 10%
€10,020/€100,000
Donations will go towards rent and utilities, basic needs, educational support, medical and psychological care and my husband’s project to earn a living.
Every contribution, no matter how small, will make a huge impact, and your generosity will help my family find stability and hope.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who helps us or participates in our campaign in these very difficult circumstances.
tagged for reach @murderbot @dirhwangdaseul @helpfamilyetaf2 @helpfamilyetaf1 @khawla-gfm2
vetted palestinian fundraisers from my inbox
posting as a roundup rather than spamming a bunch of posts because i've been inactive the last few days and it would be a lot. please donate/reblog if you can!
@etafetaf1234567 - fundraiser - vetting
@supportsalman-90 - fundraiser - vetting
@mohammedayyads-blog - fundraiser - vetting
@ghaziyounesalternative - fundraiser - vetting
@hazem-suhail - fundraiser - vetting
@shadi90 - fundraiser - vetting
@ahmedbasilps - fundraiser - vetting
@alamoudi-ghazi - fundraiser - vetting
@nouraayman - fundraiser - vetting
@yehiaalqoqa2 - fundraiser - vetting
@supportgaza - fundraiser - vetting
@ali-manar - fundraiser - vetting
@maximumtravelerwizard - fundraiser - vetting (by association)
@strangekittengalaxy - fundraiser - vetting (by association)
@nuhamurad369 - fundraiser - vetting
@familygazaamal - fundraiser - vetting (by association)
unfortunately there are a few campaigns i had to skip as i couldn't verify that they were vetted.
Here's a website where Palestine GoFundMes are vetted and shared that you can send out to people. The url is gazafunds.com
Easy to use and simple. Just share the site whenever someone asks for GFMs for Palestine.
The return of lionfish Winter for his birthday!!
Willow in an áo tứ thân, a traditional dress from Northern Vietnam, meaning four part dress! Made up of a tunic, a yếm (undergarment), a long skirt, and a silk sash around the waist.
book 4 be like
[reblogs help artists grow!]
I hope your family is safe and doing as well as it can through all of this.
Why is no one talking to me? No one checks on my family anymore. Are we no longer important, the six of us?! When will I find someone to care about us? Will it be when we are bombed or dead?
The people here helped me, and the Tumblr community is wonderful. I love you all.
But no one wants to check on my family anymore. I have four children who live every day in fear, with bombings and death, in a place without sanitation, filled with epidemics and diseases. Even food is now just canned goods. Is a child supposed to live their life here without any sweets or treats?
Are we dead?! Is that why no one answers or asks about us? Or has the world's conscience died, so they don’t think about us or inquire about us?
I created a post telling our story in black and white because my family and I are starting to lose hope. Perhaps someone will look at the pictures and read the story, realizing that this family is on the brink of becoming a memory.
My children, my wife, and I read your comments and your words, and the messages you send. Why have you stopped? No one is standing with us. You know, even internet and electricity here are hard to come by, and we walk a long way to reach a place just to tell you that we are still alive here in Gaza.
We hoped someone would fight with us, try to raise our voice to the world, send our campaign to friends, or even try to adopt our cause and reach out to people, asking them to write and share our story.
If I’m the only one here in Gaza trying to raise my family's voice and save them, I won’t succeed alone.
I'm writing this because I can't do it alone, and I hope you will support me and stand with me.
Just read this with your hearts. My family and I need your support with your own selves, minds, and consciences, not just donations, above all else.
I will attach a picture of my family here, hoping it will make someone look with their heart, talk to us, and say, “I will try to help you.”
This is the link to my campaign»»»
I hope to find someone who cares about whether my family and I are still alive.
💔🙏
🚨Help the child survive the Gaza war🚨🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Please donate if you can, and share if you cannot!
@awetistic-things @baby-girl-aaron-dessner @junglejim4233 @heritageposts @pcktknife @chososhairbuns @dlxxv-vetted-donations @illuminated-runas @imjustheretotrytohelp @magnus-rhymes-with-swagness @visenyasdragons @belleandsaintsebastian @ear-motif @kordeliiius @brutaliakhoa @raelyn-dreams @troythecatfish @theropoda @4ft10tvlandfangirl @queerstudiesnatural @northgazaupdates2 @skatezophrenic @sygol@fancysmudges @brokenbackmountain @ot3 @mothblossoms @aleciosun @fluoresensitive @a-shade-of-blue @tortiefrancis @tsaricides @flower-tea-fairies @riding-with-the-wild-hunt @sayruq @malcriada @palestinegenocide @sar-soor @akajustmerry @feluka @nabulsi @khizuo @transmutationisms @schoolhater @timogsilangan @appsa @buttercuparry
Genocide flattens every discussion. There are no new conversations to be had about the destruction, death and cruelty. After more than a year, there is nothing left to be said about various media houses, corporations and international bodies of law aiding and abetting all that has been happening in Gaza, either. It is the banality of evil, it is colonialism. However even in this atrociously banal circumstance, I do think what still is a continued point of hope for Gazans and what still pushes so many of them to reach out to the world, is the support people around the globe have shown and still continue to show. Which is why I am here on behalf of the Shehab family ( @fahedshehab-new ) and requesting you to help them survive through this winter. This won't take much of your time so please read:
Fahed is currently supporting 13 family members in total- his own family and that of his sister’s.
He has to look after 8 children now, with the youngest being his son Yayha who is barely having anything to eat because the price of baby milk is exorbitantly high in Gaza.
The genocide has taken a toll on Fahed’s daughters. Sahar and Dana spent a whole year under the threat of bombs and right now instead of getting to be teenagers, they ask their father if they will survive. They have even said they don't want to live if they lose someone.
The family right now immediately needs clothes to keep them warm throughout winter. Fahed’s family is from the north and has been displaced several times before they came south. Displacement is dangerous and a silent killer because often essential items are lost and cannot be replaced in time.
Please consider that the weather has already turned colder around the world and that which is only mildly uncomfortable to us, presents a dire situation for Gazans. The families don't have a shelter and there is no way for tents to adequately protect from cold winds and rain. So right now the immediate need is for warm clothes and it can cost upto $400 per person. With THIRTEEN PEOPLE to take care of Fahed immediately needs to raise at least 5k to buy the required apparels. So please boost and donate.
Currently at $66,248. He needs to reach $71,248. Please help however you can.
Vetting link
Please remember that every donation, even if it is 5 dollars, is a ray of hope for the families who have lost everything.
Tagging for reach 🙏🏽
@brutaliakhoa @appsa @malcriada @aces-and-angels @three-croissants
@schoolhater @briarhips @timetravellingkitty @tiredguyswag @neptunerings
@brokenbackmountain @transmutationisms @fuckgimp @jezior0
@imjustheretotrytohelp @sunflowersmoths @khanger @autisticmudkip @zigcarnivorous
@maaszeltov @contra-file @venus-is-in-bloom @fading-event-608 @lesbianmaxevans
@girlinafairytale @heliopixels @celadonwanderer @paparoach @furiousfinnstan
@forgetfulrecord @flyskyhigh09 @aflamethatneverdies @thedigitalbard @lesbincineroar
@noble-kale @maoistyuri @lamngen @thatsonehellofabird @roadimusprime
@a-shade-of-blue @ramshackledtrickster @C-u-ckoo-4-40k @galacticmermaid @heydreamchild
Palestinian girls and women are forced to use tents as pads. People boost. Donate if you can
Save My Brother Samer’s Life 🚨
If you scroll past this, you are ignoring a life that can be saved.
I’m writing as a brother watching Samer struggle for survival. His health has deteriorated to the point of falling into a coma, and we are unable to provide him with the necessary treatment. 💔
Samer suffers from bipolar disorder, and his stability relied on daily medications including LeponeX (Clozapine), Depalept Chrono (Sodium Valproate), and Lithium CO3 (Lithium Carbonate). These medications helped stabilize him, but without them, his health has worsened significantly. Every moment is crucial, and the pain and worry are relentless. 😞
There is no place for my brother in the hospital, and we cannot secure the treatment he needs. Imagine being unable to help your own brother as he struggles, without a way to provide the medicine he needs to recover.
Your donation could be the only hope to bring Samer back to life, giving him a chance to heal and come back to us. 🙏
Every contribution, no matter how small, could make a tremendous difference in saving Samer’s life. 💙
My campaign verified by:
@dlxxv-vetted-donations & @a-shade-of-blue
@gazavetters , my number the list is ( #75 )
paliliberation , my number the list is ( #171 )
Our important links here
palestine masterpost-masterpost
i've been trying my best to collect a bunch of links to other, more structured resources about the genocide in gaza, and what you, reading this, can do about it, that i'm going to compile here.
DON'T SCROLL PAST. LOOK THROUGH THE LINKS. REBLOG.
less and less people are talking about gaza every day, but it is still a very real crisis.
education, donations, speaking out, global links (masterpost)
links to contextual articles
for americans - state/congressional contacts
how you can help palestine - donations, petitions, campaigns, upcoming protests (masterpost)
non-politically motivated charity links
canary mission
petitions and congressional contact (masterpost)
education, current news, taking action, direct action and donations, current protests (masterpost)
small monetary actions
2700 ebooks on israel and palestine, available for free
thorough article by storiesfromgaza, dated 10/30/23
targeted boycott + bds
how to find state/congressional contacts, bds, email template, donation links
sudan and congo
egypt, us/uk/canada/europe congressional contacts
direct links to help palestine
educate yourself (twitter links)
translating gaza (instagram link)
bds/targeted boycott information
compilation of palestine info and how to support it (masterpost), dated 10/28/23
latest info as of 11/3/23 and large amounts of immediate action to take (masterpost)
history of palestine and israel - articles, books, films, social media (masterpost)
socials to follow
journalists in north gaza
btselem
winfer
reblogs would be appreciated for spreading him across the world (or wof fandom at least..)
“We ask that, as President of the United States, you call for an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Gaza and Israel before another life is lost,” it reads. “More than 5,000 people have been killed in the last week and a half – a number any person of conscience knows is catastrophic. We believe all life is sacred, no matter faith or ethnicity and we condemn the killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians.”
"Beyond our pain and mourning for all of the people there and their loved ones around the world we are motivated by an unbending will to stand for our common humanity,” it concluded. “We stand for freedom, justice, dignity and peace for all people – and a deep desire to stop more bloodshed. We refuse to tell future generations the story of our silence, that we stood by and did nothing.”
This is a longshot, would you be willing to help me get my insulin? I'm down to my last pen and its pretty much close to being empty.Nt asking for much only need $370 rn to save my bloodsugar. please help me with a small donation or share any help can save my life.Please help & Blessings ❤Thanks.
^
Massive fuck you to everyone who is talking about Palestinians as if we’re already all dead and sharing more solidarity with our corpses than us living. “We will never forget the beautiful Palestinian people-“ how about you stop “making peace” with Palestinian extermination. My people are not going to be forgotten because we are going to live. Palestinians have already survived one genocide and have been surviving one ever since.
Do not ever let the idea that all Palestinians are going to die exist in your mind. Mourn the dead, fight like hell for the living.
some facts for western christians this holiday season:
jesus’ birthplace is under military occupation
bethlehem is surrounded by military checkpoints, an apartheid wall, and over 20 segregated illegal settlements built on stolen land - all designed to keep palestinians (including palestinian christians) under the thumb of oppression
palestinian christians are not allowed to move without restrictions, meaning that many have never and will never see their own holy sites in jerusalem. jerusalem is less than 30 minutes away.
they are often harassed, beaten, or even killed on holidays like christmas and easter.
palestinian christians are forced out of their homes as israel continues to build apartheid walls and illegal settlements
churches have been deliberately targeted in airstrikes, arson attacks, and settler violence
nuns and other clergy have been targeted in violent attacks
indigenous christians of the holy land have begged for help from christian communities abroad, fearing for their lives and even a possible extinction, according to christian religious leaders there
and finally, a message from the archbishop of jerusalem:
man i don't know how to say this but gazans here are risking their lives to make posts asking for help. they are asking for you to contribute a small amount of money to buy food or medicines or get shelter.
whether we like it or not, we are complicit in this genocide. either because of our silence, or because our tax money if being used to bomb them. i thought that people would be more eager to help gazans, trying to 'reverse' the damage somehow.
contrary to what i thought, people are moving on. they're moving on from the al-shifa hospital strike, they're moving on from refugee camp massacres and from school bombings, they're moving on from dead children and orphaned children.
please don't be indifferent. help my friend alaa amsse [ @alaakh998 ]. she urgently needs money to buy a new tent. she needs medicine for her sick son. her tent was flooded and she needs to buy supplies. please please help her if you have the means to. her fundraiser has been verified by 90-ghost and the butterfly project (#307).
donate
if you're feeling powerless right now—and god knows I am—here's a reminder you can donate to the National Network of Abortion Funds, the Trans Law Center, Gaza Soup Kitchen, the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, and hundreds of other charities that will work to mitigate the damage that has been and will continue to be inflicted
life continues. we still have the capacity to do good, important work. that matters
might make some fullbody refs for the gang w/ some complementary handwriting hc's as a little treat ...
ofc, the first up is moon !! for her handwriting i def wanted to go for something between fancy cursive and "i never learned how to write", i think she'd get a lot of the inspo for her writing style from the scrolls her mama got her. my personal headcanon is that secretkeeper got moon old literature that no one really noticed or needed anymore so she could steal them as she pleased,, probably part of the reason moon was given a wider perception of life/empathy as a nightwing; i think it would be really cool if that was reflected in her handwriting :]