Romance is excitement and happiness mixed with adventure.

The very idea of freedom, was probably invented by a slave -Angela Davis

A disdain for industry is combined with a disdain for power -Halperin (Kentucky Way: Resistance to Dependency Upon Capitalism in an Appalachian Region)

The criminal justice system protects the rapist and the racist -Latasha

"government can also use force to undermine the very rights government is supposed to protect" -ABIGAIL R. HALL AND CHRISTOPHER J. COYNE

To the white male student at the race relations community meeting

Last night I went to a racial relations community meeting with an audience of professors, cops, counselors, students, across diverse backgrounds, different ethnicities, and upbringings. There was an unspoken understanding (so it seemed) that we were here to listen, talk, and plan to action how we can bridge the gap in race relations. Much of the conversation centered around police brutality because of the daily police shootings or assaults on black men in America. Eventually I left the meeting when a young, white male student continually drew attention to himself and took away the time and space for people of color in the room. He said that BLM (Black Lives Matter) and Feminism movements were hypocritical, said he was color blind, said he hated safe spaces, and said that there was not a race problem with police brutality. I was flabbergasted because I wondered what his intention was in being there for one. Two, I couldn't believe that he didn't recognize the disproportionate killings and incarceration of black men in America. Three, he said that BLM does not address black-on-black crime--which of course the research shows that there is predominantly intraracial crime (not interracial crime); but again, black men are disproportionately killed and incarcerated by white police officers in America. And don't we ever talk about white-on-white crime? Four, then the student said he disagreed with needing 'safe spaces', although he was clearly benefiting from it because every audience member and moderator was being respectful of his perspective--even going as far as fist-bumping him and saying that he did a good job speaking. Clearly, everyone that disagreed with him was being overly nice. Five, I had no idea people still labeled themselves as color blind, because THAT DOESN'T EXIST. When I look at you, I SEE your ethnicity, and that is NOT a bad thing. Because this student continued to interject and because there were cops (not in uniform) in the audience, the room felt like it was being policed. What was also unsettling, was that there was a shooting practice below the floor in the auditorium. And gun shots went off for an hour. I do not think the people shooting knew there was a meeting above them, but there was an unwelcoming vibration in the room because of the boy, the cops, the gun shots all while we were talking about police brutality.
As I stewed on the words of this student, who was obviously intelligent (but not understanding), I was mad at myself for not saying how I felt about his arguments; but I do not want to argue in front of a room of people, and I definitely did not want to stumble over my words because I was so frustrated. My biggest qualm was that he took away time from other speakers and students who had profound things to say. I enjoyed listening to the observations that others made except this particular student. From my perspective, white people have always had a platform for their ideas to be heard, and I was there as a white person to listen to people that wanted to talk about change.

Voluntary Childlessness is the choice of approximately 7% of American women

White supremacist colonialsm is terrorism

i'm totally old school

The cost of raising a child born in 2011 to the age of 18 amounts to $295,560.

U.S. owes black people reparations for a history of ‘racial terrorism,’ says U.N. panel

U.S. owes black people reparations for a history of ‘racial terrorism,’ says U.N. panel By Ishaan Tharoor September 27

 Reparations could be in the form of redistribution of land and equal amount of resources! This could happen, and this could be our legacy that creates a revolution-- a consciousness shift that demands and provides future generations with opportunities, success, sustainability, health, education, and empowerment.

New sketches I've done this summer (Ink drawings)

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, "Lisbeth Salander", Noomi Rapace

Tegan and Sara Quin

Mark Francis' Time & Chance (Prison Art)

Mark Francis Time & Chance by Cassie Kinney

From the Mark Francis collection of pieces, each symbolized time and chance. Almost every artwork had a clock, or date and year that represented the time spent in prison. One of the pieces that was profound to me, was the self-portrait that showed himself in a bird cage like jail cell. The shape of the jail cell like a bird cage could symbolize feeling like a trapped bird or animal that wants to fly away to freedom. The key hole in this piece was large in proportion to the cell and it was open, unlike most of his other pieces where the keyhole was small and barred. This self-portrait showed him looking out of the cell which was also differentiated from his other works that featured other imprisoned men looking up in agony, usually with their mouths expressing pain. In this piece, the figure’s hands are tied with chains above his head, attached to the cage. Although it shows Francis as being chained and tied up, the figure is looking directly through the key hole as a way or a path to freedom. The figure in this self-portrait is not wearing striped clothing or orange jumpsuit that is characteristic of his other figures. This could represent the time of his life where he was at the intersection of time and chance. It represents that moment where he was shedding his past (clothing), and looking towards the future and new path (the open key hole.)

The second artwork that had a profound statement was the baby figure with the cast on its arm. The baby figure had many cigarette burns on his chest and stomach. This figure represented an inmate that Francis knew, whose parents burned him with cigarettes as a child. Francis found that most people in prison, were those that had a history of physical abuse, and emotional and physical neglect. The cast on the baby figure read: “MOMMIE IS SORRY BUT YOU MUST LEARN TO LISTEN!!” This statement written on the cast shows the common rhetoric of the abuser where they blame the victim. 

Overall, Francis’ work expressed his prison experience as a cruel environment, where people were raped, and other forms of torture. His artwork reflected the jail cell like a barred coffin where you go to die or spend the rest of your life in a cramped space. Some works showed piles of books in people’s cells on religious and spiritual texts, law, self-help guides, which reflects inmates’ needs to find hope in a desperate situation. Because much of Francis’ work had representations of time through the clocks, he may be using the books as symbols of chance that will transcend him onto a path of knowledge, wisdom, hope, and freedom.

Noah & Charley Kinney Artwork (Folk art center Morehead KY)

Below are pictures of paintings and sculptures made by Noah and Charley Kinney. The Kinney brothers are my relatives. They lived off the land in the same area I grew up in the first seven years of my life. The way they lived reflects my heritage, and how I want to continue to live. 

 

A.L. Zihlman, "Women's Bodies, Women's Lives: An Evolutionary Perspective,"

"A.L. Zihlman, in her essay 'Women's Bodies, Women's Lives: An Evolutionary Perspective,' in contrast, has pointed out that for most of our evolutionary history, human societies were nomadic. This bio-ecological context required both men and women to travel long distances, hunt, gather food, and care for older children and other members of their community. Similarly, in contemporary foraging and horticultural societies, women perform the same range of tasks as men do, and add infant care to their other responsibilities. Cross-cultural research illustrates that women are capable of traveling long distances, carrying heavy loads, and participating in hunting. Thus, the assertion that a rigid sexual division of labor existed over most of our evolutionary history is not supported, either by what is known about human society in prehistory, or by contemporary pre-agricultural cultures...."