Love This So Much!

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“Image Credit: Carol Rossetti

When Brazilian graphic designer Carol Rossetti began posting colorful illustrations of women and their stories to Facebook, she had no idea how popular they would become. 

Thousands of shares throughout the world later, the appeal of Rosetti’s work is clear. Much like the street art phenomenon Stop Telling Women To Smile, Rossetti’s empowering images are the kind you want to post on every street corner, as both a reminder and affirmation of women’s bodily autonomy. 

“It has always bothered me, the world’s attempts to control women’s bodies, behavior and identities,” Rossetti told Mic via email. “It’s a kind of oppression so deeply entangled in our culture that most people don’t even see it’s there, and how cruel it can be.”

Rossetti’s illustrations touch upon an impressive range of intersectional topics, including LGBTQ identity, body image, ageism, racism, sexism and ableism. Some characters are based on the experiences of friends or her own life, while others draw inspiration from the stories many women have shared across the Internet. 

“I see those situations I portray every day,” she wrote. “I lived some of them myself.”

Despite quickly garnering thousands of enthusiastic comments and shares on Facebook, the project started as something personal — so personal, in fact, that Rossetti is still figuring out what to call it. For now, the images reside in albums simply titled “WOMEN in english!“ or ”Mujeres en español!“ which is fitting: Rossetti’s illustrations encompass a vast set of experiences that together create a powerful picture of both women’s identity and oppression.

One of the most interesting aspects of the project is the way it has struck such a global chord. Rossetti originally wrote the text of the illustrations in Portuguese, and then worked with an Australian woman to translate them to English. A group of Israeli feminists also took it upon themselves to create versions of the illustrations in Hebrew. Now, more people have reached out to Rossetti through Facebook and offered to translate her work into even more languages. Next on the docket? Spanish, Russian, German and Lithuanian.

It’s an inspiring show of global solidarity, but the message of Rossetti’s art is clear in any language. Above all, her images celebrate being true to oneself, respecting others and questioning what society tells us is acceptable or beautiful.

“I can’t change the world by myself,” Rossetti said. “But I’d love to know that my work made people review their privileges and be more open to understanding and respecting one another.””

From the site: All images courtesy Carol Rossetti and used with permission. You can find more illustrations, as well as more languages, on her Facebook page.

The “hay is for horses” call back is from a cockney poem based on the alphabet but not the traditional “A is for Apple”. My dad, who was from London, England used to recite it to me whenever I said “hey” or “eh” (yes, I am Canadian).

My memory recalls the poem as follows:

Hay is for horses (A)

Beef or mutton

Seaforth Islanders (C)

Differential

Heave a brick (E)

Effervescent (F)

… I think G for a Q (Guinea for a ? )

I will do a search later to find the rest.

I just found this in my drafts and I can barely remember making it bye

I want to be this kind of mom.

Let’s talk about our Vice President

With Kamala Harris making history as the first Black, Indian, and female Vice President of the United States, thus becoming the most powerful and highest ranking woman America has ever seen, there’s been more disinformation about her swirling on the Internet than ever before. Some of it is misguided – people who believe the sourceless accusations they read and think they’re doing good by spreading it – but a lot of it is intentional, malicious. 

I think it’s worth examining our Vice President’s record based on context and facts. We owe it not just to ourselves but to those around us to have a nuanced and accurate conversation about those in power that relies on data and expert information, not simply blog posts of unqualified armchair pundits who say what we want them to. 

And when we look at the context and facts surrounding Kamala Harris, it’s clear that she’s on the right side of history. She’s someone who, despite the occasional misstep, has indeed made it her life’s work to reform the criminal justice system, to advance progressive causes, and to protect and defend the American people. 

First, let’s dispel the disinformation. The myth of the “SuperCop” that has been affixed to her represents a willful misinterpretation of the criminal justice system that is specifically designed to smear an accomplished and progressive Black woman. There are three common refrains here: first, that she locked up thousands of Black people for marijuana possession; second, that she jailed truant parents; and third, that she singlehandedly kept thousands of prisoners in jail to feed California’s prison slave labor complex. All of these are patently false:

As San Francisco DA, Harris and her office had a policy of refusing to seek jail time for marijuana possession, instead reducing the charge to a misdemeanor and directing individuals to drug education programs (this is in the context of a nationwide push for heavier drug sentences and tough on crime policies, mind you). The leader of the public defender’s misdemeanor division during this time says that Harris “was probably the most progressive prosecutor in the state at the time when it came to marijuana.”

Harris never – I repeat, NEVER – locked up a single truant parent. There’s no basis to this accusation. 

Under California law, state lawyers are not required to go to the attorney general’s office in cases involving prisoner release. The prisoners who were kept in jail were by and large involved in cases she was not aware of. In one instance, however, a member of her team argued against releasing prisoners because of its impact on the prison labor force. Harris, however, immediately rejected that argument and completely disavowed it. Not in 2019, not in 2020, but as soon as it happened.

So, the myth of the SuperCop that has dogged Harris is not based in reality. What, then, did she do with her positions of power?

Harris co-founded the Coalition to End the Exploitation of Kids, with the LA Times commenting that “whereas police focused on the crime of selling sex, Harris saw young girls as victims driven by economic necessity, drug addiction and domineering men.”

She led a state task force to address the crisis of human trafficking.

Harris launched the Back on Track program, which provided young, first-time offenders with an opportunity to pursue an education and employment instead of jail time.

As Attorney General of California, she refused to defend Prop 8, which declared marriage as between a man and a woman, in court, and when it was overturned she immediately ordered state officials to begin issuing marriage certificates to same sex couples.

As California Attorney General, Harris launched a first of its kind implicit bias training program for all law enforcement.

As Senator, Harris introduced a bill to provide the American people with $2,000 a month payments during the pandemic.

In the Senate, Harris introduced a bill to reform the broken cash bail system.

Harris introduced a bill to finally make lynching a federal crime.

Harris introduced legislation in the Senate to legalize marijuana.

Harris introduced a bill in the Senate to provide a refundable federal tax credit for renters who pay more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities.

In 2019, Kamala Harris was ranked the most politically left of all US Senators.

Let’s be clear. Let’s speak truth. Not only is the mythology surrounding Kamala’s record based in facts specifically designed to smear her, but she has proven herself to be a progressive champion with a record of accomplishments. Is she perfect? Of course not. There are real conversations to be had about the efficacy of some of her positions, policies, and platforms. But we can’t have these conversations clearly or in good faith if they’re mired in lies. Kamala Harris is progressive. Kamala Harris has done good for the American people and will continue to do good. She is an ally to the progressive movement, and any attempt to alienate her, to other her, to dismiss her, does real harm to any agenda that purports to want to fix the broken systems in this country.

Harris is eminently qualified to be VP and President. She has broken barriers, worked to make substantial and substantive changes to the systems in our country, and dedicated herself to the continued pursuit of progress. This country, and the world, is lucky to have her in a position of leadership. And if your brand of political activism involves tweeting or posting lies about an accomplished Black and Indian woman, I’d humbly ask you to evaluate what it is you’re really interested in fighting for.

Day Sixty-four

@the-wip-project

Q64: How do you start writing a new story?

My answer: usually, an idea comes to me when I least expect it, e.g., in the shower, while driving, just before I fall asleep. To take an idea from a day dream to an actual story, I jot down some notes about the idea. The next step for me is to think about who would be an interesting character to have in the story. Are their any tropes I can spin on their head with this character? Then I write a short dialogue between two characters who are discussing the story I want to write. If the idea and story still interest me, I write it :)

#100daysofwriting, Day Twenty-four

@the-wip-project‘s Q24: Have you ever read a thing in a book or seen in a show/movie where you thought: “Oh, this is good, I’m gonna steal that!” What was it?

A24: Hmm ... really rethinking how I am inspired by others writing. Am I actually stealing? The answer is yes, I guess! Will now be more honest with myself when I “steal” an idea.

help  me!!

Hello everyone, I’m looking for a fiction that I read on Wattpad where Clarke and Lexa are forced to work together on a project for the company of Lexa’s family, Clarke at first has a relationship with Fin (musician) , later on the courtship of lexa who just wants to take her to bed ,breakup with Fin.. I remember that in this ficition Anya and raven have a daughter , lexa’s nephew who carries with her a tin for bad words. I remember that fiction have a second part of a fiction, where Clarke e Lexa are in a relationship and live together, and for a mistake Clarke was pregnant with the real son of Lexa. Please please help me

Some words to use when writing things:

winking

clenching

pulsing

fluttering

contracting

twitching

sucking

quivering

pulsating

throbbing

beating

thumping

thudding

pounding

humming

palpitate

vibrate

grinding

crushing

hammering

lashing

knocking

driving

thrusting

pushing

force

injecting

filling

dilate

stretching

lingering

expanding

bouncing

reaming

elongate

enlarge

unfolding

yielding

sternly

firmly

tightly 

harshly

thoroughly

consistently

precision

accuracy

carefully

demanding

strictly

restriction

meticulously

scrupulously

rigorously

rim

edge

lip

circle

band

encircling

enclosing

surrounding

piercing

curl

lock

twist

coil

spiral

whorl

dip

wet

soak

madly

wildly

noisily

rowdily

rambunctiously

decadent

degenerate

immoral

indulgent

accept

take

invite

nook

indentation

niche

depression

indent

depress

delay

tossing

writhing

flailing

squirming

rolling

wriggling

wiggling

thrashing

struggling

grappling

striving

straining

Day sixty (60/100)

I’m skipping a series of @the-wip-project‘s prompts to land on this one:

Q60: How do you start your chapters? Do you start with dialogue? Why or why not?

A60: I’ve not really thought about this before but, on reviewing the two wips on currently focusing on, I rarely start chapters with dialogue. In the chapters I do, I use it to startle the reader as a character is being startled by whomever has just started talking to them.