Links of Interest – 10/24/2011

From Megan at RawStory, the “I’m Not Racist” compilation:

The Root featured a stellar piece by Kellee Terrell on being Black and Transgender, documenting high rates of poverty, legally sanctioned employment discrimination, elevated rates of homelessness and harassment, and a prevelance of sexual and physical assualt. The report also noted high rates of attempted suicide, which are disturbing, but not suprising given our climate of hatred.

Reader C points us toward this Atlanta-Journal Constitution article on the whiteness of Occupy Atlanta, and how the movement there reflects racial tension in the larger movement. Related is this great piece from Kung Li at Colorlines on Atlanta’s history with social justice movements.

Speaking of OWS, we have this great piece from Kevin Alvarez on Why Occupy Wall Street should matter to POC; Mike at Rortybomb parses the data and stories being shown on the We Are the 99% Tumblr; and reports on how Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Baltimore are dealing with reports of sexual assaults in the encampments.

Clutch Mag has a fascinating four part series on coping with infidelity. For readers who liked Love, Anonymously, that link is for you. There’s even an interesting racial twist.

Hyphen posts a lovely deepthink on how to talk about North Korea, particularly with all the competing narratives at play, from Sylvie Kim.

There’s a fascinating conversation in the comments at Jezebel about Sarah Silverman’s new special “Live from Niggerhead: Stripping the Paint Off Good Ol’ Fashioned Racism” and the sticky racial politics of comedy.

Some good news on the Hollywood development front. Queen Latifah’s Flavor Unit is backing a feature film called Percentage, a drug drama; Shonda Rhimes sells a ton of new shows; Lee Daniels is doing a series with Showtime based on the Ball subculture in NYC, with the last milestone exploration being Paris is Burning.

Tigerbeatdown had three stand out pieces. Two from Flavia, one exploring how multinational corporations are turning anti-immigrant sentiments into cash and her declaration that her feminism “will be intersectional or it will be bullshit.” Sady provides an interesting musing on class.

NPR looks at the change in attitudes around interracial marriage.

Interesting considering our previous convos on terms and appropriation: Johnny Depp likens being photographed to being raped. Great analysis at the Awl. (Aside: I used to do string work for a tabloid – while I wouldn’t say it’s like being raped, but it is definitely an assault – I was on the side behind the photogs and it was still really painful to watch happen. And that was at a sanctioned press event. I can’t imagine what this is like day in and day out. I don’t think that is similar to rape. However, I do know that I better not hear a single objection to Depp’s analogy from so-called feminists who argued in favor of the Slutwalk sign. Because yes, it’s the same idea – that you have the right to appropriate an experience that has not applied to you because you think it makes your point stronger.)