259 Comments

Indeed. Saw this quote today and it states so presciently what we have not overcome. Insert any disenfranchised group of your choosing.

“The civilized have created the wretched, quite coldly and deliberately, and do not intend to change the status quo; are responsible for their slaughter and enslavement; rain down bombs on defenseless children whenever and wherever they decide that their "vital interests" are menaced, and think nothing of torturing a man to death: these people are not to be taken seriously when they speak of the "sanctity" of human life, or the "conscience" of the civilized world.” - James Baldwin

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I love James Baldwin!

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Ever more so each year.

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All well and good. Under the circumstances, you couldn't find an appropriate quote from a female?

Here, I fixed it.

Thanks to Perplexity for providing this example -

A similar quote from a female leader that echoes James Baldwin's sentiment about systemic oppression and hypocrisy is:

"Justice is about making sure that being polite is not the same thing as being quiet. In fact, often times, the most righteous thing you can do is shake the table."1

This quote by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reflects the idea that challenging the status quo and speaking out against injustice is necessary, even if it disrupts established norms. Like Baldwin, Ocasio-Cortez emphasizes the importance of confronting systemic issues rather than maintaining a facade of civility that perpetuates oppression.

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And speaking of AOC, she got robbed of being Dem head of the House oversight committee. With Nancy Pelosi working from her hospital bed and putting the pressure on, the Democrats put in place 78 year-old representative Gerry Connolly, who is battling esophageal cancer. If you know anyone that’s had this disease, it is totally debilitating in its treatment. So there you go. A powerful woman backing a man. Retire Nancy, your days are over. Women are their own worst enemy. 0ver 50% of white women voted for the felon.

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So bad. AOC would have been very, very good in that position. Not sure why Nancy didn't want her there

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Yes, she would be great as the ranking member on the Oversight Committee. That's probably why Pelosi blocked her.

Pelosi has routinely held down progressive Democrats in committee assignments; 4 years ago, she refused to let Katie Porter stay on the Financial Services Committee, even though (or BECAUSE) Porter was so effective during her first term in office. (Porter needed a waiver of caucus rules in order to stay on that committee in addition to her 2 other committee assignments).

I'm so ready to see that entire generation of Democratic leaders swept out of office and replaced by people who actually want to see reform occur.

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From what I observed AOC challenged Pelosi many times and Nancy didn't like it. Pelosi was very mixed in her support of the women in the House. We need much more AOC. AND Jess!!!

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POWER and INFLUENCE

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And 💰💰💰💰

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Whether it would help or not, I've been thinking that many of us should consider writing a brief, open missive to Rep Connolly and Dem. leader regarding considering some creative, fair solution to committee leadership rules. Is there for instance, some way that AOC could 'share' the chairmanship, especially under circumstances such as the current ? I for one completely understand and accept that many things are governed by seniority and where everything else is equal, that's an honorable thing. I do think that merit and ability needs, perhaps demands transparent consideration. JMHO. I'd ask / demand at least some public transparent response that could be posted for all to consider. AOC does certainly have elevated 'abilities.' Consideration should be given.

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I think this is an excellent idea and I will be putting it to work tomorrow and sending comments both through the email system (if their email systems let me)--and by postcard to Connelly, Jeffers and AOC

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Andrea, 'you' are a rockstar !

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internalized misogyny is so hard to fight/fix. It's also how women "vote against their own interest".

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He probably gets a bigger pension if he was a committee chair….

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I surmise that is accurate. Perhaps there is some workable compromise ?

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I'm guessing that he would have to retire as Chair.

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Ooo I didn’t know this statistic… “…over 50% of white women voted for the felon.” Jeanne FC on Substack 12/27/24

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It depends on the demographic, specifically age and education.

The older and more educated women did not vote for Dumpty, but even that demographic moved rightward a few percentage points as well.

If we could add pictures to Substack responses I'd add a chart, but alas, can't, yet.

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How about we women do not attack each other, especially older, brilliant ones, with merits and achievements?

Nancy is navigating her party the way it can thrive the most.

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And it should be remembered that Pelosi is not the “leader” of House Dems - that is Hakim Jeffries. Pelosi was first elected to the House in 1987 - BUT prior to that date she was Chair of the California state Democratic Party and Finance chairman for the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee. Without Pelosi there would be no ACA. AOC has been in Congress since January, 2019 and had no credentials with the Democratic party prior to that election. Pelosi comes from a family of Democratic activists and leaders. She is to be commended for her achievements and loyalty to the Democratic Party as well as her support of women and minorities. Pelosi is not a misogynist and has done more for women than any other female politician in my long life (along with Hillary Clinton). To demean her because a woman with 5 years in Congress and little to show for her time was passed up to chair a powerful Committee in favor of a male with years of experience is to ignore AOC’s thin resume in Congress. It’s called “paying your dues.”

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I could not have said it better, thank you, Connie. I wish more women think like you! Nancy and Hillary, I call them the Mamas, along with Auntie Maxine. Thanks to them, we were allowed to leave the kitchen. They opened up the world for us. Nancy did save ACA, as she saved Social Security from Bush. Thank goodness for her tenacity and endless amount of energy. She helped her Dem family since she was 11, she was always responsible and solid. And a hell of a strategist.

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Nancy and Hillary have done a fantastic job. Agreed. I respectfully disagree though that women should not criticize other women, especially when it has merit. Nancy is not the leader any more but she acts like she is. She got Biden to step aside (good idea? Idk) and now it is her turn to step aside. If we can’t criticize each other and only criticize men, that seems hypocritical and sexist to me and flat out wrong. Yes, it’s great to build each other up, but it’s not helpful to be a Pollyanna.

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Thanks for sharing that one.

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"Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." - John Steinbeck

"The comfort of the rich depends upon an abundant supply of the poor" - Voltaire

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Excellent quotes!!! TY

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I saw it also, in The Wisdom Letter #177, posted by PHILOSOPHERS@substack.com.

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He deserves to be rediscovered. His writings are so profound and on point.

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Lived experience and a sharp pencil will keep one on point!!

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He, he, he?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

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James Baldwin was never lost

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No but many of us were

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His life story is so interesting. You know he had to leave this country to survive.

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Yes, that’s what he said.

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Gave me cold chills, real ones, reading this.

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Always place

Copyright ©️Jess Piper on ALL of your writing.

All essays written by Jess Piper are protected by U. S. Copyright Law.

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Better yet, make it a watermark diagonally across everything as a background design that you write and publish.

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Also, if you blog on your own website consider adding a Creative Commons License to your blog. I am posting a link to my latest blog. If you scroll to the bottom you will see what I am talking about.

https://leslyejoyallen.com/2024/12/24/happy-holidays-keep-your-cool-strategic-minerals-and-the-us-economy-and-military-in-2025/

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thanks for this.

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how did you go anout getting this cooyright fir your blog?

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You only need to acknowledge that your blog is copyright protected and that you have also registered with Creative Commons. It’s not rocket science.

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Most Excellent Leslye!

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Everything she writes is automatically copyright protected. Those larger organizations know this and should be protecting other writers as they would want to be protected.

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This I know. But I have found that placing your copyright on your work acts as a deterrent to theft because the person reading it will not automatically know if you have delivered your work to the US Copyright Office.

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That too. I place a watermark on all of my photos.

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That story about how you ended up doing all the work for that coach who basically took your job. Oh, I would’ve been so pissed off! That’s disgusting! I guess there’s no way you can sue those motherfuckers huh? Protect yourself from the people that steal your work…!!!ARGH!!!!!

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Was your work posted online by you? If so, grab an I. T. professional who can timestamp your work. If you are the originator of the work, then establishing when the work was posted will reveal when and who originated the work.

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There are quite a few AI watermark tools out there now, though I prefer Glaze (https://glaze.cs.uchicago.edu) to AI watermarks.

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I agree, first, about the churches, and second, about working for free. After reading this, I sprung for a paid subscription. You deserve to be paid for your writing.

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Oh, friend. Thank you!

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Yep, me too--it was past time. Definitely going to get my money's worth!!!!

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Supporting our sisters plights much longer than those of any other secular is needed. And a bunch of sisters failed miserably this election. Out of my subscriptions 3 are women LFAA, Lucid, and Jess’s The View from…3 are men Steady, Hopium, Big Picture.

Oh so wish I could afford so many more …thank you all.

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I’ve been thinking quite a bit about how the US lost the leadership skills and competence of two women who ran for President and lost both times to the great White Dope, Donald Trump. Stupidly, racism, sexism and greed won. The American people lost big time. It is past time for women’s voices, ideas, and strength to be heard. This is beyond ridiculous.

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This happens in every industry. So maddening! I can’t tell you how many meetings over the years where a woman in the room would have an idea and be ignored, but then if a man says the exact same thing he is the hero. So many projects that were taken over at the 11th hour, etc… thanks for writing this Jess.

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Abso-you know what-lutely, Jess! Women supporting women, not ripping them off. Glad you’re calling out the hypocrisy.

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And the women make every dish at the potluck also

If the men bring anything it will be a bottle of wine or a bag of chips. At a Christmas gathering, I noticed it was the women who jumped up and cleared the table

At 70, I am reaching the end of my rope.

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Agreed.

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Thank you for pointing out that Progressives do this as well. As women and as activists we’re in a double bind-to just give and give, freely, until we have nothing left for our friends or families. You gave voice to the gnawing feeling I’ve had for several weeks- my time and my intellect DO have value. We’ll see what shakes out when I start to attach a price to my “work”. I’m sure I’ll see which feminists are left standing.

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❤️

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This was much the same in the early days of Indivisible and how we grew the local groups at an effective rate along side the “mothership” in DC — with no paid staff, no resources, but tons of ingenuity and many late nights. You see some of our IndivisibleKC leaders in office today — getting paid pittance, but better than 00

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Thanks, Jess! As a teacher in a Red, Southern state, we too were required to write the curriculum for the county and the state with no recognition of our efforts. It pissed me off then and it pisses me off more now. Our “summers off” were spent in stinky hot conference rooms debating over changing standards we’d written a few years back to placate the new crowd of state officials elected in and placed on the education committee. These representatives stole from us as we smiled. We were screwed then and we’re being screwed now.

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Yuuuup. Solidarity!

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Well said! And the plagiarism, WOW. But Jess, how about we pull another chair up to the table so we have equal space .. no scooching for us! ;p

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Make the table bigger!

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Such a simple thing!

Of course we want to know the creator, the author, the illustrator. Hope you find a way to automate copyrights on your work

TIME spent protecting it is time away from creating it.

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That really sucks, Jess and I will block Occupy Dems etc. for their behavior. As for the ERA, I was right behind Bella Abzug and Betty Friedan in the 1st March on Fifth Ave (NYC) for the ERA in Aug. 1970 when I was a young mother, and we had such high hopes. What fools we were. I'm now in my 80's and still waiting.

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Thank you for doing the work, Dottie. You are a trailblazer.

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The ERA has been fully ratified! It only needs to be published. There’s a coalition working on this, and they need us all to call President Biden, and to raise the issue with everyone we know: https://www.bidenpublishtheera.org/

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You are so spot on. I sometimes post my photography and always now place a copyright notice on the image and in the metadata. I once gave a print and online publication permission to use an image only for them to edit the notice out of the image. I was furious and demanded it be put back or the image taken down.

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It’s easier to put a watermark on an image. The problem is they are typing her words into their own image. Very hard to track every meme made and shared of her words, even if she copyrighted all her work. But copyrights help to prove the work is hers.

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Oh for sure . . . the real point behind our posts on this here is the actual theft. Whether the watermark is obliterated or cut off . . . or the metadata is removed, the issue is still theft and unauthorized use. It is especially egregious when so called progressive organizations do it.

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ALL Church's that don't abide by the Good Book, should be paying taxes. Their spreading the Maga agenda and getting paid money doing it. Our tax dollars pay for their roads, Fire department and police, when needed, and it's time they paid their far share, it's called Property Taxes!! Great article this morning ☕ miss Jess, and will reStack ASAP 🙏💯👍

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We face no less than 4 years of the Commander in Chief more aligned with the Handmaid Tale than supportive of the ERA.

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That is beyond disgusting.

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Love ya Jess, and I am really sorry you have been put through all this stuff.

I must add though, that this is not entirely a women's issue. Low income workers are often taken advantage of in these types of ways. From personal experience, I was forced to train the (lowered paid) worker how to do my shipper/truck driver job, so they could fire me immediately afterwards. Exploitation is the nature of capitalism.

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For sure…exactly right.

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