Category: politics

Moira Donegan: For their part, Depp’s fans seem to not so much deny Depp’s alleged violence against Heard, but to approve of it. “He could have killed you,” says one viral Tiktok supporting Depp, the text superimposed over photos of Heard’s bruised face. “He had every right.” The post has more than 222,200 likes.

The backlash to #MeToo has long been under way. Critics of the movement painted women’s efforts to end sexual violence as excessive and intemperate from the start, claiming #MeToo had “gone too far” before it really got under way at all. And yet the Heard trial does feel like a tipping point in our culture’s response to gender violence. The forces of misogynist reaction are perhaps even stronger now for having been temporarily repressed. Where once women refused, en masse, to keep men’s secrets, or to remain silent about the truth of their own lives, now, a resurgence of sexism, virulent online harassment, and the threat of lawsuits, all aim to compel women back into silence – by force.

In some ways, one could see the defamation suit itself as an extension of Depp’s abuse of Heard, a way to prolong his humiliation and control over her. The only difference is that now, the legal system and the public have been conscripted to take part. This seems to be at least partly how Depp sees it. In 2016, as their marriage broke apart, Depp texted his friend Christian Carino, vowing revenge against Heard. “She is begging for global humiliation,” Depp wrote. “She is going to get it.” From the Guardian.

@aoc: There is no such thing as being “pro-life” while supporting laws that let children be shot in their schools, elders in grocery stores, worshippers in their houses of faith, survivors by abusers, or anyone in a crowded place. It is an idolatry of violence. And it must end.

how cool is it that malcolm x, yuri kochiyama and ho chi minh were all born on may 19th, in 1925, 1921 and 1890 respectively. belated happy birthday to all of them.

#malcomx #yurikochiyama #hochiminh #happybirthday #may19

It is often said that Pakistan is a hard country. That it demands too much of its people. Even its children…

Repost from @purana_pakistan:

Iqbal Masih was born in 1983 to a low-income Christian family in Muridke, a commercial city outside of Lahore.

At age four, he was put to work by his family to pay off their debts. Iqbal’s family borrowed 600 rupees ($3.23) from a local employer who owned a carpet weaving business. In return, Iqbal was required to work until the debt was paid off. The work was intensive. Child labourers were bound with chains to carpet looms to prevent escape.

Iqbal worked 14 hours a day, six days a week, with only a 30-minute break. He made 1 rupee a day, but the loan continued to increase due to interest and his family’s need to take on more loans.

At the age of 10, Iqbal escaped his slavery, after learning that bonded labour had been declared illegal by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. He went to the police to report his employer, Arshad, but the police brought him back to Arshad. Iqbal managed to escape a second time. He attended the Bonded Labour Liberation Front (BLLF) School for former child slaves where he acquired his education in two years.
Iqbal went on to help over 3,000 Pakistani bonded laborers get freedom and made speeches about child labour throughout the world.

He expressed a desire to become a lawyer and began to visit other countries including Sweden and the United States to share his story and encourage others to join the fight to eradicate child slavery.

Iqbal was fatally shot by Ashraf Hero, a heroin addict, while visiting relatives in Muridke on 16 April 1995, Easter Sunday. He was 12 years old. His mother said she did not believe her son had been the victim of a plot by the “carpet mafia”. However, the Bonded Labour Liberation Front disagreed because Iqbal had received death threats from individuals connected to the Pakistani carpet industry.

His funeral was attended by over 800 mourners. ‘The Little Hero: One Boy’s Fight for Freedom’ tells the story of his legacy.