Fugitivus Discussion Forum

or "Fuck-up prevention"

Because there is a bunch of stuff that I would *like* to learn more about, but I dunno what blogs/books to read, since it's easiest to find such resources through... those resources. Anyone else is welcome to make similar requests!

I would like some recommendations for books or non-newsy blogs on racism and ableism, mostly. I think those are my biggest blind spots.

I've found http://www.disabledfeminists.com and their blogroll to be immensely useful in learning about ableism/ neurotypical-centrism. While the site is now an archive rather than a continuously updated site (and does have a number of news analysis posts in its history), I'd still say it's a valuable resource, and the authors were really on top of calling out ableism in "progressive" spaces or news coverage and pointing out how and why the fuck-ups were problematic.

*Edited as I caught some vodka-fueled typos. May be edited again if i catch more later.

I like Love Isn't Enough. Even though it is about parenting or raising family in a colorstruck world, its lessons apply to lifelong learners, not just kids.

I also really like Womanist Musings, (has intersectionality with disability and homosexuality) What Tami Said, and Angry Black Bitch.

And, I almost forgot Ill Doctrine, by Jay Smooth, especially How to Tell People They Sound Racist. Also, think Tim Wise has the anti-racist white ally gig going pretty well.

I'm going to suggest works mostly written FOR the marginalized audience because I think it's good to read stuff that doesn't center one's learning as a privileged person (or, if one is a marginalized person, to read stuff that DOES center oneself!) I'm also not going to suggest blogs because, uhh, because I feel like suggesting books instead!

Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider.
Gloria Anzaldua, Borderlands.
Andrea Smith, Conquest.
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Blood on the Border: A Memoir of the Contra War.
King, "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." (Really!)
Frederick Douglass, his autobiography, and get Angela Davis's critical edition if you can.

Sorry I don't have a lot of ideas for books on disability and ableism.

Edit: Oh, oh! No, wait! Look for Gabor Maté, especially Scattered Minds: A New Look at the Origins and Healing of Attention Disorder, When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress, and In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction. Gabor Maté rules so hard, if you want to spend half an hour watching something amazing watch this interview with him (has transcript.)

LOL

As much as I don't ever want to defend ableist language, and I get the LOL, every eye has a blind spot, even completely (temporarily) able eyes. It's on the optic disc where the nerve passes through. Its full name is the physiological (which means normal, health wise) blind spot. I think with that origin, it should be OK, but I still understand if people think it has a problematic denotation.

It's still drawing a direct analogy between inability to see physically and inability to understand. Which... to my mind, shouldn't be all that bad if we're not also stigmatizing inability to understand. Except that our culture stigmatizes inability to understand all the time.

Basically, that seems like an "in a perfect world" defense (which I sympathize with totally! I want my perfect world now, dammit!) and we don't live in a perfect world, so it's problematic from where we're standing.

Yeah, that's the denotation part.

Wouldn't that be the connotation part? The denotation is the technical definition, and the connotation is all the meanings and ideas implied by the word.

Hmm. So what do we call blind spots if not blind spots? I find the easiest way to eliminate problematic language is to come up with an alternative that is less problematic but an equal or better description—saves arguing with my brain.