Tag Archives: rape-or-incest

BOSSIP Exclusive: Common Talks Lending His Voice To Ava Duvernay’s 13th, Becoming More Active In Black Matters

Common Talks 13th , Social Activism Common is really living up to his original rap name “Common Sense” these days. The rapper’s activism anthem “Letter to the Free” is the end-title track on 13th and has already been nominated for a 2016 Critics’ Choice Documentary Award for “Best Song in a Documentary.” The song’s lyrics tackle America’s racial divide and reflect the film’s focus on the prison system as a new form of slavery in America. It’s also featured on Common’s own latest album, “Black America Again.” Take a listen: We caught up with Common to chat about the single, his invovlement with the project, and how his affiliation with Ava Duvernay movies have shaped his musical direction and activism… What made you want to become involved with 13th in the way that you have? 13th hit me in a way…it was like I know some of this, I didn’t know about this ALEC stuff, I didn’t even know the 13th amendment said that — I’ll be honest — I didn’t even realize that the 13th amendment said that if you’re a “criminal,” you can [legally] be a slave. So all that information, I’m still continuing to learn. It’s been an awakening for the country. This is part of American history and the same way we teach our kids about the people who came to revolutionize this country, we need to teach them about slavery too. We need to teach them about slavery and how that ties into where we are now. If they can see that, they would be able to put two and two together and start functioning differently. Your name has become more and more synonymous with “wokeness” in a sense since your involvement in Selma a few years back. How do you feel that movie experience prepared you for projects like 13th and even placing some of the messages you have in your latest album? Well, Selma was definitely one of the moments that changed my life forever. One of the greatest experiences of my life. One of the reasons is being introduced to the Civil Rights Movement in another way. It’s more than just researching and reading it in textbooks. You’re talking to people. Ambassador Andrew Young came and had a talk the first day of our rehearsal and said “What are you willing to die for? Live for that.” He said that was the whole mentality of the people of the Civil Rights movement. “We’re willing to die for freedom, so we’re going to live for freedom. We’re dedicating each day toward that.” One of the practical things I was able to connect with was the fact that each and every person that was a part of that movement, each day they contributed something towards fighting for that freedom. They dedicated their lives to saying “okay, some part of my day will be dedicated towards that.” I felt like, I have been doing things and putting my spirit and energy into wanting to see change, but I had to do more. I had to contribute my days into being more active and more present — not only in the music. So then, aside from the music, what ways did you begin pursuing to be more active? That made me think about things, and question how can I use my creativity not only towards the art that I’m doing that is socio-political work, but how can I use my mind towards these communities. So that made me start going into communities and start to listen and made me more political than I had ever been. Before I would think — “Okay, I need to vote for the president.” And “I’ll vote for this person I know about.” But now, I need to know. If I have a problem with police injustice and police killing Black people, I need to know what things I can do policy-wise to help change things. Who is the person that selects the police chief? Who is the person that sets up the training for the policemen in this state and that state? Not that I’m going to know everything, but even if it’s connecting with groups that do know, so that I can get that information and see how I can contribute my name, celebrity, whatever access I have, and creativity towards that change. What action has 13th pushed you to take? With this movie, I’ll put it this way: If I’m going to talk it and rap it, I’ll have to be it. So I will be at somebody’s prison — just building with brothers and sisters about getting out and what life will be like getting out and trying to provide help in that way. I even realized this morning from Kim Fox, the State’s Attorney of Chicago — she comes from Cabrini-Green in Chicago so she’s for the people, she comes from it — she says one of the biggest issues is, they don’t assist people when they’re about to get out of jail, so when they come out, they’re shocked. And it’s hard to get jobs, hard to get housing, you can’t vote in certain places, so then you feel second-class, and then you end up going back to that same cycle. So, if someone has been convicted of a crime, when they’re about to get out, when do we start training them to work on that? I want to help with figuring that out. Nice! Great to see a celeb taking his influence and really focusing on making a positive impact with it, right? Have YOU taken a listen to “Black America Again?” What did you think? Splash

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BOSSIP Exclusive: Common Talks Lending His Voice To Ava Duvernay’s 13th, Becoming More Active In Black Matters

Controlling America’s Women: Ohio Republicans Pass “Heartbeat Bill” Which Bans Abortion At 6 Weeks

Republicans In Ohio Pass “Heartbeat Bill” Banning Abortion The United States government has a sick obsession with telling women how they are supposed to treat their bodies . The issue of abortion has been hotly contested for YEARS now, and in the days before Donald’s inauguration, those opposed to the often-necessary medical procedure have decided that now is their chance to rule women’s wombs. According to CNN , Ohio Republicans have passed what is known as the “Heartbeat Bill” which bans abortion (regardless of rape or incest) after a fetus’ heartbeat is audible. Usually that would occur about 6 weeks into a pregnancy. “One, a new President, new Supreme Court justice appointees change the dynamic, and that there was a consensus in our caucus to move forward,” Ohio Senate President Keith Faber, a Republican from Celina, told reporters after the final vote. Asked if he thought the bill would survive a legal challenge, he said: “I think it has a better chance than it did before.” Former Presidential candidate, Gov. John Kasich, now has 10 days to decide whether or not he wants to veto the bill. Hopefully he will. How arrogant is it to wield religious morality (because that’s really all anti-abortion people want to do) as a weapon against women, especially when the wielding is being done by men who don’t have to concern themselves with child birth? SMFH. Image via Shutterstock

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Controlling America’s Women: Ohio Republicans Pass “Heartbeat Bill” Which Bans Abortion At 6 Weeks

Shady Pennsylvania Republicans Pass New Law Requiring Women To Prove They Were Raped!

In order to get benefits, women in Pennsylvania will have to prove that they reported their assaulter they accused of rape . According to The Huffington Post : …the measure, proposed by five Republican state lawmakers, seeks to eliminate an increase in benefits if a child is conceived while a woman is covered under the Temporary Assistance To Needy Family program. A woman can seek an exception to this if the child is conceived as a result of rape. However, she must prove that she reported the incident to the authorities and gave the police her assaulter’s identity. The bill reads: Elimination of benefits under subsection (d) shall not apply to any child conceived as a result of rape or incest if the department: (1) receives a non-notarized, signed statement from the pregnant woman stating that she was a victim of rape or incest, as the case may be, and that she reported the crime, including the identity of the offender, if known, to a law enforcement agency having the requisite jurisdiction or, in the case of incest where a pregnant minor is the victim, to the county child protective service agency and stating the name of the law enforcement agency or child protective service agency to which the report was made and the date such report was made. According to the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network, 54 percent of rapes and assaults are not reported to the police. Last month, New Mexico’s Children, Youth and Families Department considered a similar measure that would have only exempted victims of “forcible rape” from having to file child support claims against an absent parent. Gov. Susana Martinez (R) quickly pulled the “forcible” language after the proposal sparked backlash. Once again, Republicans are showing their true colors when it comes to womens rights and government assistance. Images via facebook

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Shady Pennsylvania Republicans Pass New Law Requiring Women To Prove They Were Raped!

Richard Mourdock, Candidate for U.S. Senate, Labels Pregnancy-by-Rape "Gift from God"

Richard Mourdock, a candidate for U.S. Senate from Indiana, is under fire today for remarks made during a debate yesterday with Democratic opponent Joe Donnelly. Explaining his views on abortion and whether or not an exception should be made in cases of rape, the pro-life politician said: “I struggled with it myself for a long time, and I realized that life is a gift from God, and I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something God intended to happen.” Richard Mourdock Abortion Answer Donnelly – who is also pro-life, but would make exceptions for rape or incest – pounced on the wording and replied via statement: “I think rape is a heinous and violent crime in every instance. The God I believe in and the God I know most Hoosiers believe in, does not intend for rape to happen-ever. What Mr. Mourdock said is shocking, and it is stunning that he would be so disrespectful to survivors of rape.” Mitt Romney has also weighed in and said, via a representative, that he “disagrees with Richard Mourdock’s comments.” Mourdock, meanwhile, sought to quickly clarify his stance by later adding: “God does not want rape, and by no means was I suggesting that He does. Rape is a horrible thing, and for anyone to twist my words otherwise is absurd and sick.” Earlier this year, Missouri Congressman Todd Akin got into similar trouble when he used the term ” legitimate rape ” during a radio interview. What do you think of Mourdock’s remarks? They are…   Understandable! Despicable! View Poll »

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Richard Mourdock, Candidate for U.S. Senate, Labels Pregnancy-by-Rape "Gift from God"

Tempe woman gets wallet with cash she lost 5 years ago in Wash.

Ryan O'Donnell report two teen boys in Washington State found something that belonged to a woman who lives in Arizona. http://news.yahoo.com/video/phoenixktvk3tv-15751070/tempe-woman-gets-wallet-with… =21279388 added by: MotherForTruth

Force women to bear rapists’ babies, say multiple GOP candidates

Rachel Maddow asks why Democrats aren't making GOP extremism a national issue MSNBC's Rachel Maddow has been researching the positions on abortion held by current Republican candidates and believes that, overall, they are far more extreme than in any previous election year. She also wonders why the Democratic Party hasn't made an issue of this extremism. “The Republican Party is, without actually talking about it, this year nominating a group of candidates for top-of-the-ticket races that are more extreme on the issue of abortion than any other slate of top-of-the-ticket candidates in any other year,” Maddow stated on Thursday. She pointed to several GOP Senatorial candidates or front-runners who have declared that they oppose a right to abortion even in cases of rape or incest, including Nevada's Sharron Angle, Kentucky's Rand Paul, and Colorado's Ken Buck. According to Maddow, these three “small government conservatives” all believe “that government should be big enough that it can monitor every pregnancy in the country to ensure that every single woman who becomes pregnant is forced by the government to carry that pregnancy to term. … This is a position that was beyond the pale even in fringe anti-abortion politics not very many years ago, but apparently those days are over.” http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0806/maddow-gop-abortion-extremism/ added by: unimatrix0