Our weekly recap highlighting the best feature stories from around the internet.
MTV's Doreen St. Felix examines the politics of patois. Photo: Unknown
New Tongues: The Politics of Patois in the New Millennium, by Doreen St. Felix, MTV
“That’s what languages and dialects do, really; they sort, organize, and, most effectively, segregate speakers. And that’s in part why the proud use of patois, which has thousands of speakers across once-colonized lands all over the world, can stoke such an impassioned — or, in the case of Hall, awed — response.”
Caught in the thirst trap: White gaze on black bodies, by Lani Lopesi, The Pantograph Punch
"Ethnic stereotypes by their very nature are problematic, however positive an individual instance may seem. In addition, the ‘positive’ stereotype of well-endowment was originally used to justify slavery and oppression. Because of fear of Black men being unable to control their supposedly animalistic sexual desires, enslavement and the threat of death were said to be necessary to protect powerless white women from rape. For a long time, the taboo against interracial relationships was such that any black man found with a white woman was accused of rape by the white community. The Black rapist stereotypes still have huge power."
To Obama With Love, and Hate, and Desperation, by Jeanne Marie Laskas, The New York Times
“A man sends his medical bills, a woman sends her student-loan statements, a child sends her drawing of a cat, a mother sends her teenager’s report card — straight A’s, isn’t that awesome, Mr. President? This pile, that pile, another pile over there; pull from the middle if you want. The narrative was sloppy and urgent, America talking all at once. No filter. The handwriting, the ink, the choice of letterhead — every letter was a real object from a real person, and now you were holding it, and so now you were responsible for it.”
How Jokes Won the Election, by Emily Nussbaum, The New Yorker
“It’s the thrill of hyperbole, of treating the extreme as normal, the shock (and the joy) of seeing the normal get violated, fast. “Buh-leeve me, buh-leeve me!” Trump said in his act, again and again. Lying about telling the truth is part of the joke. Saying “This really happened!” creates trust, even if what the audience trusts you to do is to keep on tricking them, like a magician reassuring you that while his other jokes are tricks, this one is magic.”
Blue Lies Matter, by Albert Samaha, Buzzfeed
“The police car pulls up. The huddled men stroll away together. A man in a long brown coat near the back of the group — Simpson — walks with them. His arms are at his sides, clearly visible. He holds a water bottle in one hand. Seemingly picking this man at random, Buckley cuts him off on the sidewalk. The man tries to step around the officer. Buckley places a hand on his chest. The man takes a step back. Buckley grabs his arms, pinning his hands to his back. A second police car pulls up. Three officers rush to Buckley and knock the man to the ground. His body disappears beneath the scrum. With the man pinned against the fence, the officers let loose punches and kicks.”
Sexual Assault in the Amazon, by Rachel Monroe, The Cut
“The world quickly went sideways. Ross tried to stumble out of the hut. As she did, the shaman saw her and led her over to the bed to lie down. He started telling Ross that he’d had visions of her before her arrival, that he’d known what clothes she’d be wearing, that they had a higher purpose together. He had so much to teach her, he said.”
Save the Last Dance: The Fight for London Club Culture, by Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork
“There’d been a similar incident in the Zoo the week before, when Daniel North, a 16-year-old from York, collapsed after taking ecstasy and died 12 hours later. Local police, who had arrested nearly 50 ravers in a previous raid at the club, urged them to tighten health and safety. But the threat from law enforcement proved counterproductive. Wary of the Zoo’s image, staff refused to call an ambulance for Jean-Marc, reassuring his friends he’d recover shortly. Without cell phones, they had little choice but to trust them.”
