shit-thoughts: kenobi-wan-obi: Alternative movements: The revolution will not be (Russell) Brand-ed
shit-thoughts: kenobi-wan-obi: Alternative movements: The revolution will not be (Russell) Brand-ed Over the past couple of weeks, actor and comedian Russell Brand has been praised by several blogs and social media users for his viral video and last week’s New Statesman manifesto calling for revolution. The headlines speak for themselves: “Russell Brand May Have Started a Revolution Last Night” and “Brand is Readying the Revolution.” As young organizers and radical thinkers, the question on our lips is: why is Brand getting so much attention, while we — the “disenfranchised underclass” — have been saying this shit for years? Natasha Lenard articulately described why she does not stand with Brand and his so-called revolution: his complete lack of attention to dismantling patriarchy and sexism. Many other holes can be pointed to in Brand’s personal commitment to justice for oppressed peoples, from his appropriation of Native culture to his sexual exploitation of women. But the thing that stands out to us as particularly ridiculous is how corporate media is holding Brand up as a would-be revolutionary at a time when young people of colour and women, queer kids, working class and poor youth are leading organizations that are building a robust movement across issues, strategies and identities; a movement that is not looking to celebrities or elites for direction, but is informed from below. It is also important to recognize that Brand’s individual levels of racism and sexism are not separate from the overarching systems of racism and sexism we reside in. To continue to engage in inherently racist and sexist acts on a micro-level also showcases a lack of understanding around how it operates on a macro-level, disproportionately hurting women and people of colour. The mainstream U.S. media, 90 per cent of which is owned by six major corporations, continues to misrepresent the people’s reality. We often see news outlets proclaim a freedom from bias, when in actuality the right and the left misconstrue current events from their connection to historical antecedents. He defended Daniel Tosh when his rape jokes were called out for being shitty, so there’s also that. -- source link
#revolution#russel brand#racism#sexism#capitalism