Why, hello there. Somehow you’ve stumbled upon our Positively Defiant media-making endeavor. And maybe you’re wondering, who are these people, and why should I care about what they have to say? Allow me to introduce myself… I’m Rivvy and I live in The Shoals area of NW Alabama. My partner Bo and I want to…
Bo’s Books: The Future of Activism: The Revolution Will be Meme’d
In The End of Protest: A New Playbook for Revolution, Micah White, one of the original authors of the occupy movement, lays out the future of activism, and protest won’t necessarily be a part. “…the assumptions underlying contemporary protest are false. Change won’t happen through the old models of activism. Western democracies will not…
Letters to My Dad (01 Introduction)
Yes, Dad, I’m a liberal. Dad, I know you pretty much hate everything liberals stand for. You think we hate straight white men (though many of us are), think we hate people who own guns (though many of us own them), think we hate Christians (though many of us are people of faith). In fact,…
Bo’s Books: Woman on the Edge of Capitalism
Power is violence. I just finished the book Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy. I guess books about utopias are intended to make us question how things are by showing us how things could be. And it really made me question capitalism – at least the way it’s structured in our society. …
Pigs (Three Different Ones) 🐷 🐷 🐷
I didn’t much get into Pink Floyd’s Animals as much as their other albums. But, come to find out, it’s one of the most politically fueled – as much as The Final Cut. Though I’ve been listening to Pink Floyd since high school (I graduated in 1989), I got my real introduction to this album…
Book Review: Blink
Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell (2007) Recommendation: High Blurb: Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology and displaying all of the brilliance that made The Tipping Point a classic, Blink changes the way you’ll understand every decision you make. Never again will you think about thinking the same way. Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand…
Book Review: Slavery by Another Name
Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II by Douglas A. Blackmon (2008) Recommendation: High Blurb: In this groundbreaking historical exposé, Douglas A. Blackmon brings to light one of the most shameful chapters in American history—an “Age of Neoslavery” that thrived from the aftermath of the…
Book Review: The New Jim Crow
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander (2010) Recommendation: High Blurb: “Jarvious Cotton’s great-great-grandfather could not vote as a slave. His great-grandfather was beaten to death by the Klu Klux Klan for attempting to vote. His grandfather was prevented from voting by Klan intimidation; his father was barred…
The Joker: Violence Coming to a Theater Near You and Why Your State Rep is to Blame
If the Joker movie incites violence, whose fault is it? Every Republican that tries to regulate a woman’s body. Every evangelical Christian that tries to force women into specific roles. Every anti-abortion activist that thinks they know better than any woman how to make decisions for her own body. Every right-wing pundit that attacks feminists….
Bo’s Books: Sherlock Holmes Takes on the Justice System
Data! Data! Data!(My new favorite Sherlock Holmes quote, from The Adventure of the Copper Beeches.) I am not generally a huge fan of true crime stories, but I just finished reading Conan Doyle for the Defense by Margalit Fox, and it was fascinating! Over 100 years ago, Arthur Conan Doyle, who created Sherlock Holmes, investigated…