Rookie » Daily Links: Real Talk Edition

Woo-hoo, the weekend’s almost here! Here’s the week’s last round of Daily Links…

Collage by Ruby Aitken, using a photo via VH1.

I haven’t been able to scroll my Twitter timeline without seeing praise for Cardi B’s scathing call out on VH1’s Love And Hip Hop: New York’s reunion episode. You don’t even have to watch the show to understand that she’s calling out men who use women for sex and are suddenly dismayed when those women want something in return. Some folks are even referring to Cardi’s rant as hood feminism at work. Personally, I think we should all be careful of appointing public figures as bastions of any kind of socio-political ideology, because it’s easy to become disappointed if they don’t uphold the beliefs you projected onto them. However, there’s no point in ignoring the fact that Cardi sincerely wants women to have the respect that they deserve, period. Cardi might not fit the perimeters of a “non-problematic fave” checkbox, but that doesn’t negate the real talk she so fearlessly spits.

Photo via Dazed Digital.

Check out this piece about an East-LA bicycle gang known as the Ovarian Psycos. Its founder, Xela de la X, describes their collective as, “an all womxn of color bicycling brigade cycling for the purpose of healing our communities physically, emotionally and spiritually.” At a time when “girl gang” has more or less become a cute, superficial-tough girl gimmick, it’s refreshing to see Ovarian Psycos represent a girl gang of sorts that centers politics and survival above aesthetics. Also, a documentary about the crew premiered at SXSW last weekend! How cool is that?

Photo via The Guardian.

If you’re in the mood for a long read, consider sitting down with “Death By Gentrification: The Killing That Shamed San Francisco.” It delves into the death of Alejandro Nieto who was 28 years old when he was shot and killed by cops in his rapidly gentrifying (and whitening) San Francisco neighborhood.