Angry White Men: A Book Review

Angry White Men (AWM) by Michael Kimmel explores variations on the concept of aggrieved entitlement. According to Kimmel’s theory, when an individual or group expects certain privileges based on their status and reality does not conform to those expectations, a backlash can occur.

Aggrieved entitlement is used to explain a variety of social phenomenon in modern America including the upsurge in nationalism, hate radio, men’s rights groups, domestic terrorism, suicides, and white supremacy groups of all sizes. The common thread in all these trends comes from the demographics of the individuals engaged in these activities. As the title suggests, aggrieved entitlement is by and large the exclusive affliction of angry white men marginalized by multiculturalism, feminism, and gay liberation.

The book was written in 2013, when the Trumpocalypse was inconceivable as a realistic option for the country. AWM focuses on the conditions that gave rise to Trumpzilla, but it doesn’t speak directly to his corrosive impact. It also only hints at the underlying sexual frustration and insecurity I believe is at the heart of racism, misogyny, anti-Semitism and anti-gay bias. It does provide useful insight into an influential but warped strata of society, especially when read in conjunction with Carol Anderson’s White Rage and Aaron James’s Assholes.

If Black Panther is the Target of a Mass Shooting in 'Merica...

Here’s a thought based on no specific knowledge or evidence. It is not a threat. It is a preemptive observation based on an established pattern of behavior.

There will probably be a mass shooting in a theater somewhere in America during the Black Panther opening weekend.

This thought might be depressing, but it will not be shocking in light of the political, social, and cultural environment we exist in. The ingredients are all present. The mood is ripe for a violent backlash in pop culture. It would be more surprising (but a huge relief) if the weekend passed without a racial attack at the movies.

If there is another episode of mass murder in ‘Merica, and I hope there isn’t, we know what the responses will be and how blame will be handed out. We will blame Marvel for making the movie. We will blame the theater for showing it. The people who went to see it will receive the most blame from the powers that be. How dare they create such a dangerous situation? We will pretend to be shocked. We will avoid the real discussion. The terrorists will be taken alive and characterized as disturbed loners or misunderstood men who had their whole lives ahead of them.

Debates will rage about the threat this type of film poses. Questions will be raised about whether or not it should have ever been made, or if the sequel should be canceled, or if anyone will go out to see it the following weekend.

Here is another thought based on nothing more than my own distorted view of reality. On the second weekend, more people will go to see it than the first. We will pretend to be shocked. It will be seen as a rejection of hate and a triumph for America. But that won’t be the real message. We will avoid the deeper discussion.

I’ve been wrong before. I hope I’m wrong now. If we are attacked again, I know what I will do. I’ll repost my advice for escaping a mass shooting, the same way I’ve done for most of the high profile terrorist attacks. (See What to Do When the Bullets Start Flying). I will tune out the false disbelief and misplaced blame. And then I’ll go and see the movie again and again, even if it’s horrible.

I hope you will too.

Have fun.

G   

The Active Struggle Against the Trumpocalypse ​

By Gamal Hennessy

The dark cloud of the Inauguration creeps closer. Obama is taking his “victory” lap, making his “farewell” speeches. All of us have to prepare ourselves for a 2-4 year resistance. There have been several pieces written in the past few weeks offering advice on fighting the scourge that is Trumpzilla, but Charles Blow was succinct in his oped piece in today’s New York Times.

"When politics seem out of your control, remember that community and culture are very much in your control. We help shape the world we inhabit every day. A life is a collection of thousands of decisions, large and small, made every day. Make those decisions with purpose and conviction, especially [during the Trumpocalypse]"

- Charles Blow, The Anti-Inauguration

His suggested list of activities are broad and varied:

• Protest him, his actions and what he stands for in public.

• Volunteer to help all the people he plans to attack

• Donate to the causes he plans to victimize

• Subscribe to credible news sources

• Read to educate yourself on the issues

• Write to the people in power to frame the discussion

• Love your tribe and let them know it

January 20th, 2021 can’t come soon enough. Until the final day of the Trumpocalypse, many of us will fight him and what he represents. This list and others like it will help. Some of us will not make it, but it is often the struggle that defines us, not the outcome.

Have fun

Gamal

The Mental and Emotional Defenses to Sexual Violence

By Gamal Hennessy

In rape culture, it is the duty of the victim to repress, avoid and escape her potential rapist. Women have to control where they go, what they wear, how they behave and how they respond to sexual aggression. Deviation from patriarchal norms is not an option. We don’t teach rapist not to rape. The concepts of respect, honor and support of women have no place in rape culture, so since the beginning of recorded history, women have been forced to adapt.

It is in this spirit of survival that RAINN (Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network) has developed a set of tips to help women and other potential victims of sexual violence escape a dangerous situation before it occurs. When and if you find yourself faced with a potential rapist, the post suggests that you:

• Trust your instincts
• Avoid blaming yourself for the problem
• Lie if it helps you escape
• Plan and use an escape route

Many of these suggestions mirror the more general advice I gave in a post called Misogyny, Racism and the Moscow Rules, and provide a useful starting point for evading hostile strangers. It doesn’t work as well against sexual predators who are in your social circle, but until we teach men not to rape, ladies need any edge they can to adapt to a hostile environment.

Have fun.

G

Kidnapped by the Police

By Gamal Hennessy

There are pockets of American law enforcement using the tactics of totalitarian dictatorships. The New York Times recently published a story on a Justice Department investigation on the police departments in Louisiana. According to the report, police held people for days without any justification or even accusing them of a crime. The pattern of “investigative holds” (i.e. government sponsored kidnapping) focused on minority populations.

“Officers have routinely arrested hundreds of citizens annually without probable cause, strip-searching them and denying them contact with their family and lawyers for days — all in an unconstitutional attempt to force cooperation with detectives who finally admitted they were operating on a mere “hunch” or “feeling.””

— The New York Times Editorial Board

Systemic abuse by the police against minority communities is fundamental to ‘Merican culture. If killing people for flimsy reasons is condoned, and the prison industrial complex profits from mass incarceration, then being held in jail for a “hunch” doesn’t seem that bad. But when the Justice Department answers to Trumpzilla, how many of these abuses will be investigated and stopped? What would prevent the Trumpocalypse from adopting government sponsored kidnapping as a political tool to intimidate and remove elements of society that don’t fall in line? How soon will it be before isolated pockets of secret police become the norm?

Remember the Moscow Rules.

Has America Already Turned its Back on Trumpzilla?

By Gamal Hennessy

Trumpzilla claims to have lots of friends. He’s desperate for the photo ops with Kanye (while building his Legion of Doom). He pontificates about his love for Putin (especially since that whole election tampering thing). He even talks to the President of Taiwan (threatening to destabilize Asian geopolitics). Yes, a lot of people love Trumpzilla, but does America?

According to a recent article by George Edwards III of the Washington Post, Trumpzilla lacks four of the basic fundamentals of popular support:

1.       He has no mandate based on the popular vote

2.       The American people don’t support his policies

3.       Public opinion is polarized

4.       Our public opinion is not a malleable factor

Now keep in mind, a lack of public support isn’t necessarily going to end the Trumpocalypse. Trumpzilla will still try to run rampant over the Constitution and sell the country off to his friends. And we are the same people who just knew Clinton was sure to win the White House, so we could be completely wrong…again. We know ‘Merica loves Trumpzilla, but he might not have as many friends as he thinks. Maybe long term public rejection will subdue the raging beast and send him back to the tacky golf course he came from.

Have fun.

G

2016 Is Our Year of Brutality

By Gamal Hennessy

There are only a few days left in the year, and for many of us the end can’t come soon enough. Members of my generation have seen our icons fall in film and music. The wider world is bracing for Brexit, the Trumpocalypse and ongoing bloodbaths in Syria, Yemen and South Sudan. The most sensational brutality of the year might be a recent phenomenon, but the cruelty that has faded from the headlines and mainstream consciousness is embedded in the fabric of ‘Merican culture.  Police brutality and violence against people of color had a prominent place in the public consciousness this year, but not much has changed on the ground.

From Anton Sterling to Jessica Williams to Philando Castile to Korryn Gaines to Tyre King to Terence Crutcher to Taiwon Boyd to Levonia Riggins to Keith Scott to Alfred Olango to Deborah Danner we find a pattern.  The gender, age, and geographic location might have been different for each victim, but the outcome was the same. Our police use our funding to murder us and face little or no consequences for their actions.

And all this occurred under the administration of an arguably progressive, feminist, black president. Do we have any reason to believe police brutality will decrease under Trumpzilla? Is there any chance the motivations of police will change? What is the likelihood that people will stop labelling us as criminal simply because of our race? Our society shares several characteristics with the slave ships of the Middle Passage. Those similarities are likely to deepen once we replace Obama with Trumpzilla.

None of us are fortune tellers. We don’t know what 2017 will bring, but it’s safe to say some of us won’t make it to see 2018. All we can really do is listen, learn, fight, work, create and love the people who are important to us.

Good luck to everyone who reads this. Remember the Moscow Rules.

Have fun.

What is Wrong with Us?

By Gamal Hennessy

Ten questions raised by yesterday’s subway stabbing in New York

1.       How many of us think “I might get stabbed on a subway train today?”

2.       Why is so much of our violence based in hatred of “The Other”?

3.       How does our own internal anger translate into stabbing someone who did something so offensive as offering us a seat?

4.       Why can’t we be comfortable in our own skin without worrying about the violent hatred of strangers?

5.       If violence doesn’t happen in a vacuum, what triggered this attack? Was it really just a racist woman who didn’t want to sit next to a Black person?

6.       If we can’t be safe in a public place surrounded by people, where can we be safe?

7.       What did she hope to accomplish by stabbing a person who offered her a seat? What was she trying to prove? What did she hope to gain?

8.       What details are missing from this story?

9.       How long will it take for the white nationalists to claim this hate crime as symptomatic of everything wrong with women, Hispanics, Blacks and transgender people in America?

10.   What the fuck is wrong with people?

America's Mass Shooting Crossfire (Part 3: Responding to Reality)

by Gamal Hennessy

This is the third and final installment of my essay on mass shootings in America. If you’d like to read parts one and two, you can find the links below:

Part One: The Pro-Gun Side

Part Two: The Anti- Gun Side

If more guns aren’t the answer and fewer guns isn’t the answer and ignoring the problem isn’t the answer, then what is the answer?

We have a training model and technology that can protect unarmed civilians without plodding through the mire of gun control law. The answer for schools, malls and businesses of any kind is creating and supporting a rapid evacuation program.

What is a Rapid Evacuation Program?

If a school catches fire, we do not expect teachers to put out the fire. We teach them to get the children out of the school safely. In offices, hotels and public buildings, we don’t leave fire safety to chance. We have professionals in place that monitor systems, drill the population and coordinate with first responders. I am simply suggesting expanding the fire prevention program to cover mass shootings. My idea includes the following parts:

Each school would have an evacuation professional whose job included: 

• Creating and updating the evacuation plan
• Monitoring the evacuation systems,
• Patrolling the area to ensure exits, barriers and security screening systems are in place,
• Periodically training everyone with evacuation drills to ensure information is distributed,
• Leading an evacuation in the case of an emergency,
• Coordinating with first responders and managing the media

Each school would also be connected to a central monitoring system similar to ADP. This system could remotely monitor the school and the surrounding area with cameras and other devices to aid the evacuation professional on the ground and coordinate with first responders in the event of an emergency

The schools would conduct regular evacuation drills that differ from fire drills because they take into account the specific skills needed for dealing with an active shooter. This will reduce the likelihood of a fatal loop in the OODA cycle because the children and teachers will know what to do.

Finally, the evacuation professional should have non-lethal tools and deterrents (tasers, smoke grenades etc.) in the event that he or she has to engage the killer to ensure the evacuation of the children. But the primary duty would always be removing as many children as possible from the danger area.

What a Rapid Evacuation Program Can Do

Rapid evacuation can be useful because it deals directly with the issue of protecting people from mass shootings. 

• It does not require an excess of political will to alter laws or society’s attitudes about a contentious subject. 
• It does not require extensive money to alter or fortify institutions. 
• It can be implemented in malls, schools, churches and buildings of all kinds. 
• It uses the same training model we are already used to and modifies it for an increasingly frequent problem. 
• It can be used to help move people out of a dangerous area in the event of floods, earthquakes, or violent individuals. 
• It doesn’t make assumptions or ignore the reality of American society. 
• It can deter mass shootings and reduce the death toll when and if the deterrence fails.

What It Can’t Do

Of course the difference between dealing with fire and dealing with a killer is the human variable. Fire conforms to certain predicable, natural laws while a killer can act in ways that no evacuation program can anticipate. I’m not suggesting that rapid evacuation is the last word in dealing with mass murderers. It is likely that law enforcement and potential evacuation professionals will have to improve and adapt their methods as killers alter their attacks. But that struggle would be minor compared to the devastation that we have to endure when people are gunned down at random. Rapid evacuation programs can protect our children while the war of words surrounding guns continues. 

Best
Gamal

America's Mass Shooting Crossfire (Part 2: The Anti-Gun Problem)

by Gamal Hennessy

This is the second part of my three part essay on mass shooting in America. For a look at the pro-gun problems, please click here. 

I have seen many anti-gun proponents suggest that changing the gun ownership laws would take guns out of the hands of people who want to kill. They go on to cite other countries that have little or no private gun ownership and the correlation between the lack of mass shootings and the absence of guns. While this concept might be a viable long term solution, it cannot protect unarmed civilians now or in the near future for a variety of reasons including:

• The debate over gun control taps into emotions of fear, anxiety and control on both sides. Any attempt to change the law would create political and legal conflict that would rival recent debates about abortion, gay rights and health care.
• Any change to gun ownership laws on a national level could require an amendment to the Constitution. That means a two thirds majority in the House and the Senate and ratification by thirty eight states. In the modern political climate, that kind of bi-partisan cooperation is almost unheard of.
• Even if an overhaul of the gun control system could be put in place, it would not eliminate the 200 million privately owned firearms in America. Even if the law was passed, it would not alter the mentality of gun owners in the same way that changes to women’s suffrage hasn’t changed the mentality of many men towards women in more than 90 years and the civil rights movement hasn’t changed the way minorities are treated in America more than 50 years later.
• During the long debate and struggle to alter the gun laws, many more guns would be purchased. There is a chance that a dramatic increase in firearms purchased could occur as people stockpiled as many legal weapons as they could before the laws changed.
• Finally, the focus on changing the laws in the future does little to protect unarmed children in the present. 

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Why Ignoring Potential Gun Violence Isn’t Helpful

I have seen many people express shock, condolences and grief when faced with the latest mass shooting. Feeling helpless, they attempt to ignore or avoid the subject, hoping it will go away or at least hoping that it will not impact them directly. While the chances of being a victim in a mass shooting are still relatively rare, this course of action is not helpful to anyone involved because

• The number of mass shootings has steadily increased in the past thirty years.
• The variety of locations shows that there is no protected space or safe haven that is immune from mass shootings. Schools, businesses, religious buildings, malls and movie theaters are equally vulnerable.
• While prayers, condolences and expressions of emotional support are comforting after a crisis, they don’t do anything to help a community learn from that crisis and take steps to prevent and deal with the next one.

Now that I've touched on some of the concerns I have about the pro-gun, anti-gun and majority solutions to mass shootings, I'll turn my attention to my potential solution in my next post.

Gamal

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America's Mass Shooting Crossfire (Part 1 The Pro-Gun Problem)

by Gamal Hennessy

“If my intent is to write something useful that people can understand, then it’s better to write about the way things are instead of what we imagine them to be.”

— Niccolo Machiavelli: The Prince

The latest school massacre has once again separated online America into three camps. On one side, the anti-gun camp uses the deaths of children as proof that we need stronger regulation on all types of guns everywhere. On the other side, the pro-gun camp uses the same mass murder as proof that concerned citizens need more guns to protect them from lunatics. In the center, the majority of the country is shocked for a moment, frightened for a time and then complacent as they go back to ignoring the problem of gun violence in America. Everyone takes their position, using the dead children as a weapon in their war of ideology.

The sound bites from all three camps often ignore certain realities of mass shootings and the greater legal, political and social environment that impact their positions. I’d like to point out some of the obstacles to the most extreme positions and then offer a solution that I think will protect more people without waiting for the war of words on gun control to play itself out. 

I am not offering this idea as an authority figure, expert or pundit. I am simply using my legal background and my studies on violence as a writer to offer ideas not tied to any other position on this issue. 

Why Giving Guns to Teachers Isn’t Helpful

I have seen many pro-gun proponents suggest that arming more civilians would create a deterrence effect that will eliminate shooting sprees. Some of them go on to say that if the killers are not deterred, the armed civilians will be in a position to protect themselves and the children around them. There are several potential problems with this concept that will occur before, during and after a violent incident. Taking the guns in school example, consider that:

Before a killer walks into a school: 

• Many teachers have an aversion to guns and will not carry them, and they may refuse to work in an environment that requires carrying or using a weapon. This will decrease the already limited pool of qualified teachers in America.

• Many parents would refuse to send their children to a school where the teachers were potentially armed and would be in a position to sue the school board or the state for creating an unsafe environment for their children.

• Liability for potential gun related accidents for the school or the school system could be substantial.

• The risk of gun related accidents or incidents between students or involving student theft of the weapons can create unintended consequences

• Most importantly, deterrence is a powerful incentive for a rational thinker to take or avoid certain actions. Recent mass shootings have involved killers who were not rational. To assume that an irrational person will think rationally and be deterred could be a severe mistake.

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When a killer walks into a school: 

• Even if teachers or school officials wanted to carry firearms in school as a deterrent, many teachers who are overworked, stressed or distracted may not have the gun readily available in the critical moment.

• A person confronted with sudden violence is likely to freeze because of a fatal loop within the OODA cycle (Observe, Orient, Decide and Act). That freeze can prevent them from ever using their gun even if it is in their hand when the killer arrives.

• Many people have a natural aversion to killing other people, even to save their own lives. Many soldiers on the battlefield, who were trained to fight, have failed to fire their weapons at an enemy that was actively trying to kill them. There is a very real chance that a teacher faced with a killer might not be able to shoot even if they have a gun.

• The accuracy of an average person who does not have substantial training with a firearm is extremely low. If the teacher did have their gun and didn’t freeze in the face of a killer, there is a high chance that they could hit one of the children instead of the killer.

• If two or more people are exchanging fire in an enclosed space and other teachers or officials arrive (because they are also armed), if could be very difficult in the smoke, noise and adrenalin boosts that everyone is experiencing for the new teachers to hit the right person. More children could be inadvertently killed by the people who are trying to help them.

• Any teacher who is killed without using their gun for any of the reasons listed above is providing an extra potential weapon for the killer.

• If the teachers are focused on attacking the killer then it will be difficult for them to focus on removing the children from the situation which leaves them in greater jeopardy as the killer closes in.

After the shooting has stopped

•  In the same way that other teachers in the school might be confused about what is going on and who the real threat is, first responders will arrive on the scene without knowing who is a killer and who is a teacher. While they are trying to sort through the chaos teachers could be mistaken for killers and inadvertently injured or killed. Killers could be mistaken for teachers or victims and escape. There could be an extended delay for EMS to help the children because there are so many live weapons in the area.

•  After the incident, there will be significant civil and criminal liability for the teacher, the school and the school system if any parent decides to go after the school because their child was injured or killed by a stray bullet.

•  Finally, the support and comfort that communities display after a violent massacre that help everyone move on can be twisted into a force that tears a population apart if people start to feel like their loved ones were killed because of the failure of the teacher.

In my next post, I'll try to explain why the anti-gun movement can't achieve the goal of protecting children in the short term with stricter regulations or bans on guns.

Gamal

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Espionage and Covert Operations: A Book Review

By Gamal Hennessy

Spying is often referred to as the second oldest profession (prostitution being the first). In Espionage and Covert Operations: A Global History, Professor Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius traces spying from Biblical mythology up to our current surveillance state. While the twelve hour audio book skims over or leaves out much of the global history of spying, the book is a good overview for anyone interested in the impact of espionage on history.

Liulevicius takes the reader on a trip through the major epochs of world history and attempts to peer behind the curtain to see how spying (stealing secret information for a political, military or economic goal) and covert action (secret attacks against opposing forces) have shaped historical events. The book does offer a fresh perspective on the world history you took in high school and draws out themes in tradecraft and operational methods for the readers of modern and historical espionage. Liulevicius even explores the relationship between spy fiction and the real world of spies, focusing on the impact of Kipling, Fleming, Le Carre and Clancy.

Where the book falls short is in its lack of global focus. The vast majority of the course is Eurocentric and biased towards the United Kingdom, the United States and Russia. The combined impact of the assassins of the Crusades, Chinese espionage during Sun Tzu’s warring states period and the rampant spying during the Sengoku period of Japan take up less than ten minutes in a twelve hour lecture. The organic covert action and spy activities by and against populations in Africa during the slave trade are left out completely. If you accept the term “global history” to mean “Western history” then the book has few flaws. Anyone looking for a true global history will need to add another source to this material.

Espionage and Cover Action is a solid overview of the second oldest profession. Anyone interested in history, military affairs, or spy fiction will enjoy the unique perspective the author provides. Like most introductory courses, it should be used as the beginning of an exploration into the subject and not a definitive analysis. But it is one of the better books on spy history I’ve read.

Have fun.
Gamal

Slave Ship: A Book Review

By Gamal Hennessy

I’m developing a science fiction novel about slavery called Humanity’s Fall. The basic concept is Twelve Years a Slave meets Star Trek and follows the ordeal of one woman ripped from her brownstone in Brooklyn and thrust into the belly of a ship to be sold on the other side of the galaxy. The research for this book includes several sources exploring the impact of the Middle Passage including well-known works like Roots and Amistad to more general books like The African Slave Trade and Still I Rise. But as I get ready to write the first draft of Humanity’s Fall, I think the book Slave Ship: A Human History by Marcus Rediker will have the most impact on my story.

Slave Ship looks at the mechanism of African slavery; the ships and men who captured, bought, confined, tortured, killed and sold millions of people over the course of three centuries. It explores in depth the functioning of the ship, examining the vehicle of the Middle Passage from several viewpoints. The slave ship is seen as:

• An investment for speculative European businessmen
• A debt prison for unwary sailors
• A marketplace for Africans selling slaves
• A prison for Africans captured
• A cemetery for slaves and crew killed in the journey
• A factory for the creation of slaves
• A battleground for slave inter slave conflict and collective rebellion
• An incubator for the concept of race
• A communal space for the creation of shared kinship
• A symbol of evil for abolitionists

Rediker breaks down the Middle Passage in stages, showing how ships were commissioned and purchased, how captains and crews were formed, the process of buying people, attempting to simultaneously break their spirit but keep their bodies intact for sale, the successful and unsuccessful attempts to escape, overthrow or commit suicide and the complex social relationships spending months on the ship would create. By drawing a historical and narrative thread from the people most distant from the process (who gained the most wealth) to the people most suffered the most intimate pain and lost the most, Slave Ship makes an argument for the ship itself to be one of the most influential and at the same time most ignored elements of social development in America.

I read this book during the surge in media coverage over unarmed black men being killed in various parts of the country and the groundswell of racism playing out in various levels of society. In light of this reality and against the backdrop of building my own novel, I began to see parallels between our own time and the collective experience of the slave ship. It was easy to see the bankers and billionaires as the distant businessmen, too far removed from the process to have any interest in it beyond their profit. The police became the sailors and reluctant prison guards. The minority communities become the slaves and the incubator, factory, marketplace and communal space of the ship became the spaces we inhabit now, on and offline. The ship came to represent so much of the American experience, it became easy, perhaps clichéd, to imagine America as a slave ship we are all trapped on. Slave Ship will have a lasting impact on me, not just for the inspiration it provides for my work, but in the way I perceive the world I live in.

Have fun.

Gamal

The Truth Behind the Lies

by Gamal Hennessy

My recent novel A Touch of Honey is a work of fiction, but many of aspects of this story are based on actual events. This is a sample of my background research for anyone who is interested in diving deeper into these topics.

Articles

All links retrieved as of January 29, 2015

• ABC News.com(2013) Cairns man Klaus Andres, who admitted to dissolving wife's body in acid, jailed for life
• Associated Press (2013) NY Bar Owner Sentenced 60 Years for Sex Trafficking
• Bellware, Kim for the Huffington Post (2015) Hundreds Arrested in Super Bowl Sex Trafficking Sting
• Bradley, Michael for BBC News (2013) Human Trafficking: Why do so many victims refuse help?
• Booth, William for the Washington Post (2009) ‘Stewmaker’ Stirs Horror in Mexico
• Buchbinder, Sharon for the Daily Beast (2013) When Women Traffic Other Women
• Kelly, Annie for The Guardian (2014) the tattooed trafficking survivors reclaiming their past
• Pearson, Erica for the New York Daily News (2013) Sex trafficking operations expand outside of Queens into Suburbs
• Tracy, Tom for the New York Daily News (2015) NYPD officer snared in Brooklyn prostitution sting

A Touch of Honey is now available from multiple book sellers.

Have fun.

Gamal

What Happens If American Police Departments Get Their Own Torture Sites?

by Gamal Hennessy

Last year, the internet expressed a considerable amount of outrage when we realized some elements of American law enforcement were using military weapons and tactics on American citizens. People went out into the street to protest sanctioned police brutality and murder (See Who Watches the Watchers). On this blog, I advocated endangered groups in our society adopt a version of the Moscow Rules to cope with the reality we live in (See Racism, Misogyny and the Moscow Rules). All these deaths and revelations have not altered the climate of fear. If the latest reports are to be believed, things might be getting worse. 

The Guardian recently ran a story about a secret detention center run by the Chicago police department. (See Chicago Police Detain Americans in Black Site). Like Abu Gharaib in Afghanistan, the CIA secret prisons in Turkey and Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, we might be creating institutions and venues to deal out the same punishments we ascribe to our hated enemy. The only difference between Gitmo and Homan Square is the nationality of the people being abused. In the military secret prisons, alleged foreign fighters and terrorists are the inmates. In Chicago, and perhaps in other cities, the prisoners are American. 

If the Guardian report is true, then the Homan Square detention center might have more in common with the old Soviet Union gulag system then the War on Terror black sites. When Stalin and his regime wanted to remove dissidents from the political discussion and sow fear into the populace, people would be snatched off the street and perhaps never heard from again. Dictators like Pinochet, Pol Pot and Idi Amin are accused of doing the same thing. Is it time to add the Chicago chief of police to this list? Have we moved from fighting totalitarian regimes to supporting them, to using their tactics on our enemies to using those same tactics on ourselves? If so, if the Guardian report is true, what happens next and to whom? What, if anything, are we going to do about it?

Based on the internet chatter going across my screen, we aren’t going to do anything. This week, I’ve seen far more arguments about the color of a dress than the alleged atrocities of Homan Square. There wasn’t even the impotent call for indictments like the one the Times issues after the CIA torture report was issued. (See The Futile Call for Torture Justice). Why? Have we so fully accepted our collective impotence against the power of the state that we’re not even willing to address their atrocities anymore? Are we so numb to discussions of torture that we accept it as an inevitable reality? Do we enjoy the idea of security so much that a secret police prison makes us feel better? (See America’s Love Affair with Torture).  

I understand the concept of police using detention and the labyrinth of the criminal justice system to manipulate and abuse suspects. As a person of color, the fear of walking into a police station and never coming out has crossed my mind more than once. The idea has become a trope in modern crime drama from Dirty Harry to The Wire. Is Homan Square just another step in the direction of roughing someone up in an interrogation room? Is it too late to turn back now?

There is a line from the last Captain America movie I think of when situations like these cross my mind. Steve Rogers and Nick Fury are staring out at four huge aerial battleships designed to hit anyone in the world anywhere at any time.  

Fury: We’re going to use these to maintain security all over the world.

Rogers: That’s not security. That’s fear.

The exchange might come from a comic book movie, but there is more insight there than in our current cultural discussion. It is a sad day in America when local law enforcement creates secret prisons to hide and abuse Americans. It is a tragic day when Americans decide they don’t care. 

Have fun.

Gamal

When it Comes to Dating, You Might Want to Get Out of the Cold

by Gamal Hennessy

A recent Match.com survey suggests "warm" or "hot" approaches (initial connections made through mutual friends, interests or online dating) beat "cold" approaches (initial connections made with strangers) by a factor of ten to one.

Singles in America and the Future of Love

“Fisher and her research partner found that 31% of singles met their last first date online, while 25% met through a friend, and 6% met in a bar or club.”

— Krista Tippett: On Being

The moral of the story is if you want a relationship in the 21st Century, you probably need to come in out of the cold.

Have fun.

Gamal

We Are the Enemy

By Gamal Hennessy

As pundits debate the utility of the Department of Homeland Security, it might be helpful to consider the actual threats to American lives since 9/11.

I'm sure several plots have been deterred or stopped due to the efforts of American intelligence and law enforcement. But when I compare terrorism deaths to firearm deaths over the past ten years, I think we're focusing on the wrong thing.

• Number of Americans killed in domestic terrorist attacks, 2002-2011: 30
• Number of Americans murdered by firearms, 2000-2011: 115,997

In America, we are more likely to be killed by an angry neighbor or a police officer than a member of ISIS. Children in America are more likely to be gunned down in a school shooting than kidnapped by Boko Haram. Maybe we shouldn't be discussing disbanding Homeland Security. Maybe we should use all that money and manpower to deal with the real threat to American lives.

Have fun.

Gamal

The Decline of Romantic Love in the Modern World

by Gamal Hennessy

The modern concept of love and romance is closer to a contract than an emotion.

Today, love is a commodity and we are all speculative investors. Consider this:

• Our depictions, expressions, songs, and concepts about relationships are closer to business terms than seductive language.
• Dating has been reduced to a process resembling due diligence instead of growing personal connection.
• Sex is often just an asset available for barter or trade.
• Attention is a scarce resource.
• The size and cost of our gifts are seen as more important than the sentiment attached to them.
• Marriage is a contractual merger or an aggressive acquisition.
• Certain behavior or personal traits are referred to as “deal breakers” by those in the “market”.
• Some women choose the features of their wedding rings before they consider a wedding partner.
• Many people consider the prestige that a person will add to their social status, instead of the joy they bring to living.
• The appearance of our relationships online are given more focus than the way lovers treat each other from day to day.

I will admit that these concepts might be more rational and more appropriate to the age of personal branding we currently live in. Romantic love may not have a place here. Unconditional love might be foolish; a waste of time and resources better spent making money, binge watching TV or trolling social media to get more followers.

But Love is not rational. Love is not fair. The lover surrenders himself to the loved one, in spite of all hardships, in spite of rejection, and in the face of impossibility.

Today, most people may never feel this type of love. Perhaps they simply won’t know what it is when they encounter it. Or they won’t admit to feeling it out of fear of appearing weak or being hurt. This is tragic for those who miss or reject romantic love, but for the hedonists fortunate enough to meet people who can inspire that unconditional surrender, we have glimpsed both heaven and hell. We have experienced something that makes life worth living.

Summarized from The Double Flame by Octavio Paz

The Hypocritical Motivation Behind Female on Female Slut Shaming

By Gamal Hennessy

The concept of slut shaming is often associated with an inequality between male and female sexual expression. Men are praised for high levels of sexual activity while women are maligned. The majority of this social warfare was thought to be a product of male bias, but a new study suggests slut shaming is a powerful social tool for women to use against other women.

Researchers observed and interviewed college-aged women in a campus setting. They found slut shaming to be a form of abuse women from affluent families used to disparage women from less fortunate social circumstances. Shame was about income, not sex although sexual expression was the target of the attack.

“Viewing women only as victims of men’s sexual dominance fails to hold women accountable for the roles they play in reproducing social inequalities. By engaging in ‘slut-shaming’ women at the top create more space for their own sexual experimentation, at the cost of women at the bottom of social hierarchies.”

— Elizabeth Armstrong, Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan

This isn’t a new phenomenon. The upper classes in societies throughout history have engaged in broad types of sexual expression and denied the same activity to lower social groups. Erotica and manuals of sexual techniques have been hidden away in private libraries. Only the rich could afford the services of concubines, courtesans or prostitutes. In modern eras, both the church and the state impose a sexually restrictive morality on the general population as they indulge in any and every sexual option imaginable.   

This systemic sexual repression is a form of class warfare designed to restrict upward mobility. Erotic capital, like financial, social and intellectual capital are transferable, giving a person with one type of capital the ability to trade it in for other types of social currency. (See Erotic Capital by Catherine Hakim) The difference between erotic capital and other forms is its distribution. Beauty, sex appeal and physical ability can’t be hoarded by certain classes and passed down through generations. In theory, anyone from any class can achieve a high degree of erotic capital. If society allowed free transfer of this currency, social mobility would suddenly be within reach of a wider section of society. Suppression of erotic capital through techniques like slut shaming reduces the utility of erotic capital for those who need it most.

Sexual intelligence and independence in sexual expression could be effective counter measures for this type of social warfare, but few women of any class have the training to develop those traits. (See Love in the Time of Smartphones) Until we treat sexual expression as a fundamental dynamic of society, tactics like slut shaming will continue to have a detrimental effect on everyone.

Have fun.

Gamal