Monday, October 24, 2011

On coverage…

I was going to post about something else.

But I read In a tiny town just outside Joplin, a landmark adoption case tests the limits of inalienable human rights in the Riverfront Times and…well, I’m going to focus on something else today.

I’m a news junkie. I cruise through masses of stories each day. And I’ll confess that I often take the news for granted…just assume it is going to be there…and tend to forget the work that goes into researching and writing a story.

But my friends at the Riverfront Times have a habit of covering the stories other outlets take a pass on…

…and reminding this news junkie that the "news" can still stun me.

I highly recommend that y’all read this story…share it.

By the time I finished reading it I was shaking.

I just wanted to share it…didn’t want y’all to miss it the way I feel I missed it even though this case happened and is happening in my home state of Missouri.

But for coverage…but for the news…but for questions and focus and editorial decisions, so many things would happen without us even knowing about them.

Pause…consider…continue.

And immigration policy debates would remain political theatre even as the application of immigration policy rips families apart...

...in the dark, behind closed doors, harsh and ugly and efficient and painful and oh so fucking often that it takes your breath away...leaves you shaking, quaking, and rocked to the core.

Blink.

***a fluff of the Afro to the RFT and writer John H. Tucker***

11 comments:

Bridget Bufford said...

Oh my lord, what a mess. Human rights vs the welfare of a child, and mishandled all the way. Thanks for bringing this to wider public attention. Beyond that, all I can think to do is pray for those involved, from the powerless to the politically empowered.

Hattie said...

God. I was afraid this article was going to be what it was about.
Imagine not having the right to your own child.

marymccurnin said...

Why are we putting illegal immigrants in jail? Wouldn't it be better for them to be sent home? I guess we need to keep those private prisons full. fuckery, pure and simple.

Anonymous said...

Thank you very, very much for posting the link to this article. Provocative to its core, and an important subject that needs to be discussed and settled. -Davey in Michigan-

Colonel de Guerrlass said...

Can adults be adopted?

Anonymous said...

You were right 'shaking, quaking, and rocked to the core'. Absolutely sickening. So many judgments and assumptions, and loopholes in explanations.
Thanks for what you bring to my awareness here in Australia. I appreciate your contribution!
Felicity St JOhn

Mark L said...

Wow. There are multiple issues. But bottom line. Miss Bail- Bail should properly be accented if they want to pronounce it Bah-yeel-is the child's natural mother. She should have custody because of that, since she is the only one who can teach him his proper culture and customs. Money isn't everything. Carlos will have a rude awakening if he is raised by this white couple. Yes, probably a nicer life, but at what cost? Total assimilation? That doesn't seem right to me. A woman of color was victimized into giving up her child by someone white, to someone white. That's wrong.

Mark L said...

No woman's womb should be a baby factory for the wealthy childless. Yet this happens all the time to Third World women- especially Guatemalan woman. I remember when Guatemala was the "hot" country for U.S. couples to adopt from. At one point there was some ridiculous stat like one in every 30 Guatemalan babies becoming a U.S. citizen- until, surprise surprise, it was discovered that the women were being pressured to SELL babies! Grr.

Mark L said...

This reminds me of a question from that immigration movie, EL NORTE (the North): "What do we do with all these babies when their mothers get picked up by La Migra?"

Mark L said...

Yet, on the other hand, this isn't one sided. Encarnacíon Baíl has a role to play too.

As a Catholic descended from immigrants who practiced extended-family kinship, I understand Miss Baíl's mindset all too well. There's nothing particularly unusual, or particularly neglectful, about spreading the care of a child amongst relatives or even amongst fellow churchgoers, with the understanding that the arrangements are temporary. It's quite another thing for the Velascos to have GIVEN Carlos to a couple of strangers completely outside this system. I understand Encarnacíon Baíl all too well. But this country and its courts, who have a ridiculous obsession with the nuclear family, will not and apparently do not. Sad. (Sorry Pam, I had a lot to say).

Anonymous said...

oh I hope yr on line today, ABB!

I just read that in NYC at Wall St. occupation Angela Davis is speaking today!!!

I hope, hope, hope you know someone there who can put her talk up on youtube to let everyone know what she says!

I am a fan of hers.

from the chat stream:
"Hey, does anyone know Angela Davis coming to Washington Sqaure Park today in NYC"

The Gumdrop Stage of Grief ...

So many of you have shared condolences and support after the death of my beloved brother Bill from COVID-19. I wish I could thank you indiv...