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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAn amazing woman fields a troll on MLK Day and it was nothing short of inspirational
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/01/20/1359055/-An-amazing-woman-feeds-a-troll-on-MLK-Day-and-it-was-nothing-short-of-inspirationalWriter Ijeoma Oluo did something on Martin Luther King Jr. Day I personally avoid at all costsshe engaged a rancid troll on Twitter. The troll, calling himself Dildo Baggins, thought he would get his jollies by being as racist as humanly possible to celebrate MLK Day and Ms. Oluo wasn't going to have it. In doing so, she showed us the amazing content of her character.
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NOTE: You will have to read this thread to the end for a real surprise.
Raine1967
(11,589 posts)Thank you for sharing that.
Pacifist Patriot
(24,654 posts)duhneece
(4,118 posts)to action. A friend said she would join our NAACP and I haven't followed up; I will. Their magazine Crisis is worth the $30 annual membership.
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)Killing them softly.
Pacifist Patriot
(24,654 posts)6 - 8 year old children with a heart-breaking amount of hate and rage. Withhold nurturing and it happens very quickly. People are so quick to say how strong and resilient children can be, and they often are. But the strongest child deprived of physical and/or emotional care is lacking something for which every single one of us has a fundamental need. It wounds.
.
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)wonderful therapeutic result...clinical depression is on par with cancer.
Rex
(65,616 posts)It happens and at much younger ages.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)brer cat
(24,612 posts)Ijeoma Oluo is an amazing woman.
K&R
LeftinOH
(5,358 posts)and grammar were too on-point (mostly), and there was little use of 'text-speak'. An articulate 14-year old would not be doing crap like this in the first place.
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)Pacifist Patriot
(24,654 posts)You can be articulate and hateful at the same time, even at 14. But despite my doubts I think the blogger's closing comments are dead one. It really doesn't matter if the troll was a 14 year old boy or not. Her behavior is what matters.
tblue
(16,350 posts)He's probably never known such kindness. I wonder if most of these rabid haters aren't just damaged babies inside. Maybe understanding that's how Martin was able to keep his faith in humankind.
IADEMO2004
(5,560 posts)Rex
(65,616 posts)Wow. And in the end?
@IjeomaOluo you are so nice and I'm so sorry
Dildo Baggins (@mrscrotum21) January 19, 2015
I hope he is 14 and is very sorry and that moment changed his life for the better.
Brava Ms. Oluo! Brava!
wavesofeuphoria
(525 posts)admonishing those of us who said bullying/mockery shouldn't be met with violence.
I think this illustrates wonderfully why we advocate non-violence.
Thank you for posting this link.
LiberalArkie
(15,729 posts)mountain grammy
(26,655 posts)engaging this person and staying on message despite the ignorant responses. Most of us would shut him down immediately.
This feels like an honest exchange, i believe she got through to him. It's a good lesson from Ms Oluo and from Dr. King. Answer hate with love and don't give up.
vlyons
(10,252 posts)My congressman is Jeb Hensarling (TX-05) House finance chair and a tparty darling. He posts really stupid stuff about how brave he is to oppose POTUS initiatives. I like to post links to progressive articles that rebut his positions. I get counter comments from the whackos about how Obama is lawless, a torturer (???), a secret Muslim, secretly hates America and white people. You know the regular tparty nonsense. I usually respond by asking them if they also hate Jews and Catholics. And do they hate Hungarians and Tahitians as much as they hate Mexicans? Then I ask what it feels like to walk around all day full of hatred towards people they have never met. And where did they learn to hate so much and so many people? If they claim to be Christian, I ask if Jesus were alive, would he hate all the same people they hate?
lunasun
(21,646 posts)thread by lying cuz if you cant win
I choose to care about people that say, fight for our country. Not people that just father welfare and burn American flags
those days are so far over I don't believe it is valid to use
also, you don't know if this man just murdered 10 people or looked a white woman wrong so this is equally invalid
"I only say this shit for the RTs" -Martin Luther King Jr
yep sounds like every 14 yr old I know
I think I have a bridge to sell here....
madokie
(51,076 posts)"Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."
- Martin Luther King Jr.
ananda
(28,877 posts)Name calling is clearly not the answer, as Oluo showed
so beautifully.
It's acknowledging that we are all fully human, and that
being human towards each other can be healing.
Heal.. racism.. now.
This reminds me of that father of the debater on the
African-American team that beat Harvard in the 50's or
60's, who told his son when asked about why he was
so calm and kind with the haters. He said:
racism is a disease. We try to help the sick, not hurt
them.
Iris
(15,669 posts)What fortitude Ms. Oluo has.