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It’s the Sundaylies with Baltimore Uprisings, Marilyn Mosby, Jean-Michel Basquiat, An Awesome Mad Art Cast, Elsa Pataky, Music Making Wine Better, Getting an Apology Right, Loneliness and Living in the Future

Wow, what a week it has been. The uprisings in Baltimore because of (yet again) another case of what appears to be police brutality against a black person, have brought our attention to overt racism and police misconduct happening in our streets.

It’s amazing to me that at this point anyone could deny that we have have a problem with the way police treat black people. But just go ahead and google news on this subject and then read some FOX and related sensationalist news source headlines and you will see where the misinformation comes from. Fuck those corporate news sources, ammirite?! I am so grateful that we live in a time when you can get first hand and in real time, accounts of things happening in the world by curating your news sources and following actual people on the street. My heart goes out to everyone affected by brutality and racism, and in this case, the friends and family of Freddie Gray.

Remember this isn’t a new phenomenon, it’s simply that at this moment in history, we have cameras on every phone and platforms like Twitter that can spread information that would have been hidden from the media and the public in the past. Twitter may have it’s problems with harassment but it is brilliant for finding reliable sources- if you keep your thinking cap on. In the past we would have only had the biased responses and reports from network news.

I don’t think we are going to see an end to this unrest anytime soon. Things are going to have to fundamentally change. Because of that fact, it was great to see Baltimore State Attorney, Marilyn Mosby rise up to the challenge and file charges against all six of the officers involved in the death of Freddie Gray. Ms Mosby is definitely the badass of the week. We will have to wait and see what comes of those cases but this may be the beginning of some much needed change and accountability.

In slightly more lighthearted messages, ART! Here is your Sunday Funny for the week. In my unending effort to educate y’all about art, today I bring you an image from one of my all time favorite artists, Jean-Michel Basquiat. Bassquiat was a graffiti artist and painter in the pop art era up until 1988. He was one of the very first black artists to receive popularity and respect in the Art World™.

A great quote by Basquiat is:

“Fire will attract more attention than any other cry for help.”

He was also rumored to have snarkily replied when asked about being a “black artist” that he “used all colors.”

Here are two of his paintings. Google for more.

obnoxious-liberals

notary

Now on to the Sundaylies!

Mad Art Lab 

Creativity, Destruction and Pride. Also what is a drupe? Mad Art Cast released a great podcast this week. I hate listening to things I am in, but I listened to this episode all the way through and I laughed out loud more that twice. The episode gets serious at times as the gang talks about the destruction of art by ISIS and there is great advice on staying creative. If you haven’t listened to one of the Mad Art Casts, this is a great one to jump in at!

Tasting Notes: Here is a fascinating joint post by Julia from Skepchick and Ashley from MAL that takes us on a learning journey with the topic of wine and music. Can music influence your buying decisions and influence how a wine tastes to you? Can music have an effect on how vines grow? Read this post to find out.

Queereka

Phil Plait Gets An Apology Very Right Benny discusses Phil Plait’s recent apology over a problematic joke in a recent video.

What is Loneliness? Jac explores what it feels like to be lonely.

BISEXUAL AGENDA: CLASSIFIED K.C. is looking for some bisexuals, pansexuals, and sexually fluid queer folk to participate in a poll to help guide future conversations.

Escéptica

Hero of the Month: Elsa Pataky Silvia chooses Spanish actress Elsa Pataky (also known as Mrs. Thor) as hero of the month for speaking out against quacks and miracle diets.

School of Doubt

Intuition and Domain Knowledge. J.D. compares intuition and systemic teaching techniques.

Pseudoscience in the non Science Classroom. Jay want s us to be wary of magical thinking that seeps into classrooms that are unrelated to science.

Grounded Parents

Lou explores the true story behind the video of the mother in Baltimore beating her teenaged son in the middle of a protest.

Why would someone who is genderqueer have trouble using a public restroom? You probably know the answer and Cerys goes through every reason cis people give for being afraid of gender-neutral bathrooms.

Steph talks about the Red My Lips campaign for sexual assault awareness, and an extremely inappropriate communication she received from a co-worker who commented on a photo of her in red lipstick.

Skeptability

The Eb and Flow of Multiple Sclerosos. Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis is just that – periods of relapse, where old symptoms get markedly worse or new symptoms crop up, followed by periods where the symptoms partially or fully go away.

Living in the Future. Learn about some cool new apps in blindness technology

Have a great week everyone!

Amy Roth

Amy Davis Roth (aka Surly Amy) is a multimedia, science-loving artist who resides in Los Angeles, California. She makes Surly-Ramics and is currently in love with pottery. Daily maker of art and leader of Mad Art Lab. Support her on Patreon. Tip Jar is here.

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