Hinging your self-identity to your job is going to make you depressed

Let's be honest—the coronavirus is already bad enough. Then we have the murder of George Floyd bringing to light years of systemic racial oppression, the Anti-Terrorism Bill that is still completely questionable (yet somehow on its way to become a law), the humanitarian crisis amidst a war in Yemen. And as if we didn't have enough problems, we also have to deal with the consequences of those problems, such as unemployment in the time of corona.

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#WeStandWithMariaRessa

It seems that before we can even stop to take a breath, we're already dealing with another blow to our fundamental rights as people.

Maria Ressa, CEO of Rappler, and former Rappler journalist Reynaldo Santos Jr. were convicted of "cyber-libel" yesterday. As written by BBC, the conviction was due to an eight-year-old Rappler article citing an intelligence report of businessman Wilfredo Keng's alleged links to illegal drugs and human trafficking. The basis of the prosecution came under the "cyber-libel" law, which was enforced four months after the article was written.

Rappler reports that under the Revised Penal Code, as revised by Republic Act 4661, you can be sued for libel only one year within publication. Keng filed his complaint in 2017, or 5 years after the article was published in 2012. The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines categorically disallows any retroactive implementation of a law. This is stated in the Bill of Rights.

Ressa and her team at Rappler have been unfailingly critical of President Duterte's administration. She even likens being a journalist in the Philippines to being in a war zone—which, given the extrajudicial killings, isn't a far-reaching analogy.

And, as we have mentioned in our statements on George Floyd and the unconstitutional Anti-Terrorism Bill of 2020, we cannot stay silent. 

The arrest of Maria Ressa is clearly a politically-motivated act. It is an abuse of power, a threat to our democracy, and a danger to our fundamental freedoms. The fact that the Malacañang has told Ressa to face the charges "head-on" is a direct indicator that they will do nothing to protect their citizens' rights.

 

And while this is going on, the pandemic is still raging, people are still dying, and the government prioritises implementing a blatantly unconstitutional Anti-Terrorism Bill (when they can seriously still revise this? Why are they rushing it?). This is unacceptable.

The Better Collective stands with Maria Ressa and Rappler and their unbiased reporting of the political climate in the Philippines. The Better Collective stands with  journalists all over the country and the world, in their search for truth. 

The Better Collective does not stand for bullies who, when called out for their incompetence, decide to hide behind their positions and misuse their power to silence their critics.

The Better Collective is not a news website. But we will always stand for the truth.

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The Better Collective's Official Statement on the Murder of George Floyd

The recent murder of George Floyd has hit headlines. Reported to 911 for illegally using counterfeit currency, Derek Chauvin, a white police officer from Minneapolis, and his team, consisting of Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Keung, and Tou Thao, were assigned as the team to handle the case. 

A video streamed on Facebook Live showed Floyd pinned down to the ground, Chauvin kneeling on the man’s neck. The video showed Floyd begging, “Don’t kill me,” to Chauvin. Bystanders have coaxed the officer to letting Floyd breathe, but in response, the officers have said that Floyd was “talking,” and that “he’s fine.” 

The video records a bystander saying, “You could have put him in the car by now. He's not resisting arrest or nothing. You're enjoying it. Look at you. Your body language." Eventually Floyd grows motionless and unresponsive. Bystanders have asked the police to check Floyd’s pulse. 

“Did they fucking kill him?” was the chilling question of one of the bystanders present. Chauvin did not remove his knee until emergency medical services arrived. Floyd was pronounced dead at the hospital. 

According to the video, Chauvin had his knee on Floyd’s neck for at least seven minutes, including the four minutes when Floyd when unconscious. 

While the Better Collective is an organisation that operates outside of and is composed of members who are not residents of the United States, we must speak out and act out against the injustice that has blatantly made itself known today and everyday, whether it be on the streets, in the workplace, or in our own upbringing. 

The Better Collective is, and will always be, vocally against any sort of racism, bigotry, corruption, and prejudiced hatred, and we are always ready to lend our voice to those who need to be heard. 

We condemn the actions of officers Chauvin, Lane, Keung, and Thao, and fully support Floyd’s family in their petition to file murder charges against them.

We stand with the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and others like them who have been—and continue to be—victims of racial abuse and injustice. 

Here at TBC, we choose to be better everyday. Choosing to be better is choosing empathy. Choosing to be better is choosing integrity. Choosing to be better is choosing justice. 

If you are a citizen of the US, call the following hotlines and make your voice be heard. 

Call Minnesota Governor Walz at  (651) 201-3400.
Call Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison at (651) 296-3353.

For more ways to help, visit this Twitter thread of options compiled by user @tpwkhollands.

You can provide monetary support the family of George Floyd on their official GoFundMe page.

You can provide monetary support to the GoFundMe for the legal aid of Minnesota protesters. 

You can provide monetary support to the Minnesota Freedom Fund.

Stay informed: 

A “thread of black documentaries that assist in understanding racism, prejudice, police brutality, and more.”

CNN Edition's live updates page regarding the George Floyd case.

Black Lives Matters’ official website.

Update: This post was edited to correct minor grammatical errors and to add the Minnesota Freedom Fund website.

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Quarantine Rehab Series: So... what now? Ideas for adaptive coping

In the latest installment of the blog, we teetered more towards self-reflection. We were all about allowing yourself to process your emotions, and determine whether or not those emotions needed some action (because, like we said, not everything needs to be worked on). And I'm sure that given the time you were thinking those, you were also inadvertently working on them.

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Quarantine Rehab Series: 3 things to ask to understand where you are

In our last post, we talked about how the world at large is trying to shove some positivity down your throat when your body just rejects the notion of being remotely optimistic at such an ambiguous time. And who can blame you? No one has the right to tell you how to act or feel or behave during a pandemic.

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