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Tweak says, "Save the world"

Justin E. Finch-Fletchley (justifiability) wrote in neeps,
@ 2017-12-13 10:45:00

Entry tags:

! journal, justin finch-fletchley

Ran into one of my old, old mates from primary school as he was home for the Christmas Holidays. We played the 'what have you been up to' game. So that was fun. I'd ask when did it turn into a competition, but lets be honest its always been one of those.

[Ernie]
Just so you know, I am using my voice.

[Muggleborn Contingent]
So I have extra pens if you want them, even though the next game isn't going to be until the middle of next month. They're charmed to read Muggleborn and Proud and if you want can be charmed to have colour changing ink ~~to prove someone wrong~~.

Also, I don't know if anyone else noticed, but The ~~Profit~~ Prophet hasn't addressed the Pink Campaign when it comes to their match coverage. They did report on on our appearance at the BIL hearings on 30 November. Nothing since then.

So I drafted a letter to the editor, if you would like offer your suggestions.

Draft of Justin's Letter

To the Editors of the Daily Prophet,

Why? It is a simple question. A question that should be on the tip of every journalist's tongue. However, it seems to me that this basic question seems to be either ignored or forgotten when it comes to your coverage of the Quidditch matches since 1 December 1999. So I will ask it for you.

Why are muggleborns wearing pink? This includes the players on the pitch, staff members and reserves on the sidelines, and supporters in the stands.

I am sure this comes as a surprise to many of your readers who may not have the ability, for various reason, to attend Quidditch matches on a regular basis. I will do my best to explain as I do not think it is a terribly difficult concept, but one that again, The Prophet, failed to adequately address and cover.

Muggleborns wish to be visible.

Because, without some visible outward sign we look just like any witch or wizard. Previously, Isla Cameron quoted one of the most treasured Muggle playwright in history, William Shakespeare. I too will quote him, with some minor changes,

I am a Muggleborn.
Hath not a Muggleborn eyes?
Hath not a Muggleborn hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?
Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Wizardborn is?
If you prick us, do we not bleed?
If you tickle us, do we not laugh?
If you poison us, do we not die?

We have just come out of a War, which was primarily fought over who should be allowed to be a part of society by virtue of pedigree alone. I do not wish to debate the morality of the War, though I do wish we can all agree that genocide and dictatorship are not models to live up to. However, my point is that without the outward visible signs of pink adoring Quidditch kits and gear or us donning pink clothing you would never know we were different from anyone else.

We will not be ignored. We will be listened to. We are here to stay.

Justin E. Finch-Fletchley
Longhaven House
4 Moray Place
Edinburgh, UK

(Post a new comment)

	closedcaptioned 2017-12-13 05:47 pm UTC (link)
	Is that one of the Eton ones? Justin Really? What is it saying? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	justifiability 2017-12-13 05:52 pm UTC (link)
	I never got to Eton proper. I was accepted but went to Hogwarts instead. [Ernie] Asking why the Daily Prophet purposefully ignoring the wearing of pink by muggleborns at Quidditch matches. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	closedcaptioned 2017-12-13 06:58 pm UTC (link)
	That doesn't mean HE didn't go to Eton. [Justin] Oooh. That's good. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	justifiability 2017-12-13 07:27 pm UTC (link)
	Hell if I remember. [Ernie] There's a letter and everything. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	closedcaptioned 2017-12-13 08:00 pm UTC (link)
	Did you make up something glorious? [Justin] To the Prophet?! Can I read it!? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

justifiability
2017-12-13 08:05 pm UTC (link)

Same practiced line. Splitting time between my father on location and spending time in Hong Kong.

[Ernie]
To the Editors of the Daily Prophet,

Why? It is a simple question. A question that should be on the tip of every journalist's tongue. However, it seems to me that this basic question seems to be either ignored or forgotten when it comes to your coverage of the Quidditch matches since 1 December 1999. So I will ask it for you.

Why are muggleborns wearing pink? This includes the players on the pitch, staff members and reserves on the sidelines, and supporters in the stands.

I am sure this comes as a surprise to many of your readers who may not have the ability, for various reason, to attend Quidditch matches on a regular basis. I will do my best to explain as I do not think it is a terribly difficult concept, but one that again, The Prophet, failed to adequately address and cover.

Muggleborns wish to be visible.

Because, without some visible outward sign we look just like any witch or wizard. Previously, Isla Cameron quoted one of the most treasured Muggle playwright in history, William Shakespeare. I too will quote him, with some minor changes,

I am a Muggleborn.
Hath not a Muggleborn eyes?
Hath not a Muggleborn hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?
Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Wizardborn is?
If you prick us, do we not bleed?
If you tickle us, do we not laugh?
If you poison us, do we not die?

We have just come out of a War, which was primarily fought over who should be allowed to be a part of society by virtue of pedigree alone. I do not wish to debate the morality of the War, though I do wish we can all agree that genocide and dictatorship are not models to live up to. However, my point is that without the outward visible signs of pink adoring Quidditch kits and gear or us donning pink clothing you would never know we were different from anyone else.

We will not be ignored. We will be listened to. We are here to stay.

Justin E. Finch-Fletchley
Longhaven House
4 Moray Place
Edinburgh, UK

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

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justifiability, 2017-12-14 04:42 am UTC

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justifiability, 2017-12-15 02:41 pm UTC

Justin -

closedcaptioned, 2017-12-15 07:00 pm UTC

	MB Contingent neeples 2017-12-14 01:56 am UTC (link)
	I like it. It's clear, well crafted, and would make an excellent speech. You're right, the Prophet has really dropped the ball on this and I think you calling them out on it has greater affect than any of us. My only concern is if a particularly dedicated wizardborn reporter looks up the next line of that particular speech. "And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?" (Reply to this) (Thread)

	MB Contingent justifiability 2017-12-14 02:34 am UTC (link)
	As important was what we choose to say, what we don't choose to say is of equal importance. I do not seek revenge upon society. An eye for an eye is not a rabbit hole I wish to go down. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	MB Contingent neeples 2017-12-14 02:41 am UTC (link)
	Don't worry, I know you don't. None of us ~~except maybe D~~ do. It's just a consideration when quoting something out of context, especially given the tone and the end of that speech in the play. And I can never really tell how much research the Prophet reporters bother putting into their work. Sometimes it's excessive and other times it's downright sloppy. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: MB Contingent justifiability 2017-12-14 02:52 am UTC (link)
	Though I suppose our revenge could be taking a place among the currently powerful purebloods or entrenched wizarding families. Why aren't there more muggleborns among the team administrations? At the Prophet? WWN? The Ministry. Sounds about right for any tabloid. As long as money is made. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

MB Contingent

feelingyou
2017-12-14 03:10 am UTC (link)

If we are going to be borrowing the words of people, I can't help but feel there are better words that William Shakespeare.

While he may provoke some of that similar concerns of violence Lynch mentioned, American political activist, Malcolm X once said: “We declare our right on this earth to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary.”

It also does harken back to the point that freedom is not something so easily granted, it is something you must work and even fight for.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

MB Contingent -

justifiability, 2017-12-14 03:42 am UTC

MB Contingent -

feelingyou, 2017-12-14 03:54 am UTC

MB Contingent -

justifiability, 2017-12-14 04:52 am UTC

camerontroubles
2017-12-14 04:06 am UTC (link)

Those kinds of "friends" are the worst.

[Justin]
I didn't necessarily want to get in the middle of the contingent thread, but I did want to say that I thought your letter was brilliant.

I'm also sorry I didn't get to see you at the Montrose/Caerphilly match. ~~Isla may have told you~~ They've had me practicing like mad since the last match ~~like that's going to make me any better~~, but thankfully it's the break now ~~so maybe I can see you again~~ so maybe we can see each other again, if you're free?

(Reply to this) (Thread)

justifiability
2017-12-14 04:31 am UTC (link)

It was easy enough to slip away. Sort of. Claimed I had to meet my dad.

[Monte]
I'm still not sure about it.

Don't worry about the match. I get it, there was a work conflict. You have to think about your career too.

I should be around. My dad isn't on location and I don't think we've been summoned to Hong Kong so as far as I know there are no trips planned.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

camerontroubles
2017-12-14 06:09 pm UTC (link)

No shame in using your family as an excuse. I've used Isla as my scary-sister-shield before. It annoys her to no end. It's all right, though. She's resigned herself to her fate.

[Justin]
In the end, they should be your words, your thoughts that should be expressed. If those happen to align with the opinions and thoughts of others- or better yet changes minds- great! If not, at least you will have put them out there.

You're braver than I am.

I've never really been outside of the country, so I can't imagine someplace like Hong Kong. London is frankly intimidating, so I'm not sure how I'd hold up in a place like that. Maybe I just need the right kind of guide.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	justifiability 2017-12-14 07:04 pm UTC (link)
	Luckily my dad's just mostly oblivious. [Monte] And now Gregor has me more confused. I don't really spend much time down in the city. Mostly we get shuttled back and forth between between locations. London's not bad though. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Justin

camerontroubles
2017-12-14 07:50 pm UTC (link)

~~Sweet Jesus~~

Unfortunately, they both have a point. I couldn't say for myself which one of them is right. Maybe they both are to some extent. To be honest, I'm still working through this whole thing myself.

But this letter you're thinking about sending in really isn't about them or from them. If they want to send in letters of their own, they're completely at liberty to do so. Of course, it would be nice to be able to present a united front, but this movement or whatever you want to call it is still in its infancy. We have to learn to crawl before we can run.

I don't know why I'm only saying this to you. Sorry.

Still might have to take your word on London. Just trying to get to King's Cross was a bit of a nightmare. Might be a case of the blind leading the blind, however.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Justin/Monte -

justifiability, 2017-12-14 07:57 pm UTC

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Justin/Monte -

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left_magpie
2017-12-14 01:26 pm UTC (link)

I think this is good, and I think it's a good idea to talk about this, but I don't necessarily agree that this why we're wearing pink, or even who 'we' are.

Yeah, this movement, which is still undefined, was thought up and implemented by a group of Muggleborns who wanted to make a change. But if we limit who 'we' can be to just Muggleborns, we are effectively being as exclusive as people who are happy to have 'just pureblood' organizations, except we haven't slaughtered anyone or tried to invade the school. We need to be and speak in inclusive ways that allow and encourage all wizards to be agents of change.

I am not 'Muggleborn and Proud', to the exclusion of my wizarding friends who also do the right things. To me, the message we need to bring, a positive message that anyone can support, is 'I Celebrate Muggleborns.'. It recognizes our differences, and allows anyone to be part of the movement. It's not exclusionary.

Would you tell Harry Potter he couldn't wear pink because his parents were wizards? Or any of the fighters at the battle of Hogwarts? I wouldn't want to tell Angus Campbell, who went to Azkaban because he couldn't stand the injustice around him, that he wasn't good enough to be on our team. He did more than a lot of us did.

You want to know what I want to see?--A stadium that's full of pink, because everyone recognizes the contributions and importance to our society of Muggleborns. And it's already happening. Nobody is policing Jason's or Aiden's fans who want to wear a pink jersey in the stands. Nobody's checking their parental records in a bureaucratic office deep in the Ministry. And nobody should.

I'd love for there to be a letter from us, which states what we're looking for and what we want to change in our society, but right now I couldn't co-sign this letter.

[Ward to Justin]
Or to put it more personally, I was in the stands when Ernie Macmillan asked Jason if anyone could wear pink and Jason shot him down and Ernie looked crestfallen. It almost made me drop this project on the spot.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	Gregor justifiability 2017-12-14 07:21 pm UTC (link)
	I'm still trying to figure out how to respond to the rest of your comment, but thank you for telling me. ~~Ernie saved my life.~~ Ernie saved my life and he might not get everything right, but he's ~~done more than~~ the right sort. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Re: Gregor/Justin

left_magpie
2017-12-14 11:05 pm UTC (link)

Ernie's Grandmother saved my life. I met MG McGonagall while I was in hiding, helping people escape from Britain.

My point is that lots of us have non-muggleborns we ~~love~~ are loyal to.

Jason doesn't mean to hurt Ernie's feelings, but you can't exclude the good guys and not have it hurt.

If you were to give Ernie something pink for Christmas, I think he'd like being included.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Gregor/Justin

justifiability
2017-12-15 01:03 am UTC (link)

I didn't know that. Does Ernie know that? Helga knows Ernie doesn't always talk about his family in the most positive light, but then again neither do I...

I'm a bit divided, to be honest. On one hand, I want people to realise that muggleborns are everywhere and the best way to do that is by some sort of symbol. On the other hand I don't want to exclude people who may have significant muggle relations or those who, like Ernie or his Grandmother or MG McGonagall, went out of their way to do the right thing.

I'm beginning to think we should say sod the whole pink thing, but then we have to begun to make headway. We've both seen the stands.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Re: Gregor/Justin

left_magpie
2017-12-15 02:39 am UTC (link)

I have no idea what gets discussed in the Big House. To be honest, almost nobody knows what I used to talk about with my Gran, either.

I'm divided myself. I'm not totally happy suggesting I can't go along with everyone out of loyalty, but we can't even get all the Quidditch players to go for a "we are wearing pink things" for a few games, so maybe I just want us to clarify what we're doing so we can all commit or walk.

If we had a plan, we'd know about what we were doing, and possibly why. Maybe even what our end-game was. Do we wear pink until the end of time, and generations down the road they forget what we were even doing it for? Is it "until the end of the season/the election?" Do we declare victory and then do something else to get noticed? I sorta favor that one, because the more you declare victory, the more likely the other side is to go along with your victoriousness. Learned that one watching Lady Thatcher.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Gregor/Justin -

justifiability, 2017-12-15 03:51 am UTC

justifiability
2017-12-14 08:08 pm UTC (link)

First, I do not want to come off like I assumed I was speaking for everyone. I was only offering to speak for myself.

Second, I will happily get new pens, but that is not going to solve the issue of where, ultimately, this movement is going. If it is even a movement in the first place.

Gregor is right, I would happily give Harry a pink jersey if he ever expressed interest in it. Of course, he was also muggle raised and found himself in the same state of confusion his first year. Or maybe more because everyone expected him to know something. As for those who I fought with at the Battle of Hogwarts or who found themselves victims or simply did not stay passive, they too need to be recognized. Is that by wearing pink or by some other symbol, I don't have that answer. Or maybe we choose another color, if pink is now too associated with 'Muggleborns Only'.

Third, I am often accused of not knowing what I want and that's often true. But I can say this, I do not want what happened to me happening to another eleven year old kid thrust into a world he or she knows nothing about and expected to fend for his or herself. ~~I do not want another to be petrified and stuck in their own body for months~~

I want to see prominent muggleborns. Not just on the quidditch pitch. How about in the Administration? Or at the Prophet? WWN? God forbid the Ministry.

Did you know there has only been one muggleborn Minister for Magic, which was Nobby Leach from 1962-1968. That's one in almost 300 years.

Muggleborns need to be normalised. We need to be in all levels across society. We cannot be exceptions any longer.

[OOC: Written after Justin's comment to Monte]

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Re: MB

left_magpie
2017-12-14 11:20 pm UTC (link)

I didn't mean to volunteer myself into your letter, you should write what you need to write. I used it to launch a discussion (I hope) that I've thought we needed to have for a bit now. Muggleborns need to be normalized. We are as unique and diverse and cantankerous as any other group of Wizards, from Chudley fans to Weasleys. We don't all think alike, want the same things, or know the same people.

Not every muggleborn wizard is going to agree with us, and we don't even completely agree with each other. We can't even make a deal, like a political party could, and say "we'll support your Scottish Referendum if you promise to appoint a muggleborn as head of Scottish Affairs".

I love your point, and I think it's the kernel of what does bring us together in unity, that we want to make things better for Muggleborns who follow after us. That's what's driving me to work with you fine folks on this. Anyone else? Because if that's what we're doing, I want to make sure that we're saying that loudly.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	MB justifiability 2017-12-15 12:53 am UTC (link)
	I am happy to help further this discussion, but I do have to ask, why can't we coalesce into a proto-political organisation? I understand the lot of you are professional athletes, but you all have a platform. And if you don't want to be centerally involved, lend your voices to those that do. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: MB left_magpie 2017-12-15 02:40 am UTC (link)
	I ... don't think I'd thought about it. Must be too many bludgers to the head. You're a charismatic young man whose a good speaker, you know that? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

MB -

justifiability, 2017-12-15 03:52 am UTC

Re: MB -

left_magpie, 2017-12-15 04:23 am UTC

MB -

justifiability, 2017-12-15 05:13 am UTC