These offerings and musings are currently taking place on the ancestral, traditional, and stolen lands of the Seminole, Miccosukee, and Tequesta First Nations. These lands known as Miami.
These are stolen lands built by stolen people
Roe v. Wade has been overturned. We now have a rogue Supreme Court who is aligned with a minority tyrannical party that has craven fascist views and aspirations. There is no longer any pretense of the separation of church and state and people who believed the conspiracy theories and the attempted coup orchestrated by our 45th President are running and winning seats and positions that will ensure that they oversee our next elections.
Life as we know it in the United States is in peril. With that being said, I no longer think that things are worse off now. As a Black femme, I cannot really recall a time that I learned or read about when this settler-colonial nation state was good to people who are not white, male, able-bodied, and land owning.
There have always been apocalyptic conditions for Black and Indigenous peoples. So yes, although our society is rapidly declining and a looming recession threatens to make our lives even harder, life in the U.S. has always been hard for low- income and working class people. However, that pain and suffering is no longer localized like it used to be; now more and more people who have racial privilege are seeing their class protections from harm diminish and they are also feeling Othered.
There is no one coming to save us. Canada is not going to send its army into the United States to defend the rights of people with uteri having bodily autonomy or to ensure that Black and non-Black people of color votes are not suppressed. No one is coming to save the United Statesians. We must save ourselves and we save ourselves by organizing!
Below I will share some thoughts and suggestions and for many of you who have been reading and following me for a while you might find what I have to say is repetitive. The truth is there are no hacks when it comes to disrupting oppression and fighting for your freedom and the freedom of your comrades.
I humbly offer these ideas and suggestions please take what makes sense to you and leave what does not.
What do you believe in and how deep are your convictions? - Are you a reformist, are you an abolitionist, are you an anarchist or are you somewhere on the spectrum? It is important in these times to get clear about your political stances because that will inform your political strategies. Be clear about the sociopolitical ideologies that undergirds and informs your politics. For example Black Feminist Thought is the main sociopolitical framework that governs and informs my life and my politics. Yes, lived experiences have deep merit, but we must have an intellectual foundation that will undergird our social justice values and strategies. Theory alone is not enough. Practice alone is not enough. It’s theory + practice = praxis.
Who are your people and who do you organize with? - Where does your sociopolitical work live and with whom do you organize with? Many of our fights are local which means we have to get involved locally. Join your local social justice movement orgs. Having a political home will ground you, help you sharpen your analysis, and above all give you a space to practice your politics and open you up to transformation. In the process you may make friends, but that is not a given, but you will have comrades and co-strugglers in this liberation fight.
Let go of the notion that our freedoms and our rights are immutable - Angela Davis teaches us that “freedom is a constant struggle.” Anything that is possible in other smaller, more developing nation-states is possible here. The dehumanization of one group within our borders will eventually visit other groups. Our rights until they are enshrined by Congress or we birth a new world rooted in social justice our humanity will always be up for debate and States rights fodder. We must organize and fight like hell for the things that we want and we must remain forever prepared to defend and expand those rights.
“The United States is not Blue or Red it’s purple like a bruise” these are the words of the writer, scholar, and podcaster Sarah Kendzior. There is no such thing as a liberal bastion that cannot be usurped by the GOP. Our political strategies and freedom dreams must include all of the republic. Now is the time to really listen and pay attention to the innate wisdom of Southern organizers and organizations who have always had to organize within the most oppressive and racist conditions.
Just because abortions are legal in your state now it does not mean its safe. P.S. If you live in Canada fascism is on the rise there as well. There is no safe hiding place from white supremacy!
Make art, make love, build communities, and rest - Being vigilant and an ethical citizen who is deeply committed to social change does not mean we do not make time for joy and pleasure. Life is still beautiful and filled with immense possibilities. Do not forget to flirt with those possibilities.
Steal back your attention and engage your imagination - Our smartphones may be our biggest enemies. Big tech has declared war on our attention. It is much harder to finish a book, to read captions on Instagram, or pretty much anything that requires deep focus. Everything in our society will attempt to distract and seduce us into numbing please do not fall for it. Also, imagination is a powerful revolutionary tool. To get a different world we have to be able to try and do different things. Without engaging our imagination our organizing efforts will always be lacking. Do not let white supremacy put a cap on your imagination and convince you of what is possible.
Social Justice is not a cult - If you are deeply committed to social justice and social change then you must resist the urge to turn politicians, activists, organizers, or social media educators into gurus or superstars. Stop pedestalizing people and above all stop outsourcing your critical thinking. Social justice requires us to think critically, question everything, try on new ideas, and above all be transformed by our work and by our study. Resist the urge to turn the smartest, most charismatic, or most attractive people in the room into demigods. Because the minute those people fall from grace many of you lose your center and your focus. Stop it with the idol worship and get more curious about yourself, your motives, your ethics, and your reason for doing what you do. It is okay to be inspired by people, but we are not here to worship them. Just say no to the cult of personality.
The stakes are simply too high for us to get distracted and enamored by personalities, looks, and hookups. We are in the era of decentralized leadership. Let's keep it that way. Abolish the savior industrial complex in all forms!
“Hope doesn’t preclude feeling sadness or frustration or anger or any other emotion that makes total sense. Hope isn’t an emotion, you know? Hope is not optimism. Hope is a discipline... we have to practice every single day.” — Mariame Kaba
VIEWINGS AND READINGS:
Interrupting Criminalization - “A collection of resources to aid in evaluation and reflection compiled by Interrupting Criminalization, Project Nia & Critical Resistance.This binder is full of excerpts from resources that we frequently use as jumping-off points when thinking strategically about abolitionist organizing. The excerpts included highlight tools that we’ve found helpful when getting into the nitty-gritty of strategizing and evaluating next-steps: questions to ask, lists to consider, steps to take, and charts to consult.”
Processes of Decolonization by Poke Laenui - This article lays out five critical steps that one needs to undergo in order to do the hard necessary work of decolonization.
CostPlus - This is the website created by the billionaire Mark Cuban where you can buy prescription drugs at a reasonable price. One of the rare occasions when the free market is actually pro the everyday person.
Digital Defense Fund - “We are Digital Defense Fund, and we do digital security for the abortion access movement.”
Euki - A period app that does NOT store or farm your personal data.
Vol 16: Rachel Greenspan: Fake Authenticity, Meme Fatigue +Reply Guys by Matt Klein “But the paradoxical truth is that there’s nothing casual about intentionally telegraphing casualness for the sake of looking cool.I only shared the nasal spray, originally taken to tell my best friend what to get for her cold, because I knew it would telegraph that I understand what’s now cool.”
The Six Forces That Fuel Friendship by Julie Beck - “When this project launched, I wrote, “People are at their most generous, their funniest, and their most fascinating when talking with and about their friends.” The interviews that followed only reinforced that belief. I could continue this for the rest of my life and only scratch the surface of the infinite ways friendship shapes our lives, but I’ve done my best to pull out the recurring themes I’ve observed from these 100 conversations. Though every bond evolves in its own way, I have come to believe that there are six forces that help form friendships and maintain them through the years: accumulation, attention, intention, ritual, imagination, and grace”
What is ‘white gay privilege’? by Natalie Morris - “White gay privilege does not mean that white LGBTQ+ people cannot experience discrimination themselves. Rather, it means they do not have the additional experience of being racialised and treated differently because of the color of their skin.”
A Star is Born Raffi-Gessen Goulds Examined Life by Piper French “Like TikTok toddlers and baby YouTubers, the Raffi essays raise fascinating and thorny questions about children’s rights to digital privacy, and how the internet has influenced our willingness to accept levels of access into people’s lives we would have once found unthinkable and likely grotesque. What happens when the first generation of internet writers, who made their careers documenting their lives and the lives of others in blog posts and magazine essays and even, half-disguised, in novels, grow up and have children of their own?”
Run The Dishwasher Twice: A lesson on throwing out the rule book and saving yourself by Kate Scott “Now that I’m in a much healthier place, I rinse off my dishes and place them in the dishwasher properly. I shower standing up. I sort my laundry. But at a time when living was a struggle instead of a blessing, I learned an incredibly important lesson: There are no rules. Run the dishwasher twice.”
The Key To Retaining Young Workers? Better Onboarding by Donald Tomaskovic-Devey and Reyna Orellana - “How can employers do a better job hiring and keeping young workers? New research from interviews with workforce development specialists focusing on young workers (particularly young workers of color) filling core production tasks in factories, health care, and administrative service firms sheds light on the social aspects of onboarding that can make or break a young worker’s experience. The authors offer ten ways employers can improve young workers’ onboarding experiences to sustain a mutually beneficial relationship: 1) Create career jobs, 2) Communicate opportunities for career progression, 3) Build positive relationships prior to hiring, 4) Ensure a positive first day reception, 5) Assign new hires a mentor, 6) Communicate and explain expectations clearly, 7) Create a culture where young workers can ask questions, 8) Understand their non-work lives, 9) Foster a climate of respect and dignity for everyone, and 10) Create a racially equitable workplace.”
A Safe at Home Abortion is Here - “Plan C provides up-to-date information on how people in the U.S. are accessing at-home abortion pill options online.”
Abortion Funds In Every State
Read, Watch, Listen, Do: An Abolitionist Media Guide - “Copaganda is tired and played. Far too often journalists rely on police, sheriffs, prison officials, and prosecutors as credible sources without scrutiny or even a basic fact-check. These uncritical and unprofessional behaviors lead to an overwhelming amount of traditional news that simply spreads biased police propaganda and stirs up unfounded fears, stifling the public imagination to see beyond the blue.”
The Death of the Social Media Influencer - “The truth is no one knows. Relatability is back in style, a new breed of influencer has evolved: the genuinfluencer. Genuinfluencers are sort of like influencers, but their motivations tend to revolve around education, as opposed to engagement.”
LISTENING:
Hags- Feminism is for Everyone - “We are joined by April Lexi Lee, a Singaporean writer and creative producer based in Los Angeles who takes special interest in exploring and destigmatizing the unconventional and taboo. Today we discuss platonic life partnerships, addressing taboo subject matter on film, where sex therapy fits into our everyday lives, and how to break from tradition to create a future that serves you.”
On Being with Krista Tippett adrienne maree brown - “We are in a time of new suns” - “What a time to be alive,” adrienne maree brown has written. “Right now we are in a fast river together — every day there are changes that seemed unimaginable until they occurred.” adrienne maree brown and others use many words and phrases to describe what she does, and who she is: A student of complexity. A student of change and of how groups change together. A “scholar of belonging.” A “scholar of magic.” She grew up loving science fiction, and thought we’d be driving flying cars by now; and yet, has found in speculative fiction the transformative force of vision and imagination that might in fact save us. Our younger listeners have asked to hear adrienne maree brown’s voice on On Being, and here she is, as we enter our own time of evolution. This conversation shines a light on an emerging ecosystem in our world over and against the drumbeat of what is fractured and breaking: working with the complex fullness of reality, and cultivating old and new ways of seeing, to move towards a transformative wholeness of living.
Critical Theory Treva B. Lindsey, “America, Goddam: Violence, Black Women, and the Sruggle for Justice” - Echoing the energy of Nina Simone's searing protest song that inspired the title, this book is a call to action in our collective journey toward just futures.
America, Goddam: Violence, Black Women, and the Struggle for Justice (U California Press, 2022) explores the combined force of anti-Blackness, misogyny, patriarchy, and capitalism in the lives of Black women and girls in the United States today.
LUTZE SIGHTINGS:
1. Black Girl's Guide to Surviving Menopause IG live:
I was a part of the June “What’s Up Doc?” conversation where we discussed anti-racist feminist frameworks and who controls the narrative about menopause and aging, why it’s important to engage in narrative and culture shift work with Black people that disrupts white supremacy, patriarchy, misogyny, and heteronormativity related to menopause, and how people can better advocate for themselves related to menopause and/or its onset with their health provider, employers, family members, etc.
2. For Real, For Real - It's An Emergency:
Your favs are back to discuss the recent attacks on bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom in the US. Krystina and Lutze lay down some frameworks and calls to action now that they have processed recent events.
As always, trust and listen to Black womxn and non-binary folks.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Platonic Love Mixer #2
COMING VERY SOON! More details to come later.
Patreon Shoutout: We want to give a special shoutout to our patrons who pledged this month!
Priscila GJ
Denise A
Mia L
Claire OP