These offerings and musings, are currently taking place on the ancestral, traditional, stolen, and unceded lands of the Musqueam people the lands also known as Vancouver.
Dear Beloved Community,
You have been on my heart and on my mind heavily. I have been searching myself to find the perfect words to share with you during this time, and I could not find them because they do not exist. I have never lived during a global pandemic, and therefore, I have nothing in my past experiences to pull on. However, as someone who is a descendant of enslaved people and who has been parented by two refugees, I know survival intimately. Shit is real! The rona is not playing with us, but we are a mighty resourceful and resilient people and species, and we will find a way to survive this collectively.
COVID-19 is yet another shining example of why anti-racism must be a way of life for most of us if we a serious about thriving as a species on this planet. How do you contain a contagious virus in a country that engineers poverty and poor health outcomes? We contain that virus by becoming acutely aware that we are inextricably tied to one another. I am only as healthy as my neighbor. If my neighbor is forced into precarity, eventually those conditions that rendered my neighbor precarious will also become my undoing.
Living in a white supremacist society is risky for all people irrespective of race, class, age, gender, and etc. White supremacy does not have a retirement plan. White supremacy is a virus; yes, there is no denying that it will destroy BIPOC first, but eventually, it will turn on itself.
We already live with many apocalyptic conditions and pandemics, such as racism, poverty, classism, transphobia, homophobia, ableism, xenophobia, and the climate disaster. These isms shorten people's lives every day.
Below I made a list of things to consider in this moment that is tied to anti-racism and social justice. Now, more than ever we must train ourselves to think within a social justice framework and to be anti-racist in how we choose to meet this moment.
Lastly, as someone who is an international graduate student and consultant who is squarely part of the gig economy all of my gigs are now non-existent. If you find value in my work and learn from my work and would like to donate please do. Please note that now more than ever the kinds of services that I offer is crucial in meeting this moment. If you need coaching or strategic HR consultation then email me and let's work together!
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Social Justice implications in the time of COVID-19
1. Disability Justice Framework- Disabled people have always been organizing, working, advocating, loving, surviving, and building new worlds from their beds, wheelchairs, while on ventilators and using any other device that helps them live full lives. Disabled people are the ones we should be listening to, and we should be using a disability justice framework to ensure that we are moving in a way that does not exclude anyone or further center our most ableist impulses. It is time that we center the wisdom and expertise of the disabled community, which is the largest and most diverse group. Here is a [LINK] to the ten principles that guide disability justice let's all collectively practice putting them into praxis
2. Shift the language- We are physically distancing, not socially distancing. People need people to survive. Let's cultivate and deepen our connections with each other safely where we can during this time
3. Resist Saviorism- Resist the urge to spearhead a project right now. Amplify the good work of others who are more community rooted and who have expertise in online organizing. Ask yourself are their mutual aid initiatives already underway that you could support and boost
4. Practice kindness- This moment is calling us all to be more kind, patient, and loving with one another. We can practice physical distancing without not dismissing and devaluing each other's humanity. We are all collectively experiencing this global pandemic. Be kind to yourself and practice that kindness with others
5. Keep the flow of capital going- If you can still afford to keep paying the domestic worker, babysitter, dog walker, & anyone else in that capacity keep paying them. If money is not a worry for you in this moment, keep the flow of capital moving justly in the areas you can control.
6. Interrogate your class privilege- Many of you are part of the managerial class, which means your jobs can be seamlessly done online and remotely. What does it mean to have that kind of privilege that allows you this level of safety? How can you operationalize your solidarity with other workers whose jobs puts them at risk so that you can do your job safely in your home? Sit with this even if it makes you deeply uncomfortable. Out of that discomfort insight is waiting to greet you
7. Practice physical distancing AND practice your social justice values- We must keep our physical distance from each other, but we can still do it and practice being good citizens to each other. Keep in mind that intimate partner violence is on the rise, people who are food insecure are more so now, people who are in recovery from addiction are experiencing a heightened level of stress. All around us are people who are in deep need of support and intervention. A pandemic is a great opportunity to practice your values and practice being in community
8. Sociopolitical self-check-in - What is this pandemic revealing to you politically? Are your values shifting? What is currently making you the maddest? Check-in with yourself and reevaluate your values and politics. I encourage you to write and get in touch with your righteous anger. What will be socio-politically different about you once we are on the other side of the pandemic?
9. Resist the urge to want to return to" normal"- I do not want to return to normal. Now that we can see that evictions can be stopped, jails can quickly be emptied, officers can be ordered to slow down arrests. These are all social justice demands that these systems are forced to temporarily adopt because they are humane and they work! What can we do to keep this up? Also, there is no going back to normal. The society and the people we were before Covid-19 is gone. Many of us will adapt, become more resilient, and change for the better, and many other people will become more fearful. Activate your imagination what is the new normal that you are. Envisioning for yourself and your people?
10. Center the kids- Check in on the kids in your life privately if it is at all possible. For many kids school is a safe haven it's where they can get a meal, wash their clothes, be their authentic self if they are gay, trans, or non-binary. It's also a place they get a reprieve from sexual and physical abuse. Now more than ever, let's make it a priority to check-in with the children in our lives and try to pay attention. Although children are not as vulnerable to COVID-19, they are forever vulnerable to the whims of adults
11. Audit your giving- Are you prioritizing queer, transgender, Black, Indigenous, & POC in your giving?
12. Practice queering love- We are going to have to get creative about how we show up for each other and showing up for each other's interior lives. Make sure you are asking people what does love and support look like now during physical distancing
13. Tend to your garden-Go inside of yourself & tend to your spirit. This moment has inspired me to get reacquainted with the teachings of Jack Kornfield, Louise Hay, Wayne Dyer & other spiritual teachers. If you have the courage to be with yourself and be with all that is coming up. This is a really hard time and, therefore, check-in with your body, spirit, and mind and ask them what they want and need in this moment. Honor what comes up and tend to it. Resist the urge to zoom your community to death. It is totally okay to be still and be quiet and lay low. We are going to be here for awhile
14. GRIEVE- 2020, for many of us was supposed to be our redemption year. Grieve what you lost and what you are going to lose. Death is ever more present now. It's okay to be sad. We North Americans are not good at doing grief, but we do not have to grieve alone. Find your people and cry together if you must. Name what you are feeling, confront your feelings, be with your feelings, and know that feelings are not facts. Feelings are merely data that helps informs the facts and contexts of our lives
15. Abandon the patriarchy- Women/femmes/gender complex people who are in heteronormative/homonormative relationships rooted in patriarchal gender norms; it may be time to embrace egalitarianism. One person can't be expected to carry the weight of the pandemic alone while another person just chills. If there is no threat of violence in your relationship, now may be a good time to renegotiate with your partner(s) for more equity, love, and care. Masculine folks, this is your time to operationalize your feminism. Show up more around the house and truly be there for your partner(s). If you love your partner(s) then now is a great time to align your actions with that truth
16. Reading for liberation- What does Black feminist thought, women of color feminism, & Native feminisms have to say about collective organizing, the end of the world, utopias, mutual aid, & collective living? Don't know go find out
17. Embrace ancestral knowledge and ritual- What are the home remedies, herbs, and plants and rituals that your people used to stay healthy and boost their immune system? If you do not know then who in your circle has that knowledge who can share it with you? We can follow the CDC guidelines while also honoring ancestral knowledge
18. Make time to access your pleasure and your joy- It does not have to be gloom and doom all day Watch your favorite show, dance, masturbate, have sex (LINK to safer sex guidelines during COVID-19), learn a Tik Tok dance do something that makes you feel alive. Life is for the living so live while you are here!
19. Disrupt anti-Asian xenophobia- There is lots of xenophobia being launched towards East-Asians right now. Let's all find a way to disrupt it and let's check in with our East-Asian comrades
20. Adjust & manage your expectations of yourself & others during this time- This is a marathon, not a sprint. If you manage people, now is NOT the time to expect the same level of productivity from your students, employees, and colleagues. Resist the white supremacist impulse to act like working at home during a global pandemic is normal. THIS IS NOT NORMAL. Adjust your expectations and chill. Honor people's boundaries and know that it is hard for many people to ask for what they want and need. One way we can help each other is by creating the space for people to tell us what is possible and fair to expect of them during this time. If you are the kind of person who likes to throw themselves in their work during chaotic moments know that is your coping mechanism and that is not true for others. Do not make an already awful scary situation worse by being the perfectionist who is expecting perfection from others. Don't be that person
VIEWINGS AND READINGS
Brene Brown on 60 minutes- [LINK] she is talking about vulnerability and leadership
Chika NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert- [LINK] Chika is dark-skinned, Black, queer, femme and she got bars if this is your thing you will enjoy the music
Kiese Laymon on Masculinity, Body Dysmorphia, Abuse, and Addiction- [LINK] This is a very powerful interview that Kimberly Foster aka For Harriet did with Kiese Laymon. It’s so GOOD!
AM 2 DM The Sit down: Selenis and Marizol Leyva- [LINK] Selenis from the show “Orange is the New Black” wrote a book with her sister Marizol who transitioned and they talk about their journey in this interview
“I Can Forgive Andrew Gillum, But I Don’t Have to Like It”- [LINK] “I will exercise grace here and not set this written statement on fire — even if I feel tempted. What I will say for Gillum, and those already cheering him on for a comeback, is that while time can heal wounds, that only happens after a person comes completely clean. And there’s much cleaning left to do.”
“Why We Called for Black people to support, not shame Andrew Gillum”-[LINK] “The author bell hooks says in her 2004 book We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity, “In patriarchal culture, all males learn a role that restricts and confines. When race and class enter the picture, along with patriarchy, then black males endure the worst impositions of gendered masculine patriarchal identity. “In other words, men have been socialized into heteronormative patriarchal ideas for centuries. When you add race and class to that, as we must do with Gillum’s identities as a Black male politician, then you must understand that American society sees those identities as targets — games, in a sense, that are to be figured out, played, and mastered. This can become overwhelming and, sometimes, unbearable to endure.”
“How Brown Girl Solidarity Harms Us”- [LINK] “This is one of the obvious challenges to brown politics; brownness itself became stigmatized because of anti-Blackness and anti-Dalitness. What became an internal discourse amongst Black people and internalized violence was never intended to be an identity catchall for Desis. Deploying it as a catchall strips positionality and obscures where there might be complicit relationships.”
“Dressing Down, Layering Up”-[LINK] “People punished for a radical commitment to the dispossessed know the importance of this sensibility. When the world seems unbearably cold—harsh and lonely and broken—don’t run to the closest shelter. Put on a jacket. In other words, don’t abandon principle for luxury. Equip yourself to survive an inhospitable world. A jacket isn’t part of human anatomy. It’s a temporary solution to ephemeral conditions.”
‘You Could Never Misgender Me’ –[LINK] “Calling me ‘she/her’ isn’t actually misgendering me. Calling me ‘he/ him’ isn’t misgendering me either. Because my gender isn’t translated through my pronouns, only affirmed by them. I don’t look like pronouns, and pronouns don’t look like me. I don’t perform like pronouns, and pronouns don’t perform like me. My pronouns are a boundary. My pronouns are personal. My pronouns are not gendered.”
“Let’s Make Dog Parks Less Racist” [LINK] “As I left the dog park that day, I looked around to see if there were any other Black people there with dogs. There was one. We nodded, that silent acknowledgement Black people give one another that says, I see you, good morning, or, more often, Do you believe this shit? Informally, I started asking friends of mine with dogs if they went to dog parks. Two were Black, one was Puerto Rican. Every single person said they just didn’t feel comfortable. It was always too white.”
LISTENING
Unlocking Us hosted by Brene Brown- I am an avid practitioner of Brene Brown’s work and now she has a podcast. She was made for this medium. I have listened to every episode, but the one I love the most is the with Glennon Doyle episode three. I am already on my second listen of this episode
Bottom of the Map- This is my dream podcast. I am a HUGE hip-hop head and my genre of choice is Southern hip-hop. I have been looking for a podcast about hip-hop that is not hosted by white men or misogynistic men of color. Enter hosts hip-hop scholar Black woman who I have been following for years on Twitter Dr. Regina N. Bradley and Christina Lee music journalist. This show dissects Southern hip-hop in ways I have never heard outside of my brain. The analysis is on point the episode that hooked me is one about Big K.R.I.T. and the episode about global trap which gave me a new perspective on reggaetón
Con Todo: Brown Love – Dascha Polanco from the show “Orange is the new Black” is hosting this podcast that is all about Latinx folks in Hollywood. The episode that hooked me is the one about afro-latinx /BLatinx women in Hollywood
Oprah’s Super Soul Conversations- Oprah and Tracee Ellis Ross: Your Life In Focus – If you love Tracee you are going to appreciate her wisdom
Secret Feminist Agenda: Choosing Love with Kai Cheng Thom- For those serious about practicing transformative justice and who know that love is an ethic this conversation will feel like chicken soup
Invisibilia The Confrontation- This episode is about a social justice camp for teens that makes them talk about and confront racism. I ran a similar program for three years also for teens in my former life and because of this I had strong feelings and critiques about the episode, but overall, I think it was good and worth listening to
Scene on Radio S4 E5: Feminism in Black and White- The episode gives great historical context to feminism in the United States
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Sign the petition to ensure that the hourly wage workers at University of Miami get paid during this time of great economic precocity [LINK] to the petition