the onslaught attacking the civil rights of anyone not a cisgender heterosexual white man has been a lot to process. I have been thinking through things with collage.
sisterhood
in visual art
current events
yellow sky diary
in diary
no filter, shot on iphone. 10 september 2020.
the air is dusty but after a moment you reliase it’s not dust, it’s ash.
another blurred yellow morning. I couldn’t sleep because as the sun comes up the smoke gets worse. my throat catches. I rub my eyes.
no one ever said a transformation would be easy, but I wish it wasn’t quite so hard on those of us not insulated from its worse effects. maybe this is a wake up call & the world will be better afterwards.
maybe it will be much much worse.
everything inverted in my tarot spread this morning. an indicator of confusion. everything turned upside-down & opaque. maybe searching for beauty in the middle of all this is the task at hand.
maybe small, shimmering, moments of beauty is all we have.
american poem
in poetry
this month’s poem-a-month newsletter was a bit late due to technical difficulties, but has gone out now. have been thinking about the stories we tell ourselves in order to protect us from having to face tough realities, especially the realities of having intersecting types of privilege in america.
morning in america
& another layer of ash
has settled over the streets
whispering to us as dawn
claws her way up.
we nod awake, arms tired
from putting ourselves out front
our houses silent but the memory
of fire lingers in our lungs.
still the ash keeps falling,
lace-like on our eyelashes
crystals for us to brush—
we never care to learn
where the burning is from.
a reading list
in education
I realise there are so many different reading lists circling around the internet. but since I firmly believe in the power of books & the power of the people to educate themselves when they are determined to expend the effort to do so, I thought I would share a list of some books that have been useful for me.
I recommend buying your books from a small, black-owned bookstore. my choice is eso won books here in LA. their website: esowonbookstore.com
MY LIST:
stamped from the beginning by ibram x. kendi
so you want to talk about race by ijeoma oluo
why I’m no longer talking to white people about race by reni eddo-lodge
how to be an antiracist by ibram x. kendi
magical negro by morgan parker
homie by danez smith
open city by teju cole
they can’t kill us until they kill us hanif abdurraqib
there are more beautiful things than beyonce by morgan parker
homie by danez smith
beloved by toni morrison
sula by toni morrison
ain’t I a woman by bell hooks
citizen by claudia rankine
I also recommend some investigation into buddhist philosophy to work on getting comfortable with uncomfortableness. I start with the following:
fear by thich nhat hanh
comfortable with uncertainty by pema chodorn.
I hope this list is a useful beginning for people seeking to educate themselves.
what I wish they wrote about protests
thousands of protestors take a knee in the street near beverly center. los angeles 30 may 2020.
I wish when they reported about protests they reported on the people with first aid kits in their backpacks. I wish they reported about the teenagers snaking through the crowd offering water & snacks. I wish they reported about the two young white women sharing their bottle of sunscreen with two young black women they'd just met. I wish they reported on the people spraying hand sanitizer on the palms of all who stretched their arms out as they passed. I wish they reported on the five black teenagers who chased away a young white man who tried to set a dumpster on fire. I wish they reported on the young black man begging us to tell everyone we know that they didn't start this shit. I wish they reported on people helping to direct traffic away from police. I wish they reported on how the crowd parted & cheered for an ambulance that needed to get through. I wish they reported about how the march paused at a senior care facility to applaud the workers who had gathered at the doorway, thanking them. I wish they reported about how over a thousand people took a silent knee in the middle of the street. I wish they reported about the bus driver who stepped out of her bus as it was being vandalized & thanked protesters for being out in the streets. I wish they reported about the parents with their children. I wish they reported on people handing out masks to help keep others safe. I wish they reported on the drum line. I wish they reported on the singing.