Dear Troublemakers,
Ummmmmmmmmmm is there any other appropriate greeting other than how are you holding up in this nearly constant state of dangerous contradictions and unjust personal ideologies that just became the law of (much of) the land?
As a Black woman, I know I know I know this is nothing new, and still it nearly knocks me over to read and listen to decisions being made, that aren’t that dissimilar to decisions that have been made in our nations history. Decisions to force labor, to force location, to force sterilization. Force. Force. Force.
I am devastated that a law didn’t just lose its teeth or wasn’t just gutted of certain elements… thought that would also be terrible as we’ve seen that happen with the voting rights act… but to have a right taken away is a particular devastation that I have never experienced. It feels so particularly aimed at my women-ness AND is still so connected to my Blackness that I’m not sure how to process this moment. And, I thought maybe you, too, might need a place to process this moment. This is from my latest post at Patreon. Read the rest over there and check out the comments!
A FEW OTHER THINGS FOR YOU THIS WEEK…
We’re doing it! Thanks to all of you who joined me and Jenny for our first Patreon hang a few weeks ago! We threw a lot at you AND had such a great time. (not signed up for Patreon yet… change that by signing up here!) We talked about a few of the things we have up our sleeves over at Patreon, including a daily (M-F) 90 second podcast, quarterly courses, movie nights, a discord so you can all interact more, and even an early peek at I’m Still Here: Young Readers Version! And that’s just what we shared. Make sure you are signed up so you don’t miss a thing!
How Black Feminists Defined Abortion Rights - “For poor and working-class women, a disproportionate number of whom are Black and brown, overturning Roe won’t mean that abortions will end. It will mean that safe and sound abortions in health-care facilities will move further out of reach. This dilemma has been a permanent feature of the modern movement for abortion rights… In Georgia, between 1965 and 1967, the Black maternal death rate was fourteen times that of white women. During this period, nurses reported that “sticks, rocks, chopsticks, rubber or plastic tubes, gauze or cotton packing, ballpoint pens, coat hangers, or knitting needles” were administered to terminate pregnancies. For these women, access to abortion was not abstract—it was a matter of life and death.”
Thank goodness for BEYONCE. “I hope you find joy in this music. I hope it inspires you to release the wiggle. Ha!”
WEEKEND WISDOM
“For me, forgiveness and compassion are always linked: how do we hold people accountable for wrongdoing and yet at the same time remain in touch with their humanity enough to believe in their capacity to be transformed?” - bell hooks
Last week I spoke at the Aspen Ideas Festival and I needed this y’all. I needed to be surrounded by smart people who are doing incredible things. I left so filled up and grateful! Here’s a link to my talk on “How To Mend Our Fraying Social Fabric.”
Stay wild and holy and free.
- Austin
Thank you for this - I lose hope and stamina when I disconnect - and I am renewed by being with people doing the hard work. Thank you for the reminder of that…
" I needed to be surrounded by smart people who are doing incredible things" - yes proximity - that's the key to doing incredible things and the key to have influence!! We must be in arms length if we're to have full body impact!