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I've actually been able to read this month! More successfully than the last few anyway. Let's hope that continues.  Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools by Monique W. Morris. What an amazing book. Really gets into the mix of racism and sexism that makes Black girls targets for overpolicing and overpunishment in schools, even by well-intentioned people. I've been pushing it on a lot of people who work in education, because we need to open our eyes and our ears and do better. Twitter read-along. Buy or Borrow.  Capitalism and Disability: Essays by Marta Russell. This set of interconnected essays is a really great primer on Marxism and how disabled people cannot get free in a capitalist system. Capitalism is designed to exploit the maximum amount of labor for workers with the minimum amount of respect for humanity. We are human but we are not super-producers. (That said, there's less racial analysis that I would have liked personally. I still recommend it but it's good to know that going in.) Twitter read-along. Buy or Borrow.  White Whiskey Bargain by Jodie Slaughter. Sometimes you want an escapist romance because real life is too grim. Fun, sweet, interracial romance featuring some whiskey bootleggers fighting rich racists. Yay! (Includes some violence and m/f sex scenes.) Buy or Borrow. Library Trends, Volume 68, Number 3, Winter 2020, Strange Circulations: Affect and the Library, edited by Kate Adler and Lisa Sloniowski. I haven't made it through every article in this issue yet, but so far I've found two standouts that I enthusiastically recommend:
 Let Your Motto Be Resistance: Henry Highland Garnet, episode 49 of the History of Africana Philosophy podcast. Nineteenth century Black disabled abolitionist and advocate for violent resistance when needed, peer of Frederick Douglass. Listen here, or on Apple or Spotify.  Healing The Land IS Healing Ourselves episode of the All My Relations Podcast.
Capitalism teaches us how to consume but not what comes next, what to do with the remains of our consumption. Listen here, or on Apple or Spotify. I've managed to start listening to podcasts again. I force myself to go on walks and they keep me engaged. But my ability to finish a book was really lagging this month, so I have about half a dozen in the works with not much actually finished. Hopefully June is better in all ways.  Frederick Douglass History of Indian and Africana Philosophy podcast ep. 47. Written by Himself: the Life of Frederick Douglass. Also on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. I've hesitated to read Douglass's work because slavery is so monstrous and he experienced it first-hand, and that kind of thing is really heavy. But this podcast also talks about how he used sarcasm and dark humor in his writing, and that automatically makes it feel more accessible to me. Yes, I am a wuss, I know this. But now I am a wuss who has Frederick Douglass on their to-read list!  close-up of a chain-link fence Public Post #25 - 5 Things People Can Do Right Now (In Response To State Violence) by Trudy Exactly what the title says. Trudy suggests ways you can feel like you're doing something, whether it's educating yourself, protesting, or donating, in ways that don't continue to perpetuate harm or labor expectations on Black women.  Cover art for the book Between Jobs by W.R. Gingell The City Between series by W.R. Gingell. Buy or Borrow. Also in KU. Pure escapist fun. I'm actually able to focus on these books, and enjoy them without having a little voice in my head trying to distract me. They get a little gory at times, but not so much that they disturb me. (Remember, I am a wuss. But also, we all have our own tolerances for stuff, so check reviews if this is the sort of thing you're sensitive to.)  Professor Rebecca Tsosie Current Issues in Intellectual Property Rights to Cultural Resources, interview with Prof. Rebecca Tsosie (Yaqui).
Copyright law is designed to protect individuals and commercial interests. It is not designed with Indigenous collective creations in mind. Indigenous property interests are not protected by current laws, so their resources are often forced into a commons status. Speaking of music sampling of traditional music, "That’s a taking of something that is not theirs to take, and some of those songs may in fact have a sacred essence, they may have spiritual value, so the harm’s not merely economic, but it can be a cultural form of harm that could be very devastating." This month was a lot of drama and not much reading. But I was able to focus on a few things that I found really meaningful.
The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead. So much fun! I enjoyed the story for itself, and I also enjoyed how it was such a clear homage to Ellison's Invisible Man, among others. I love this kind of genre-bending, lavishly textured weirdness. CW: use of the n-word, a torture scene. Buy or Borrow.
Portland Insight Medication Community Dharma Talk with Theravada Buddhist teacher Robert Beatty on Anicca: Change and Impermanence (available as a podcast or as a video). I listened to this at the beginning of the month, and it was really helpful to me as I was trying to find my ground beneath me during a lot of upheaval and uncertainty. Organizing Ideas interview with Sarah Dupont and Amy Perreault on Navigation, Resistance, and Rebellion. They talk about Indigenous engagement with GLAM work and the importance of finding and building community. I was really struggling to engage with podcasts this month, but this one managed to excite me and calm me at the same time. The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa. I'm glad I didn't know what I was getting into when I started this! Thoughtful dystopian novel with little action and no answers. Sometimes trying to exist in the moment is all you can do. Buy or Borrow. |
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