SUMMER 2020 PUBLIC NARRATIVE ISSUE NO. 02
TABLE OF CONTENTS: WE NEED TO SHOW UP: A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
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UNFILTERED WITH PUBLIC OFFICIALS: ALDERWOMAN MARIA HADDEN
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PAST TO PRESENT: STUDS TERKEL’S LESSONS FOR TODAY’S AMERICA
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TRUSTED VOICES
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ON THE FOREFRONT
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RECKONING WITH MY FAMILY’S PAST
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MAPPING THE QUEER CHICAGO OF “RAPBRARIAN” ROY KINSEY
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BUILDING ANTI-RACIST READING LIBRARY
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RADICAL SELF-CARE AS RESISTANCE + ACTIVISM
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SAY THEIR NAMES, A TRIBUTE
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WHY THIS ZINE: With this zine, Public Narrative aims to connect intergenerational readers to Chicago stories, trusted community journalists and media outlets, and nonprofits working to create a more just and equitable city.
Editor-in-Chief, Jhmira Alexander Researcher, Aja Beckham Editor, Mareva Lindo Editor, Olivia Obineme Zine Design, Layout, Illustrations: Vitaliy Vladimirov Cover Illustration: Vitaliy Vladimirov; Cover/sidebar: young man: Mike Von, Texture: Henry & Co. (unsplash.com) Public Narrative, 2020 © All Rights Reserved (publicnarrative.org)
WITH THANKS TO THE:
WE NEED TO SHOW UP A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
We have arrived at a monumental moment in history. It is a moment that carries the promise of attaining real racial equity. But, with over 400 years of racial trauma, it will be a process that demands that we show up and do the work. We’ll need to show up through the pain and discomfort of hard truths, and through the perceived dangers of speaking truth to power. It will not be easy, nor will it happen overnight. At this moment, we have a chance to create and embody the changes we want to see. Together, like a perfect storm, we are here–forced to decide whether we will show up, speak our beliefs and values out loud, and back up those words with action. Will we show up for the freedom and justice for Black lives? Will we show up for journalists being targeted and attacked by police while covering protests across the country? Will we show up for and with our families, friends, neighbors, and colleagues? Will we show up for that voice within ourselves that says, this is the time we have been preparing for? Many have just awakened to the harsh realities that run rampant throughout America’s DNA, and they’re learning about what it means to be an antiracist. Those who have long engaged in this work know how critical it is to take good care of mental and physical health. Practice patience and empathy with ourselves and others. Take breaks away from social platforms and news media. Remember: we’re still in a pandemic, so it’s critical to continue practicing social distancing. Jhmira Alexander is the Executive Director of Public Narrative.
The weight of the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Rayshard Brooks, and countless others, have all been too heavy to carry. The scales of justice are still imbalanced. They will remain that way until we shift the energy of this moment towards systemic change. No longer can we leave this work to someone else. It is our civic responsibility to show up to the polls. It is up to us to elect the ideal candidates. It is up to us to show up for younger generations. We must be the leaders to catalyze change. Together we must carry the weight.
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UNFILTERED WITH PUBLIC OFFICIALS: WHERE YOUTH ASK THE QUESTIONS
In 2015, Sabrina Hart joined Ladies of Virtue, which empowers young women to become confident and purposedriven leaders. Sabrina says, “What I love about Ladies of Virtue is that they help African American girls like me strive towards success!” Here, she interviews Alderwoman Maria Hadden, of the 49th Ward.
•••• SABRINA: A lot of youth and young adults may not be familiar with you. Who are you and what are your intentions for the city of Chicago?
Maria Hadden is a Chicago Alderwoman and community activist, now serving the city’s Far Northside 49th ward. In 2019, she defeated a 28-year incumbent Joe Moore.
The interviewer, Sabrina Hart Hadden’s far Northside ward includes Rogers Park, which is well-known for its racial, economic, and ethnic diversity – and its residents’ many years’ of activism to keep it that way!
ALD. HADDEN: I’m a Columbus, Ohio native. For 16 years, I’ve lived in Chicago. Since 2004, I’ve lived in Rogers Park neighborhood, 49th Ward. My formal education focused on civic engagement, pro-democracy, and uplifting community voices in decision making. Also, I support locals in organizing around housing issues. How will we be able to move past the protests and rioting? How will we do better so people won’t feel like they have to steal because they want to be heard or out of necessity? What we saw previously [in history] and are seeing now is simple but not easy. People are protesting, rioting, and demanding change. One of the big questions is will the government in Chicago listen this time. My colleagues and I see that and we know people want to have a sense that they are heard. With the lack of quality healthcare, how can Chicago Aldermen help people grieving because they’ve lost someone due to COVID? We should be expanding our healthcare throughout Chicago. I am a member of the COVID Recovery Task Force. We are committed to supporting Chicagoans impacted by this pandemic. I don’t know a lot about the Public Insurance option but I wonder what that would look like in Chicago. This pandemic has shown us how important it is that we have healthcare.
You ran your campaign as an openly gay woman, and this is Pride month, which celebrates LGBTQ peoples’ progress. How are you and fellow Aldermen who are allies coming together to make sure people come together and are still supported? I was speaking on that with my wife today. We spoke about how to support Black LGBTQ this Pride month. That’s something that I will prioritize this month. We will be highlighting ways that people can support organizations like Brave Space Alliance and Affinity Community Services who are led by and work to support Black LGBTQ individuals in our city.
Maria Hadden with wife, Natalie Vera.
I was inspired to learn that you have been a strong advocate and introduced the ordinance to make Juneteenth an official city holiday. I think we see now more than ever the need to know our history from Juneteenth to Black Wall Street. We want Black owned businesses in our neighborhoods. What are your thoughts on this? I didn’t know we would be in this space because of Coronavirus and civil unrest. This coming council will have a resolution around Juneteenth. In terms of economics – not only big businesses, but small Black owned businesses that will need extra support too. Looking back to the 1968 uprising [on Chicago’s West Side], many of those blocks remain disinvested in. We need to look at disinvesting in the police budget. I think this Juneteenth is a time to have that conversation. In regards to recent events of police brutality across America, how can we use this as an example to make sure police officers never do this again? If the three other officers who murdered George Floyd aren’t held accountable, other officers may murder someone else because they think they can get away with it. We need to completely reshape what public safety looks like in our cities. Chicago has tried reform after reform and seen little change. We spend hundreds of millions in police misconduct lawsuits and are under a Consent Decree because of a pattern and practice of racism and abuse of force in the department. We need to divest resources from things that aren’t working to make communities safer and reinvest that money in programs and development that we know work.
Continue following what’s happening in the 49th Ward and Chicago by following Ald. Hadden on social media orsigning up for her newsletter.
INSTAGRAM: @ALDERWOMAN49
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PAST TO PRESENT: STUDS TERKEL’S LESSONS FOR TODAY’S AMERICA
WHO IS STUDS TERKEL? Over his 45-year career and 96-year life, Terkel amassed many awards, wrote and compiled many books, and spoke to countless politicians and celebrities, but he is most remembered for his interest in everyday people and their oral histories, which he gathered by the hundreds, with respect and great care. In many ways, his ability to see and hear people as they see themselves and let them tell their stories is more needed than ever.
PUBLIC NARRATIVE + TERKEL: Famed oral historian, author and broadcaster Louis B. “Studs” Terkel was a mentor of the organization from its founding in 1989, and helped to guide it until his death in 2008. Begun in 1994, our annual Studs Terkel Community Media Awards honor journalists whose work follows the values of Studs’ journalism. In 2007, Studs said that the award is meant for journalists who go the extra mile in reporting news “from the people who made Chicago, news that’s bottom up rather than up, down.” For over 25 years, the Terkel Awards has recognized more than 70 journalists who have taken risks in covering social issues by offering new or unusual perspectives on housing, inequality, violence, health, education and beyond.
FROM THE STUDS TERKEL RADIO ARCHIVE: www.studsterkel.wfmt.com “In 1962, [Studs Terkel] interviewed James Baldwin about his just-published novel Another Country. Baldwin observed... “It’s really a book about the nature of the Americans’ loneliness, and how dangerous that is: how hard it is here for people to establish any real communion with each other, and the chances they have to take in order to do it.” Terkel... seemed to latch onto Baldwin’s concept of “the Americans’ loneliness.” He asked Baldwin if he really thought things were better elsewhere. Yes, said Baldwin, who said he observed among the French “a certain largeness and a certain freedom” and among West Africans “joy among the people,” qualities he saw as absent from American culture. Today, Baldwin is seen as an icon who is both Black & LGBTQ. But, at the time, he struggled with selfidentifying as gay and spent many years living in France, in part, to escape America’s racism.
REVISITING TERKEL’S BALDWIN INTERVIEW WITH DR. EVE EWING
Photo: Whitten Sabbatini for The New York Times
It’s not just Public Narrative who likes Terkel! Famed writer, sociologist, and activist Dr. Eve Ewing chose Terkel’s interview with James Baldwin for the first episode of her Bughouse Square podcast. In it she leads a conversation with columnist and published author, Darnell Moore.
WHERE’S BUGHOUSE SQUARE?
Darnell Moore names several notable Black queer writers whose work is also meaningful today: Richard Bruce Nugent, June Jordan, Audre Lorde, Cheryl Clark, M Jackie Alexander, and Barbara Smith. The Bughouse Square podcast features five notable Terkel interviews, with current feedback about their relevance and lessons, plus respondents’ own additions that build onto Terkel’s already far-reaching perspectives. Tune in and let the past speak to our present!
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: • How have Black writers helped shape your thinking? • What can we all learn from listening to voices from 50+ years ago ? • Do you agree with Baldwins’ assessment of American loneliness? • What does it mean to be both Black & LGBTQ in today’s America?
Dr. Eve L. Ewing is a sociologist of education and a writer from Chicago. She is the author, most recently, of the poetry collection 1919 and the nonfiction work Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago’s South Side. She also currently writes the Champions series for Marvel Comics and previously wrote the acclaimed Ironheart series, and many other projects.
Studs Terkel speaking at a revival of the Bughouse Square talks. Bughouse Square is a nickname of Washington Square Park in the River North neighborhood, which is also Chicago’s oldest park, where between 1910s and 1930s speakers held open-air speeches on labor reform, womens’ rights, anti-war, and other subjects. No topic was taboo. Many speakers became legendary activists, anarchists, feminists, socialists, and writers. In recent years, the tradition was revived via an annual series of public speeches held in the park each July. Learn more: www.newberry.org/ bughouse-square-debates 9
TRUSTED VOICES: Chicago benefits from having many voices that are vocal about diversity, equity and inclusion. Follow them on Twitter to follow their journey and impact in Chicago! Amara Enyia Chezare Warren Darnell Shields Eve Ewing Linda Lutton Niketa Brar Pascal Sabino Tracy Baim Xavier Ramey
@AmaraEnyia @DrChezareWarren @dshields94 @eveewing @lindalutton @niketasays @Pascal_Sabino @TracyBaimWCMG @xavierramey
VOICES OF OUR TIME: TRACY BAIM “Undaunted” seems to describe a lot of Baim’s approach to life and work. She started a family newsletter at ten years old, and in college began a feminist newsletter. As a student at Drake University, “my journalism professors told me I couldn’t be a journalist and be an activist, and/or openly gay.” It was “honest, paternalistic, in many ways demeaning, but it was true.” Tracy knew that at mainstream journalism publications in the 1980s, gay people were routinely treated poorly and subject to discrimination. “It was devastating. But from that point on it kind of released me into a universe where I wasn’t going to have a traditional path.” In what would become a pattern in Baim’s life, those harsh lessons fueled her motivation. “Any time you tell me I can’t do something, I will work even harder.” In search of a place where she wouldn’t have to compromise herself or her values, she found a home at GayLife newspaper. Just one year later, in 1985, she cofounded LGBTQ publication Windy City Times. Tracy spent the next three decades reporting, writing books, and otherwise advocating for the LGBTQ community–including in 2013 leading the March on Springfield for Marriage Equality. When asked what she’s most proud of, looking back on her work so far, Tracy said, “Sticking around. Sticking around despite a lot of negative people.” She recalled one story in particular that she felt compelled to tell, despite anger and pushback from her own community.
Read the rest: www.PublicNarrative.org/2020/04/voices-of-our-time-tracy-baim
ON THE FOREFRONT: Are you paying attention to how institutions are responding or not responding to today’s crises? For some, just a mere mention of #BlackLivesMatter seems “too political,” some are coming out full force with statements of solidarity and donations to causes, and most are somewhere in between. What makes for an adequate response versus a tone-deaf one? What does it mean to be silent in such a turbulent time?
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RECKONING WITH MY FAMILY’S PAST MARTI TIPPENS MURPHY
As a leader in an educational organization, I think a lot about how we prepare young people to be civically engaged. I believe there are two types of education: formal, what we learn in school, and informal, basically everything else--our families, our experiences, where we grow up, and our culture, to name a few. My grandparents played a huge role in shaping who I am today. They lived in Nashville, and I got to spend summers and Christmas visiting them. They doted on me and my sisters, and we adored them. My grandfather was a fantastic storyteller. He told stories from his childhood, including that time he and his cousin hitchhiked out west in the 1930s to pan for gold. He knew so much about our family history, about the ancestors who first came to the U.S. generations ago, and those who first came to Tennessee. Both he and my grandmother could tell you why someone was a third cousin twice removed and not a second cousin thrice removed--without batting an eye. But most of all, both my grandparents talked about our ancestor Adelicia Hayes Acklen. Adelicia was my great-great-great-great-aunt. Her sister Corinne was my grandfather’s great-grandmother. Adelicia was born in 1817 and was a belle of the antebellum South. She was beautiful and savvy and threw fabulous parties. They said she was at one time the wealthiest woman in the South. In my tenyear-old mind, this was so romantic--visions of Scarlett O’Hara and Gone with the Wind! Adelicia’s home in Nashville was called Belmont--now the site of Belmont College. The home was occupied by the Union during the Civil War, as was her sister Corinne’s house next door. My grandparents spoke with pride about the family’s survival during the war and also with pain about what they endured and lost. I never wondered about how Adelicia became wealthy, except I knew it was through marriage. She was married three times, and they said that one of her husbands also had plantations in Louisiana, Tennessee, and Texas. As I got older, of course, I realized that plantations meant slavery. I didn’t learn much about slavery in school, either. It wasn’t until I got to college that I started researching Adelicia’s story wondering what might be true--what was embellished? In fact, she was considered one of the wealthiest women of her time. How? Through her marriage to her first husband Isaac Franklin. He was the co-founder of Franklin & Armfield, which became the largest slave trading firm in the United States. It was then I learned that at one time Adelicia and Isaac Franklin enslaved over 750 people. Their largest plantation was called Angola--now the site of the current Louisiana State Penitentiary, the largest maximum security prison in the United States. I was stunned at my own ignorance and at the silence surrounding this part of our family story. How could we know so much about ancestors and descendants but nothing about the over 750 enslaved people and their descendants whose lives are still connected to mine in this world we are living in now? For a long time, I didn’t know what to do with this knowledge and my feelings about our family history. Why bring up such a painful past? To what end? And then, a few years ago, a relative gave me a book that had been passed down in our family for generations. It had been sitting in storage for many years.
Entitled Religion and Slavery: A Vindication of Southern Churches, the book’s author was James McNeilly, a Presbyterian minister and Confederate veteran from Nashville. Inside the front cover is an inscription from the author to my great-great-great-great-grandmother. “To Corinne Lawrence: A tried and true friend of many years—and a devoted lover of the Old South, which I have tried to vindicate.” Published in 1911, the book defends slavery as “benevolent and appropriate for an inferior race.” McNeilly wrote that he endeavored to prove that, in the old system, slaveholders did discharge their “religious responsibilities for the souls of their slaves.” He goes on to explain that the evils of slavery the abolitionists fought were “misrepresentations and misunderstandings” told by people with prejudice against southerners. Those same passages echoed some of the sentiments I heard from my grandparents--perhaps one of them would say it, but the other wouldn’t challenge it. It wasn’t said with malice but matter-of-factly, not something one would question. This book became for me a tangible example of how our knowledge of the past gets passed on. Do we learn it in school or in our families? We were just another family passing on the myths and misinformation that was the narrative in our world. The stories that we told. How do we break out of that pattern? I wish that I had asked my grandparents if they had ever questioned those stories or beliefs. Or had experiences that challenged their beliefs. Were there times when they spoke out, or wished they had? What would have happened if we had those uncomfortable conversations about the prejudices that get passed on and the devastating impact that white supremacy has had on our society.
I loved my grandparents who were such an important part of my sense of family, and yet we were part of a dominant culture that passed on a false narrative about history and race, generation to generation. Since that realization in my early twenties, I committed to learning about the truth of our past. I learned so much, especially from the history of Black women who stood up for justice: Charlotta Bass, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and Elizabeth Eckford, among many others. Watching them raise their voices in often very dangerous circumstances made me realize what courage really means. That was how I realized that I have the responsibility and a duty to use my voice to speak up. That the duty, to talk about my family’s experience, is an act of speaking up and reckoning with the past in order to let us heal from it and address those legacies with honesty, humility, and commitment. That conversation with relatives has run the gamut of responses from “You shouldn’t talk about family like this,” to the same shock I felt, to “How can we make amends?” The best conversations--even though they have been difficult-have been with family members who have been willing to put in the effort to have those hard conversations, because we are at least being honest and struggling together to face our past and our present. I’m especially glad I can model that honesty, humility, and commitment for my nieces and nephews. We have the power to shape educational experiences for young people--both in school and in “what gets passed on” in families. When we do, if we provide them with the tools of empathy, knowledge of history, and how to use their voice, they will be equipped to create a more just, informed, and compassionate world.
Marti Tippens Murphy is the Executive Director of Facing History and Ourselves for the Memphis region. Facing History and Ourselves uses the lessons of history to challenge teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate. In Chicago, Facing History is partnering with the Chicago Public Schools to bring our resources and teacher training to all the schools in the district.
Learn more: www.facinghistory.org/about-us/offices/chicago
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MAPPING THE QUEER CHICAGO OF “RAPBRARIAN” ROY KINSEY For most of history, LGBTQ people were forced to remain hidden, pushed underground by codes both legal and moral. Thanks to activists both past and present, for many it is much easier to be queer today, albeit less so when your identity has so many intersections like that of Roy Kinsey, a Chicago born and raised anomaly, who is Black and queer-identifying but also a rapper and librarian.
Kinsey’s recent Chicago Reader cover
Read the Reader article: “Chicago Reader Rapbrianan Roy Kinsey Finds His Voice in Queer Hip Hop”
His work is as likely to appear in a museum as a performance stage and has also been featured on the cover of the Chicago Reader, in Billboard, NPR, WBEZ, the Chicago Tribune, an LA Times. A recent video, exploring black queer identity and spirituality, premiered at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Recently, he led a series of performances and exhibitions with the Chicago Public Library’s seasonal book and theme programming of race and music, One Book, One Chicago. His professional development in librarianship fueled his desire for self examination that he reports back in rhyme. By day, Kinsey is a librarian in YouMedia, a dedicated library and space for teens located in several branches Chicago Public Libraries. We compiled this map of places, both past and present, which have been key in the development of Kinsey’s many overlapping identities. Among them are many of the city’s beaches, highlighting the importance of the city’s public spaces for both visibility and community-building.
Fetish is a recent single from his forthcoming album that tackles the marginalization of Black men within the LGBTQ community.
Blackie: a story by Roy Kinsey, is Kinsey’s fourth studio album that touches on effects of racism, the Great Migration, addiction, violence, mental illness, and sexuality. It samples both his grandmother and James Baldwin!
HOLLYWOOD BEACH Chicago’s famous “Gay Beach”
MONTROSE BEACH Where LGBT Black folks party post-Pride
THE WEST SIDE Where Roy Kinsey grew up
BERLIN Legendary, long-standing LGBT nightclub with 18+ nights
AUSTIN LIBRARY Where Kinsey works with youth
BELMONT ROCKS
THE PROP HOUSE
A key AIDS-era, pre-gentrification queer space, now long gone
A gay club catering to Black gay people, now demolished
PRIDE SOUTH SIDE At this, first, 2019 month-long festival, Kinsey was a headlining act
CHICAGO CULTURAL CENTER Where Kinsey’s parents met, when it was still a library
SELECT PERFORMANCES:
PROMONTORY POINT Kinsey opened for “queen of bounce rap” Big Freedia here in 2019
RAINBOW BEACH Another frequent destination for Kinsey’s family outings
DuSable Museum of African American History Glessner House Museum Michiigan Ave. Apple Store Museum of Contemporary Art Red Bull Music Festival Schuba's Tavern Steppenwolf Theater Subterranean Lounge
ELLISVILLE, MISSISSIPPI Where Kinsey’s dad hails from; also the inspiration for his “Mississippi Mud” song
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BUILDING AN ANTI-RACIST LIBRARY Going from “not racist” to anti-racist is as easy as picking up a book! There are dozens of books covering every aspect of inequality in our society. From city design and healthcare, to gentrification and school closures, injustices are all around us, and the first step is to see them. Start with these books and build an entire anti-racist library!
“Between the World and Me” Ta-Nehisi Coates
Written as a letter to Coates’ son on the realities of being Black in America.
“Ghosts in the Schoolyard” Dr. Eve Ewing
Ewing tackles the infamous closures of 50 Chicago public schools and its impacts on the city.
“The Fire Next Time” James Baldwin
A classic; a letter to Baldwin’s nephew and an essay on race.
“The Death Gap” David Ansell
Explores how poverty and segregation make people physically and mentally sick and shaves years’ off their lives.
“How to be an Antiracist” Ibram X. Kendi
“Sister Outsider” Audre Lorde
Offers an approach to uprooting racism and inequality in our society and ourselves.
An essential text intersecting Black politics, feminism, and lesbian thought.
“The South Side” Natalie Moore
A personal account that also tackles many of the myths and misconceptions around this huge & diverse part of the city.
“Sundown Towns” James Loewen
Explores the unwritten rules of cities & suburbs being offlimits to Blacks post-sunset, and this history’s implications in today’s America.
PLACES TO GET BOOKS: • Semicolon: Chicago’s only Black-owned bookstore. • Women & Children First: Chicago’s only feminist bookstore.
“So You Want to Talk About Race” Ijeoma Oluo
“Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You” Jason Reynolds; Ibram Kendi
A guide of sorts for This “remix” of Kendi’s honest to help make sure Stamped from the Beginning conversations about race is for everyone, and and racism are useful. especially young readers.
“Race” Studs Terkel
Published after LA’s 1992 Rodney King riots, this text of oral histories is still relevant today.
• Unabridged Books: Chicago’s last LGBT bookstore. • Powell’s Books: A longstanding Hyde Park used book seller. • Open Books: Nonprofit used bookstore funding literacy for Chicagoans • Biblio.com, great for inexpensive used books • Quimby’s: Specializing in self-made, local art books & zines. • Your local library!
“Ghetto” Mitchell Duneier
Explains how the word and concept of “ghetto” migrated from post-WW2 Europe and how it shaped our perception of Black people today.
“Gentrification of the Mind” Sarah Schulman
“Color of Law” Richard Rothstein
Tackles how gentrification is a mindset that erodes people’s will and imagination, while also eroding neighborhoods.
Makes a legal case against residential segregation by exploring “redlining” - a 1930s real estate practice that locked in a century of segregation.
WHAT BOOK WOULD YOU ADD TO THIS LIST? 17
RADICAL SELF-CARE AS RESISTANCE + ACTIVISM CLOSE YOUR EYES. DRINK A GLASS OF WATER. SUPPORT A BLACK, WOMAN-OWNED BUSINESS. CALL A FRIEND. DELIVER FOOD OR A DESSERT TO A FRIEND’S DOOR STEP. PICNIC IN THE PARK. LOOK AT ONLINE COMEDY SPECIALS. FIND AND TAKE A WALK TO A MINORITY-OWNED BAKERY. MAKE AN EXTRA SIGN TO GIVE AWAY AT A PROTEST. READ A BOOK BY A BLACK AUTHOR. LOOK AT CUTE VIDEOS ONLINE. LIGHT A CANDLE. BURN SOME SAGE. MEDITATE. TURN OFF SOCIAL MEDIA. SEND A POSTCARD. WRITE A LETTER TO SOMEONE YOU CAN’T SEE NOW. WRITE “FORGIVE YOURSELF” ON SOME PAPER AND BURN IT. SPEND 30 MINUTES DOING YOGA. TAKE A DIGITAL DAY-OFF. WRITE AFFIRMATIONS IN CHALK ON THE SIDEWALK. MAKE PROTEST ART. WATCH VIDEOS OF CIVIL RIGHTS ICONS. WATER YOUR PLANTS. DIG INTO DIRT. DO SOME STRETCHES. GO FOR A BIKE RIDE. COOK SOMETHING DELICIOUS. LET SOMEONE ELSE DO THE COOKING. BLAST YOUR FAVORITE SONG. DANCE TO THAT SONG. ENJOY THE BREEZE. STOP TO SMELL THE ROSES. DISTRIBUTE FOOD AT A FOOD PANTRY. WRITE A POEM. WRITE A SONG. WRITE ABOUT A HAPPY MEMORY. APPLY FOR A BETTERPAYING JOB. REARRANGE YOUR ROOM. MAKE A SCRAPBOOK. COMPLETE AN ONLINE TUTORIAL FOR A NEW SKILL. RECORD YOUR PARENTS OR GRANDPARENTS TALKING ABOUT THEIR LIFE. SIGN UP TO WRITE POSTCARDS TO VOTERS. DO NOTHING. PLAY VIDEO GAMES. WATCH A MOVIE. BREATHE. RESIST. REPEAT. You have to decide who you are and force the world to deal with you, not with its idea of you. – James Baldwin
Audre Lorde, Pioneer of Radical Self-Care: For Audre Lorde, being Black, gay, and a woman meant facing three times as many challenges for merely existing. In her writings and practice, she championed selflove as a kind of armor against a hostile world and a way to envision something better for all of us.
“Caring for myself is not selfindulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” – Audre Lorde
Not Just a Hashtag: Today, many confuse self-care with “wellness,” an industry more interested in selling you something rather than your well-being, whose marketing has been toxic to many, especially young women and girls. Here are four famous people’s views on the real meaning of self-care: “I do for myself exactly what I would do for you — make a lovely cup of tea, or a hot bath, or go buy myself a fabulous pair of socks. I do loving things for me, stroke my own shoulder, put myself down for a short nap, and the insight follows: that I am a wild precious woman, a human merely being, as E. E. Cummings put it, deserving of respect, tenderness, protection, delight, and solidarity.”
“You know what? Especially with women, we are usually the caretakers of everyone except for ourselves. If I don’t take care of myself and I’m taking care of my daughter or my husband or whatever — I’m running on fumes. I have nothing left to give. Nothing. But when I take the time to take care of myself… I feel like I can face life with a renewed vigor.” – Viola Davis
– Anne Lamott, writer “Self-care and healing and attention to the body and the spiritual dimension—all of this is now a part of radical social justice struggles.” – Angela Davis
Not Just for Women:
“For me, self-love is like, Am I sleeping enough? Eating well? Not: Am I eating well to be able to fit into my skinny jeans? But: Am I eating well to be healthy and strong? And to acknowledge the good, because there is always a lot of good.” – Kerry Washington
That self-care is often dismissed as feminine shows just how much men need it too. Young men in particular are susceptible to toxic masculinity that sets them up for years of anxiety and misplaced emotions – that harms them and people closest to them. 19
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