Teach-In Reminder + March book reveal!
Long time, no write! At least from me. In this unpredictable season, it has been challenging to be consistent: with writing the newsletter, yes, but also in general. With my self-care, with my personal goals, with my commitment to getting outside and walking, and with work out in the world that really matters to me. Like the work we do here. So it’s good to be back in your inboxes today -- and sitting down to write this week’s newsletter, I’m again reminded that one of the most important parts of living out a commitment to justice means returning to the work over and over again.
It feels like everyone is hitting an existential wall lately. We’re on the back end of a dark and isolating winter, a few weeks out from an insurrection and unprecedented attack on American democracy, we’ve been in a pandemic for almost a year, and it continues to ravage life as we know it. The woeful inadequacy of our infrastructure in the face of climate change has caused yet another terrifying situation that it seems no adults in the room are equipped to fix. No wonder it feels so hard to be a human right now -- unquestionably, it is an extremely difficult time to be a human, with a heart, in the world.
So above all, today I send you self-compassion. If, like me, you’ve been withdrawing more and more from online social gatherings during this dark winter, I invite you to challenge yourself to rejoin us with our Communal Black History Month Teach-In next Sunday, the 28th at our usual Sunday meeting time (10am PST (11am MT, 12pm CT, 1pm ET)).
Each attendee will have 5 to 10 minutes each to teach the group about a piece of Black history they’ve taken the time to learn this Black History Month. This can be in any format that works best for you: images, short videos, or slides, etc. We hope you can bring your own twist to this: a piece of Black history where you live, in your field of work or expertise, or in a hobby you have. Sign up for the teach-in here, and tell us here what you’ll be presenting on so we can let folks know in advance if there’s duplication.
Of the many pressing issues going on right now, two in particular are on our mind this week. The first is sending mutual aid to Texas. If you have resources to share, please join us in giving to community groups on the ground. Here is a TX Mutual Aid directory from Sunrise Movement, and this LA Times Article also provides a list of mutual aid groups and how to support local Texas news outlets. Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez is raising money for 12 Texas organizations connecting Texans to food, water, and shelter, which you can contribute to here. Finally, if you don’t have funds to share, you can raise awareness of resources and needs being shared on Twitter by @BetoORourke and also encourage folks in Texas who are not currently suffering to donate blood, as blood donation is desperately needed in the Texas area. Information on blood donation is here.
The second is the astronomical rise of anti-Asian violence occurring in the United States right now. There have been a number of attacks on and murders Asian-American elders in recent weeks, killing 84 year old Vicha Ratanapakdee in San Francisco, and assaulting others. This comes amidst increased anti-Asian sentiment following political blame of COVID-19 on the Chinese government, and Asian people in the United States. The NYPD reported that hate crimes motivated by anti-Asian sentiment jumped 1,900% in New York City in 2020.Especially in the United States, the model minority myth creates the false idea that Asians and Asian Americans do not experience the same kind or level of racism as other non-AAPI people of color.
Being committed to antiracism means fighting medical xenophobia and anti-Asian racism. It means understanding the harm caused by the model minority myth, and understanding our long global history of anti-Asian xenophobia being used to blame AAPI communities for disease. That’s why our March book will be Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu. Please join us next month for a return to our usual book club format, and an important discussion about Asian stereotypes and how to support ending AAPI racism and violence as we approach the one year anniversary of the pandemic. This will be taking place on Sunday, March 28th at our usual Sunday meeting time (10am PST (11am MT, 12pm CT, 1pm ET)). You can sign up here.
I hope to see many of you next Sunday for our Teach In! In the meantime, stay safe, warm and surrounded by good books (or, if you don’t have the energy for reading lately, good memes).
Jess
5 Things to Learn From This Week:
Lori has been tuning in to Erika Hart’s daily video education series on Instagram for Black History Month. This video from the series about death and homegoings in Black culture was really illuminating about culturally-specific grief processes and also shed light on the title of our October book, Homegoing, in new and beautiful ways.
This Twitter thread from writer Faith Liu, that gives a brief history of anti-Asian violence and xenophobia in the United States, is a must-read to contextualize current AAPI violence amidst a long and dark history.
Bringing Leslie Knope vibes to Black History Month, on Wednesday, 2/24, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation is hosting a free online panel from 6-7pm ET about the ongoing effort to name park spaces in honor of the Black experience. One of the panelists is a living relative of James Baldwin, and we will be tuning in to this excellent real-world example of the kinds of antiracist policy changes Ibram X Kendi talks about that we can organize in our local communities. Sign up for the panel here!
As we think about how to help Texas now, we are also rightfully scared that what is happening in Texas shows us the future of environmental racism. We are tuning in to “There’s Something in the Water” on Netflix, a documentary produced by Elliot Page about how environmental racism in Nova Scotia is impacting Black and indigenous Nova Scotians' access to clean water.
Did you know that if Washington, DC were given statehood today, it would be the Blackest state in America? Statehood is not just an issue of small-d-democratic representation, it’s also a racial justice issue. Start learning more about DC Statehood with this recent article in The Atlantic.