The biggest compliment I got last week is my friend Sarah (Chase-because I have 10,000 active Sarahs in my life at any given time) said that me and Ziwe (the internet icon I just discovered in a very off-brand move on my part calling out racist bullshit from celebrities thru awk as hell for them interview) know how to call racism, power dynamics and vibes in ways that make people come to their knees because its sharp, pointed and always through a vehicle that is the force of nature that is me but also in a funny, light, get out of my face kind of way but you can’t hate me because i’m the fucking shit. I may have exaggerated her impression but we are landing on the same plot so….
To be honest, what I’ve got on my mind is just Beirut because that is where I am currently on my way as I type this. Beirut, you’ve got my heart before I’ve even seen you. I thrive these days as they say (or what my DMs are lit up with by you know whos) but I extra fucking thrive (say mashallah) in the Arab world. It’s something about the water I can’t drink, the sun that meets my skin like they were always meant to be in love (what a concept), the arabic that slips back on my tongue like the old friend I haven’t seen in years but can always pick back up right where we started and the people. Always the people. Remote life has its perks…..as I work from under the Beirut sun.
In terms of my heart, body, mind and soul- I actually got big law on the brain but only because I finally met my summer interns IRL. And well all you need to know is there is only one white dude and everyone else is a beautiful POC. Can you ImAGINE? Only in London-makes sense why I’m going there. It feels great to be in the company of people who just kind of get it. It’s a sweet feeling.
I’ve been offline the last two weeks so I wish I had more things for y'all to read on the interweb but this piece on beyond the hijab and the regime of aib (rude or indecent in arabic) has got me twisted. And Haddassah’s post exploring the quote “I have no dream job. I simply do not dream of labor” is the manifesto to every 20 something and beyond friend I know. In the political, drop that Chick-Fil-A (you should have ten years ago…) and Hobby Lobby arts and crafts because the billionaires behind the biz are trying to kill the Equality Act, which would protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination. As a friend once said, there can be no separation between your plate and politics.
XOXO you know you love us.
Books I wish Read in High School
When Feminism is White Supremacy In Heels, Rachel Cargle: this week I’m getting it a little twisted and assigning y'all a long-form read because it hits. It hits. It hits. It’s retro to the tune of 2018 but relevant back then, before then and now. White feminism has hit me this month in a lot of shit ways (re: friendships, professors, insert every other aspect of my life I can’t protect because I don’t own) and so I’ve been thinking a lot about how to articulate that particular type of insidious white feminism bullshit that isn’t “sexy racism” but the type that you could get gaslit on, that makes you run the moment a hundred times because you know its rubbing you the wrong way but don’t know how. Dr. Cargle does.
Read if: white feminism is never going out of style (cc: all of Ziwe’s videos especially with Alison Roman-don’t EvEN get me started on her-I won’t stop) and we need the tools to spell out how that shit is happening, call it when we see it and have the backup to reinforce the dynamic is playing out so we are not called disrespectful when really its just white women never being called out for their feminist bullshit. Not here for it.
Books where you save yourself
Little Gods, Meng Jin, trauma, loss, and performing identities in different spaces thru the lens of migration and grief. All through vignettes from other main characters, we get a taste of a woman trying her hardest to say goodbye to a past she can’t escape.
Read if: You have always been running from something and maybe that something is you. Fuck.
On Trend
sisters of the yam: Black women and self-recovery, Bell Hooks. Naomi Osaka called times out on press meets after matches for her mental health and was hit with a 15K fine. The irony that a Black woman operating in a predominantly white space who bears the burden of operating in that space who then takes the space to protect herself and her energy is economically sanctioned in order to keep (as they said) everyone equal is….. BULL FUCKING SHIT. A friend rightly pointed out that most POCs (read more than 95%) don’t have the economic capital, privilege or luxury to take a mental health break to the tune of 15K. And that’s real true too. And that’s why we bring you to bell hooks-the sage. A foundational text that runs thru the ways a Black women’s emotional health is shaped by racism and sexism and how all of their relationships are shaped through these forces.
Read if: you didn’t get the memo that the people behind tennis are out of touch and/or know that Black women bear the brunt of racism but not exactly how it bleeds into interpersonal relationships.
Not your typical eat, pray, love
Pussy Prayers by Black Girl Bliss, This recommendation is from Kara Stevens, Founder of The Frugal Feminista and we did an IG live with her this week. She shared that she was reading Pussy Prayers and based on the title in itself I had to look it up. Her rec description was that it’s “for anyone looking to reconnect with their sensual power and a lot of times when we are very ambitious sometimes we present in more masculine energy...this book helps us reconnect, if you identify as a woman...it makes you think about authenticity.” Need I say more?
Read if: you’re looking to do some self reflection and ladies ladies ladies reconnect with your pussy.
Decolonize your mind
heal your relationship with money: Understand your "why," let go of past financial dysfunction, and make peace with your money in just 28 days by Kara Stevens, money is power and we all have our own early “money stories” that are rooted in family histories, intergenerational trauma, context, societal messages and more. Kara believes that especially women and Black women, can have their cake and eat it too, meaning if we plan and create for the future, if we talk about money, our dreams, invest in ourselves then we can carve out our own journey. We are not our parents, or our role model's stories--we don’t live in a self fulfilling prophecy so we need to heal our relationship with money especially the guilt behind making purchases or having the taboo to talk about it.
Read if: you want a healthier relationship with spending, saving, and you want to go to Cabo but also save for retirement, you can do both honey.
Independent Bookstore Map:
At the end of July, all of my college friends are headed to Chicago to celebrate our girl Jen’s birthday (Jen is the best). I want to be with them and am trying to will the universe to get my schedule to sync but things look less than ideal. But with that, you know Chicago bookstores are on my mind! An internet search brought me Semicolon Bookstore, Chicago’s only Black woman owned bookstore and gallery space. Semicolon is committed to nurturing the connection between literature, art, and the pursuit of knowledge; while also using the power of words to better their community. Their website gives me some real *vibes* and I can only imagine the feelings being there IRL invokes so go check it out Chicago peeps.