This week I put up my corporate OOO email (see ya later) and went to two new cities for mu-wah (WEEE!): Detroit, Michigan and Merida, Mexico.
We visited three bookstores in Detroit and I read a book by Aaron Foley, which I get more into below, called How to Live in Detroit without Being a Jackass. Spoiler: I give the book and the city a rave review.
Lately, I've been thinking about ethical travel and looking at the city’s history with a critical lens. What do I mean by that? Por ejemplo, I love a good walking tour. Most walking tours I’ve been on, so anecdotal experience, have been by local folx who really love their city. In Merida, Gabriel talked about the OG name of the city which means 5, when the native Mayan civilization built 5 pyramids in the place that is present day Merida but of course the colonists tore them down and built some churches. The OG name of Yucatán was not Yucatán but a word in Mayan that meant “listen to them speak''. If you try to Google that info it’s not on the first results page. I’m thinking about Spoken Word Sundays, an event we went to at Apparrallel in Detroit where a lot of peeps took the stage and shared vulnerable shit. They opened the show by saying it’s great to be in this space because there’s rarely a lot of melanin downtown anymore. CC: gentrification.
Separately, I’m also thinking about emotional depth and giving people more credit to have it--what I mean by that is not making decisions for other people in your mind.
Anyway, TLDR; I loved Merida--I hope my amazing Spanish tutor Camila is proud of me. I will be visiting Detroit again: S/O to Source Booksellers, Dime Store, Ima, and 27th Letter Books (all BoBs-black owned businesses).
Books I wish I read in high school, Right Within How to Heal from Racial Trauma in the Workplace by Minda Harts, as a woman of color in the workplace, in the tech world, I just wish that I was more ready to face the microaggressions and see how toxic masculinity and toxic white womanness manifests in organizations so yes, even though this might be a more intense book for high schoolers just like financial money management courses, I wish there were classes maybe even electives that focused on how to navigate the workplace bullshit. It’s impossible to come up with a guide of always dos and always don’ts but drawing on her experience, knowledge, and wit Hart talks about how to cope/reframe/gettothenextdaythrough the shit with resources like therapists, coaching, and leaning on your personal board of advisors aka rampant group messages.
Read if: you too have a a go-to fab WOC group text where you go to share things that start with the phrase, “you’ll never guess what they just said at work…”
Books where you save yourself, Dreaming of You By Melissa Lozada- Olivia, Celebrities have an impact on our lives because they shape current day pop culture, in the roles they play on Netflix original content and as content creators on Tik Tok, especially the youth--teens--pre teens if you will. In this book, Lozada-Olivia sheds a light on how a celebrity like Selena Quintanilla impacted a girl who’s figuring out her own identity and how to be seen. If you like this book check out her podcast Say More. As you know, I love a good podcast! Here’s the thing and I think that this is related: whose music we decide to consume has an impact. What songs we listen to does matter. Watching the Surviving R Kelly documentary was horrible and The Cut’s podcast interviewed Crystal, whose narrative wasn’t believed for years. I listened to it last week. We failed and continue to fail Black women. Full stop. As a reminder, stop singing Ignition. Ok end rate. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
Read if: you too have a celebrity crush (or had a celebrity obsession) and love a good story with teen angst.
Not your typical eat pray love: Homeland Elegies by Ayan Akhtar. For one, I love anything with the word “elegy” because it seems like an ode to something beyond myself. And I’m happy to see it associated with something other than the world Hillbilly these days. Akhtar takes this part-memoir, part-novel into a very Jumpha Lahiri direction. His story carves seams into identity, homeland and understand what it means to be Muslim in post 9/11 America.
Read if: you loved Ramy because that shit cut deep and want to be wrapped in it thru Akhtar’s words.
On trend, The Force of Nonviolence by Judith Butler. Dave Chappelle is making the media rounds and not in a good way. He’s making the rounds in a big old transphobic way and I’m just smh. Like why did he fucking have to do that? He’s the king and yet he shits it away with lazy comedy and blows below the belt. Interestingly enough, Chappelle calls himself a Terf-an ode to those troubled feminsit who don’t believe in trans rights (i’m hyper boiling it down) which Butler addresses the rise of in her book. Butler explores non violence, the rise of the anti-gender ideology and the “militant potential of mourning.”
Read if: look we all got to read Butler, might as well start here.
Decolonize your mind, How to Live in Detroit without Being a Jackass by Aaron Foley, LOVED THIS BOOK. <3 From everything to saying the phrase “being more Detroit is ______” or “what Detroit really needs is ______” or “I’m a pioneer. I moved from NY to Detroit” (spoiler: no you’re not), Foley talks about everything NOT to do when you move to Duh-Troit (phonetic spelling he also provides not DEE-Troit). Foley shares his family’s migration story to Michigan from Alabama and talks about his experience a queer Black man living in a city that has few gay bars/no official historic LGBTQ neighborhood aka West Village in Manthattan or Haight-Ashbury in SF. Living with intention is just that, intentional. It doesn’t just happen. Honestly, there should be a book like this for every city--scratch that every place. He also talks about the city’s gentrification through his lens of what it is and clearly isn’t. Would 10/10 recommend! Foley has a new book coming out this spring so look out for more on that!
Read if: you know that moving somewhere for cheap rent shouldn’t be your only research before changing zip codes. -_-
Local bookshop spotlight: Check out Jazzi McGilbert’s Reparations Club in LA. a self proclaimed “concept bookshop and creative space curated by Blackness in Los Angeles, CA. Black owned. Woman owned.” We love to see it. They also host in-person and virtual events like Carefree Black Girls with Zeba Blay on 10/20. She also founded this newsletter as a resource for Black and Brown folx. Woo!