Being online
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Good Morning,
I took a break last week from being “online” because it was my birthday. The goal was to pour into myself in ways I typically don’t. As life would have it, I didn’t get a chance to pretty much all week because half of my house was sick. So I am going to choose another week to try again. There’s no shame in that. The fact I’m not forsaking myself (a habit that I don't even know when I picked up to be honest) leave me with some comfort.
So, some things.
It's never been lost on me how interesting it is as an American to have my birthday fall the day after inauguration. I've always looked at it as a tiny extended Martin Luther King day celebration week that also includes me. Lucky me. The person who is being inaugurated is not always my choice, and this year has taken on the most vile of meanings in my lifetime. I wanted to be disconnected last week because I knew it was coming—but I don't know honestly how many of us knew how fast it was coming.
I know a lot of people have discomfort with boycotting. My kids hate it when I tell them that we are not eating at certain places no matter what they say to me because I am aware of their practices in the world. I am a very decisive boycotter. If I say to myself I will never shop in an establishment I mean I will literally walk the street as if the building doesn’t exist. Naturally that's become much easier living outside of the US because I am not inundated with big box stores at every single turn. Or at least not American ones.
I have a lot of thoughts around companies like Target dismantling DEI initiatives. I also have lots of thoughts around large companies with holding companies vs the independent artist/maker. I’ve witnessed their abuses for more than 20 years—watching them come in and steal your ideas because they can. They give you a semblance of equity by offering you a seat at their table but at the end of the day they're still walking off with maybe 60 to 70% of the profit. They give you visibility, but you could potentially be losing money from these relationships. They never really cared to begin with. They care about profit and we can care about that, too. Just in ways that don’t serve them.
I also understand that boycotting isn't for everyone. I understand there are legit reasons why some people cannot shop or get prescriptions filled at other establishments. I don't think anybody with a lick of sense holds those people accountable but for those of us who can change our spending habits or shop with intention versus convenience (and I understand how hard it can be in this environment, so I'm not making light of it) have a duty to do so. If a company says they're scrapping their DEI I don't see how we as individuals can save Black and brown people, or queer people or disabled people who are working in the spaces on the retail level which is the lowest level—we can’t save their jobs. That's coming down from on high. But that's also why community is so important and why we need to learn how to actually be in community again. Because too many of us have forgotten.
More things.
The voice note above is a series of notes that I create in our slack group every Monday. Everyone who subscribes here is welcome to join us. If you are paid subscriber, you have access to a private channel where announcements are first made. We're really trying to build up our slack community because if this month has taught you nothing else—we are in a constant state of being reminded who is in charge. In order for us to feel like we have true autonomy we need to break up the ways in which we communicate with one another. Right now that means I'm posting here and I'm also working on building community in Slack and we will host deeper conversations and get together's via Zoom. That doesn't mean that I plan on being sat here forever. I am not a ‘put all your eggs in one basket’ person. That feels foolish and dangerous, especially in these times.
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What else do we have going on over at slack? Right now we're working on a weekly community prompt series to help deepen our understandings of self and community. Focus is and always will be decolonization minded.
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Hello to the 132 people who have joined us at Literary Liberation since Jan 1st (as of this writing).
If you are reading this and are following me/this account and not subscribed, I would urge you to subscribe. I’m not interested in this space as a social outlet and I fear as with all tech, we are forced into the compulsion to follow and never interact with people that interest us.
Until Jan 31st, you can become a paid subscriber for 21% off in celebration of my birthday (and no, I’m not 21, my birthday is the 21st). So now’s a good time to join us!