And I've got to accept that I'm inheriting a privilege that I should be aware of

[sovay]

An assortment of things.

1. My contributor's copy of the latest annual not-Not One of Us publication Care arrived this afternoon, featuring my poem "The Conversation." I wrote it in early September, in frustration with the inability or refusal of all kinds of people to listen to what all kinds of other people were saying. Now I'm thinking the country's ability to listen might be getting better, but the government's got its ears full of alternative facts, so the poem's still sadly relevant. Anyway, Care contains very fine work by Patricia Russo, Herb Kauderer, Davian Aw, and Francesca Forrest among others and it doesn't cost you more than four bucks for a copy, so check it out and help support one of the oldest small press print 'zines in the field. Also, send work. This is a good time for outsiders to speak up.

2. siderea discusses the internal and external effects of the Women's March for America, with an emphasis on intersectionality. The New Yorker explores similar questions. I think it's what everyone who joined or just observed the marches is wondering: if everyone in this country who was willing to mobilize for a world-spanning protest march can be counted on for even small, continuing actions of resistance, then where next? What is the most effective direction of this energy? How do we hold on to those feelings of community and angry joy? How do we make sure it's even more inclusive and radical the next time? One out of every hundred Americans is not a negligible resource.

3. Poetry has collected poems of protest, resistance, and empowerment. Rattle's Poets Respond has been on fire lately. I didn't even know the Academy of American Poets had commissioned a series of poems for national parks. Thomas McCarthy's "Slow Food" and Sally Wen Mao's "Resurrection" also got my attention.

4. This is a nice set of pie charts about bisexuality.

5. This is a nice gif about punching Nazis.

6. This is a nice obituary for Miguel Ferrer, but I'm still pretty annoyed he's dead.

7. On a general theory of putting my money where my mouth was on Saturday, next week I am planning to take a workshop on becoming an active bystander and attend the next meeting of Jewish Voice for Peace and a vigil in support of Black Lives Matter. I had better not get sick before then.

I had such weird dreams last night, they deserve their own post. I have some movies I need to write up, too. I have a Burns Supper to get to first.

Comments

[skygiants]

My flight back into town lands 2 hours before the Black Lives Matter vigil; assuming everything happens on time, I'm very much hoping to be there.

[sovay]

My flight back into town lands 2 hours before the Black Lives Matter vigil; assuming everything happens on time, I'm very much hoping to be there.

Awesome. I hope to see you!

[juliansinger.livejournal.com]

Huh. Thank you for those "what you are doing" links. This may force me to finally use Facebook. But I don' wanna. Hrmph.

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

Thank you for all this stuff.

xoxo

Bystanders

[lauradi7.livejournal.com]

I went to that workshop at Arisia while you were having bus troubles. Two hours is longer than my attention span, but I felt it was worthwhile.

[sovay]

Huh. Thank you for those "what you are doing" links. This may force me to finally use Facebook. But I don' wanna. Hrmph.

If it helps, I have very minimal engagement with Facebook myself: I got an account originally because all of my friends kept doing things like getting married and reproducing and I had no idea because I wasn't on Facebook, then I burned out from the noise to signal ratio, then I came back shortly after the election and now I'm mostly using it to keep track of politics while trying not to burn out. I don't post, but I read and comment. But I will continue to post public links like these which should be accessible without your needing to sign up for Facebook—I try not to link to locked content for the obvious reasons!

[sovay]

Thank you for all this stuff.

You are welcome.

*hugs*

Re: Bystanders

[sovay]

Two hours is longer than my attention span, but I felt it was worthwhile.

That's good to hear. I know some ways to intervene when people are being obnoxious in public, but I know there must be ways I don't know and I have no idea anyway if the ones I know are the most effective or the most likely to protect the people being hassled or if they're just better than doing nothing. Thirty-eight people didn't really watch Kitty Genovese die, but that doesn't mean we don't still need to look out for each other.

[heliopausa.livejournal.com]

I'm looking forward to reading the "not-Not One of Us" collection, though I'm puzzled by that designation. :)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your good news about poetry. I'll spread that around.

[sovay]

I'm looking forward to reading the "not-Not One of Us" collection, though I'm puzzled by that designation.

Well, it's not strictly speaking an issue of Not One of Us; it's the annual one-off, published between two issues. Technically I think the term is "A Not One of Us Special Publication."

Enjoy!

[sovay]

Thank you for your good news about poetry. I'll spread that around.

You're welcome! Poetry is important.

[drwex]

The BARCC Active Bystander workshop is awesome. I've taken two versions of it and loved both.

Also love your links, even though I'm not taking time to comment on all of them.

Aside: I'm going to take a really long time to get through that volume of yours. I read one or two poems and then have to stop and think and maybe reread bits. Sometimes with thinking in between. I've always been terrible at responding to poetry - usually I can manage "I like that" and "I don't like that" as the entirety of my feedback.