SCOTUS is H-O-T-T-O-G-O
...right into the trash! (+ June wrap up!)
This is the monthly round-up of Stacks & Spoons, where I share the books, trends and headlines that caught my attention this month, plus snapshots from my daily life. If you enjoy it, make sure to subscribe here.
Nothing says Pride month is over like SCOTUS ripping our rights to shreds!
I had a long post written and ready to send out, but after some consideration, I deleted it. It was a frustrated call-out of the privileged people flooding my feeds saying “time to move to Canada” and “how do I get a visa for (insert European country here).”
As someone who has immigrated to another country and knows the years of stress, work, money, and uncertainty that comes with it, those posts get under my skin.
I can’t help but wonder that if the people talking about leaving the US for greener pastures put even half the effort and money it would take to do that into their own communities, maybe we wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with.
But I don’t want to sit here and lecture people who are afraid. I especially don’t want my anger at the most privileged people wanting an extended European vacation to unintentionally hit the most marginalized folks simply looking for a safe place to exist.
In truth, I’m afraid, too. How could I not be? Project 2025 is terrifying and already rolling out. SCOTUS has criminalized unhoused folks and given Presidents the power of Kings. The US empire has its tentacles in every corner of the globe. Israel continues to relentlessly bomb Gaza, with the aid of the US. And this is just the last week of headlines.
And today we are expected to celebrate freedom? Who all’s free here?
Who has ever really been free here?
I don’t see anything to celebrate, and I think pretending otherwise is doing a disservice to ourselves and each other. The United States is built on bloodshed and stolen land, and continues to cause bloodshed and steal land to this day.
In his latest post, writer Frederick Joseph lays out a stark reality: ‘America often cloaks itself in the guise of progress, opting for the comfortable veneer of respectability rather than the rigorous honesty demanded by its history. But the truth is, the essence of the past not only lingers, it breathes everywhere, scarcely altered. The specter of brutality has not dissipated; it merely bides its time, waiting for an opportune moment to resurface.’ (I highly recommend reading the whole essay.)
But as fearful as I am, I don’t believe this is the time to fall into despair. The first lesson in Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny is Do Not Obey In Advance. Giving in to hopelessness, thinking there’s nothing we can do, or skirting responsibility, is obeying in advance.
We can grieve, we can cry, we can rage, and we can keep going.
Looking for somewhere to start? Read Let This Radicalize You by Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba. Read Be A Revolution by Ijeoma Oluo. Actually, read this new post by Ijeoma Oluo, too. Join orgs already doing the work or find mutual aid groups – your local public library or indie bookstore could be a great place to find out who is already organizing in your area.
(A great example here in NYC is Bluestockings Cooperative. Bluestockings is a worker-owned and operated bookstore and community space with a focus on feminism, abolition, and transformative justice. The space is a hub for community organizing, activism, and much more. Check out this list of community resources, including mutual aid and harm reduction support, on their website.)
As for me, I’ll spend 4th of July inside wearing noise-cancelling headphones, snuggling with my cats, reading Let This Radicalize You. And, yeah, I’ll probably watch Independence Day, the movie where everyone ignores the warnings of the flannel-wearing, bicycle-riding, environmentalist until it’s too late.
“Welcome to Earth,” indeed.
JUNE WRAP UP
Stacks…
Books I read this month:
With a writing deadline, home projects, and more socializing than I’ve done in a while (and then the inevitable social hangovers), I didn’t finish a single book this month. In the past, I would’ve beaten myself up over it, but in this economy? Who has the energy?!
I did, however, BUY a lot of books. My local library had a book sale fundraiser with – get this – an option to buy a tote bag for $20 and fill it with as many books as you could. Here’s my haul:
One of my favourite Goosebumps books, Say Cheese and Die!; All Boys Aren’t Blue; Bad Feminist; The Common Reader; The City We Became; and Remember Love.
Screen time…
What I’ve been watching:
Bridgerton
I finally decided to see what the hype was about and watched Bridgerton. Historical romance isn’t usually my thing, but I was hooked within a few minutes (the power of Shondaland!). I only wish I looked as glamorous as Penelope Featherington when I sit down to write.
Love On The Spectrum
I avoided this show for years, fearing it was yet another show about autistic people but not made for autistic people. I’ve been burned by inspiration porn and tragedy TV before. But Love On The Spectrum is so wholesome, so real, and so well done. To see a show where autistic people are asked thoughtful questions, and allowed to answer as their full selves, and then we see them go about their day, go on dates, and be exactly who they are.
Sound on…
What I’ve been listening to:
Chappell Roan
To say I’ve been “listening” to Chappell Roan would be an understatement. I’ve been obsessing. Living, breathing, preaching the gospel, worshipping at the altar of the red-haired, glitter-covered, Midwest Princess.
Chronic and iconic…
Reads from around the internet:
The Taylor Swift Essay I've Been Too Anxious to Share
‘Taylor Swift is a billionaire white woman with inexplicable power. Her money, her influence, and her voice could contribute to significant societal change, yet she repeatedly stays silent on the most vital issues.’
‘We have ancestral relationships with nature to relearn and incorporate into our reality. We have old ways of forming communities and preserving them to bring into the way we live now. We have ancient ways of treating the land itself, ways of communal stewardship to reintroduce into society. And while fascists hearken back to the past in order to pretend there’s an old glory to rekindle, that’s just empty gesturing in an effort to create a more oppressive and regressive society. The left, on the other hand, has to be honest and intentional and actually try to resuscitate some of the ancient ways of being, of living, of sharing. Our approach can’t pretend nothing has changed, or claim that our greatest days are behind us, but instead has to integrate healthy old ways into the present alongside notions of worker power, direct democracy, communalism and more.’
everyone wants to be a lit girl
‘Performative intellectualism allows individuals to assume the identities of others they find intelligent without ever having to engage in critical thought themselves. They use authors, directors, musicians, and celebrities who appear smart enough as their identity markers.’
How ACT UP Turned Pride Into a Protest for Palestine
‘Queer people have been on the front lines of every movement throughout all of history and time. And they will be for all eternity, and that has been the case and will be the case and is especially true with Palestine.’
Previously, on Stacks & Spoons…
Is this the world we want?
And now, for the Harry of the Week!
Thank you. I had a moment earlier this week where I was mad and sad and feeling hopeless. I finally let myself sit down and cry to release all that I was holding in my body. It helped, and reading from others how to keep that hope and move forward helps me know that I'm not alone and to keep on fighting.