Dear Friends, Family, Fellow Travelers,
Tomorrow is Election Day in the United States (I know there's zero chance that anyone reading this newsletter will have let that fact slipped their mind) and I thoughts I would pass along a few of the election-related things I've read and listened to recently that are helping me approach this period -- I'm trying hard to think of it as a period so that regardless of what Trump declares tomorrow evening or Wednesday morning we can remain clear about the fact that every vote must be counted -- with hope grounded in evidence and expectation of the work before us.
Image: Poster from the Fenway Community Development Corporation reading "We Protect Each Other When We Protect Everyone" against the background of the POC & trans inclusive rainbow flag.
But first, I hope you have a self-care plan! Mine includes exercise, coffee and pancakes, knitting rainbows, cutting my hair (and probably doing something creepy and Victorian craftivist-y with it), text banking for the Democrats, enjoying a bottle of Zinfandel, and reading about how work won't love you back. If my Twitter poll from last week is any indication, y'all are likely to be doomscrolling from your blanketforts while eating all the results of your panic baking until you pass out from exhaustion and hibernate until 2022. I salute your multitasking!
If you need some soft things:
Tomorrow is Election Day in the United States (I know there's zero chance that anyone reading this newsletter will have let that fact slipped their mind) and I thoughts I would pass along a few of the election-related things I've read and listened to recently that are helping me approach this period -- I'm trying hard to think of it as a period so that regardless of what Trump declares tomorrow evening or Wednesday morning we can remain clear about the fact that every vote must be counted -- with hope grounded in evidence and expectation of the work before us.
Image: Poster from the Fenway Community Development Corporation reading "We Protect Each Other When We Protect Everyone" against the background of the POC & trans inclusive rainbow flag.
But first, I hope you have a self-care plan! Mine includes exercise, coffee and pancakes, knitting rainbows, cutting my hair (and probably doing something creepy and Victorian craftivist-y with it), text banking for the Democrats, enjoying a bottle of Zinfandel, and reading about how work won't love you back. If my Twitter poll from last week is any indication, y'all are likely to be doomscrolling from your blanketforts while eating all the results of your panic baking until you pass out from exhaustion and hibernate until 2022. I salute your multitasking!
If you need some soft things:
- The Bagpuss series (British stop-motion animation from the 1970s)
- The accounts of people who foster kittens on Instagram:
- Labradors Olive and Mabel attend a Zoom meeting.
- GOOD GOURD UPDATE!
- And my list of queer romances (you can see what's available as a giveaway free in this Twitter thread).
If you need something to do that's election related but NOT doomscrolling on social media, here are some things that have given me hope for a #BlueWave2020 and the foundations for a progressive #Agenda2021:
- Heather Cox Richardson, "History and Politics Chat, 29 October 2020." (excellent pep talk)
- Teri Kanefield, "Election Law 101: No, Trump and Kavanaugh Can't Team Up to Throw Away Timely Ballots Not Counted By Nov. 3."
- Dahlia Lithwick's Amicus Podcast: "What Progressives Got Wrong About the Judiciary" and "Testing the Election."
- Corey Robin, "The Gonzo Constitutionalism of the American Right" @ New York Review.
- Explore Criminial Justice on the Ballot in 2020 @ The Appeal.
- What's On the Ballot 2020 cheatsheet (will be updated live-time as we approach and live through #TheIntereggnum.
- Here's a timeline from CNN on what will happen between Nov. 3 and Jan. 20 (a.k.a. The Intereggnum).
- And I feel like I'm often shouting into the wind on this one but in the coming days, weeks, month ... please, please, please don't use "tribe" or "tribalism" to describe America's partisan politics. Teaching Tolerance explains why it's racist and colonialist as fuck.
Image: Hanna made this little guy for Halloween. I'm calling them the Spirit of 2020. Smol but very fierce.
Stay safe, practice hope, fight for justice.
Power to the people,
Anna