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everyone says join your local mutual aid groups and build community, but uh, what do you do if a lot of them seem to have dissolved and the other ones don’t have consistent recurring meetings.
this is real, and it’s a thing that a lot of people are going to run into in the face of calls to “get involved,” especially if they’re people who haven’t been deeply involved in their communities before. so here’s what I can share:
- You can’t expect it to be built for you already. Community organizing has fallen apart in a lot of places. That means you may need to be the one to start it. Someone has to.
- Your presence will matter. Local community networks are SMALL. That means that every single person has an outsized presence and an outsized absence. One person dropping off the map can feel catastrophic, but that also means that one person stepping up can make all the difference.
- Find a center. Any community group needs a steady base. That can be a physical location - that’s why coffeehouses were historically such effective grounds for building political and creative movements. It can also be a person or people who are consistent and reliable. If one person shows up to make space for work on a regular basis, they’ll be there when the second person shows up. They’ll be there for the third. That’s how it starts.
- Play secretary. A lot of activist groups are starving for some basic admin support. Maybe you’re not up for being the leader, but maybe you can organize the Google drive. Maybe you can be the one that keeps phone numbers. There’s a lot of unsexy shit work out there that needs to be done.
- Count your eggs before you start baking. There is an economics of labor to why activism circles have shrunk. Be mindful of the time and hands you have available when deciding what work you’re able to take on.
- Build tolerance, build coalitions. Small organizing means you can’t afford to fracture over every little disagreement. Decide your mission and your values from the start, the things that are non-negotiable, and don’t get hung up on the rest. Be prepared to work with people you don’t like. Focus on the task at hand.
- Network! Know what other related or like-minded projects are out there, whether they are groups like yours in other areas or groups in your community who are doing work that intersects with yours.
- Be there for people. Step up. Offer to help. Even outside an organizing structure, if you become the kind of person who shows up and helps, people will remember you and they will reach out to you when need arises.
(via wilwheaton)
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Chai tea bag + lil but of brown sugar + apple cider packet + 16 oz. mug of hot but not quite boiling water
it will not Fix You but like. maybe. maybe.
tags by @eridan-ampora
ALTALT
Update: this is the best post I’ve ever made because everyone is sharing their Warm Beverage recipes in the notes. Go check the notes for more Warm Beverages That Will Fix You.
(via fuckingrecipes)
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You have to understand what is happening on a mythic level, okay? What we have here is a relatively rare phenomenon: advance warning of an imposed culture change. It is critical to understand what the people who are going to be in charge believe to be true.
As you read this, remember mighty Achilles had a heel.
Everyone has a heroic self, and among the leadermen a coming they are strong and smart and capable; unafraid and fearless, they know better than anyone else how things should be done. The heroic challenge - they have been unjustly prevented from setting things right by a thorny poison wall. Through heroic exertion - generally the use of violence, trickery, and expendable companions - victory is achieved. The wall is severed and the hero prevails. The hero is rewarded with buxom adoration, many children, some degree of material success and the regard of the lesser, non-heroic people.
For thorny poison wall, understand laws, regulation, and the acknowledgement of universal human rights.
Within the myth, the hero in confidently invincible. Outside of the myth, confidence does not guarantee success. This can be quite a shock to the system. It is important to push back. The hero may still kill their opponents, but eventually someone will get him. Even immortals die from time to time; it’s the rebirth thing that saves their ass.
Why is it so important to this hero to control fertility is because on a very deep primal level they understand it’s their only route to divinity. As much as they value innovative accomplishment - and heroes by definition are surrounded by novelty, they are always the first in a strange land - they cannot through their own efforts ascend to being any greater than they are. Women, specifically via the provision of children, make heroes into better men, at a minimum, and via sufficiently obedient behaviors, into the closest to Godhood as they’re going to get.
When you say but that’s gender essentialism, let me clarify that that’s exactly the point. The existential threat inherent in independent women is the disruption of the heroic path to divinity. They may say it is a mission from God, but in fact, it is a mission to be God.
And how do we defeat would be Gods? We don’t believe in them. We certainly don’t treat them with the fear and dread they desire. There is no respect or veneration due. That thorny, poison wall will hold. They that hold it may bleed, but the wall will hold. It may get cut but as long as one thorn remains, it will grow back. Regulations and laws are written in blood. They are sacred words in their own way. But they must, like all magic words, be used, guarded, and protected.
You may not live long, with what’s coming. But in myth, you live forever. Their way of being a hero is not the only way. And somebody has to save our ass.
If you were waiting on a call, this is it.
(author requests anonymity)
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On twitter I’m seeing dozens of threads from Black activists warning people against burnout, giving all sorts of useful tips about preventing and managing it for the sake of a long-term, sustainable effort.
On tumblr I’m seeing a hell of a lot of young white kids yelling at anyone who actually follows those steps, and acting like burnout is a moral falling rather than a well-proven psychological phenomenon.
Be careful who you get your information from. Don’t let guilt lead you to make choices that will harm both you and the movement.
I’m going to reblog this again since I see more individuals are inquiring about burnout prevention tips in the notes and it’s why I sought out this resource. I hope it helps you!
PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH ALL OF YOUR FOLLOWERS
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Make the most of the next two months
- Get all your vaccines
- Travel while we have a functioning DOT
- Read and buy books on feminism, anti-racism, pro-lgbt
- Attend drag shows
- Don’t skip any of your classes
- Read and buy history books
- Find your out-of-state networks
- Learn to carry cash
- Get birth control solutions
- Support the Biden/Harris administration
- Postpone large purchases and save money
- Be careful of what you say online, like un-ambiguous attacks against the incoming administration, especially in spaces that contain your full name or personal information
Feel free to add on.
wow! as a broke college kid, i wish there was a way to access books and movies as well as scientific articles that the new administration isn’t necessarily a fan of. man. If only there was a free and trusted vpn ( up to 10 gigs of downloadable data) to use in conjunction with an anonymizing router (also free up to 10 gigs) to safely, er, permanently borrow media in an untraceable way as well as share files. Man, what’s that browser that keeps your online activity anonymous? I’m awfully attached to firefox, personally. If only i had a browser extension that would throw a smoke screen over my browsing data while blocking ads at the same time.
what was i talking about? hmm. weird.
(via benwvatt)
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Give my girl Mary Shelly more credit! She did not keep her beloved dead husbands heart with her and potentially lose her virginity on her mothers grave to NOT be given credit as the most badass gothic writer! We would not have the sci-fi/horror genre we have today without her!
(via wilwheaton)
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livebloggingmydescentintomadness:
A true successor of Thomas Edison
surprise surprise
finally some good fucking salt over thomas eddison on this site
it’s also not even HIS money, it’s his father’s money, made from apartheid emerald mining. that money was made from the blood and suffering of countless poor people of color so the rich could wear pretty rocks.
elon musk has never done or made anything valuable or worthwhile in his life.
Tesla was founded in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.
I think it would be funny if this fun fact became common knowledge.
(via some27-url)
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wow i love this
One of the truest things I’ve ever heard is that people who say they’re “brutally honest” are more interested in the brutality than the honesty.
(via some27-url)
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