Thank you, please, would you like to

a quick post plus a brief reflection

THANK YOU!

For those of you who shared ideas back in November for my upcoming research project, I can’t thank you enough. I’ll be spending part of this semester delving into who’s doing a really good job of online identity formation that leads to progressive activism or organizing. You may remember that this emerged from my decades-long awareness that the radical right has always been a mile ahead of us in finding youth in online spaces who are lonely or vulnerable and channeling them towards hate groups. Some of that has to do with algorithms and some of it has to do with willingness to manipulate. But I am haunted by, or indicted by, something I heard from a former neoNazi who now dedicates his life to deprogramming. He said (and I’m paraphrasing), “no one becomes a skinhead because of the ideology. They do it for the community.” So I’m grateful for the suggestions you had about who on the left is doing a good job of reaching people online, offering an opportunity for deeper identity formation and connection to community, and then helping them be a part of work that heals, transforms, and creates more justice. If you haven’t heard from me yet, it’s because I have to do the “lit review” portion of the research first, which is basically looking at academic journal articles and saying “other people have covered THIS thing, but no one has covered THAT thing, or they’ve ignored THIS part of THIS thing, which means they came up with the wrong answers. By researching THAT thing, or THIS part of THIS thing, I will contribute something no one else ever in the history of research has covered.” So…those of you who said maybe I wasn’t made for the academy, I take your point. But I’m excited for this project. More to come, I promise!

PLEASE!

If you follow my socials, you’ve already seen this. But my beloved publisher Chalice Press would like to re-write book descriptions on Amazon to increase readership. (They shared this interesting piece by Jane Friedman on how that can help even with older books that Amazon might not otherwise recommend.)

So if you’ve read any of my books and have a “here’s how I’d pitch it in one sentence,” I’d be grateful for suggestions. I am the worst at summarizing “here’s what my book has to offer you!” and I could use others’ wisdom.

Please drop any one-line SRJ book summaries in the comments section. Super grateful.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO?

I mentioned a couple of newsletters ago that I had such a good time discussing the book Disability Visibility in our online zoom group that I’d love to do it again this summer. I read Poverty: By America by Matthew Desmond for my course on the history of social welfare, and I was struck by the powerful concrete examples of what is working in the fight against poverty in cities across the country. I’d love to talk about this story-rich, info-rich, and action-oriented book with you. (It also goes hard illustrating all the policy reasons that the richest country in the world has such high levels of poverty—and it turns out it’s not because we’re not spending money on it…that was the mind-blowing part of the book for me.) So if you’d be interested in that book group this summer, drop a line in the comments. A couple of folks said yes already. If I hit fifteen, I’ll make sure it happens!

BRIEF REFLECTION

I’d like to share with you one of the meditations in the e-book that all “founding members” of this substack recieve.) A founding member is anyone who contributes more than the $60/year or $6/month of a regular paid subscriber. It definitely supports me while I’m at school, and I do not take your investment for granted. If you’d like to become a founding member, you can do that (or become a paid subscriber) here:

Here’s the reflection I wanted to share today:

ON INTERNALIZED OPPRESSION AND VAN GOGH

Original post date: 1/24/2022

Notes: I recently re-watched Hannah Gadsby’s Netflix comedy special “Nanette.” She reminded me that actually, most of Van Gogh’s work happened when he was in a mental health facility, getting access to care that allowed him to manage his mental health, thanks to a brother who really wanted to show up well for him. 

Internalized oppression is real. Part of the work is changing the culture. Part of the work is overcoming the self-doubt the culture creates.

When I went to the Van Gogh Immersive Experience at the end of 2021, I was captivated by this quote. 

It reminded me that any of us who have been marginalized (for orientation, race, first language, disability, class, gender or anything else) receive so many messages that we’re less than, unworthy, inadequate.

Vincent Van Gogh heard messages that his art was inadequate, and he heard messages that he wasn’t valuable because the culture did not create adequate support for him to be able to flourish with the mental health issues he faced.

I love this quote because it’s a reminder to us to ignore the voices the world has planted in our brains.

And it also reminds me what I want to use my energy to create. What will be my canvas? What will be my brush? What beauty will I generate? For me, it’s a painting of Beloved Community painted with words and relationships and policy change.

May you silence that voice and create beauty in place of the toxic culture that placed those voices within you to begin with.