The original print for the picture above lives in the Spelman College Women’s Center and my head exploded a little the first time I saw it. Louise Meriwether, Pinkie Gordon Lane, Johnnetta Cole, Pearl Cleage, Paula Giddings, Gwendolyn Brooks, Toni Cade Bambara, Sonia Sanchez, Nikki Giovanni and Mari Evans all in one photograph! The power that has. If you know you know. And if you don’t know maybe this is your future reading list. Speaking of reading, let’s get into it.
I’m reading
Luke Mogelson, who as a war correspondent has covered conflicts abroad, was embedded with the insurrectionists in the Capitol. His remarkable and remarkably disturbing account of January 6 and the events leading up to it deserves all your attention. More foreign correspondents and war photojournalists who are American should turn their focus towards this country right now.
“If you’ve ever stayed up way too late trying to find your ex’s wedding pictures on Instagram, you can dox a Nazi. It’s the same skill set.” This quote made me laugh but this story is so important. Antifascism is self-defense. These folks have been right all along and the rest of the world is just catching up.
Related: The Bumble dating app disabled political matching after women got together to match with the y’all qaeda coup crew. They did so to lure evidence out of men bragging of their involvement in US Capitol attack. Bumble calls antifascism “misuse” and I am not surprised. Tech companies repeatedly fail us. Also what these women did is not an extreme use case. We have historical precedent for this.
Chilling read about the connection between wellness influencers and online conspiracy theorists. There are many paths to online radicalization and this piece illustrates why it’s so important to actively help stop the spread of misinformation, regardless of how unimportant you think the topic may be. Conspiracies on food and wellness may just be the first step into more and more dangerous conspiratorial thinking.
Roxanna Yazzie, a Navajo Nation health worker works long hours to keep her community safe in the pandemic. This great profile reminded me of something else I read a while ago: the Cherokee Nation is prioritizing vaccinations for Cherokee speakers in an effort to save its culture and identity. Only about 2,000 people in the world can speak the Cherokee language fluently. As Covid-19 spread, that number began to dwindle. Thinking about this and the fact that so many tribal elders are dying makes me incredibly emotional.
I find myself really deeply unsettled by American tactical culture. Somewhat related: what a gut punch to learn that Hill staffers had to call on the muscle memory from school shooter drills.
This article made me anxious for 10 seconds (password anxiety is so real) and then I remembered that I don’t have to feel too badly about someone "drawn to Bitcoin partly because it was outside of the control of a country or company" who forgets his Bitcoin wallet password, loses access to $220 million, and now concedes that maybe banks serve a useful purpose after all. As I tell all the cryptocurrency fanatics in my life: May the odds be ever in your favor!
Did you hear that women accounted for all 140,000 lost jobs in December? A more careful read shows that Black women are disproportionately impacted. COVID has made this worse but don’t forget that long-held, systemic racism is what put us in this precarious situation in the first place.
Will anyone write a funnier sentence than this in 2021? “this solution, too, was short-lived after a Secret Service supervisor from the Trump/Kushner detail left an unpleasant mess in the Obama bathroom at some point before the fall of 2017, according to a person briefed on the event” Doubtful! Here is the headline of the year.
"I learn. And I learn not from a place of comfort or protection but from one of challenge and analysis. I learn that my feelings about art are a catalyst for engagement—not an end in themselves." This article about Philip Guston and the (self) representation of white complicity in white supremacy in art is really thoughtful.
In Ireland, Lifting a Veil of Prejudice Against Mixed-Race Children or the ugly consequences of a corrupt theocracy.
Here is smart Armand Hammer discourse.
Audacious Books. Roxane Gay has a book club and I have already pre-ordered all the books.
I have never had Viennetta before. Is this thing even good? Somebody tell me the truth. Thank you.
I’m watching
Arsène Lupin, a household name in Francophone homes is a fictional gentleman thief and master of disguise created in 1905 by French writer Maurice Leblanc. If you had asked baby Aminatou to name her personal idols, Arsène Lupin would have been in the top 3 so I am thrilled about the Netflix adaptation. The plot is basically jewelry heist, but make it fashion. Omar Sy is charismatic and winsome and the whole thing is great. Less great is France congratulating itself for having one black lead (if you’re paying attention, you already know it’s always Omar Sy as the black lead in any French movie or show ) but that’s for another newsletter.
I don’t even like cake but wow Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles on Hulu is so...pleasant. Definitely hits that same need Great British Bakeoff normally satisfies for gentle, low-stakes food programming filled with earnest people just trying to do their best.
I’m listening
Hammer Museum curator Ikechúkwú Onyewuenyi has compiled Chez Baldwin, a playlist that features records James Baldwin owned into a 478-track celebration of what the author enjoyed listening to while living in France. It’s very good and there’s 32 hours of music. SO MUCH MUSIC H/T Open Culture
The Blacks have logged into the sea shanty chat and I regret to inform you that sea shanties go hard now.
This Patty x Dolly historic event lives rent free in my head
Hang in there
Don't get too precious, don't get too fearful, stay steady.
Toni Morrison
Stay steady y’all. Maybe even make some bold choices. See you Wednesday.
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Johnnetta! I wonder where she is today. I met her through our mutual friend Ingrid Mueller years ago and really liked her a lot! Thanks for this treasure trove of resources!! I’ll take me months to catch up
whatttttt i didn’t know there were people who had never eaten a viennetta! when i was a kid and i went to a restaurant, i would always beg my parents to get me a slice. it made me feel very fancy because i couldn’t eat it with my hands obviously!
it’s basically vanilla ice cream with slices of very thin chocolate on top but the combination is very good. that being said, i never ate any that wasn’t from the frozen boxes sold at supermarkets, so i don’t think i have ever experienced it to its full delight.