Shauna GM
I am deeply sad and not a little frightened today.
Part of how I deal with things that sadden/scare me is trying to understand them.
I'm looking for recs of things to read/watch on the following topics:
- dealing with conflict and intersectional needs in progressive spaces and pluralist societies
- political psychology of right wing groups/cultures, especially anything with a psychodynamic approach
- research into subjective experiences of 'economic anxiety' and political alienation
Shauna GM
It feels strange to say that the simple act of continually showing up for each other is radical. And yet, so much of our culture these days treats people as interchangeable and thus disposable. Whether it's workplaces firing people on a whim, swiping through potential dates like you're grocery shopping, or the way cancel culture encourages us to ostracize people for making mistakes...treating each person, each relationship as valuable and irreplaceable *is* radical.
Shauna GM
I've continued to read this over the past couple of days but haven't posted any quotes whoops. Here's some more that resonated with me.
Chapter 2 is entitled "Refusing to Abandon" and talks about the carceral system as "organized abandonment". To heal and grow people need supportive communities but prisons mostly view mutual aid groups, mental health support groups, etc "the same way that they would view a gang.”
Shauna GM
Started off today with the first chapter Let This Radicalize You by Mariame Kaba and Kelly Hayes, which I'd been meaning to read for a while.
My favorite quote so far:
"In a world where we are steadily being splintered apart, where so much of our social lives have been reduced to commercial interactions, and where fellowship and belonging are desperately lacking, we must relearn how to hold space and belief together in ways that anchor us to each other and to our collective moral commitments."
Shauna GM
In another chapter, Kaba and Hayes right about the continually evolving impact of technology on organizing.They write,
"Activists who experience success using online tools sometimes undervalue or neglect the kind of on-the-ground work organizers practiced before social media"
This echoes Red State Revolt by Eric Blanc, which looked at a trio of wildcat teachers strikes in red states in 2018. Groups that relied on Facebook organizing without also building in person connections fizzled out
Shauna GM
I also like this quote about movement building. It's very reminiscent of how I try to help people contribute to open source. It's about embracing the whole person and and helping them make an authentic connection.
"Rather than recruiting people to fulfill the roles that we envision for them, Dixon stresses the importance of learning what people are passionate about and 'finding an intersection' between someone’s interests and the work at hand."
(full quote in image)
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