04: One Year Out

one year reflections, action items for Pride Month, and 5 more things.

Hello, friends 👋🏽

This newsletter is late. I still owe paid subscribers a Q&A edition of work in progress. I no longer understand proper mask etiquette (are we still putting our masks up when we walk past each other on the sidewalk or are we done with that now??). And I’m realizing my wardrobe is now entirely loungewear and crop tops I still have from college and I have to go back to the office on June 23rd.

All of this is to say: we’re all just figuring things out post(?)-pandemic. Thank you for your patience for this little work in progress. I chose the name for this newsletter because, from the start, I envisioned that it would evolve a lot over the course of its existence.

And on that note — this week’s newsletter will be a little shorter than usual. I was getting very stressed about writing this week’s essay until I realized I’m the one who came up with this format in the first place and I can do whatever I want and, in general, there are far fewer rules for my work and for living in general than my brain often convinces myself there are.

So to start, I want to share a post I wrote for the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s death. I hope the caption can serve as a prompt for personal or shared reflection for you over the next week or so as we remember where we were as a country this time last year.

norajmaxwell

A post shared by @norajmaxwell

“May 25th is the anniversary of the murder of George Floyd. How much has really changed?”

Who were you before the George Floyd protests? Who were you during them? Who are you now?

So much has changed since then. So much has not. We will continue to witness death and destruction until our country’s racist and white supremacist structures and institutions are dismantled, one by one. A better world is possible. May we all have the courage, creativity, and conviction to imagine and create it.

• This TikTok that reads, “Last summer was traumatizing on social media. You’d post about your birthday and mfs would be like “read the room” 💀.” (YES I was one of those mfs and I regret nothing).

• This painting, titled The New American Gothic by Criselda Vasquez that I came across on Twitter. You can check out more of Criselda’s work on her Instagram (unfortunately, it looks like prints of The New American Gothic are currently sold out).

  

• This tweet that now runs through my head whenever white women call me “sis:”

  sydney battle @SydneyBattle

  i think about this joke every day

  

  

• I got a haircut for the first time since the pandemic started and my stylist wanted to take a picture of it when she was done. She asked me to take my mask off for one pic and, upon seeing my face, she literally just said “Oh. Okay.” Laughing through the pain 😌🤙🏽

• And, finally, this IG post from Nedra Glover Tawwab (@nedratawwab) in response to Naomi Osaka withdrawing from the French Open for mental health reasons:

  nedratawwab

  

  A post shared by @nedratawwab

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month — a special shoutout to all of the wonderful LGBTQ+ folks who are reading this newsletter today. I hope this month brings you space for reflection and celebration. ❤️

Choose at least 2 actions below to complete over the next two weeks:

• Read “‘We All Have a Role to Play’: The Fight Against Anti-Transgender Legislation” by Madison Feller.

• Donate to one (or all!) of the following organizations. As a reminder, you can amplify your impact by setting up recurring donations instead of a one-time donation.

  • Brave Space Alliance: Brave Space Alliance is the first Black-led, trans-led LGBTQ+ Center located on the South Side of Chicago, dedicated to creating and providing affirming, culturally competent, for-us by-us resources, programming, and services for LGBTQ+ individuals on the South and West sides of the city. We strive to empower, embolden, and educate each other through mutual aid, knowledge-sharing, and the creation of community-sourced resources as we build toward the liberation of all oppressed peoples. 

  • The Okra Project: The Okra Project is a collective that seeks to address the global crisis faced by Black Trans people by bringing home cooked, healthy, and culturally specific meals and resources to Black Trans People wherever we can reach them.

  • The Marsha P. Johnson Institute: The Marsha P. Johnson Institute (MPJI) protects and defends the human rights of BLACK transgender people. We do this by organizing, advocating, creating an intentional community to heal, developing transformative leadership, and promoting our collective power.

• Follow BIPOC LGBTQ+ creators on Instagram to amplify their voices and support their work during Pride Month and beyond (post via @bravetrails).

I hope you’re all staying safe and healthy as we start to figure out what it looks like to live in a world that’s opening back up again.

xo,

Nora