Quick Treats For When You're Bracing For Battle
Raising Luminaries antidote to inbox tedium for parents on the edge of a nervous breakdown
Hey friends!
Still numb from the election, and suppressing a manic, unhelpful urge to screech at a select group of even more unhelpful people.
I was talking about me. But you too, huh?
And yet - we move forward!
OK - Genuine question: What is the opposite of a ‘fair-weather friend’?
But like, for disasters. Same toxic feel, different energy. I’m having a hard time coming up with the right term.
Luckily (hopefully?) you’re not those people. You knew this election was coming, you’ve been preparing in moments of calm, and carefully controlling the smouldering fires these past four years, building resources and interdependent community structures for when this inevitable explosion arrived.
As the meme goes “The horrors still persist, but so do I.”
Carrying on…
November 2024 Quick Treats
Instead of demanding action, these treats are for you - with no expectations, no obligations, and no guilt if you don’t have the capacity right now.
Good News
Cool Things That Exist Now
Oh Hey We Found The Helpers
A Goofy Thing Just For You To Enjoy
Helpful Stuff To Keep In Your Pocket For Later
1. Good News in Indigenous Rights
I’m not gonna bullshit you - we’re diggin’ for scraps this week.
The good news is far apart, but hard won. See, how they burn us out is when we let big horrible things erase and overshadow the hard work of people making progress. The same folks we need very to be recognizing, following, and amplifing now.
PAY ATTENTION TO HEADLINES: Notice how editors of the original articles write headlines suggesting that colonizers are giving rights, land, and permission to Indigenous people, as if these things actually belong to the colonizers. Also the tendency to generalize, de-capitalize, and just not name cultural group identities and sovereign nations in favor of broad terms like ‘Native American Tribes.’
Below, where I’ve rephrased headlines to more accurately highlight the Indigenous nations, activists, and elders who worked their asses off for decades to make this happen.
2. Cool Things That Exist Now: Awkward Holiday Edition
I’m sure you grew up in a happy TV family where everyone totally agrees on all social issues, and you are actively looking forward to obligatory holiday gatherings and super-spreader events this winter.
… AhaHahaahaha j/k. That’s… I mean good for you if that’s the case. But for the rest of us…
Learn to navigate tense real-life scenarios for infuriating holiday dinner conversations. Deflect criticism, set boundaries, and protect your peace with Come Back To Care’s free 30-minute podcast training.
3. Oh Hey, We Found The Helpers
Honestly, when I picked up Safety Through Solidarity: A Radical Guide To Fighting Antisemitism, I was a little nervous that it might indeed prove that the trolls are right, I am an antisemite and I’m just… in denial about it, somehow? Like the way white people who claim not to be racist are always super racist.
But I didn’t expect any of the little tangents this book sent me on to be heart-warming or give me hope for these next four years.
And yet, my little research hole led me to learning how solidarity across movements, adoptive family constellations, and raising kind and courageous kids makes us all safer. With an actual, material organization who my family can turn to if something happens to me.
If you’re already familiar with how Billie Holiday’s anti-lynching protest song, ‘Strange Fruit’ is tied through found family connections to the political persecution of the Rosenbergs, and how modern lynching impacts our ability to fight antisemitism, fascism, and ethnic cleansing today, you can skip it.
But if you’re shaking from the election, wondering if the activism you’ve participated over these past four years (and the activism you will continue to do, right?!) will impact the safety of your kids, come learn with me about the Rosenberg Fund For Children, and their family legacy of protecting the children of activists targeted by the state.
4. A Goofy Thing For You To Just Enjoy
[video description, three huskies who look SO cute to snuggle (but also like a nightmare to live with) in a living room. Our first husky has been outfitted in a ‘Huskulance’ costume made out of a cardboard box with a red siren light glued to the top. That particular one is all like “wwoooo” a little softly at first, but then when the other two join in howling, she starts “WaaOOO, waaaOOO, waOOoo” ing like an ambulance urgently trying to part lanes of rush hour traffic. Her backup singers, for ambiance and chaos, scream their freakin’ heads off at the edge of the screen. As a person who made the grave mistake of rescuing a husky as a child, I am positive they scream like this multiple times a day, every day, and it makes me appreciate my quiet husky-free life more.]
SOUND UP!
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5. Helpful Stuff For When You Need It
We just had a horrible year of violence and a horrible election and OK LOOK - now the HOLIDAYS are coming.
Will the horrors never cease?
Whether you are one of those people who sees gift-giving as an empty tradition to uphold capitalism and consumerism, or the type who genuinely loves throwing garbage at your friends so now they have to deal with it - I’ve got the perfect thing to get you out of this situation intact.
Joypost is a little delight packed into ACTUAL REAL LIFE ENVELOPES, a retro dose of joy for your mailbox, that you can have sent to your friends.
You don’t have to spend hours researching ‘the perfect gift’ that says :
“I like you, but not in a way where I obsessively searched for just the right gift for you because I am cool and have a life, please still be friends with me?”
But also
“Let’s do this together, it gives us an excuse to connect, and when we’re done, I won’t care if you throw this in the recycling bin.”
Joypost has got you covered. Get one for you and all your favorite cool people.
Support this small business rub by a Queer Black single disabled mom who is getting her new company off the ground, so she can feed her kids and find stable housing. Win-win-win!
Coming up next
Join the next Caregiver Winter Incubator
Losing your shit just a little bit after this week’s election?
Well, let’s not let this be a repeat of 2016 - 2020. This time, we have the tools to resist effectively, without burning out.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, drained, and like you’re living in a bad dream and aren’t sure how to wake up, join us for this year’s Caregiver Winter Incubator.
Instead of modeling apathy, saviorism, and toxic hustle, learn how to pace yourself for the next four years of fascist nightmares, as you work to protect both vulnerable communities and those most dear to you.
I’m serious. It works.
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