I am amazed and know not what to say

We live in a society that runs on money, and aside from the occasional temporary feel-good 5% discounts for such-and-such a cause, nobody gives teachers or any other profession a pass on wanting money for everything they sell them.

In honor of Pride Month obviously, here’s my next list! Please continue to add authors and books to this list! 

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

Another Country by James Baldwin

Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone by James Baldwin

Invisible Life by E. Lynn Harris

Just as I am (Invisible Life #2) by E. Lynn Harris

I Say a Little Prayer by E. Lynn Harris

Hood Witch by Faylita Hicks

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett

By Any Means Necessary by Candice Montgomery

A Dream so Dark by LL McKinney

The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus

Build Yourself a Boat by Camonghne Felix

Little and Lion by Brandy Colbert

Skin Deep Magic by Craig Laurance Gidney

The Summer We Got Free by Mia McKenzie

Juniper Leaves by Jaz Joyner

Queer Africa - Selected Stories

The Yellow Brownstone by Lisa K. Stephenson

Freedom in This Village by E. Lynn Harris

Black Like Us: A Century of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual African American Fiction by Devon W. Carbado

In Case You Forgot by Frederick Smith and Chaz Lamar

Mogul by Terrance Dean

Potomac University Series by Rashid Darden

The Secrets of Eden by Brandon Goode

Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann

Growing Up Girl: An Anthology of Voices from Marginalized Spaces by Michelle Sewell

Talking at the Gates: A Life of James Baldwin by James Campbell

Black Lesbian in White America by Anita Cornwell**

If We Have to Take Tomorrow by Frank Leon, White Roberts, and Marvin K.

Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men edited by Essex Hemphill

In the Life: A Black Gay Anthology by Joseph Beam

Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde

Real Life by Brandon Taylor

Here for It by R. Eric Thomas

Romance in Marseille by Claude McKay

A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James

Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta

The House You Pass on the Way by Jacqueline Woodson

Black Deutschland by Darryl Pinckney

A Visitation of Spirits by Randall Kenan

Crossfire: A Litany for Survival by Staceyann Chin

The Other Side of Paradise: A Memoir by Staceyann Chin

Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

How We Fight for Our Lives by Saeed Jones

Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde

Don’t Call Us Dead by Danez Smith

Lives of Great Men by Chike Frankie Edozien

Burnt Men by Oluwasegun Romeo Oriogun**

She Called Me Woman edited by Azeenarh Mohammed, Chitra Nagarajan, and Rafeeat Aliyu

B-Side and Other Misheard Lyrics by L.M. Bennett

For Sizakele by Yvonne “Fly” Onakeme Etaghene

Black Power Barbie Volume 1: Love Lives of Heroes by Shay Youngblood

Loving Her by Ann Allen Shockley

No Telephone to Heaven by Michelle Cliff

Something Better than Home by Leona Beasley

Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn

Yabo by Alexis De Veaux

Fragments that Remain by Steven Corbin

Vanishing Rooms by Melvin Dixon

Blackbird by Larry Duplechan

B-Boy Blues Series by James Earl Hardy

The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez

everybody has to do their part. as a reference, this was posted on 1 june 2020. if any links are broken or direct to a place they should not, please feel free to add on with corrections. if there is new information with better knowledge, please feel free to share. thank you.

1. donate

do not donate to shaun king. he has repeatedly collected money to “support” black people, but no one knows where the money is.

BAIL FUNDS (ALPHABETICAL ORDER; NOT A COMPREHENSIVE LIST)

note: washington dc and new jersey have cashless bail systems.

bail fund google doc (also includes lawyers for protestors)

national bail fund network (directory of community bail funds)

community bail funds masterpost by @keplercryptids

resistance funds (google sheets; lists bail funds around the country)

nationwide bail funds (split a donation to the bail funds listed on the linked page with a single transaction)

atlanta bail fund

brooklyn bail fund

colorado freedom fund

columbus freedom fund

houston chapter of black lives matter

liberty fund (nyc based; focuses services on people from low-income communities)

los angeles freedom fund

louisville community fund

massachusetts bail fund

minnesota freedom fund (as of may 30, 2020, they are encouraging people to donate elsewhere since they have raised enough money; as of may 29, 2020, they do not have a venmo, as some fraudulent accounts have been claiming, source)

philadelphia bail out fund

richmond bail fund

MORE PLACES TO DONATE

note: more links are listed in the masterposts below.

northstar health collective (healthcare and medical aid for people on the front lines)

reclaim the block (aims to redistribute police funding to help the minneapolis community)

twin cities dsa (provides fresh groceries and hot meals to people in minneapolis)

2. educate yourself

it isn’t enough to sign petitions and reblog/retweet/etc. nonblack people, including people of color, owe it to black people to educate themselves and correct themselves and the people around them on anti-blackness.

note: more links are in the masterposts linked below.

resources and tools regarding racism and anti-blackness (google sheets compilation)

readings on society, racism, the prison system, etc. (twitter thread)

“where do we go after ferguson?” by michael eric dyson

official black lives matter website

3. give out supplies to protestors

people need supplies to protest safely, and even if they bring supplies with them, they can often run out. if you’re able, stock up and hand them out to people protesting. for more supplies to donate, see the “george floyd action” google docs link in section 5.

water bottles (dehydration and heatstroke are not things people should have to deal with alongside bastard cops. if the police in your area are particularly violent or known to use tear gas, get the ones with the sports cap/suction-thing/etc so people can use them as emergency eye-flushes.)

snacks (make sure to take into account that people have allergies of all sorts. foods will have a little label that says “may contain” and then list any potential allergens. write the allergens on the ziploc (or any container you use) in permanent marker, or better yet, write the snacks included in the pack.)

masks (don’t forget there’s still a pandemic going on. also it will aid in deterring facial recognition when the police try to track down protestors,  also part two, if the cops use tear gas, wearing a mask (with the combination of a scarf or bandana) will lessen the adverse effects. lessen, not stop.)

bandanas, scarves, etc. and goggles (ski goggles, swimming goggles, etc.) (see above for explanation on the scarves. same goes for the goggles. anti–tear gas and anti–facial recognition.)

clean shirts (for people who are heavily gassed. also helps deter recognition through clothing.)

wound care supplies (band-aids, packets of neosporin packets or a similar antibiotic, alcohol wipes, etc.; if you can, decant bactine into those little travel bottles.)

a sharpie or another type of marker (for writing bail numbers or emergency contacts on arms, hands, etc. it’s not enough to have your city’s bail fund number stored on your phone; the police won’t give it to you to look it up. give people a marker so they can write it down, preferably not washable so it isn’t easily removed.)

IMPORTANT: KNOWING FIRST AID

tear gas: if you’re hit, get out as fast and as soon as you can. take anyone you can with you. the longer you’re in the gas, the harder it will be for you to see, and it can irritate your airways, making it hard to breathe. if you’re hit, don’t run; it’ll only make things worse on your lungs. when you leave the area, take a cold shower. don’t use hot water (it will only reactivate the agent); don’t bathe (it will only spread the CS around). (source 1) (source 2) (cdc fact sheet on tear gas)

move them to a clean and ventilated area where it’s as safe as possible.

ask them if they’re wearing contact lenses. have them remove it. if they’re wearing glasses, rinse it with water.

solution of half liquid antacid, half water. spray from the inside going out, with the head tilted back and slightly towards the side being rinsed. if they say it’s okay, open the eye slightly while doing this. (source)

bullet wounds: the most important thing is to stop the bleeding. be sure to check for an exit wound and cover that as well. treat both wounds, but treat the worse one first.

stop the bleed (youtube video by uc san diego health)

first aid in active shooting scenarios

making a tourniquet (a commercial tourniquet is best, but improvised ones can work as well if done properly; the most important things to remember is that tourniquets are for limb injuries and are not meant for the head or torso and that they have to be very tightly wound on the injury.)

how to apply pressure dressings

miscellaneous

adult cpr tutorial (youtube video by cincinnati children’s; think of “staying alive” by the beegees or “uptown funk”)

4. be a source of information

be responsible with this. people’s lives are at stake. that being said, the media is a fucking joke and the best way to get accurate information in a grassroots rebellion is amongst ourselves. record everything, but if you are going to share any information at all, be sure to blur people’s faces.

signal (encrypted messenger app; messages delete after x amount of time): app store | google play

tool for scrubbing metadata from images and selectively blurring identifiable features

tech tips to protect yourself while protesting (by rey.nbows on tiktok, via vicent_efl on twitter)

cop spotting 101 (google docs)

know your rights (by personachuu on twitter)

NUMBERS TO CALL FOR ARRESTED PROTESTORS (ALPHABETICAL ORDER; SOURCES LINKED TO THE NUMBER)

remember to keep phones OFF unless absolutely necessary. cell phone towers, stingrays, location notifs can all be used to track you and other protestors. don’t fuck around. if your phone must be on, keep it on airplane mode as often as possible and only communicate using encrypted methods. no, snapchat doesn’t count. (a twitter thread on stingrays, for those interested)

lawyers assisting protestors pro-bono (by riyakatariax on twitter)

atlanta: 404-689-1519

chicago: 773-309-1198

minneapolis: 612-444-2654

5. miscellaneous links and links for protestors

masterpost of petitions to sign, numbers to call, places to donate, and more (carrd by dehyedration on twitter)

#blacklivesmatter (google docs by ambivaIcnt on twitter; includes information on relevant events, other masterposts, lists of petitions and donation links, how to protest safely and protests to go to, and more)

george floyd action (google docs; includes information on apps to download, supplies to buy and donate, places to donate to, protest safety, resources on unlearning racial bias, and more)

how to get out of ziptie “handcuffs” (by finnianj on tiktok, via katzerax on twitter)

how can i help? by @abbiheartstaylor

how to make a signal-blocking cell phone pouch

tips for protestors by @aurora00boredealis

twitter thread for protestors (by vantaemuseum on twitter)

here’s a list of black owned businesses, from dehyedration’s carrd

black owned businesses affected by protests (by theylovetraviee on twitter)

black/poc–owned businesses damaged by protests in dallas (by nyahnderthal on twitter)

this is the bay area black owned business fund

we love lake street to help rebuild lake street, minneapolis, mn

minnesota rapid response coalition

help oakland chinatown recover

ATLANTA

LOUISVILLE

HOUSTON

BROOKLYN

i took this picture before leaving work the other day . . . ב is for

But…the structure of the stitches and the resulting fabric is pretty different between crochet and knitting.  You get different effects between them, which lends themselves to different crafts.  And none of the effects of (most) crochet stitches lend themselves naturally to socks.  You’re (usually) going to end up with something either stiff and bulky, or full of holes that will Not Feel Good to walk on. Whereas knitted socks will just…BE elastic and comfortable.

Sure you CAN do it.  And there are people and patterns that do it well!!

But MOST crochet socks are a bit like calling this a bicycle

I mean… Okay?  But people are going to Talk.

i’m sure some of them are unintentional rather than premeditated scammers but they’re all still thieving assholes who shouldn’t be running businesses and need to give all the money back.

the olympics commitee: ravelry, well-known knitting (fiber arts in general) site, held a contest they called the ‘ravelympics’ to drum up olympic support then get a cease-and-desist letter for copyright infringement, and the letter said that calling it that ‘denigrates the true nature of the Olympic Games’ and was ‘disrespectful to our country’s finest athletes’

except, you know, ravelry had like 2 million users who all, by nature of ravelry being a website, have basic tech literacy. the social media backlash was so bad that the olympics board had to make 2 official apologies because the first wasn’t good enough.

RHSS: Red Heart Super Saver is cheap Walmart-level yarn. some people hate it because it used to be just really fucking awful and they haven’t bothered updating their opinions. some people hate it because they hate non-natural yarns. some people hate it because they’re yarn snobs(which, btw, comes in two flavors: the disdainful assholes and the people who just don’t see the point if you have the money and don’t indulge yourself). a lot of people defend it because it’s cheap and widely locally available and honestly not that bad after a wash and some fabric softener.

crocheted socks: exactly what kaitoukitty said. people who crochet socks tend to either be new crocheters who are not aware crochet is not the best medium for socks or experienced crocheters who are pushing the boundaries of the medium.

babies on fire: i can’t believe we’re talking about yarncraft controversies and no one mentioned babies on fire. that’s my favorite controversy.

so when deciding what material to make baby blankets out of, in addition to considerations like softness, ease of washing, and allergy concerns quite a lot of people like to consider what would happen to the baby if the blanket was set on fire. yes, really.

wool has the problem of hand-wash only blankets for a new mother (superwash wool exists but that’s a whole ‘nother paragraph), allergy concerns, and also real fucking expensive if you want quality not-itchy-on-baby-skin wool. but pro-wool-blanket people insist that because wool actually resists being set on fire pretty well and also can self-extinguish, it’s the only sensible choice.

"Well, there's a synagogue just down the street and its Rosh Hashana. They should have plenty of honey."

The bee flies off to the synagogue. After a couple of hours he comes back.

"So, how was it? Did you find any honey?"

"Oh yes, there was lots of it."

"What's that little hat on your head?"

"Oh this? It's called a yarmulke."

"Why are you wearing it?"

"I didn't want them to think I was a wasp."