it must be always night

Aro and ace activism is healthcare reform, so that no one needs to rely on a spouse for health insurance, so that healthcare is available to everybody regardless of income, so that no one’s lived experiences or basic dignity are dismissed or overridden by doctors

Aro and ace activism is well-funded and expansive public transit, so that you don’t need to have someone on hand to drive you places if you are incapacitated, so that you don’t have to pay for an ambulance if you need to get to the hospital quickly

Aro and ace activism is disability and elder care services, so that no one needs a spouse to care for them, so that no one needs children to care for them, so that marriage is not a bind for disabled people, so that people on disability who want to and can live alone can

Aro and ace activism is community-building, it’s public events, it’s free social activities, it’s mutual aid, it’s activities that bring community members together without socializing relying on just a romantic partner

Aro and ace activism is developing a culture of believing when people tell you who they are and what they want rather than assuming you know them better than they know themselves

I'm only about half way through, but I feel pretty comfortable recommending it, especially to people who are very new to thinking about abolition, or even people who are skeptical of it but willing to read with an open mind. Purnell starts from a politic I'd describe as "send the killer cops to jail" liberalism and then moves left, tracing her steps along the way.

I think many people who approach abolitionists with a long line of reformist questions ("what if police had more training and accountability structures? what if police had to be from the community and reflect racial demographics of the area they're policing? what if we replicate policing models from this other area of the world? what if--?) will find this book useful, as she genuinely does address virtually every possibility outside of abolition and why it does not work (with specific analysis, historical precedent, and life experience organizing for change).

what do I mean by this? here's an example. when my surgery is delayed multiple times, I spend a little time looking up (there is only one surgeon in the entire area who will perform this surgery on trans people, so every trans person's surgical timeline is bottle-necked and delayed by months every time he goes to a conference or takes a vacation or experiences an injury. in other words, if I was cis, I would not encounter this difficulty in accessing surgery). and then I spend time looking down (due to nonstop harassment and legal threats, this practice now only treats adults and will no longer perform surgeries on minors. in other words, my access to surgery is predicated on adult privilege I have at the direct expense of trans youth's lack of access).

had the very lovely chance to do a rug hook pillowcase commission for hamotzi! ^^

(below are some detail shots of the sewing :0 )