Tumblr pro.

Coming out on April 19th, 2022: The Memory Librarian, by Janelle Monaé with collaborators. “In this moving, triumphant collection, singer Monáe returns to the dystopian world of her Dirty Computer concept album and short film. These five sci-fi shorts, each written with a different coauthor, explore the consequences of a totalitarian regime that, in pursuit of a pure society, monitors its citizens’ identities, thoughts, and relationships and scrubs clean the memories and personhoods of those who are labeled deviant.” (Publishers Weekly) The book is set against a totalitarian backdrop and will explore different threads of liberation—queerness, race, gender plurality, and love—and how they become tangled when we try to unravel and weave them into freedoms.

National Book Award longlist Alaya Dawn Johnson is collaborating on the lead novella, “The Memory Librarian.” Sociologist and multi-genre author Eve L. Ewing is collaborating on the first of two short stories titled “Timebox,” while Sheree Renée Thomas, author, and editor of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, is collaborating on the second “Timebox” story. Stegner Fellow and author Yohanca Delgado are collaborating on the novella “Save Changes?” And, finally, multi-genre author Danny Lore is collaborating on the novella, “Nevermind.”

“The radical joy of this process has been creating space–creating narratives–within the Dirty Computer world, And to then have the opportunity to invite these talented writers into those narratives and swim in creative waters together–letting our ideas push each other even further–made it even more special,” said Monáe.“I have been an admirer of Janelle Monáe’s art and afro-futurist vision since The Chase Suite EP first dropped in 2007. It sounds like a cliché, but it has been a dream come true to be able to work with Janelle on this project, diving into this dystopian world a blink away from our own,” said Alaya Dawn Johnson.

“Working with Janelle and the Wondaland team was such a source of joy in a difficult year. Collaborating with creators that are multi-faceted and insistently expansive in their artistic vision reminded me that imagination really is the most vital form of resistance. It’s hard to feel hopeless when you’re busy imagining all the different ways in which the world could be transformed. I experience that sparkling, innovative energy in so much of Janelle’s work, and I hope readers will experience it in this collection, too,” said Yohanca Delgado.

There is currently a strike at Frito-Lay. in Topeka. These workers are striking because:

They were being forced to work 84 hour weeks. The company's best offer so far is a 60 hour cap. This is shit we fought for a century ago, people.

Their generous offer also includes a whole 4 percent wage increase...over the next 2 years. I'm not sure what COL is in Topeka, but... Well, it's better than the entire 77 cents they've apparently gotten in the last decade.

There's also a report that a worker literally collapsed and dropped dead on the line and the foreman's response was to make them move the body out of the way and put in a replacement. (However, this is unconfirmed and, of course, the company denies it).

There have been multiple OSHA violations at this plant over the last few years, including a forklift accident that's under investigation.

They've now been striking since July 5 but, of course, it only hit the national media yesterday.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/07/14/frito-lay-strike-forced-overtime/

So, why am I signal boosting this?

Because Frito-Lay is refusing to budge. They are attempting to make the excuse that union leadership agreed to the 60 hour work week and crappy pay cut...when union leadership only agreed to put it to a vote.

And this means that we need to put the thumbscrews on them. Remember, this is about 19th century style working conditions.

So, I'm calling on my followers to boycott Frito Lay's until the strike is involved.

Frito-Lay owns:

Lay's

Doritos (Sorry. I really am. I KNOW there's no good alternative to Doritos, although Zapp's are good if you can find them).

Fritos

Tostitos

Cheetos

Ruffles

Sun Chips

Baken-ets

Chester's

Cracker Jack

Islen plantain chips

Funyuns

Grandma's (the cookies)

Matador Meat Snacks

Maui style potato chips

Miss Vickie's

Munchies

Munchos

Rolled Gold

Sabritones

Santitas

Simply

Smartfood

Stacys

The Walking Taco

NatuChips

PopCorners (this one wasn't on their website, but was bought by Pepsi's in 2019 with the intent of adding it. So best avoided just in case). Yes, this really is more than half of the snack aisle. Suggested alternatives:

Kettle Brand Chips

Zapp's (If you can find them. My supermarket had them once and not since, so I'm guessing the culinary cowards in this neighborhood were afraid of "Voodoo" flavored chips).

Pringles

On the Border for salsa.

Wise Cheez Doodles

Bugles

Utz

Store own brand alternatives, if your store has ones that are any good.

Cheez-its

https://gofund.me/a7fb5498

This is someone I’ve interacted with, and she seems like a genuinely wholesome person. I just thought I’d share this on my biggest platform

Support black farmers ❤️

First of all, why the hell didn’t I know Janelle Monae and Tessa Thompson were gay? And second of all, why the hell didn’t anyone tell me they were dating (yes, Tumblr gays I’m looking at you!)

I mean, look at this cute shit!

My sister, who I live with, thought she couldn't get the vaccine because she doesn't have insurance.

I stopped seeing an allergist who said “Get rid of the cats and put that dog outside” as response to a description of my allergies, without ever giving me an allergy test.

(My next allergist actually did his due diligence and discovered that half the reason I couldn’t breathe was because I had allergic scar tissue in my sinuses).

I stopped seeing a gastroenterologist when he didn’t make an effort to learn my name, familiarize himself with the treatments I had tried that did not work, or read the list of known medicine allergies attached to my chart.

(He asked me when my last colonoscopy was LESS THAN 48HRS AFTER HE PERFORMED IT and re-prescribed me a medication that had hospitalized me)

I stopped seeing a certain psychologist because, despite my complaints about the damage that it was doing to my stomach lining, he wasn’t willing to switch my meds in favor of something less destructive.

(My next psychiatrist agreed to see me WEEKLY while she weaned me off the meds he had put me on, and spent months checking in with me and tweaking my medications until we found a medication that helped my depression sufficiently without killing my stomach.)

Don’t pay to see doctors who refuse to run tests!

Don’t pay to see doctors whose bedside manner makes you uncomfortable.

Don’t pay to see doctors who ignore your complaints about medications.

Encyclopedia of Black Comics (2017)

The Encyclopedia of Black Comics, focuses on people of African descent who have published significant works in the United States or have worked across various aspects of the comics industry. 

The book focuses on creators in the field of comics: inkers, illustrators, artists, writers, editors, Black comic historians, Black comic convention creators, website creators, archivists and academics—as well as individuals who may not fit into any category but have made notable achievements within and/or across Black comic culture.

By Sheena C. Howard

Get it now here

Sheena C. Howard, is the  Past Chair of the Black Caucus (NCA) and Associate Professor of Communication at Rider University. Howard is an award-winning author, including a 2014 Eisner Award winner for her first book, Black Comics: Politics of Race and Representation (2013). She is also the author of Black Queer Identity Matrix (2014) and Critical Articulations of Race, Gender and Sexual Orientation (2014). Howard has appeared on NPR (National Public Radio), 900 am WURD, Philadelphia Weekly and CCP-TV as well as other networks and documentaries as an expert on popular culture, race, politics and sexual identity negotiation. She has also written opinion pieces for the Trentonian and the Huffington Post.

Now before you call me racist, I want to establish that I’m black myself. I’m of Cameroonian descent.

The hotep people really bother me. It seems like these people have this creepy fascination and insistence with Egypt, and sometimes things like Japan and Native American culture, being racially black. BUT, it doesn’t seem like they actually take the time to research or learn about ACTUAL black kingdoms and civilizations. I was discussing this topic with a friend of mine, who’s very Afrocentric, and I brought up the Mali Empire. He had no fucking idea what the Mali Empire even was. Like seriously?! How can you be so prideful of a civilization your ancestors most likely didn’t even come from, but have no clue or any knowledge about one of west Africa’s most prosperous and advanced civilizations? It’s just, there are SO many other actual black civilizations that accomplished so much that get swept under the rug because of stupid Eurocentric ideals.  

I mean come on! The Mali Empire?

Kingdom of Kush? Egyptians fucking black neighbors from Sudan?!

Ghana Empire?

Kingdom of Axum? Or really just most of the horn of Africa…

Songhai Empire?

Kili Kisiwani?

Kingdom of Zimbabwe?

Kingdom of Benin? Where all this magnificant art comes from?

And these are just civilizations I can name off the top of my head! Sub-saharan africa had HUNDREDS of unique historical kingdoms and cities alone. I want to see more blog posts about pilgrimages to Timbuktu. I want to see more art about the Swahili. I want to see more African Ameircans take back their ACTUAL culture that was wrongfully forced away from them by evil slave masters. Screw Egypt, I want to see more west and central African rep.