☆ Solar Punk ☆

The right wing is constantly doing vigilante shit and imposing life, interpersonal, economic, and mental consequences on marginalized folks and those who support them for the crime of existing and being oppressed. They’ll publicly lynch 16 year old Black girls, 19 year old trans girls, burn down abortion clinics, shoot up literally anywhere, destroy/damage houses, and so much more.

And we.. protest and maybe do graffiti. Organize to “vote blue no matter who” type bullshit. We don’t even punch Nazis anymore lmfao. A lot of the non-white organizers and activists who became publicly known for stuff like taking down confederate flags, action in 2020, etc. in the past decade are dead or in jail now, often likely because of vigilante/cop action.

Iunno. I’m one Black tranny cripple and my literal ability to do.. anything, anymore is minimal. But I feel like I’m losing my mind watching almost nothing happen here while elsewhere resisters are literally dismantling weapons factories piece by piece until they can’t function.

“Paris was loved, remembered as “unapologetically Paris,” and deserved to be named with dignity.”

Opened Twitter, scrolled for 27 seconds, learned about Jor’Dynn Duncan, a 7 year old Black girl who was tortured to death over months with 90 stab wounds, by three white women (step-grandmother, step-mother, and step-sister) in Long Island after courts granted the step-mother custody over her.

If you're a member of your local library, find their social media and say something nice about these programs and posts, please? Especially if you're in one of the less liberal leaning areas. It would mean a lot to us. And attend them too! Say something nice about a Pride display (or any themed display) if you're in the building!

Two Korean activists who were detained by Israeli forces after attempting to break the siege on Gaza and deliver aid recounted abusive treatment by their captors to local press on Thursday.

“After fully armed Israeli soldiers searched my body, I was dragged alone to a dark shipping container. The lights switched on, and whenever I looked at the light, they hit me in the face. Whenever my head was bowed, I was forced to look back up at the light,” said Kim A-hyun, 28, an anti-war activist who also goes by the name Haecho.

“[The Israeli soldiers] had tactical gloves on. After I was dealt a second blow to my cheek, I could hear a shrill sound in my ear. Following the third, I started to bleed from my nose and started to gag,” she said.

Kim Dong-hyeon, another activist who had participated in a humanitarian aid flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip, testified to similar conditions.

“My hands were tied, my body was searched, and I was continuously pummeled and kicked as I was being taken away. My wrists kept bleeding on account of having been bound so tightly, and I couldn’t feel my hands. My entire body, including my head and my legs, was in excruciating pain,” he said.

“When I started hyperventilating, I began to think that it was very likely that I might die,” he went on.

The two activists claim that they suffered serious health issues, including muscle damage and hearing loss, after being assaulted during their detention.

...

Kim A-hyun was diagnosed with a perforated eardrum as a result of the beatings she took to the face. Jonathan Victor “Seungjoon” Lee, a Korean American who was arrested alongside her, sustained a broken rib and other injuries after being tased.

“We are witnessing symptoms of rhabdomyolysis, which are usually apparent in victims of industrial accident cases involving crushes or those who have been severely injured in traffic accidents. The activists were released on Wednesday, but if that had been delayed by even a day and they had been subjected to more beatings, they would have suffered from severe harm,” said Dr. Lim Sang-hyuk, the director of Green Hospital.

The activists gave detailed testimonies of the abuse and torture they suffered during their arrest and aboard the prison boat.

“As soon as we boarded the boat, they pointed guns at us and subjected us to body searches. They hurled racist insults and curses at us the entire time. Male-passing people were tasered, while women and people perceived as female were subjected to sexual abuse,” said Kim A-hyun.

It's autumn olive season on the east coast, so I figured I'd share one of my favorite pages from my fruit foraging zine! You can do your local ecosystem a solid this fall by eating this invasive fruit & helping curb its spread.

Farming While Black by Leah Penniman

"Some of our most cherished sustainable farming practices have roots in African wisdom. Yet, discrimination and violence against African-American farmers has led to their decline from 14 percent of all growers in 1920 to less than 2 percent today, with a corresponding loss of over 14 million acres of land.  Further, Black communities suffer disproportionately from illnesses related to lack of access to fresh food and healthy natural ecosystems. Soul Fire Farm, cofounded by author, activist, and farmer Leah Penniman, is committed to ending racism and injustice in our food system. Through innovative programs such as the Black-Latinx Farmers Immersion, a sliding-scale farmshare CSA, and Youth Food Justice leadership training, Penniman is part of a global network of farmers working to increase farmland stewardship by people of color, restore Afro-indigenous farming practices, and end food apartheid.

And now, with Farming While Black, Penniman extends that work by offering the first comprehensive manual for African-heritage people ready to reclaim their rightful place of dignified agency in the food system. This one-of-a-kind guide provides readers with a concise “how-to” for all aspects of small-scale farming" - farmingwhileblack.org

If you go to any given store, you’ll probably have to spend ~$3 (USD) per packet of seed, that adds up quickly if you have big plans for growing your own food.  Here are a few ideas for how to get cheap/free plants for your upcoming garden.

The Free Seed Project - www.robgreenfield.org/freeseedproject/ USA ONLY. If you can’t afford seeds, are growing food for others, and/or a first-time gardener you can sign up to get seeds through the free seed project.  In 2020 they were able to send out seed packets to 5,000 families/groups and this year they are hoping to do 10,000.  Their seed packets contain ~12 different kinds of seeds including carrots, kale, and herbs.  This is completely free, no postage charges.

Free Heirloom Seeds - www.freeheirloomseeds.org They have sent seeds internationally before, contact them for details.  Free Heirloom Seeds will send 4 free packets of seeds per year to any household that signs up.  There are many many varieties to choose from.  They ask for donations ($1.25 (cheaper than SASE)) to cover shipping, but will send you seeds anyway if you can’t afford that. If you’re looking to buy seeds for an entire garden, they suggest a $10 donation to cover shipping for 15 packets of seeds.

Bees are very good for gardens. you want bees and other pollinators around as often as they can stay. All bees help by pollinating plants, spreading their seeds (Especially the ones that have floating seed types), and keeping your plants Healthy!

Plants you should plant

Lavender -- provides a lot of nectar for bees, while at the same time repelling Mosquitoes Bee Balm -- A good pollinator magnet! Repels deer & Mosquitoes Marigold -- Naturally repels aphids, mosquitoes, and nematodes. very good for bees! Salvia -- low-maintenance, drought tolerant and good for bees & butterflies, deters rabbits & deer Coreopsis -- Long-lasting blooms perfect for bees and your garden! Coneflower -- nectar-rich blooms, their deep roots improve soil and their blooms stay open very long. Oregano -- its strong scent repels pests like aphids and cabbage moths, while attracting butterflies and bees. Zinnia -- are easy to grow in sun and heat, excellent cut flowers, and an excellent trap crop for pests like aphids, protecting your garden and vegetables Basil -- it's a fantastic companion plant that repels pests, attracts beneficial pollinators, while also enhancing the flavor and growth of nearby vegetables. Rosemary -- its strong scent repels pests like mosquitoes, flies, etc, while attracting pollinators (bees, butterflies) with its flowers Thyme -- Its pungent aroma confuses and repels common pests, Tiny flowers provide nectar for bees, Thrives in dry, rocky soil, requiring little water.

Ideas you can implement

Bee houses and hotels !! Bee baths (shallow water in bird baths for the bees. If it's too steep, keep a rock in the center to provide a safe spot for bees to rest. Plant trees with bees in mind Skip pesticides Skip weeding potential helpful plants like wildflowers or dandelions. Delay pruning until spring Educate kids on bees Don't kill any bees, make sure you let them go safely outside. Buy local honey, or ask someone to harvest the honey for you if you can't do it yourself. Place hives where they'll get morning sun and afternoon shade Ensure good airflow around hive placement Avoid hybrid plants that don't produce much nectar Opt for organic gardening help. Don't use chemicals.

Bonus ideas

Invite your friends or siblings' kids over to learn about bees! Do a lot of research when planning your garden and keeping it bee-friendly! Plant in Masses: Create large patches of plants for bees to identify the location easily Choose plants that flower in spring, summer, and fall for continuous food. Leave some areas unmown, allow brush piles to build up, or add a log with drilled holes for solitary bees

Extra

If you are here, you need to not be.

The rest of you can (and really ought to!) reblog, but it's not your turn to talk. Just listen and reflect!

What DOES a good apology for antiblackness look like, to you?

Not a shitty twitter apology that dodges accountability. Not a genuine apology made to white fans to soothe their embarrassment and egos and maintain white solidarity.

What does an ACTUAL apology for antiblackness consist of, to you?

What actions do you need to see from people who claim to be better, to deserve your support despite a history of being unsafe?

Why do you think nonblack people feel they're entitled to grace, and what would actually EARN them your grace? What makes you not want to offer it at all?

The best someone could do is stop whatever anti-Black practices got them on the chopping block to begin with, make an internal vow to do better, and not look for external validation from ANYONE that they are, in fact, “better”. They need to be better for better’s sake.

"Maya angelou's family killed a pedophile that raped her, and that just traumatized her more. "I thought that I had caused the man’s death, because I had spoken his name. That was my seven-and-a-half-year logic. So I stopped talking for five years." Read I know why the caged bird sings."

and here is my comment:

the fantasy of killing a pedophile to defend your child is... an escape from reality. as with all fantasies where a single act of violence stands for a lifetime of effortful care. it lets us off the hook for the day to day labor of actually protecting the human beings around us. it gives us an excuse to look away from what abuse actually looks like.

it allows us to ignore that setting boundaries is a daily practice. it allows us to ignore the subtle ways in which we punish children for having boundaries. it allows us not to think about things we can do, the effort we can put in, in smaller repeated ways, to be kind and caring. to be safe to talk to.

it is a grand gesture that, were you to actually go through with it, would neither prevent the harm that you fear nor help your child to heal from it. it is an idea with no bearing on reality for 99.99% of people, while rape and abuse are a reality for a large fraction of people.

it is not useful to imagine killing a pedophile. it is not useful to claim you would kill a pedophile. it wouldn't be useful to actually attempt to kill a pedophile in almost any situation.

it is useful to think about how you can help your child know they can get help. they can say no. they can tell adults to stop. they deserve to be comfortable. they deserve to be informed.

the entire point of the post is that your child will not be saved by your imagined wrath. the entire point is that your day to day actions, and your attitude towards children as people, are more impactful to your child's well-being. far more realistic. more important.

not least because your child doesn't need you to be wrathful. they need your love. they need care. they need attention.

meanwhile, the public performance of wanting to kill child abusers doesn't do anything to child abusers. most child abusers believe they are doing the right thing for their children.

saying you want to kill abusers doesn't signal anything good to children, either. as others have said, it makes children more afraid to speak up and ask for help. that might be their mom, their coach, their troop leader. it gives those abusers leverage; the children cannot tell if they want things to be stable.

and it makes it harder for adults to BELIEVE children, too! because if their child was really abused, then they've staked their honor on committing that violence, even if it was against their brother or spouse or grandpa or pastor or neighbor or their other kid's favorite babysitter. and if they don't want to do that, well... then they must decide whether they believe completely their child, or whether their child's boundaries must really be respected, or... if maybe it's impossible to know.

how many abuse survivors have tried to disclose, only to be told that so-and-so wouldn't do that, or they didn't mean it, because so-and-so loves you and we all like so-and-so. this dichotomy goes both ways, psychologically. if a child abuser is entirely evil and has to be killed, then someone who's not entirely evil and i don't want to kill can't be a child abuser. this must be something else. there must be a mistake.