the force is with you

(previous editions) bold = favourite

class & race

africa's lost languages: how english can fuel an identity crisis

asians out! not in this suburb. not in this apartment (australia)

canada mourns as remains of 215 children found at indigenous school

few classes, pizza for lunch and admission to top universities: the lifestyle of elite chinese secondary school students causes fury

the nt’s tough-on-crime approach won’t reduce youth offending. this is what we know works (australia)

tulsa massacre: the search for victims, 100 years on (usa)

gender & sexuality

safe sweden faces up to wave of women's killings

the gender biases that shape our brains

stop asking why she took the nude, start asking why he shared it

asian women on being sexually objectified and fetishised

the megacity where single women lie to rent flats (nigeria)

multiple-choice exams favour boys over girls, worsening the maths gender gap

politics, covid, & climate change

friday essay: searching for sanity in a world hell-bent on destruction

glaring vaccine gaps across the world are too big to ignore

wear your mask properly! uncovering the reasons behind public mask shaming (singapore)

why germany's namibia genocide apology is not enough

when we call people with strange behaviour mentally ill, we reinforce mental health stigma (singapore)

the dangers of politicised science

history, culture, & media

‘minari’: part of a wave of 2nd generation storytelling about what it means to participate in america

long working hours killing 745,000 people a year, study finds

a metropolis arose in medieval cambodia – new research shows how many people lived in the angkor empire over time

it’s a golden age for chinese archaeology — and the west is ignoring it

how a nigerian scheme forged in war creates billionaires

why i hate (well, hate is a strong word) the 5-paragraph rule and what i use instead! these examples are tailored to the humanities and social sciences, so keep in mind this might be different for other fields of study.

If you’ve been watching that new Fran Lebowitz series on Netflix, you might have noticed the bar they use for a lot of the interviews.

That’s The Grill, the bar and pool room inside The Players, a private club for the arts community on Gramercy Park in Manhattan.

It was originally the home of Edwin Booth, the greatest actor of his generation and - bizarrely - the brother of John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln’s assassin. As a way to give back to the arts and try to clear the family name, Booth established the club in 1888, keeping an apartment for himself on an upper floor. It’s still preserved there as a sort of museum, which apparently still smells of tobacco from his heavy smoking.

The pool table is the original one. Mark Twain played there and his pool cue is enshrined on the wall.

As one of the biggest clubs for the NYC acting community, the walls are lined with portraits of pretty much everyone you’ve ever heard of, many by painter Everett Raymond Kistler.

Architect Stanford White, of 19th century powerhouse neoclassical firm McKim Mead White, renovated the building from a mansion into the club and designed the heavy carved fireplace with the club’s theatre-mask logo.

In 1906, White was shot to death by Harry Thaw. the jealous husband of Evelyn Nesbit Thaw, a former model and lover of White’s, in front of dozens of witnesses at the premiere of the musical revue Mam’zelle Champagne at Madison Square Garden, later resulting in ‘The Trial of the Century;’ events dramatized in Milos Forman’s 1980 movie Ragtime.

The Great Hall is where large official functions are held, and it has a small stage for performances of works in progress.

The Players of course has a series of events for members, and an amazing library of theatre works as part of its Foundation for Theatre Education.

good day:

make coffee

regular day:

put water in coffee maker

put coffee in coffee maker

turn on coffee maker

bad day:

take pot from coffee maker

turn on sink

fill up coffee pot

turn off sink

pour water into coffee maker

put coffee pot in coffee maker

open cupboard

get coffee filter from cupboard

get coffee beans from cupboard

put filter in coffee pot

measure coffee

pour coffee into filter

close coffee maker

turn coffee maker on

“Racism, Birth Control and Reproductive Rights” in Women, Race and Class, 1981

“Race and Criminalization; Black Americans and the Punishment Industry” in The House that Race Built, ed. Wahneema Lubiano, 1997

“Political Prisoners, Prisons and Black Liberation”, originally from If They Come in the Morning: Voices of Resistance, ed. Angela Davis & Betty Aptheker, 1971

“Rape, Racism and the Myth of the Black Rapist” in Women, Race and Class, 1981

“I Used to be Your Sweet Mama: Ideology, Sexuality and Domesticity” in Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday, 1999

“From the Prison of Slavery to the Slavery of Prison: Frederick Douglass and the Convict Lease System” in The Angela Y. Davis Reader, ed. Joy James, 1998

Angela Davis: An Autobiography, 1974 [reprinted in 1988]

“Racialized Punishment and Prison Abolition” in The Angela Y. Davis Reader, ed. Joy James, 1998

“Reflections on the Black Woman’s Role in the Community of Slaves” in The Massachusetts Review , 1972

“Globalism and the Prison-Industrial Complex: An Interview with Angela Davis”, conducted by Avery F. Gordon, 1999

“Class and Race in the Early Women’s Rights Campaign” in Women, Race and Class, 1981

Are Prisons Obsolete, 2003

Pushed a law that forces schools to turn undocumented students over to ICE, separating them from their parents and violating human rights

Laughed about putting parents in jail if their kids missed school, disproportionately harming single parent households, the poor, and families of color like this one, including homeless mothers

Her office refused to address what the Supreme Court calls “unconstitutionally overcrowded” prisons specifically to perpetuate the exploitation of the mass incarcerated for slave labor close to $1/hour(she later claimed she didn’t know her own lawyers argued this.

Declined to prosecute Steven Mnuchin after his bank’s predatory lending and foreclosure fraud broke the law “over a thousand” times and ruined the lives of thousands of homeowners, keeping him free to donate to her campaign and become Trump’s Treasury Secretary

Spent years jailing disproportionately black nonviolent cannabis users while opposing taking cannabis off DEA’s list of most dangerous substances and literally laughing at the idea of legalizing it multiple times, even as her Republican opponent ran to the left of her on the issue. She then tried to pander by admitting to smoking herself despite prosecuting others, but got her story all wrong, and even offended her own Jamaican family to the point they’ve disassociated with her

Used a technicality to stop the release of a man serving 27 years-to-life after being wrongfully convicted of possession of a knife under the three-strikes law she supported. When civil rights groups and nearly 100,000 petition signatures got him released after 14 years she took him back to court again for a crime he didn’t commit

Opposed reforming California’s three-strikes law, which is the only one in the country to impose life sentences for minor felonies and incarcerates black people at 12x the rate as white people, three different times, even while her Republican opponent supported reform

Appealed a judge ruling that the death penalty was unconstitutional and won on a technicality, resulting in continued executions

When evidence pointed towards a black defendant being framed by police, Harris avoided DNA testing to keep him on death row

Protected serial child rapists by refusing to prosecute in the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal

Lied about her state’s solitary confinement to block a suit by inmates, claiming there was none in California when there were about 6,400 victims of the practice, which is considered torture

Oversaw a state prosecutor falsifying a confession to get a life sentence and then destroyed the evidence, upheld a conviction secured by a prosecutor lying under oath, and oversaw the framing of another man

Opposed legislation that would require independent investigation of fatal police shootings despite criticism from many civil rights advocates including California’s Legislative Black Caucus

Opposed statewide implementation of police body cameras and ignored police brutality, multiple officers raping a teenager, and other officers sharing racist and homophobic messages, despite multiple requests from the public defender

Refused to hand over the names of police whose testimonies led to convictions despite the officers’ arrest records and past misconduct

Tried to deny a transgender inmate healthcare and endangered trans women by forcing them into mens prisons, leading to the rape and torture of at least one trans inmate

Stood by silently as $730 million was spent on moving inmates to for-profit private prisons

Delayed the confiscation of illegal firearms from dangerous people, then posed a “continued risk to public safety” by failing to implement changes state auditors recommended to fix this despite receiving $24 million specifically for this purpose

Voted two different times to block federal funding for abortions

Following the foreclosure fraud scandal she negotiated a deal great for banks but bad for the ruined homeowners, becoming one of Wall Street’s favorite candidates to fundraise for

Voted to give Trump increased military spending two different times.

Supports Trump escalating war in Syria

Co-sponsored the bill that let Trump impose sanctions on Iran which violated the nuclear deal and lead to the currently rising tensions

“Systematically violated defendants’ civil and constitutional rights” in crime lab scandal

Kept her Orange County DA office from being charged for running an unconstitutional jailhouse informant program they tried to cover up.

Oversaw San Francisco’s felony conviction rate rising from 52% to 67% in only 3 years

As part of her tough on crime approach she assigned senior prosecutors to misdemeanors like graffiti and vandalism, tripling the number of cases brought to trial

Mocks the activist call to “build more schools, less jails”

Supports collecting and keeping DNA from people even if they’ve not been charged with a crime

Defended the discriminatory practice of cash bail in court as recently as June 2016

Supports Israel’s right-wing government and cozies up to AIPAC, co-sponsored resolution against Obama in support of illegal settlements, does not support Palestinian rights, and calls BDS “anti-semitic”

Claimed to be unaware of sexual harassment and retaliation by her top aide over a 6 year span

Sponsored a bill allowing for prosecutors to seize profits before charges are even filed and opposed a bill that would reform civil asset forfeiture

Defended a prison’s religious discrimination in hiring policy

Opposed calls to tear down 700 miles of existing border wall/fence

Fought to limit amount of land indigenous tribes could place in trust and tried to take reservation land away from a tribe just to keep them from evicting a non-indigenous man who had lived there without paying rent for 24 years

Is a latecomer in endorsing Medicare for All and already appears to be backtracking on multiple aspects of it

Refused to review a case in which a pharmaceutical CEO killed his wife but made it look like a suicide after their son died under mysterious circumstances as well

Refused to prosecute PG&E for its massive gas pipeline explosion and now its consultants are running her campaign

Did not properly investigate the San Onofre scandal to protect her political allies.

Refused to investigate Herbalife’s exploitation and fraud, receiving donations from people connected to the corporation

Her associate operated a fake police force but somehow all charges were dismissed

Refuses to support AB5 to give gig workers like rideshare drivers basic employee rights (her brother-in-law & niece are high-up in Uber)

Opposed legalization of sex work, endangered sex workers, and oversaw people being charged for prostitution without even agreeing to sex

Endangered the public by supporting legislation that increased the homeless sex offender population 24x in 3 years, then appealed a court’s ruling that it was unconstitutional. Her Republican opponent ran to the left of her on this issue

Accepted thousands of dollars of campaign funds from Donald and Ivanka Trump multiple times

I have a compilation of my absolute favourite love letters

as for poems:

“Having a Coke with You” “For Grace, After a Party” and “Morning Poem” by Frank O’Hara

“Our Beautiful Life When It’s Filled With Shrieks” by Christopher Citro

“Elegy for My Sadness” and “Song of the Anti-Sisyphus” by Chen Chen

“Intifada Incantation: Poem 38 for b.b.L.” “Poem for My Love” and various poems for Haruko by June Jordan

“One Last Poem for Richard” by Sandra Cisneros

“Snow and Dirty Rain” by Richard Siken

“Wish” and “In Time” by W. S. Merwin

“A Pity, We Were Such a Good Invention” by Yehuda Amichai

“Like a Small Café, That’s Love” by Mahmoud Darwish

“Other Lives and Dimensions and Finally A Love Poem” by Bob Hicok

“For M” by Mikko Harvey

“To Kiss a Forehead” by Marina Tsvetaeva

“When I Tell My Husband I Miss The Sun, He Knows” by Paige Lewis

“The Quiet World” by Jeffrey McDaniel

“Morning Love Poem” by Tara Skurtu

“[Of all the things I have done, I am most proud of our relationship]” and “Aubade” by Yanyi

‘…My school is older than your entire town.’

‘Sorry, you think *how far* is okay to travel for a shopping trip?’

“All right, it’s going to be a long bus ride, so make sure you’re prepared for that.”

We all brace ourselves.  A long bus ride?  How long?  We’re Americans; a long bus ride for us is a minimum of six hours with the double digits perfectly plausible.  We can handle a twelve hour bus ride as long as we get a bathroom break.

The answer.  “Two hours.”

                                         Racist Brands

Chanel

Chanel has been repeatedly accused of racially profiling Black customers and last year they hired a white woman as head of their “diversity and inclusion” department.

Gucci

Gucci has a complicated history with the Black community, stemming from them all but trying to destroy Dapper Dan’s business only to hire him two decades later. Most recently they came under fire for releasing a sweater that had suspiciously Blackface elements and stealing designs from Black designers.

Prada

Prada has a similar history and they recently had to apologize after releasing a collection of monkey key chains.

Dior

Dior’s most recent fragrance campaign came under fire for racist undertones but a Black Hollywood stylist also gave BET.com an account of an incident that she had with a brand. The stylist requests to remain anonymous says, “they compromised our creative relationship by not following through on requests and instead loaning looks that were promised to me to white actors instead.”

Celine

Celine’s branding is notoriously extremely thin and extremely white. A quick scroll of their social media will reveal exactly their opinion on Black lives.

Barney’s 

Before going bankrupt, Barney’s had to pay out a settlement in a racial discrimination case of $525k to two plantiffs. 

Moda Operandi

A former employee of the company released this thread on Moda Operandi, citing several micro aggressions she suffered there. 

Burberry

Burberry issued an apology after releasing a sweater featuring a noose motif.

Tommy Hilfiger

In 1996, Tommy Hilfiger famously made comments against the Black community and has since clarified what he meant, but the hurt in the community lingers. 

Moschino 

Managers discriminated against black customers who did not appear to be rich or famous.

“If a potential black client was not a celebrity and did not have an outward appearance of money via diamonds or name brands, defendant [Ranna] Selbak called them a ‘Serena’ to other sales associates and wanted the ‘Serena’ to be closely watched,” according to the complaint.

Versace

A former male Versace employee sued Versace for allegedly firing him after his manager realized he was Black.

Zara

Zara was accused of using racial code words for black and Latinx customers. The Center for Popular Democracy surveyed 251 Zara employees in New York City about the retailer’s practices. Poll respondents said that when the term “special order” was used at the store, employees were to find the location of the shoppers in question and follow them around. Black customers were most often described as “special orders,” according to the survey results.

Reformation 

They were criticised for their internal practices by a black former employee, Elle Santiago. Santiago said she was denied work promotions in favor of white colleagues, as well as being ignored by the company founder, Yael Aflalo, because of her race.

“Being overlooked and undervalued as a woman of color who worked and managed their flagship store for three years was the hardest,” Santiago wrote in an Instagram post picked up by industry watchdog Diet Prada. “I cried many times knowing [that] the color of my skin would get me nowhere in the company.” 

Urban Outfitters

“As one of very few PoC [people of color] I quickly noticed the toxic environment I’d joined,” says the former employee, who wishes to remain anonymous. “Within my first month my manager made a flippant racist comment in regards to an Uber I’d called; the driver’s name was Muhammad. Her comment was, ‘You would get a Muhammad’ – in what I can only take as a comment made because of my heritage.

“There’s no PoC in the executive team and very little representation of PoC in head office, on the website, marketing campaigns and within the retail management teams.”

The company has a history of producing offensive items of clothing, including a seemingly blood-spattered T-shirt seen as a reference to the 1970 Kent State shootings; a T-shirt in a color named “Obama/Black”; another featuring a six-pointed badge, which seemed to allude to the Star of David badge that Jewish people were forced to wear during the Holocaust; and a racially insensitive Navajo line which used the Navajo nation name illegally.

Dolce & Gabbana

Ads, featured a Chinese woman struggling to eat spaghetti and pizza with chopsticks.

Comme des Garçons

White models wore wigs of traditional Black people’s hairstyles during its men’s autumn/winter 2020 show.

                                             BLACK BRANDS

ASATA MAISE

This designer transforms vintage fabrics into unique pieces that are made to be photographed. I mean, this whole slideshow of looks is A-R-T. Of course, being a one-person business can be overwhelming, so if you have the means, you can donate to Asata’s GoFundMe which will provide her with equipment to keep up with demand.

Website: asatamaise.com

MIE

If dreamy, flowy dresses are up your alley, you definitely want to give this brand a follow. All the pretty pieces, including this stunning red puff-sleeve number, are made by local seamstresses and artisans in Lagos, Nigeria where it’s based.

Website: mie.ng

JBD Apparel

Kim Kardashian recently gave this brand a shoutout, and it’s easy to see why she’s a fan of these body-hugging knit sets. All the pieces are handmade to order.

Website: jbdapparel.com

PHLEMUNS

Another celeb fave is this gender-neutral brand designed by James Flemons and based out in Los Angeles. Solange Knowles, Lizzo, Billie Eilish, Clairo, Lil Nas X, Miley Cyrus, and Bella Hadid have all worn its designs.

Website: phlemuns.com

RIOT SWIM

Looking for a truly standout swimwear piece to add to your summer wardrobe? Check out this label designed by Monti Landers featuring minimalistic silhouettes and shades that blend in seamlessly with darker skin tones.

Website: riotswim.com

COME BACK AS A FLOWER 

Specializing in hand-dyed garments, the pieces are ethically made using 100 percent recycled cotton. It also does drops of cool vintage tees, and stars like ASAP Rocky and Big Sean have worn its clothes.

Website: cbaaf.org

HUMANS BEFORE HANDLES 

This jewelry label has some of the cutest accessories for summer (eyeing these seashell ones, wow), and most impressive is the fact that everything is under $50.

Website: humansbeforehandles.com

LAQUAN SMITH

Here’s a real celeb fave (Rihanna, Beyoncé, and sooo many more have worn his pieces). Go to LaQuan Smith for any of your glam/sexy outfit needs, please! 

Website: laquansmith.com

BROTHER VELLIES

Founder Aurora James creates truly one-of-a-kind shoes (please look at this pair of mesh boots topped with feathers) and small leather goods that are handmade by artisans around the world.

Website: brothervellies.com

CUSHNIE

Designer Carly Cushnie’s sleek styles have been worn by the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Ashley Graham, and Lupita Nyong’o, btw.

Website: cushnie.com

JADE SWIM

Need a swimsuit? You’re going to want one of these pretty, minimal designs by former fashion editor and stylist Brittany Kozerski.

Website: jadeswim.com

CHRISTOPHER JOHN ROGERS

The 26-year-old designer from Louisiana was one of the hottest tickets at New York Fashion Week in February 2020, and high-profile ladies like Michelle Obama and Cardi B. have worn his unique, colorful pieces. Find his clothing exclusively at Net-a-Porter online.

Website: christopherjohnrogers.com

MATEO NEW YORK

Matthew Harris of Mateo New York is a self-taught jewelry designer hailing from Montego Bay, Jamaica, and living in NYC. Shop here for beautifully minimal 14k-gold fine jewelry.

Website: mateonewyork.com

TELFAR

Looking for something truly magical and out there? Consider designer Telfar Clemens, whose hybrid pieces (hello, “sweatpant jeans” and “scarf-collar shirt”) really stand out.

Website: telfar.net

FENTY

DUH.

Website: fenty.com

PYER MOSS

Founded by designer Kerby Jean-Raymond in 2013, Pyer Moss uses its platform for social change, storytelling, and activism as well as art and design. For shopping, come for the bright, matching suits, glam, and pleated gowns and stay for comfy sweats and jeans.

Website: pyermoss.com