December 13, 2015
by CJ
- Cab drivers blocked main roadways in protest of Uber Wednesday and many Torontonians were pissed: Desmond Cole reminds us protest isn’t about providing great service or catering to public opinion; it’s about disrupting daily life and giving voice to those subjected to corrupt and exploitative labour practices. Also: fangmeli’s analysis of the taxi fight brilliantly considers technological progress, exploitation, living wage, race, and the problem with work.
- Former Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw was found guilty of many, many serious charges made against him Friday. Here are the thirteen women who accused him of assault, in their own words (major TW for sexual assault, violence)
- An open letter to all non-Muslim allies wanting to support Muslims:
If you have a Muslim work colleague, check in. Tell them that the news is horrifying and you want them to know you’re there for them.
If you have neighbors who are Muslim, keep an eye out for them. If you’re walking your kids home from the bus stop, invite their kids to walk with you.
Talk to your kids. They’re picking up on the anti-Muslim message. Make sure they know how you feel and talk to them about what they can do when they see bullying or hear hate speech at school.
Call out hate speech when you hear it—if it incites hatred or violence against a specified group, call it out: in your living room, at work, with friends, in public. It is most important that you do this among folks who may not know a Muslim.
- The Trudeau government announced it’s inquiry into murdered and missing Indigenous women this week, and the CBC is continuing its investigation into unresolved cases. You can read some of these women’s stories here.
- How climate change will transform work, and why the Global South needs more than wind turbines, organic farms, and green economies to mitigate ecological crisis.
- “I starved, in other words, to acquire that old classical capability: metamorphosis. We tell stories for the same reason—to transform, elevate, and save.” Against the false narratives of anorexia.
- One of my New Year’s resolutions is to purchase a sex toy that works really well solo & with others and does not look like a real & terrifying penis. This article will help me with that.
- If you struggle with self care may I suggest this interactive guide. I found it incredibly helpful; take your time with it.
- WUT are postpartum pads for? And other tips on what to expect after you birth a human.
- As a habitual sorry sayer, I found this comic helpful (but like, no shame in saying sorry, esp. when playing the board game or dancing to that song)
- “Trapped in the version of ourselves we expect others to like, to consume.” I wish I wrote this TNI piece on sleep paralysis and the dysphoria of self-recognition under precarity.
- My love for astrology was rejuvenated by this piece on the stars: “To consider that the shy person is sometimes wild, the considerate person sometimes duplicitous, is to practice something rather like empathy.”
- 5 questions to consider when dating while fat.
- Learning body positivity at the museum, men talking about body image, and a Dear Sugar episode featuring Lindy West on what it means to be a fat woman in our society.
- Willow Smith dropped an album Bey-style and it’s sounding very good.
- Grimes Skypes with Taiwanese rapper Aristophanes, says smart things about being the boss of your own creative process, and dresses up as various “art angels.”
This is not a world for love poems. I wish it were. I wish my heart could feed a love poem, but this heart needs convincing to walk outside. I’d like to write a love poem some day, but I need to be taught how. I need to know I’m allowed, and I deserve it.
- “If we shun men — in theory, in practice, in internet memes — how can we include them in the conversation about consent at all?” What consent means to men.
- Thrilled about this reading list on one of my fave topics: Women and their relationship to alcohol
GUTS editrix Natalie is flying across the country to come visit me (but also tbh her family and other dear friends) right now!!! I really can’t wait so I’m just going to lay with the pup near the empty fireplace until she arrives and sheds her warmth and wisdom on us. Have a great Sunday, friends. XOXO