July 31, 2016
from Brett
This week my friend J sent me a snapchat tutorial on how to apply lipstick, something I have struggled with my whole life. The only other time I can remember feeling that loved and supported was when one of my sisters made me a workout video to the sweet sounds of Beyoncé’s “Love on Top.”
I really hope you get the attention you deserve this long weekend. Now, onto some of this week’s news and internet highlights:
- Husky is responsible for the 250,000 litres of oil that have spilled into the North Saskatchewan river, compromising the drinking water of communities and cities downstream from the spill. Muskoday First Nation has declared a state of emergency because the spill.
- The Toronto Star’s investigative report on the effects on mercury on Grassy Narrows First Nation is worth the read, and it’s also worth noting that Indigenous Nations have been commenting on and resisting environmental racism and colonialism long before this article was written.
- My Berry Fast, a piece on becoming a woman, ceremony, and learning.
- Gauge conversational sexism with this handy tool! Best part is, you never had to walk into a hardware store to get it. Omg, imagine using it in a hardware store.
- A list of 10 badass disabled women. I am particularly interested in Annette Kellermann’s swimwear line.
- A comic about gender, queerness, and desirability: queer TEN, straight ZERO.
- This is a two-part resource for bisexual women, by bisexual women all about coming out.
- Chelsea Manning might be further reprimanded following her suicide attempt.
- The Toronto Police Officer, James Forcillo, who shot and killed Sammy Yatim, has been sentenced to six years in prison.
- Abdirahman Abdi was murdered by Ottawa police officers on July 24th; here’s a statement from his family. Desmond Cole reminds us that, regardless of SIU investigation, “some kinds of police conduct are never acceptable.”
- An episode of Canadaland Commons about police violence in Canada.
- A piece on the mothers of those who have been murdered by police, as they make their mourning public: “What people don’t understand, or what I want people to understand, is that we’re doing this work, it’s not for our kids anymore. My son is dead. We do it for changes so another mother won’t have to feel the pain that we’re going through … It wasn’t for our sons. It was for the future.”
- In Poor Meme, Rich Meme, Aria Dean thinks about memes as a form of Black cultural production that both “reiterate the inequities between black creators and white appropriators, and [that] can also move us into a new collective blackness.” I highly recommend you read this piece for its rigorous use of Black studies to understand our everyday interactions with memery.
"All lives mat-" pic.twitter.com/vEv1S6Rk3K
— Safe (@YOUNGSAFE) July 28, 2016
- Eno Mfon, playwright and Bristol University graduate, called her alma mater on its systemic racism in a brilliant instagram post.
- A Litany For Miss Cleo, who passed away this week.
- Muna Mire writes about the intersections of anti-Blackness and Islamophobia, in Towards a Black Muslim Ontology of Resistance.
- Call for Submissions for Fermenting Feminism!
- Fact is, the world needs more trans women authors. You can help make this possible by supporting the inaugural Trans Women’s Writing Workshop.
- Precarious work remains precarious in Ontario, and the Employment Standards Act isn’t helping.
- Toronto’s cultural geography is informed by the cultural labour of Afro-Caribbean people—what does this mean for Drake’s use of dancehall and patios?
- WayHome music festival hosted festival-goers on sacred grounds without the consent of the Huron-Wendat.
- Ava Duvernay’s new documentary The 13th, about systemic racism, will be the first documentary ever to open the New York Film Festival—and she will be the first Black woman to open this festival. Don’t worry if you can’t make it to New York, the film will be available on Netflix in October!
- Hillary Clinton is officially the nominee of the Democratic Party for President of the United States. Despite having the first ever woman nominee for prez, it was really hard to find a tampon at the DNC. The highlight of all things DNC, in my opinion anyways, was Michelle Obama’s speech. It matters that she reminds us the White House was built by slaves.
- Canadian Premiers Clark, Wynne, and Notley are stoked for Clinton—but note that having a woman for president won’t end sexism in politics.
- Patreon is now allowing “Adult Content creators” to accept both paypal and credit cards, which is a major improvement from their previous policy. There are still restrictions on content, as Patreon has forbidden porn… So where does that leave us? I don’t know, but what I do know is that you can support GUTS on Patreon.
If I’ve missed any of your fave links, add them in the comments! And if you’ve got a tutorial you’d like to share with me, I’m on twitter.