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Expanding Vocabulary
I’ve realized we encounter new words daily—words we don’t understand but often ignore. This year, I’m committing to expanding my vocabulary and actually learning those meanings instead of glazing over them. Let’s level up our language game!
Arm Balances & Yoga Progress
Practicing yoga consistently has been one of the most rewarding pursuits I’ve taken on. Watching your progress over time—getting stronger and finally holding poses you couldn’t before—is such an empowering and fulfilling experience. It’s all about showing up and witnessing yourself grow!
Real Milk Only
Cow milk only. Fuck a nut milk.
Flipping the Script
After a breakup two years ago, I channeled some serious “fuckboy” energy—and honestly? It’s been fun. Owning that mentality and flipping the script feels liberating in a way. #WomenInMaleFields
Sports & Squads
There’s something special about watching sports with your crew and a beer in hand. It’s more than just the game—it’s the sense of community and the shared hype. Big vibes all around!
Calling Out Politicians
Politicians won’t save us. Change and revolution start with the people. We need to revisit and study the writings of true revolutionaries—especially Black authors like Angela Davis, Malcolm X, and Assata Shakur. Their work is more relevant than ever.
Jan 7, 2025
Related Recs
📚
i see you are reading machiavelli and i expect others can/will recommend you other classical political theory so i will recommend a mix of things that are not! those works can be useful but definitely should be read alongside a variety of other voices and perspectives
books:
- A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn - solid history book that intentionally avoids the nationalist lens in mainstream depictions of US history
- Our History Has Always Been Contraband ed. by Colin Kaepernick, Robin D. G. Kelley, and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor - great intro to Black social & political thought and the history of Black Studies
- Normal Life by Dean Spade - very dense, a critique of the gay rights movement by a trans lawyer
- Mutual Aid by Dean Spade & The Care Manifesto by The Care Collective - accessible, short books that criticize contemporary social services and div of labor in care work
- Elite Capture by Olúfémi O Táíwò - critique of identity politics
- Transgender History by Susan Stryker - very accessible book on the history of trans politics and culture
- The Souls of Black Folk by WEB Du Bois - foundational text for critical race theory
a few books on my tbr list i see freq recommended that you may find useful:
- A People’s Guide to Capitalism by Hadas Thier - more accessible than Marx etc
- Abolition. Feminism. Now. by Angela Davis, Gina Dent et al. - the overlap of feminism and prison abolition
- The Case for Open Borders by John Washington - self-explanatory
- An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz - self-explanatory
- The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan - of its time but foundational 2nd wave feminist text
- The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein - self-explanatory
- Except for Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics by Marc Lamont Hill and Mitchell Plitnick - criticism of progressive left-wing politics inability to be consistent on Palestine
some other misc media:
- Democracy Now news station/podcast - far better than most mainstream media IMO
- 5-4 podcast - fun, accessible critical analyses of supreme court cases
- Southlake podcast - case study on modern right-wing school board politics in the US
- Amended podcast (i have not finished yet) - more nuanced history of women’s fight for equality
- The 1619 Project essay collection - uses a critical lens to analyze American historical figures and events
- Working Class History & Making Gay History podcasts - self-explanatory
- 13th documentary dir. by Ava DuVernay - looks at the US prison system and the central role of racism in its construction/maintenance
- Crip Camp documentary dir by James LeBrecht and Nicole Newnhan - follows part of the disability rights movement
Jun 17, 2024
🌱
- seconding the recommendation to grieve! ❤️🩹 i think it in someways can be worsened being in a society that is largely undergoing mass denial around things like rising authoritarianism, that the pandemic is still happening, militarized police, economic/social inequality, etc… so i think taking a moment to feel and acknowledge the validity of your feelings is valuable because society at large is just avoiding acknowledging any of this stuff, partly bc the government doesn’t want us to
my other recommendations are:
- don’t doomscroll! ❌ idk if i think tuning out completely can be entirely helpful because it might reverse psychology into worrying about what news you’re missing out on. so i recommend being more mindful of when/where you‘re viewing news. for example, i try not to scroll twitter past 9/10 at night and set my phone settings to not let me lol. so before bed and when i first wake up i’m not immediately looking at the news! i recommend this
- readddd! 📖 i saw some other ppl recommend it and honestly it has helped me a lot. maybe look into things like speculative fiction too, but a book i will recommend is let this radicalize you by kelly hayes and mariame kaba. the book is intended for new organizers but i think it can apply to anyone just curious about organizing or people who organize. personally i have been more serious about organizing for a year and a half, and reading the book this year really helped me feel less hopeless. the idea that we keep us safe (which sucks but also empowers us to think outside of govt structures that fail us) and that we always have the freedom of our imagination to envision a new world… ✨ the book is really good. i also recommend adrienne maree brown’s work, specifically her book emergent strategy and also her podcast and instagram. she’s really great.
Jun 29, 2024
😃
Read this book!!!
“ ‘You have to give people who are new to this movement and to activism in general some way in.’ For some people, that’s going to a protest, or seeing a documentary, or reading a book, that gets them thinking, ‘Maybe I can do something.’ And so no, I don’t believe one person’s vote amounts to shit. But it can get people in the mindset of recognizing they can fight back against the Powers That Be in some way.”
Feb 10, 2024
