Must-Read Roundup and My Escape From Substack
As promised, Organizing My Thoughts has migrated away from Substack due to the platform's very public embrace of fascist content. But before I say more about that, here are some of the best articles I've read this week.
What To Read This Weekend
- When Abolitionists Say “Free Them All,” We Mean Palestine Too by Nadine Naber. "During this profoundly terrorizing moment of Palestinian genocide, we need to acknowledge how the structures of incarceration, anti-migrant violence and U.S. conquest have always gone hand in hand." (Special note on this one: Nadine will be next week's guest on Movement Memos.)
- Lessons from ’48—A Conversation on Silence, Complicity and Popular Mobilization of Palestinians in Israel by Riya Al'Sanah & Soheir Asaad. "The task today in ’48, but also in the West Bank…is to work towards building what I would call a liberatory or liberation infrastructure."
- The Right Is Winning Its War on Schools by Melissa Gira Grant. "The right’s mission to eradicate public education is in many ways inseparable from their accelerating attacks on LGBTQ rights and racial justice."
- Opinion: The U.S. is facing the biggest COVID wave since Omicron. Why are we still playing make-believe? by Eric J. Topol. "This passivity reinforces the illusion that the pandemic is behind us when it’s actually raging."
- Refaat Alareer set us a hard task: to find hope by Nour Nemer. "Before his assassination, the idea of penning and sharing these words would have been far beyond my comfort zone. But here I am, writing about him and for him. Even in his physical absence, Dr. Refaat continues to push me to grow and step outside my comfort zone."
- 80 Percent of Global Famine Is Currently in Gaza, UN Expert Warns by Sharon Zhang. "In my life, I’ve never seen anything like this in terms of severity, in terms of scale, and then in terms of speed."
- Welcome to Boomland by Sarah Kendzior. "In a time when empathy is treated as an affront, there is something comforting about a simple roadside proclamation that evil is evil – and that it is good to do good."
Pods
If you're looking for something to listen to this weekend, I recommend checking out If Books Could Kill. When I need a break from the intense topics I typically engage with, I really enjoy this podcast about why some very popular books are actually terrible. If Books Could Kill is silly and informative, and listening to Michael Hobbes give Yascha Mounk’s The Identity Trap the takedown it deserves is a delight.
Zines
On New Year's Eve, I was shocked and saddened to learn of the untimely passing of Klee Benally, a beloved Diné organizer, land defender, and musician. Klee's book, No Spiritual Surrender: Indigenous Anarchy in Defense of the Sacred, is currently sold out, but if you would like to engage with some of Klee's writing this weekend, I recommend checking out the zine Unknowable: Against an Indigenous Anarchist Theory. I had the privilege of hearing Klee read an excerpt from this zine a couple of years ago, and his words have never left me.
Klee was one of the most principled organizers I've ever met, and the world wasn't ready to lose him. Donations are currently being accepted in support of the Benally family.
On Leaving Substack
As mentioned, I have rehomed my Organizing My Thoughts. While the move was necessary, I am pretty stressed out about it. As a disabled writer and organizer, the income I get from my paid subscribers makes a difference in my life. It also allows me to devote more time and energy to my newsletter. But at the end of the day, Substack's stance on fascist content is incompatible with my antifascist politics. It is my sincere hope that people who are supportive of my decision will be even more enthusiastic about reading and sharing this newsletter. And if anyone feels moved to support this maneuver by becoming a paid subscriber, that would be amazing!
(Whether you are a paid or unpaid subscriber, this process should be seamless on your end, but please reach out if you encounter any issues.)
Unlike Substack, Ghost has monthly fees, but I still plan to keep this newsletter free because Organizing My Thoughts is about the work of doing politics, and that work belongs to everyone. We all bring what we can to our movements. We share our labor, our resources, and our skills in the hopes that they will help cultivate what must be grown. I share my words here in that spirit. I want to be helpful. That's a lot harder to do behind a paywall, and such restrictions would inevitably exclude people who are essential to our conversations about how we get free.
So, I want to extend my most heartfelt thanks to my paid subscribers, as you are making this project possible, not only for me and for yourselves but for everyone who finds this newsletter worthwhile. Paid subscribers will also be invited to an upcoming Zoom conversation with my friend Shaney Burley and me. Unsurprisingly, we'll be talking about fascism.
If you are a reader who cannot afford to contribute financially to this newsletter, please know that I appreciate you, too. I am grateful for the opportunity to share my thoughts with you and to learn and think alongside you. I have appreciated the comments and messages folks have shared with me since I launched this newsletter in October, and I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts in 2024.
More than anything, I sincerely hope that you find this newsletter useful in your daily efforts to fight the good fight and cultivate change. I believe in our collective potential, and I'm glad to be in the struggle with you.
Much love,
Kelly
