I believe carceral justice doesn’t work

all of these books had an impact on me

My reflections include digesting my recent and first trip to Ireland. Initially, I’m reflecting on what a privilege it is to travel in the first place, especially as a trans person. I’m also reflecting on what I saw and what I learned.

I wanted to write to you sooner, but I have been in the eternal-feeling struggle of finding the words to express the nuanced pain of this particular moment…

Community can be an antidote to isolation. Thinking of what I have to offer, here are some of my poems plus resources, people, podcasts that are helping me in hopes they may help you too.

I am wondering, what good is being self-reflective when I am terrified that our holy days will be nationalistically weaponized by the state of Israel’s expanding violence? While here on turtle island, Islamophobia and Antisemitism are both being effectively stoked in schools and beyond.

What does it mean that a number associated with the divine feminine became so “unlucky” that buildings continue to uncount their thirteenth floors? Keywords that come to mind: misogyny, monotheism, misinformation. 

In being over-accountable as a white person perceived as male and non-disabled, I’ve become quieter with a fear of dominating spaces. But to be too quiet is to be complicit, and in overcorrecting, my silence creates distance.

We become adept at identifying racism in tv or movies, in politics, history, maybe even in our family members or coworkers. But the closer the focus comes to ourselves, the blurrier the picture gets.

As I continue my own learning and unlearning, I am grateful for all kinds of maps. Literal maps and figurative ones. Maps that help us locate ourselves and find our way forward.

Of course there are extremists and bigots in every movement and every country, AND in the past five decades the largest and most powerful seats of anti-semitism and Islamophobia have resided squarely in the U.S. and U.K. 

I have spent my entire adult life learning about Palestine and Israel, and I am still a beginner. I have spent hours every day since 10/7 reading and studying, hoping I will find a perfect way to communicate. Is there a new way to say what I’ve already said?

When I explore my feelings of scarcity or worthiness, I know they are connected to capitalism, or more specifically the imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy (bell hooks).

As a freelancer, my cashflow is often unpredictable, but for the past two years I have successfully redistributed 10% of my income. If I can do it, I hope it inspires others. Maybe this is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for to participate in mutual aid and/or reparations!

Thank you Gibson for being a damn hero, and thank you to every adult out there is keeping kids alive every day.

Since 2007 or 2008, I've spelled my name lowercase. It began as the appeal of poetry and linguistic rebellion but grew into something more. I made the change when I became an amateur scholar of bell hooks’s works…

There are times I don’t know what I can give to change anything. I think maybe this is true for most of us. My friend David reminded me that if nothing else, I have some survival tools to share

When I grapple with attempts to tear trans children away from their affirming families, I understand that it is in the historical tradition, rooted in slavery and Jim Crow, of CPS targeting Black families.