1. Definition of an internet troll: “In Internet slang, a troll is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal, on-topic discussion, often for the troll’s amusement,” (Wikipedia). In related news, Hero Burlesque Dancer Names and Shames Her Trolls and The Troll Taunter, “A young Wikipedia editor withstood a decade of online abuse. Now she’s fighting back — on Wikipedia itself.”
2. White People: I Don’t Want You To Understand Me Better, I Want You To Understand Yourselves. In related news, A Few Pointers for Protesting While White and When I Said All Trump Supporters Are White Supremacists, I Meant It.
3. The Twin Forces of Love and Resistance. I’m not gonna lie, this one had me in tears. Especially these two passages,
But real love is radical because it cannot be earned or unearned. It is tied to inherent dignity. It is unconquerable because it is dumb in its own way — determined to keep loving no matter what the counter forces, no matter what scarcity small men try to message, no matter what fear they try to sow. It’s blindly trusting, also positioned as stupid in our overly strategic society. It’s inefficient, a sin in our efficiency-obsessed time.
And,
We’re proving ourselves capable of a mighty resistance, but we must also prove ourselves capable of this kind of expansive love. The twinning of the two will be this country’s salvation.
4. Reading the News Makes Me Depressed, but Here’s What I Realized. **Spoiler Alert** “I used to read the news for enjoyment. Now I pay attention because it’s the right thing to do.”
5. Macro Monday Says To Hell With It, Have Some Dogs. Super cute. Other good stuff from Chuck: Why Persist As A Writer In Times Of Such Heinous Fuckery? and Kameron Hurley: How to Keep Writing Through Times of Great Political Upheaval.
6. An open letter to Jason Chaffetz from someone who attended his town hall.
7. Why did I name it “Dear White People?” In related news, People are deleting their Netflix accounts over the soon-to-be-released show “Dear White People.” For the record, I loved the movie and can’t wait for the show, and will continue to support Netflix. For starters, this: 21 Social Justice Documentaries On Netflix To Watch.
8. Finding steady ground: strengthening our spirits to resist and thrive in these times. “Here are 7 behaviors we can use right away to strengthen ourselves, so we can keep taking more and more powerful and strategic actions.”
9. Researcher maps hidden graveyards of slaves who once tilled Louisiana sugar cane fields.
10. James Daschuk uncovers truths about First Nations history.
11. Black Lives Matter: Recommended Reading, a great list from Powell’s Books.
12. “Give Love.”
13. On politics and social media from Lisa Congdon.
14. Who are Kwan Yin, Avalokiteshvara, Kannon, and Quan Am? The quick answer: my favorite.
15. “Right Now, It’s Like This” — How to make this increasingly used Buddhist phrase work for you on Lion’s Roar. “Meditation teacher Vinny Ferraro explains the simple but powerful phrase ‘Right now, it’s like this’ — and provides simple, helpful meditation instructions to go with it.”
16. From Brave Girls Club,
Sometimes the very best gift we can give to ourselves is a little bit of time alone, in complete silence and complete calm. Even if it’s just for a little while, quiet time is essential for our souls. Our deepest truths speak in quiet little voices most of the time, and we have to get our lives calm and quiet to be able to hear them. When we are feeling scattered, depleted, confused, and torn, and remedy that almost always works is to take a walk all alone, or to go somewhere quiet and be all alone. To just sit, just listen. It may seem too simple, too good to be true. But so many of the mysteries of life have the simplest answers, and we just have to trust in their simplicity. Give yourself the gift of solitude, quiet, and a listening heart as often as you can, and you will hear the things you need to hear. Unplug, walk away, take a breath. Do it for the sake of everything and everyone that you love. And especially do it for you. Your answers are in there. Your calm wise self is in there, too. Now, go find her. She’s been waiting patiently. You are so very loved.
17. The “New Age Thinking Will Make Me Thin” Diet. Oh, snap. This is so me. More good stuff from Isabel Foxen Duke, Beware the “Don’t-Binge-Eat” Diet.
18. The Way of Openness: Moving Away from Comfort & Security from Zen Habits.
19. Being Authentic at Your Shitty Job, really good advice from Lodro Rinzler on Lion’s Roar.
20. Bold EP and Tour! on Kickstarter, “Mary Lambert is releasing an uplifiting EP about being unabashedly fat, gay, bipolar, and doing whatever you damn well please.”
21. Being Black at School, “advocates for equity and safety for Black students” and,
Our approach to advocacy is unlike that of any other education organizations. To make a formative change in the lives of Black students, we realized our efforts need to be data-driven, grassroots focused, and concentrated at all of the levels of decision making– in the community, in the classroom, and in the statehouse. By combining research, policy development and advocacy to influence public debate and catalyze change regarding race and education in America.
22. Day 17 of Investment in Black Lives on Now We Rise, another really great way to help, to “put your money where your mouth is.”
23. Memory Postcards – a Time Capsule Film of 2016.
24. Benefits of Reading Infographic.
25. A checklist for every day.
27. Watch Rescued Baby Sloths Have A Conversation And Try Not To Smile.
28. Indivisible: A practical guide For resisting the Trump agenda. I know I’ve shared this before, but it seems worth sharing again.
29. The Revolution Will Not Be Polite: The Issue of Nice versus Good. “Oppression is not about hurt feelings. It is about the rights and opportunities that are not afforded to you because you belong to a certain group of people.”
30. Tomi Lahren is the BIGGEST snowflake of them all.
31. Shutting Down BS about Betsy DeVos with Public School Teachers.
32. Wisdom from Andrea Gibson, “heard there are times/when the only thing/we have control over/is where we put our attention.”
33. Privilege 101: A Quick and Dirty Guide.
34. If Adele’s ‘Hello’ Was About Calling Congress.
35. DT talking lying about the Dakoto Access Pipeline. My only response to this is rage, white hot and murderous.
36. How the Black Lives Matter Movement Is Mobilizing Against Trump.
38. The Netherlands is using empty prisons to house refugees — what are we doing? Think about this: they have EMPTY prisons.
39. How should the media cover a White House that isn’t afraid to lie.
40. Sherman Alexie Talks About Writing in the Era of Trump.
41. Who Is Son Of Baldwin And Why We Should Listen Up?
42. #ShePersisted Becomes New Battle Cry After Senate Silences Elizabeth Warren. “This is definitely not what Mitch McConnell was hoping for.”
43. Rosie O’Donnell as Steve Bannon? SNL could really make Trump angry if it wanted to. I hope they do this.
44. 10+ Honest Valentine’s Day Cards For Couples Who Hate Cheesy Love Crap.
45. Ordinary Americans carried out inhumane acts for Trump. This is such an important distinction to note: the real monsters aren’t the leaders, but those who follow them, enact and embody their policies rather than resisting.
46. Why People Should Just Pause for a Minute and Not Blindly Celebrate 84 Lumber’s Immigration Ad. In related news, I loved the Coke ad. They say of it, “We believe that America is beautiful and Coca-Cola is for everyone. Let’s celebrate the moments among all Americans that promote optimism, inclusion, and humanity — values that bring us closer together.” This is the America I want to live in, but there is a shit ton of work to do to get us there, enit?
47. A Snowflake Manifesto from John Pavlovitz. “No, one snowflake isn’t likely to make an impact—but I’m betting 65,788,853 can.”
49. Adele’s Grammy Speech Made Beyoncé Cry. In related news, What White Women Can Learn From Adele’s Grammys Speech.
50. Football player, reader, author, nerd. I love this so much.
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 