1. Virgie Tovar is claiming that episode four of Shrill plagiarized her story. It’s not true. Read what Ijeoma Oluo had to say on Twitter about it. You can also find another version of the discussion on VT’s Facebook page, which included this very interesting clarification:
2. Can We Start & Never Stop Talking about Samantha Irby?
3. Here’s How You Can Help People Devastated by Cyclone Idai from The New York Times. In related news, a GoFundMe fundraiser: Cyclone Idai Zimbabwe Relief.
4. ‘What Doesn’t Kill You’ Navigates The Challenges Of Existing While Black. “Damon Young says he’s spent much of his life waiting to be called by a name we won’t repeat, even though it appears in his new memoir — What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker — a lot. His essays are pointed, ruminative, often barbed and funny reflections on how the fact of his skin color has posed particular lifelong challenges, questions, and anxieties.”
5. ‘I Loved Myself for the First Time’: Women Prisoners Heal Trauma with Dance. “High percentages of incarcerated women suffer from untreated PTSD. One quickly expanding program is successfully using dance to help them move forward.”
6. 9-Year-Old Girl Was Detained at Border for 30 Hours Despite Being a U.S. Citizen from The New York Times. In related news, ‘A nightmare’: flight attendant with Daca status held after flying for work.
7. Jury Acquits White Former Police Officer In Fatal Shooting Of Unarmed Black Teen.
8. Instructions on Not Giving Up by Ada Limón. Because this,
Patient, plodding, a green skin
growing over whatever winter did to us, a return
to the strange idea of continuous living despite
the mess of us, the hurt, the empty. Fine then,
I’ll take it, the tree seems to say, a new slick leaf
unfurling like a fist to an open palm, I’ll take it all.
9. Good stuff from Seth Godin: How big is your unfillable hole? and The minimum viable audience.
10. Is the Guru Model Broken? from Lion’s Roar. “Pema Khandro Rinpoche, Lama Rod Owens, Lama Rigzin Drolma (Anne C. Klein), and Lobsang Rapgay discuss the guru model in the Tibetan tradition, in which the teacher is central to the path. From the Winter 2018 issue of Buddhadharma.” In related news, My Spiritual Teacher Committed Sexual Assault. And He Saved my Life. What Does that Mean Now?
11. The magical thinking of weight loss. “On major weight loss & praying at the altar of thinness.”
12. The Message of the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths on Lion’s Roar. “The message of Buddha’s Four Noble Truths is that paying attention and seeing clearly lead to behaving impeccably in every moment, out of love, and on behalf of all beings.”
13. Cocteau Twins ~ Heaven Or Las Vegas ~ Full Album (video playlist). Austin Kleon’s newsletter this week reminded me how much I loved this album.
14. Thanks, a poem by W.S. Merwin. In related news, Poet W.S. Merwin, Who Was Inspired By Conservation, Dies At 91.
15. Women’s Tennis Association Rules Serena Williams Can Wear All The Catsuits She Damn Well Pleases.
16. Hundreds of US cities are killing or scaling back their recycling programs. “China stopped importing trash from other countries. Now, many cities in the US are facing a recycling crisis.”
17. Drag queen story time organisers quit over Christian death threats.
18. Gregg Breinberg (PS22 Chorus Director) on Facebook. The videos of his kids singing are the best.
19. 20 Must-Listen To Black Women Podcasts for 2019.
20. Knowing the Right Time to Say Goodbye to a Pet on The New York Times. “End-of-life decisions for animals are difficult. A veterinarian has developed a scale to help clear up the confusion.” In related news, Study Shows That Losing A Dog Can Be As Hard As Losing A Loved One.
21. Just like we can destroy our planet, we can also choose to restore it, (video), “And that is what this Brazilian couple did!”
22. The Do-Nothing Farmer’s Guide to a Perfect Harvest on Lion’s Roar.
23. ‘What we’re witnessing around the world is the death rattle of white supremacy.’ (video) “This Muslim journalist is warning Americans against ‘white ISIS,’ a ‘racist’ president, and the rising global ideology of hate.”
24. Buddhism Is Not a Treatment for Mental Illness on Lion’s Roar. “A new article in The Atlantic says more Americans with mental illness are turning to Buddhism for mental health treatment. Experts might advise otherwise.”
25. Parkland shooting survivor Sydney Aiello takes her own life. In related heartbreaking news, Leaders react and take steps after second tragedy at Parkland and Sandy Hook Victim’s Father Dies in Apparent Suicide in Newtown on The New York Times. Please don’t give up. Please don’t give up. Please don’t give up. Please don’t. Please.
26. FL Senate gives right to grow veggies in the front yard a green thumbs up.
26. New Zealand reformed its gun laws less than a week after a mass shooting. (video) “This gun reform advocate is wondering why the U.S. hasn’t done the same.” Nobody is trying to “take your guns,” just the ones there is no reason to ever have unless you are planning to murder large numbers of people quickly.
27. Rick Steves Wants to Save the World, One Vacation at a Time.
29. Ahead of C2E2, a look at Chicago’s new wealth of black female comic book talent.
30. 6 Reasons Why Introverts And Pets Are Perfect For Each Other. #6 is the story of my life.
31. If You Really Love LGBTQ People, You Just Can’t Keep Eating Chick-fil-A. Not sure why we have to keep repeating this, but there you go.
32. Peloton is being sued for using music without permission in its video fitness classes.
33. CBD-infused jelly beans are *finally* here. (video)
34. The shopping mall where everything is recycled.
35. ‘Lady Liberty’ Patricia Okoumou Will Not Go to Prison for July 4th Protest.
36. 12 Things People Do That Actually Mean ‘I’m a Highly Sensitive Person.’
37. The Referee Who Forced A Black Wrestler To Cut His Locs Is Suing For Emotional Distress. Nope. Just, no.
38. St. Louis Store Asks Whether New Zealand Mosque Shooting Was Tragic or ‘Fucking Great.’
39. The Trap House-Busting Vigilante of Pine Ridge Reservation. “After Julie ‘Mama Julz’ Richards’s own family was nearly destroyed by addiction, fighting back against meth became a personal crusade.”
40. This 60-year-old single father has adopted 7 boys, after growing up in a foster home himself. (video)
41. 5 Powerful Reality Checks For Survivors Of Narcissistic Abuse.
42. Roxane Gay on the importance of taking up space and being heard.
43. Auntie Maxine on Mueller Report: ‘This Is Not the End of Anything’.
44. ‘A State of Emergency’: Native Americans Stranded for Days by Flooding.
45. FAT!SO?, “FAT!SO? has been a ‘zine, a website, a book, and it’s always an attitude. This is the online version.”
46. 11 Books By Phenomenal Black Women That Should Be Required Reading For Everyone.
48. Hundreds of businesses have bought these genius gender neutral bathroom signs. (video)
49. A rare Tengmalm’s owl is seen in Shetland, “in what is believed to be the first sighting in 100 years.”
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 