Something Good

We haven’t had foxes here for so long, and I miss them. Image from Unsplash

1. Planting Iris from Austin Kleon. This made me cry, but also made me feel better.

2. That Time You Failed to Follow Up on Diversity. “If you care, you need to care all the time. Not on Hallmark holidays. Not when you fuck up and someone notices. And not when you hire your first female partner. All. The. Time.”

3. New Crop of Young Adult Novels Explores Race and Police Brutality. “Some educators see fiction as a particularly potent tool for engaging with volatile topics and instilling empathy in young readers.”

4. The Perils of Nowherelandia from Jena Schwartz.

5. Actions White People Can Take To Confront Racism & Be In Greater Solidarity.

6. ‘The Birth of a Nation’ Is an Epic Fail. “From its depictions of black women to the representation of slavery itself, Nate Parker’s film is deeply flawed and historically inaccurate.”

7. The Body Sovereignty Workbook from Rachel Cole, a fundraiser for feminist causes. “Your body is yours, despite all the forces conspiring from the day you were born to tell you otherwise. The Body Sovereignty Workbook will help transform the story you tell yourself about your body into a life-changing narrative. It includes 83 beautiful digital pages of essays by 10+ women’s empowerment experts, worksheets, and activities to support your cultivating an empowered relationship with your body.”

8. Bright Lights, a new documentary from Jen Lee. “As live storytelling grows into a cultural phenomenon, six performers share their journey into its spotlight. The friendships they’ve formed are an anchor as their voices reach beyond the stages of New York City into publishing, radio, international art festivals and film.”

9. Good stuff for creatives from Jamie Ridler: 10 Things I Want You to Know When You Are Discovering or Recovering Your Creative Heart and 10 Things I Want Committed Creatives to Know.

10. 4 Step Guide to Letting Go of the Past from Zen Habits.

11. The Four Noble Truths of Love with Susan Piver, one of my favorite teachings from one of my favorite teachers. “Buddhism is based on Four Noble Truths: Everything changes; grasping creates suffering; there is a way to work with it all; and a path for doing so. Join writer and Buddhist teacher Susan Piver for practice, discussion, and an exploration of how to apply these truths to that greatest of mysteries: love.”

12. Free dog themed desktop wallpapers. I’ve got “all you need is love, and a dog” on my computer.

13. Recipes I want to try: Oven-Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges, and Creamy Spring Pasta, and Old Fashioned Sour Cream Doughnuts.

14. Write it Down, a great post on journaling practice.

15. The surprising origins of your f*cking favorite swear words.

16. OutFront: Couple Creates Media Network for Black Queer Community.

17. Food is Love. “Years ago, this chef had a door closed on him by a trusted friend and mentor. Today, he’s thanking that friend for setting him on the path that ultimately changed his life. WATCH him surprise his old mentor, with a meal that proves why food really is the other love language.”

18. Hair Today Art Tomorrow.

19. Colin Kaepernick Is To The NFL What Black People Are To America. “Hatred of the quarterback among NFL owners feels all too familiar.” In related news, Colin Kaepernick Donates $50,000 to Meals on Wheels. IMHO, he’s too good for football.

20. Only Black People Showed Up To The DC Town Hall Meeting To Address The Surging Number Of Missing Black And Latina Girls.

21. For Migrants Headed North, the Things They Carried to the End.

22. Papercut Artist Puts Life into Paper.

23. This Guy Secretly Filmed Himself And His Girlfriend Jamming Out To Prince And It’s Adorable. #BlackBoyJoy + #BlackGirlMagic = I love this so much.

24. Never Forget: America’s Forgotten Mass Lynching: When 237 Black Sharecroppers Were Murdered In Arkansas. “The white elites of the region understood that the only way they could maintain their economic prosperity was to exploit Black sharecroppers and laborers.” No one was ever charged and there were no trials. This is still happening. #BlackLivesMatter In related news, This Interactive Map Reveals The History Of Lynching In America.

25. Honest Wedding Vows for Real Marriages. These are so beautiful, and true. I told Eric I’d marry him again, but only if we said these vows, (minus the kid stuff, of course).

26. A Tribute to Amy Krouse Rosenthal by Dave Eggers.

27. Wild Writing with Laurie Wagner. Classes start the first week of April, and there are still a few spots left. Seriously one of the most transformative practices ever with one of the best teachers. (I just realized that this is #27 on my list, and Laurie’s website is “27 Powers”).

28. This Black Queer Love Story Is Exactly What The Comic World Needs.

29. 11 ways white America avoids taking responsibility for its racism. “White people are all too quick to cite their good intentions. Unconsciously, they aim to preserve white supremacy.”

30. How to stop stressing so you can change the world.

31. 10+ Super Happy Animal Comics That’ll Make Your Monday.

32. Macro Monday Brings the First Official Mystery Macro Contest. These are fun, and they remind me of something from when I was a kid — there was a children’s magazine that included the same kind of challenge images in the back of every issue. Any one else remember that magazine?

33. What if I’m wrong? A self-guided practice of empathy from Paul Jarvis. “Assuming we’re 100% right, 100% of the time is a recipe for never growing, never learning, never changing (for the better).” This is such a great reminder, especially now.

34. Use These Words At The End Of Your Emails To Increase Your Chance Of Getting A Reply.

35. Community shows support for Islamic Center of Fort Collins. The community has also rallied their support this way.

36. Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, “a children’s book packed with 100 bedtime stories about the life of 100 extraordinary women from the past and the present, illustrated by 60 female artists from all over the world.”

37. People, Prosperity, and Profit from Staci Shelton. “Imagine a world where we were so busy creating glorious things that we had neither the time or desire to oppress anyone, much less ourselves.”

38. The House Next Door: a diary from Jeff Oaks.

39. Simply put, social justice is about human flourishing from Desiree Adaway.

40. 9 Great Documentaries about Women Activists.

1. Depressed by Politics? Just Let Go. This article gives a clear and workable alternative to overwhelm and distress.

2. How to Live Life with Fantastic Aliveness: Remembering Amy Krouse Rosenthal. In related news, StoryCorps EXTRA: Remembering Amy Krouse Rosenthal, and Pay attention to what you pay attention to.

3. The Blessing of a Bruised Right Buttock from Jena Schwartz.

4. If you’re a poor person in America, Trump’s budget is not for you.

5. Wisdom from Lilla Watson, Australian Aboriginal activist, (thanks to Mikalina), “If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”

6. Coaching as Activism, “a 10-week group program for coaches, healers + leaders who want to bring their commitment to healing, justice and liberation (for all) into their work and life.” This. Everything about this. (P.S. I signed up). In related news, Why the Self-Help Industry isn’t Changing the World.

7. Is ignorance the problem?, from Seth Godin. “The thing is, ignorance is rarely the problem. The challenge is that people don’t always care about what you care about. And the reason they don’t care isn’t that they don’t know what you know. The reason is that they don’t believe what you believe. The challenge, then, isn’t to inform them. It’s to engage and teach and communicate in a way that shares emotion and values and beliefs.”

8. Mrs. Porter’s 2nd Grade Class Survey. “Please help our class as we study surveys and graphs. We would love to see how many responses we can get and all of the different places our responses come from. Each student in our class has created one of the questions in this survey.” We all need to fill this out.

9. The Practice of One Thing at a Time from Zen Habits.

10. Best of: Inspiring Studio Spaces.

11. 6 ways allies still marginalize people of color — and what to do instead.

12. “Get Out” Syllabus. “The ‘Get Out’ Syllabus focuses intently on the conversations surrounding White violence, the consumption of Black Bodies, and the erasure of Black Women that the movie elicits. The syllabus is divided into two parts; the first closely examines the historical and cultural violences that made the movie possible. The second section examines the absences and erasures that make sections of the film explicitly more horrifying. My ‘Get Out’ syllabus is in no way meant to be exhaustive or complete. Rather, it is an entry to point to key conversations that must be continued after the movie falls from theatres and our current popular culture attention span.”

13. Patient Zero by Aimee Mann, first video from her new album, releasing 3/31/17. (You should watch all three videos in the set, actually). In related news, The Both: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert.

14. With Joyful Photos, a 19-Year-Old Artist Confronts Media Bias Against Black Male Teens. In related news, This super cute father-daughter duo is inspiring young men to be good fathers.

15. A feminist glossary because we didn’t all major in gender studies.

16. Listen, Can We Please Not Do This Shit? “The most influential member of the Trump Administration is an unabashed white supremacist.”

17. Bill Murray’s Impossibly Chipper Music Video.

18. What is wrong with the world edition from The Authenticity Experiment. “Who are we? Who are we becoming? Who did we elect? Who thinks that cutting services to the elderly helps balance our budget? Who thinks that a man who claims to be for “the little guy” and then appoints five advisors from Goldman Sachs really gives a good god damn about anybody but the other 1-percent?”

19. Adorable cat acts as goat’s midwife.

20. #BringBacktheBees from Cheerios. In related news, Don’t Plant Those “Bee-Friendly” Wildflowers Cheerios Is Giving Away.

21. EPA Gives $100M Grant to Flint So It Can Fix Its Water Infrastructure. “Yet critics doubt the money can save the city from the president’s proposed cuts to the agency.”

22. Trump Budget Cuts Put Struggling Americans on Edge. In related news, Here’s what Trump’s budget proposes to cut, and Trump federal budget 2018: Massive cuts to the arts, science and the poor, and #LetThemDie: ‘Heartless’ Donald Trump Blasted For Slashing Meals On Wheels Funds, and Trump Budget Makes It Official: You’re Paying For The Wall, Not Mexico.

23. An Imperfect Human’s Guide To Body Positivity. “What it actually means, how it’s evolved over time, and what’s at stake without it.”

24. Jordan Casteel on the Power of Art Right Now, a painter merging social justice and art.

25. This 11-year-old created a book club to encourage reading among young black boys.

26. Trump’s St. Patrick’s Day “proverb” might not be Irish but wasn’t by a Nigerian poet either.

27. This is what it’s like answering all those phone calls to Congress.

28. The Good, Racist People.

29. 15 Beautiful Moments From Native Nations Rise [PHOTOS].

30. Welcome To The Anti-Racism Movement — Here’s What You’ve Missed.

31. Into the woods: how one man survived alone in the wilderness for 27 years.

32. A forgotten piece of African-American history on the Great Plains.

33. Trusted. Valued. Essential. “Find out what PBS means to viewers, and about its role as a public service.”