Reading Group Week 2
Hello! We're officially moving along. Saturday we had a good discussion about chapters 1 and 2, and I've been really happy with how people are bringing other books they're reading, other things they're thinking about, etc... into this. Keep being great, thanks so much.
Readings
This week, let's read chapters 3 and 4. I've been thinking about a couple of lines from the chapters:
Chapter 3: Imagining Eugenics
[inclusive world-building] requires recognizing that the world is round, that we all belong, and that we must structure society to reflect that underlying truth. Pie in the sky, you say? Too far-fetched and utopian? Well, for those currently living at the crossroads of multiple dystopias, "living in the real world" is what is truly impossible.
I think I said in another comment that this framing took me a little by surprise. I don't think I've given enough time to the thought that the ridiculous ask, the outrageous proposal, the "far-fetched" request is to ask for people to survive in this world as it currently exists. Millions of people have died from COVID, countless disabled by Long COVID; settler violence has been a defining part of America for hundreds of years, and anti-Black violence has and continues to be the core purpose - not an accident - of American policing.
I think a lot about Tinu Abayomi-Paul and Shafiqah Hudson. Tinu spent so much time fighting for other people, helping promote mutual aid efforts so people could survive another night in the world. Shafiqah and a number of others (Ra'il i'Nasah Kiam and Sydette Harry) coined #YourSlipIsShowing, and she was one of the first people to identify and document the disinformation campaigns on Twitter and elsewhere on the web in the 2000s and 2010s.
In this chapter, Ruha Benjamin invited me to think about what may be pie in the sky, or too far-fetched. I think about how often I look at the first DMs I shared with @sassycrass. I think about a world where she and Tinu are still here, but not crowdfunding for a rideshare to the hospital. I think about how impossible it is to keep living like this, and how much this world needs to change because we can't keep living like this.
Chapter 4: Imagining Justice
... what will it take to redistribute the future? The first step, I think, is to reckon with who and what currently monopolize the space to envision the future, hoard the ability to dream, and privatize the resources it takes to materialize our imagination. After reckoning comes igniting the power to imagine other ways of organizing social life and building a world in which everyone can thrive.
This might be my own bias, especially based on my previous quotes and what I've written about; but I really appreciate how naturally Ruha Benjamin goes between accountability for those who monopolize our imaginative space, hoard our ability to dream, privatize resources, etc... and then shifts her attention to the world we need.
I think it's easy for me to get locked into a mindset of identifying things that are bad, and I don't think it's intrinsically bad to identify and make sense of why something is harmful, name who's responsible for those structures of harm, etc... but I also want to provide an outline of where to go, rather than away from things.
I don't think it's just going back and forth between one and the other, though; I think the more I reflect on these passages the more I appreciate that she's throwing the weight of the critique behind the forceful push for "a world in which everyone can thrive". I'm trying to learn how to turn sharp critiques into sharper inclusive world-building, and how to land in some place that's motivated and hopeful, and not exclusively sorrowful.
Share your thoughts
Tell me what you thought about chapters 3 and 4. Tell me what you thought about these quotes, or other quotes. Or if you thought about something else than what I thought about.
I'm especially interested if you noticed or reflected on something I didn't pick up on.
I'll keep track of replies and comments and share them on Friday, and then if you want to join us to chat on Saturday, we'll get together at 12pm ET on Saturday to chat about chapters 3 and 4 over jitsi.
Other things
other ways to interact
Some people have reached out with suggestions about a few additional ways to keep in contact or be productive. I'll list them here:
co-working & body-doubling
If it would be helpful to have a body doubling/co-working session, I'd be happy to hang out and give people another body to co-work alongside. You can come by on Tuesday night at 10pm ET at stream.al2.in
Next book
I won't bring this up many more times, but we're nearing finishing Imagination: A Manifesto, so I wanted to make sure you saw our next book:
After Imagination: A Manifesto, we'll read If I Must Die: Poetry and Prose by Refaat Alareer. You can buy the book now at Open Books. I expect us to start reading the week of February 10.
Okay, I think that's all for now. If you have comments or concerns, please get in touch. Have a great week.