The Sun Goes Down And
how stupid
how cavernous
how threatening in its unending is my grief.
As you know, Palestine has been under occupation by Israel for seventy five years. Within the past week, Israel has bombed Gaza 6,000 times, killing at least 4,100 men, women, and children (and of course, those who may not subscribe to the gender binary). They have cut off their access to food, water, and electricity. They are bombing hospitals and churches. The United States is using our tax dollars to fund the genocide of the Palestinians and though it feels hopeless, we must do what we can to stop this.
After, blessedly, attending Poets for Palestine on Wednesday, the livestream (hosted by Sins Invalid) of the Ceasefire Now protest in DC earlier today, and finding more and more online (accessibility matters) events, I come to you with these resources and asking you to take part where you can:
WRITERS IN SOLIDARITY WITH PALESTINE
Artists Against Apartheid
Adalah Justice Project
BDS Movement
Jewish Voice for Peace
Free Palestine: Work with Indies Reference
eyes.on.palestine on Instagram (content warning for real time updates of bombings, injuries sustained from bombings, death)
Listen to and uplift Palestinian voices.
*note, I am not currently as well informed on Sudan and the actions necessary to help but am sharing the resources I'm using to learn. I know they have been at war for 26 weeks and that this is "one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history" killing up to 9,000 people and displacing more than 5,000,000.
I am currently following
BSonBlast (recommended by Nisrin Elamin--who is also doing this work)
as well as the Keep Eyes on Sudan hashtag and Sudan section of Democracy Now
to learn more.
My personal updates that I may cover in depth at another time:
I attended Game Devs of Color 2023 the last week of September and it was, like in years past, a gift and a blessing. You can find talks from 2022 and before, as well as 2023 talks they will release throughout the year and next here.
In September, I also attended the Science Fiction Week through ProWritingAid
I attended Write Anyway Summit hosted by Pages & Platforms this week, and received many unexpected blessings (including going with my friend (who you should support!) and being able to watch all the videos and scream back and forth about what we're learning (or side-eying) through chat)
All of these events have been low-cost/free and online, and as a disabled creator I am continually thankful for organizations that make their resources accessible.
Thanks to community support, I've been able to put down a deposit to secure my spot to learn with Rivers Solomon this January through Roots.Wounds.Words.
As someone who was fired, in part due to my disability, two months ago, it means a lot to be supported, when I still believe my disabilities mean I am not worthy of care.
As you've seen, I've been working on a new stop motion puppet, Jojo King. After attending October's National Capital Puppetry Guild (of which I am a member)'s Open Mic, I learned more about puppet therapy and as that was a huge reason I took Bernd Ogrodnik's class two years ago (I am currently in his free four day workshop: Inside the Puppet Builder's Workshop) and got into puppetry, intentionally/seriously in the first place. I did one application:
There is a second one I'm gathering the gestures towards whatever sits between bravery and hope to do the Online International Puppet Therapy Diploma course from January to April 2024.
I applied to jobs and fellowships because money and health insurance (I'm ignoring the meds disappearing). I applied to school because you cannot really do much therapy without a Bachelor's, and many things have led me to believe this is the work I need to be doing. There have been problems, healthwise and not, with my loved ones. Enough that I find myself locked in overwhelm. I've found myself, like many times before, not wanting to live.
I read in Grandma Baby's guidebook yesterday:
So I take as many small steps forward as I can, and I hope that you can too.
and also, I have been screaming to myself (maybe you need it too):
