March Edition: An Upcoming Event, Books and Things I've Peeped
I'm hosting an event! I read books! Black people love communism!
Hey!
It's been a little bit. Guess what I didn't do?
In 2023 February, I'm going to write something short each day of that month about Black activism around the world from a non-colonial lens (to the best of my abilities) and people-centric view.
From https://buttondown.email/jackyalcine/archive/ramping-up-my-writing
Instead, I ranted and raved a lot on my site. That's what Web-based journals are for, no? Frankly, February has been a very chaotic month - despite being the shortest month That aside, I have some stuff I'd like to share.
1. Better Platform Event
Wagatwe, Danny and I are hosting an unconference-styled event next Thursday in hopes of having spirited conversations (and some sort of action plan) on what platforms like Twitter gave us, where they've taken us and where we can go from there. I'm very eager to have this after attending a few different events and being a bit dismayed about the efforts on maintaining systems that weren't working in the favor of people (especially those who need platforms like this to survive and thrive). Learn more about betterplatform.net.
2. Books!
I've returned to my habit of reading more. I've aimed to replace my kinda-vapid nature of scrolling or just futzing around to read more, and I'm very happy I have. Likewise, I've managed to knock out a few books - some of which I'd love to recommend - all of them political (one historical, one semi-autobiography-and-manifesto and one guidebook), in order of my completion:
Abolish Silicon Valley by Wendy Liu is one I'm almost certain I've mentioned before, but after finally finishing it, I was eager to get deeper into what mattered to me the most - working amongst people who are focused on reducing (if not eliminating, a dream) the impacts of capitalism (and American fascism, at this point). This is something I'm eager to follow up on.
Mutual Aid by Dean Spade is a book that really "broke my brain". I read this after reading A Civic Technologist's Guide and had strong feelings about how even my current place of employment could potentially work against grassroot efforts that directly help people (versus the State-sponsored paternalistic approach to providing aid to people; if you work in or have used civic technologies, this wouldn't be unfamiliar). A conundrum that I'm eager to help fix - somehow. And the book is short! I was a bit mad that it was!
Afro-Asia: Afro Asia: Revolutionary Political and Cultural Connections between African Americans and Asian Americans by Fred Ho and Bill V. Mullen is a super insightful (and on the tip of the cliff of being dense) of a read. I blew through this book in three hours (according to my stats but over a few days) and frankly, I'm excited to write my review on the book (and the numerous reads it suggested). It unexpectedly expanded on labor movements amongst Black folks and how a lot of inspiration for most came from radical groups that were communist-adjacent. Very different from what textbooks tend to inform us on, but in line with what groups like The Black Panthers spoke about.
3. Solidarity, News and Interesting Reads
There's a lot going on in the world, and even more that's not reported on by mainstream media. I've linked some stuff I've read that I hope you would as well that highlights some of these bits (sorted by estimated reading time):
Investing in RSS (4 min read) - This is something that'd resonate with those familiar with RSS as a means of delivering information (like the timeline of updates you see on your phone) and a call to encourage more folks to do the same. Reply if none of that made sense - I can expand!
How Comrades Revealed the Existence of COINTELPRO (8 min read) - Inspiring yet another book into my library, this report by BAR on the anniversary of such an event is something that reminds me that the State will whatever it can to protect its existence.
How the U.S. and Canada are Wooing Latin America and the Caribbean to Front for their Plan to Invade Haiti Pt. 2 (20 min read) - The second installation in a series by Haiti Liberte (Liberty of Haiti), this continues the detailed reporting of the United States's continued attempt to complete Haiti's conversion back into a colony. As a Haitian-American, I am constantly frustrated, to say the least.
Catholic group spent millions on app data that tracked gay priests (~2 hour read, paywalled) - So. Okay. This story is not only wild; it could be a TV miniseries (since the dramatization of peoples' pain seems to be Netflix's current business strategy). However, this should give people both understanding that data is everywhere about folks to a point where consent is almost gone and that companies have no problem selling what they (essentially) steal from you.
Losing Signal (18 min read) - This is an excellent read for people who make things that should reach as many people as possible but because of constraints (controllable or not), things effectively fall apart. This, coupled, with the need to keep feudalistic tendencies in place (like the centralization of a service), will always operate from a place of loss, especially for those who need it the most.
That's pretty much it for today. Can't tell you when the next one will land, since this is a hobby that I do enjoy, but it will be soon!