"Wait, run that back. Who did WHAT?" and more thoughts on COVID+community
Updates
Ethan's book "You Deserve a Tech Union" is out! I've begun reading it; you can see my notes from it on the Fediverse as I do so. I'm going to close my Goodreads account, as I've deleted my Instagram account (and hopefully turn my Twitter account into a tombstone).
Speaking of unions, the union at Code for America has written about the collective action we've taken to demand better working conditions from management. It came with a lot of vulnerability and candor from people of many backgrounds. A union that shares representation is on the picket lines as a member was fired while needing insurance for their cancer treatment. All to say, if you're looking to start a union or want to know how - check that book or reply saying so; we got you.
On Media, Reading and Fitting In
I read too much.
I measure that by it taking the place that video games and television once had in my life. It doesn't help that bell hooks made the point in Rock Your Soul: Black People and Self Esteem that the rise of television in low-income Black households has been one of the biggest contribution factors to the lack of self-esteem of Black youth in the 80s (and onwards). Nor does the evidence by Robert Allen and Jared Ball about the role that media plays into the maintaining of the internal colony of Black America encourages me to not want to engage with television - on the contrary, now I've become interested in the idea of pirate television for Black people.
It's how I coped growing up. I enjoyed watching cartoons. It's not a hidden fact that I am obsessed with Static Shock for obvious reasons. But it's rare to find media that allows for self-reflection and avoids doing it for the sake of convincing people to engage in what Tupac said, a lot of "gimme gimme gimme, mine mine mine". It's taught to us when we're really young. And for parents who can't helicopter and guard us from the world (or even more sadly, don't know what to guard us from), we're wrapped up in it anyway. I do not know how to move on from this but I have been looking into other tools to remain connected with those far away. Media ends up being what people feel connected through - it's a (corporate) conduit that we foster community through. It's not unlikely that personal relationships manifest, but it is not designed to do so.
What does this mean? Well, there's the adage of touching grass. But it's also more to the point that finding topic-based communities you can engage with offline that aren't solely to expanding the profit of a company are vital. They're exceedingly difficult to find as the inability of government to help stabilize the economic boat for smaller ventures (to a point where public libraries have to turn into advertisement halls for billionaires). What I can imagine is something a bit - dare I say - radical. Food not Bombs is a concept that foster community using one of the oldest methods - food. In my home city, New York City, it's been quite successfully in pulling people together (and if I'm there, you might see me at one in Brooklyn!) but it does require a upfront investment from those willing to make that outreach. Is that something you'd be willing to join in - even if it's bringing some carrots or potatoes from home?
Dealing with COVID-19
I mention this all to say that whenever I do end up in conversations with folks not in the activism circles (or cliques) I'm in; it does go back to pop culture. I immediately tune out - not out of disinterest (I used to watch Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, I've seen mess) but out of a sense of disconnection. It's extremely hard for me to that people have chosen to consider COVID-19 to be nothing more than an avoidable cold. This led to a lot of people being eager to re-engage the world in things like spreader events (going back out to parties with no masking, for one). The reliance on the State to "protect us" - the same state that decided to end the state of emergency around COVID reminds me that there is a high level of faith we have in a system that has no interest in anything but maintain corporate capitalism (doing what works for business and business alone). I do get ridiculed for wanting to remain masked even indoors in smaller settings — bringing up the fact that people don't test anymore despite locations still providing free testing. I thought that perhaps if people understood that death is likely if recovery doesn't happen with COVID, it'd be less of a sticking point. But alas.
Seeking Joy
In a time of extreme stress, I understand why people are constantly seeking venues of joy. Under capitalism, it is almost a requirement to find it because this system will not permit it to come organically to you. It's also not to say that the act of being joyful is bad — nor is it to say that looking for it is wrong, either. What's being lost is that the forms that we're choosing to engage in it eschews the literal harms it's causing to our communities. I have to mention that I live between a cliff of "middle-class" (read: working class) and "upper-middle-class" (read: higher-paid working class) people. This is more notably within the Black communities I exist in. Because of that, it's really clear how those who can participate in a state of joy are those who have the resources of self-protection in the event of infection. Those who can't are the people who have to supplant the systems that allow those upper-middle class people to even experience joy.
I believe we need a reimagining of the practice of joy (be it social outings and what have you) that don't also require people to be placed in harms' way. This is what disability advocates have been asking for decades, and COVID-19 being a mass disabling event has forced a lot of people to understand what it means to be a visible (and yet invisible) second-class citizen to society and the State.
I don't have concrete solutions. I live in a relatively isolated region of Tampa (isolated in the sense that I live alone and would require a car to travel anywhere and I don't have one) so I rely a lot on virtual options to engage with my communities. I'm a part of a few book clubs (a great means of engaging people on a new thing) and am looking into getting back into livestreaming to help those looking for a space to hang and talk shop. It doesn't replace in-person activity (as I am looking into joining a fitness center and pick martial arts back up as well, all while remaining masked - it's possible) and I hope to find those in more intentional ways while still practicing safe engagement.
Closing
I don't mean to bemoan the people I see dancing in the streets. I'm more concerned about what happened after - the spike in cases due to that. I want to see my people grow full lives to the best of their ability - not to have it be damaged because of something our government has given up on because it's less profitable than warmongering. I want so much more for people, and it requires more than wishing — it requires action.
What would you want to do if you could make a nudge in a direction that'd make the future brighter?
Thanks for hanging in here. Some of this was extracted from my journal (the second one I filled this year) so it's coming from a very vulnerable place.