> what is radical imagination
You're tuning into Cheers, a newsletter made by Tiffany Xie. This week: radical imagination, podcast recs, Stardew Valley, and tomato jam.
Hello friend,
> Here are some ways to demand justice for Jacob Blake.
> This week I took a walk most mornings. That gave me a lot of listening time, so I’m starting with some podcast recs:
> First up, episode 124 of Mary H.K. Choi’s Hey, Cool Life. This episode, in particular, made me feel extra seen because it voiced so many of my anxieties about activism/allyship versus performance/virtue signaling from the past couple months. If anybody wants to talk about this, I would love to. (h/t Yeeseon)
> Second, from Time to Say Goodbye: “Ethnic Studies, Revolutionary Politics, and the Third World Liberation Front with Viet Thanh Nguyen” (h/t Margaret), which led to a much-needed conversation on what it means to be radical, how I feel passive in my activism, how that feeling is selfish because it centers my ego rather than the work, how Asian Americans should be building coalition with other BIPOC rather than imitating White liberals. The word “radical” for me is transforming in meaning. I think its meaning for me is expanding to include ideas like radical honesty and radical vulnerability.
> The radical reminds me of a Judith Butler interview:
Sometimes ‘reality’ is used to debunk as childish or unknowledgeable points of view that actually are holding out a more radical possibility of equality or freedom or democracy or justice.
> I started playing Stardew Valley, which is quite fun, but after reading Pleasure Activism I can’t help but find myself thinking, why is there a gender binary when picking characters and will this be heteronormative? Some people might just say “be quiet and enjoy the game,” but I think it’s important to notice these assumptions in daily life.
> The idea of shushing people because “why ruin a good thing” reminds me of this episode of Still Processing, which critiques Hamilton for effacing slavery from its plot (*cough* Thomas Jefferson) while recognizing that it’s uncomfortable to critique a musical that is lauded for BIPOC representation in its cast.
> A small quote from Pleasure Activism, which feels very collaborative and full of a choir of voices, because even though adrienne maree brown is the author in name, so much of the book is her giving space for others to speak. I love that.
Our radical imagination is a tool for decolonization, for reclaiming our right to shape our lived reality.
> Also reading: Salt Fat Acid Heat, because my love of Samin Nosrat has grown so much after listening to the Home Cooking podcast. Finding myself salting everything now—jam, honey, pineapple, although there was that one mishap with the pasta water.
> Making: tomato jam from my dad’s tomato surplus. Tomatoes, sugar, cumin, cinnamon, fresh ginger, and a habanero pepper from dad’s very fruitful summer garden. Pairs well with brie and crackers.
> Looking forward to digging through The Black Film Critic Syllabus. (h/t Yeeseon)
> “Coal” by Audre Lorde:
I
Is the total black, being spoken
From the earth’s inside.
There are many kinds of open.
How a diamond comes into a knot of flame
How a sound comes into a word, coloured
By who pays what for speaking.
Some words are open
Like a diamond on glass windows
Singing out within the crash of passing sun
Then there are words like stapled wagers
In a perforated book—buy and sign and tear apart—
And come whatever wills all chances
The stub remains
An ill-pulled tooth with a ragged edge.
Some words live in my throat
Breeding like adders. Others know sun
Seeking like gypsies over my tongue
To explode through my lips
Like young sparrows bursting from shell.
Some words
Bedevil me.
Love is a word another kind of open—
As a diamond comes into a knot of flame
I am black because I come from the earth’s inside
Take my word for jewel in your open light.
> Unburst bubble brought to you by Lorna Simpson.
Cheers,
Tiffany