Oh! September.

A new month is a new beginning

Paulina Nachman Illustration

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Hi Dear Readers,

Can you believe it’s September? I can’t. Maybe it’s my breakup, maybe it’s the pandemic(s), but this summer has come and gone so quickly that I barely remember any of it. I have barely been a person these last few months. I’m slowly regaining myself again, but it’s a process that I’m not rushing.

I have been journaling every day, having weekly somatic experiencing sessions, exercising, walking in nature, watching hummingbirds, and working on a lot behind-the-scenes (both professionally and personally). Specifically, I have been working on a very sweet project with Sophia Hembeck that is all about heartbreak. Sophia contacted me after seeing an Instagram story about my breakup, and she later broke up with her partner a few days later. We started writing letters to each other about our heartbreak. Each Sunday for the month of September, Sophia will be posting her letters to me here on my Substack, and I will be posting mine on her Substack. I hope you will enjoy this and subscribe to Sophia to read my letters (and also because her newsletter is rad).

I hope you all are having a great start to September. I hope this month is kind to you.

xL<3

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Reading List 🔖

What the history books won't tell you about abolition - Gabrielle A. Perry
Throughout American history, abolitionists and those advocating for police reform have pointed to the origins of American policing in slave catching and bounty hunting for the same answer we arrive at today: The police serve no other purpose than to protect property, reinforce capitalistic ideals, and protect the interests of white supremacy.

‘Police don’t produce safety’: the Black feminist scholars fighting for abolition - Sam Levin
Kaba and Ritchie don’t want to make police and prisons “kinder and gentler”; they want to do away with the system rooted in punishment. Defunding the police is “the floor, not the ceiling” and communities can start by removing police from specific tasks and settings, like schools and mental health calls. The authors promote community-based safety strategies.

How Jisoo Baik crafted a fashion sanctuary for Björk - Daniel Rodgers
Though the designer had never personally met the musician, she felt as though her own creative practice – which pushes the silhouette beyond its fleshy confines – chimed with Björk’s out of body approach. “I was invited to her orchestral concert at La Seine Musicale and I could feel her emotions in her voice, shifting from anger, to sadness, and joy, from a whisper to a growl. It was truly touching. Everything – from the instrumentals, outfits, stage, and audience – felt harmonised and interconnected, like I was jumping into a world that she had created.”

Sabotage, Slowdowns, and Theft: An Interview with Robin D. G. Kelley on Black Anti-Work Politics - Marian Jones
I talked with Kelley about the wide spectrum of anti-work politics, from the aforementioned sabotage, to the Zerowork Collective of the 1970s, to the “new work, new culture” movement in today’s Detroit. Our interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Who Can It Be Now - Emma Stamm
It’s a psychological truism that personal identity is fluid and that its continuity — whatever it is that links the you of today to older versions of yourself — is asserted against a backdrop of flux. Social platforms, however, have distorted and jumbled up the sense of which parts change and which don’t. The many means of expression they provide and the archives they maintain suggest that everything about who we are (and were) may be reimagined and exhibited in an endless array of new formats.

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Librarianship 🌻

The Fascinating Things People Leave Behind in Library Books - Elaine Velie

Libraries Under Attack (Again): The Backlash Against Drag Queen Story Hour in the UK - Alice Nuttall

Dorothy Berry Never Thought She'd Be An Archivist - Morgan Jerkins

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Books of Note 📚

No More Police: A Case for Abolition - Mariame Kaba & Andrea Ritchie (nonfiction)

Woman of Light - Kali Fajardo-Anstine (fiction)

A Scatter of Light - Malinda Lo (young adult)

Mae's First Day of School - Kate Berube (children’s book)

Tanto Tanto - Marina Carreira (poetry)

Radical Intuition: A Revolutionary Guide to Using Your Inner Power - Kim Chestney (self-help)

[If you order any of the books above or any listed on my Bookshop site, a percentage goes to local bookstores and I get a small commission. Thank you for not ordering from Amazon!]

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Playlist 🎵

“NDA” - Megan Thee Stallion
”Pink Venom” - BLACKPINK
”I Just Called To Say I Hate You” - Issy Wood
”Tornado” - Jesse Jo Stark
”Faith In Love” - The Lostines

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Mood Board 💓

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Self-Care + Good Things ☕

Morning pages. Crying whenever I need to. Learning more Danish (it’s so hard!). Doing my own gel nails. Coffee—as usual. Somatic Experiencing sessions. Learning new things. Trying new things. Embracing life as is.

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✨A NEW project with the rad Sophia Hembeck called “Letters to a Broken Heart”—coming THIS Sunday (on both of our newsletters). She will be doing guest posts on my Substack and I will be doing the same on hers each Sunday for the month of September. Make sure you’re subscribed to Sophia’s The Muse Letter!✨