From the Feminist Killjoy Headquarters | July 24, 2024: Project 2025, Liberal Symbolism, and Rejecting Cynicism
My friend texted me and said, "I have so much anxiety centered around the whole election right now." And maybe you're feeling this way too. Or, maybe you're in total acceptance. Maybe you're somewhere in between.
A lot of folks are worried about another Trump presidency. I know people are terrified about Project 2025. You want to know what I do when things feel scary? I look to see how the people I admire are working through what's going on. Particularly, I look to anti-oppressive educators and leaders who I trust.
Ericka Hart and Ebony Donnley, the hosts of the podcast Hoodrat to Headwrap, are two people at the top of my list when I need a little grounding, a little reality check.
In this video on Instagram, Ebony says, "It's a smokescreen so y'all don't think about project 2024...Project 2016...Project 1492. I just want people to situate and locate whatever fear you have about Project 2025. You don't need to be afraid of that. It's happening now...all those things and worse is happening now."
It's been said before, but I have to keep reminding myself that any fear that may come bubbling up to the surface for me as a cis, white woman probably has more to do with "waking" up continuously to the reality of the world. And what a privilege it is to have had to "wake up." This initial "waking" for me happened in 2016 when I was criticized online for writing from a white feminist perspective. Down the research rabbit hole I went to figure out what "white feminist" meant.
Thank goddess for the person who took the time to send me a note in the comment section that day. They changed the trajectory of my life, and catapulted me on a path to being in true solidarity with the struggle for collective liberation.
Ebony is right. We need to locate and situate our fears. We need to be present and fully attuned to the legacy of violence that this government carries out.
Grounding ourselves in this truth is different than complacency. We must resist complacency. Take breaks and rest? Yes. But complacency? Complacency leads to nihilism and that's a disconnected and dangerous place to live, IMO.
The other thing I do when times feel scary and hopeless is look at my bookshelf and pull an author off the shelf who can sturdy me.
This week I've been revisiting Let This Radicalize You by Mariame Kaba and Kelly Hayes. There's a chapter titled, “Rejecting Cynicism and Building Better Movements,” which I LOVE because I encounter cynicism so often in the responses I'll get from family members or strangers who have engaged me in a conversation about abolition or dismantling systems of oppression. Their disbelief, lack of faith, and sometimes outright ridicule towards these liberatory ideas truly saddens me because white supremacist culture strips us of our humanity and with that our imaginations.
Of all the cynicism that's been thrown at me it's a wonder I haven't absorbed any of it myself. But I stay hopeful and resolute because of those that came before me.
Like Kaba writes, "It is true that the ruling class has never stopped finding ways to exploit, brutalize, and annihilate human beings. But it is also true that people have always defended their communities and one another against these tactics, at times upending death-making structures entirely."
The power really is in the people, in us. You and me.
"...The histories of those struggles and the specifics of what people endured are intentionally buried in US culture because they are dangerous: full of revelations and tactical knowledge that could help us more effectively challenge authority or even shift the course of human experience," Kaba explains.
Feeling cynical and hopeless is exactly what these "death-making structures" want. Of course, the repetitive cycles of violence are debilitating, shocking, and grief-inducing. You're human to feel these things and the fact that you can feel so deeply is something to celebrate.
And by remembering that our ancestors fought these evils, we can feel strengthened, emboldened, and sustained that we're not alone in this. We never have been and never will be.
Recently, Hart reminded folks again that it doesn't matter who's the president. Anyone who takes office is a war criminal. We're still living under a fascist government just as we always have.
Hart succinctly calls out the optics and performance of liberalism taking to Instagram to share this message: "I'm fascinated by a liberal's love of symbolism over actual change. A rainbow flag instead of hiring queer and trans people. A Black national holiday instead of reparations. Y'all are really gagged about a cop. Someone that spent most of their life convincing everyone that we should have more prisons. Like...please miss me with the mess."
Being with the reality that it doesn't matter who's in office because this country functions as it always has and always will (on extraction, exploitation, to hoard profits and power), doesn't mean we crumple up on the couch and give up.
Hart reminds us, "It’s time to organize. It’s time to imagine something better. It’s time we actually support each other rather than relying on empty promises from imperialists. The state will never save us."
As a childless queer, the words, "We take care of us," keep echoing in my head and I get teary-eyed because it's so damn true.
The other day I googled, "What do single, queer women do in their old age?" I say laughing to keep from crying. I have siblings and niblings, but I still worry about who I'll be with when I die. And while this may seem unrelated to what I've been discussing, it's not.
A huge piece of being in solidarity and being a part of resisting Empire is building community and chosen family.
If you find yourself getting a little tunnel-visioned and forgetting to see the forest through the trees I want to share with you what I do to ground myself:
Read a couple excerpts from your favorite radical, Black author. As you can see, I've been returning to Let This Radicalize Youby Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba.
Get on Youtube and listen to the speeches of Angela Davis, bell hooks, Audre Lorde, Malcolm X, and Fannie Lou Hamer, just to name a few.
Get into your "Window of Regulation," and remind yourself that you're safe. (This link takes you to a video that I made about the Window of Regulation that you can watch for free! It's geared towards anti-capitalist entrepreneurs, but it's still a useful tool for anyone!)
Block the trolls. Although I don't really get trolls anymore, which is funny because I used to get a shit ton back in the day. I attribute this to the algorithm not functioning the way it used to...It's kinda nice because it means that Terra's posts have less of a chance to entice some toxic masculine jackass who's ready to foam at the mouth about how we're taking feminism "too far."
Stop having conversions with people who are bent on misunderstanding you. Whether it's in the comments of a big celebrity, or you're arguing with your cousin on Facebook, ask yourself, "Is this really the best use of my energy?" Your energy is precious and it's most likely being drained. Take a nap. Eat some food. Channel it elsewhere. Conflict can be generative, but not with the asshat you went to high school with.
Talk it out. Reach out to a friend, your therapist, heck, hit reply to this email and let me know how you're feeling. I'd love to hear from you especially if you've made this far.
I truly appreciate you being in this community and I hope this provided some grounding for you during this time of great upheaval.
All my feminist killjoy love,
Erin
Extra Credit Resources:
One of my ALL-TIME favorite podcasts, Scene on Radio, is back with another season! This time they're tackling Capitalism
Listen to my favorite astrologer break down the astrology transits of this week
Listen to Ericka and Ebony explain why our "democracy" is a sham and how voting is a facade:
P.S. Did you hear the news? I'm working on an E-book called Toxic Masculinity in the Outdoor Industry! Learn more here!
