Vidhya Aravind! More Protests! Worst Pride Ever?

Hey friends. Hope you're all hanging in there.

I know it's weird to promote a podcast in the middle of... *gestures at everything*... but I cannot recommend this week's interview with Vidhya Aravind highly enough. I learned so much from Vidhya about:

• what a world without police might look like 
• diving into activism as a "dumb bitch that cares a lot" (iconic!)
• finding new activist roles to avoid burnout
• the value of failure in organizing
• why nonprofits won't save us
• looking at gender through a more holistic lens
• and so so so so much more.

[Context of images from Vidhya: "The podium pic (above) is from a keynote I gave at a conference organized by @sheabutterfemme about building power against white supremacy. 

The pic of me sitting (newsletter banner photo) is at a town hall we crashed with a few hundred people; I'm asking Mark Schlissel (Umich's pres) an uncomfortable question. He didn't have an answer and just literally ran away."]

After you listen to Vidhya's interview, I hope you dive into her writing, especially these two new essays: 

• My relationship with the movement.
• Hope and shame (referenced extensively in the episode)

Don't forget to tip Vidhya on Venmo @akatookey and follow her on Twitter @kid_vidh. 

I've still been covering the Portland protests almost every night, which means I go to bed around 2-3 a.m. most nights, which means I'm falling asleep at the computer right now but I need to leave at 9 p.m. to go to work. (I don't need to do anything because nobody is paying me but it seems important, you know?)

I know that the protests aren't the space for this because they're focused on police brutality, but I want to yell the names of Riah Milton and Dominique “Rem'Mie” Fells, two Black trans women killed in the last few days. I want to yell and yell and yell. I want to never stop yelling except to take a nap. 

I'll try to talk about this more in an episode of Gender Reveal but I just wanted to mention Riah and Rem'Mie right now before we go any further. And I also want to acknowledge the terrible fucking news about LGBTQ anti discrimination healthcare protections that broke yesterday. I'm not talking about it now because we might get a Supreme Court decision on Monday (and if not Monday, then very soon) that sort of renders the whole thing moot. But I highly highly encourage following trans ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio on twitter for updates on what this all means for trans folks in the US.

And with that, let's move on to this weird joke merch, shall we?

If you listened to this week's episode already, you've heard the story of how this ridiculous tank top / t-shirt / tote bag is a collaboration between Nancy's Tobin Low and our friend Niko Stratis. At this point, I'm not sure I stand by "worst pride ever" as a statement. And lot of important, historic work is happening across the country! But there is a global pandemic and there's all the Supreme Court/Trump administration shit and it's not the best pride ever, you know what I mean? Anyway, 100% of proceeds on this design are split between BLM and Maggie's.

And since we're talking about all of our exclusive June merch, do you want to see the rest of it? You can check it out in our shop, but here we go: 

"Nonbinary people can look however they want" proceeds split between the artist and Camp Lilac, a camp for trans youth. Available in a shirt (yellow and white options), a tank top, and a tote bag.

"No gender, only lizard" proceeds split between the artist and Trans Lifeline. Available in a sticker and a shirt.

"Trans is beautiful" available in a shirt as well as a tank top (where the graphic is much smaller). Proceeds go to Trans Lifeline again.

"Hey, it's they!" available as a sticker and a mug. Proceeds split between the artists and Black Visions Collective.

And because I'm mad at J.K. Rowling, you have ONE MORE CHANCE to get the "Surf Don't TERF" shirt, tank top, or sweatshirt. Proceeds now split between BLM and Maggie's. 

Again, you can check it out in our shop.

That's it. I'm tired and sad and mad and I'm sure you are too, but I want you to know that we're going to win. Thank you for fighting for a better world with me. I love you. 

xo,
Tuck

PS: here's your weekly Rhubarb, courtesy of my roommate again.