pickWhat a great essay collection! I loved the way Mester featured her eccentric grandmother (and relationship with her son/Mester‘s father) in the beginning, middle, and then end of the book to display different aspects of “excess”. There‘s an essay on “fat camp”, the American mall, wealth, sweepstakes, the Midwest, boarding school, and much more that had me entertained during work. Recommended for my fellow essay enthusiasts!
pickThis isn‘t an easy read and it pairs well with “Everyone who is Gone is Here”. Following the human smugglers who are the guides or coyotes for people who are leaving Central America and migrating to Mexico or the US. It‘s intense, complicated, and told with humanity. Excellent!
pickThis author has some interesting ideas. Def worth a listen. This gorgeous cover caught my attention and this was a book club pick.
#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks
pickThe reverend speaks truth to power in this book. You could think of the book as a sermon that a lot of our ‘elected‘ members need to hear. Our oppression is rooted in white supremacy—this is a collective fight that we must all fight together. Capitalism, hatred, misogyny, racism—these are all built up every day on lies we have been told for centuries; the reverend lays it all out here. If we don‘t stop the ‘them v. us‘ and fight back ⬇️
The old myths are tricky, and they can catch any of us in their trap. Yes, it‘s racist to pass policies that we know will harm Black people. At the same time, it is also racist to ignore the ways those same policies hurt poor white people—because racism‘s myths are designed to keep Black and white people segregated so they cannot come together to transform a system that doesn‘t serve most of us. If we‘re going to be anti-racist and⬇️
So-called “election integrity” measures have been introduced in states with long histories of voter suppression, using the contemporary tools of voter roll purges or voter ID requirements to narrow the voting pool and reduce the potential power of a multiethnic voting coalition. I call this reality James Crow, Esquire—the result of Jim Crow‘s son going to law school and coming back to undermine democracy through more sophisticated means. Is it⬇️
pickAs a fellow daughter of Chicago suburban decadence I liked this a lot
Random book from our home library:
📖 The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement by David Brooks
One of the most damnable features of our common life is the way we talk about poverty, as if it‘s an anomaly and not a feature of our economic system.
💥📢❗️
This book was initially published in 1989 but has some revisions from 2008. The discussions of gender strategies and the “myths” we create in our own homes to make the family work (or not) is rocking my world.
What myths have I created to justify how my family functions? Are they serving me and the rest of my family or should I rephrase my reality to better serve us all?
#selfguidedwomenandgenderstudiescourse
