Working from home means an entirely different thing than it did in March of this year. I think at first it felt like a luxury. Pajama pants! No makeup! Now we’re conducting Zoom interviews on IKEA patio chairs on the reg. Hiding from our toddlers sticky keyboard-loving fingers but running to the kitchen when we’re hearing peals of laughter because FOMO.
Things will change again. I make an effort not to say “back to normal” because there will be an entirely new normal. Or there should be.
The sheer amount of content I am consuming in an effort to absorb multiple perspectives is dizzying. The work we, as privileged white people are doing, is hard. I said it. We’re trying to cram information, an education we should have been taught in K-12 into an email series, a speech, 4 infographics. It’s not that simple. But we have to do the work.
This is not a guide. This is just what I’ve been reading, listening to and watching to become better informed. It’s also kind of astonishing how much work we have to do to avoid misinformation. Liberals haven’t been asked to cite their sources this much since college. Yes, I’m liberal, and by sheer definition, I’m also ANTIFA. That is, anti-fascist. Trump is a racist and I want him OUT before I have to explain his complete fuckery to my son.
Also, I’m paying for journalism I trust now. Washington Post. The Atlantic. Wired.
The Atlantic: The End of Denial - Is This the Beginning of the End of American Racism?
The Atlantic: QAnon Followers Are Hijacking the #SaveTheChildren Movement
“I spoke to a number of longtime anti-trafficking activists who were alarmed by QAnon’s recent incursion onto their turf. They had worked for years to expose facts about child trafficking, only to see them distorted and misused by partisan opportunists. And they worried that in addition to clogging hotlines, QAnon believers could undermine the movement’s bipartisan credibility.Erin Williamson, the U.S. programs director for Love146, an anti-trafficking group, said that in the weeks after the Wayfair incident, the group’s social media traffic had spiked by 30 percent, and that new donations had come in. But it had also been forced to spend time debunking online rumors and myths.“It’s great that we have an increase in donations,” Ms. Williamson said. “But we don’t want to exploit disinformation for fund-raising purposes.” - via NYTimes
How the Pandemic Defeated America by Ed Yong
Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W Loewen. This one is a gut-punch for learning just how much you DIDN’T KNOW. And really, weren’t meant to know.
Lawfare Podcast (1 episode) - NBC News Reporters explain QAnon and the spread of misinformation/disinformation
Sounds Like Hate from the SLPC
First episode is about how woman extricated herself from the alt-right. 2nd episode I just listened to today and am still digesting. But a lot about how this white nationalist groups do a lot of work to get their people into positions of power.
U.S. History with John Oliver. It’s embarrassing how much I learned from this ONE episode vs. all of my U.S. History classes. But it also explains WHY, so.
You’ve watched The 13th by now, yes? Don’t @ me if you haven’t.
My linktr.ee, which has resources for getting educated on Instagram, current petitions, helpful racist rebuttals and a link to a daily Anti-Racism newsletter you can subscribe to. I also get text alerts on Mon/Wed/Fri from JusticeLA about actions I can take locally, from submitting public comments to sending thank you letters to raising awareness for marches.
Working from home now means fighting DAILY. Reading, listening, watching, fact-checking. We have a lot to learn. And a lot to unlearn.
