Ann Friedman - Affirmative visions

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An intricate art-deco pattern of a zigzag circle with spikes emanating from it, all intricately inlaid in a ceiling
The ceiling of the Wiltern Theater in LA, where I saw some music and found some respite this week.   

This week
Other people said it better this week, so straight on to the links...

I'm reading
"We need affirmative visions of a better future." I've read this conversation between health justice scholar Beatrice Adler-Bolton and historian Jules Gill-Peterson a few times now. This line of thinking feels like it just might be the antidote to the pervasive political depression and burnout of the moment. Related: Audre Lorde on the fact that there is no single-issue struggle. And Rebecca Traister with a reminder that despair is not an option

Osama Shehzad on what watching shadi dance videos, and how desi weddings get filtered through social media. 

How American gun violence is covered by reporters in Mexico, by Javier Garza Ramos.

"Listening to conscious rap granted you an identity, one that stood in contrast to the materialist and self-serving culture my generation was constantly accused of perpetuating. " Mychal Denzel Smith on Kendrick Lamar, the return of Black Star, and the legacy of conscious rap.

Dave Eggers' book was banned in South Dakota, and here's what happened when he tried to figure out why.

"It’s difficult to become an expert in American political, legal or social history. It’s quite easy, though, to cherry-pick historical examples that prop up an end in search of a rationale—which is precisely what the Supreme Court majority did this week, twice." Joshua Zeitz on how the Supreme Court fails at "originalism."

Loved this essay by Alicia Kennedy on lifestyle as politics: "When we say that changes only have to occur on the level of big policy and systems, we leave out the significance of public participation and the fact that how we each live our lives is part of a greater whole."


Pie chart
What's in our personal "Proud to be an American" montage video? 30% Immigrants, 25% Dissent, 4% Peanut butter, 5% Redwood trees, 6% Jazz, 10% Bourbon, 20% Ranch dressing
The Fourth of July Pie
Archival from 2019.
 

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I’m looking & listening

A moment
Tweet by Kim Kelly: "If we can't be people, we can at least be a problem."
I found this extremely motivating.

I endorse
NPR's book recommendation engine is great, per usual. The sheer number of books I wish I were reading right this second takes my breath away. 

On my own summer reading pile...

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".@annfriedman’s newsletter really speaking to me today" -Lila Nordstrom. Some weeks we just connect.

This newsletter is looking for affirmative visions.
Forward it to your most politically imaginative friend.



Ann Friedman
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Older messages

Shrugging with rage

Friday, June 24, 2022

Surprise me View in browser June 24, 2022 a young white woman in a pink dress leans back against three people who are supporting her, a pillow beneath her head Pietro Longhi, The Faint (1744) This week

The joy of leaving, the joy of return

Saturday, June 4, 2022

Surprise me View in browser June 03, 2022 A bucolic vacation moment. Frolicking sheep not pictured in this one, but they're just outside the frame. This week I hadn't been out of the country

Underwater movies

Friday, May 27, 2022

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Sweet dreams (are made of memes)

Friday, May 20, 2022

Who am I to disagree? Surprise me View in browser May 20, 2022 Sean Tyler, Forces of Habit #4 (2022) NOTE: I'm away until June (let's normalize taking long vacations!!), so you're getting a

Mother Music comforts me

Friday, May 13, 2022

Sharing links of wisdom Surprise me View in browser May 13, 2022 A packed set of shelves in a record store display the album covers of 5 rows of LPs Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash NOTE: I'm on

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