Good news that Joe Biden picked Kamala Harris, a senator from California with parents from Jamaica and from India, to be his running mate. This is cool because she is not a man—and because no Black or Asian woman has ever been at the top of a ticket with a shot at winning (recommending the series Mrs. America if you haven't seen Shirley Chisholm in action). 

In the UK, where I live, all nonwhite people get lumped together in the category of "Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic" or BAME. It covers everyone from Caribbean Windrush descendants to partition-era Muslim migrants to the Brits of Hong Kong. It's a much-criticized shorthand—perhaps so generic it has lost meaning. Oddly, Harris might be the rare person to whom the catchall ambiguity of "bame" properly applies. (Stopped clocks are right sometimes.) Clearly we need to figure out how to showcase, not flatten, multiracial histories like hers. And maybe I've been under a rock but I'd love to see/hear/amplify examples of Asian x Black political coalition building, other than this werk from Hasan Minhaj. 

Now a small confession. I wrote a profile of Harris *ten years ago,* one of the first with national readership. The reporting holds up well but alas, my headline called her "the female Obama"—and I noted that she and the president shared a "greyhound physique." And then, reader, I described her outfit. I regret that this was not in the tradition of a subtle but revealing detail—like, say, MIA's famous truffle fries—but in the tradition of "it's sexist to care what lawmakers look like or what they are wearing." (I did this to Condoleezza Rice, too, mea culpa). I'm fessing up because recognizing our biases and failures is healthy. And, per this open letter from watchdog/activist group "We Have Her Back," everyone in the media needs to improve their baseline coverage of women in politics, and especially those from underrepresented groups. 

-Dayo Olopade

The importance of centering the cooking that happens in our institutions. A delightful look at transit chimes by chord interval. On grief and the silence that exists around immigrant families’ histories. What if we thought of emotional trauma the way we do physical trauma? “Leaving Twitter for Instagram was like moving to Los Angeles, only cheaper.” A beautiful essay on learning to swim and coming out. Pirates of the Caribbean is the ultimate girlhood fantasy. Deep dives into the history and evolution of the rom-com. The amazing work of one librarian who put together the internet’s most comprehensive archive of food history. Brit Bennett on collective responsibility and the intersection of the pandemic and protests.

-Nicole Zhu

-Edith Zimmerman

On a typical week, when I am not on vacation, this hand-drawn space is brought to you by paying members of this newsletter, who each contribute $5/year. If you're one of these people, thank you! If you're not, please consider joining them.

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As the world's oldest living millennial, Miss Piggy has had a profound and lasting impact on every part of my life. Miss Piggy is my life coach, my fashion icon, the wild version of my spirit let loose in the world. I find myself revisiting this GIF from The Great Muppet Caper a lot lately. Sometimes it stands in for my desire to leave the house; sometimes it's about abolition prisons; and sometimes it's just the simple desire to push apart the margins of reality to make a little more room.

-R. Eric Thomas

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Supporting Black trans activists. If you, too, have watched in sadness or pressed 'retweet' on yet another headline about a Black trans woman being murdered this year, please consider taking that action a step further by supporting Black, trans organizers working to help their own communities. These are the non-profits and social justice leaders who get overlooked by even the big-name LGBTQ+ organizations and major donors. 

 

We know that money can translate to power. In this case, we are hoping that money can translate to safety, stability, and the individual empowerment that comes with knowing you have a safe place to stay and a stable income to keep you afloat. So let's economically empower those leaders who know how to do it for themselves and, in turn, do it for their communities. 

• If you’re a foodie, donate to: The Okra Project, an organization devoted to food stability for trans people of color. 

• If you have a passion for abolishing the prison industrial complex and the police, donate to: The Trans Justice Funding Project.

• If you want to work for housing justice, donate to: GLITS Inc., which is establishing safe housing for Black trans folks recently released from Riker's Island. 

• If you’re a diehard feminist, donate to: The Solutions Not Punishments Collective (SNaPCo), where Toni-Michelle Williams is engaging in leadership training for Black trans women. 

• If you’re an art or history buff, donate to: The Transgender District in San Francisco, the world's first ever trans cultural historical district, aimed at encouraging a new generation of trans artists, business owners, and preserving and elevating their history. 

I know we are all being asked for donations all the time! But I also know that, for too long, trans people have not been considered 'urgent' enough for our efforts and our activism. We should be doing better.

-Phillip Picardi