possibility is worth it.
This morning I grabbed a comic I hadn't seen for a while from my shelves. It is called The Hchom Book and it is by Marian Churchland. I first read their work way back in the olden days, when Elephantmen still came out via image comics and she illustrated an issue. Then I lost sight, found the Hchom Book and it slipped out of my periphery again. Here we are then, I am a newly minted patron and excited to see more of Churchlands excellent drawings.
Aside from that I spent some time at the sea. It was cold and seeing the Baltic ocean actually somewhat frozen over was amazing. Almost slipping on every other walkways was less great, but all in all I recommend it.
I spent some money on good tunes! Bandcamp Friday called to me and I spent my budget on three albums/eps.
Power Snatch is a new band wit Hayley Williams of Paramore fame. a great little EP. The Cult Object record is fantastic. I am not yet completely convinced by the new Joyce Manor album. Will get some more spins.
Finally finished Raising Expectations (and Raising Hell):My Decade Fighting for the Labor Movement by Jane McAlevey and Bob Ostertag. It was great to read about that particular set of struggles and it really gave me some excellent food for thought. These three quotes are separate.
Whole-worker organizing begins with the recognition that real people do not live two separate lives, one beginning when they arrive at work and punch the clock and another when they punch out at the end of their shift. The pressing concerns that bear down on them every day are not divided into two neat piles, only one of which is of concern to unions. At the end of each shift workers go home, through streets that are sometimes violent, past their kids’ crumbling schools, to their often substandard housing, where the tap water is likely unsafe.
John Gaventa who would repeat over and over, “Dogs get trained, Jane, people get educated”
Ultimately, this was where I got my ideas about what a union is and what it means to be antiracist. It’s where I learned that the truly poor deserve the dignity of housing in a nice neighborhood, that actions matter, that corporations should pay their fair share, that bucking the Democratic Party power structure is no big deal, that unions and environmentalists can work together and win, and that progressive social change cannot be made without a leadership ready to take risks.
Just a great book and a great jumping off point for me and my possible relation to my own union. From there I went to the latest episode of Heart Reacts with Kelly Hayes and started reading Let this radicalize You.
possibility is worth it.
Now I have one more day before school starts up again. And I don't quite feel prepared. But I have good music. I have good books. I am meeting a friend tomorrow and I had amazing dinner at my parents tonight. It'll go it's way. <3