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December 22, 2024

Weekend Edition: Self-care this holiday season, Amazon workers on strike, Luigi Mangione's indictment and preparing for a second Trump term.

Care and self-care this holiday season.

At a book event, Saidiya Hartman stated that "care is the antidote to violence" as a “potentially powerful feminist frame for abolition.” This lens transforms how we see social justice work: when we donate money, time, and resources, we're not just fighting systems of violence, but actively providing care to those most impacted by them. Ultimately, abolitionist care reminds us that our fates and liberation are linked, making care-centered actions vital tools for achieving collective freedom.

Yet in pursuing this care-centered justice, many of us forget to care for ourselves. This year, in carrying others' burdens, I've inflicted violence upon myself. In my drive to care for others, I've become displaced, denied my own pleasure, let myself feel deeply unsafe. I've welcomed people into my space who had no right to be there.

Despite my gratitude for this work, exhaustion blurs everything. Here's the truth: if care truly is the antidote to violence, then refusing self-care becomes an act of violence—pure self-sabotage and neglect. For those of us who give dangerously, who give generously hoping to earn respect we already deserve, I must name this impact, even when no one else will. Our culture celebrates this—especially how marginalized women somehow do it all, carry it all, beneath crushing weight.

Perhaps you feel this too, and you need to hear what I needed to hear. This holiday season, I see you honoring everyone else. I see your deep commitment to your family, causes, work and all the communities you hold dear. My wish for you? That you prioritize self-care so lavishly it makes you feel guilty. That you feel a twinge of shame when you realize how little you've given yourself before.

Everything begins with you. This goes beyond the empty cup metaphor. Get full. Keep it for yourself. Store extra, like emergency rations. The care and sharing and generosity will flow naturally when you're replenished - I've witnessed your boundless capacity for giving these past four years. Yes, there will be vital causes needing support in these final weeks, and I'll share ways to help. But remember: your ability to care for others starts with caring for yourself.

Here are some reflection questions to root yourself in self-care:

• When was the last time you set a boundary that prioritized your wellbeing over others' expectations, and how did it feel? Think about the people you've "welcomed into your space who had no right to be there."

• In what ways have you been celebrating or rewarding others' capacity to "do it all," while denying yourself the same grace and rest? Consider specific moments where you pushed yourself beyond healthy limits.

• If you treated caring for yourself with the same dedication you bring to your causes, work, and communities, what would change in your daily life? What would you start doing, and what would you stop doing?

• What would it look like to care for yourself "lavishly" this week? Name three specific actions that feel almost uncomfortably generous to yourself.

This holiday season, we're encouraging our community to support teachers providing their students with warmth, food, and other direct needs. 100% of your donation goes to classrooms, and many classroom projects are matched for the holiday season, so your impact may go twice as far! Here are some examples of classrooms you can support:

• Ms. Rios in CA needs $94 to provide their students snacks when they’re hungry.

• Mrs. Mana in Maryland needs $66 more for their emergency kit in the case of a school shooting.

• Ms. Bellin in CA needs just $188 to gift their students with warm blankets.

• Dr. Brew in LA needs $189 more to bring hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes to their classroom.

Before, I’d link directly to classrooms, but because of your wonderful generosity, they would be fulfilled so quickly that other readers would be faced with a ton of dead links! If you can’t find the story I mentioned on this link, it means the classroom has already been fully funded. There are over 2,000 projects that could use the support of our community, so don’t let that stop you. You can also use the search filters to find classrooms closest to you.

Amazon workers launch historic strike to demand new contracts and end unsafe labor practices. Thousands of Amazon workers on Thursday launched the largest strike against the retail giant in U.S. history, pressuring the company at the height of the holiday. Democracy Now >

What it looks like to prepare for a second Trump term. From updating passports and stocking meds to bracing for price hikes, readers of The 19th shared how they are getting ready for Trump to take office. 19th News >

It's becoming harder to protest Gaza war on campus — and also to teach about it. Campus activists remain locked in a protracted battle with the administration about the freedom of expression in higher education, amid some of the largest campus political mobilizations in a generation. Truthout >

Luigi Mangione's indictment is another example of the dangers of terror charges. Prosecutors are charging Mangione using a state law hatched after the 9/11 attacks "to combat the evils of terrorism." Truthout >

This journalist is pushing back against the erasure of Native American history. Rebecca Nagle's podcast "This Land" and novel "By the Fire We Carry" are grounded in the gaps she sees in education and media. 19th News >

A federal clerk's error put more than 90,000 acres of Yakama Nation land in the hands of Washington state. Because of forced treaties and a clerical error, Yakama reservation is over a million acres — but not all of it belongs to the tribe. Grist >

Israel's war on Gaza is a war on children. This unfathomable suffering — inflicted disproportionately on women and children — represents a moral abomination, a political travesty, and a militaristic cruelty of the highest order. Truthout >

What research on 'sundown towns' can teach us about racism. Fifty years ago, a college professor started studying communities that excluded Black people, his work is still helping us understand racism. Capital B News >

Hollywood's DEI programs have begun to D-I-E, how hard did the industry really try? "I knew not to expect much," says a TV creator, "but it's still pretty disheartening when even the façade totally falls away." Vanity Fair >

Trust in U.S. media hit an all-time low in 2024, a new survey shows. Black midwesterners have found other trusted messengers of news. Ground News >

The story of one Mississippi county shows how private schools are exacerbating segregation. Alongside majority-Black public school districts, a separate web of private academies are filled almost entirely with white students. ProPublica >

Democratic failure gave rise to the second round of Trumpism. Collective action is the way out. In These Times >

The pioneering conceptual artist, Lorraine O'Grady recently passed away at age 90, leaves legacy of challenging Western thought. Scholar Jasmine Cobb reflects on her illuminating influence. Substack >

In this wide-ranging interview, journalist Raghu Karnad offers crucial insights into India's shrinking space for dissent, discussing how the Modi government's use of anti-terrorism laws has targeted activists like Arundhati Roy and the lesser-known members of the Bhima Koregaon 16. Lux Magazine >