lqb2weekly #184 (20 apr 2023)

hey,

i am on my way back home to boston after a two week vacay (🤯) and working on this newsletter as part of my return! this one was ready to go a week or two ago and i just needed to unpluuuuug before i completed it. so i did unplug and now am turning this thing out! in order to not slow this one anymore, i’ll share thoughts from vacay later. ok, so some highlights!

my friend and old co-worker, melissa reyes, has launched her latest community project! please check out their first newsletter and website!

Last week on social media we shared our community project and prayer, Floripondio End of Life Planning and Services, where we provide culturally-conscious death companionship for Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color and all dying allies. 

first newsletter: https://view.flodesk.com/emails/6421fce3e898f3b6f43d240d
website: https://floripondioendoflife.com/

also, check out solnox! i found out this lovely human, téyo, started solnox after my friend sarah jacqz shared lqb2weekly with them and it was inspiring enough that they started their own thing! i love thattttttt 😀 sometimes we DO get to have nice things.

a few weeks ago, i coworked with my friend abraham and he reminded me that we used to have a podcast. we recorded 5 episodes from 2017 to 2019! i fully forgot about it so here is: the intersectional enneagram (in case you never knew about it and wanted to listen). the episodes are listed in reverse chronological order so scroll down to find the pilot and then listen from there. 

ALSO! i wrote an essay for the latest ujima newsletter, #menswork edition. if you aren’t subscribed to the ujima newsletter, you should be! you can read an abridged version of the essay there and there’s a link to the full essay inside. the essay is an exploration of what men can gain from ending sexism and misogyny. lmk what you think!!! 😬 ←this is the face that i feel every time i put writing out in to the world lol.

and here’s 3 quickies to highlight:

• black voices in the public sphere fellowship

• 9 day initiation from mama lula

• ayni institute spring semester

ok! on to the things!

(!!) pick of the pack

---

writing

some things i’ve written since the last newsletter:

• Mar 10, 2023 | grieving even when things are improving

quotes

there is nothing new under the sun. also, full transparency, many of these quotes come from james clear’s 3-2-1 newsletter (which i love).

How would my daily schedule change if I did a little more of what I’m great at and a little less of what I’m not great at? – James Clear

Our boundaries are the ways we protect ourselves physically, mentally and emotionally. They are how we establish our sovereignty, as well as how we open ourselves to others. Our boundaries are the meeting point between ourselves and another-the point at which we can be both separate and connected. Our boundaries guide us in navigating our relationships and they are directly related to the ways in which we are able to give and receive love. – jessica fern, polysecure, p.66

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. – Frederick Douglass

Any observant local knows more than any visiting scientist. Always. No exceptions.. Do it now. – Roger Payne

One of the highest forms of love is accountability. – leah penniman, farming while black

The “if I had time” lie is a convenient way to ignore the fact that novels require being written and that writing happens a sentence at a time. Sentences can happen in a moment. Enough stolen moments, enough stolen sentences, and a novel is born — without the luxury of time. – Julia Cameron

It’s easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission. – Grace Hopper

To a river, as to any natural force, an obstruction is merely an opportunity. For the river’s nature is to flow; it is not just spatial in dimension, but temporal as well. All things must yield to the impulse of the water in time, if not today then tomorrow or in a thousand years. If its way is obstructed then it goes around the obstruction or under it or over it and, flowing past it, wears it away. Men may dam it and say that they have made a lake, but it will still be a river. It will keep its nature and bide its time, like a caged wild animal alert for the slightest opening. In time it will have its way; the dam like the ancient cliffs will be carried away piecemeal in the currents. – Wendell Berry

It’s not about what someone can do for you, it’s who and what the two of you become in each other’s presence. – Ronald Sharp

poetry

love note I: surely by Gwendolyn Brooks

reads

some things i’ve read since the last newsletter:

• What we get wrong about misogyny | Vox

• The People Onscreen Are Fake. The Disinformation Is Real. | The New York Times

• Things To Consider When Meeting Your Metamour | Poly Coach

• The Happiest Baby—With Noise-Induced Hearing Loss | Hearing Health Foundation

• How to Organize Paperwork (& Keep It That Way!) | The Peaceful Mom

• What Is Dysregulation? | Verywell Mind

• Emotional Dysregulation: Definition, Symptoms, & Treatments | Choosing Therapy

• Mindset: The Work of Byron Katie | Bethany Webb

• Protests in Paris: how unrest could impact Easter travel plans

  Save | Lonely Planet

• Talking Masculinity | Gibrán Rivera

• the sex binary is a social construct | @alokvmenon

listens

some audio and/or podcasts i’ve listened to since the last newsletter:

• Healing Justice Lineages: THE BOOK IS HERE! | How to Survive the End of the World

• How to Transmute Anger and Rage with jackie sumell | How to Survive the End of the World

• Dacher Keltner — The Thrilling New Science of Awe | On Being with Krista Tippett

• How Do I Ask for Help? | Coaching Real Leaders

• Episode 26 - Life Giver with Jihan Gearon | Gibrán’s Podcast

• Ruth Wilson Gilmore — “Where life is precious, life is precious.” | On Being with Krista Tippett

watches

some videos i watched since the last newsletter:

• How does a mermaid hide her tail? - in Splash (1984) [with Tom Hanks & Daryl Hannah]

• The P3 Lab - The Difference Between Organizing & Mobilizing

• How to Speak French: 8 Ways to Learn French Faster

jams

some things i’ve been (aurally) enjoying since the last newsletter:

• all i do — julius rodriguez

• i am worthy. — coax marie

• daffodils — alicia keys

jobs

now formally co-hosted with my friend, nadav david.

national

• Adamah: On Campus Student Organizer - $55-60k (link)

• Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100): Interim Managing Director, Organizing Director, Communications Director, Chapter Organizer, Movement Archivist Fellow, Communications Manager - $71-95K (link)

• Climate Justice Alliance: Black Membership Organizer and Our Power Loan Fund Project Steward - $60-74K (link)

• If Not Now: Communications Director, BIJOCSM Organizer, Donor Organizer - $45-59K (link)

• Run for Something: Director of Major Gifts - $132K (link) and Major Gifts Manager - $98k (link)

• National Council for Responsive Philanthropy: Director of Resource Mobilization - $90-$120k (link)

• Jewish Voice for Peace: Senior Fundraising Campaigns Coordinator - $60k (link)

• Contracted Positions / Request for Proposals

  • New Economy Coalition: Request for Proposal, Contract to manage development of Funders/Investors Database - $5-8K (link)

• For even more movement jobs, visit New Economy Coalition’s monthly newsletter (link)

local

• MA Bail Fund: Finance Manager - $70-75K (link)

• Neighborhood Birth Center: Manager of Communications and Engagement (link) and Manager of Sustainability and Operations (link) - $70k

• City Life/Vida Urbana: Bilingual Community Organizer - $50-60k (link)

• Community Servings: Volunteer Coordinator - $65k (link)

• I Have a Future: Co-Lead Organizer - $65k (link) and Admin Organizer, $21/hour PT (link)

other jobs (apologies for duplicates!)

• co-executive director | Pa’lante Transformative Justice | $65-85k | holyoke, ma

• Jews for Racial Economic Justice | NYC

  • Campaigns Director | $70-90k

  • Political Director | $70-90k

• Essie Justice Group — California

  • they are hiring for LOTS of positions and at first glance, they are very good salaries

• Donor Organizer and Comms Support | The New York City Network of Worker Cooperatives | $50/hour | Remote/NYC

• Solidarity Program Officer for West Africa and Haiti | Grassroots International | $68k | Remote, East Coast preferred

• Donor Engagement Manager | Grassroots International | $68k | Remote

• Administrative Assistant / Office Administrator | Urban Farming Institute | $21/hour

housing

• Maria and Pedro (and their 2yo Isabel) are looking for a place in Cambridge from mid-April to the end of May. They would be more than happy to take care of any pets and plants left behind, if you're out of town then. 1-bedroom flat, ~$2.5k, near the red line ideal. Email pedromo [at] gmail [dot] com.

upcoming events

• Webinar: Enhancing Aliveness for Individual and Systems Transformation | May 4, 2023 | 11am-12:30pm ET

$$ (fun-raising)

• we did it! Ready, Set, Go! Revival Road Farm! (raised $26k of $20k)

• Kibilio Community and Farms - Embodied Healing Fellowship

• priestess of twerk

other opportunities

• Virtual Course: Introduction to Collaborative Innovation

• PROTECTING YOUR STORYTELLING POWER — Strategies For Black Artists

• Bayard Rustin Residency

• BOSTON ART WRITING FELLOWSHIP

• Arts & Cultural Organizing Member Team: Micro-Learning Pod Facilitator 2023

• 2023 Forge Project Fellowship

• Making it Public: for MA Artists, a free 5-week online training for artists of any discipline who would like to expand their tools to respond to Public Art Calls.

• Nominations open: 2023 Newell Flather Award for Public Art. This award honors publicly nominated leaders with $5,000 of unrestricted funds for their contributions to the field.

• Kibilio Community and Farms - Embodied Healing Fellowship

newsletters

• black ecologie: al roker's night sweats

• emet ezell: Father Throat. Mother Tongue.

• building belonging: What does it mean to belong?

right now i’m learning…

that speaking even just a little bit of french will get you on many french people’s good sides.

mood

this is me in my james baldwin voibe: