Watching:
I May Destroy You on HBO!!!
There are numerous articles already on this brilliant show created by Michaela Coel based on her own experience being drugged at a bar and sexually assaulted. The show deals with her processing the trauma and highlights all the tiny little ways we violate each other’s consent all the time and how huge that can be. I love emotionally raw and brutally honest shows about human relationships, like Ramy. This show needs a heavy trigger warning for sexual assault but if you can stomach some not extremely graphic but implied assault scenes and mention of assault, the lessons learned are incredibly profound and I haven’t seen any show tackle the topic of consent in such a nuanced and profound way as this one. Hold everyone up to the spotlight- we’ve all harmed and been harmed. Processing that as a society and striving to do better is something that can’t be concluded within 12 30-minute episodes, but Michaela’s storytelling allows us the space for introspection and analysis of our own character, which I believe is the whole point of the show.
Reading:
Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex
Prison abolition is something I’ve delved deep into over the span of this pandemic. I joined a leftist book club and read The End of Policing by Alex Vitale, plus listened to endless podcasts with the likes of Ruth Wilson Gilmore and Angela Davis. I am definitely an abolitionist but as a cisgender person I need to learn more about trans issues all the time (as we all do), so when I saw that rapper/activist Noname’s book club was reading this book I suggested it to my book club. I’m only through a couple chapters but it’s already essential reading. It includes history from the LGBTQIA+ rights movement and makes a compelling argument for this movement to be abolitionist, because the mainstream white and upper class queer rights movement has not been. Trans people are policed just in their day-to-day lives and massively brutalized in the prison system, and mainstream activists have pushed for prison reform and legislation to protect queer folks and grant rights like serving in the military and marriage rights, but this book advocates for transformative solutions that weaken, rather than enforce, oppressive institutions such as the US government, the military, prisons, immigration, and healthcare. I’m so eager to delve deeper into the transformative approaches we can all support that will dismantle this imperialist country that is inherently violent and transphobic.
Listening to:
“Dreamland” album by Glass Animals
I discovered this band after they released their first album, ZABA when I was in high school. I’ve always been a fan of indie music and I’m so glad this band finally released an album with the word “dream” in it because their music is the definition of dreamy. I always feel transported to another place, time, and world when I listen to their songs. The wide ranging influences and references Dave Bayley makes reminds me of Alt J, who blew me away with their pop culture references like Alien and Where the Wild Things Are. Exposing myself to artists who are inspired by almost everything around them motivates me to be as impressionable as they are. This album is a story, and is best listened to in order, the way it was meant to be. The songs weave together and reference each other, regurgitating memories from childhood and nostalgia that help create the 80s/90s vibes. Glass Animals excels at making the themes they choose seep from everything they do at the time of each album. Their sophomore album How to Be a Human Being was also a moving, evocative story accompanied by video game graphics and cohesive retro designs much like Dreamland is. Their exquisitely matched nostalgic, ethereal sound and aesthetic is likely what has made them a huge hit amongst various music fans. I’ve used the website Genius to learn the stories behind each song and listening to the album after I know the meaning has added another level of appreciation and awe for them. I love music with deep meanings, profound words and sounds that blend like butter in your ears, leaving you with goosebumps in your car as the beat raises and drops, grateful for the journey but ready to hear it all over again. And sometimes, I just want music with infectious and danceable beats, and catchy and comical lyrics, and with this album everything I want is right there when I need it; all my (musical) dreams come true.
Other artists I’ve recently discovered:
Little Simz, CHIKA, Lady Leshurr, Ivorian Doll, HAWA, Flohio, and Dua Saleh (who actually introduced me to all these artists!!) British rap is my new obsession. Hearing a lot of these artists played in I May Destroy You is just another level of freaking awesomeness. I don’t know what sphere of influence I’ve stumbled upon, but it’s definitely the right one.
MERRI WORDS 