One of the things that has struck me in talking to my fellow white people is how much of their fear is focused on a future that isn’t predominantly white. Now, that in a general sense is not surprising, as institutions like the police are designed precisely to preserve the state as white people have built it. But what seems to be getting clearer for white people in this moment is that this fear stems from only being able to imagine a future in which, as they abolish our systems of oppression, Black communities turn the same tactics at white people as we have unleashed upon Black bodies for centuries (as hightlighted by Tamika D. Mallory while speaking at protests in response to George Floyd’s murder).
After functioning in a white settler-colonial, looting culture for centuries, it makes sense that it is difficult to imagine other futures–futures where being led by a Black vision doesn’t mean a simple reversing of the world order. So, in addition to building up my anti-racist language and my understanding of the history of Black people in the U.S., I want to build a deeper understanding of how Black writers, artists, and individuals imagine Black futures. How they imagine liberation, change, and alternate ways of being.
Read More
It has been a while since I’ve posted to this blog. That’s not necessarily unusual. I’ve taken long gaps before. I can say confidently, however, that this break has been one of my most challenging–a first foray into the academic job market & an exhausting season of life overall. By mid-October, I had lost track fo the last time I’d taken any space for mental health–for hobbies or reading or resting. My “to-do list” reminding me to exercise three times each week and pause to enjoy a hobby four times a week had gone unchecked in my planner for weeks. My dissertation writing had gone largely untouched outside of my weekly dissertation writing group. And so, I started carving a path back to myself.
Read More
In examining the community orchard, I am struck by how the concepts of care and managements fold together or overlay. We establish an orchard management plan to guild what happens at workdays. Is a component of that work care? Or is a principle of care guiding how we manage? If we manage our fields but care for our lawns, can we distinguish the two by a professional (managerial) and personal (caring, potentially affectionate) divide or continuum? If so, what happens to the lawn? In “caring” for the concept of the lawn, we do violence against the species that comprise it–and so, it seems, breaking down the language of our action can highlight the thing–species, concept, construct–we aim to uphold. I hope to keep this in mind as my analysis of the language and practice of the community orchard unfolds.
Read More
