Hello Family,
Happy Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! Happy May Day! I hope you are well.
I am currently experiencing a personal devastation, a profound grief unlike any that I’ve ever known. It has forever changed me and altered the course of my living. I’m not yet ready to talk about the specifics publicly; I may never be. If you love somebody y’all, make sure they know it.
Some of the ways that I am trying to cope with and (eventually, hopefully) heal from this situation is through writing, taking long walks, talking to my therapist, and engaging in a bit of self-care—which often involves, in some way, literature.
Recently, I took a walk to my local comic book shop. On my way back home, I decided to cut through a neighborhood park. Imagine my surprise when I came across a couple of very friendly folks and a big pink bike cart filled with free books. I discovered that they are part of an organization called the Nonbinarian Book Bike. It's “a queer & trans led mobile mutual aid initiative distributing free queer books for all.” It was one of the most wonderful ideas I’ve ever heard of; particularly now, since we are in an age of record-breaking book bans that focus primarily on the works of authors from marginalized communities—especially LGBTQIA2S+/Black authors. The Nonbinarian Book Bike strikes me as an ingenious, courageous, and tangible way to both resist and subvert the cowardly agenda that is attempting to cover-up certain histories and erase certain testimonies in an effort to eradicate critical thinking, discourage empathy and self-reflection, halt progress, increase patriotic frenzy, normalize oppression, and sanctify violence.
The Nonbinarian Book Bike is able to do the work it does thanks to the time and efforts of its volunteers and the kindness and generosity of people who donate books and money to help keep it going. Please consider donating to the Nonbiniarian Book Bike or becoming a member by visiting the website: HERE.
Tell ‘em Robert sent you. :)
Words
Because of things like book bans, the proliferation of guns, and the quest to prevent human beings from having control over their own bodies (whether in regard to reproductive choices, gender-affirming care, or even something as simple as a hairstyle), I’ve been thinking a great deal about what distinguishes progressive people from conservative people. I believe the fundamental difference to be that progressive people often seek to ensure the human rights of themselves and others, while conservatives generally aim to ensure their own human rights while preventing others from having access to the same. Liberals appear to fall somewhere in between; they actually believe that there is a middle ground between liberation and subjugation that isn’t dehumanization.
Despite whatever differences, however, it has become incredibly clear to me that anti-transgender politics unites conservatives and liberals; white people, Black people, and people of color; the rich, middle-class, and poor; the misogynist and the feminist; the patriarch and the matriarch; the religious and the secular; the straight and the gay; the uneducated and educated alike. This is why I (as Toni Morrison once suggested) do not believe that identity is a sound-enough basis upon which I can base my undying allegiances. I require more information. I need to know the respective heartspaces and soulscapes. I need to witness the actions demonstrated and see how they affirm or contradict the words spoken. There are far too many Mahmoud Ahmadinejads, Kaitlin Jenners, Benjamin Netanyahus, Andrew Sullivans, Clarence Thomases, Candace Owenses, J.K. Rowlings, and others for me to ever believe that one’s marginalized identification alone is enough to signal solidarity or a commitment to harm reduction and justice.
I have many litmus tests. Here’s one: How I can generally distinguish a friend from a foe is by their stance on the rights of transgender people. The idea that genitals determine sex, sexuality, gender, gender identity, and behavior is deeply, deeply, deeply ingrained in the Western social consciousness such that any deviation that manifests itself in reality (and make no mistake about it, there are other understandings of these things that have been around far longer than the Western ideology) triggers an ultraviolent response from anti-trans people. When they are not killing transgender people, they are rallying against their existence, creating laws and mores that prevent trans people from being regarded as members of the human family. And I wish—to whatever powers in the Universe, I wish—that they would just fucking stop.
, “The Liberal Retreat on Transphobia: ‘Zealous Minorities’ Edition”“The New York Times ran an op-ed from David Brooks falsely equating bans like Idaho’s with activists like Arya. Celebrating a controversial British report on gender-affirming medical care by Dr. Hilary Cass, Brooks warned of ‘debates that have been marked by vituperation and intimidations’—calling for calm as if the house isn’t burning down in Idaho and states across the country.”
The death of Black people, anywhere in the world, is considered acceptable, normal, and desirable.
“And more jarring is that the world has gazed with indifference upon this crucible of war. The ‘forgotten war’ is what it’s called now, when it’s referenced in the international media. Little is offered by way of explanation for why it is forgotten, despite the sharpness of the humanitarian situation, the security risk of the war spreading, and the fact that it has drawn in self-interested mischievous players such as the United Arab Emirates, which is supporting the RSF, and therefore extending the duration of the war.
One of the reasons for this is Gaza and the escalating Middle East conflict, and how they have monopolised global attention and diplomatic bandwidth for the past six months. And another is that for those reporting within Sudan and the few who manage to get in, doing so is difficult and fraught with danger, limiting the output of images and details that can be broadcast consistently to galvanise attention. But the rest, I suspect, is down to what to most will seem unremarkable: this is just another African country succumbing to intractable conflict.”
Nesrine Malik, “For a full year, the bodies have piled up in Sudan – and still the world looks away”
These clashes we’re seeing on college campuses between students and administration should tell you all you need to know about what education in this country (maybe in every country) is really all about. As James Baldwin said in 1972: “Education is indoctrination if you're white; subjugation if you're Black.” The primary goal of academic institutions isn’t really to empower us with the ability to think critically and find lasting solutions to our most grave ills; that’s an inadvertent byproduct; the unintended consequence of reading (which is why book banning exists). The primary goal is to get us to believe any lies the nation tells us—about itself, about ourselves, about other people. When students actually use their intelligence in ways that don’t fall in line with imperial motives, the response from the powers-that-be is characteristic aggression.
There are witnesses and voices on the ground telling us that we cannot trust what the media is spinning because it doesn’t reflect the reality of the situation.
, “I Am a Jewish Student at Columbia. Don’t Believe What You’re Being Told About ‘Campus Antisemitism’”Here’s what you’re not being told: The most pressing threats to our safety as Jewish students do not come from tents on campus. Instead, they come from the Columbia administration inviting police onto campus, certain faculty members, and third-party organizations that dox undergraduates. Frankly, I regret the fact that writing to confirm the safety of Jewish Ivy League students feels justified in the first place. I have not seen many pundits hand-wringing over the safety of my Palestinian colleagues mourning the deaths of family members, or the destruction of Gaza’s cherished universities.
I am wary of a hysterical campus discourse – gleefully amplified by many of the same charlatans who have turned “DEI” into a slur – that draws attention away from the ongoing slaughter in the Gaza Strip and settler violence in the occupied West Bank. We should be focusing on the material reality of war: the munitions our government is sending to Israel, which kill Palestinians by the thousands, and the Americans participating in the violence. Forget the fringe folks and outside agitators: the CUAD organizers behind the campus protests have rightfully insisted on divestment as their most important demand of the Columbia administration, and on sustained attention to the situation in Palestine.
I have this tradition. My husband and I don’t watch the Oscars, but what we will do is watch all of the Best Picture nominees after the fact to determine if we agree with the Academy’s choices and winning selection. So far, I have seen American Fiction, Barbie, Zone of Interest, and Oppenheimer. I found all of them problematic in one way or another. But Oppenheimer, the winner, was the one that felt egregiously like nationalistic propaganda to me, a shading of history in favor of whiteness. The entire three hours that I watched it (in which I fell asleep three times), all I could notice was how deft the movie was at avoiding true culpability while pretending that it was an anti-war film. Of the Oscar nominated films I’ve watched up until this point, this one felt the most insidious in what it is able to accomplish. As I’ve said before, Hollywood often functions as the propaganda/distraction arm of the American government. That might, in fact, be its sole purpose. Oppenheimer, among other American films, really seems to drive that point home for me.
, “a sigh about bombs”of course, Nolan’s decision to omit the a-bomb’s devastation on Japan is no great deviation from the hollywood playbook. J. Robert Oppenheimer may not be a John McClane or a T800 Terminator but he’s who we’re rooting for, more complex and more flawed than the archetypical hero with a nuanced, internal torture that mars his every expression after the successful detonation of the bomb he worked so hard to create. despite being based on real historical events, we’re still only obliged to follow the hero! to cut the camera from our protagonist strutting away unflinchingly from the heat-blast is bad maths! (even if he’s walking away from an act of mass killing with a single tear streaming down his face). we’re not supposed to deliberate on the villain’s right to life after the curtain falls – thus is the silent contract of the blockbuster.
There is a popular notion in the United States that anti-Blackness does not exist and that Black people simply use it as an excuse to complain or be seen as victims. Most non-Black Americans (and too many Black Americans) believe that anti-Blackness ended in 1865 or, in some cases, 1965. This is a result of the classic gaslighting tied to ensuring that the myth of American innocence and purity remains unchallenged by facts.
My opinion is that anti-Blackness in the United States will never end or vanish. Anti-Blackness, among other things, is essential to the country’s existence. Anti-Blackness is the thing that unites the various states. Returning to Morrison, it is also the thing that gives whiteness meaning. You cannot have an America or a United States if there isn’t anti-Blackness to give it foundation. Therefore, I think Black people from here have limited options:
surrender (which is to say, die)
assimilate (which is the same thing as surrender, but dying slower)
rebel (which is a project without end and may well lead to death)
escape (which has its own set of x-factors)
Back to the facts, though:
Property is generally worth less if it’s owned by a Black American. That sobering fact, cemented by 150 years of assessment data, underpins inequality today.
Black Americans’ properties have been undervalued by home appraisers and overvalued by tax assessors. That double punch has left Black homeowners more prone to falling behind on their taxes and, ultimately, to dispossession. One such case involved a Black landowner in North Carolina who lost his land in 1920. That loss affected the family line across generations, and his great-great grandson, George Floyd, was murdered by a police officer after a phone call to the authorities in Minneapolis about a counterfeit $20 bill one century later.
Adeel Hassan, “An Enduring Race Tax”
Have any of you ever heard about this? Is this really a thing? Is it happening often? Is it as dangerous as this article implies? If so, what does it say about us as a society? And how do we ensure an end to harm?
“I started to ask more, and the stories piled up. Another sophomore confided that she enjoyed being choked by her boyfriend, though it was important for a partner to be ‘properly educated’— pressing on the sides of the neck, for example, rather than the trachea. (Note: There is no safe way to strangle someone.) A male freshman said ‘girls expected’ to be choked and, even though he didn’t want to do it, refusing would make him seem like a ‘simp.’ And a senior in high school was angry that her friends called her ‘vanilla’ when she complained that her boyfriend had choked her.
Sexual strangulation, nearly always of women in heterosexual pornography, has long been a staple on free sites, those default sources of sex ed for teens. As with anything else, repeat exposure can render the once appalling appealing. It’s not uncommon for behaviors to be normalized in porn, move within a few years to mainstream media, then, in what may become a feedback loop, be adopted in the bedroom or the dorm room.”
Peggy Orenstein, “The Troubling Trend in Teenage Sex”
As the United States regresses on the rights of LGBTQIA2S+ people, other countries are making strides.
The countries of the Caribbean in particular are doing the damn thing. Dominica’s high court overturned colonial-era ban on same-sex relationships. I want to emphasize colonial-era because the main global narrative is always that Black nations and Black people are the “most” anti-LGBTQIA2S+. But the fact of the matter is that the origin of anti-LGBTQIA2S+ sentiment comes Straight Outta Europe. Europe usually forced this pathology upon peoples and territories through imperial conquest, religious conversion, and other violence.
‘“The repeal of these discriminatory laws is a testament to the tireless efforts of activists, advocates, and allies who have long fought for justice and equality. It is a victory for human rights and a significant milestone in the ongoing struggle for LGBTQ rights in the Caribbean,’ Outright executive director Maria Sjödin said.
Laws criminalising sexual activity between people of the same sex in English-speaking Caribbean nations were first imposed by the British under their rule in the 1800s, according to a report by Outright.
In recent years, a number of Anglophone Caribbean nations have repealed such laws, including Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Trinidad and Tobago. A case is also pending in St Lucia.
Caribbean nations where same-sex relations are still criminalised include Guyana, Grenada, Jamaica, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.”
Alys Davies, “Dominica High Court overturns ban on same-sex relations”
I am eagerly anticipating R.O. Kwon’s new novel, Exhibit. I had the great fortune of going to grad school with R.O., so I am acutely aware of just how much of a genius she is. Exhibit is currently available for pre-order. And I can’t stress to you enough how important pre-order sales are to the life of a literary artist. So please pre-order a copy of Exhibit before it drops on May 21. And tell a friend!
Exhibit by R.O. Kwon
“NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2024 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, THE MILLIONS, BUSTLE, BOOK RIOT, TODAY.COM, MS. MAGAZINE, THE RUMPUS, LITERARY HUB, AUTOSTRADDLE, LGBTQ READS, BIBLIO LIFESTYLE, AND GOOP!
From bestselling author R. O. Kwon, an exhilarating, blazing-hot novel about a woman caught between her desires and her life.
At a lavish party in the hills outside of San Francisco, Jin Han meets Lidija Jung and nothing will ever be the same for either woman. A brilliant young photographer, Jin is at a crossroads in her work, in her marriage to her college love Philip, and in who she is and who she wants to be. Lidija is an alluring, injured world-class ballerina on hiatus from her ballet company under mysterious circumstances. Drawn to each other by their intense artistic drives, the two women talk all night.
Cracked open, Jin finds herself telling Lidija about an old familial curse, breaking a lifelong promise. She's been told that if she doesn’t keep the curse a secret, she risks losing everything; death and ruin could lie ahead. As Jin and Lidija become more entangled, they realize they share more than the ferocity of their ambition, and begin to explore hidden desires. Something is ignited in Jin: her art, her body, and her sense of self irrevocably changed. But can she avoid the specter of the curse? Vital, bold, powerful, and deeply moving, Exhibit asks: how brightly can you burn before you light your life on fire?”
Also available for pre-order is
’s new collection of poetry.
Not Akhmatova by Noah Berlatsky
Not Akhmatova by Noah Berlatsky navigates the intricate dance between homage and reinvention, drawing inspiration from the works of Russian poet Anna Akhmatova. A book of quasi translations, appropriations, and alienations, it is also an authentic and unique examination of rootlessness and the need to belong. Berlatsky’s argumentative and proud poems explore his own relationship with Russia as well as the concept of Jewish diaspora identity.
“One of the gifts of the poet is how they are able to pack so much meaning into so few words. It’s no different with Noah Berlatsky. A conversation, a quarrel, a question, and a lament, over both time and distance, Not Akhmatova is an engaging, searching, thought-provoking collection. Each poem has its own unique and shattering examination of the human condition and human relations. So many sublime gut punches. So many mouthfuls of truth.”
— Robert Jones, Jr., author of The New York Times bestselling novel, The Prophets, a National Book Award finalist
Sounds
For all of the mothers who are reading this:
Every day is Mother’s Day. May your days always be good ones.
Blessings upon blessings,
Robert