#and specifically specializes in working with the bipoc community here

[dyketennant]

i’ve literally never wanted to stay home and do laundry soooo bad before but nooooo i have to go to this workshop/screening event for work because we need more attendance and my coworker said they’d feel better if i was there. life is so hard being your job’s emotional support goth

[asaraviapt]

[EN] How to Follow Folks On LinkedIn Who Don’t Repeat “Rejection is Redirection.”

Lord give me patience–if I hear one more person telling me that “rejection is redirection” I’m blocking them before Twitter takes away the feature. 

… Okay, that may be extreme–but I want to start off this post by asking folks to refrain from that advice. I don’t have to remind other game developers how messed up the job market is, but I can say this much: I know a thing or two about job hunting. 

It takes time. Patience–a lot of it. Some studios ghost their applicants, others spend four months debating on who to grant that first interview–without guaranteeing a second or third round. Having been both a recruiter (and currently searching for a writing role) I picked up a few bits of trivia that I wish to share with others. 

First: Remote Networking Events:

Discord is going to be your best friend, along with other tools. It’s accessible, and offers a more casual environment than LinkedIn. Before naming a few networking events, here’s a few things to bear in mind:

Always have either a Sticky Note or WordPad that includes your preferred name, pronouns, a brief two to three sentence introduction on who you are and what sets you apart, along with your social media links and portfolio for potential recruiters to reach out to you. 

Take a deep breath. I know it can be daunting to put yourself out there, but in a job market full of so much competition, it’s the best way to gain an upper hand. 

Set up reminders and be efficient. 

Remember that everyone is human. This may sound like a weird one, but you’d be surprised at how often folks place game developers on a pedestal either because of the studio they work in, the awards they have won, etcetera etcetera. The best conversations and connections emerge from just relaxing and having a fun time with folks! 

Eventbrite.com Go on www.eventbrite.com and include the “remote” filters and free admission. Add key words such as “game developer meeting” or “game developer networking” for example. If you wish to get more specific, add the title you wish to have and see if you can meet folks who specialize in your field who can offer advice on how to break into the field. 

PowerToFly. Here, you can upload your resume and state where in the tech industry you would want to specialize in.

THIS WEEK they will have an event featuring to assist folx with visible and invisible disabilities from August 23, 2023 until August 24, 2023. You can sign up here: https://powertofly.com/events/virtual-job-fair/?utm_campaign=Sunday%20B2C%20Newsletter&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=270953365&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_HrFZZIbObYArT2rnkBkTW0QMv-gHNY9LDc0LIp0pfCuFHnk01A0sqaz1W7KeYORbvHtSVX7R0gO4XKS_MfGeRqYdpog&utm_content=270926294&utm_source=hs_email

Similarly, there are events hosted by PowerToFly for members of the LGTBQIA+ community, the BIPOC community--all of which are free, the calendar with the dates is on their website.

LinkedIn Audio Events. These are great events to not only meet recruiters and employers from various studios, but also greet other fellow job hunters. The best part about this industry is the camaraderie and support–find someone who could give you a job, or find someone who could give you tips on improving your resume. 

List of LinkedIn Creators with Events: 

Aida Figuerola (https://www.linkedin.com/in/afiguerola/) 

Upcoming Event on August 22, 2023: https://www.linkedin.com/events/gamingbackstage-de-iwithjasmina7097554161021415424/

Justin Williams 

Previous Event: (Remember you can rewatch it, and take note of the advice provided by recruiters in AAA studios!) https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinalanwilliams/recent-activity/all/ 

Amir Satvat (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirsatvat/)   

Amir has the Amir Awards, and often features creators helping the video game industry–additionally, he has an organized spreadsheet with video game job openings AND mentorship opportunities. 

Here is a link to the job directory from August 13, 2023. You’ll notice how often he updates it. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/amirsatvat_friends-i-am-pleased-to-present-the-august-activity-7096622772239388672-dCRh?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

If you are job hunting, you can submit your most recent/updated resume–there are recruiters and employers that observe Amir’s database to find candidates. .

Last but not least, there is a network of mentors willing to help with specialized fields, giving industry advice, resume writing assistance and more–all of the details are on Amir’s page and posts. 

Arin Goldsmith (https://www.linkedin.com/in/arin-goldsmith/)

Previous Event: (https://www.linkedin.com/events/7090354190849323009/comments)/

A unique component in the gaming industry is how professionals are encouraged to have their own brands–and Arin provides excellent advice. When searching for a job, it helps having a platform so that whenever someone is looking for a game developer, they know they have to reach you because only you can do a certain thing–and that’s what should be on your portfolio, brand, etc. 

Though not a recruiter, Arin also provides excellent advice to folks who have 0 experience in the gaming industry but wish to use their transferable skills in the development of video games. 

List of Creators on Twitter With Great Advice: 

A brief sidenote: hashtags will be your friend when looking for jobs. Every social media platform has an algorithm that detects what content you interact with the most, so if you constantly like posts from recruiters, or posts that have keywords like your dream job title, department, field of study–those posts will be pushed to your feed more often than others. 

Some platforms allow you to follow hashtags and set up alarms–so, follow the hashtags involving your field of study and see a few freelancing opportunities come up!

Okay, now about creators:

Javiera Cordero: An amazing producer, Javiera created a Notion template that has saved my life–and job opportunities. 

The link is: https://javieracordero.notion.site/Job-Application-Manager-fce5406854f0475aa21d5fcd9fa5e668

It has several categories including “preparing”, “applied”, and “interviewing.”

Additionally, there are:

Cover Letter samples.

Dozens of job sites.

Websites for marginalized communities.

Possible Interview Questions

And more! (gracias Javiera <3)

Should I post “that”?

“My journey with X has ended.” “Unfortunately, I have been affected by layoffs.” “I’ve been trying to keep it together for the past few months, but I need help…”

Posts of this nature have increased exponentially. I’ve had to write some–and I encourage everyone to do the same, and I know it is not easy.

It’s not easy to be vulnerable, especially in front of many professionals.

But some of them may be your future coworkers–if you need help, tell your network. Not to mention, that if you have not come across a job for a while this lets recruiters know why there is a gap on your resume. It was not due to a gap year, it was due to a recession and a million other things. 

How do I reach out?

Reach out to folks who are in a role similar to what you are striving towards. As a narrative designer, I often try to connect with other narrative designers–mainly because they have the best dad jokes and D&D campaigns, but I digress. 

Apply to as many studios as you can, then head to LinkedIn. Look up the studio, and see if there are any of the following:

Alumni from your alma mater. 

Folks in your specialized field.* 

Mutual Connections. 

First, reach out to mutual connections. See if they are willing to introduce you to someone in the studio you just applied. Or, try and meet up with someone who you went to school with–share stories and inside jokes from the institution, and if the subject of employment comes up, use that as a segue to explain your situation. 

Do not cold call people with messages like, “Do you have a job for me?” It’s not a good look–and, again, people are human. They will know when they are being contacted because of their job title–so avoid that. 

*Yes, there is a lot of support in the gaming community. But it does not always happen–sometimes, if someone has little to no social media presence, no profile picture it may be for a reason. Understand that there are times where game developers are, unfortunately, treated poorly by gamers and decide to limit what messages they can accept. It’s all about getting a hint, basically–but digitally.

Anyways, be nice! Don’t weird any game developers out and get that job. 

[candyclouds-and-summerblooms]

decided to make a tumblr for my Ao3!

About me:

You may call me Peony (or like any kind of flower, I’ll be eagerly waiting what you come up with!) My preferred pronouns are it/ its, but if you feel uncomfortable using them, she/her is okay. Do not they/them me, or I will identify as a fucking problem and come after you with a hoe and turn yours into was/were.

I’ve been digging my roots into the soil for over 25 years. I am old, I get grumpy, I have specific dietary needs and very little patience for drama! That being said, if you’re nice and respectful, I will be the same towards you.

I write only sporadically because I’m a busy bee and this is my hobby. Currently I’m neck-deep in the Call of Duty franchise, with a special appreciation for the MW2 storylines. Captain MacTavish can call me anytime, and I do mean any time. I’ll be here, waiting.

The ask-box is open! Please don’t abuse it.

Tag System:

#from the flowerpot: personal tweets

#archive of nonsense: posts I find humorous

Footnote:

This blog is pro-fiction/ anti-censorship! Always remember Stephen’s Tweet — literature is a tool, and controlling the tools means controlling the user.

People have a myriad of different reasons and perspectives because all of our lives are to a degree unique. This makes for a colourful medley of experiences that get worked into stories and reflected by fiction. There is no metric good or bad in fiction except from —perhaps— the overall execution, but this is still a hobby for most of us at the end of the day! No piece of fanfiction or fanart should be up to industry standards! If you feel that way, then I’m sorry but you are part of the problem.

Industry standards have always been exclusionary and deeply racist and ableist. Fanworks are not part of an industry, they are a token of love and appreciation from any young flower to the thoughts and ideas of entire creative teams. Fanartists are a huge subculture, the venn diagram of fanartists, queer and BIPOC people is damn near a perfect circle and that’s for a reason! We simply do not fit the industry standard and that’s what makes this community so incredibly diverse and rich. This is what makes us beautiful.

But every flower in this community has their own needs — monsteras, carnivorous plants, cypress trees, daffodils and orchids all have their spot in my house and garden, and they all have their own soil, their own food, their own sun. You can’t put a cypress in peat and feed it orchid food and expect it to grow healthy. It’s not for them! And that’s fine, the peat soil is for the carnies and the orchid food for air plants and, as the name suggests, orchids.

What I’m trying to say is: if something clearly isn’t meant for you, you have to disengage. It’s the only respectful thing to do, both to OP and yourself. In the age of click-fed algorithms, rage-baiting is the easiest way to garner attention — and I am well aware that a lot of us neglected souls have it hardwired into our brains that any kind of attention is better than no attention. This is harmful.

Go out, be kind, disagree privately and disengage quietly, please.

[pm-my-hubbies]

OBX Fic Recs for my BIWOC Lovelies

Last updated on November 10, 2020 at 8:10 p.m. (HST)

My Reading and Writing Blog for BIWOC

A special message to OBX fans

Another message on shipping and fics

A message from @thevortexclubposse

Check out these wonderful black writers by @yurtletheturtlehenderson

Here’s a rec list of OBX fics for my bipoc readers. There aren’t that many but hopefully, more will come that I can add to the list. I’ll also do my best in writing fics staring bipoc characters and write fics that are inclusive to all.

Black Reader:

Black Lives Matter by by @sovuckie | JJ Maybank JJ defends one of the newest residents in Kildare County while also falling in love with the beautiful young lady.

Pope’s Little Sister by @yungbludz | JJ Maybank JJ is a bit flustered every time he runs into his best friend’s little sister. One day, all of that goes out the window.

The Sheriff’s Daughter by @yungbludz | JJ Maybank This fic describes the reader as the sheriff’s daughter. I could only picture Peterkin as the parent.

The Truth by @jjsmaybcnk | JJ Maybank Kelce’s sister and JJ are secretly dating due to their social statuses in Kildare. However, the truth can find a way to expose itself to the public.

White Boys by @sortagaysortahigh | Topper Thornton From the ah-mazing writer herself: “In which Y/N Y/L/N has a rule about not dating white boys, but Topper Thornton’s determined to change her mind.”

Summer and fangs by @gerberbabey | John B. Routledge (Peterkin Daughter Series)

Head canon by @kiarasgold | JJ Maybank

JJ Flirting on IG by @lotsoffandomimagines

Pope’s Twin by @sortagaysortahigh | Kelce

Haunted House by @tweedlydumbtweedlydoo | Pope

Lost & Found | Crush by @misspankow

Biracial/Mixed Race Readers

You Two Are What? by @jjsmaybcnk | JJ Maybank

Maybe I’m Honestly Falling Too Soon by @gerberbabey | John B. Routledge

Latina Reader: To summarize this portion, Latinx is not a race. It’s an ethnicity comprised of people from any race. In other words, you can be a white Latinx, a black Latinx (Afro Latinx), indigenous, etc. Now, if I am wrong or my explanation needs more clarification, PLEASE CORRECT ME. The last thing I want is to misinform people.

Empanadas and Alfajores by @obxlife | JJ Maybank Reader is hesitant on moving away from home to a foreign place like the Outer Banks. She meets the Pogues and captures the attention of a certain blue-eyed boy. I’m guessing the reader is a nonblack Latina.

JJ Dating a Latinx/Hispanic Reader by @whenspideywrites | JJ Maybank

A simple headcanon of JJ loving his girlfriend within the Latino community.

Ship Request by @poguesofthebau

Latina Concept by @stylesduress

Work Friends Series by @kikifromtheblock | JJ Maybank

Asian Readers:

Debut (Filipina Reader) by @gerberbabey | Pope Heyward

This is actually apart of a series that I’m enjoying so far. Here is the link to the prologue but you can read the rest at your own pace.

~*~

I’ll also add Pope/JD and Kelce/Deion fics on here that I come across because these boys never get the same amount of love as the other boys in the fandom. These fics will be inclusive to all. Meaning race specifics will not be mentioned throughout.

Pope Heyward/Jonathan Daviss

He cuddles you after an injury | Dad!Pope Masterlist by @socialwriter

He quotes something corny by @jellyfishbeansontoast

If I Have You by @apoguecalledjj

Pope’s Makeup by @drewstarkeyisababe

Pas De Deux (Part One) by @bedazzledbanks

Stay by @ims0golden

Electric by @maybankiara

Late Night Talks | The Power Couple | Boat Date | Picnic | Caught In the Act | Reading Facts to the Bump | First Times by @ijustreallylovethem

Pope’s Secret by @ptersparkers

Blurb #13 by @tempestuousjj

Dad!JD Headcanon by @cherryobx

OnlyFans | Pope Feels Anger | Good News by @sortagaysortahigh

Jonathan Daviss Blurbs by @maybanksbaby

Kiss the Girl by @https-luna

Rough | Do You Believe In Love at First Sight | JD by @ilovefandoms102

Noisy Neighbors by @toriswrites

My angel, My Darling by @rekrappeter

Kelce/Deion Smith:

Night Swims by @butgilinsky

Preferences in Bed by @socialwriter

Kelce Takes Care of You | College!Kelce by @sortagaysortahigh

Tags: @teenwaywardasgardian @ethereal-honeygold @rudyypankwow @bb-tings @jarritoswhore @letsgofullkook @butterfliesinthenightsky @usedtobeaj @og-baby-ob14.

[kpop]

K-Pop Spotlight: Not Your Average Fangirls

All month long, right here on @kpop on Tumblr, we’ll be highlighting creators from the @blackintokpop coalition of Black K-pop podcasters. Today, we’re highlighting professional fangirls Terrica, Carolina, Cynthia, and Kat of Not Your Average Fangirls—a podcast that focuses on the latest Korean pop culture news, comebacks, and general tea that you might have missed.

Tell us about yourselves. How did you start your podcast?

Not Your Average Fangirls started at an IHOP in Seattle, WA. We were talking about the A.C.E concert we had attended the day before and jokingly said that it would be fun to start a podcast. After a few weeks, Not Your Average Fangirls was born! We wanted to find a way to celebrate the thing that brought us all together: music, and more specifically, K-pop. Our goal for the podcast is to make the listeners feel like they are talking with friends about their favorite music, groups, and anything K-pop-related.

The podcast industry is still largely white and male-dominated. How can we continue to shine a light on BIPOC women podcasters?

Collaborations! By collaborating/networking with each other, we can reach a bigger audience to show that we are here and we are valid. For example, Black Into Kpop is bringing together talented BIPOC with different views and opinions. With more initiatives like this, we are sure BIPOC podcasters will be able to garner the attention that we deserve.

What has been your favorite episode that you’ve created?

We absolutely love our episode Ghosting Chanyeol, which showcases the structure of our weekly episodes. Also, our special episode KPOPCALYPSE and mini outtake reel Deobi vs. Dobby, which you can find on YouTube. 

The K-pop community is a wonderfully inclusive one, but the industry continues to have its instances of cultural appropriation. What changes in the industry do you hope to see going forward?

We hope to see more diverse staff in K-pop companies, especially if they want to better appeal to global fans. It would be wise to hire people who know more about the cultures they are trying to connect with and teach the idols how to respect and appreciate these cultures properly.

When you hear Black Excellence, is there someone in or adjacent to the K-pop industry that comes to mind?

Cha Cha Malone and CHIKK. They’ve both worked on some of the biggest hits in K-pop and written and produced some of our favorite songs from our favorite groups. These two have done a great job at speaking up about issues surrounding cultural appropriation in the K-pop industry while also trying to educate and change these issues.

If you could choose any K-pop idol to appear on your show, who would your dream guest be?

Terrica: Mark Lee from NCT. Kat: Kevin Moon and Jacob Bae from The Boyz. Carolina: Bambam from GOT7. Cynthia: Jae from DAY6.

What can we look forward to from you in 2021?

More fun episodes and collaborations, as well as creative content on both our podcast and YouTube channel. Hopefully, we can do more artist interviews as well, so stay tuned!

Thanks for sharing your stories! Check out more from Not Your Average Fangirls here and stick with us as we highlight more from @blackintokpop throughout February.

This interview has been condensed for clarity.

[alchemabotana]

Shamanic Identity

Today I’m taking the time to write this post about something so personal and dear to my heart: Shamanic Identity.

You’ve probably seen it too: people with no right to the word Shaman using it liberally to describe the work they do. I’ve written several other posts about shamanism, its history, and my personal practice here on this blog, but that’s not exactly what I’m writing about today.

The word “appropriation” doesn’t begin to cover this topic, although it is a word that applies to the concepts I’m addressing. The concept of Shamanic Identity is actually not a complicated one at all: a Shaman is an intermediary between the Spirit World and the Physical World, between the multiverse and dimensional realities that are unseen and the seen world. These people do so by simply existing and taking up space. There are Shamanic Practices, Shamanic Techniques, Shamanic Ceremonies, and Shamanic Rituals, but that’s NOT Shamanic Identity. These things are simply words and labels we’ve developed as Shamans to describe categories of actions that we take in the world, not our Identity.

For example, if I stopped offering healings, making medicine pieces or altars, performing rituals or ceremonies... I would still be a Shaman, because that’s who I was born to be. I know Shamans who drive trucks for a living, are maids, trash collectors, incarcerated, or in a mental hospital: but they’re still Shamans. They don’t need to take a special class, tell you their genetic lineage, or practice a specific modality to be a Shaman.

So what has created the Shamanic Identity crisis that is so widespread in this current age? What it boils down to is The Cultural Iceburg. 

The Cultural Iceburg is the concept that what we see when interacting with an individual is not all there is. When people think of Shamanism they associate it with our Customs, Language, and Music. But they mistakenly ignore Values, Priorities, Assumptions, Body Language, Stories, Manners, and Space/Time Concepts of our LIVED EXPERIENCE.

This is why it’s so easy for someone to put on the headdress, get a rattle or drum, and start claiming that they are a Shaman. Why do these people do this? Primarily to gain a position in some social group or setting they’d like to belong to (usually not the cultural group they are appropriating from, but others in their racial/social/socioeconomic/class structure). These individuals are also highly motivated by FINANCIAL GAIN.

I want to take some time to talk about financial gain and Shamanism. I’ll be frank, I don’t know any rich Shamans. I don’t know any Shamans who feel completely comfortable charging a fair price for their services, and I know a lot of Shamans who have gone hungry and homeless because they don’t feel right about charging money. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pay a Shaman the fair price for their work (services or goods). Just as you would pay someone a fair living wage for hours worked, you ought to pay a Shaman for their work. It’s that simple.

But there are many clear examples, unfortunately many of them in my hometown community, of people taking Shaman Schools or Shaman Certifications or Shaman Classes (usually online - not that there aren’t authentic shamanic online courses) in order to claim that they are a Shaman or to show “proof” that they are “qualified” to be a Shaman. I ran into this when a local hospital approached me about coming on board as a Shaman in their clergy. It became very obvious that their department had no real clue what a Shaman does, as they asked for proof of my schooling and accreditation as a Shaman. When I told them I wouldn’t provide those materials because it is not culturally appropriate, they asked me for the names and qualifications of my teachers. My teachers also did not have the qualifications they were looking for, and I REFUSE to play the “show me your identification card” game which is insulting to our elders. 

Are you starting to get the picture?

Shamanism is a complex identity structure. It requires a person to have certain prerequisite gifts. That’s not something you can give a person or teach a person in a course or school. Some will argue that you can transfer gifts, but I will argue that you have to be a Shaman already to receive them. In my experience as a Shaman it has often been necessary to teach other Shamans how to manage their gifts so that they would not be overwhelmed by them. Shamans have to deal with a complex cultural stigma against their very identities: don’t talk to dead people, don’t listen to voices, don’t communicate with spirits, don’t you dare see one or you’ll be labeled insane. If you’re a Shaman of BIPOC origin, just go ahead and layer institutional racism on top of it, and you’re in for a flurry of misunderstanding and bigoted response to your very identity out there in the “real world.” Shamans have to learn to navigate incredible barriers to basic human rights when they take the steps to seek help for mental or physical health issues. Some of those issues have nothing to do with them, except that their care providers are too ignorant on complex cultural matters to be good advocates for their care. This is why the great majority of Shamans that I have taught, studied with, or been in the care of, have tragic stories of healthcare gone wrong & wrongful incarceration/mental institutionalism. I really don’t know a single Shaman who doesn’t struggle with a mental health diagnosis, complex PTSD, or Epigenetic Trauma.

For those of us born of family lineages, we have to navigate Epigenetic Trauma as well. We have to face a healthcare system that was built on experimentation on our ancestors, and overcome major trust issues to receive treatment for conditions that most average citizens of the US suffer from as well: anxiety, depression, PTSD, domestic violence, sexual violence, etc. Except, when a Shaman goes to receive help they have to explain why they see spirits and their whole cosmology before someone takes them seriously around conditions that have nothing to do with their Shamanic Identity. Sometimes Shamans feel they HAVE to be honest about their experiences with these providers, even if it hurts them. They have most likely been abused for their Shamanic Identity, and aren’t so much sharing their experiences to seek help for the woo-woo, but help navigating abuse.

But those without real Shamanic Identities just take off the label Shaman whenever it is convenient. They do not have to bear the burdens of Shamanic Identity, but receive the financial benefits of associating themselves with the term. These are the folks who come to me desperate to associate themselves with me as a student, so they can claim they have met the “requirements” to be a practicing Shaman for their business profile. It’s been incredibly hard for me to navigate this within myself and not respond immediately with rage. Instead, I try to educate people tactfully - some are more responsive than others. For example, I had a student once inquire about my Shamanic Mentorship - a mentorship program I offered pre-pandemic in which I explicitly stated the purpose was to receive mentorship from a Shaman. Nothing more. This particular individual had a yoga studio and wanted to “Add Shamanism” to what they offered. I tried to explain the impossibility of such a venture, especially with me as their token Shaman who would bestow this identity on them, so they could monetize my cultural and identity for their benefit. I never heard from the person again, although they do still own and operate a studio in my hometown, they have taken no actions to support our Shamanic work on any level. My hope is that they realized the futility and ignorance of their request, although I’m certain they had no intention of ever supporting us at all. 

You’ve probably seen this kind of “shamanism” online on instagram posts, influencer pages, and people who are what I call “shamanic curious”. All these individuals have done nothing to truly commit to alleviating the pains and sufferings that they’re causing by appropriating someone’s actual identity. They feel like they have the best intentions: “Omg! No!! ONLY LOVE AND LIGHT SIS!” (eye roll). However, they tend to be completely ignorant to the damage and stress they cause to real Shamans through their selfish actions. “Being curious is ok right? I mean, I have the right to explore my identity through yours and see if it gets me friends, likes, follows, and MONEY, RIGHT?” No. Go home. Think about what you are doing when you try on someone’s identity and put yourself out there as the face of that identity. Would it behoove you to consider that Shamans themselves have had to strenuously defend their identities to others? Would it perhaps be a real act of love and light to give up your curiosities and turn over that experience to an actual Shaman? Have you considered that you cause real physical, spiritual, and mental harm to Shamans, and clients that you take on in your exploration of Shamanic traditions, rituals, and ceremonies?

If you don’t truly have a Shamanic Identity I encourage you to stop what you’ve been practicing right now, sit down, and ask for forgiveness from the Spirits, as well as living Shamans and their Ancestors. I would go to a real Shaman and pay them properly to remove the slew of crazy toxic attachments you’ve definitely been accumulating, and release you from the karmic debt you are certainly incurring. If you can get a job doing anything in the real world sector that doesn’t involve you crawling up into someone’s energy stream, I would suggest you take that job and step out of a sector you know nothing about. It’s amazing to me what people think they can make-up about themselves and others because deep down they also believe that Shamanism is made up. If it’s all made up, then you can do anything you want with no repercussions and still make money off someone else’s identity. And you still think you’re not harming anyone? 

If you’re a Shaman you know that you can’t fake it til you make it. There’s no faking the Spirits, Guides, and Ancestors. There’s no faking a spiritual or psychic attack. There’s no faking the spirit’s communication to you, or their visible presence. And when you go out into the world, no matter what you do, people are going to find you for your Shamanic Identity.

For example, I once worked at a test grading facility one summer marking up EOG exams. While at this job at every break an elderly woman would come up to me and share her stories, always with the caveat “I don’t know why I’m telling you this but...” and then go into a story about how her deceased father was contacting her at her home. He would do so by knocking things off tables and moving things around. I asked her what he thought he was trying to tell her. She eventually concluded that he wanted her to move from her house, but she didn’t feel ready for that. I suggested that she tell him this next time he made his presence known. Next time we talked she shared that she had spoken with him and that the incidents then stopped. After that she didn’t come up to me to talk, and someone new started talking to me. My boss brought me photographs from her time in AZ as a young woman, depicting petroglyphs that matched my shamanic tattoos. She said “you know that means you’re a shaman right?” I laughed and nodded. At one point everyone in my grading group was feeling very ill, one of the proctor overlords had decided to crank up the AC and everyone was freezing cold. I brought everyone blankets and stones. One gentleman later asked me what the stone meant. I told him, “it’s a piece of quartz, it doesn’t have to mean anything, it can just be beautiful”. He said “No, I mean - they mean something. I know this sounds crazy, but some really bad stuff was going on with my family: financial and health problems. But when I brought that stone home, everything changed immediately. I need you to know that.” I acknowledge him and told him yes, this can happen - the stones heal who they want to, that’s just part of our understanding of them, but we don’t expect others to believe the same way. He said “I don’t need convincing, I experienced it myself”.

No one article can even begin to truly communicate the issues surrounding the theft, appropriation, and misrepresentation of Shamanism in our world, let alone the internet. I mean, the Q Anon guy called himself a Shaman too and the media just ate it up. Why? Because it is exotic and ignorance makes for good press, and good press makes for money. 

And I don’t write this to depress or discourage anyone, especially others out there with a Shamanic Identity. Instead, I hope that this encourages you and helps you advocate for yourself in this crazy world. I hope you stand up for yourself to people trying to take advantage of you, especially people in the medical field. I don’t believe that our medical field is based on true healing practices, and I can’t really get into that rant here, but I also don’t believe our doctors mean to be “bad people” or wallow in ignorance: they’re just products of their own cultural issues as well! 

However, if you’re a Shaman struggling to receive mental or physical healthcare because someone in your family or caregiver team is purposefully using your Shamanic Identity to paint you as crazy, please feel free to show them this article and demand that they use DSM-5 to evaluate you. You deserve nothing but the best treatment. You don’t need to feel ashamed for feelings of paranoia, terror, anxiety, depression, or PTSD. People who aren’t Shamans deal with it too, so don’t be afraid of those words. I don’t know many Shamans actually disturbed by their gifts. They aren’t actually suffering mentally from seeing or hearing spirits, but from the reactions of their family, friends, colleagues, and health professionals to their actual identities. These Shamans aren’t afraid of the Spirits or Ancestors, and have had to be put in the position where they rely on those spirits to provide the care and discernment of truth that should be provided by the health and wellness systems. It’s time for the gatekeepers of the medical industry to acknowledge their bias, their systemic failure of these individuals, and the exploitation of in-need Shamans. Once that has happened, real care can be provided for issues not caused by a Shamanic Identity inherently, but by external forces of society that come against a Shaman. 

This article is dedicated to the sweet Shaman who visited my shop today with only $2 to exchange for altar work. She shared her story in great detail of how the medical industry was abusing her in the ways I’ve outlined before. She was discouraged by it, seeking information to provide to herself and her care team so that she could get real care. I was happy to provide her with the shamanic goods she needed and gift it to her as a birthday present. I tried my best to give her free resources to access for her healthcare and talking points to share with her medical team. Sister, this is what I promised you on my blog, and I hope you enjoy it. Also, I wish you the Safe Passage you’re so willing to offer others, as well as the brightness of your spirit back to you. I hope that things resolve quickly and you get the respect you deserve, because I honor your Shamanic Identity, and I appreciate you honoring mine.

[mellometal]

Hey, everyone.

If you saw the post from earlier, I had to delete it. There were things I forgot to discuss and things that didn't get saved into my drafts. Sorry if you have to see this again.

I've been WAITING to talk about Glee. Not in the good way either. There's so much wrong with the show, and it's sickening. Yes, I've watched the show last year. Against my will, but that's because of other people refusing to put on anything else besides Glee. I can say that I hate Glee with my entire being. (My initial reason for hating it was because they covered "SING" by My Chemical Romance and turned it into a slow, patriotic song when it's a song about rebellion. NOTHING about "SING" is patriotic. I hated the show since I first heard about it...for that very reason. I was like thirteen or so at the time when I first heard about Glee? Despite it being out since 2009.

Though it's been over for several years now, it's a show that many people have mixed feelings about. From what I've seen, you either love Glee or you absolutely hate it. There's no in-between that I've seen. (If you can't already tell, I hate the show.)

The show is a literal dumpster fire, the characters are all fucking awful people and all of them are poorly written, the script pisses me off, it literally makes me feel disgusting, and don't even get me started on the covers. Most of the covers aren't that good. A lot of them sound like nails on a chalkboard to me. The pacing of the show makes NO sense in certain areas (like when Blaine was initially made to be a grade above Kurt, but was then changed to be like the same grade as him so he'd stay). It just feels like everyone in the show is either a Mary Sue, a Gary Stu, their whole personality is just that they're from a minority group or they're EDGY AND HARDCORE DELINQUENTS BLEEEEHHHHH, creepy as fuck, bigoted as all hell, or they're just background characters who occasionally have the spotlight.

TW: The following post and any other posts that I'll make about this show contains subject matter that may be triggering for some audiences. It will go into subjects like racism, homophobia, ableism, outing of a person in the LGBT community, bigotry in general, statutory r@pe (between teachers and students), teachers being creepy towards students, mentioned past child m0l3stati0n and invalidation of the victim's trauma, making fun of su1c1d3, making fun of overdose, making fun of drug addiction....a lot of fucked up things.

If anything mentioned above is triggering for you, please feel free to scroll and consume safe media instead. I'd rather have you be safe than to be triggered by anything I'm gonna talk about.

Let's start off easy. The characters. It's easy to tear them apart. At least the most problematic ones.

Rachel, the Main Character™️, is textbook definition of a Mary Sue. Instead of calling her Rachel, I'm gonna call her Mary Sue for the whole post. She's almost completely perfect (like too perfect), her flaws are minor if anything, she gets all the special treatment....you get the picture. When Mary Sue does anything fucked up or she says anything fucked up, it either goes unnoticed, people make up excuses for her being a shitty person, or it gets twisted so it looks like Mary Sue is the hero! (I hate her. So much. I cannot stand her.)

Aaawwww, Mary Sue didn't want some OTHER GIRL (Sunshine) to steal HER spotlight, so she SENT THIS GIRL TO A CRACK HOUSE. A FUCKING CRACK HOUSE, OF ALL PLACES. A PLACE WHERE THIS GIRL COULD HAVE BEEN PUT IN SERIOUS DANGER. THIS GIRL COULD HAVE BEEN SERIOUSLY INJURED AT BEST AND KILLED AT WORST. Yes, I'm aware not all drug houses are the same, but still. It doesn't matter what this girl did. What Sunshine did is irrelevant. It's not okay to send people to strange places where they don't know anyone, and are put in danger, even to the point of either getting injured or killed. But it's okay, because at least it's not an "active" crack house you sent Sunshine to, RIGHT, Mary Sue? You still sent some poor girl to a place where she could have been put in serious danger, even to possibly get injured or killed, all because you didn't want her to steal YOUR spotlight. You fucking disgusting, entitled, bratty cunt. You don't need the spotlight all the time anyway. THAT'S HOW THEATRE WORKS. YOU DON'T ALWAYS GET THE LEAD ROLE. YOU DON'T ALWAYS GET THE ROLE YOU WANT. AND THAT'S OKAY. YOU WORK WITH WHAT YOU GOT. Sincerely, a theatre kid.

There are other fucked up things Mary Sue has done, but this is the one thing I could find anyone talking about. If I remember correctly, she hurt her Gay Best Friend™️ Kurt in some way. All I remember is that Kurt was mad at Mary Sue about something. Mary Sue is annoying as fuck. What else can I say about her?

Next, we have Finn, who's textbook definition of a Gary Stu. I'll call him Gary Stu throughout this post. I hate this fucker too. He's the Main Character's Boyfriend™️, the Hot Quarterback™️, and The Good Guy™️. Yet....he's not a good person. He's treated like he's a good person, but he's really not. His flaws are fairly minor and excused (and any major flaws aren't even talked about much), he's almost completely perfect, and every fucked up thing he does is ignored or is justified in some way. Like how he outed Santana as lesbian in the hallway WITHIN EARSHOT OF EVERYONE. HE DIDN'T EVEN APOLOGIZE FOR THIS.

As a woman who has struggled with her sexuality growing up, this really brought back shit I went through. I "dated" boys when I was younger to cover up the fact that I'm only attracted to other women. I wasn't happy with these guys at all. I acted like I did so nobody would suspect anything. I felt nothing for them, except for in a platonic way. I've been outed twice. Once when I thought I was bisexual with a strong preference for other women (by my dad's girlfriend at the time), and when I came out as lesbian (by my brother). It sucks to be outed. The people who outed me in real life could have put me in danger. They could have made it so I had no place to go back to. They could have had me get hurt. It's a scary feeling. Like, it doesn't matter if you're supportive or if you're in the LGBT community. You don't fucking out people without their explicit permission. You especially don't out people to their abusers or to people they don't trust, let alone out them publicly. That's what happened to me. I don't wish this on anyone.

***By the way, for anyone who's closeted, you're valid, I love you, and I know how it feels to be stuck in the closet. You don't have to come out right now. Come out whenever you're ready to. Whenever it's safe for you to do so.***

Or how about the fact that Gary Stu made fun of Kurt's voice because he's gay? Gary Stu apparently has ✨anger issues✨ and that's pretty much the excuse they use to justify him doing fucked up shit to people.

They treat the characters who are from minority groups (i.e., BIPOC, AAPI, LGBT community, disabled people) like absolute garbage, put them through all this horrific shit, or they put them on a pedestal simply for being in a minority group. The teachers and other school staff are either written to be total bigots (Sue), or they're total pr3dators (Mr. Schue, the school nurse, and another teacher who I can't remember her name off the top of my head).

Sue pretty much only exists to be a poorly written villain who's a bigoted bitch just to be a bigoted bitch. Yes, there were some things she WAS right about (like how "Blurred Lines" wasn't an appropriate song choice for the Glee Club™️, but Mr. Schue The Pr3dator™️ downplayed it). Other than that...that's all I can think of. Because everything else that came out of her mouth was bigoted bullshit. Like these right here, for example:

Or how she drugged the principal, date r@ped him, and blackmailed him?

How about them making a tasteless joke about Sue committing su1c1d3 and having her "overdose" on multivitamin gummies?

DO I NEED TO EXPLAIN HOW FUCKED UP ALL OF THIS IS? I do? Well, first of all, she called people racist, homophobic, ableist, and otherwise disgusting names. She boiled them down to their race, sexual orientation, their disability, and their appearance in general. Second, SHE DRUGGED, BLACKMAILED, AND DATE R@PED SOMEBODY. I don't think I need to explain how that's bad. The evidence is right there. Third, she said she was committing "sue-icide" by overdosing on multivitamin gummies. (Yes, you actually can OD on vitamins in supplement form, and it can cause serious symptoms and even death. Specifically with vitamins A, D, E, and K, and Iron. Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble. They're a lot harder to remove from the body. The B vitamins and vitamin C aren't as severe if you do OD on them because they're water-soluble, but still be careful. You can't OD on vitamins and minerals you find in food. If you take supplements, vitamins, etc., only take what's on the bottle.) As someone who has su1c1d@l thoughts on and off, this is extremely insulting. Yes, I do use humor and I joke about my own experiences to cope, but this? Nah. Nothing about this is funny or cute in the slightest. Enough said.

Do I need to explain how fucking terrible it is to make light of a serious topic like this? It was never funny to see Britney Spears' mental health be at that low of a point in 2007. It was never funny to see the abuse the paparazzi inflicted on her. How the fuck was this ever okay? You can dislike Britney Spears all you want, but this was never it.

This is all I have for now. I'll probably make a part two because there are way too many things to talk about.

[kafkasmelomania]

May 22, 2021: The Greatest Mistake of My Life by Holding Absence

*Bandcamp here

Did you know that The Greatest Mistake of My Life takes its name from a song from the 1930s? When lead vocalist Lucas Woodland gave his grandmother a copy of Holding Absence’s self-titled debut album on vinyl, she remarked that it was the second vinyl recording done by anyone in the family. She then told him that his great-uncle “went into Cardiff one day and recorded himself singing. It was like the equivalent of a photo booth where they press it on a small 7’ record and it would have been cheap as hell. She said that it was a song called ‘The Greatest Mistake Of My Life’. So I quizzed her a bit more and all she could remember was the lyric, ‘The greatest mistake of my life was saying goodbye to you’.” (Emphasis mine.) Woodland later looked up that lyric online and discovered a 1939 song by Gracie Fields called “The Greatest Mistake of My Life”. Not only did the band decide to name their sophomore album after the song, they covered it and used that cover as the closing track, which is so cool. As Woodland puts it (emphasis mine):

“I think longevity is truly the greatest achievement a band can accomplish. Some of the best albums of all time weren’t popular when they were released. I’d like to think that this music will last a long time. That’s kind of the point of using “The Greatest Mistake of My Life” as a reference. This song is 90 years old! And now some emo kid from Britain has named an album after it! Everyone involved in that original song is probably not around anymore. But that’s part of what makes it cool. So, if in 90 years’ time, a progressive lo-fi jazz trap band wants to name an album after a Holding Absence song, that would be wicked!”

Longevity comes up more than once in interviews, especially with regard to the Gracie Fields song. For example, from Loudwire (emphasis mine):

“This song has definitely made me realize just how special longevity is in every walk of life! Even things as simple architectural history or the etymology of everyday words. Just seeing how small things can trickle through time and what impact they have is really cool and kinda the ultimate goal as somebody trying to create art.”

Holding Absence took inspiration from a wide variety of places; the Gracie Fields song was just the start. According to Woodland, the song “Beyond Belief” is “the band’s attempt to channel The Cure if they were a 2000s Emo band.” (Emphasis mine) Additionally, “‘Afterlife’ was originally inspired by Mipha off of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It’s because whenever you die, she brings you back to life.” I thought that was so cool. That whole Aesthetic Magazine interview is really good, by the way; if you liked this album, I highly recommend that you give it a read. One thing I learned from that interview is the origin of the ghostly monologues that appear on several of the tracks (emphasis mine):

“This part was recorded by an American actress with a lovely voice. The things she is saying are passages of poetry that I’d written. I kind of paraphrased comments on a Reddit thread which asked “what are the greatest mistakes of your life?” There were loads of comments and I picked three very different ones and turned them into poems. Then we got the actress to speak on the album. It’s kind of meta and over the top if you think about it, but I just liked the idea of no one having to listen to this album alone. This woman is always there and processing things with you. She’s one of the whispers at the beginning of the album and is also at the end.”

Isn’t that so interesting? Anyway, The Greatest Mistake of My Life has been getting rave reviews and for good reason. There was something in particular that Kerrang said that stuck with me (emphasis mine):

“During the past year, many have tripped over themselves to label certain albums the perfect distillation of the times we’re in. The Greatest Mistake Of My Life is prime for consideration. At a point when our world has been reduced to the walls around us and our thoughts have turned inwards, to lives we may have only half lived before the pandemic began, it’s a document that reminds us not to short change ourselves and seek the happiness we deserve before it’s too late. Nowhere is this sentiment more explicitly captured than ‘Die Alone (In Your Lover’s Arms)’, which agonisingly laments a life spent with the wrong person.”

“[...] to lives we may have only half lived before the pandemic began.” What a fantastic way to put it. Listen to The Greatest Mistake of My Life today!

If you’d like to get involved with stopping the atrocities against Palestine, here’s where you can start (text in bold for readability):

This Carrd is full of information, petitions, and places to donate.

Here are some organizations to which you can donate. This post now includes a list of corporations to boycott.

Here is some information about the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund and a list of other organizations.

This is a list of actions you can take (somewhat UK-specific). This is a reading list of texts with more background information.

UK petitions: This is a petition for the UK government to formally recognize the State of Palestine. This is a petition to introduce sanctions against Israel. This is a petition to condemn Israel for their treatment of Palestine and Palestinians.

Here’s the Wikipedia overview of the current iteration of the crisis.

If you’re curious about the United States’s involvement: this is a report about U.S. foreign aid to Israel. This is the Wikipedia page for Palestine-United States relations and this is the Wikipedia page for Israel-United States relations.

Here are some perspectives from on the ground in Gaza. This is also explains why spreading the Palestinian point of view. is so important.

This is one Jewish person’s explanation of the conflation of Jewish identity with the modern Israeli state. They mention the Nakba, which is important – per Wikipedia, “the Nakba, […] also known as the Palestinian Catastrophe, was the destruction of Palestinian society and homeland in 1948, and the permanent displacement of a majority of the Palestinian people.”

Black lives matter and here are some ways you can get involved in the  fight against racism, specifically anti-black racism (text in bold for readability):  

This Linktree and this Carrd are full of ways to confront and fight against anti-black racism: places to donate, advice for protesting, educational resources.

This post is specifically about Daunte Wright and how to help his family. This is Daunte Wright’s memorial fund.

The  Minnesota Freedom Fund is doing good work, and since so many people have been recognizing that work and donating to them, they ask that you  instead donate to Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence, the Racial Justice Network, Communities United Against Police Brutality, the Minneapolis NAACP, the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Minneapolis, and the Black Immigrant Collective. You can also donate to the Bail Project, which operates in multiple states.

Other organizations to which you can donate are the Black Trans Advocacy Coalition, the NAACP, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Okra Project, the Solutions Not Punishment Collaborative, For The Gworls, G.L.I.T.S., the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, the Black Trans Travel Fund, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, and the Black Trans Femmes in the Arts Collective.

GoFundMe: Justice for Breonna Taylor, In Memory of Jamarion Robinson, Rent Fund For Black LGBT Family, Esperanza Spalding’s BIPOC Artist Sanctuary, Help the Williams Family Get a Set of Wheels, Survival and Gender Affirming Needs for Black Enby

(via https://open.spotify.com/album/4qY3S2Iz6VpAa2EzhWkrpo?si=m1iGdkTwRFWZk1Lv_3H_BQ)

[zorrxchicle]

Hey I think that post about insisting on the fact that Angela Davis is a lesbian means well (and it's true she did initially come out as a lesbian) but I think a big reason people are calling her "queer" is because she literally calls herself queer. Like a week ago she did an interview where she said "I identify as a communist, abolitionist, internationalist, anti-racist, anti-capitalist, feminist, black, queer, activist, pro-working-class, revolutionary, intellectual, community builder"

you are right, I did see that bit from that interview you're referring to (link here) and she identifies herself as queer. I did a little search right now to see if she had ever explained why the word change and I found this bit from a conference in Uruguay last year, where she's asked (at 1:04:00 approx) "Why is it so difficult to use the word 'lesbian'?" and she answers, basically, that she uses queer to highlight the difference between the hegemonic lgbt movement, which was a white movement concerned solely with sexuality based oppression (she speaks in past tense iirc), and to include an anti-racist and anti-capitalist perspective (please watch the thing and don't take my word from it, it's less than five minutes and it's subtitled).

And in this interview from 2004 she's asked if she's ever experienced "personal discrimination as a gay woman" and her response I think is very illustrative of how she approaches the topic of her sexuality, which is, she refuses to discuss it in personal or individual terms, she's very adamant about always referring to the wider systems of oppression that structure society and affect communities as a whole, without zeroing in on individual experiences.

so all of this to say, you're right, she calls herself queer, and apparently does so deliberately for explicit political reasons.

ok so from here I'm just rambling. the thing is, if I've understood correctly, she "is" a lesbian, in the sense that she's, presumably, a woman attracted only to other women, and that's why she initially came out as a lesbian in 1998, but she uses queer to highlight a specific political positioning, and not necessarily a different sexuality or "kind" of attraction (disclaimer: this is all conjecture based on what I've learned from half an hour of looking things up and I could be wrong)

so then it's a matter of what are we saying/understanding when we call someone queer instead of lesbian and viceversa, are we talking about their politics or the kind of people they're attracted to? could you use both words to refer to different facets of your sexuality? honestly I don't really want to get deep into these questions right now because I haven't given them enough thought, and I'm not entirely comfortable discussing this in the context of talking about a specific person, so, to half conclude this thing,

yes, Angela Davis calls herself queer instead of lesbian, and she does it to highlight how she approaches sexuality, publicly, as a political matter and not an individual issue. Based on this we should probably call her queer too then, if we're comfortable with that word. But the thing is, I don't think it's technically wrong to say she's a lesbian either, because she literally "is", in the sense I explained before that she meets the definition (again, presumably), and seeing how stigmatized the word lesbian is, specially when we talk about people on the public eye, I understand why it would be important to some people that this facet of Angela Davis is recognized.

is this contrary or disrespectful to her choosing to call herself queer for political reasons? are we erasing her efforts in highlighting the interconnectedness of all these systems of oppression? is it maybe something that should be reserved for black people - to call her a lesbian I mean - or people of color? (this last question based on the idea that BIPOC can't or it's more unlikely that they separate lgbt activism from anti-racism and other struggles, which is the issue here). the answer to all this is of course that I don't know, but your question surely made me think.

[frontlinesolutions-blog]

Hey philanthropy, your capacity support partners still need you…and you need us too!

By: Melissa DeShields, Linetta Gilbert, Keecha Harris, and Trista Harris

The time of COVID-19 feels like a natural moment of contraction. You may find yourself second-guessing whether now is the time to engage in growth-focused activities. Should you really be pushing a strategic planning process right now? Applying an equity tool to your grants portfolio? Providing capacity-building support to grantee partners? As Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC)-owned small businesses and partners to grantees, we are here to tell you that this work is crucial in the midst of COVID-19.

The truth is: without your continued investment and partnership in this moment, many of our businesses — and the capacity we’ve built to support equity and social justice efforts in the sector — may not be around to help you with this work later.

BIPOC-owned small businesses have an integral role within the social change ecosystem. We support philanthropic foundations and nonprofits and continually push funders to center justice and equity. Right now, foundations are scrambling to respond to the threat of COVID-19. In their efforts to shore up work happening on the front lines, presidents and program officers are rightly hustling for their grantees. Efforts that are deemed “extra” are in danger of being cut.

Our very survival is at stake. These cuts are already having a devastating impact on our businesses, employees, and partner organizations (many of whom are your grantees), as well as the overall capacity of the sector. Social change-supporting small businesses owned by people of color often have less access to business funding and financial backing. Although pathogens do not discriminate, our country’s social and political history of discrimination has directly led to COVID-19’s disproportionate effect on specific individuals, communities, businesses, and sectors — in terms of both health and economics.

The work that we do is not “extra.” Our closures would compromise the progress of the social change sector. The strengths and weaknesses of institutions loom larger in the midst of a COVID-19 response. Our functions within the sector — to leverage the strengths, coordinate resources, and help close the gaps — matter now more than ever. Lessons from Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters show that crisis response and recovery coordination require a diverse array of partners and supporting organizations.

BIPOC-owned small businesses help foundations to be effective, strategic, and anchored in the needs and realities of communities. Our services are critical in this moment: not only in the realm of diversity, equity, and inclusion, but in all areas of thought partnership. This is not about competing with nonprofit grantees for a bigger slice of the pie, but about making sure that there is a fully-functioning kitchen to produce plenty of the things we all need. We need to contribute toward determining how philanthropy operates during and after COVID-19. Nonprofits are counting on us to play this role.

Philanthropy must continue to invest in the institutions that are critical to creating a more equitable social change ecosystem. In that spirit, we recommend several tactics for foundations to ensure the survival of social change-supporting small businesses, particularly those owned by folks of color. These are relatively low-cost, low-effort ways to maintain our function and ability to partner in support of nonprofits:

Continue to pay invoices on time. Any delay in payment presents a major burden on our finances. Service-based small businesses need cash flow in order to survive, and we depend on clients to pay us according to the agreed-upon schedule. It is even better if clients can pay contracts out early. Support organizations will negotiate no-cost extensions or whatever changes are necessary to make sure that all of the work gets done. We are better able to do that when we are not managing cash crunches.

Consider using contracting agreements that allow an initial up-front payment. Time and materials contracts require us to front costs at the beginning of a project and invoice later. In a time of economic hardship, we need a proportion of our fees to be paid by the client initially so that we can pay our employees’ salaries. Otherwise, we may be forced to take out loans just to make it to the end of our contracts. Businesses owned by folks of color are much less likely to have such supports at our disposal.

Pre-purchase services that you expect to need later. Foundation staff likely already have an idea of the services and contracts that will be needed in the next 18 months. Pre-purchasing these services will extend cash flow to social change-supporting small businesses. The Jay and Rose Phillips Foundation has shared a sample pre-purchase agreement that can be adapted by other foundations.

Reciprocate and honor the flexibility of your partners. Organizations like ours are prepared to build flexibility into existing and future scopes of work, knowing that these are uncertain times with rapidly changing conditions. We need foundations to honor this flexibility in our budget and payment arrangements. For example, don’t necessarily assume that the travel budget should be removed because a project will now take place remotely. A travel budget could be repurposed for new expenses that arrive during this stressful time, such as bolstering our employees’ and nonprofit partners’ remote working capabilities and redesigning meetings to fit virtual needs.

Trust our expertise and judgement about whether a project can be done remotely. Social change-supporting small businesses are ahead of the curve in our knowledge of how to work collaboratively in a remote setting. We will give honest, informed, and customized advice about whether and how to conduct a project in the midst of social distancing. Partners you can trust will not try to sell you a project that isn’t feasible during this time.

Make affordable and flexible capital more accessible. Work with local or regional community financial development institutions (CDFIs) to create a no-cost pool of line of credit and fixed-term loan capital. With foundation guarantees and a modest subsidy, CDFIs could make needed capital available at special terms, sharing any increased risk with the foundation. This has potential to improve our access to capital and will allow us to help our nonprofit partners bridge cash flow gaps.

As many funders are already doing for nonprofits, philanthropic foundations have the opportunity to ensure that small businesses stay afloat and support the social change ecosystem during a time of great need. These are the gaps we need filled right now so that we can continue to support the sector. They are also tangible ways in which foundations can lean into their values during the current crisis and make progress towards economic and racial equity.

[i-am-very-very-tired]

Online therapy has provided the ability to better fit therapy into a busy schedule, especially if you work unconventional hours, have children, or don't have access to reliable transportation. It has also made mental health treatment more accessible.

Research has shown that 70% of people do not have access to therapy because of where they live or because traditional therapy is too expensive.1 Online therapy helps close this gap. It's also just a better fit for some people, depending on their personality, processing style, and financial situation.

The online therapy market has grown significantly over the last decade, with several large and small companies competing to offer the best virtual therapy. Some offer individual talk therapy only, while others specialize in couples therapy, group therapy, or providing mental health care to specific communities.

In order to determine the best online therapy companies, we surveyed 100 users of 33 different companies. We also sent detailed questionnaires to the businesses themselves in order to gain further information about them. Here are the companies that came out on top in our reviews.

Best Online Therapy Programs of 2021 Best Overall: Betterhelp Runner Up, Best Overall: Talkspace Best Overall Client Satisfaction: Rethink My Therapy Best for Couples: ReGain Best for Flexible Scheduling: Amwell Best for the LGBTQIA+ Community: Pride Counseling Best for the BIPOC Community: Ayana Therapy Best for Psychiatry: Talkiatry Best for Group Therapy: Circles Best for Christians: Cornerstone Christian Counseling Best With Insurance: Cerebral Best Without Insurance: Wellnite

[perfectirishgifts]

Deaths By Suicide In Japan Surpassed Deaths By Covid-19: Here’s What That Means For The U.S.

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/deaths-by-suicide-in-japan-surpassed-deaths-by-covid-19-heres-what-that-means-for-the-u-s/

Deaths By Suicide In Japan Surpassed Deaths By Covid-19: Here’s What That Means For The U.S.

“Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States and claims more than twice as many … [] lives as homicide”, Dr. Ben Miller, Chief Strategy Officer, Well Being Trust notes, “but yet you don’t hear much about it in terms of priorities for elected leaders. This is sad for so many reasons.”

There was a preprint study from Japan that recently made headlines in a way that suicide experts might have felt warranted more caution in its pessimism and more nuance in its explanation. In it, Ueda and colleagues found that though initially during the pandemic, the number of suicide deaths was lower than the last three years, 2 months after the state of emergency in Japan was lifted, the total number of suicides rose significantly. In fact, it was up by 7.72% more than the average number in the same month in the previous 3 years. Across all age groups, the largest increase was in women less than 40 (63.1%). This study was supplemented by governmental data that was released for October. It showed the number of people who died by suicide in October alone rose to 2,153, which was more people than had died from Covid-19 over the entire 10 months in Japan to date (below 2,000).

These figures are upsetting, but important to contextualize with the known data from the rest of the world. Dr. Christine Moutier, the Chief Medical Officer at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention(AFSP) and a member of the International Covid-19 Suicide Prevention Research Collaboration which is tracking the Covid-19 studies on suicide internationally here, explains, “[These data] confirm, the concern that the various phases of a long lasting pandemic like this would likely have different impacts on psychological responses, population mental health, and suicide risk.” 

However, while concerning, from what is available for the first months of the pandemic (March-July), there does not appear to be significant increases in suicide rates in other high income countries during this period. It is possible that this may be different for low and middle income countries, however there is less data for this group. It is also possible that these patterns may change over time, as risk is dynamic. But, this is why prevention and intervention is so important.

So, what does this all really mean for the United States?

What We Know About Suicide In The U.S. During Covid-19

Dr. Emmy Betz, MD, MPH, an emergency physician and suicide prevention researcher at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, explains that due to all of the stressors (unemployment, political unrest, grief, physical health problem), there has been significant and valid concern that mental health would worsen over Covid-19 and with it, there would also be a rise in suicide. So far, however, she says in the U.S., like other high income countries, we haven’t seen a notable increase in suicide. Although, she highlights, data are not yet available from all regions or from the most recent months. 

Dr. Moutier agrees and notes that while we do not have any national data for suicide during Covid-19 in the United States, there are a few states that have released data (like Massachusetts which has showed no increase) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is expected to release their first quarter 2020 data in the next few months. Dr. Benjamin F. Miller, Chief Strategy Officer of the Well Being Trust, adds  that due to the lag in getting data, people just speculate it is increasing or decreasing because the data does not actually exist. He explains, “It’s extremely frustrating for such a major public health issue that we still cannot better target and track suicide in 2020. Thankfully this is a known issue and people like the Action Alliance are working to address it as fast as possible.”

What We Don’t Know About Suicide In The U.S. During Covid-19

Dr. Moutier explains that the way to obtain suicide data in the US is very complicated and relies on local and county systems. Some systems have coroners, who are elected officials without medical training, while others have medical examiners, physicians who are appointed and specialize in death investigation. She says about half of the U.S. population has each of the different systems and one study found that coroners often underreport suicide, likely due to social pressures and stigma. The local systems collect and report the data to the CDC and then they take more time to compile all of the data and finalize the national rates. This previously had a delay of about 18-24 months, Dr. Moutier explains, but it is moving to about 10-12. It might take longer, however, during the pandemic.

Dr. Miller notes that one of the reasons Japan could release data already was that they actually have real time disclosure of suicide data and can analyze it and take action on it immediately. Waiting for data here, he points out, “It’s hard to address what you can’t track.” Dr. Miller emphasizes that suicide can be prevented and there are known ways to do it. However, he adds, “What we don’t know is how to implement at scale systemic ways to assess, track, and treat those who are at risk from dying by suicide. It’s a huge opportunity to help.”

What Groups We Should Be Worried About In The U.S.

In the Japanese data, there was a significant increase in the suicide rates in women. Dr. Moutier points out, however, that it is important to note, “when rates start at a lower baseline for any demographic group, any upward change shows up as a steeper percent change. Nevertheless, it is very concerning, and may relate to cultural and environmental factors that impact some parts of the population more than others.” Dr. Betz notes that in the U.S., women have also been particularly hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, due to additional stressors, but it is not clear to her whether that will translate into elevated suicide rates. She adds, “In U.S. culture, it’s generally more accepted for women to admit anxiety or depression than it is for men (something which needs to change!), so they may be more likely to get the help they need.” 

Dr. Moutier says that due to disproportionate impacts of Covid-19, she is particularly worried about the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, people who live in rural or already economically depressed areas, frontline workers, and people with baseline educational and economic disparities. Dr. Betz is also worried about her healthcare provider peers, and notes they do not often seek help when they need it for fear of losing their medical license or job.

Dr. Miller adds that if we know certain groups are at higher risk, or affected differently, it also means that strategies to intervene need to be more specific for each group. He explains, “If we do not get more granular in our strategies for helping people we will continue to fail them. It’s wild to say in 2020 that men and women are different, but they are, and if we are serious about applying an equity lens to our communities, we must get more specific in how we address certain populations through targeted strategies and interventions.” He says, for example, that women experience depression twice as often as men but they still aren’t screened for it, so they aren’t treated for it. Then, people get lost through the cracks. He adds, “And, because we don’t routinely screen for suicide in most places, people don’t get timely help.”

What We Should Be Doing About Suicide Right Now

Dr. Moutier considers the pandemic to be a call to action on suicide for those in policy, community leaders, health systems, and clinicians. She explains, “We don’t need to wait for suicide data to make suicide prevention a priority. There are clear reasons to be concerned because of previous observations of the impact of certain disasters and economic contraction on population suicide risk, as well as the data we already have about COVID’s impact on mental health, the economy, isolation and increases in alcohol consumption and drug overdose deaths.” 

Suicide risk factors have been long been studied and are well known. They are also quite present in the pandemic, and include, among others, according to Dr. Moutier, “deteriorating mental health, problems accessing mental healthcare, social isolation, increases in substance use, financial strain, disruptions in relationships and social supports, trauma/violence in the home and discriminatory health inequalities for some populations.” But, the good news is that it is possible to prevent suicide and talks of increasing calls to hotlines or rates of suicidal thoughts are really signs of distress and the need for help.

Dr. Moutier emphasizes, “Suicide prevention efforts (when implemented and scaled up) have been proven to be effective, do reduce population suicide risk, and can drive down suicide rates. And so now is a time in history, during and following this pandemic, when ramping up suicide prevention efforts must be done, and will make a critical, lifesaving difference.” She points to Project 2025, a current nationwide initiative through AFSP, as an example of a collaboration aiming to do just that-drive down the national U.S. rate of suicide 20% by 2025.

Some specific interventions that Dr. Moutier mentions include increasing access to mental health services, forming economic safety nets, creating education related to drug and alcohol use, and developing crisis response services that offer mental health expertise instead of police. In clinical environments, she hopes that there is universal screening in primary care and emergency rooms, among other interventions. Dr. Betz highlights the need to support the most vulnerable with programs and policies, like safely reopening schools so parents can go back to work, and discusses the need to create social connections now and in the future. She also adds that firearm sales have increased and it is really important to keep potentially dangerous items locked up or inaccessible to at risk individuals. 

Dr. Miller points to recommendations provided by the Action Alliance and his own organization Well Being Trust as starting points for policymakers and thought leaders. He says, “Elected officials at every level of government should be prioritizing suicide prevention. This is not an issue that should just fall to the mental health system as its bigger than that – suicide prevention should be everyone’s responsibility.”

If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text the Crisis Text Line at 741-741.  For additional resources, visit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Website.

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Getchuajob Provides Résumé Help for Marginally Identified Baristas

Craft a better résumé with the new arm of Getchusomegear, and check out some expert advice for your next job application.

BY MARK VAN STREEFKERK BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE

Cover photo courtesy of Chris Mcauley

This has been a busy year for Getchusomegear, a grassroots service that relies on donations to get coffee gear and brewing equipment to marginally identified baristas who ask for them. Started last year by Chris Mcauley, the North Carolina-based project has expanded to include more volunteers, including supporters in Canada and coffee educators Cydni Patterson and Erica Jackson. Chris and Cydni led the discussion “Race, Specialty Coffee, & the Urgent Need for Progress” at this year’s virtual Re:co Symposium. The team also surpassed their GoFundMe goal to help their journey earn nonprofit status. (Since Getchusomegear has exceeded their goal, Chris says, “In lieu of donations to us, folks should consider donating to Food Not Bombs 919.”) 

As a continuation of Getchusomegear’s mission to promote inclusivity and access among LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, and other marginally identified groups in coffee, they partnered with longtime supporter and writer Sally Parlier to launch Getchuajob in July. The free résumé proofreading service is available to LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, or other marginally identified coffee workers. Read on to find out more about the service, which you can access here, as well as some tips for your next résumé or cover letter, including how to navigate name or pronoun changes in your job search.

Long-time Getchusomegear supporter Sally Parlier is a self-described “recovering coffee professional” and writer who offers résumé and cover letter proofreading. Photo courtesy of Sally Parlier.

Sally is a self-described “recovering coffee professional” who was a tutor for the Appalachian State University writing center while working on her English degree. She has also been a barista, café manager, and brand ambassador, and now works at a food co-op. She says what really honed her résumé skills was working in a management position. “A writer has to understand their audience, and becoming a manager gave me a new perspective on the time constraints and concerns a person has when recruiting new employees,” she says. 

Sally clarifies Getchuajob isn’t a service that writes résumés, but it acts as an editorial eye that can make edits and provide feedback. “I read over the materials, doing line edits and proofreading, and offer suggestions on how to better communicate experience. Depending on what the person wants, we either work on a generic résumé that can be adapted to different kinds of job searches, or we can focus on materials for a specific job opportunity.” 

We asked Sally, Chris, and Iaisha Munnerlyn, coffee pro and store manager for NYC-based Variety Coffee Roasters, for some general résumé advice, as well as common mistakes to avoid. Some of their responses have been edited and condensed.

Coffee pro and store manager Iaisha Munnerlyn is a contributor to the Getchuajob service, and notes that “nowadays most of our résumés go through a program that searches for enough keywords to then get passed along to a hiring manager if it meets the criteria.” While a smaller company probably doesn’t use this service, it’s important to keep this idea in mind. Photo courtesy of Iaisha Munnerlyn.

Résumé recommendations: 

Commit to parallel structure. Being consistent in the way you format your résumé and express your experience brings clarity and balance to your writing.

Use keywords. Mirror language from the job description, finding ways to include verbatim specific titles or skills. Iaisha points out that job search websites like Indeed go so far as to filter out résumés that do not include enough words that match with the job posting.

Ask someone to read it before sending it out. Whether it’s a service like Getchuajob or a trusted friend, having another set of eyes on your writing always helps you avoid potential pitfalls.

Some common mistakes to avoid: 

Very long résumés that provide paragraphs of description and go more than a single page. A résumé should be an easy-to-read list of your experience. Hit the bullet points and save the details either for the cover letter or the interview. This is where knowing your audience comes into play. We all have a basic idea of what means. But were you a barista at a particularly high-volume shop? Did you receive specialized training or certifications? Consider what makes you unique and the best way to highlight that.

Significant time gaps between jobs or jobs held for a short duration. Right now, with COVID-19, a lot of people are going to have periods of unemployment. Some people may have gaps for other reasons, like taking time off to care for family or themselves. Some people may have only held a job for a short duration because it turned out to be a bad fit or an unstable environment. None of these is going to kill your chances for getting a job, but it’s important to show that you are able to make an extended commitment to some sort of responsibility. Are you an artist who occasionally sells work at pop-up markets? Great, you’re self-employed—include that! Do you volunteer weekly at a food pantry? Amazing, you’re consistent and altruistic—let them know!

Incorrect contact information. It seems silly, but a surprising number of people mistype their email address or phone number and miss out on interview opportunities.

Notes about names:

You can put your preferred name on your résumé. It’s usually only necessary to share your legal name for new hire paperwork or background checks. Pronouns can be included in your contact information. If your name or pronouns are different from what you previously went by, know that you can use any trusted person from a former company as a reference. If you experienced pushback for your identity from a manager, for example, you can list a supportive shift lead or even a co-worker as a reference. 

Research Your Potential Employers

The Getchuajob team also encourages applicants to research a company before applying. See if you can connect with someone who has worked there, or read online reviews. “If you get to the interview stage, remember that you’re interviewing the company as well,” Sally says. “It can be scary to assert yourself when you’re in a situation where you really need a job, but asking the potential employer hard questions or navigating difficult conversations about how they practice inclusion can help you preserve your well-being in the future.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mark Van Streefkerk is Barista Magazine’s social media content developer and a frequent contributor. He is also a freelance writer, social media manager, and novelist based out of Seattle. If Mark isn’t writing, he’s probably biking to his favorite vegan restaurant. Find out more on his website.

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The Socially Conscious Shopper’s Guide to Buying Coffee and Tea

Photo-illustration: Eater

Expand your collection with these online shops

A cup of coffee or tea might seem like such a simple ritual. But our daily cup (or two, or three) owes everything to our colonial, slave-built economy that relied on European and American trade with Central and South America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia. The legacy of exploitation in the coffee and tea industries still manifests today, depressing wages and earnings for workers and degrading natural ecosystems. One, though not the only, aspect of that legacy is trade. The fair trade movement that solidified in the late 1980s as a Fair Trade certification sought to tip the scales in favor of workers. More recently, the direct trade movement — which, as its name suggests, is built on direct exchanges between farmers and roasters — has emerged as an alternative to create still greater transparency and worker profit.

The coronavirus pandemic has upended our most trusted routines, down to how we’re buying and drinking our coffee. Maybe all of this has prompted you to rethink what goes into your daily cup, who made it possible, and who profits. Maybe you’re tired of parsing corporate statements like the one Starbucks produced earlier this month, after it initially prohibited employees from wearing Black Lives Matter shirts. Whether you’re in a rut with your morning brew and want to shake things up, you’re new to home-brewing and aren’t sure where to shop, or you want to support more BIPOC-owned and socially conscious businesses, let this list of 30 sources for buying coffee and tea online be a source of inspiration.

These purveyors source their product from around the world, and many are direct trade or are working to reimagine who owns tea and coffee culture. All of them offer online shopping, and some may offer contactless pick-ups. If you like the convenience of subscriptions, many offer those, too.

Whole Bean Coffee

Many coffee roasters source their beans from at least two global regions. If a specific region or country is the focus, that’s noted below.

BLK & Bold: You may have seen BLK & Bold at Whole Foods, but the brand’s selection of blends and single-origin coffees, as well as its teas, is also available directly online. Founded by Rod Johnson and Pernell Cezar, BLK & Bold donates 5 percent of its profits to organizations that benefit young people in Black communities in major cities across America.

Black Baza Coffee (India): This coffee roaster and grassroots organization works with growers in India to create a socially and environmentally sustainable model that supports biodiversity — a variety of species essential to healthy and resilient ecosystems. Arabica and robusta coffee beans, as well as chicory, are available from a number of partner coffee producers and microlots.

Boon Boona Coffee (East Africa): Boon Boona offers green coffee beans as well as roasted. The company’s founder, Efrem Fesaha, grew up with home-pan-roasted coffee, traditional in East African coffee ceremonies, and saw a demand in Seattle for unroasted beans. Boon Boona partners with farmers in East African countries, including Burundi, Rwanda, and Ethiopia.

Coffee Project NY: Besides selling whole bean house blends and single-origin coffees from around the world, Coffee Project NY champions education and certification through the Specialty Coffee Association. What Kaleena Teoh and Chi Sum Ngai started as a small cafe in the East Village has expanded to two other brick-and-mortar locations, including a flagship in Queens.

Driftaway Coffee: Anu Menon and Suyog Mody founded Driftaway with social and environmental sustainability in mind. The company, which roasts and ships from Brooklyn, develops long-term relationships with farms in Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Peru, and Rwanda and provides price transparency for all offerings.

Kahawa 1893 (Kenya): This brand, which shines a spotlight on Kenyan coffee from the Kisii region, gets its name from the year missionaries first planted coffee in Kenya. Margaret Nyamumbo, a third-generation coffee farmer, founded the company to reimagine the coffee supply chain and bring more profit to women farmers in Kenya.

Maru Coffee: Los Angeles-based Maru, started by Jacob Park and Joonmo Kim, sells whole beans in seasonal limited editions. It began as a tiny coffee shop that expanded into a larger location in LA’s Arts District, where it began roasting its own coffees from small batches of beans.

Nguyen Coffee Supply (Vietnam): Founded by Sahra Nguyen and billing itself as the “first ever Vietnamese-American-owned” coffee importer, all Nguyen arabica and robusta bean coffees are organically grown in Vietnam’s Central Highlands by a fourth-generation farmer known as Mr. Ton and roasted in Brooklyn. The brand currently offers three blends, Loyalty, Courage, and the high-caffeine Grit.

Not So Urban Coffee & Roastery: This small-batch micro roaster outside Atlanta roasts a selection of single-origin coffees to order. Its beans are ethically and sustainably sourced from growers around the world, with a current focus on East African countries.

Portrait Coffee: Another Atlanta-area roaster, Portrait is based in Southwest Atlanta. It offers a tailored selection of blends and single-origin beans. The company is committed to growing coffee careers in the Historic West End community while changing the face of specialty coffee “to include the black and brown folks who have been cropped out.”

Red Bay Coffee: Founded by the Oakland-based artist Keba Konte, Red Bay has a mission of community connection and grower empowerment. It sells a range of coffees online, including Carver’s Dream, a “bright, fruit-forward” blend of Guatemalan and Burundi coffees, and Coltrane, a medium-roast single origin from Colombia Cauca Piendamo with notes of black grape and dark chocolate.

Sweet Unity Farms Coffee (Tanzania): Started by David Robinson, the son of baseball titan Jackie Robinson, this farm belongs to a community of third-generation coffee farmers in Tanzania. The brand, which champions community investment and direct trade between farmers and roasters, sells 100 percent Arabica beans grown by family-owned cooperatives in Tanzania and Ethiopia and partners with family-owned roasters in California and New Jersey.

Tea

Just like coffee, tea is a fresh product that loses complexity and aroma over time, so for specialty teas, always note harvest date. Because a number of tea sellers sell “tea” in the colloquial sense — infusions of botanical ingredients — we use tea here to mean Camellia sinensis as well as yerba mate and herbal infusions. Sellers that specialize exclusively in Camellia sinensis from one region or country of origin are noted below.

Adjourn Teahouse: Founded by LaTonia Cokely and based in Washington, D.C., Adjourn specializes in aromatic hand-blended black teas with a wellness focus, incorporating botanicals like blue butterfly pea flowers, lemongrass, carrot, and ginger.

Brooklyn Tea: From their store in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, Ali Wright and Jamila McGill offer a wide variety of teas, including green and white teas and tea blends, aged pu’ehr and oolong, mate, Rooibos, and other herbal tisanes. Brooklyn Tea partners with Tahuti Ma’at to provide compost to a community garden in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

Calabash Tea & Tonic: Owned by a naturopath and fifth-generation herbalist, this D.C.-based company has an express wellness focus and offers herbal tonics alongside its flavored botanical blends.

Chai Walli (India): This Australian company, founded by an Indian Australian, works with organic and fair trade farms in India’s Assam Valley to source its tea. The range of small-batch spiced tea blends incorporates Ayurvedic knowledge from the founder’s own family. Ships to the United States.

Cuples Tea House: A tea store in Baltimore that ships nationwide, this is a one-stop shop for black and green tea blends, milk oolong, South African mate, and flavored teas, as well as herbal blends like chamomile, South African Rooibos, and hibiscus.

Eli Tea: Founded by 2017 Eater Young Gun Elias Majid, this tea shop in Birmingham, Michigan, offers an array of black, green, oolong, and white loose leaf teas, as well as chai blends and herbal teas with transparent sourcing.

Just Add Honey Tea Company: This Atlanta-based tea company carries a large selection of caffeinated teas and tea blends, from matcha to a high-caffeine mix of green tea, mate, and dried papaya. It also offers non-caffeinated herbal options, like chicory and cinnamon.

INI Sips: A family- and veteran-owned company based in New Britain, Connecticut, this shop sells 16 teas, including one ceremonial-grade matcha, and a small selection of direct trade coffees.

Kettl (Japan): Through its unique relationships with tea growers in Japan, Kettl has become the go-to for restaurants and Japanese tea lovers for the freshness and quality of its teas, which, because of supply chains, would not otherwise be available in the U.S. It has a small brick-and-mortar storefront in Manhattan but ships its shincha, matcha, genmaicha, rare Japanese oolong and black tea, and sobacha nationwide.

Kolkata Chai Co. (India): Through their New York shop, Ayan and Ani Sanyal — motivated by the appropriation of masala chai that they observed — aim to reclaim chai’s cultural roots. The company currently offers two DIY chai kits, a masala chai with Assam, green cardamom, cinnamon, black cardamom, black pepper, and cloves, and rose masala chai.

Matero (South America): With a mission to celebrate yerba mate culture, this online shop sells a wide selection of ethically and sustainably sourced mate from around South America. Loose leaf and tea bags are both available, as are calabaza (porongo) and bombillas.

Puehr Brooklyn (China): This Brooklyn-based teashop specializes in aged cake pu’ehr, as you might imagine, but its online shop also offers a variety of oolong, green, and white tea.

Raven & Hummingbird Tea Co. (Squamish Nation): A mother and daughter team, T’uy’t’tanat Cease Wyss and Senaqwila Wyss, are behind this Coast Salish-owned tea company. Their small batch teas are sourced from plants in their Xwemeltchsn community garden in West Vancouver, through wild picking, and from local herbal distributors.

Red Lake Nation Foods (Red Lake Nation): A member of the Intertribal Agriculture Council, Red Lake Nation Foods offers a selection of herbal teas and tea blends in addition to wild fruit jellies, jams and syrups, and Red Lake Nation–cultivated wild rice.

Serengeti Teas & Spices (Africa): This Harlem fixture isn’t just for herbal teas, although it carries a wide variety, including moringa, Moroccan mint teas, sorrel, South African Rooibos, and turmeric blends. It also specializes in premium and rare coffee, tea, and cocoa from countries around Africa.

Song Tea & Ceramics (China and Taiwan): With new selections of teas from China and Taiwan each year, Song Tea is an excellent source for fresh leaves, including green, white, oolong, red, and aged teas. It also offers botanical blends like sobacha, marshmallow, holy basil, and carrot. For those with the budget, Song also offers a small collection of rare aged teas.

Té Company (Taiwan): With a small tearoom in lower Manhattan and an impressive online shop, Té first got its start by partnering with fine dining restaurants. It specializes in high quality full leaf oolong tea from Taiwan that would otherwise not be available in the U.S. Besides oolong, it offers green, white, black, and herbal teas, including rare and vintage selections. Everything is sourced directly from tea producers.

Tea Drunk (China): Another tea oasis in lower Manhattan with a stocked online shop, Tea Drunk is unique in that it sources and imports directly from heritage tea growers in China. A (virtual) visit to Tea Drunk is an education in and celebration of terroir, season, and craft across green, yellow, white, Wu Long, red, and black teas, including pu’ehr.

Katie Okamoto is a Los Angeles–based writer and former editor at Metropolis, the New York–based design and architecture monthly. Find her work at katieokamoto.com and occasionally on Twitter and Instagram.

Photo credits: Hand: Prostock-Studio/GettyShelves: Arman Zhenikeyev/Getty

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Photo-illustration: Eater

Expand your collection with these online shops

A cup of coffee or tea might seem like such a simple ritual. But our daily cup (or two, or three) owes everything to our colonial, slave-built economy that relied on European and American trade with Central and South America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia. The legacy of exploitation in the coffee and tea industries still manifests today, depressing wages and earnings for workers and degrading natural ecosystems. One, though not the only, aspect of that legacy is trade. The fair trade movement that solidified in the late 1980s as a Fair Trade certification sought to tip the scales in favor of workers. More recently, the direct trade movement — which, as its name suggests, is built on direct exchanges between farmers and roasters — has emerged as an alternative to create still greater transparency and worker profit.

The coronavirus pandemic has upended our most trusted routines, down to how we’re buying and drinking our coffee. Maybe all of this has prompted you to rethink what goes into your daily cup, who made it possible, and who profits. Maybe you’re tired of parsing corporate statements like the one Starbucks produced earlier this month, after it initially prohibited employees from wearing Black Lives Matter shirts. Whether you’re in a rut with your morning brew and want to shake things up, you’re new to home-brewing and aren’t sure where to shop, or you want to support more BIPOC-owned and socially conscious businesses, let this list of 30 sources for buying coffee and tea online be a source of inspiration.

These purveyors source their product from around the world, and many are direct trade or are working to reimagine who owns tea and coffee culture. All of them offer online shopping, and some may offer contactless pick-ups. If you like the convenience of subscriptions, many offer those, too.

Whole Bean Coffee

Many coffee roasters source their beans from at least two global regions. If a specific region or country is the focus, that’s noted below.

BLK & Bold: You may have seen BLK & Bold at Whole Foods, but the brand’s selection of blends and single-origin coffees, as well as its teas, is also available directly online. Founded by Rod Johnson and Pernell Cezar, BLK & Bold donates 5 percent of its profits to organizations that benefit young people in Black communities in major cities across America.

Black Baza Coffee (India): This coffee roaster and grassroots organization works with growers in India to create a socially and environmentally sustainable model that supports biodiversity — a variety of species essential to healthy and resilient ecosystems. Arabica and robusta coffee beans, as well as chicory, are available from a number of partner coffee producers and microlots.

Boon Boona Coffee (East Africa): Boon Boona offers green coffee beans as well as roasted. The company’s founder, Efrem Fesaha, grew up with home-pan-roasted coffee, traditional in East African coffee ceremonies, and saw a demand in Seattle for unroasted beans. Boon Boona partners with farmers in East African countries, including Burundi, Rwanda, and Ethiopia.

Coffee Project NY: Besides selling whole bean house blends and single-origin coffees from around the world, Coffee Project NY champions education and certification through the Specialty Coffee Association. What Kaleena Teoh and Chi Sum Ngai started as a small cafe in the East Village has expanded to two other brick-and-mortar locations, including a flagship in Queens.

Driftaway Coffee: Anu Menon and Suyog Mody founded Driftaway with social and environmental sustainability in mind. The company, which roasts and ships from Brooklyn, develops long-term relationships with farms in Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Peru, and Rwanda and provides price transparency for all offerings.

Kahawa 1893 (Kenya): This brand, which shines a spotlight on Kenyan coffee from the Kisii region, gets its name from the year missionaries first planted coffee in Kenya. Margaret Nyamumbo, a third-generation coffee farmer, founded the company to reimagine the coffee supply chain and bring more profit to women farmers in Kenya.

Maru Coffee: Los Angeles-based Maru, started by Jacob Park and Joonmo Kim, sells whole beans in seasonal limited editions. It began as a tiny coffee shop that expanded into a larger location in LA’s Arts District, where it began roasting its own coffees from small batches of beans.

Nguyen Coffee Supply (Vietnam): Founded by Sahra Nguyen and billing itself as the “first ever Vietnamese-American-owned” coffee importer, all Nguyen arabica and robusta bean coffees are organically grown in Vietnam’s Central Highlands by a fourth-generation farmer known as Mr. Ton and roasted in Brooklyn. The brand currently offers three blends, Loyalty, Courage, and the high-caffeine Grit.

Not So Urban Coffee & Roastery: This small-batch micro roaster outside Atlanta roasts a selection of single-origin coffees to order. Its beans are ethically and sustainably sourced from growers around the world, with a current focus on East African countries.

Portrait Coffee: Another Atlanta-area roaster, Portrait is based in Southwest Atlanta. It offers a tailored selection of blends and single-origin beans. The company is committed to growing coffee careers in the Historic West End community while changing the face of specialty coffee “to include the black and brown folks who have been cropped out.”

Red Bay Coffee: Founded by the Oakland-based artist Keba Konte, Red Bay has a mission of community connection and grower empowerment. It sells a range of coffees online, including Carver’s Dream, a “bright, fruit-forward” blend of Guatemalan and Burundi coffees, and Coltrane, a medium-roast single origin from Colombia Cauca Piendamo with notes of black grape and dark chocolate.

Sweet Unity Farms Coffee (Tanzania): Started by David Robinson, the son of baseball titan Jackie Robinson, this farm belongs to a community of third-generation coffee farmers in Tanzania. The brand, which champions community investment and direct trade between farmers and roasters, sells 100 percent Arabica beans grown by family-owned cooperatives in Tanzania and Ethiopia and partners with family-owned roasters in California and New Jersey.

Tea

Just like coffee, tea is a fresh product that loses complexity and aroma over time, so for specialty teas, always note harvest date. Because a number of tea sellers sell “tea” in the colloquial sense — infusions of botanical ingredients — we use tea here to mean Camellia sinensis as well as yerba mate and herbal infusions. Sellers that specialize exclusively in Camellia sinensis from one region or country of origin are noted below.

Adjourn Teahouse: Founded by LaTonia Cokely and based in Washington, D.C., Adjourn specializes in aromatic hand-blended black teas with a wellness focus, incorporating botanicals like blue butterfly pea flowers, lemongrass, carrot, and ginger.

Brooklyn Tea: From their store in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, Ali Wright and Jamila McGill offer a wide variety of teas, including green and white teas and tea blends, aged pu’ehr and oolong, mate, Rooibos, and other herbal tisanes. Brooklyn Tea partners with Tahuti Ma’at to provide compost to a community garden in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

Calabash Tea & Tonic: Owned by a naturopath and fifth-generation herbalist, this D.C.-based company has an express wellness focus and offers herbal tonics alongside its flavored botanical blends.

Chai Walli (India): This Australian company, founded by an Indian Australian, works with organic and fair trade farms in India’s Assam Valley to source its tea. The range of small-batch spiced tea blends incorporates Ayurvedic knowledge from the founder’s own family. Ships to the United States.

Cuples Tea House: A tea store in Baltimore that ships nationwide, this is a one-stop shop for black and green tea blends, milk oolong, South African mate, and flavored teas, as well as herbal blends like chamomile, South African Rooibos, and hibiscus.

Eli Tea: Founded by 2017 Eater Young Gun Elias Majid, this tea shop in Birmingham, Michigan, offers an array of black, green, oolong, and white loose leaf teas, as well as chai blends and herbal teas with transparent sourcing.

Just Add Honey Tea Company: This Atlanta-based tea company carries a large selection of caffeinated teas and tea blends, from matcha to a high-caffeine mix of green tea, mate, and dried papaya. It also offers non-caffeinated herbal options, like chicory and cinnamon.

INI Sips: A family- and veteran-owned company based in New Britain, Connecticut, this shop sells 16 teas, including one ceremonial-grade matcha, and a small selection of direct trade coffees.

Kettl (Japan): Through its unique relationships with tea growers in Japan, Kettl has become the go-to for restaurants and Japanese tea lovers for the freshness and quality of its teas, which, because of supply chains, would not otherwise be available in the U.S. It has a small brick-and-mortar storefront in Manhattan but ships its shincha, matcha, genmaicha, rare Japanese oolong and black tea, and sobacha nationwide.

Kolkata Chai Co. (India): Through their New York shop, Ayan and Ani Sanyal — motivated by the appropriation of masala chai that they observed — aim to reclaim chai’s cultural roots. The company currently offers two DIY chai kits, a masala chai with Assam, green cardamom, cinnamon, black cardamom, black pepper, and cloves, and rose masala chai.

Matero (South America): With a mission to celebrate yerba mate culture, this online shop sells a wide selection of ethically and sustainably sourced mate from around South America. Loose leaf and tea bags are both available, as are calabaza (porongo) and bombillas.

Puehr Brooklyn (China): This Brooklyn-based teashop specializes in aged cake pu’ehr, as you might imagine, but its online shop also offers a variety of oolong, green, and white tea.

Raven & Hummingbird Tea Co. (Squamish Nation): A mother and daughter team, T’uy’t’tanat Cease Wyss and Senaqwila Wyss, are behind this Coast Salish-owned tea company. Their small batch teas are sourced from plants in their Xwemeltchsn community garden in West Vancouver, through wild picking, and from local herbal distributors.

Red Lake Nation Foods (Red Lake Nation): A member of the Intertribal Agriculture Council, Red Lake Nation Foods offers a selection of herbal teas and tea blends in addition to wild fruit jellies, jams and syrups, and Red Lake Nation–cultivated wild rice.

Serengeti Teas & Spices (Africa): This Harlem fixture isn’t just for herbal teas, although it carries a wide variety, including moringa, Moroccan mint teas, sorrel, South African Rooibos, and turmeric blends. It also specializes in premium and rare coffee, tea, and cocoa from countries around Africa.

Song Tea & Ceramics (China and Taiwan): With new selections of teas from China and Taiwan each year, Song Tea is an excellent source for fresh leaves, including green, white, oolong, red, and aged teas. It also offers botanical blends like sobacha, marshmallow, holy basil, and carrot. For those with the budget, Song also offers a small collection of rare aged teas.

Té Company (Taiwan): With a small tearoom in lower Manhattan and an impressive online shop, Té first got its start by partnering with fine dining restaurants. It specializes in high quality full leaf oolong tea from Taiwan that would otherwise not be available in the U.S. Besides oolong, it offers green, white, black, and herbal teas, including rare and vintage selections. Everything is sourced directly from tea producers.

Tea Drunk (China): Another tea oasis in lower Manhattan with a stocked online shop, Tea Drunk is unique in that it sources and imports directly from heritage tea growers in China. A (virtual) visit to Tea Drunk is an education in and celebration of terroir, season, and craft across green, yellow, white, Wu Long, red, and black teas, including pu’ehr.

Katie Okamoto is a Los Angeles–based writer and former editor at Metropolis, the New York–based design and architecture monthly. Find her work at katieokamoto.com and occasionally on Twitter and Instagram.

Photo credits: Hand: Prostock-Studio/GettyShelves: Arman Zhenikeyev/Getty

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How to Give Back to Hospitality Professionals Impacted by Covid-19

First, a thank you to all of the listeners, readers, and followers who’ve contacted us to ask how you can help the drinks industry during this crisis. While everyone’s worlds have changed over the past week, hospitality workers have been among the hardest hit. Practically overnight, entire careers, companies, and communities have evaporated, and there’s no telling when — or if — some businesses will reopen. 

At VinePair, we’ve dedicated all of our resources to reporting about the crisis and to maintaining a live blog about how COVID-19 is impacting the drinks industry — across wine, beer, and spirits, and all three of the industry tiers. 

Here, we’ve collected resources and information to help industry readers learn how and where to access aid. And for our audience of drinks lovers who don’t work in the industry, the links below provide a simple way to donate. If you’re in a position to give back, please do. Some 16.8 million people in the United States work in leisure and hospitality jobs, as defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and many tens of millions of more work in other likely impacted service industries. These are the people who take care of us, day in and day out. Now, let’s band together to help take care of them. 

We’ll update this list continuously as we learn about new ways to help. Please send recommendations for inclusion to editors@vinepair.com

National

*The Restaurant Workers Community Foundation, a 501(c)(3) advocacy and action nonprofit, created by and for restaurant workers, has created a restaurant workers’ COVID-19 Crisis Relief Fund. Funds will be directed to establishing a relief fund for individual workers facing economic hardships or health crises as a direct result of COVID-19; providing zero-interest loans to businesses to assist in re-opening once this crisis has passed; and to supporting organizations leading on-the-ground efforts in the restaurant community. Nomikai Canned Wine has announced that 5 percent of all its online sales, as well as 5 percent of sales made through T. Edward Wines, will be donated to the RWCF.

*The United States Bartenders Guild, a 50-year old 501(c)(6) nonprofit that operates chapters in 50 cities in the United States, is providing grants to all bartenders and their families affected by COVID-19, regardless of membership status, through its Bartender Emergency Assistance Program (BEAP). Individuals looking to donate directly to the COVID-19 Relief Campaign can do so here. Jameson Irish Whiskey has pledged $500,000 to the fund directly and will match up to $100,000 in additional donations. Screwball Peanut Butter Whiskey and Steven Soderbergh’s Singani 63 have also donated $100,000 and $25,000, respectively, and data analytics company Sip Science has set up a GoFundMe, aiming to raise $100,000 for the program.

*Advocacy group One Fair Wage has started an emergency fund to provide cash assistance to any tipped worker and service worker affected by COVID-19. The organization hopes to provide $213 to as many eligible workers as possible — a number chosen to highlight the current $2.13 “sub-minimum wage” for tipped workers.

*The Dining Bonds Initiative from SupportRestaurants.org allows anyone to purchase gift certificates to participating restaurants at 25 percent below face value, to be redeemable at full value when the restaurants reopen, allowing the restaurants to receive both an influx of cash and a guarantee of future business.

*A nationwide group of American chefs has started a Save America’s Restaurants petition on Change.org, calling upon mayors, governors, and legislators nationwide to “engage with local industry leaders and restaurant associations immediately” to enact a “swift plan” to help bars and restaurants survive mandated closures. Actionable items include providing emergency employment benefits and endorsing rent and loan abatements for all workers affected, allowing takeout and delivery of wine, beer, and spirits, and waiving and/or altering zoning restrictions to allow bars and restaurants to be used as food and drinks markets for offsite consumption.

REGIONAL/CITY SPECIFIC

*Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger and his wife, philanthropist Kaitlyn Krieger, have started Save Our Faves, a directory of San Francisco small businesses, including bars and restaurants, offering gift card sales to help “ ‘flatten the curve’ of lost income from COVID-19.”

*Oregon food and agricultural worker charity Family Meal is providing a specific COVID-19 relief fund. “In light of how this pandemic has affected numerous people, it is our duty to issue as many grants as possible, while doing so responsibly and intelligently,” the nonprofit explained, encouraging anyone seeking assistance to apply for grants quickly “due to the volume of applications that we have received.”

*Houston chef Chris Shepherd’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit Southern Smoke Foundation has created an Emergency Relief Fund for food and beverage workers in crisis as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.

*The Seattle Hospitality Emergency Fund has been set up on GoFundMe, aiming to raise at least $150,000 to help cover living costs for members of Seattle’s hospitality industry affected by COVID-19-related closures who are not otherwise being compensated, with a priority for “BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, disabled, and immunocompromised members of our community.”

*Since being temporarily shut down, Washington, D.C., beer hall Hook Hall has turned into a food and resource center for the hospitality industry, distributing food and care packages to workers whose schedules and pay have become reduced, inconsistent, or cancelled due to COVID-19-related shutdowns and closures. Hook Hall has partnered with the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington’s (RAMW) Educated Eats Foundation to create Hook Hall Helps fund to sustain its efforts, and is accepting donations and volunteer offers.

*Giving Kitchen, a non-profit “committed to serving Georgia’s food service community,” is offering financial assistance to food service workers and their immediate families facing medical crises or housing issues related to COVID-19, and providing a “stability network” of referrals to employment, financial, and legal services to anyone who doesn’t meet the criteria for direct immediate assistance. Giving Kitchen is accepting recurring or one-time direct donations.

*Danny Meyer announced on Instagram the Union Square Hospitality Group Giveback initiative, a relief fund for USHG team members. Meyer is donating his “entire compensation” to the fund, and other members of the USHG executive team are taking a “meaningful pay cut.” Additionally, 100 percent of all USHG gift card sales through March 24, 2020 will go to the fund.

* The Charlottesville Restaurant Fund is looking to raise $10,000 on GoFundMe to help affected Charlottesville, Va., restaurant employees pay bills, get medication, transportation, and groceries. According to the GoFundMe, “Whether it’s a comforting meal after a tough day, a drink & convo when you need someone to listen, celebrating a special moment, or a coffee to start your day. Restaurants are there. Day and night. Night and day. It’s our turn to show up for them.”

The article How to Give Back to Hospitality Professionals Impacted by Covid-19 appeared first on VinePair.

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