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Flautist Melissa Jefferson plays slaver James Madison's 200-year-old crystal flute in the Library of Congress.

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[id: screenshots of tiktok captions. the images say, “but the only reason we still love princess diana is because she did not have the time to disappoint us.”]

begging queer kids to read up on princess diana’s involvement with the community. yes, she was a rich, pretty monarch. yes, she died young.

but the reason why queer people love her is because she used her privilege during the aids crisis to advocate for sick queer men, when very few others would - much less someone of her status.

diana spent years advocating for the health and care of queer people with hiv/aids. in 1987, at the height of the epidemic, she opened the first specialist clinic dedicated to treating aids patients (the first clinic of it’s kind in the uk).

she also fought public hysteria by hugging and shaking bare hands with aids patients, at a time when aids was thought to be spread by skin to skin contact. not only that, she visited patients in the clinic regularly and even comforted them through their sickness.

and when queen elizabeth told her to try focusing on “something more pleasant”?

diana ignored her and kept fighting.

and this is only her work towards the aids crisis. she publicly called out the royal family, brought attention to numerous world issues, and was known as an advocate for empathy and kindness. she’s known and loved as the people’s princess for good reason

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A match made for each other

Currently watching “Indivisible: Healing Hate”, a Paramount+ original on the history and narrative of white supremacy in our country, and how it culminated on January 6th 2021.

Currently reading “A Field Guide to White Supremacy”, a collection of essays for everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, for understanding and opposing white supremacy in the United States.

This combo is really something else I tell you what, it really reaffirms that my path into social work is really for me. I refuse to accept that there can be this much hate. I refuse to accept the current systemic injustices. I refuse to accept an ignorant, hateful lifestyle. We must do something.

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burning food is an inherited trait

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Sorry

She said sorry too often.

She apologized for apologizing too much.

She said sorry like it was a greeting.

She apologized for everything goes that wrong.

Because, she labelled herself as a disaster.

She was sorry for not being good enough because no one ever told her she was good enough.

No one ever told her that she was Something more than a mess inside her head and the tsunami inside her heart.

So all she learned was to apologize for every single breath

She took.

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Quick Summary:

“In Cultish, Montell argues that the key to manufacturing intense ideology, community, and us/them attitudes all comes down to language. In both positive ways and shadowy ones, cultish language is something we hear—and are influenced by—every single day.”

I’ve seen this book around a lot and a coworker recommended it so I started reading it and wow I could not put it down ! I’ve even been underlining and tabbing certain parts bc it’s just so good. It’s easy to follow and the examples the author uses are extremely interesting. Some of them I heard before, others I’m learning about for the first time. I’m not completely done with it yet but I can tell this will be 5 stars for me.

Follow me on Insta for more : @ readingbysunlight

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So many books I wanna buy but such a limited budget. Buuuuuuuuut

That’s not why we’re here. We’re here for the featured book,

“Iwígara: the Kinship of Plants and People (American Indian Ethnobotanical Traditions and Science)” by Enrique Salmón

If take a closer look you’ll see “Braiding Sweetgrass” off in the corner. This was the bookshop I originally saw it in, but was sold out of it when I went back for it. I eventually found a copy but browsing the other day I saw it back on their shelves! Good. It’s such a phenomenal book.

This one will eventually make its way into my collection, I’m sure around or after the holiday season when school finally starts to let up and I have more free reading time because humanity really does need to find itself back in touch with the world as a whole if we want to find some peace. We need to preserve what we have. We need to attempt to fix what we can before it’s too late. We need to do better.

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One of the MANY books longing to sit on my bookshelf unread…

“We Want It All: An Anthology of Radical Trans Poetics” edited by Andrea Abi-Karam and Kay Gabriel

I was on my way out of the bookstore and snapped a picture so I wouldn’t forget about it. I need more poetry in my life and as a gay man I love reading works from the LGBTQ+ community. There’s a shared experience in our stories and an experience in sharing our stories. This could be an interesting read for sure.

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I’m not gonna lie I hate most of these books but they’re always required for my writing classes. Also it was paired with the other book I needed and I couldn’t get the other one on it’s own 🤨

“The Little Seagull Handbook”

It’s your standard ‘this is how you write’ book. I’m glad I wasted my hard earned money on this for my college class.

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I was already up to almost $50 in books so I had to take a pass on this $30+ volume on CRT texts.

“Critical Race Theory: the Key Writings that formed the Movement”

This is a hefty volume chock full of information. Incredibly in depth. Groundbreaking works. Will be added to my shelf sooner or later.

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While trying to find “Outliers” for my class project, I came across this work and couldn’t pass it up. I’ve learned that about some of my local haunts, if I don’t get them they sell.

“A Field Guide to White Supremacy” edited by Kathleen Belew and Ramón A. Gutiérrez

A collection of essays creating “the definitive field guide for understanding and opposing white supremacy in America” illuminating the violent, patriarchal career of these ideals in the United States for activists, journalists, citizens, and policymakers.

I’m excited to dive into this one, although it’s a collection of academic essays so it will be a bit different than my normal reads, but will still be highly informative.

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The first of many titles I’ll be sharing from class this semester.

“Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell

This is part of an extra credit assignment due for my social work class, due at the end of October so I need to get cracking on this one if I’m going to read it a couple times and get the project done.

What makes successful people successful? It’s more than just ambition, intelligence, and personality traits. What makes someone successful relies heavily on factors nobody likes to talk about. Gladwell starts that conversation here with this book.

I will share more of my thoughts as I finish the book and the project!!

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Still book related so bear with me 😅

The original manual for a Singer Portable Sewing Machine from July 1924

This sewing machine is in BEAUTIFUL condition

I mean come on, it even has the original tube of lubricant

Did I mention it was free because they were just going to throw it away?

Gorgeous. Original key to the lid also.

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New book alert

Ok so this is one of three books I got from a recent haul at Schuler’s books.

“White Fragility” by Robin DiAngelo

I just started this book, but my social work class this semester has really motivated me to read yet even MORE socially progressive titles.

The more I read, the more radical the books become. Essentially a self narrative from a white woman about why white people can NOT talk about race. Why do we get so defensive? Why do we get so angry just talking about race, racism, and whiteness?

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I spent the day hiking out into the woods to read and write last week. Was a wonderful experience. Need a few more days like that before winter is in full swing.

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So school has already started and my course load is kind of a lot, plus I work a full time job, and I’m trying to flip a house, and I have family vacations and other engagements. It’s going to be a busy couple of months, but I have some interesting reading coming down the pipeline this semester and I’m excited to share some of it with you all!!