5.
My debut short story collection, visualizing growth, + #StopCopCity
I started writing this letter in February:
Happy new year, y’all. I hope this letter is reaching you in a moment of rest and care.
I started 2023 with a full-time job. Last time I wrote, I mentioned that I was applying and interviewing, and am grateful that this one worked out. I’m so pleased to be working with the National Network of Abortion Funds in a role that supports abortion funds in gathering for collaboration, skill building, relationship building, and strategizing. I’ve just finished my first month, so I’m still settling in, but already feel like I made the right choice.
Because of this transition, my capacity for graphic recording and illustration collaborations is significantly reduced. I already added a note on my website and have started to let people know when they reach out to me. There are a few collaborations I’ve intentionally carved out some time for— organizations and people I’ve worked with on a regular, consistent basis (almost monthly!) for the past 3 years. These are, probably not surprisingly, the projects that are most aligned with my values.
And now it’s June. Time has flown by. I’ve also been BUSY— at my day job supporting abortion funds, still doing some graphic recording and illustration work on the side, and writing. I’m about to enter my final semester of my MFA program in which I will work on my thesis. I’ll graduate in January and hopefully have a decent draft of my novel done around the same time.
With all this busyness, I’ve also been struggling with some chronic fatigue and brain fog. It seems like things have started to get better. It’s been hard to keep up with everything, and I’ve been really grateful to my co-workers, collaborators, teachers, and friends who have been so gracious and kind as I try to figure it out.
writing
I have some really exciting news that I can finally share! My debut short story collection, A SMALL APOCALYPSE, is coming your way in 2024 with TriQuarterly Books/ Northwestern University Press. It's full of queer ghosts, shape shifting, the end of the world, & messy/beloved chosen families. Nearly 8 years in the making, I can’t believe this book will be out in the world in less than a year.
I will definitely have updates as we get close to the release date!
drawing
I know I’ve talked about my work with the Build Your Abolitionist Toolbox before, but can you believe I’ve had the privilege to create the graphic notes for every session since September 2020? Not only is the toolbox an amazing resource for abolitionist and abolitionist-curious organizers, teachers, facilitators, parents, community members, etc., it is also a place where I can (selfishly) see the progress/growth of my work over the past 3 years.
Below, is this first session of the series: Self-Accountability & Movement Building with Shannon Perez-Darby. I used 3 slides for the 2 hour session, and I can see myself playing with a lot here that I still like to do: textures, layering, using shapes to privilege certain key information, etc. I also see some hesitancy and uncertainty around how to use space, there is a rushed nature to my handwriting and even in my placement of words. I can also tell that I’m trying to use exact language or terms, rather than trusting myself to synthesize.
This next image, is the most recent toolbox session on Abolishing Policing & Militarism on Campus with organizers from Dissenters and Critical Resistance. Over the past 3 years, I’ve definitely learned how to utilize this space—I can, more often than not, fit information from a 2 hour session onto 1 slide. And, even though there is more information, it feels more organized and neater, easier for the eye to follow. There’s also just a certain level of confidence and precision of what information to include and how to connect it all.
teaching
I’ve taken a break from teaching, but I did co-organize the first RVA Poetry Fest in April! The 2-day free event included a Friday night reading and a all-day Saturday festival with a workshop, readings, vendors, and activity booths. Activities included a letterpress station, paint chip poetry, poetry jewelry, black out poetry, and graphic poems/zines. I noticed that the inclusion of these activities encouraged people to stay in the space longer, to talk to folks they didn’t come with, and to share their work with friends. Overall, it was a really beautiful community event and I hope we are able to do it again next year.
reading
I went through a slight reading slump, but there are a few novels I’ve read recently:
Elsewhere by Alexis Schaitkin
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
I’ve also been reading short story collections, taking them slow and really just reveling in and sitting with each story:
Drinking from the Graveyard Wells by Yvette Lisa Ndlovu
In Other Lifetimes All I’ve Lost Comes Back to Me by Courtney Sender
learning
Have you been keeping up with the fight #StopCopCity in Atlanta? Organizers have been fighting the destruction of 380 acres of the Weelaunee Forest to build a $90 million police training and militarization facility.
Here is a teach-in on the Stop Cop City movement
“This is the Atlanta Way: A Primer on Cop City” by Micah Herskind
Podcast: Movement Memos, “Cop City is Only the Beginning, Unless We Fight”
Last week, 3 Atlanta Solidarity Fund organizers were arrested and charged with charity fraud. Luckily, all 3 organizers are currently out on bond and the Judge even stated “I don’t find the evidence real impressive.” However, this attack by the state is alarming for any and all groups organizing to pool material resources for criminalized people.
After the arrests, over 350 people signed up for public comment at the Atlanta City Council meeting demanding they do not fund cop city. Here is a twitter thread from Hannah Riley with more, including a photo of a young person reading an updated version of The Lorax about cop city. Disappointingly, though not surprisingly, city council approved $67 million in funding to cop city despite 15 hours of mostly public comments against the project. Here is a twitter thread from Micah Herskind with more reflections.
The fight against Cop City is not over and it is not just for folks in Atlanta. This kind of facility and these kinds of policies could easily be replicated across the country. We know, already, that the Atlanta Police Department sends officers to Israel to be trained in the tactics that the Israeli police use to oppress and surveil Palestinians through the GILEE program. This is not just a local issue, it’s a national issue, an international issue.
From Defend the Atlanta Forest, here are a few ways you can take action:
Donate to the Atlanta Solidarity Fund to support legal costs for arrested protestors and ongoing legal action.
Call on investors in the project to divest from Cop City (list of APF investors). Call on builders of the project to drop their construction contracts.
Organize political solidarity bail funds, forest defense funds, and forest defense committees where you live.
Participate in or organize local solidarity actions.
missing
While I’ve been finishing up this letter, my beloved dog, Rodeo, passed away in his sleep. Ace, my partner, got 12 sweet years with him and I was lucky enough to get 8. Here is a photo of the two of us, as babies, in 2015, and another one of my recent favorites of him with Scout. He was loyal, patient, and funny—the silliest and most anxious baby. The weight of missing him feels heavy, but I’m grateful for the years and adventures I got to have with him.
xo,
L