I dissent ☝

Spread the love, forward to a friend!

View this email in your browser

#WednesdayWisdom

"I choose the discipline of hope over the ease of cynicism. I choose fortitude over fatalism. I choose to be who my ancestors protected and my creator formed. I choose to be more than a conqueror." — Brittany Packnett Cunningham

Morning Musings

I was logging online Friday night to check the status of a pizza order when muscle memory took over and I found myself on Twitter when I saw The Tweet: "BREAKING: RBG dead at 87."

No, no, no, NO!, I thought, having flashbacks to just three weeks prior when the world learned of Chadwick Boseman's passing.  Immediately my timeline started to flood with the some variation of the same sentiment: F*ck.

Then my phone started blowing up with texts from my fellow feminist friends. We were all at a loss. We were all panicking. When Jeff returned home with the aforementioned pizza order, he asked, "So what does this mean for --?" 

"We're screwed!" I finished. 

Although RBG's actual dying wish was that she would not be replaced until a new president is in seat, this "administration" seems determined to undermine that. I was feeling a bit (okay, a lot) pessimistic when I saw this post from activist and educator Brittany Packnett Cunningham.

In the caption, she wrote: "We fight for her. We fight for ourselves. We vote because she needs us to. We fight because we need us to. We use every lever we have because the struggle does not begin or end on November 3rd. We do not give up. Not now. Not ever."

And suddenly I felt galvanized. We can feel whatever we need to feel in this moment, but in the next moment, we fight. We take action. We vote. We dissent. We make good trouble. We take our time, but we don't waste our time.

We take the lessons we've learned from these legends and we implement them. We've come too far to stop now. Are you with me?

Love,
L'Oreal

Rest & Reset (Mini) Retreat

It's been a YEAR, that goes without saying. So I thought we could all use some much-needed R&R. Join me Saturday, Oct. 10 for a yoga fundraiser benefiting Sista Afya, a Chicago-based low-cost mental wellness center servicing Black women. 

This virtual event will include:

• a meditation by Liz Colpa

• restorative yoga session led by Alex Tatis of BK Yoga Club

• a journaling exercise led by yours truly

• a poetry reading by Pam Johnson Davis

Suggested donation $10. It's going to be whatever the relaxing version of lit is, hope to see you there! In the meantime, register here.

Virtual Happenings

Sept. 24: How to Manage Your Mental Health While on Social Media. My friend Vanessa Flowers of Flowers Girls Meet is partnering with Ama La Vida Coaching to share tips on how to have fun with social media while still showing up as your best self. ($9)

Sept. 24: Venture FWD: A FWD Collective Event. A candid conversation about fundraising, venture capital, and the journey to raising money. ($20)

Sept. 25: Making Lemonade: A Virtual Masterclass Series. Join Brittney Oliver of Lemons 2 Lemonade as she hosts different career leaders for an hour of career gems. (FREE)

Links I Love

1. Stop Calling Young Black Girls "Grown." They're Kids. (Cosmopolitan)

2. Reparenting Through Play is My New Form of Self-Care. (ZORA)

3. For Black Girls Whose Voices Are "Too White" Or "Too Black" (Human Parts)

My Latest Obsession

If you've been around these parts since the beginning, then you'll know my friend Anuli is the inspiration behind this newsletter, or as she called hers, "an exercise of consistency."

I was super bummed when she ended her newsletter, Intersection Weekly, but I'm beyond pumped for her latest project, BLK IRL, an audio docuseries that "explores the business of 'influencing' and the power dynamics at play in the act of cultural exchange." Tune in and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.

Now Hiring

1. Assistant Managing Editor for Education Week

2. Senior Fellow for Economic Security Project/Teen Vogue

3. Copy Editor for HBO Max

4. Instagram Editor for The Cut

5. Director of TrevorSpace at The Trevor Project

6. Director, Coalition Advocacy for Planned Parenthood

7. Communications Director for The Leap

8. Culture Writer for Mic

Psst...did a friend forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here so you never miss an issue! Liked what you read? Be sure to follow using the buttons below.