🌳 a tree of links: part two 🌳
allow me to make your fyp and youtube algorithms more whimsically radical
happy pride month fellow queers 🏳️🌈 i have a few thoughts to welcome in this month, but i’ll save those lengthier reflections for our villager note [aka the monthly house-cleaning update, coming this week].
in the meantime, vibe out with me as i share a few sparkling droplets of information, inspiration, and joy i’ve discovered while swimming through our digital ocean.
trying to find my poetic voice again, do you see it?
thank you for being here.
in the world around us
blog: tulsa, oklahoma’s first Black mayor announced a plan to launch a $105 million private charitable trust to address the longstanding, systematic impacts of the 1921 tulsa race massacre, providing descendants of the horrific event with housing assistance and scholarships. [courtesy of phil lewis]
pdf: 3 asteroids that could devastate cities and produce “one million times more energy than the atomic bomb dropped on hiroshima in 1945” could hit earth in weeks, however, due to venus blocking scientists’ view, we can’t see them and therefore can’t determine the extent of the probability of impact. the short version, the long version1
article: five years since the murder of george floyd, for andscape, journalist and documentary filmmaker jesse washington reflects on darnella frazier, the 17-year-old who filmed george’s death.
video essay: f.d signifier digs DEEP into the cultural and political contributions, and lack thereof, of beyoncé [and breaks down that tiktok discourse 😵💫].
article/tiktok: sexwork is going mainstream [shoutout nia òla for the observation], definitely a sign of the recession and the male loneliness epidemic.
article: speaking of the male loneliness epidemic, new york city now has a sumo wrestling club and it had its first tournament [hit me up if you want to attend, i’m so curious]
artists make the world go round
article/video essay: a commonplace notebook is a junk journal, scrapbook, and brain dump all rolled into one. i started one to work through my breakup. discovered through the resurgence of critical thinking and commonplace notebooks by sydney djotita at the kylopsia podcast.
article: aunjanue ellis-taylor has been tapped to write the biopic on the godmother of rock’n’roll, sister rosetta tharpe.
article: for autostraddle, the talented taylor crumpton says beyoncé may have shifted country music, but she cannot save the industry
art: the awakening conscience by william holman hunt, 1853. i came across this piece on tiktok, and i was fascinated by the historical analysis of it. but for brevity's sake: 1. i feel the artist’s original face design was better than the updated; it made the buyer uncomfortable, and it should make the purchaser uncomfortable. 2. though there are “accurate” explanations for the piece, i gathered hope of a better, and possible, life on the woman’s face, i.e outside of the open window and away from the bird cage that is her nouveau-riche abode.
pdf: this research paper explains what type of person you are based on the music genres you enjoy.
tiktok: tv producer ron hart shares what happened after he lost the passion for his dream job.
tiktok: blk girl: musical is a work of art. as john laurens once said [kind of], let’s get this girl* in front of a crowd!!
essay: the role of the artist is to load the gun by the revolutionary that is ismatu gwendolyn.
music: because sometimes you just need to hear nina simone’s voice. where is our generational mississippi goddamn?
mental health check-in
video essay: why being open-minded is ruining your life [there’s a joke about leftists here, but i’m gonna to let it go. iygiygi].
video interview: portrait photographer david suh and brand builder molly graham discuss “the right risks” and self-confidence.
article: military veteran twanna carter coaches Black women on how to overcome imposter syndrome [amazing read, because i need all the help i can get 🫠].
video interview: nazamin mandi talks reconnecting with her Self post-divorce.
tiktok: miley cyrus talks about her experience with emdr therapy.
spiritual sanctuary
tiktok: michael b. jordan shares the origin of his middle name, which was gifted by high priest babalawo. that boy is blessed and deeply, highly favored.
blog: how to manifest your dream life with jupiter in cancer by astrologer chani nicholas and the chani app
tiktok: gen-z reading the bible is one of my favorite niche genres of content.
gamer corner
video essay: how to turn your sims saves into soap opera-level dramas by gloria aka yellow llama
shop: want to be organizing, saving, and remembering your sims lore in the most structured way possible? tap into gloria’s simguardian! and it’s in notion!! 😍 me and notion go together real bad
website: i discovered games for change and wow, i may have found my people. we’ll circle back on this one, but tap in with me.
tiktok: fan-made ttrgp2 severance game where one player is the outie and the other, the innie. beta test me right neow!
tiktok: sims 4. here’s the scenario: r. kelly and puffy in jail. i’ll leave it at that. enjoy.
article: ea restructures and lays off another round of teams, including cliffhanger games, which means the highly anticipated black panther game is no longer in development. sigh.
mutual aid + other resources
article: this article detailing the top indicator of financial wellbeing just called me broke, but also gave me a clear goal to hit by my birthday. start the clock.
video: give me the Black american sign language classes, i want to give Black when talking ASL too!
blog: serial entrepreneur and founder and ceo of blavity inc. morgan debraun says we should be vibe coding our big ideas. ai is a complex subject, but i do feel when it’s used as a tool, it can be useful and help keep us in the tech race. so make it work FOR YOU, ethically, if that’s possible. i’m still conflicted honestly, but it is useful. but don’t date it? that are games for that.
website: harvard is offering over 100 courses FOR FREE on a mix of topics, including government and politics, environmental sciences, and even occult studies. i’m gonna sign up for one and see how i feel. i shall report back.
movies + shows
article: the handmaid’s tale finale explainer. if you needed this too, you’re welcome, because it felt so anti-climactic to me. i went through the trauma of binging for THAT ending? i guess i get it, but…okay??
article: for letterbox, culture writer and critic robert daniels curated a starter pack of 20 Blaxploitation films. i’m actually so excited to get into these. some of these i’ve never heard of, some i haven’t seen in years.
miscellaneous places
website: after mentioing the green book by tapteek in my currently playing post, i ended up poking around the official site and being engulfed by the history, precision, and archival nature of its pages. and now i want them to change the title of their game because, rude.
that’s all, friends.