Anti-Social Media

That title’s not really fair.

I’ve met people through social media that I consider friends and close acquaintances: Yvette Nicole Brown, Devin’s Cow, Alt-Immigration, Giselle Fetterman, I mean Frank Figliuzzi followed me – *mind-blown*

Just when we finally put tweeting, twittering, retweets, and doomscrolling into the daily vernacular, Twitter is sold to a childish narcissist (no offense to children, the childish or narcissists) who decides to not only let it implode, but actively sabotages it. Not to mention the racism and antisemitism. I’ve been on Twitter since the beginning, and while I lovingly described it as a cesspool, it was more than the sum of its parts. It was my first stop when I woke up in the morning, knowing that among the outrage and memes was whatever was the most important in the news of that day. From there, I’d dig deeper.

In the last few months, really since the new owner came in, my newsfeed has been a mix of ads some of which are so sus that I’d question their actual existence, inappropriate propositions, nudity, and right-wing nut jobs, ninety-nine percent of which I don’t even follow.

I joined a new social media network (to be named later), followed a friend of mine, and have seen her more today on the new network than in the last three months on Twitter. The same goes for many of the pundits and entertainment blogs that I follow. Scrolling through the new site is like attending a school or job reunion: Hey! You’re here! I’ve missed you! What have you been doing the last six months when you were hidden on Twitter?!

I’ve said it before, and I’ll continually say it again: I go to the new techy thing. I go kicking and screaming, but I still go. Twitter was probably the first to prove that statement. Then Tumblr. I didn’t question Instagram as much; just went. Post. Mastodon. I waited with breath held for Spoutible, and when the opportunity came to sign up for Threads, it took me all of three minutes to get two accounts going. I’m on the waiting list for bluesky, but I’m not sure that I’ll even sign up if Spoutible and Threads continue on the way they’ve begun.

Will I use all of these?

Man, I hope not.

I can’t recommend Threads yet; I’ve barely been on forty-eight hours but give it a try. It can only be accessed by the app, no browser yet. It’s connected to your Instagram account, although I don’t know how, and I have no idea about cross-posting. I plan to use it the way I use twitter – politics, news, voting rights, social justice, and website promotion.

I will not delete my Twitter account. I may even use it to comment on some things, but I have hopes that it might return. It was comfortable when it worked.

I’ve begun a Mailchimp Email Subscription for reaching out monthly to my in-person class attendants and I’m considering expanding it to my online community. I’m not sure what I could offer for a subscription fee that I’m not already publishing on the site, but my writing and publishing are always evolving. If you’re interested in a free preview for the next three months, drop me an email with Mailchimp subscription in the subject line and your email in the body.

This month I’m continuing the writing of my prayer book, and outlining my Wales Discovery book, some of which I may talk about on social media.

These are my official accounts:

Facebook Page
Instagram
Spotify
Spoutible
Threads

Election Connection – Women’s Rights Today

Today marks 134 days before the next Election Day, and 500 days until the next Presidential Election Day. It seems like a very far time away, but it really isn’t. It will be here before we know it. It is also not too early to become familiar with your local elections and issues happening that will be addressed on the next two Election Days.

Our voting numbers in this country are abysmal. I know we want to represent freedom, and you should have the freedom to decide whether or not you want to vote. However, that should come with a dreading realization that with your one vote, you can change how things are done in this country. Look at Michigan. I am personally for a national day off for voting and automatic registration at 18 as well as requiring all those eligible to vote. We are still using a Presidential election system built on slavery and proportioning electoral college votes on land rather than on people.

How does this affect women’s rights, the presumptive focus of this missive?

Pride Quotes

^{Quotations from Harvey Milk, James Baldwin, Leslie Jordan, Audre Lorde, Marsha P. Johnson, Elliot Page. Art by KBW. (c)2023}

A sample of quotations from a diverse group of LGBTQIA and Allies.

“Gender is who you are, and sexuality is who you want.” — C.N. Lester, “Trans Like Me: A Journey for All of Us”

“Cut the ending. Revise the script. The man of her dreams is a girl.” — Julie Anne Peters, “Keeping You a Secret”

“When all Americans are treated as equal, no matter who they are or whom they love, we are all more free.” — Barack Obama

“Love is never wrong.” — Melissa Etheridge

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” — E.E. Cummings

“Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing we’ll ever do.” — Brené Brown, “The Gifts of Imperfection”

“Where there is love, there is life.” — Mahatma Gandhi

“We declare that human rights are for all of us, all the time: whoever we are and wherever we are from; no matter our class, our opinions, our sexual orientation.” — Ban Ki-moon

“To realize a world of equality and dignity for all, we will have to change laws and policies; we will also have to change hearts and minds.” — Rick Parnell

“Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands?”— Ernest J. Gaines

“What I liked about the rainbow is that it fits all of us. It’s all the colors. It represents all the genders. It represents all the races. It’s the rainbow of humanity.” — Gilbert Baker

More quotes can be found here.

David Tennant on Pride

Pride

For the next four weeks, I’ll be posting some information, links, art, and photos for Pride and hopefully including some LGBT+ history. I’d like to start by saying that last week I heard some complaints by folks with nothing better to do asking why Pride gets a month and our veterans only get one day. This is obviously meant to create an issue where there is none. First, Memorial Day is not about veterans in that way; it’s about the war dead, which most people are glad to ignore until it suits their agenda. If they really felt this way, they’d spend Memorial Day at the cemetery, at a house of worship, volunteering instead of barbecuing and at baseball games and concerts. Second, there are many, many veterans (and war dead) who are in the LGBT+ community, and Pride is as much for them as any other person. Third, for those who declare that “pride” is a venal sin, I’d like to suggest that those divorced, adulterous, lying, hypocrites stay quiet and/or remove the log from their eye.

I wonder if, when these people see a rainbow in the sky if they shake a fist at it and complain loudly to the Creator about how woke He is.

Pride was born in revolution, even though LGBT+ people were around long before 1969. The ones who are out and open and celebrate Pride are not only celebrating themselves but are celebrating those of the community who are still not out, for personal reasons as well as safety ones.

My friend has a denim vest with the stenciled words: The first pride was a riot. I’ve used that to influence the art I created last night for this post. Sometimes the simplest designs tell a greater story.

Marsha P. Johnson

Sylvia Rivera

Stonewall Riots

Library of Congress Research Guides: 1969: The Stonewall Uprising

Election Connection – Book Banning/Challenge Update

This is specific to a Texas school district, but challenges are happening across the country.

A federal judge has ruled that the books in question be returned to the library within twenty-four hours and left accessible while the case is ongoing. They are prohibited from removing any books while the case is in litigation.

According to this CNN article, while the Texas school said the books were removed as part of their normal weeding procedures it is clear that there were outside influences at play based on the subjects removed, including topics of race and LGBT+.

Disagreeing with the subject matter is not a reason to remove the books from the library. I also disagree with the comment in the article that pastors should be involved. Absolutely not. The separation of church and state is critically important both to the founding of this country and its ongoing evolution of welcoming all, despite the recent contradictions to that.

Part of the problem is the ignorance of those complaining about the books. They call many LGBT+ books pornographic when they are not sexual in nature and simply talk about feelings and gender as any adolescent character in a book would do. They are also trying to restrict CRT (critical race theory) which none of these books teach despite perhaps being written by a person of color or are about a person of color. As has been explained over and over again, CRT is not something that is taught in the schools, not even at a high school level. It is typically a subject in post-graduate and law schools.

As a writer, I understand that not all books are for everyone, and I agree that parents can determine the appropriateness of books for their children within reason (as I have done for my children without banning books for everyone), but I expect that we should trust in the schooling and expertise of librarians and teachers who have studied this field for a number of years.

I am also concerned about a random group of uneducated people coming in and removing books rather than letting individual parents and children make the determinations for their families on what is age-appropriate.

I hope the country steps back from the abyss; we are well beyond the slippery slope, and we need to offer modern books with timely subject matter while also encouraging the reading of classics while explaining the reasons that some of the material isn’t appropriate, and maybe never was.

Times change. We should change with them.

Transgender Day of Visibility

I struggled with what to write for today. As a cis person, I’m appalled at the anti-trans rhetoric and bills being passed across this country. I’m appalled with the lies being told by one party (Republicans) to frighten and influence parents into denying life-saving care for their children and to subject supportive parents and trans children to bigotry and violence. My husband said something to me about something related to this issue that he’d heard in a news story that was completely untrue, and I had to correct his misconception. It’s important that for cis people in addressing trans issues that we listen to trans voices and learn what we can do as allies from reliable and trans-centric sources. Media and politicians need to be called out when they entirely make stuff up and twist truths into nonsense and they need to be called out in the moment; immediately.

I wanted to talk about my trans friends, of whom I have several, but they are not a monolith. Each person is about as different as they can be and to be honest, this day of visibility isn’t about my relationship with specific people; it’s not about me.

Instead I decided to share what President Biden said today in proclaiming today Transgender Day of Visibility. I let his words speak for me.

Graphic of The White House on a blue oval.

MARCH 30, 2023

A Proclamation on Transgender Day of Visibility

Transgender Day of Visibility celebrates the joy, strength, and absolute courage of some of the bravest people I know — people who have too often had to put their jobs, relationships, and lives on the line just to be their true selves. Today, we show millions of transgender and nonbinary Americans that we see them, they belong, and they should be treated with dignity and respect. Their courage has given countless others strength, but no one should have to be brave just to be themselves. Every American deserves that freedom.

Transgender Americans shape our Nation’s soul — proudly serving in the military, curing deadly diseases, holding elected office, running thriving businesses, fighting for justice, raising families, and much more. As kids, they deserve what every child deserves: the chance to learn in safe and supportive schools, to develop meaningful friendships, and to live openly and honestly. As adults, they deserve the same rights enjoyed by every American, including equal access to health care, housing, and jobs and the chance to age with grace as senior citizens. But today, too many transgender Americans are still denied those rights and freedoms. A wave of discriminatory State laws is targeting transgender youth, terrifying families and hurting kids who are not hurting anyone. An epidemic of violence against transgender women and girls, in particular women and girls of color, has taken lives far too soon. Last year’s Club Q shooting in Colorado was another painful example of this kind of violence — a stain on the conscience of our Nation.

My Administration has fought to end these injustices from day one, working to ensure that transgender people and the entire LGBTQI+ community can live openly and safely. On my first day as President, I issued an Executive Order directing the Federal Government to root out discrimination against LGBTQI+ people and their families. We have appointed a record number of openly LGBTQI+ leaders, and I was proud to rescind the ban on openly transgender people serving in the military. We are also working to make public spaces and travel more accessible, including with more inclusive gender markers on United States passports. We are improving access to public services and entitlements like Social Security. We are cracking down on discrimination in housing and education. And last December, I signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law, ensuring that every American can marry the person they love and have that marriage accepted, period.

Meanwhile, we are also working to ease the tremendous strain that discrimination, bullying, and harassment can put on transgender children — more than half of whom seriously considered suicide in the last year. The Department of Education is, for example, helping ensure that transgender students have equal opportunities to learn and thrive at school, and the Department of Justice is pushing back against extreme laws that seek to ban evidence-based gender-affirming health care.

There is much more to do. I continue to call on the Congress to finally pass the Equality Act and extend long-overdue civil rights protections to all LGBTQI+ Americans to ensure they can live with safety and dignity. Together, we also have to keep challenging the hundreds of hateful State laws that have been introduced across the country, making sure every child knows that they are made in the image of God, that they are loved, and that we are standing up for them.

America is founded on the idea that all people are created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout their lives. We have never fully lived up to that, but we have never walked away from it either. Today, as we celebrate transgender people, we also celebrate every American’s fundamental right to be themselves, bringing us closer to realizing America’s full promise.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 31, 2023, as Transgender Day of Visibility. I call upon all Americans to join us in lifting up the lives and voices of transgender people throughout our Nation and to work toward eliminating violence and discrimination against all transgender, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary people.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-seventh.

JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

Comics with Barbara Brandon-Croft

Barbara Brandon-Croft has a new book out, reflecting on her place as the first African American woman with a syndicated comic strip. Where I’m Coming From: Selected Strips, 1991-2005 hit shelves last month.

In this Washington Post article, author Michael Cavna tells us about Brandon-Croft’s beginnings, her social commentary through comics, and learning from one of the best and first African American comic strip writers, her father, Brumsic Brandon Jr. He told her three steps described the cartoonist’s job, and she repeats those words, almost as a mantra:

Observe, interpret, and record.

Good advice for anyone in the creative fields.

While celebrating Black authors, artists, and creatives, check out these Black-Owned independent bookstores

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

Yesterday was the 112th anniversary of the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. This tragedy has become synonymous with workplace safety and ongoing regulations to protect workers. There were so many things wrong with the working conditions at Triangle Shirtwaist that it’s hard to believe that at the time none of it was illegal:

Stairwells and exits were locked.
There were no fire alarms to alert anyone to the fire.
There was a single fire escape.
In addition, fire department ladders, when they finally did arrive could only reach the seventh floor.

As a direct result of this fire, many changes, thanks to unions and current OSHA requirements have made things safer, but as we can see in today’s news, deregulation of trains and how chemicals are transported led directly to the Norfolk Southern train derailment and the new Governor of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, signed into law a roll back of child labor laws, allowing children, ages 14 and 15 to not fill out a form for work, commonly known as working papers. Other child labor laws remain in effect. In the case of Ohio, the governor took advice, not from the professionals but from the CEO of the train company to burn the chemicals in a controlled way. This led to people being evacuated and becoming ill. The CEO chose the most cost-effective option rather than the safest in many people’s opinions. Actions like these will likely lead to environmental disasters and workplace injuries that will affect these children for their lifetimes.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Company was situated in the Asch Building on the corner of Greene St. and Washington Place in Greenwich Village’s garment district. It resided on the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors and employed about 500 workers, mostly immigrants, mostly young Italian and Jewish women and girls who worked fifty-two hours a week including Saturday, earning between $7 and $12 a week.

The fire broke out around closing time. The only warning was someone on the 8th floor calling the 10th to warn of the fire on the 9th floor. The common practice of locking stairwells and exits was in effect and the person who held the stairway key had already escaped. Dozens escaped by going to the roof. A crowd escaped to a single fire escape which buckled from the heat and the weight and collapsed sending about twenty to their deaths on the ground below. 146 people died and 78 were injured.

^{Fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, 1911. Public Doman}

As for the fire, arson was not suspected despite four previous fires considered suspicious by companies owned by the same two co-owners.

The fire spurred a host of new labor laws including minimum wage and worker protections that included adequate bathroom facilities and a lessening of working hours for women and children. It also saw the burgeoning advancement of unions including the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, which had been established in 1900 and only expanded and diversified after the fire.

In Cemetery of the Evergreens in Brooklyn is a memorial to the six unidentified victims. They have recently been identified and their names were added to the list of victims known since 1911.

Today the building is the Brown Building and is part of the New York University campus and part of the National Historic Register.

For more information on this tragedy and its aftermath, check out the links below: