Random Thoughts. II. Ideas. Comments. Quotes. A wad of junk sprawled messily on the floor in front of me. Anything goes.
Free-of-police Sanctuaries.
I was going to write an entire post about this. Maybe someday. But in the meantime, think about this. There are marine sanctuaries (marine protected areas), swathes of protected ocean that restrict certain types of human activity for the sake of preserving “natural or cultural resources.” There are sanctuary cities. Cities, like Chicago, that limit their cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). How wild would it be to have police sanctuaries? (Idk, maybe there’s a better name. Police-free sanctuaries.) Communities or areas that are police-free zones. Which give communities the POWER and the ability to determine, restoratively, how they want to bring peace and public safety to a community. Cousin who is a cop, I would love your thoughts. Hah. And. Will read The End of Policing by Alex S. Vitale to develop more thoughts on this. (“The problem is not overpolicing, it is policing itself.”)
I missed shark week.
In other words, growing up/adulting… and life without cable tv.
I love Detroit. More later on why I had THE best time in Detroit a few weeks ago. Sunrise. AND THE GREEN NEW DEAL. #climatedebate
A toast to more biting the hand that feeds you.
My father knows this one quite well. To think that because you have given me shelter, clothes, water, funding, a job, etc. etc. does not mean you are free from my critique. If at any moment in my life I don’t succeed or advance, because I am too vocal or too honest or too abrasive OR GOD FORBID I make people uncomfortable in speaking my truth, I HAVE SUCCEEDED.
I am toasting to you, the figure with “experience”, who knows the system and advises not to be so vocal for the sake of advancing. No.
Atlanta / Twilight Zone
Visited Pullman and Big Marsh this past weekend and had the most beautiful and bizarre experience. Made the analogy to friends that I’d stepped into the Twilight Zone (never seen an episode, Jacob’s analogy not mine) or Atlanta (more my speed). And because I failed miserably trying to explain this metaphor to friends, I will instead, leave it to your imagination. Go see for yourself.
UBI: I likely won’t be free until a universal basic income (UBI). And other reasons to give me money.
And no. UBI is not a sexually transmitted disease. It’s wonderful, I think. I went to a talk about a month and a half ago on Universal Basic Income, hosted by the Metropolitan Planning Council. In layman's term, UBI is an unrestricted, no-strings-attached direct cash transfer from the government to citizens. In February of 2019, Mayor Michael Tubbs in Stockton, California, started giving $500, for 18 months, to a select group of families/adults. Andrew Yang has run his 2020 presidential race on a universal basic income, $1,000 a month for every adult over the age of 18.
As I’ve thought more about a guaranteed universal basic income, I’ve also reflected more on philanthropy as a system. And really, how inherently flawed it is. Horrible, horrible. Why don't we JUST GIVE PEOPLE ENOUGH MONEY to meet their basic needs? Instead of paying people/organizations (part of the money which gets sapped away in administrative costs) to develop strategies and programs to meet people’s basic needs, just give people money. (Random thought since this is random thoughts iii, most non-profit's ultimate mission (which is typically a response to how the market (ah, neoliberalism/capitalism) fails us (e.g. poverty, when there is more than enough capital to guarantee housing for all people, food insecurity, when there is more than enough food to meet caloric need of humans, etc.) should be obsolescence. To no longer be needed, because you have solved the issue at its root. Not how most non-profits operate.)
Band-aid solutions. We have been trained to place pretty little Hello-Kitty band-aid on issues.
Ballin Flossin.
Likes.
I wish I wish I wish there was a form of social media that existed without the likes and hearts and all that. (anti-social social media?) I don’t care what you think about what I write or post or share.
Music.
Next to the Sun. Sweet Asl. KAINA. Gold. [album][album][artist][adjective]
Stop asking me why I’m single.
Don’t you know anything about supply and demand? - says a black [insert other qualifying adjectives] woman
Quotes.
“She talked about the shame of white-folks wants always trumping black-folk needs.” - Kiese Laymon, Heavy
Yes, yes, yes.
Peace Circles. circa a few months ago now.
Okay. So a young black man steals from an old white man. Everything is ruined, how dare this young man disrupt my safety and peace of mind?
They peace circle it out. Harm healed, all is good. All is good.
But the white man has stolen land from Indigenous peoples, robbed black bodies of their labor, and pillaged this country (and world) for the sake of profit, motivated by greed. How do you heal/peace circle your way out of that?
Cookies.
The only thing I love more than Chicago, a softcover book, and french fries are chocolate chip cookies.
And because I love cookies so much, I know where all the best cookies are in the city. (And if I am wrong, please prove me wrong. I would love to be proven wrong. Because that means more, better cookies!)
Medici: Mini-cookies (with nuts in them) (best cookies to eat while driving)
Grand Lux Cafe: Chocolate chip pecan cookies (best cookies to eat on the 7th floor of a downtown hotel room, wrapped in a robe. I have never done this but imagine it being a wonderfully beautiful experience.)
Mindy’s: Salted chocolate chip cookie (best cookie to eat on a 3 pm (cookie happy hour!) de-stress work break)
Potbelly: The oatmeal chocolate chip cookie (ranked #1, the bag of mini-cookies (best cookies to eat with a group of friends), second best, the single cookie in a bag (best cookies to eat when you’re feeling stingy - which is usually always when I’m eating cookies)
Insomnia (barely made the list, but best cookie to eat at 2 am in the morning) or (best cookie to eat when you’re in Ithaca NY and there are none of these amazing Chicago cookie places around.)
Errors.
There are probably plenty of them in here. And I don’t care.