It’s September, and I am celebrating subscribers! I write for you, and my gratitude for your commitment to collective liberation is vast. Thank you.

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New Zine

Some of you may remember “Reckoning with Cultural Extraction,” a post from earlier this year. I’m happy to announce that that text is now available as a zine featuring drawings by my partner Jason Krekel. I’ve added a Store to this site so you can purchase copies of the zine – a percent of proceeds will go to the Delta House Jazz Band. The zine is also available at Firestorm Books, and will be at Downtown Books & News soon. This is hopefully the first of many zines we’ll be making.

Note: As part of my September subscriber appreciation, I’m giving a copy of the zine to those of you who are paid monthly subscribers, or who have given a donation towards my writing this year. It’s a small way for me to reciprocate your investment in my work.

1619 Project

The 1619 Project, a special issue of the New York Times Magazine, was created “to correct the record, reframing the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the center of the national narrative.” Kudos to Nikole Hannah-Jones and everyone who contributed to this significant, powerful work. You can read it online here.

Illumination and equity

Amy Mandel Katina Rodis Fund staff have been sharing a series of reflections as they have been going through a process of organization reflection and analysis building. I encourage you to read the two latest offerings in that series, “White women doing white supremacy in nonprofit culture,” by Heather Laine Talley, and “The master’s tools will never dismantle philanthropy,” by Marsha Davis.

For those of you who create content for your organization or business, here is a great resource from the Nonprofit AF blog entitled, “Content creators, here’s an Equity Screen to use as you work on your next blog post, book, podcast, or video.”

These pieces offer illuminating insights and genuinely useful [not the master’s] tools.

Rainforest resilience

We must get in right relationship with the more-than-human world. Indigenous leaders are again showing us a path forward. Dazed reported on the first Indigenous women’s march in Brazil with an interview with activist Rayanne Cristine Maximo Franca: “Inside the indigenous fight to save the Amazon rainforest.”

Excerpt: “By never giving up, we honour our ancestors. We remember where we come from and which values we hold on to, because we may have a foot in the community and another one in the city, we need to know that our roots are deep and we are here because those before us have come from struggle and never stopped fighting for their rights, many of them, dead today. I may be part of the youth movement, but I keep in mind that I too, fight for the next generations to come.”

Related: Amazon rainforest fires: Everything we know and how you can help

Personal notes

In July I was interviewed by Voyage ATL: Meet Ami Worthen.

I’m humbled to share that I am a recipient of a Tzedek Impact Award. The awards are “a pilot grantmaking initiative designed to support individuals who are working to transform Asheville into a community where everyone thrives.” Find out about all of the awesome awardees here. Our city has a wealth of passionate change-makers.

Love and light until next time.

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