Voting Rights

I just donated to Election Protection, which has this list of resources and recommendations on the recent Supreme Court decision striking down section 5 of the Voting Rights Act (in response to which Texas and North Carolina have already announced additional restrictions on voter ID).

I'm on the lookout for places to donate that will specifically pay for new ID for people who need it and might not otherwise be able to afford it (including travel to places where it can be supplied, copies of birth certificates, etc.) and if I find them I will let you know (all six of you).

You may refer to the last paragraph of this post for my thoughts on voting.

I reviewed Simone White's UNREST!

My review of Unrest, Simone White's resistant and impassioned chapbook from Ugly Duckling Presse, is up today at Coldfront in their Chap Nook column. It's so good -- the chapbook, I mean, though I hope the review is too. Do your mind a favor and buy Unrest here!

How to Stand With Texas (Even If You Don't Live in Texas)

Donate to the Lilith Fund or Texas Equal Access Fund (or both!) to help low-income women pay for abortions they want.

Jane’s Due Process counsels teenagers with questions about abortion services in Texas, connecting them when necessary to pro bono legal counsel who can represent them if they opt to seek a judicial bypass waiver to get around the parental notification requirements for minors getting abortion in Texas. They also monitor policy and help make sure that bad cases at the lower court levels don’t become bad precedent at the state Supreme Court level.

Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast does all the things that so many of us have so many reasons to be grateful to Planned Parenthood for doing.  Their Action Fund supports more direct political engagement.

Blogger Nonsequiteuse from Houston gathered these and other resources to support reproductive justice in Texas. If you'd rather donate to an abortion fund in your own state, the National Network of Abortion Funds lists them by state (you need to type in your zip code).

*

NOTE: Of the six(?) people who look at this blog from time to time, there may be those among you who object to abortion. These links are for the other four(?) of you.

THE GROUND / THE PASS / THE WAVE

Excited to report that my new chapbook, The Ground / The Pass / The Wave is out from Grey Book Press!

Here it is while still forming:

What Presses Most: I teach for Frequency

I'm teaching a six-week workshop called What Presses Most for the Frequency workshop series in Providence. Here's what you need to know before you register:

This is a class for students who are ready to be braver in their writing practice and presentation. Writers will challenge themselves on two fronts: by writing in ways or under circumstances that are strange but important to them, and by exploring ways to arrange meetings between their work and the world. Plan for in-class writing, mini field trips, and the design and making of three chapbooks in six weeks. Writers in any genre are welcome; we will be reading and writing mainly short-form pieces.

Dates: Tuesdays, 6:30-9pm from July 9-August 13

Location: Ada Books, 717 Westminster St. Providence

Tuition: $240 (does not include photocopying costs, which are estimated to be around $40. Frequency has a few scholarships available to cover the copying costs for those in need -- let them know when you register that you'd like to be considered.)

A little history for your art

This blog is cool -- representations / documentation of people of color in European art -- most of what I've seen so far is 1400-1800-ish. In addition to art that's great to look at, presented with historical context, this blog can be used to refute a few different sub-varieties of racist sputtering!

USO: I'll Be Seeing You

I reviewed USO: I'll Be Seeing You by Kim Rosenfeld over at the Small Press Book Review!

Kim's book is deeply attentive and worth the same kind of attention from you.

iArtistas

Have you been reading/looking at iArtistas? Well, you could start!

Specifically, for the purposes of this discussion, you could start by reading or listening to my poem "The Field Museum."

*

James and I went to Taiwan! Things that are great about Taiwan: James's extended family, potted plants on the sidewalk and on people's balconies, mountain trails, the MRT (subway) in Taipei, foods on sticks, parks with public exercise equipment, the high speed rail from Taipei to Kaohsiung, designated safe waiting areas for women in the subway at night, foods not on sticks, CLEAN public bathrooms, scooters outnumbering cars (at least in the cities we visited), low levels of dudes being jerks to other dudes for not being dudely "enough" (at least in public), high levels of baby cheek volume (insufficient data on how this compares to baby cheeks of other nations -- anyone want to fund an exhaustive study? I admit that I know an American baby that could boost our national average). Loved Taiwan, hope to go back one day.