May is for MMIP Awareness

MMIP Awareness 🪶

May 5th marks the National Day of Awareness for MMIP, or Missing and Murdered Indigenous People. A crisis that has affected Indigenous communities around the world, but especially here in North America beginning with European settler-colonization. I work in Tribal services and a lot of my immediate role is facilitating talking circles that address the pipeline of violence that leads to MMIP.

If you’re a settler on this land, as most of us are, there are a few things we can do support:

• 🪶 Talk About it. Advocacy starts with conversation.
• 🪶 Donate to orgs doing the grassroots work like domestic violence shelters, SA advocacy groups, and cultural support providers.
• 🪶 Decolonize. Learn about the land you’re on, read Indigenous voices, teach your kids non-revisionist history, uplift initiatives that support the cause.

MMIP does not occur in a vacuum. It is a result of centuries of occupation and land theft, and it’s up to us to stop the cycles of colonial violence.

AANHPI Non-Fic Rec!

Nothing More of This Land 🐋

I had the pleasure of reading this thoughtful and poignant nonfic last year as an early reviewer and have been recommending it ever since! This book is part memoir, part family history, and entirely a conversation on the lasting cultural and environmental impacts of colonialism.

Joseph Lee is Native American (Aquinnah Wampanoag) with Chinese and Japanese ancestry and reflects on the nature of identity through the lens of Tribal sovereignty. I’d recommend this excellent book to anyone who wants to learn more about the Tribal history of this country, as well as the nuanced implications of globalization.

Media Literacy, Orientalism, and the Policing of SWANA Voices

The recent online discourse surrounding R.F. Kuang's Taipei Story leaked ARC line has been heated at best, ideologically uncritical at worst. My stance on this issue is not neutral, but I can't help but notice the cyclical arguments and the demographics that comprise of each "side." On one hand, I've seen an outpouring of support for Kuang from majority White audiences who laud her work as the pinnacle of anti-imperialist narratives in the modern canon. On the other, I've seen a majority of SWANA voices and their allies questioning the validity of including the settler-occupier identity in the narrative of the story. I've seen the valid point being made that without the full subtext, we can't draw an informed conclusion on the gravity of this choice by Kuang. I've also seen the equally valid point that normalizing settler-occupier identities of an active genocide-perpetrator is unnecessary in any capacity. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but what I've noticed from this discourse is the continued perpetration of tone and voice policing of SWANA, particularly Palestinian, voices.

Since the general elections in 2024, we've seen the genocide-apologist narrative take center stage. Folks continue to antagonize the Muslim vote who overwhelmingly supported third party candidates with the Democratic Party's handling of the genocide in Gaza as the key factor in how they casted their vote. To this day, I continue to see vitriol aimed at those who refused to be complicit (myself included) and this extends into the bookish space with ease. We see it with this particular instance when White creators think they have the authority to publicize their think-pieces on the subject without stopping to think about who is actually raising these concerns.

In sharing your solidarity with your beloved celebrity author, have you considered the Palestinian and Muslim-diaspora voices you might be speaking over? Some common defense arguments riddled with logical fallacies and whataboutisms I've seen in the past week have been:

• "Why don't we have the same reactions when American characters are mentioned?"
• "Not mentioning Israeli identity is erasure and erases the harm they've caused."
• "R.F. Kuang's politics have been clear, we need to trust her."
• "Everyone's cancelling R.F. Kuang meanwhile other Zionist authors get movie deals."
• "There are other authors perpetrating real harm while we argue over one line."
• "Why are we so much harder on authors of color?"

While all these statements can be dissected and analyzed individually, the greater theme I'm seeing is confusing solidarity with celebrity. And when that celebrity is an Asian author who has capitalized on stories of colonization, the question that comes to mind is are folks defending her because she's a person of color? The infantilization of Asian women has a deep legacy rooted in orientalism, and many of the arguments I see online border on this deeply racist trope. Nobody is infallible, and in pursuit of being an "ally" in her defense, many folks have subverted the values they claim to uphold.

I'd like to pose a few alternative questions:

• Why are BIPOC readers expected to stay silent when BIPOC authors make mistakes? Why are we supposed to give them more grace when we wouldn't do the same to their White counterparts?
• Why do non-BIPOC folks feel the need to intellectualize issues they have no personal stakes in?
• Is it easier to speak on declining literacy rates than it is to empathize with a Palestinian or Muslim person?
• What would your reaction be to seeing something on a page that humanizes the perpetrator of years of genocide you've watched your kin endure?
• Does your endorsement of a well-loved BIPOC author negate the remaining work you have to do in allyship?

There are the jaded and cynical parts of my mind that question whether this whole debacle was a stunt from the publisher to create more buzz around Taipei Story. While I agree that we will not have answers to our questions until we read the book, I implore the bookish space at large to take a step back and truly assess with care and nuance before jumping into the discourse.

🏳️‍⚧️ Trans Rights Readathon TBR 🏳️‍⚧️

My finalized TBR! Got some book mail last night for the new Juno Dawson book and had to add it in ☺️

Thank you @simonteen for the gifted copy of Survival Show and According to Plan!

Thank you @haymarketbooks for the gifted copy of Femmephilia!

Thank you @prhaudio for the gifted audiobook for Marsha!

🩵🩷QOTD: what book are you reading today?

Christian Fundamentalism in Fantasy

I recently finished The Geomagician by Jennifer Mandula (thank you @PRHaudio for the gifted audiobook) and had an interesting conversation with a friend about the presence of the Church in a fantastical Victorian London setting. Not an allegorical representation, or metaphorical references to Christendom, but the actual Church complete with the Papacy was a steady presence throughout the novel. I think this was a bold choice on the author's part and likely reflects some religious trauma (maybe) but it actually worked pretty well for the story.

Does naming the "boogey man" sully the experience of reading fantasy? Is the art of writing Sci-fi/Fantasy, or Horror defined by the ability to create parallel systems as part of world-building, or can fantastical worlds be built around existing systems?

Mild spoilers ahead:
For what it's worth, I found the world-building and magic system in The Geomagician to be quite compelling, especially as someone with dinosaurs as their lifelong special interest. I did find the ending a bit disappointing, specifically because of the way the MCs continue to acquiesce to the systems that oppress them. The main protagonist maintains a neutral stance throughout the novel which is infuriating, but reflects a common characteristic of White feminism: "I don't care until it harms me." It was still a fun fantasy read and I'd recommend it to fans of dinosaurs and unique magic systems!

*Disclaimer: This is neither an endorsement nor a condemnation of the titles mentioned, simply a bid to interact critically themes.