Inspiration for the next year or so
Things I love that I want to share with you.
-Pilate Dead, Song of Solomon (Toni Morrison)
Today, I went to the Wende Museum zine fair and it was a delightful experience! I got to meet other artists and creators and it reminded me of my goals in life. To find community, to make art, to question society, and to improve myself so that I can love others to the best ability that I can. I’ve decided that this time of my life will be all about self discovery, learning what I like as a person, and learning coping mechanisms for mental illness. Then, when I emerge, I’ll be a better person and better at loving others. This will serve as sort of a fun list of things that I love and things that inspire me. Hopefully they inspire you too... or at least prompt you to think.
This is a compilation of random stuff that I can’t stop thinking about. It has all lingered in my mind for years and I’ve decided to collect it here as a cabinet of curiosities for us all to view. I like random things, that is one surely true thing about me.
1. This scene from Space is the Place
I have loved this scene from Space is the Place since approximately 2023ish, when I began to become obsessed with Sun Ra. He is such a fucking cool dude. My favorite part is when the drunkard enters the scene and Ra cool-ly delivers the line, “I am everything and nothing”. Then the drunkard says, “Well you better tell me about this nothing!!”. Finally, when the drunkard asks for a job in doing nothing, he is told he will be paid nothing.
Then Ra describes space as a bottomless pit, with no end to it after this random woman is trying to have sex with him. It’s strange for sure but hilarious nonetheless.
I used to find the whole thing a bit sexist but now I think I see this scene in another light. Ra says, “Everything you desire from this planet and never have recieved will be yours in outerspace.” Ra’s vision was a revolutionary break from life for Black people, a way to find respite and peace through the idea of space.
There is a later scene where Ra enters a youth center
SECTION TWO// Down with the Haters, let’s be revolutionary, together.
What is the way forward? How do we unite for a better future?
Let’s look to France and their elections from last year. Macron moved to dissolve the parliament and all guesses would have said the left party would have lost. Instead of conceding to the National Rally (the far right party in France-who used to be Holocaust deniers), the left dissolved everything. They started a new, grassroots party, La Nouvelle Front Populaire, referencing the Marxist party, the Front Populaire. They started a mass campaign and in 3 weeks won the election. They would have determined the Prime Minister, but through a legal loophole, Macron declared the whole thing “undemocratic” and decided the left’s vote wasn’t valid???? Still. A win for the Marxists, for the people.
The time is now to come together. As a generation we must end “cancel culture”, end terms like “performative reading”, “political correctness”, “trauma dumping”, and “faux-intellectuals”. These terms are distractions that take away from class consciousness and divide us even further. What ever happened to love and community?
If you want some new terms, keep an eye out for my book-zine-whatever, coming out soon...
Please, let’s love people for who they are. Since I am me, let’s take me for example. I am a nerd, I love philosophy, I love learning, and I also love teaching. I want to get a Masters or pHd and become a professor and teach design, theory, and language at a University. This is my passion and what helps me feel that my life could have meaning. Yet for most of my life, people have seen me as niche, as pretentious, as fun to be around until I am a bit too weird for them. They see me as obnoxious and holier than thou and a gatekeeper. Why can’t they just accept me for who I am- that I love learning, I love teaching, I love school, and this is my passion?
SECTION THREE// Would a “gatekeeper" want to teach you what they know?“Printed Matter works to distribute and promote artists’ books to bring an increased visibility and appreciation to the field. The range of publications stocked at the shop is a testament to our broad and all-inclusive understanding of the medium.“ -Printed Matter’s website
Once I took a friend to Printed Matter and she later made fun of me, saying, “Erin took me to the most pretentious book store the other day”. Then everyone laughed at me and that was that.
Is Printed Matter particularly accesible? Not really… If Printed Matter wants a publishing revolution, they are surely not doing so in an “of the people” way. But it is a way for artists to publish, to work in the margins, to create and find community? Yes! Is their mission to try their best to be accesible? Yes!
We must focus on the good intentions instead of the bad.
The statement “Erin took me to the most pretentious bookstore” fosters a culture of haters. It fosters a culture where people are scared to be artists, to like what they like, to be a little niche, to resist conformity. What “cultures” (rape culture, colonialism, etc.) are about is silence. Acceptance, love, and collective action is about being tactfully loud. If you’re wrong, if you make a generalization, if you make a mis-step… THAT IS OK. We will treat each other as humans and teach each other how to improve. If the left wants to get its act together, it better come together. Now. And yes, it’s possible. (Remember the whole French grassroots coalition?)
To my fellow Gen Z-ers, please zoom out and realize that your calls of performative activism and hate on men for getting into writing are actually part of a wider wave of anti-intellectualism that is being lead by the Trump administration and the billionaires that walk alongside him.
If everything was performative and all male writers were just trying to impress women, who would be our teachers? If all philosophical concepts were buzzwords what would lead us towards a better future?
Anti-intellectualism is a symptom of fascism and it is everywhere, not just in Trump’s philosophy but in the mainstream culture. There’s a crucial balance here. Being smart doesn’t have to mean being lofty, confusing, or verbose. It can be as simple as sharing your ideas and encouraging others around you. It is not an easy time to be an intellectual… but is it ever?
Byeeeee.
Erin
PS: Couple quick action items for you, if you’re like ok cool.... so what’s the application of this? Well here you go. Here is the application! These are things that I have done so I know you can do them too.
- Get informed. Go to a local mutual aid hub. If you’re in Raleigh, check out RUMAH (https://www.raleighmutualaid.info)
- If you’re in the United States, check out the PSL and see if they have a group near you (https://pslweb.org)
- Read philosophy!!! If you want to get into some epic revolutionary stuff they don’t (typically) teach in school, learn about the year of revolutions (1960) in Africa. Franz Fanon discusses some super cool REAL solutions to colonialism and even discusses the problems and advantages of intellectuals. (https://monoskop.org/images/6/6b/Fanon_Frantz_The_Wretched_of_the_Earth_1963.pdf)
- Go to protests!!! Collective action and being together creates community, whether you think it matters or not.
Depends on who you are and what you want to do but there are always ways to get involved. There are always ways to be revolutionary and fight for change!!