Cover design by Alison Forner.

"Alison Forner is an art director at Simon & Schuster, where she designs and art directs book covers for their flagship imprint. A graduate of Barnard College, Alison was a professional dancer, a poet, and a print production manager before moving on to a career in graphic design." (taken from the Lit Hub website)

Alison made a blog about the process of creating this book cover, and you can read that on Lit Hub: "Resisting the Obvious Design for a Book Cover" _

You can support her and find her work through social media @aforner1 (instagram) and through her website alisonforner.com __

Just a really lovely reminder that I sure needed, so maybe you do too-

"We are not powerless. The fascists are in power, but they have not won. The future is yet to be determined. What you are facing is what every generation of changemakers has faced: a deeply reactionary period. I'm not trying to minimize the losses. But the present moment is not the future. Do not let despair take hold. The future is the future, and it is yet to be determined."

I think I am going to write this out and put it on my desk. Aly Wane's words here are exactly what I needed to hear this week. May they encourage you, too. 🫶

"For two centuries, elites have moved to mock and denigrate anyone who critiques or combats the technologies that squeeze and surveil workers as backward looking. As anti-progress. They've got a handy word for it, too- they'll call you a Luddite. I am writing to you to say: let the name stick."

I had never heard of the Luddite movement prior to this chapter, and boyhowdy does that make me mad. Here is the wiki link if you want to read more.

The tl;dr is that industrialization was bad news bears for many, and textile workers fought against their disenfranchisement, including the destruction and sabotaging of equipment. They were systematically killed/wiped out/silenced, and then a giant PR campaign successfully rebranded them as anti-progress instead of pro-workers rights.

Absolutely inconic levels of resistance, even if unsuccessful. New life motto unlocked.

"As oppresive as such machinery can seem, as total as Silicon Valley's power might appear, it's crucial we never forget the lesson of the Luddites: machinery can always be refused. And failing that, it can be broken."

"Ultimately, what stops fascism's ascendance is not an antifascist movement but a viable plan to target the amelioration that pulls people into reactionary politics in the first place, such as economic instability or the lack of close familial and community ties."

This has probably been my favorite letter so far. I apreciate Shane Burley's clear, concise, action oriented address here.

Fascism thrives in isolation. Oppression in general does, which is why there is such a strong emphasis on the rugged individual, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, the nuclear family, self reliance, and basicslly every aspect of toxic masculinity. When you are lonely you are easy to convince. When you are spread thin you are easy to wear down. When you are in need you are easy to win over.

We must have strong community connections to resist fascism. Like how a chorus is many voices taking up and falling out without the audience noticing a difference, we must be in concert with others to sustain us, our families, our communities, and the work.

The best way to defeat fascism is to leave no room for it to take place, and we leave no room by filling the space with mutual aid, love, community, joy, care, and relationship.

"So again, if you find yourself wondering, after weeks or perhaps months of constant stress, maybe some panic attacks or lashing out at your comrades, or perhaps even waking up in the middle of the night terrified of jackboots at your door, if you are going crazy, I'd offer that maybe that's the wrong question. The better question is, how can we take care of our mental health while either refusing- or being just plain unable- to adjust ourselves to injustice?"

This is such an incredible reminder and encouragement. In the beginning of the chapter he uses the term "consensus reality" and how fascism will do everything necessary to convince you their actions are justified, regardless of how many lies and falsehoods they have to spin to do it. If at all possible, they will rewrite the narrative to make you doubt yourself and your people and the truth. Which is, literally, maddening.

The advice here is simple, but sound. Eat. Rest. Do joy. We are of little use if disregulated to the point of harm.

"Once they connected with joy and saw how much more energy it brought them, we introduced something even more radical. What if we allowed ourselves joy just because joy connects us to what it means to be human? What if your joy or rest didn't have to make us more productive?"

If we aren't joy making we will rot away internally. If we aren't joy making we will fill ourselves with something else, instead.

The joy we often deny ourselves because we are too busy doing the work is the very joy fascism wants to deny us to begin with.

Eat. Rest. Do joy. 💕

Jane Shi: "It’s 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027 . . . and it feels like you’ve been alone in your room for years, seasons passing as gracelessly as minutes, as seconds, the markings for the passage of time losing meaning, becoming grating. The word “community,” too, sometimes feels like a slap in the face. Where is everyone? And perhaps more embarrassing, more difficult to admit, is that you are angry that community feels hard, in a way that is so autistic, so complex-trauma survivor, so specific to you." _

I think there isn't a person that at some point didn't have these feelings about the concept of community.

We all constantly deal with our own struggles, disabilities, anxieties, trust issues and traumas from the past, and so we are regularly reminded how much work it takes to build and to be an active participant in community. This work is essential, but it can also be hard, and both of those things can be true at the same time.

It's okay to acknowledge and even grieve the moments when community failed us, when connections between people didn't work out even though we gave it our all, when our efforts got sabotaged, or when we trusted or helped someone we shouldn't have. We can reflect on this as long as we don't allow ourselves to undermine the positive examples, in our own community and wider, where people came together despite everything. Those are the moments that restore our hope in people and remind us why we're doing this. _

I'm struggling a little bit to phrase my thoughts here, but I loved this letter by Leah and Jane. I highlighted so many parts!

Beautiful illustrations done by John Burgoyne. _

"John Burgoyne is a member of the New York Society of Illustrators and an alumni of Massachusetts College of Art. John has won over 100 awards in the United States and Europe including Society of Illustrators, Communication Arts, Hatch Awards, Graphis, Print, One Show, New York Art Directors Club and Clio." (information taken from the artist's website)

You can support him and find the rest of his work through his website: John Burgoyne Illustration _