Why hello there!
Am I using my editorial privilege to include these gorgeous photos that Janelle Monáe just dropped in a suit with a new cut, red hair, and glasses for no other reason than fuck it — life is hard enough? I sure am! Here you go:
— Janelle Monáe, Cindi Mayweather👽🚆🤖🚀🪐 (@JanelleMonae) September 3, 2020
Let’s see what other news we can come up with!
Queer as in F*ck You
Speaking of Janelle Monáe! She’s going to star as 70s feminist icon Dorothy Pitman Hughes in the film The Glorias (Julianne Moore is Gloria Steinem) and People Magazine has your first look:
The Power of Pronouns in a Time of Flux
The Atlantic Tried to Artistically Show Gender Dysphoria on Its Cover. Instead It Damaged the Trust of Transgender Readers. Remember that 2018 Atlantic cover story about families with transgender teenagers? Yeah will here’s an excellent (and infuriating!!) study of how it misgendered its cover model and crossed ethical boundaries in the process.
Undocumented, Queer Artists Refuse “Good Immigrant” Narratives. I really loved this one!
Drag Queens Deliver Home-Cooked Dinners as Part of San Francisco Club’s ‘Meals on Heels’ Service. And this is also kind of great?
I’m still not over Niecy Nash’s big gay wedding. And she’s giving us even MORE to love with this wedding video! (Peep her wearing rainbow Converse sneakers under her gown.)
Tracy Chapman’s ‘Fast Car’ Always Sounds New. Honestly? An Icon.
Saw This, Thought of You
We all know I don’t know much about sports but this video of Naomi Osaka and her mom from last night at the US Open sent a lot of people at Autostraddle into a very cute lil tizzy. Maybe you’ll enjoy it too!
"Ok bye mom, I'll call you later."@naomiosaka got a surprise visit from her mom after her match 😂 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/oa7Sual8qn
— espnW (@espnW) September 3, 2020
A Basketball Friendship Became a Tag Team for Social Justice. Natasha Cloud of the Mystics and Bradley Beal of the Wizards are leading their teams in a joint push against racism in Washington, D.C.
In Children’s Books, Characters With Disabilities are Still Hard to Find
Why Jurnee Smollett Is The Superhero We Need. Two things: 1) YES. 2) Are you watching Lovecraft Country, yet? I am OBSESSED WITH IT and can barely stand talking about anything else.
How To Corrupt the Youth. For all my teachers out there! Happy Back to School!
Political Snacks
What Kind of Society Values Property Over Black Lives? Literally, all of them.
Love this use of editorial privilege
Loved that Lovecraft Country link!
children’s books with disabilities? i’ve been paged! my preschool classroom just wrapped up our ‘all bodies are good bodies’ lesson and here’s some of the books i used that feature disabled characters (not all of them directly address disability)
a very special critter by mercer mayer
can i play too? by mo willems
hello goodbye dog by maria gianferrari
erik the red sees green by julie anderson
howie helps himself by joan fassler
thank you, mr. falker by patricia polacco
moses goes to school by isaac millman
unfortunately this list is way too short and finding these titles took lots of weeding through inspiration porn and ‘here’s how i feel about my child/sibling/friend’s disability’ narratives. as a disabled person, it’s so incredibly important for me to normalize disability for my kiddos before they internalize ableist bias. when i’m using my cane, we talk about why and that sometimes people need that. we talk about glasses and some friends not liking hugs and some friends having allergies and we use sign in class on the daily. our box of play people includes figures with mobility aids and i answer questions openly and honestly. i don’t know where i’m going with this, but i love to see this topic being acknowledged and people calling for more representation for all ages
I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear that you have an “all bodies are good bodies” unit with preschoolers – what a beautiful gift you’re giving them (and all of us)!