a gift guide for the rest of the year
because things are full hellmo
The money from this month’s subscriptions will go to support displaced Black families, mutual aid funds — including a fave, Trans Defense Fund — in Los Angeles to help the tens of thousands of affected folks continue recover from the devastation of government undersight, blatant ignorance of pyroecologies, climate crisis and wildfire destruction. The BlackList shared this excellent fire support resource document that may be helpful as well. Consider upgrading to a paid subscription to fund this endeavor and all that it entails. As always, thank you for reading.
Hi friends,
Some quickie announcements: I recently wrote a review of the GOAT Meredith Clark’s new book unspooling the potency of Black Twitter, and moderated a conversation for Elephant Magazine about parties and preservation at Riis Beach, my second home in the city. And I was chosen to participate in “Another World is Possible,” a documentary residency at Duke University later this year. Exciting stuff! Just for fun: Some Black-owned mocktail mixes to try, should that hold any appeal, and my friends are renting out their gorgeous home in Austin, Texas, should you have any desires to hunker there for a bit.
🌞🌞🌞
Soon we will enter into an era that is familiar, yet entirely new. We are existing between the world’s certainties, as Cardinal Benítez says in “Conclave,” one of my favorite movies of the year. I don’t know how to prepare for it — for anything, really — but I’m learning how to cope. And when I think about what held me down over the last decade when things got really bad, I think about the parcels that I received and sent out, especially at the start of the pandemic. (It’s still going: I just received a box of lavashak, Persian fruit leather, and a homemade black tea blend from the lovely Roya Shariat.)
In a recent essay for truth-out, activist and organizer Dean Spade writes that “now is the moment to turn toward the most solid thing we actually have — each other.”
Spade defines mutual aid as “collective coordination to meet each other’s needs, usually from an awareness that the systems we have in place are not going to meet them.” The last handful of years have accustomed most of us to community fridge programs, FUBU trans support, raising money for abortions, prison abolition efforts , borderland resources and other peer-to-peer programs that help us forge new systems of support for each other under the relentless brutality of capitalism. In addition to those projects, I also became really invested in strengthening ties in my personal and professional worlds, as a means to meet other kinds of survival needs and re-define what networks of tending can look like.
Technically, this *is* a gift guide, but I don’t think you have to spend (much) money to give gifts. Practicing collective care can be about remembering and being remembered. Considered. I collect free postcards from art openings and restaurants and then send them to my friends and their children throughout the year, whenever the mood strikes. For my local friends, I’ve been hand-delivering fresh citrus, jars of homemade bath salts, nut milks and bone broth, and offering some spontaneous reiki treatments. For those who don’t live nearby, I tend to send things that to brighten up our daily existence and draw attention to the beauty in the mundane, or make the tedious more fun — herbal sprays, my favorite beans, medicinal tea blends, Brightland vinegars, a nice olive oil, pink pineapples, Flamingo Estate tomato hand wash, these shower steamers.
I asked some folks who have self-sustaining techniques that I deeply admire for their thoughts — what they like to get and send out during non-holiday times of duress.
Here’s what they suggested:
Incense by Blackbird via Zack Stafford, of the superb podcast “Vibe Check.” “They are an inexpensive way to make your home feel like a 5 star hotel.” He’s right - they make some of the best in the game. I’ve always been partial to Maru for its charred wood forest energy, and Zack likes Gorgo, which promises to “endow any space with an air of preparedness for whatever comes next.”
This collapsable travel kettle, which Meshell Ndegeocello suggested for travelers or anyone who is on the road often.
Sade's catalog, on vinyl. “It's a deeeeep breath on wax,” says Jazzi McGilbert, owner of Reparations Club, the best bookstore in Los Angeles. Jazzi was kind enough to offer Channeling readers a 15% off code on any book on the site! Just use CHANNELING when checking out. (Not an affiliate link, just a generous gesture by the darling Jazzi).
Papier d’Arménie (gorgeous Armenian paper incense) and Palestinian soap were offered up by my beloved Tamara Santibañez, artist, tattooer and oral historian. For a personal treat, they’ve been stocking up on Zizia Botanicals balm, which is a godsend for their “ceramic-wrecked nail and hand care.”
Ya Albi’s decadent olive oil, sourced from the West Bank, recommended by Aminatou. As an extra bonus, all proceeds are donated to Heal Palestine.
Orika’s aroma-changing incense was suggested by Michael Angeles who owns Cafe Botani in Bed-Stuy. Shiori, who makes the sticks, says she drew from her Japanese heritage to offer “mindfulness as a practice … and a ritual into daily life in NYC.”
The PRI Update is a monthly illustrated print newsletter about something smart and eccentric in science. The last edition was about the secretions of animals. A delightful freakshow, which climate scientist Ayana Elizabeth thinks everyone should have :)
Fried Chicken Shaped Ice Cream, which comes from my favorite sugar addict, Caity Weaver. Developed by Chef Cynthia Wong (six-time finalist for the James Beard Awards’ Outstanding Pastry Chef!), it arrived as a gift out of the blue from a former co-worker a few weeks after her mother had passed away. “I…lost my mind. It struck me as the absolute perfect gift for that point in the grieving process,” Caity told me. “I ate every piece.” It’s waffle ice cream, a chocolate-covered cookie wrapped in white chocolate and crushed corn flakes. Damn.
Gucci’s Blondie Bag, which Kimberly Drew loves because “it’s so darn functional and beautiful.”
Beeswax Pillar Candles by Alysia Mazzella. Handmade upstate, sourced responsibly and they smell heavenly. The artist Devin N. Morris describes them as “thoughtful objects that help us maintain light.”
Emilio Braga’s Handmade Portuguese Notebooks, recommended by book designer Arsh Raziuddin, who received one as a gift and has kept them in stock ever since.
What do you send out to others in times of despair? What do you like to receive?