I have inconvenient tastes. It is inconvenient to be a broke writer. It is inconvenient to dream about acquiring objects that would better reflect who I am as a person but are out of my price range ––and I was born with good taste. I am a Libra rising with a Capricorn Venus.
It is inconvenient to simultaneously have a flair for the dramatic and an unwavering sense of morality that are at odds with hegemonic power structures and in my case, the humiliating world of media and publishing.
It is inconvenient to be a token. A token is a walking press release. A ticking time bomb. A token is hell-bent on their self-destruction in order to conform. I don’t judge the routes people take but I’d like to be human.
I started this newsletter out of impulse, excited to document my world tour (Beyoncé’s version: Europe only) and thankfully I’m not 22 anymore and I didn’t feel compelled to share everything as I was in the thick of it. I’m paraphrasing here, but I believe someone once said to write about the scars and not the wounds.
This series will consist of books we will read together, and recommendation lists that I’ve been hoarding for over a year now.
When my friend recommended the book Whites, Jews and Us by Houria Bouteldja, she urged me to read it in one sitting because the book is relatively short. Ever since that day, I have recommended it to everyone I know. Bouteldja is courageous and succinct. Brevity comes to mind when I read her. As does bravery. I would like all of you to read the book with me. Here is the PDF. Next week, we’ll be discussing the first three chapters on my Discord, feel free to join us! If it would be easier to discuss it on here, let me know! I’m still figuring Substack out.
I spent a lot more time than I usually do at the cinema this year, which is strange for me because I am committed to television. I love a drawn out story that sometimes has plot holes because they hired a new show runner. However, these films stayed with me long after I watched them:
The Starling Girl is a coming of age film about exploring sexuality for the first time under the surveillance of a religious community. The film is centered around a pious teenage girl that falls for her married youth pastor. A delicate, and intimate slow-burn. I really loved this film and if you get the chance to watch it, please do!
Talk to Me was a trip. A lot of you have probably heard Richard Carter’s remix of Edith Piaf’s La Foule on Tik Tok. For some, it might be a cliche to watch yet another horror movie that deals with loss, but this film has emotional depth. I appreciate genre ingenuity.
They Cloned Tyrone was a little too on the nose for me when I watched it but lately I’ve seen the purpose of being heavy-handed lately so I’m adding this in.
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