off the record

Hello, November

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November showed up in Los Angeles today, but she forgot to bring her homegirl fall with her. 

This is not a complaint; it’s just an observation. 

We are still having summer weather right now. When I think back on it, I feel like I have been wearing shorts for most of the year. We don’t necessarily get seasons in L.A. the same way the rest of the country does, but we do experience some temperature changes and a bit of rain. 

Right now, it feels like it’s been hot for months, and again, it’s not a complaint; it’s an observation. 

Hello, November

And we’re back!

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I was in the ER for hours, and I do mean hours. They ran all types of tests on me and my eyes, and they determined that I had a detached retina. The ophthalmologist who was on call for the ER that evening didn’t think it was a real emergency, and he told them to send me to his office 25 miles away the next day. This annoyed me, and the physician’s assistant in the ER told me he didn’t think it would be a big deal for me to just call the ophthalmologist on the following Monday (which was Juneteenth) and let them know what happened at the ER. He told me to tell them I would need to be seen right away. 

And we’re back!

a hot link sandwich #4

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When I tell y’all I was completely humbled and flattered by that, please believe me. Ever since Michael and I started working together in 2017, I have been one of his biggest fans. His writing is brilliant. He is a gifted storyteller and a knowledgeable historian.

I really want to be like him when I grow up, and him liking something I wrote is worth bragging about, so there you have it.

a hot link sandwich #4

White fragility *is* white violence

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“I consider my writing to be a form of activism. It is my way of using my voice, my natural writing ability, and my words to speak up for myself and other Black people. 

It is a form of protest, in my opinion, and baby, protest is not supposed to make you feel comfortable. 

If you, as a white person, feel personally attacked by the things I say and write, that requires a level of self analysis that I can’t help you with. It’s not up to me to smooth it over for you and make it easier for you to digest.”

The frustrations of a Black woman who writes about race

recognizing when you are not the problem

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I don’t think this person truly knows why they do what they do nor why they chose to act this way to me. I certainly can’t explain it, nor do I feel the need to. 

What I do know is that they are not a good person, no matter how much they try to pretend they are. There is no integrity to be had when your intentions come from a selfish and self-serving place. 

I was open. I was honest. I did more than post platitudes on social media and act as if they were a reflection of my lived experience. 

I am my lived experience each and every day, and I always own it — the good, the bad, and the ugly. 

it’s not you; it’s them

Habits and systems versus goals

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I’m reading a book right now that is totally changing my perspective on the way I set goals and how I go about achieving them.

The book is Atomic Habits by James Clear. I have gotten so much useful information from it, I decided to share some of what I have been learning in the latest issue of my newsletter, off the record.

Read the latest issue, “in medias res” and let me know what you think.

it’s like a text version of OnlyFans

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Hello, friends, non friends, and people I don’t fuck with!

If you are here, it’s because you are already a longtime fan of my writing, or you read something I wrote, or you follow me on social media, or you are some weirdo who read something I wrote that upset you, and now you are here to try and put me in my place in the comment section (alas, trolls: i moderate comments like a mutha fucka).

Whichever category you fall into, it’s obvious you cannot get enough of me, so I wanted to offer you the opportunity to sign up for free content on my newsletter, “off the record.”

“off the record” is part memoir, part cultural commentary, part news and information—honestly, think of it as a longer version of my Twitter timeline. I talk about everything. This will be the same.

Go ahead and subscribe for the free content. I dare you.

thejournalista.substack.com