There’s no more room for Harry Potter in my life
The development of a Harry Potter TV show at this moment adds legitimacy and support to J.K. Rowling and her destructive ideology, and I strongly oppose its creation.
Social Justice
Words are Weapons: Nonbinary Trans Thoughts About J K Rowling
At this point, it is a cliche to say that I am unsurprised by the actions and ideology of J.K. Rowling when it comes to trans individuals and their identities. I have lost much of my hope regarding whether or not she will come to see us as we see ourselves, and not as the grotesque caricatures that she writes about in her novels.
2020 and the Nature of Expertise
We’ve all seen the memes: 2020 is canceled, person throws garbage labeled 2020 in a dumpster, etc. So much about 2020 has been so strange, the wildfires, the pandemic, the fact that it took so many people this long to realize what life is like for those of us who are Black and the fact […]
For an Optimist I’m Pretty Pessimistic
A year and some months ago, in March 2019, my worldview was entirely different, both in its scope and in its perception of reality. I was taking a critical race theory class at the time, and I was quite frankly frustrated by it, partly because of the material (which was at times triggering) and partly […]
Wizard v. Muggle Media & Thoughts About J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix used to be my least favorite book in the Harry Potter series, but as I have grown older, it has wiggled its way up to the top of the list. This book is long; at over 800 pages, it is the longest of any of the Harry Potter books, and the text is rich with details that make up a story that I have poured over many times in my life, and I continue to read and reread with care and rigor.
The New Normal: Thoughts Regarding the COVID-19 Pandemic
I’ve always been kind of obsessed with the word “normal.” And these days it’s coming up much more frequently, because people are talking about how the normal has disappeared. In the wake of COVID-19, what many people once considered “normal” is now gone. And it’s creating panic. People are hoarding toilet paper. Grocery store shelves […]
On Critical Fandom
Last Friday night I was invited to participate in what ended up being a great Twitter Chat organized by Black Girls Create to discuss critical fandom as part of their month-long #BlackWizardHistory campaign. I really enjoyed the discussion, but I realized afterward that because it was such a great back and forth, the cohesiveness of the responses I had created got a little lost, and after reading what other people had to say, there is even more that I want to say. So I’ve strung together below an archive of my responses to the questions, with a short paragraph afterwards digging a bit deeper into the experience.
Thoughts About Granger Leadership Academy 2019
I am feeling incredibly energized and full of ideas and hopes at the conclusion of the Granger Leadership Academy this year. It was an intense experience, but in many ways it was more restful that my hectic life as a graduate student has been, and while I did do work while I was there, in […]