#5SmartReads - June 1, 2023

Madison works as a full-time freelance writer and is the owner of Grief Cards, where she sells sympathy cards that don't suck. In her free time, she plays in Stonewall Sports leagues and attends KC Current games.

Autopsy Shows Activist Tortuguita Was Sitting With Hands Raised When Shot By Police (Them)

In all honesty, I don’t have any perspective to add regarding the recently released autopsy for Tortuguita, a 26-year-old environmental activist killed by police. I can only continue hoping for and working towards a future where activism aiming to preserve the world for all of us doesn’t end in a death sentence.

Meal Debt Is Soaring After Universal Free Lunch Ended. How Are Midwest State Responding? (NPR KCUR)

Kids with 4x more meal debt than pre-pandemic. A noticeable reduction in the number of students coming through the line for meals during the school day, knowing their family can’t afford it. Confusing systems where, for two years, families knew their children would receive meals without any paperwork needed. Now, a stark difference, with little to no community education or translation efforts for families who need it.

This read captures some of the positive, hopeful movement being made around the U.S. when it comes to increasing free and reduced lunch accessibility and expanding the pool of young people who are able to learn with full bellies. These solutions are great ideas and steps, but they’re not helping the fourth grader today who is passing on a meal, watching classmates eat around them, and then returning to class to try and focus with an empty stomach.

I’m finding it hard to be hopeful when that’s the reality of millions of students in this “developed,” and “admirable” country.

‘The World’s Largest Black Group Chat’: Behind The Mission To Preserve Black Twitter (The 19th*)

Dr. Meredith D. Clark is an associate professor in journalism and communication studies at Northeastern University. She’s also a digital archivist and a key part of Archiving The Black Web, an ongoing effort to “preserve the stories of Black people and extend existing archival practices to the digital sphere.”

For years, Black Twitter has been transformational in individual lives, in building social movements, in transforming society, and in true thought leadership. A recent episode of Vibe Check from Saeed Jones, Sam Sanders, and Zach Stafford focused on the influence that Black Twitter has had on each of their storied, internationally renowned professional careers -- as well as their individual, personal experiences.

So much of Black Twitter’s work over the years has been co-opted and integrated into popular culture -- but the work of Dr. Clark and Jones and Sanders and Stafford and so many others is helping to preserve the original roots of incredible, influential, and important digital community.

Reclaiming A North Carolina Plantation (Garden And Gun)

Two incredible sisters are working with a land conservancy to turn a former plantation into a space for Black gardeners and farmers. This is a well-researched read that dives deep into the intersections between the historical tendencies of land conservancy, Black communities in the United States, inequitable farming practices, and ongoing ripple effects of slavery. 

To borrow the words of Forrest King-Cortes, director of Land Trust Alliance, "We're doing our good conservation work to protect the birds and the bees, but we haven't talked to anybody across the street." 

My Daughter’s Future Was Taken From Her, And From Us (New York Times Opinion)

I’m in the final steps of copyediting before I send the first eight Grief Cards designs to my designer and we shift into the tangible creation phase. This means I’m more deeply steeped in all of my own grief -- feeling it and contextualizing it and intellectualizing it -- than I have been since I first began writing my memoir in undergrad. For some reason, the universe has decided this is the perfect time to send numerous grief-based podcasts, articles, and blog posts my way. This one, though, I was incredibly thankful for.

Losing someone when they’re a teenager is a loss of a life, yes, and also a loss of so many goals and looking aheads, so many “planned to” and “wanted to” perspectives. This piece from Sarah Wildman, like so much of her writing over the past few years, is focused on her daughter, Orli. Only, this time, Orli’s already passed away. As Wildman puts it, “I have all the Orli photos I will ever have. I can only look backward.”

As heartbroken as I am for Wildman and her partner and their surviving child, I am also immensely grateful for her decision to write so publicly about the nuances of grief. Sit with this one, re-read it a few times, know that this glimpse into Wildman’s life is only a pinprick of pain compared to her loss, and be grateful for the opportunity to hear a fully unsanitized, authentic voice on the matter.