Dear fabulous Friday friends,
It has been a frightfully long time since my last 5 Bullet Friday. Spring has swept me up with its resplendent riot of delights and distractions. But, here we are, and I am delighted to share with you this fortnight’s selection of social tips, treats, tools and titbits, all of which I’ve come across or re-discovered over the past… four(!) weeks. Please enjoy!
1. Petition I’m signing: EU: Stop Hungary’s Pride ban – I have been getting more outraged and indignant about the rapidly reduced rights for the queer community in Hungary. This petition demands the EU Commission take action. In conjunction, I am in the process of considering how best to organise around this, and am getting in touch with the Budapest Pride organisers who are calling for international presence at their Pride March this June. If you want to come with me or help me mobilise people to attend, please reach out – this is a critical juncture for LGBTQIA+ rights in Europe!
2. What I’m reading: Underland by Robert MacFarlane – I have just turned the final page on this memorable and moving book. A philosophical, expeditional, soulful exploration of the Earth’s rock, cave and soil, it is an elegy to our relationship with the ground beneath our feet in the Anthropocene era.
3. Quote I’m reflecting on: “Deepwater (the oil spill) was a rare laying-bare of the darker operations of the global extractive industries. One of the agreements tacitly made by consumers with these industries is that extraction and its costs will remain mostly out of sight, and therefore undisturbing to its beneficiaries. Those industries understand the market need for alienated labour, hidden infrastructure and the strategic concealment of both the slow violence of environmental degradation and the quick violence of accidents. Deepwater violated that agreement shockingly, manifesting a substance on which most modern human life depends but that few people encounter in the raw.” – Macfarlane, Underland, pg. 311. True both of the oil industry and reminiscent of os much of the global consumer economy!
4. What I’m playing: Bedoun Raíces – The last few months have been a joyous time for musical creation. I have joined forces with 4 wonderful musicians here in Barcelona to set up Bedoun Raíces, a music group playing ethereal, world music, combining poetry, vocals, handpan, bass and percussion. For those not in Barcelona to join us at one of our next gigs, you can (horror!) follow us on our newly created Instagram!
5. What I’m reading/living/loving: The Ethical Slut – And now for a more personal one! Together with my partner, we have been reading and setting agreements in place for an open relationship. More thoughts and reflections on this pending, but for now, the book we both started with – this well-known and well respected handbook to deconstructing some of the traditional monogamous ideas we hold around relationships and love. I strongly recommend it to everyone, and am exciting to have further conversations on this topic – and hear from others on similar journeys!
📣 Oportunidades mías y de mi red
💻 Time for a new website? Visit Diseño circular, my non-profit web agency
🔥 Need pro bono legal support for your charity? Try out PILnet y TrustLaw
🥦 Become a Vegan Society Member for free si tienes menos de 26 años
📖 Don’t forget to order your copy of Remnants of War, Migration, Love por Taha Salim.
🎨 ¿Buscas arte fabuloso para regalar? Apoya a mi brillante amiga y artista Nadine aquí.
⭐️ ¿Conoce a alguien con espíritu crítico? Me encantaría nominarle para Aspen Rising Leaders.
Esto es todo por esta quincena. Como siempre, les ruego que me hagan llegar sus opiniones y comentarios, y que me envíen por este medio todo lo que deseen que incluya en próximas ediciones.
