Signal Boost Saturday
Good Morning folks! Today marks the first of a weekend tradition — (well, I reckon we will know in the coming weeks if it actually becomes a tradition) — Signal Boost Saturday! Each weekend I will amplify different businesses, bloggers and podcasts that help to make the world a better, kinder, better-informed and more hopeful place. If you’re reading this — and I hope you are — consider visiting the links below, bookmarking a few, and share this post with your friends on Facebook, Twitter or wherever else your nearest and dearest might gather.
- Lizzy
SMALL BUSINESS SHOUT-OUT
Writing as I am from Ireland and bearing in mind that much of my modest audience lives in Ireland and the UK, I’ll start with two Black-owned businesses in the UK. In the aftermath of the police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd and the subsequent acts of solidarity throughout Western Europe, it’s worth remembering that the UK and Ireland continue to reckon with both our own historical legacies of racism and we are witnessing a disturbing rise in far-right, racist and misogynistic trends in our present. One way to show support and solidarity with the Black communities here at home is to support Black businesses and community leaders — especially now when so many small businesses are struggling to stay afloat and minority-owned businesses are especially vulnerable.
Pigment Perfect is a graphic design business headed by Jane D’Offay. Pigment Perfect’s affordable products aregeared towards self-esteem and consciousness raising for children of colour. You can read more about D’Offay’s journey in the link below.
https://www.pigmentperfect.co.uk/our-story
New Beacon Books, London
New Beacon Books, at 76 Stroud Green Road, London, England, was the UK’s very first Black publisher and bookseller with a specialization on Black diaspora texts and literary works. Take some time to browse their online shop, learn the fascinating history of New Beacon Books’ founders and its current efforts to continue its important contribution to Black British and Diasporic literary culture against the backdrop of powerful internet giants like Amazon.
https://www.newbeaconbooks.com/about-us
BLOG SHOUT-OUTS We Hunted the Mammoth
Ever wanted to learn more about the disturbing rise in far-right, misogynistic Men’s Rights Activists, Incels and MGTOWS (men going their way)? Maybe not — but you should because like the white supremacist movement, these folks are gaining traction both on and off the web, and have links to violent trends against women, BLM activists and the LGBTQ communities. With an excellent fact-checker record, journalist David Futrelle digs deep into the head-ache inducing sub-reddit world of far-right misogyny. He gleefully mocks the crap out of them, while simultaneously exposing their dark world to the light of day. Futrelle keeps his posts short and cheerful and provides a handy acronym decoder for the uninitiated (trust me, you’ll need it). He’s also a lover of cats, so that alone should earn him a read and a follow.
http://wehuntedthemammoth.com/
Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American
Just over a year ago, American history professor Heather Cox Richardson, wrote the first of her daily dispatches on her Facebook page. The posts went viral and by November of last year, Heather launched her blog ‘Letters from an American’. Heather’s daily ‘letters’ grew wildly popular as folks tried to grapple with the constant chaos and relentless gaslighting of the Trump Administration. Each post is about a five to ten-minute read which she occasionally supplements with regular Facebook live events and Q&As. Below you’ll a find link to Heather Cox Richardson’s blog. Be sure to follow/subscribe, and follow her on Facebook.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/
‘Seeing White’, a Peabody Award Winning Podcast with John Biewen and Chenjerai Kumanyika, is a multi-episode podcasts exploring the history and cultural construction of whiteness.
That about wraps it up. Thanks for stopping by today and please like and share if you’ve found something here that is helpful, thoughtful or made you happy. Also, if there are any blogs, businesses, articles or podcasts you’d like to see amplified, let me know in the comments section.
- Lizzy
Originally published at https://shriekinglizzy.com on September 25, 2020.
