side quest: newsletter intro

If you're here, you probably already know me. I'll share some intro stuff below if you don't, but the first thing I want to say here is thank you. I didn't have plans to start a newsletter, but a few variables became too big to ignore:

1. Social media isn't as useful as it once was... and that's on top of all the platforms being run by people who would be considered too unrealistic if they were villains in a a YA dystopia. Elon made it very easy (for me at least) to quit Twitter without looking back, and while I still maintain my IG (and mess around with BlueSky), for better or worse, I figured a newsletter could be a good alternative.
2. Related to that, the reason I've been on social media over the past decade is twofold:
   1. First, to share my work, since I make my living as an independent artist and depend on word-of-mouth to get booked—
   2. And second (and really, more importantly), to use whatever little platform I have to signal-boost resources and information that I think are important. Both of those activities are decidedly not what algorithm-driven platforms incentivize, at least not in this moment. Seeing how the social media companies were/are handling the genocide in Gaza, specifically, has been illuminating. Of course, there are a ton of people sharing important information and perspectives, especially on IG and TikTok. But it's messy in a way that doesn't feel... sustainable. The incentives don't feel right. Or maybe it's just not a good fit for me.

I've also been thinking a lot about the Grace Lee Boggs quote, "Movements are born of critical connections rather than critical mass." In that spirit, I'd rather be connected to a hundred people via a newsletter than thousands via a social media platform.

My Plan for This Newsletter

I still have an email list via my mailchimp, but I only use that once every couple of years, for really "big" announcements. I want to use this one a bit more regularly, but still not so much that it takes up too much of my (or your) time—my plan right now is to send out updates quarterly, so something like 4-5 per year max.

Of course, I want to share what I'm up to (new music, new merch, new videos, new zines, and more all on the way soon), but I also want to, as I've been doing on social media, share resources and readings that have been useful to me, that speak to what is happening in the world right now from an angle that emphasizes agency and possibility. I just want to put more useful stuff out into the world, and signal-boost other people who are doing that.

What I've Been Up To

Just to give people a sense of what I'm interested in, a few links:

My focus, over the last seven months, has been on the genocide in Gaza, both in terms of my online presence, but also how I integrate that into my in-person work. A few links and resources:

• I wrote a piece for Racket called For Artists and Musicians Who Want to Speak Out About Palestine But Aren’t Sure How
• I made a zine full of Recommended Reading on Gaza and the Struggle for Justice in Palestine
• Because I work so often in poetry spaces, here's a big list of Poems as Doorways into Dialogue About Palestine
• Two videos in this link: one on my support for the MN Artists for a Ceasefire campaign, and one updating that Racket piece.
• Finally, my ongoing "recommended reading" project: the most powerful writing I've encountered and want to share; been doing this since 2020 and it's a project I'd recommend others try.

As for my personal creative work:

• I kind of won a Grammy back in February (I try to be clear that *I* didn't win one as an individual, but an album that I'm featured on won, so it might be as close as I'm going to get).
• I'm also working on a new album that hasn't been announced yet. And then another one. Beyond the new-new stuff, I have a bunch of verses on the throwback Hip Hop project "Megatongues" that released back in October.
• I've overhauled my free zine library and that's been a lot of fun. You can find the digital versions (some of which have PDF downloads to fold your own) here.
• Still working nonstop, still doing the poet/facilitator thing. I travel around and perform, but am most often called to spaces (colleges, high schools, libraries, conferences, etc.) to use poems as doorways into critical dialogue about important issues. Booking info here.

Coming Soon:

• A free, outdoor, live performance on Wednesday, June 5 at Silverwood Park, 6:30pm. I'll be sharing some new work, joined by Sagirah Shahid, Kevin Yang, Ollie Schminkey, and Ty Chapman.
• Right after that, I'll be sharing a few poems at Ollie's book release show: June 6 at Strike Theater.
• I'll be co-facilitating a BTS-themed virtual zine workshop on June 18 as a fundraiser for a family in Gaza. Register here (and whether or not you can make it, you can donate here).
• A day-long intro-to-spoken-word workshop at the Everwood Farmstead on Saturday, June 22.
• A six-week virtual workshop coming up in July on the intersections of political/movement/anthemic writing and science fiction. Register via Button Poetry.
• Tuesday, July 16: catch SECRET RIVERS (that's me performing poems and SEE MORE PERSPECTIVE composing musical backdrops via live MPC + Loop Station 505) at Modist Brewing (7pm, 21+, $5 cover). There's also an open mic before we perform. Info here.

I could go on, but that hopefully gives a good idea of what I do. My main website has everything- my poem videos, album downloads, zine archive, resource library, info on how to buy my book, and more. I'm not going to replicate that here; just excited to build a little community and send out cool stuff once every few months.

The focus won't always be on me, but since this is the first entry, I'll end with a video, a poem from last year that I've been performing a lot lately because it intersects with my masculinity work and just broader ideas of community, agency and interdependence in a way that feels right to share right now:

More info/background on the poem, plus the full text, here.

Thanks again for reading!