Ha! Remember last time when I wrote about finally changing the newsletter’s font? Joke’s on me!

I wondered why my email version still appeared so shabby. Now I know. I didn’t pay enough. Of course it’s a poor yet top-heavy metaphor for… what feels like everything. Our desires for slight improvements are simply more sites of extraction for companies and platforms to exploit. In perpetuity – unless we muster the energy and effort to shut down our accounts, remove our credit card details, extinguish our archives. At this stage, the internet feels as if it was always a devil’s bargain that we all entered, one way or another. (And yes, dear reader, I finally ponied up and paid to have this font rather than the default. )

Where We Are (or Aren’t)

Mariame Kaba, activist and co-author of Let This Radicalize You with Kelly Hayes writes about the US, one year after the election of Orange Julius:

“Somehow, if we imagined living under full-blown fascism at the Federal level, we believed we would be different. Perhaps braver, more focused, taking bigger risks, becoming world-defining actors. But most of us remain just ordinary humans. Not everyone is rising to the occasion because the times you live in do not immediately shape who you are and what you do. The other truth, I believe, is that you rise to the level of your training and practice, not to the level of your imagined self.”

– Mariame Kaba, Prisons, Prose, and Protest. Nov. 24, 2025

I felt this whole post in my body. The disappointment, the overwhelm, the readjusted expectations of self and others – all these feelings located in different areas of my body: tight shoulders, weary brain, sluggish gut. At the same time, Kaba offers reminders of how we can bolster and sustain our practice, however, minimal it may seem in impact.

“For me, staying focused on the ways I can lessen suffering that are within my actual control provides grounding and some peace. It’s the best I’ve got. Well that and remaining committed to “doing” rather than “thinking about doing.”’

What is within our individual control? What actions can we take within our spheres of influence?

One of my current actions consists of resisting the use of generative AI which I believe should actually be named “derivative” AI, given the reliance of its training models on stolen copyrighted work. It irks me that I need to spend as much time and effort as I do thinking about this particular suite of tools and platforms and the damaging implications of their use across too many domains to count. That said, I take heart in the company I keep in this endeavor: Chris Gilliard, Audrey Watters, Alex Hanna and Emily Bender, Sava Saheli Singh, Mar Hicks. These are the folks whose voices help me stay informed and critical.

I’ve also selected a few spaces for recurring donations including an abortion fund, a few publications and a giving circle. It’s not much but it’s a start and better than nothing.

My next action is to step away from this project for a bit. I’m calling it a hiatus, a time out. I’m not sure about the length but it feels necessary. Maybe it means fewer posts per year and longer intervals in between. If you’ve been reading for a while or even if you’ve just arrived, please visit the archives. Or, even better, talk to your favorite librarian, have a chat with your students, neighbors, friends, and family members. Do things in person with other people. Visit parks and museums, listen to a live concert, see a play.

Chasing Coherence

Increasingly I’m drawn to revisit the analog: listening to CDs and cassettes rather than streaming, crocheting in the quiet, gathering with others to dance. It’s not a rejection or even turning away from the digital but a period of recalibration. In the last decade, I have stretched myself in ways I previously never imagined, reaching wonderful people across multiple time zones. I have been welcomed into numerous online communities with remarkable warmth and generosity. I don’t want to give that up. What I want, however, is to reassess which balance feels healthiest.

Over the last few months, pulling Bending The Arc together has felt especially challenging. The thoughts were many, the words scarce. The deluge of backlash policies and events has in fact had an impact. Every day spent diving deeper and deeper into a heavily polluted information ecosystem has taken a toll. Like so many others, I am actively chasing coherence. Which, of course, makes it difficult to curate well for a beloved community. Chasing coherence in this moment is leaving me out of breath and panting.

Ah, well…

Before I go, I have a mixed bag of offerings that may or may not tide you over until BTA resurfaces. (Sorry, this is in the form of a brain dump.)

One highlight of this year was being given opportunities to facilitate large groups. And while the events may be brief, the boosts they give me are often immeasurable. With that in mind, I want to share a few impressions from a workshop I did with educators in Iceland, titled Child’s Play. You’ll see structured mayhem and maybe that’s a fair description of what I’m often aiming for in my classroom.

Science shout-outs!

I rarely share science-related resources but I have a couple that I hope you’ll find promising. Gender Inclusive Biology has several excellent examples for learners at varied levels to learn about variations in gender and sexuality across a spectrum of life forms.

Physics and Cosmology, perchance? Look into the work of Chanda Prescod-Weinstein and Katie Mack.

Read anything by Ed Yong, science journalist extraordinaire. Best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting on Covid-19, he is also the author of two remarkable books on animal life.

Box of miscellaneous items:

• Interesting fiction: Audition by Katie Kitamura (mind bending), Greek Lessons by Han Kang (slow, contemplative), Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico (satire that hits).
• Fascinating non-fiction: Flawless by Elise Hu (K-Beauty culture, whew!), Uneasy Listening by Anouchka Grouse and Robert Brewer, Graphic Rage by Aubrey Hirsch.
• Dr. Sam Passeport of No Borders Learning shared this powerful video by a university student describing their experience of ADHD and notions of what constitutes a “good” student. Still thinking about it.
• Alternatives to Spotify (because investing in AI drone tech while stiffing artists is not the way): Brian Merchant has a guide. Here’s another set of options.
• More AI criticism: Is it Destroying Learning? Probably. ChatGPT should not exist – David Golumbia knew. Chatbots as Covid era tools by Eryk Salvaggio. Algorithmic racism is also part of the gen AI calculus (video).
• Goodness! Subscribe to Hammer and Hope! Black journalism and commentary at its finest.
• Y’all, a conversation with Tressie McMillan Cottom and Jayson Reynolds! Bless! You’ll thank me. (If you only open one link this time, make it this one!)
• Spend time with people of different ages and backgrounds. A semester of rehearsing intensely with folks half my age turned out to be deeply generative.
• An interesting digital diversion from analog cassettes found across the globe: intertapes.net

Into the break I go…

Thank you for being so kind and understanding. I appreciate your patience and support as I’ve chugged along here. I hope to be back by February in order to rouse this community to celebrate International Analog Day on Feb. 28th, 2026! Shannon Downey and her team at Badass Crossstitch have all the details for you to organize your own little analog shindig wherever you may be.

In the meantime, I hope you are able to enjoy a peaceful season. We are all deserving of rest and recovery.

Be good to yourself and those around you.

Take care,

Sherri