Monday Matter: A new weekly Foreign Bodies roundup
Giveaway ends Friday, read this about South Asian identities and more
Welcome welcome to our first-ever Monday Matter roundup! Every Monday, we’ll send you a story (or three) we recently read and adored. This is also a chance to do some housekeeping and give shout-outs and all that jazz. Our Monday Matter roundups will be available for both free and paying Foreign Bodies subscribers.
First things first
A little housekeeping
Have you entered the giveaway yet? Hurry! Sign up before Friday to win a copy of Malaka Gharib’s bestselling graphic memoir, I Was Their American Dream! Paying subscriber entries count twice. We’ll reveal the winner in our next Monday Matter newsletter—and announce the second giveaway next week!
Speaking of paying subscribers…
It's been about five days since I added the option to become a patron and I'm so grateful to everyone who's opted in. The paywall doesn't go up until 2020 (Issue 14) but early subscribers help me gauge how many monthly hours I can afford to give.
Becoming an early subscriber also helps me figure out just how much money I'll be able to set aside to give any copyeditors, fact-checkers and other hourly volunteers who've been offering their time out of love. I'm almost at the breakeven point where I can afford to pay them. Here are some of our subscriber options:
If you’re a student or need an additional discount, please email me at 4nbodies@gmail.com and we’ll work something out!
Read this!
Stories we love
Stop calling all South Asian people ‘Indian’ (Gal-dem, Ibnat Islam): Eritrean-American writer Ariam Alula shared this story on Twitter recently and I haven’t stopped thinking about it.
I Had To Leave My Mother So I Could Survive (Longreads, Elisabet Velasquez) A heart-tugger from Velasquez, who became increasingly aware of her mother’s mental illness when she began working in the field herself and met Marta, whose words "were a familiar church to me. My mother used them... espíritus, demonio, brujería."
In the news
Relevant news coverage that doesn’t really fall under our larger mission to de-stigmatize through personal storytelling, but is still essential reading for anyone who wants to stay up-to-date on immigrant/refugee mental health.
NPR Weekend Edition segment on migrant mental health: NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with Cristina Muñiz de la Peña, a psychotherapist who works with families from Central and South America affected by the Trump administration's immigration policies.
Bookshelf
Books and essays I’m currently reading (plus reader-recommended works!)
Currently reading: Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness & The Great Pretender: The Undercover Mission That Changed Our Understanding of Madness (Susannah Cahalan)
Always reading: The Prophet (Khalil Gibran)
Reader recs from Mwende Hinojosa and Malaka Gharib: Crushed (Trinidad Escobar) + In Waves (A.J. Dungo)
Remember, we always have tons of wonderful stories and resources available at foreignbodies.net.
Love to see it
Shout-outs, thank-yous and more
It’s been so uncomfortable asking for support to fund this baby o’ mine. Thank you to reader and Carter Fellows director Kari Cobhan and others who’ve pushed me to do what I would advise anyone else to do for themselves.
Much love to writer Shaheen Pasha whose Narratively story For Decades, Shame Kept My Dad’s Schizophrenia Secret from our Pakistani Immigrant Community is a must-read we shared in a previous issue of Foreign Bodies. I’m so grateful for her courage and hope it continues to reach new readers.
OK, that’s it for now. Did you absolutely hate this? Open to criticism and suggestions. See ya later!
Love,
Fiza