Monday Matter (on a Tuesday)

Your biweekly Foreign Bodies roundup

Every other Monday, I send subscribers and gift recipients of immigrant mental health and storytelling newsletter Foreign Bodies stories I recently inhaled and adored. This is also a chance to do some housekeeping and give shout-outs and all that jazz.

First things first

A little housekeeping

Mishaps, mishaps.

Hi, readers. Sorry for sending this roundup out so late; yesterday’s scheduled post was a glitch and only went out to a handful of you. You know how something small like this will go wrong and it just feels like the rotten cherry on top of a dirty laundry pile? That’s where I’m at right now, not even ten feet from the overflowing laundry hamper that’s been taunting me ever since I returned from back-to-back trips. I’m in this headspace where a good part of me feels inspired, prepared, mentally apt. I’m reading and writing and smiling a lot more. And then, usually in the early mornings or late at night, I’ll feel the smoky cloud beneath me, then suffocating me all around, reminding me I haven’t made enough room to process the onslaught of violence, terror, grief of recent days, weeks, years. And then it pours. I’m tired of not knowing what to say when we’re struck with the same injustices again and again and again and again. So if your misery just wants some company, I’ll be sitting on this dark cloud right beside you.

A musical start to your Mondays 🎧

One song to groove to, cry to, drive to and share

This week’s pick, recommended by reader Jennah S., is Japanese electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra (or YMO). As pioneers of synthpop, a genre which emerged at the start of the 1980s, the group has been described as “the original cyberpunks.”

Resource(s) of the week

Something helpful and interesting and cool (*storytelling opportunity)

• *Barrelhouse wants nonfiction: Editor Lily Dancyger is considering memoir and essay collection submissions from marginalized writers for Barrelhouse through Sunday, Feb. 5. From Submittable: “We're interested in full-length memoirs and essay collections that combine personal narrative with... something else. That could be reportage, criticism, history, etc.” More info here. (Hat tip: Memoir Monday)

• *The Sun Magazine editor Anna Gazmarian wants new writing about anger for the independent literary mag. Send essays involving rage and self-awareness by direct message.

• 7 ways to inform news coverage of immigration at the southern U.S. border: Insights from experts for well-rounded immigration coverage, including a trove of resources

• Check out this advice for when you’re stuck from Katie Hawkins-Gaar’s My Sweet Dumb Brain newsletter, which I adore.

Read this!

Personal stories and poetry I’m loving

• What My Father’s Martial Arts Classes Taught Me about Fighting Racism (Adrian De Leon, The Walrus): “Every Saturday, like a household chore, we assembled our gym, our slice of Philippine life, into being. Setting it up in church halls and community centres during down years, we hauled our large stack of gym mats into the minivan, wedging a bucket of rattan sticks and sparring gear in between. In better financial situations, when we had a lockable office space, all we took was our freshly laundered and starched uniforms: white gi (long-sleeve uniform top), red pants, and belt.” A beautiful essay about what self-defense means to a community facing violence and racism. Read here.