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I currently live in Southern California where we are navigating simultaneous crises at once - extreme heat, severe water drought, periodic blackouts, deep wealth inequality, and a housing crisis just to name a few. It’s a strange dystopia felt in radically different ways by different groups based on your location (social and regional). Those situated in poor neighborhoods are more likely to be unhoused and unemployed, overexposed to extreme heat and climate impact, lack access to clean water, more exposure to police brutality and a lower life expectancy rate. To add insult to injury, these are not new issues, but stem from a legacy of inequality that the late and great Barbara Ehrenreich dedicated her life to writing about and organizing around.
A preeminent author, known for her chronicle and commitment to the American working poor, died last week at 81. Her legacy includes essential reads such as Witches, Midwives and Nurses, Nickel & Dimed, Bright-Sided and Natural Causes, Ehrenreich challenged conventional thinking and raged against the machine. She left us with a legacy of critical thinking, a practice of always asking hard questions and a commitment to never settling for injustice. As she once said of the self care community “Get it together!”.
I think we’d be wise to take her advice.
Kerri (she/her)
Art by @miabirdsong
Dorothy Roberts Tried to Warn Us [ [link removed] ]. The legal scholar wrote about the criminalization of pregnancy 25 years ago. Why didn’t more of us listen? [click to tweet] [ [link removed] ]
America Is a Rich Death Trap. [ [link removed] ] It’s not just the pandemic. For citizens of a wealthy country, Americans of every age, at every income level, are unusually likely to die, from guns, drugs, cars, and disease. [click to tweet] [ [link removed] ]
School is for making citizens. [ [link removed] ] Students need a "myth-shattering" history education that "doesn’t shy away from America’s ugly truths and contradictions.” [click to tweet] [ [link removed] ]
We’ve been told devastating lies about mental health [ [link removed] ]. Society’s understanding of mental health issues locates the problem inside the person – and ignores the politics of their distress. [click to tweet] [ [link removed] ]
Why we don’t say “reform the police”. [ [link removed] ] Reforms that leave policing’s core functions in place will not prevent state violence against Black people. [click to tweet] [ [link removed] ]
The water crisis in Jackson, MI, Baltimore, MD and other Black communities reveals racial cost of legacy infrastructure [ [link removed] ] disproportionately affecting poor, Black communities and their access to food, water, wealth and healthcare services. Over 180,000 people are now indefinitely out of clean water and have been advised not to drink, shower or cook with what’s currently flowing out of their taps. Here are some ways to show up from our friends at Anti-Racism Daily [ [link removed] ].
DONATE MONEY
Operation Good [ [link removed] ]
Immigrant Alliance for Justice and Equity of MS [ [link removed] ]
Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund [ [link removed] ]
Cooperation Jackson [ [link removed] ]
DONATE WATER
The Mississippi Rapid Response Coalition: Email [email protected] [ mailto:[email protected] ] to arrange pick-up/drop off.
Operation Good: Call (601) 874-4521 to arrange pick-up/drop off. If you are out of the immediate area, you can ship goods to 2827 Oak Forest Dr., Jackson, MS, 39204, but organizers ask that you contact them ahead of time.
New Horizon International Church: Call (601) 371-1427 to coordinate donations
Cooperation Jackson: Email [email protected] [ mailto:[email protected] ] or call (601) 355-7224
Art by @isaac_murdoch1
Last week’s CTZN Summit was epic. Led by some of our favorite disruptors and movement leaders, we came together to ask hard questions and build the courage and capacity needed to meet this moment and shape the next. Here are some of our favorite reflection questions from this weekend’s Practicing Change, Shaping Futures summit:
What are you practicing?
How are we building the infrastructure of care?
What are the stories we tell ourselves about our selves?
How do I cultivate grace for myself and others as I build power to make change in the world?
What will we allow to shape our future?
What is your gift?
Big gratitude to our amazing summit faculty who led the way with grace and courage. Please continue to follow them and their work: Dr Jasmine Syedullah [ [link removed] ], Dr Sará King [ [link removed] ], Nicole Cardoza [ [link removed] ], Kennae Miller [ [link removed] ], Rae Leiner, [ [link removed] ] Frank Escamilla [ [link removed] ], Kerri Kelly [ [link removed] ].
If you missed it, no worries. We will be doing a community replay on Patreon in the coming weeks. You can sign up here. [ [link removed] ]
Another world is possible.
Art by @chaninicholas
CTZNWELL is community powered and crowd-sourced. That’s how we keep it real. Please consider joining us on Patreon [ [link removed] ] for as little as $2/month so that we can keep doing the work of creating content that matters for CTZNs who care.

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