Correction: I said HB 286 was another iteration of HB 531 and SB 202, which is incorrect. HB 286 was Georgia’s anti-defund police bill and it passed.
hey y’all,
chiming in from my month-long sabbath to contribute my year in review, as i was inspired by autumn’s music year in review and sylvia, jess, & chelsea’s year in review (don’t forget to scroll down and check those out if you haven’t yet).
this take is a bit more personalized with my POV as reporter/publisher/founder of this mag and also as a human in recovery (from addiction, sexual assault, eating disorder) who is actively surviving the culture (rape culture, capitalism, white supremacy, sexism) with the rest of you. i hope everyone is doing okay in this chapter of the apocalypse. i’ve returned home to atlanta to be closer to loved ones during this time (i was traveling out west throughout december and came home early).
this sabbath has taken me into deep spaces in my heart and i feel like i am being broken open. i’ve taken unprecedented steps in my recovery and transformative vulnerability, including stepping away from abusive and dysfunctional family members for the first time. solidarity to all who are navigating another holiday season with family systems like these. we all deserve so much better than to stay in a trauma war with each other. hurt people hurt people; and it took me almost six years sober to summon the strength to walk away and be the cycle breaker.
after we lost bell hooks, i considered how the stress and perpetuating trauma of working in this field impacts me. i’ve seen glimpses and glares of death all year through reporting and my personal life. reading about amazon workers who couldn’t somehow choose to walk away from their workplace while a tornado tore through their factory broke my heart. the inability to make that decision is disempowerment and loss of autonomy in its purest form. real big “our jobs are killing us” energy.
my meditations have led me to an important decision, which is really a pivot of my creative energy and brain power in this magazine and community. i’m taking an extended break from investigative journalism and hard news reporting in 2022 so i can focus on my continued recovery while building mainline and fully manifesting our vision. through everything, i ultimately realize that lack of awareness of these systems and our collective oppression is not our issue. it’s what’s missing behind our awareness: the alternative, the power, the realization.
for me, 2021 was the year of burn out and disillusionment. i want to echo a quote from friend and organizer kamau franklin of community movement builders, which he shared on twitter the other week, that further encapsulates why i am following my heart and stepping away from my investigative journalism pursuits in 2022:
“A colonized mind leads to colonized thoughts leads to colonized ideas in action that leads to trying to join the colonizers institutions that have oppressed you.”
the american media system is one of those institutions.
what i’ll be doing instead: focusing on fine-tuning our vision and purpose here at mainline, working to help us gather the resources we need to do our work successfully, connect with organizers committed to eradicating violence against women/femmes/non-binary folx and dismantling the systems that perpetuate that violence, helping people find the power within themselves to opt out of our oppressive systems, help people access tools to deprogram their internalized racism/sexism/capitalism, connecting with indigenous communities, strengthening relationships, enjoying the simple pleasures of life (love, music, nature, community, food, nourishment). because without this foundation, nothing we build on top of it will stay in place.
where these energies will manifest: to be announced, stay tuned! i have ideas that are percolating that have yet to be fully discussed here at mainline with the crew. i will say whatever i contribute, they will likely be in audio format, raw and unedited, prioritizing authenticity over comfort.
with love and gratitude,
aja
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standout articles i mentioned in this episode:
“Breonna Taylor, another institutional massacre of Black women” by LUNA
“Atlanta police shootings, 2018-present: a database” by Sylvia Johnson
“In Atlanta, inaction and silence stem from all branches of city government” by Sylvia Johnson
“Meet Atlanta mayoral candidate Brittney Geter” by Sylvia Johnson
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INDIGENOUS LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This post was written and recorded on the ancestral lands of the Muscogee (Creek) tribe in what’s known as Atlanta, Ga.
