Reclaiming is a weekly news and commentary roundup for intersectional feminists of all genders. Paid subscribers get the sub-newsletters A Little Bit Election 2024 and Malleus Maleficarum as well as the full archive. ✊
As the glitterati were celebrating each others’ wealth and status on Saturday during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, anti-genocide protests raged outside the Hilton where it was hosted. One especially goated demonstrator hung a Palestinian flag at the top of the building. This dichotomy feels like real-life Hunger Games a lot of the time, and it fills me with raaaaaaage.
I love rage and I love when women/femmes express rage. Rage is healthy and good, but for me, if I refuse to let it work its way through my body, it overstays its welcome and poisons my spirit. It turns into despair.
There’s also nothing wrong with feeling despair. But once all those feelings have worked their way in and out, I believe the best thing I can do with the leftover scraps is alchemize them into action (if you’ve been reading Reclaiming for a while, you’ve heard me use that phrase.) Action = hope.
We can summon our power to change reality at any moment, to turn pain into hope. In a system that depends on our resigned despair and acceptance to maintain its power over us, this process is the ultimate act of resistance. This is shapeshifting. This is witchcraft.
Not everyone knows where to start, though. Don’t worry, this guide is here to help! (I will probably turn this into a workshop/zine one day.) Below are the questions I ask myself when I’m going through this process. I journal and pull tarot cards to help myself answer them, and you may use them as prompts in other ways (meditation? art making? conversing with others? The possibilities are endless.) All I ask is that you think about them.
Witches are more aware than anyone that literally everything works in cycles. Nothing is permanent. The darkness will always give way to the light. What light is there already out there for us right now? Look closely, it’s there.
It’s hard to see it all the time, but there are things to be grateful for - no matter how small they may seem. I’m grateful for the flowers that bloom outside against the window next to my desk and the reminder that spring happens after every winter. What is something within fifteen feet of you right now that gives you (any degree of) gratitude, and what about it are you grateful for?
I often feel lonely when I am overwhelmed with these emotions, so it really helps to reach out to the people who love me. We are never alone. Who can you text right now just to tell them they’re on your mind?
Sometimes, I wonder about *the point* of everything when we get knocked down by capitalism/patriarchy/fascism. I find it encouraging to make meaning out of adversity through big and small acts of service to others who need support. What is one way you’ve found purpose in the hard shit before, and what is one way you can do that now?
Be gentle with yourself, and allow yourself to experience all of the things without judgment. How would you support your best friend if they were feeling overwhelmed by despair?
Focus your energy on what you can control. Can you make small steps toward a goal, or practice self-care, or engage in some kind of activism? Anything you do to take control over what is within your bandwidth will be huge. Nothing is too small here. (This one is the most difficult for me - my therapist has me work on it every single week.)
Enjoy simple pleasures. This method isn’t about gratitude, it’s about feeling good. No matter what happens outside of us, you are a human who seeks pleasure, and there are no doubt things that bring you joy. Loud, fast music brings me nothing but joy. What is one pleasing thing you can do/look at/listen to right now?
Draw inspiration from other people who have faced adversity and shared their stories. I look to Black feminists/writers/artists like Audre Lorde, bell hooks, Sonya Renee Taylor, Angela Davis, Toni Morrison, adrienne maree brown, and Roxane Gay. They know better than everyone that pleasure and joy and hope and love and community are the most radical forms of resistance. Who inspires you?
The tide is turning. I’ve written before about how cultural and political backlash - much like the kind we’ve seen since 2016 - is proof that we are collectively making progress. May we all continue to summon the courage to be loud and hold our officials accountable, even when we know that they will try to silence and punish us for it. May we alchemize our rage into hope and use it to propel us to create a better world for everyone.
Reminder: if you plan to participate in protests this week, whether as a student protestor or protecting encampments, please review last week’s witchy tips for safe protesting.
Almost daily, I use these words of Audre Lorde to give me hope, the ultimate power-summoning spell: “When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”
That’s it for this week. Until next week, xoxo -
Sarah
PS. I’m excited to announce a second new paid-subscriber-only newsletter that will switch off every other week with A Little Bit Election 2024. Malleus Maleficarum is a short missive in your inbox with one way you can use witchcraft that week to help create a better world for all. For the next three weeks, the annual subscription is only $33. It will go back up so don’t miss out!
Reminder: anyone from all walks of life can practice witchcraft.
Rec of the Week
Speaking of adrienne maree brown, her latest beautiful piece in Truthout is about Palestine.
Ask the Witches
Feminist News Bulletin
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case challenging access to abortion in emergency settings, appearing split over whether a federal law overrides Idaho’s abortion ban. Keep an eye on this, people who can get pregnant.
Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction was overturned by New York’s highest court, making way for a new trial. Sigh.
As a big middle finger to the insidious book ban movement on the far right, publishers are “flooding the market” with more diverse children’s books than ever before. I love this, it’s so punk rock. MORE OF THIS ENERGY, PLEASE!
The ancient “chastity law” known as the Comstock Act has Republicans in an absolute chokehold lately. They are threatening to use it to restrict the mailing of abortion medication. But what would its chief architect, Anthony Comstock, say today? Abortion Front resurrected him from the dead to find out.
The late blues singer Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton will be inducted into this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with other notable greats like Mary J. Blige, Cher, and Dionne Warwick. Listen to her “Hound Dog”—recorded four years before Elvis’ version.
The Justice Department will pay a $138.7 million settlement to gymnasts who were abused by Larry Nassar. The settlement comes years after more than 100 gymnasts sued the FBI claiming the agency mishandled complaints, allowing Nassar years to harm more young women.
California Gov Gavin Newsom is introducing a bill that would make it easier for Arizonan abortion providers to travel to California to care for their patients. The bill is in response to Arizona reviving an 1864 anti-abortion law—a revival that legislators are now trying to repeal.
Maine enacted legislation to shield abortion and gender-affirming care providers and patients from out-of-state investigations and actions.
A new federal rule will prohibit medical professionals from turning over records of out-of-state abortions to law enforcement. A good time to remind people who menstruate, DELETE YOUR PERIOD APPS