Jay's Other Stuff

On balancing the need for self-care with the need to stay...

Wed, 24 Jan 2018 22:16:34 -0500

On balancing the need for self-care with the need to stay engaged, as we enter year two in the gaslight thunderdome.

We are in a new game from now on. And if we don’t step up to...

Thu, 12 Jan 2017 13:40:04 -0500

We are in a new game from now on. And if we don’t step up to play our part in writing the new rules, the other side will be writing all the rules for us.

I’m scared. And I’m ashamed of us. But this is what I know.

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 12:02:18 -0500

I’m scared. And I’m ashamed of us. But this is what I know.

They built up all this hype, made us go through all this...

Mon, 07 Nov 2016 17:14:16 -0500

They built up all this hype, made us go through all this rigamarole, and then the big surprise ending is…there’s nothing to see, and we wind up back where we started from. This was the “No Man’s Sky” of investigations.

“If you’re pro-black but anti-woman, then you’re not woke,...

Wed, 26 Oct 2016 15:13:45 -0400

“If you’re pro-black but anti-woman, then you’re not woke, you’re just sleeping with your eyes open.”

On Donald Trump and the deplorables: we’re gonna need a bigger...

Sun, 11 Sep 2016 14:38:02 -0400

On Donald Trump and the deplorables: we’re gonna need a bigger basket.

Okay so seriously, about this Melania Trump speech…

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 14:52:34 -0400

Okay so seriously, about this Melania Trump speech…

I’m at that road. Some of you will know my partner Jiun...

Fri, 10 Jun 2016 14:48:39 -0400

I’m at that road.

Some of you will know my partner Jiun Kwon, my best friend and the love of my life, passed away suddenly late last year. And I have not made a video since then.

There’s a clarity that comes with loss. A narrowed focus that you hold on to like a lifeline. Your awareness of day-to-day life is stripped to the barest essentials, as the whole of your being goes to one impossible mission: Holding on to your love. Holding on, and trying not to drown.

it’s been hard, letting go of that clarity. Every step back into my own life feels like a betrayal. Like I’m letting her disappear. Making it real that she is gone. And returning to my creative work has been the hardest of all.

In those first weeks I kept telling myself I have to honor her by working, by creating, more than ever. And I took solace in that sense of purpose. But whenever I sat down to do it, I just couldn’t. Even months after she passed, I would turn on the camera and immediately start weeping. Making these videos has been the most rewarding work of my life. It has been the center of my life for the last ten years. And that means returning to it, now, feels like my final step over the threshold. The final irrevocable step into living a life without her.

And then Prince died. My hero. My fucking bedrock. And as we all struggled to make sense of it, my only light in the tunnel was Prince’s own muse, Wendy, telling us “being creative is how you can talk to him. If you’re being creative, he will talk to you.”

So on Prince’s birthday, I let his spirit carry me over the line, and I finally made something. It’s something humble, I’m far from a professional singer. But I made it, I stepped over that line. And Jiun was here, closer then ever.

I can’t make a timetable for when I’ll make more videos after this. I’ll be taking it slow, trying to make it fun again. The prospect of grappling with this election season doesn’t exactly fill me with joy, but I know Jiun would have SO MUCH to say about a world in which both Donald Trump and Zack Snyder have been allowed to prosper, and I have to pick up that slack. Jiun and I met through our shared love of creative expression, and shared belief in using creativity to make this world what it needs to be. And I know she’ll be most present with me when I let myself be fully present, dong what we loved. So I’m gonna try to stay on this side of the line, and hopefully I’ll see y'all soon.

(reference)

Mon, 21 Dec 2015 12:27:48 -0500

(reference)

Photo

Mon, 12 Oct 2015 16:22:17 -0400

On #BlackLivesMatter and defending Bernie Sanders

Sat, 15 Aug 2015 14:44:09 -0400

On #BlackLivesMatter and defending Bernie Sanders

Why Donald Trump will lost tonight, no matter what happens in...

Thu, 06 Aug 2015 17:36:44 -0400

Why Donald Trump will lost tonight, no matter what happens in the debate.

Sandra Bland, Sam Dubose, and the names we’ll never know.

Fri, 31 Jul 2015 12:15:51 -0400

Sandra Bland, Sam Dubose, and the names we’ll never know.

Empathy does not preclude accountability.

Sun, 21 Jun 2015 11:33:49 -0400

Empathy does not preclude accountability.

Speaking on Charleston, last night on WBAI radio.

Sat, 20 Jun 2015 15:51:04 -0400

Speaking on Charleston, last night on WBAI radio.

What not to do when a woman runs for office. (via)

Fri, 05 Jun 2015 12:18:06 -0400

What not to do when a woman runs for office.

(via)

Some questions about Harriet Tubman and the $20 Bill.I’m not...

Fri, 15 May 2015 14:17:19 -0400

Some questions about Harriet Tubman and the $20 Bill.

I’m not necessarily against it, but there’s a lot to unpack.

A note to all those music superstars talking about “taking a...

Wed, 08 Apr 2015 16:06:16 -0400

A note to all those music superstars talking about “taking a stand” and “starting a movement”: What we need right now, much more than delivering FLAC files to our homes in lossless quality, is some way to ensure we can deliver black lives to their homes in lossless quality.

(via Fusion)

chescaleigh:Last night Hari called us “the social justice...

Thu, 19 Mar 2015 16:10:21 -0400

chescaleigh:

Last night Hari called us “the social justice league” and I’m totally into it

A breakdown of why all our race conversations are like crappy...

Tue, 17 Mar 2015 14:47:46 -0400

A breakdown of why all our race conversations are like crappy autotune pop songs. AKA a preview of your next visit to Starbucks. (via Fusion.net)