Jan 7, 2022What Flower Essences are Teaching Me About ConnectionSticky monkey-flower — aka Diplacus aurantiacus. This native plant with glowing, translucent orange trumpet flowers and sticky green leaves was the first plant I ever made a flower essence with. I had the privilege of getting my intro to flower essence-making with Taylore and Stashca of Windfall Herbal Studies. …Flower Essences4 min readFlower Essences4 min read
Jun 11, 2020Towards an Anti-Oppressive HerbalismHerbal medicine is not apolitical — and practitioners have an opportunity to leverage that. Many people who are familiar with my work publicly are most acquainted with what I’ve done in the realm of racial justice and white fragility, namely with my zine, A Letter to My White Friends. Those…Health And Wellness9 min readHealth And Wellness9 min read
Aug 2, 2019You Have AgencyA love letter, a manifesto, a reminder. This poem was borne out of a time when, after hitting rock bottom from years of unaddressed abuse, trauma, and burnout, I finally found myself recovering and feeling some semblance of self-determination in my life. I decided to write a letter to myself…Depression3 min readDepression3 min read
Published inAscent Publication·May 22, 2019Staying In PlaceFinding identity, community, and resistance in stillness. — It’s 2:36 P.M. I’m dehydrated. I lean weakly against a metal railing outside a Nevada gas station while I eat the rest of a breakfast burrito. I gaze wearily at my car, the silver paint flickering in the desert sun. …Housing5 min readHousing5 min read
Mar 15, 2019We Can De-Power Capitalism By Supporting Each OtherWe can shut down the machine by sharing. Many of us deal with these questions all our lives: How will I pay my rent? How will I buy food? We deal with them so regularly and deeply that answering them seems to become the very point of our existence. Capitalism…Economics8 min readEconomics8 min read
Mar 2, 2019A Letter to My White Friends: Cultural Appropriation and a Search for Cultural BelongingCultural appropriation is a sore spot for many people I know. No one likes to be told they can’t have something. However, that doesn’t mean that cultural appropriation isn’t a viable issue. Until the people whose cultures are being appropriated by people who don’t belong to those ethnic groups, whose…Cultural Appropriation7 min readCultural Appropriation7 min read
Feb 24, 2019A Letter to My White Friends: Smashing White Fragility, Fear, and GuiltConsider this your call-in. Recently, I issued a call for my white friends to really examine our white identities, confront fragility, and help disrupt systemic racism. But the question remained, how do we go about smashing our fragility? To delve into the answer, let’s be thoughtful about what this entails…Racism8 min readRacism8 min read
Feb 22, 2019A Letter to My White Friends: We Fear Seeing Ourselves ClearlyA letter to white people, from a white person, on white fragility and mustering the courage to overcome it. Before I begin, let me say I am not writing this to police other white allies and anti-racists. My purpose in writing this series is to create dialogue around the white…Racism6 min readRacism6 min read
Dec 30, 2018Mapping the Radical Emotionality of Social Justice WorkOur feelings can bring us together — if we understand them. — Most of us involved are aware that social justice work is emotionally-intensive. I’ve written at length about the importance of acknowledging this emotional edge and taking steps to address it in our personal and organizational practices. …Social Justice8 min readSocial Justice8 min read
Dec 29, 2018Why White Activists Need to Go to Red StatesThere are problems in rural America that need addressing. I can name a few: white supremacy, crippling poverty, Evangelical fervor, and Trumpism. The 2016 election round made all of these issues painfully clear, and they continue to affect U.S. politics on a national and global scale. Rural America’s issues are…Racism5 min readRacism5 min read
