Hello to my beautiful book friends,

(Feel free to skip ahead to the actual newsletter if you want) It's been quite a while since I sent out my last newsletter and I've switched newsletter platforms, so I wanted to reintroduce myself quickly and reorient everyone. I'm Amanda from Bookish Brews, the journal/magazine/blog where we exclusively feature writers, artists, and storytellers from systematically marginalized backgrounds with a focus on global majority creatives.

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In this newsletter, I hope to talk about books/stories, culture, politics, and most importantly how our lives are deeply intertwined with all of it. After all, all of those things are ultimately made up of the sum of all of us together. I don't want to make the re-intro too long, so you can read my About page if you want to read more or visit Bookish Brews directly!

How to Turn a Boycott Into a Lifestyle Change

Something about last Friday's Economic Blackout feels different than the ones that have come before it. I can't exactly put my finger on it, but I'm going to try. I think the main thing that made it different is that there's a deep unrest amongst the people of this country that has been bubbling up for years that underscored this particular boycott. I've spent the adult years of my life doing my best to keep an eye on this building unrest, and lately it's become so big and so clear. It's easy to forget when the headlines are so loudly obscene like they are lately, but we've been headed in this direction for my entire life. And in the shadow of daily protests against the second presidency of Trump all around the country, it feels like this boycott is different.

There are always calls for boycotts happening for a variety of things. I've been participating in BDS for Palestine for years, I support strikes when I hear about them and workers are demanding a boycott. But none of them are ever quite as mainstream and widespread as this Economic Blackout. It was honestly a little disorienting. People in my life who seem like they are never aware of boycotts were messaging me telling me I should participate, mainstream media was posting articles about what to expect, what to do, and if it will make a difference, a Wikipedia page even popped up.

Much of these articles and friends seem to be grappling with one big underlying question: will a single day boycott really make a difference? And today, I hope to make you confident that the answer is: yes, it does. And a much bigger one if we let it.

And no, I'm not delusional. I know that single day boycotts don't generally amount to lasting economic impacts, but I really do believe that it's not for nothing. Boycotting is one of the more approachable ways to begin getting involved in activism work, so I will always encourage people to try when they can and never disparage them for taking that first step. I think a lot of people get caught up in wanting a kryptonite solution (someone please give me a better reference than this one that I can start using it).  And, in the most hopeful way I can possibly say this, there's no one single thing that will ever really turn the tides of war on its own (so to speak. kind of). 

Finding our way out of this is going to take all of us taking intentional steps in every aspect of our everyday lives. And boycotting is the perfect way to practice or start. As we participate in the next one, on March 28, I hope this newsletter provides you something to think back on. So, how can we make the single day Economic Blackout more efficient?

1. Embrace the pattern interruption

Capitalism as made us all so consumerist. We overproduce so many things that it's so easy for us to slip into this mentality that we can simply buy something to solve for an inconvenience. Because we kind of can! Amazon has what seems like everything you could ever need and, in a lot of cases, it can be delivered to your door within 24 hours.

There have been times in my life where I bought something from Amazon in what was almost a daze. I encountered a small inconvenience in my life, immediately hopped onto Amazon, bought a quick fix to solve the inconvenience, and by the time it arrived (again, within 24 hours) I had completely forgotten I'd bought it. I know I'm not the only one who's ever done that, and that kind of behavior is not sustainable. One incredible thing boycotts can do is break the habit of this thoughtless type of spending. If it's enough to make you pause and evaluate whether or not you actually need something, that's a huge step in the right direction. Keep questioning beyond the boycott.

2. Notice how many people are or are willing to do this with you

This particular boycott had more people participate in than I think I have ever seen in my life. I boycott regularly when I can and I have been for years, but none of the boycotts that I've participated in have really had this type of recognition. It's incredibly uncommon for mainstream media to draw attention to boycotts, and yet this one incredibly had articles all over. That's an indication of how widespread participation is. Notice that. Lean on that.

When you're really in tune to the news, it's really easy to feel like the people around you aren't paying attention. After all, the news is happening so fast that you will miss a lot even if you are paying close attention. But people missing new news and not showing up to protests doesn't mean that there isn't unrest, there absolutely is. Boycotting is an easy way to participate in fighting back, so ask the people around you if they'll participate with you. It's likely you'll be surprised how many people are willing to participate, especially if they aren't doing to alone.

On the day of, keep your eyes toward the people. The people you convinced to join you are fighting alongside you. And each person who is participating at all is in this with you. We are all doing this together.

3. Flex your creativity, be okay with inconvenience

Having access to anything we want at all times really hinders our creativity. When we're not faced with challenges or inconveniences, we never get to practice our problem solving skills. We begin to get into this mindset that things must be perfect for us to even start, and then we end up not starting anything. I could write an entire newsletter about how I think creativity is central to freeing ourselves from this, but maybe that's for next time. But creativity and problem solving takes practice, and when we don't have practice, we lose it. And saving the world takes creativity and problem solving skills. We can't afford to lose them.

Let the inconvenience of boycotting be a chance for you to flex your creativity and problem solving skills. Do you really need to buy chocolate chips for your cookie recipe, or do you have a candy bar that is sitting in your snack drawer? Do you need to buy eggs for your muffins or can you sub that flaxmeal that's been in your freezer for months? Do you need to buy a new pair of pants or can you learn to mend the ones that got a hole? If you really need something, can you take cash to a local store that may sell it instead of Target?

4. Think critically about what challenges you faced

Think about why certain aspects of the boycott were challenging. Recognize that most of our hardships in being unable to boycott come from our deep individualism. Consider how they could be solved, or aided, by collective action or mutual aid. Did you really have to fill up your gas tank or could you have gotten a ride from a friend or neighbor? If you don't feel comfortable asking your friends or neighbors for favors, ask yourself why not.

What are you dependent on? We're all dependent on a lot of things, but what are you specifically dependent on. What are ways that you could become slightly less dependent on them? The Montgomery Bus Boycott was not able to last for over a year because people stopped needing the bus. It lasted over a year because the people were able to build robust carpool systems so that people didn't have to be dependent on the bus system. Be honest with yourself, what would happen if the boycott was calling for a years commitment? What are things that others could be dependent on and are you willing to help people be less dependent on it if needed?

5. Consider what you could do to extend the boycott

This particular set of boycotts was only scheduled to be one day each (there's another one coming up on March 28!), but that doesn't mean that it has to be one day for you. The goal with boycotts of this scale are to begin to pull away from being dependent on the systems that are oppressing us. Can you pull away for two days? What about 3? What would stop you?

Maybe instead of extending the boycott to multiple days, it makes more sense for you to implement one aspect of it for an extended period of time. Maybe you choose this singular day to cancel your Amazon Prime membership or make a pledge to eat out one less day a week. Maybe you choose this day to switch your direct deposit from a Big Bank to a credit union. Maybe you commit to using cash or looking for anything you need as second hand first.

6. Brainstorm ways to get more people around you involved

This will be easier for people who are already down for the cause and are relatively financially comfortable. Usually with people like that you can just tell them and they'll do it, especially if they're doing it with you. But what about your neighbor who doesn't care about the current coup? What about your neighbor who's scraping by paycheck to paycheck and gets finally paid on boycott day? How could you support their participation?

Like I mentioned earlier, most of our challenges when it comes to boycotting comes from our individualism. The nuclear family is far easier to influence than a large collective of people who genuinely care about one another and want each other to thrive. Getting people to participate could mean cooking a meal big enough to share with your neighbors, so they don't have to buy their own food that day. It could mean lending someone a movie, so they don't end up going to the movie theater. You could host your friends or neighbors for a game night instead of a night out. There are so many things to do, what could you do?

Make Your Commitment Last

And as we all practice getting better at boycotting, we can begin to take the boycott outside of the single day. We can begin to incorporate some of these practices into our every day lives. Maybe we realize that a lot of these practices would probably serve us all to be practiced all the time. Maybe we realize that it would actually be better for you as an individual too.

You might start thinking, "what if my neighbor and I started buying toilet paper or rice in bulk and we could split it to save money?" or maybe you start thinking, "it's actually just as easy to cook for 4 people as it is to cook for 2. What if we made it a regular thing to cook for our neighbors and switch off? That way we have to cook one less meal ourselves." Or maybe you realize, "every single card payment I make, Mastercard or Visa get a percentage as profit. What if I start paying in cash more often?" Or maybe you think, "purchases from giant national chains take profit out of my community, what if I start shopping at local businesses in cash to keep the money in my community?"

And that's how we really start fucking with capitalists.

Treat Boycott Days as Catalysts

Even though there's another on March 28, don't wait around for someone to call for a boycott before you participate in one, especially if you participated in the one last week. Let them be the catalyst for the next push in your lifestyle and mindset change, not just a thing you do on one day. Use boycott days to consider all of the things in this newsletter and think about how you can either implement them into your every day life or make the next one more successful.

They say that to run a marathon, you can't only be in it only for race day. Almost all of your time running will be spent training, not actually racing. To form a sustainable and healthy relationship with running, you have to learn to enjoy the practice as well because enjoying the practice is what really matters.

Plus, when it comes to boycotting, the practice, not the race, is what really makes industries suffer for the long term.

Books on my mind lately

What I'm reading recently:

• Hestia Strikes a Match by Christine Grillo: Infuriatingly too realistic for comfort and a fascinating (and absurd) reminder that life goes on in the midst of political chaos, turmoil, and potentially even war.
• His Mortal Demise by Vanessa Le: A darker companion to the first book, a series written precisely for me, begging the world for more diasporic Vietnamese fantasy. I'm moderating for Vanessa Le on her release day, if you're in OC, come see us on March 18 at Arvida Book Co!
• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer: I've only just started but already feel like I'm healing part of myself as a human by understanding our relationship with the earth.
• On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder: Incredibly digestible lessons on how critical it is for us to fight back in seemingly small ways. The positioning of this book is a bit not for me, but I ultimately understand and support the importance of how it positions itself.
• Mainline Mama by Keeonna Harris: Breathtakingly vulnerable and honest look at how our prison systems are designed to cut us off from the world and how that affects the lives of everyone who knows us too. But most importantly, the women who refuse to let it.

Books I'm excited for but probably don't have time to read (please read them for me and please tell me how you like them!!)

• Brother Brontë by Fernando A. Flores
• One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
• Guatemalan Rhapsody by Jared Lemus
• All the Parts We Exile by Roza Nozari
• Counterattacks at Thirty by Won-pyung Sohn
• The Girl Most Likely To by Julie Tieu
• Divine Intervention by R.M. Virtues

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