Jun 3, 2020
Hi there.
This is Stephen Indrisano, co-host and editor of the Stephen King Boo! Club - if you’re one of our regular listeners, thank you for joining us; this will not be our usual program this week. If you can, please keep listening.
This is not typically an overtly political podcast. We have been very open about our own political leanings, because literature - and how anyone interacts with literature - is personal and powerful. Stories are all we have some days. For us and for millions of readers, the stories of Stephen King have been of great comfort. But some days, comfort is not appropriate.
If you’re joining us in real-time, when this gets published in June of 2020, it will be in the midst of global protests against police brutality. We are scared. We’re also sad and angry. So many have died, and so many have been hurt, and so many more will be hurt if things are allowed to continue this way. A deep, violent vein of racism has been allowed to fester in our nation - in our government, in our culture, and in our police force. In D.C., President Trump called for the “domination” of protests. Personally, I have been hearing helicopters pass this apartment for days. Every time a siren passes I am afraid someone new has died. I am afraid that one of my friends or family will become a hashtag. In general, I am afraid.
Typically when we talk about fear on this program, we talk about the thrill of adrenaline, the chill of the spine. We talk about ghosts and monsters and viruses and abusers. We talk about trauma and the ways that the horror genre can help us cope with trauma. We talk about not shying away from the things that scare us. We make light of dark themes, because it is fun, and maybe because it gives us a sense of control.
We cannot, in good conscience, do that today. Today our fear is different. But we cannot ignore fear, and we cannot ignore what it requires of us.
Here is what we will be doing: We are going dark with our episode this week in an effort to yield space to more important voices. All Patreon proceeds from this month will go directly to legal defense funds for protesters jailed during this push for justice. We would encourage you to support any and all of the following groups, should you have the financial ability to do so. Please, if our show has made you laugh, or think, or just seen you through a long car ride - this is our personal plea to you. Consider supporting:
Showing Up for Racial Justice - SURJ for short
(https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/)
Know Your Rights Camp - Legal Defense Initiative
(https://www.knowyourrightscamp.com/)
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund
(https://www.naacpldf.org/)
Campaign Zero - A research-based policy advocacy group dedicated
to ending police violence in America
(https://www.joincampaignzero.org/)
And of course, Black Lives Matter; especially if they have a local
chapter in your area.
(https://blacklivesmatter.com/)
We want to recognize that only donating to these causes will never
be sufficient to end racist police brutality. As two white men, we
recognize that our experiences are fundamentally different than the
experiences of people of color in America, and that we’ve
benefitted from longstanding systems of oppression even as we seek
to now dismantle them. And we recognize that now is not the time
for our voices to predominate. In the time that you would have
listened to our show this week, we encourage you to seek out black
voices. What follows are some recommended readings which have
helped us understand race and racism in America. Some are books,
some are poems, some are podcasts. We will be linking to each in
our show notes, along with the charities listed before.
Books:
Between The World and Me - A letter from a father to his son, by
Ta-Nehisi Coates
(https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/220290/between-the-world-and-me-by-ta-nehisi-coates/)
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness -
A survey of racist policy since the end of Jim Crow by Michelle
Alexander
(https://newjimcrow.com/)
Americanah - a novel about immigration, race, and love by
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
(https://www.chimamanda.com/book/americanah/)
Poems:
Let America be America Again - By Langston Hughes
(https://poets.org/poem/let-america-be-america-again)
Still I Rise - By Maya Angelou
(https://poets.org/poem/still-i-rise)
Poem for July 4th, 1994 - By Sonia Sanchez
(https://poets.org/poem/poem-july-4-1994)
Podcasts:
Politically Reactive - A political comedy podcast; Co-hosts, W.
Kamau Bell and Hari Kondabolu; produced by Topic Media
(https://www.topic.com/politically-re-active)
Code Switch - A weekly race and culture outlet; Co-Hosts, Shereen
Marisol Meraji and Gene Demby; Produced by NPR
(https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/)
Caught - A documentary podcast about mass incarceration and the
juvenile criminal justice system; Hosted by Kai Wright; Produced by
WNYC
(https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/caught)
Stay safe and stay well. Yours in solidarity,
The Stephen King Boo! Club