On the State of the World Right Now

I have no idea where to even begin here. The last time I wrote something was about thrifting, and now I'm sitting here worrying for my own safety, and the safety of those around me. This is wild. This is crazy. This is almost too much to handle. And yet-here we are. An amalgamation of every bad decision that could've possibly been made. The bad timeline.

Is this really the country that I grew up in? This was supposed to happen I guess. Capitalism ends like this every single time and we never learn. Or perhaps the Nazis planned this all along. After all, where did all those nationalists go after world war 2? They fled to America, and we're seeing the after effects of that now. It seems that the allies hadn't choked the life out of fascism enough, or we're watching its dying breath. I'm not ready either way.

The worst part about this is, the left side of politics seem to not be able to get it together. They are much too busy proving to everyone that they are the most righteous, the most correct, than doing anything productive like organizing and protesting. I'll tell you exactly why that is; its because black women have taken a backseat, as they should. We all let black women down. They have been the backbone of every protest, every organization that involves helping the common people and we responded by proving to them once again that we hate them. Now nobody wants to do the work, because we all thought it would be done for us. Even though I was personally with you, I just want to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you get it from all sides. I'm sorry that the world hates you; I don't. I wish I could press a button and fix it all, but I can't. I'm not excusing myself from my own biases either. Biases that take time to unlearn. Maybe the world does deserve to burn for the sins that its committed against you, when you were fighting for everyone else waiting for them to see you as valid and worthy. I don't blame you, no. I don't blame you at all.

I have to thank the young kid that's working the counter at the coffee shop I'm at for turning on the Strokes. At least I'm able to get one thing.

A while ago I started a Tiktok page that I've begun seeing some traction with. It was mostly me showing off my outfits but quickly turned political because I can't help myself. If you didn't know, I was politically active in college. I would go in-depth my contributions to the revolution but I don't want to boast. I don't like talking about my volunteering or protesting because that's something no one needs to brag about. But I can't sit back and say nothing. I can't keep my mouth shut for anything. If I see someone suffering, I can't merely watch. Unfortunately I live in a very conservative city, and there's almost no one who thinks like me now. It's isolating. Depressing. Gentrification surrounds me. Culture has been eliminated in favor of American imperialism. I don't want to live like this.

Anyway, every other day I've been on Tiktok live inviting conservatives and various fascists to talk to me so I can understand their logic and talking points so I may further challenge and know how to combat their rhetoric effectively. The personal insults don't bother me, honestly. They call me "liberal" (I'm not) "dyed hair," "piercings," blah blah blah. The same old shit they've been saying for over a decade now. Again, I can take it and I ask for it. But it gets exhausting. It gets taxing on the brain dealing with these people and their total lack of empathy and frankly, lack of general intelligence. I don't even consider myself that smart of a person. I'm just a writer who calls it like I see it. The people I talk to in my circle are usually much smarter and more informed than I am, and that's why I listen to them. I've made some great connections over Tiktok from all over the country that I'm thankful to have. They teach me things I'd never thought of before. I'm forever grateful for that. It's small moments that keep me going. I never want to stop learning, and unlearning.

Sometimes I think of fleeing, like this country is too far gone to bother fixing anymore. Well, I know that it's too far gone to fix. The system is broken and needs to be burned to the ground so we can start over again. But it's just about finding the people who have the chutzpah to go through with it. I dream about falling in love with a foreign man and us running away together. Someone to save me from all this madness. But then these dark thoughts overtake me again, and I'm afraid that....

No one is coming to save us.

Thrifting: A New Wave of Fashion and Why It’s Great

Back some months ago I was writing about the Y2K craze that started to catch like wildfire all over TikTok and Pinterest. It’s inevitable, because nostalgia for previous times becomes popular every 20 years or so (sometimes there are exceptions, such as the 80’s.) Something I’m excited to see people go crazy over is thrifting! I’ve been thrifting for years, and I’ve always told people that they’re missing out by not partaking in it. So if you’d like to know all the reasons you should thrift and how to do it, read further and I shall tell you.

Why should you thrift?

It’s good for the planet. Thrifting is essentially recycling clothes that would otherwise be thrown into an ever-growing landfill that further pollutes our beautiful planet. If you’re passionate about the environment like I am, this is a good alternative to contributing to mass consumption. 

It’s good for your wallet. Thrifting is relatively cheap. Sometimes vintage items can be expensive depending on how rare it is, but usually it’s not something that’s gonna break the bank. Our economy at the moment isn’t great. It’s hard to afford anything and I suspect that’s also a big reason why people are turning to thrifting for their clothes. So if you’re having a hard time affording the big brand names, don’t sweat it. A lot of those pieces are overpriced anyway.

It’s ethical. One of the biggest conversations being had in the fashion industry nowadays is our ethical consumption of clothing and how said clothing is being made. Fast fashion brands such as SheIn and Romwe have become immensely popular because of how cheap their clothes are. But what many don’t know, whether or not they care or if they’re too young to understand, is that those clothes are produced off of very cheap labor overseas. This is morally conflicting for a lot of people, and many of them view thrifting as a protest against capitalism taking gross advantage of underpaid factory workers. Our generation is very passionate about being advocates for social change and it comes down to the very clothes that we wear. When you thrift, you are pushing back against the toxic side of fashion.

It’s creative. I love how many doors this craze has opened for people to express their creativity in fashion. Instead of the same Fashion Nova uniform that we see in mainstream media we see outfits that are carefully constructed by people that care about originality. The experience feels more organic and less heavily researched and commodified by large clothing corporations. 

It’s fun! I can’t express the elation I feel when I find a really solid piece in a store that has no idea how good it is. It’s also a great activity to do with your friends. 

So at the moment I’m just a little bit obsessed with the throwback styles I saw growing up in the aughts, and luckily a lot of that kind of clothing you can find in thrift stores! You can also find wholesale bundles online that will give you mixed pieces for different styles (I would stay away from sites like Depop, because people will often put up pieces way over their value on there.) I think this wave of fashion has been my favorite so far, because there are just so many benefits. It makes me want the old CD player I used to take to school in elementary back, or my old Nokia phone. Do you remember Nokia phones? Ah, what a time. It makes me wanna rewatch Spy Kids.