We don’t know about you, but it’s felt like a particularly rough week, even in a time where every week bad is in one way or another. Let’s take a break, breathe, and process.
The world had to say a painful goodbye to a beloved artist when Chadwick Boseman died from colon cancer this past Friday. Black Panther director Ryan Coogler wrote a beautiful and heartbreaking tribute to Boseman which captures so much of what he meant to his Black colleagues and fans.
We found this reminder from Melanin and Mental Health, an organization that helps Black and Latinx people find Black and Latinx therapists, very affirming. For anyone struggling to understand why this particular loss hit themselves and others so hard during the especially difficult times we’re living in, we hope this helps:
News related to nationwide uprisings and the Black Lives Matter movement was particularly difficult last week, as well. Protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake continued in Kenosha, WI over the weekend, undeterred by the murders of two protestors last Tuesday by Kyle Rittenhouse. Trump is scheduled to visit Kenosha tomorrow, September 1, despite the mayor of Kenosha and the governor of Wisconsin publicly asking the president to stay away. Meanwhile, in Portland, a member of the white supremacist group Patriot Prayer was shot and killed by an unknown assailant in the wake of a rally by police supporters, who terrorized Portland protestors by speeding their vehicles into crowds.
That’s a lot to take in. Let’s take a moment to breathe, shall we?
In more uplifting news, Black anime fans were comforted by a new Toonami video, which stated directly and unequivocally that Black Lives Matter:
Last week’s bright spot for us was the 4th Very Very Shopping Network, hosted by POME pals Jazzlyn Stone and Jen Vaughn! This edition of the VVSN was Tabletop Gaming themed, and introduced us not only to some amazing TTRPG creators, but also (as always) some very worthy causes to support, such as the solidarity fund for striking sanitation workers in New Orleans.
If you are needing a little extra support this week, we recommend POME fave Geek Girl Strong’s 15-day self-care challenge. Though it’s currently on day 10, there’s nothing stopping you from starting the challenge on your own schedule! We especially love the less conventional challenges, like day 7, which asks us to scream our feelings.
We’re going to leave it at that for now: take care of yourselves, and each other!
