In which ismatu gwendolyn, young revolutionist, explores what keeps them bound at the seams: disciplined, precarious love; insurgent strategy; reading. Cozy up and pour some tea.
All essays and transcripts available at threadings.io
In which ismatu gwendolyn, public servant, recounts the praxis they got from their local strippery in regards to the acquisition and distribution of US dollar bills. Full transcript available at https://www.threadings.io/the-strip-club-did-indeed-make-me-bonkers/
In which ismatu Gwendolyn, budding revolutionary, reminds everyone (once again) that their goal is NOT a life where they are individually comfortable! Sign up to support them financially at threadings.io: https://www.threadings.io/the-financial-transparency-meeting-but-i-yell-instead-of-show-graphs/#/portal/signup Fill out the resource form in case you have non-momentary skills or supplies you believe to be relevant to their projects. https://www.jotform.com/form/251693630800151 Cool. Please sto...
Full transcript, as always, available at threadings.io
full transcript at threadings.io
The global working class engages in active revolution as we speak (and here I am to pontificate about it). As I (ismatu, artist, the pen behind these essays) become more powerful in my world-making, where do I go? Will I defect out of the working class and join the rank of capitalists? Or will I stake my personal powers for collective gain?
In which writer and child of immigrants ismatu gwendolyn discusses the systematic deportations of academic immigrants. Beyond debating whether fascism has “taken hold” in the United States… what do you do when you are afraid for yourself? What happens now that plain-clothed “officers” hunt in broad daylight? All transcripts and sources available at threadings.io https://www.threadings.io/they-hunt-in-broad-daylight-2/...
In which Ismatu Gwendolyn, young revolutionary with a pen in hand, seeks to stake their power with and for The People, rather than utilizing the trust of their masses as a site of endless extraction. Link to essay: Link to video: https://youtu.be/jaEMTluGj5E Show Notes: Twenty Enemies by James Forman twenty enemies james forman.pdf you've been traumatized into hating reading (and it's making you easier to oppress): Information Anarchy: The Case Against Sponsorships...
Midnight musings on Bird Flu, Yahtzee, and the merits of taking a jumping break with your resident one year old. Pour some tea for this one. All essays (transcripts) available at threadings.io
Otherwise entitled, “Everybody wanna be Nina Simone; don’t nobody wanna sing Mississippi Goddam. ” In which ismatu gwendolyn, writer and public scholar, unpacks our collective desire for artists that reflect the times (and holds up a persistent and unforgiving mirror). The full transcript can be viewed at threadings.io.
The purpose of the State of the Constituency is to reorient ourselves to who I am (the invisible pen behind all these essays, Ismatu Gwendolyn) what I do, why I do what I do, and how you all affect me . You are also invited to explore what you want from your participation in this ether community. I’m also sitting here with blueberry chamomile lemon tea. God, that's so good. With a little honey. Read the full transcript, and all other essays, at threadings.io https://www.threadings.io/state-of-th...
in which ismatu gwendolyn returns to their stage to talk about what’s keeping them up at night. Transcription available at threadings.io https://www.threadings.io/on-fear/
The strangest part about terminal illness is how often death comes for a peck on the lips and nothing more. A few weeks ago, I flew home to attend my mother's final affairs. Now we sit, smoothies and champagne glasses, watching a movie to spend time together. It's sunny this Tuesday. Here are reflections from Invisible Beauty on Bethann Hardison, from both me and my mother. Jazz of the Episode: Stepping Through The Shadow x Menahan Street Band Tryin’ Times x Roberta Flack Estate x Leilo Luttazzi...
a series of musings nearly entitled, “ I am frightened by the way people tire of the world. ” I have had a negative amount of desire to write but Toni Morrison said it’s your job to write when evil wishes to distract you so. Here I am, I suppose. The thesis of today’s musings are that we want the fiction of a happy ending more than we want actual liberation. Looking for a transcript, sources and links? Read the full work at ismatu.substack.com. Selected Jazz of the Episode: Muziqa heywete x Geta...
Questions for your consideration: how do I appreciate you well for taking part in this space? And, how best can we a public good? Please whatever comment features you have available and let me know! ft. Afternoon of a Swan by Speedy West This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ismatu.substack.com/subscribe...
Sleep tips for those who struggle to sleep when they could. Essay (and transcript) available at ismatu.substack.com. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ismatu.substack.com/subscribe
A letter written for Bisan, circulated to my constituency: Peace. I write to you from the floor of my bedroom in Sierra Leone. Two days ago, Iran launched successful counter-attacks against the apartheid regime occupying the land of Palestine, currently known as Israel (which bombed their embassy in an open act of war on April 1). I can hear construction workers breaking rocks outside my window and the children of the house playing and running and the noise of Freetown traffic in an endless rise...
an essay nearly entitled, “the orange trees teach me art-making.” This essay is a continuation of my prolonged look at revolutionary healers in practice to become one— where healing also includes artistry. What is my role as an freedom-minded artist, this side of revolution? Check the link to donate to the universal basic income program for Ebola Survivors in Kenema, Sierra Leone below! https://msha.ke/ismatu Theses: A (art-making) = B(world-making) = C (truth-telling) ( 1 ) One of the greatest ...
captioned live! we took one hour to read four paragraphs together. excerpt from: Conversations with Toni Cade Bambara, edited by Thabiti Lewis. I don’t usually save my lives because (1) that requires editing and I am already drowning in administrative work and (2) I enjoy existing in temporal space for only a moment in time, rather than being replayable and rewatchable and forwardable all the time. it’s a weird thing to watch happen to your personhood. but this one i found to be really lovely an...
In which we engage the following theses: (1) the ruling class benefits from illiteracy. (2) short-form video entertains more than it sticks. (3) reading is a discipline distinct from listening, watching, or other forms of literacy. It’s a skill that needs to be honed separately. (4) Absolutely no one comes to save us but us. Full and accurate transcript available at ismatu.substack.com. Thank you for listening <3 Jazz of the Episode: The Jordan River Song x Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru Lena’s So...
internet friends, I am still burning alive. Today is February 10, 2024, which marks two years since my entrance into the social internet. This has been a terrifying, incredible, world-changing transition— maybe not (yet) for the world, but most certainly for my world. I did not have any social media previous to virality on my first TikTok video. Honestly? I viewed these spaces as nothing more than cannon fodder for the degradation of the mind and of any true, real, lasting community. I wanted no...
Threadings. and quite literally everything I do is free! I only can do this because people voluntarily pay! Wow! Thank you!!!! Transcription below because someone asked for the still words. Long time no see. Hi there. If you're new here, which if you're here, I doubt you're new. I mean, but just in case. My name is Ismatu. E-S-M-A-TU. I like E, S like S, not like Z. Not Ismatu, not Ismatu, Ease, like Easter egg. Ease-matu. One day. I will be an Ismaltu that other people can say, oh yeah, like Is...
a letter to my daughter on the religion of revolution. Please lend your support to A Little Juju Podcast in their return! Juju Grant is a writer, ethnographer, show host and spiritual tower actively practicing wisdom anarchy. She so brilliantly archives African and Black Diasporatic Spiritual Traditions for free, and for the good of the people. donate here ! or via Cashapp , Venmo , or PayPal . All are available in her link tree. I do not take sponsorships so that I can shine lights on my kinfol...
An essay from The Vault on how miraculously pain steals language. CW: mentions of self-harm. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ismatu.substack.com/subscribe
The first essay of the Revolutionary Healers series. WHAT USE is "measured rationality" when to be Reasonable means to dying quietly, all the time? Notes from the text, “How to Go Mad Without Losing Your Mind.” Full transcript, with sources, at ismatu.substack.com. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ismatu.substack.com/subscribe...
in which ismatu delivers a free-styled, spoken essay where they realize Grief as a seed blooming their bones. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ismatu.substack.com/subscribe
The primary goal of this essay is to argue for a healthy skepticism of sponsorship-saturated media amidst a new age in information sharing, with secondary goals as following: * to commit myself to The People and my people publicly by way of refusing to sell my word online, and * to name explicitly the ways refusing traditional sponsorship places me in a decent amount of precarity. * I’ma spoil the ending for you: I don’t want to run from precarity. Being unsteady forces me to lean on the communi...
Since y’all stay asking me for resource lists. The here, damn! of it all. Full list and links associated at ismatu.substack.com. happy reading!! jazz of the episode: Tony x Larry Nozero, Dennis Tini Souvenir d’Italie x Lelio Luttazzi He Knows She’s Good For You x Cyril Chambers Two For The Road x Eddie Daniels, Bucky Pizzarelli I Cover the Waterfront x Joe Pass Zen x Philippe Sarde, Toots Thielemans Message x Robohands City in the Sky x Elijah Fox This is a public episode. If you’d like to discu...
In which Ismatu Gwendolyn, new to the healing profession and rooting in revolutionary thought and action, provides structure for their studies in public. As my Auntie Dequi says, “Struggle is protracted.” What we are not about to do is sit up here and study five things for five seconds. And I’m guilty of this! I constantly fight the desire to be fresh and topical and marketable. I want to be widely received and widely appreciated. Of course I do. In the past, I have moved quickly though trending...
sharing an old piece of creative writing because I, a mountain dweller, am stuck in the city and think of the sea. Originally written June of 2018 This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ismatu.substack.com/subscribe
In which we: unpack the “is she mad?” mentality, contemplate informed consent for a podcast space, and be explicit about the care infrastructure and needs of Ismatu Gwendolyn. Thanks for listening <3 Read the full transcription, annotated, at ismatu.substack.com. Jazz of the Episode: My One and Only Love x John Coltrane, Johnny Hartman Say It (Over and Over Again) x John Coltrane Quartet Manhattan x Blossom Dearie I’ll Never Smile Again x Sarah Vaughan Footsteps In The Dark x The Isley Brothe...
