CHAPTER 1 - Poetry and Protests

In this chapter I talk to my comrade and poet LA Warman, and also share some thoughts about student organizing and the pro-Palestine encampments.

Hey everyone, it feels so good to be back. I have a longer story on why my blog was on hiatus for so long, but for now I just want to get back into writing and sharing my thoughts with yall. The blog has been re-named to CHAPTERS because to be honest I feel like I had no attachment to “Field Notes.” Not really sure where that came from!  I chose CHAPTERS because of my obvious obsession with books, but also to indicate that there are so many different aspects of myself and my community that I hope to make into something cohesive. I have a ton of different interests like basketball, queer line dancing, fashion, glitter, pink, but also I’m striving to be a disciplined Communist, a thoughtful partner and friend, and a writer who is dedicated to improving my craft. 

For this new era of my blog you can expect a good amount of interviews with friends and comrades like my interview below with the Lambda Award-winning poet LA Warman. I also take some time to talk about the student encampments for Palestine that are popping up across the country. In general, you can use this blog to find my thoughts on news, politics, movies, books, and food, along with updates on my other writing and speaking engagements. That’s enough of an introduction for now, I hope you enjoy CHAPTER 1. 

CHAPTER 1: Basketball, Poetry, and The Erotic with LA Warman 

I'm so excited for this CHAPTER because I’m talking to my dear friend LA Warman. We’ve been friends for about five years and we’ve organized together on a campaign throughout that time as well. My favorite memory with LA was my first Christmas in New York where we spent Christmas Eve at an overpriced tiny plate restaurant then went to Cubbyhole. LA is also one of my favorite friends to talk about basketball with so I’m also excited that she’s here to give her thoughts so close to the start of the WNBA season. I’ll leave it up to LA to continue the rest of her introduction. 

One thing I’m most excited about with CHAPTERS is conducting interviews with people I’m close to like friends and comrades! Can you share a little about how we met? 

We first met when some weirdo invited me to their tinder date with you at the iconic Brooklyn lesbian bar, Gingers! The date (I’m assuming) wasn’t great for you but I'm glad we met! We were in similar organizing circles in NYC and began spending more time together when you started the Disability Justice Mutual Aid Fund. After that we went on to work on organizing an incarcerated survivor defense campaign. 

You’re the Principal of Warman School, an online writing school that “exists counter to every other school.” You’ve graduated over 600 students. How did the Warman School come to exist? 

I graduated with an MFA in poetry from U Mass Amherst in 2017 and applied for teaching jobs at a variety of colleges. When I calculated the pay per hour (with commuting),  it was really dismal so I decided to do my own courses. My very first course I taught was Write the Erotic Body. For a while I ran the school part time, but since Covid I’ve transitioned to doing it full time.

(a picture of LA holding two different copies of her book Whore Foods)

What do you enjoy most about teaching classes? 

I love meeting new people and listening to their stories. All people are good writers and so many have been taught that they aren’t through academic institutions. 

At the Warman School you teach a wide array of subjects. How do you usually determine subjects for the semester? 

Much of what I do is mood based. In the winter seasons of darkness I often teach Depression class. In the summer I love teaching erotics. In the spring I teach God. Death class is year round because it’s always happening but especially felt in the fall. This year I am teaching Lesbian class during pride!

Do you have any favorite class subjects? Least favorites? 

My favorite class alternates but often it’s depression. I love that class because people come as they are. Often students never turn their cameras on or participate in a normative way.  Sometimes they turn their cameras on and they are in bed. I love the dynamic of people choosing supportive ways for themselves to be in class. 

You’re a working poet. Are there any interesting dynamics that come up with teaching people all over the world?

I feel lucky to teach people across the world. I find myself really connected to writers in different places who share similar values to me. I recently got to go on a European teaching tour and was excited each step along the way to be hosted by queer people organizing for Palestine in their different countries. The only difficulty with being a writer and a teacher is often I find when I am teaching I cannot write so I have to be sure I have breaks in my teaching schedule.

Do you ever feel a sense of competition or jealousy with your students? 

No :-)   hehe But, for real, I think if people are writing from themselves and their voice there is no competition and there is room for everyone. I have confidence in my work so don’t feel jealous.

The branding for the Warman School is pretty minimalistic, usually white and black with simple fonts, smiley faces. How did this style come about? 

This style is something I have been working with in all my work for the last 15 years. At the beginning of my poetry practice many of my poems took the form of objects. I made stress balls, I made shopping bags, and postcards. I made poetry clothes which had black text on a white background covering the body, creating different ways of reading and being read. For me poetry is very much about images and the relation of white space. White space creates pauses, gaps in time, rhythms. I want everything I create to be a poem!

(a screenshot of the Warman School About Us on a black background with black font that is highlighted with white)

Are there any poets or writing you’re enjoying right now? 

I love Cyrée Jarelle Johnson. I recently had the pleasure of meeting the book Yabo by Alexis De Veaux which changed my life with its beauty. I generally like sparse short works, I don’t think anything should be longer than novella length. I try to always be reading a mix of poetry and non-fiction. My hard heady book I’m slowly creeping through at the moment is Tip of the Spear by Orisanmi Burton.

One of your courses is on eroticism. Can you say more about what eroticism is to you?
For me, erotic writing is body based. It can include sex writing but also any writing that emerges from an embodied place. I can only write what I can see so for me that begins in the body.

In the class students read Audre Lorde’s Uses of the Erotic. Why do you find this piece of writing still relevant today? 

Audre Lorde’s essay is still so relevant today. Elements of this essay create conversations, questions, and feelings people are still engaging with today. Lorde posits that we live in a deeply anti-erotic culture which persists and seemingly multiplies. Today, thinking about laws enacted against sex workers and the way those in power hate and try to repress the erotic makes it just as relevant as it originally was. 

Let's pivot a little to basketball. You and I have recently bonded over our love for women’s basketball, especially the women's NCAA March Madness tournament. Have you always been interested in basketball? If not, what sparked your interest this year?

Growing up I was obsessed with basketball. I will never forget reading Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes’ autobiographies as a tween. I was lucky enough to live near a WNBA team, the Portland Fire. I went to a few games and loved it so much my first AIM username was iloveWNBA56. 

In the last couple of years I have reconnected to women’s basketball as a way to connect with my younger self. For a while I repressed most of my childhood and didn’t have many memories I looked back at positively. As part of my ~healing journey~ I made a scrapbook of my childhood a year or two ago and found a photo of my childhood bedroom and noticed how many WNBA posters and stickers I had up on the wall. It makes me happy to know my childhood self who had no idea she was a lesbian see me attend WNBA games on cute dates and be fully herself. 

This year has been great to see the fandom grow and be gifted with countless fan Tik Toks and watch the games on TV!

Who are your favorite players or teams and why?

I love Angel Reese so much! She is a magnetic presence who has done so much to popularize women’s basketball. I also love the entire South Carolina team and Dawn Staley! I also love KK Arnold because of her Tik Tok presence and general good vibe. In the WNBA I am rooting for everybody but this year I think I’ll be a Chicago Sky fan!

Do you see a connection between basketball and poetry? What about basketball and eroticism? 

Language is limited. The way we recombine words makes poetry. In some ways basketball is similar. There is a limited amount of moves and plays one can make with their body. In the end the result is the same, there is a point, but how we get there changes. In the end of the words there is a poem but everyone writes it differently. 

Basketball is very erotic! It is a sport that is all body and strength. I think players are at their best when they are all body and no thinking. Also one thing I enjoy about going to games in person is it is a space where public lesbian desire is allowed. We can desire players, strength, skill, in a way that values and appreciates. :) I mean, think about the amount of Paige Bueckers thirst traps! 

You and I talked about the WNBA draft, and you’ve called it a little depressing. Can you explain why you feel that way? 

It’s sad to me when people do great work but the resources are limited. To see people get drafted and say things like they want to help improve the life of their family was hard because the WNBA salary and resources are limited. Even amongst those drafted, many won't make the final rosters of the team. There are only 12 teams and 144 spots. There are SO MANY amazing players who have sacrificed everything to play and many will have to go overseas to get on rosters. It’s such an injustice to their labor and skill. 

Additionally, the racial dynamics are hard because white players in the WNBA get more deals with outside companies to really profit beyond the meager base salary. I wish more players, like those on the winning South Carolina team got the Caitlin Clark treatment. Stardom is about creating narratives and telling stories, we need more people telling these stories about non-white players. It’s hard to sit there and witness all the inequalities in our society and the way it intersects.  

Any new projects on the horizon? How can people keep in touch with you and support your work?

I’m writing a poetic novella about my relationship to debt! You can follow me on instagram @WarmanSchool or see my website www.WarmanSchool.com

ON THE ENCAMPMENTS

By now many of you have probably seen the videos about the encampments and their subsequent repression on Columbia University’s campus. Since the start of Columbia’s encampments, various forms of encampments have popped up across the country. A most recent estimate I’ve seen says that 33 colleges right now have their own form of encampments, with Emory University in Atlanta (where I live), forming one as recently as this morning. In between writing and editing this post 18 people have been arrested, along with tear gassed. More information will be at the bottom of this post. The University of Michigan (where I attended graduate school) is also hosting an encampment, which is really amazing given the rampant Zionism within the University and the recent backlash against organizers for disrupting an Honors convocation. 

After what I’ve witnessed to sadly be a lull in public support for Palestine, the encampment movement has seemingly reinvigorated the fight by putting activism against “Israel’s” genocidal reign of terror back on the front pages of the internet. I want to be clear, I am in full support of these brave and passionate students. As a former student organizer I understand the risks of the actions they are taking, and also believe them to be even more dangerous given advancements in technological repression and police violence post 2020. Since the situation is so fast-moving I don’t feel confident in giving my full-formed opinions on everything right now. There are some points that I want to bring to our attention to which I’ve learned through a lot of trial and error within student movements. 

1. Meetings are where radical movements go to die. In an attempt to stop protests, the administration will reach out swiftly to have meetings to “hear student demands.” This is a complete trap. The purpose of these meetings is to create an environment where protest demands are so caught up in bureaucracy that by the time the demands are implemented, student organizers have already graduated. Because the university administration is framed as so busy and so important the meetings may cause organizers to believe that they’re actually making headway. Universities have high-powered legal teams that can help protect them, student organizers do not. What organizers DO have is public support, so no meetings should be taking place behind closed doors. If administration has something to say they can say it at the encampments or via recording. 

2. Students need to connect their work to the larger and past struggles. Many students are attending schools that are actively gentrifying the neighborhoods they are in. People’s communities are being knocked down for school expansions, and homelessness (including encampments) is being criminalized as neoliberalism means that schools simply exist to increase profit instead of providing an actual education. In order for organizing to be strategic, students need to understand the historical context of the communities they attend school in, they need to connect with the larger community (and not in a transactional way), and they need to learn more about organizing efforts of the past within their institution. This will help them stop reinventing the wheel and also help them tap into wisdom that past organizers can give. 

3. No prestige. I’m against making assumptions that all students that attend Ivy League schools are rich or the children of politicians. However, we cannot deny the amount of power that having a degree from an Ivy League institution gives students. We cannot deny the difference in press and attention given to prestigious universities over smaller and public colleges. This should be interrupted at every opportunity, and those at schools with more resources should lend support to those with less. For example, Cal Poly Humboldt, a school that has made press for a high number of houseless students, has gone toe to toe with the cops and engaged in militant struggle that has not been seen by other colleges so far. We need to fight back against the urge to lend prestige to organizers based on which schools they attend, and instead focus on point 4. 

4. Keep the focus on Palestine. The encampments on Columbia were started because of the institution’s investments in “Israel.” The encampments are being repressed because of student and faculty support for Palestine, and against the United States continued funding of the assault on Gaza. Just this week, the US approved another $17 billion in funding for the “Israeli” military. News reports are coming out about another mass grave being discovered at Gaza’s Nasser Medical Complex,  with close to 200 people being buried. I say all of this to remind us that our movement needs to be rooted in supporting Palestinian resistance, instead of just the larger overall right to free speech on campuses. The work needs to be centered on the thawabet, and it also needs to be done with reverence and an understanding that as of October 7th, over 34,000 people have been martyred in Palestine. Any part of our movement that does not center and remember that fact will unfortunately create cyclical organizing that faces repression and will have its radical demands watered down, as we saw with the 2020 protests against the murder of George Floyd. Luckily Columbia student organizers re-focused us in a recent Instagram post reading about “rejecting co-optation and centering Gaza.” 

An article in Mondoweiss by Yumna Patel  also encourages us to keep our focus on Palestine as well. Titled “The student protests for Palestine are awe-inspiring. But we must not get distracted from Gaza,” the article states 

“These protests should be amplified, and the attempts by the universities to quash free speech and free expression should be condemned. But we must force ourselves and the media to re-center the conversation to Gaza. After seven months, 200 days, of genocide, the people of Gaza cannot afford our distraction.”

ON EMORY STUDENTS 

The situation at Emory is changing minute by minute, with reports that students, and faculty have been arrested along with tear gassed, shot at with rubber bullets, etc. The asks are also changing pretty quickly too. To stay in the loop about what’s happening I recommend following these accounts on Instagram. I’ll continue to update this post with more information as the days go on. There are talks of a press conference, vigil, and protest, but again I don’t want to share things before I’m certain on when/where etc.

@atlsolfund - for bail fund support

@emorystopcopcity

@aucsjp

@auc_sicc 

@mainline_atl

@atlpresscollective 

@atlantaalliance 

@atlradicalart