So essentially this last social practice did not go as planned, not with the initial project with focusing on reconnecting to nature.

With the recent media focus on police brutality and racially motivated hate crimes, a new serious disrupture became apparent in my life:

I have been postponing activism by thinking I have all the time in the world - or at least as long as it takes to finish my degrees - to learn about Marxism, post-colonial theory, feminist philosophy and other notions until I am ready and have the responsibility to attack with all my effort in an anti-racist, anti-capitalist project and activism. Clearly, there is no time for me to slowly brew this pile of knowledge.

So, I changed the remaining assignments at Erasmus Uni to address police brutality and the insurgency in the US. I spent the past week immersing myself in engaging in the type of activism I thought I did not have time before, especially because of a double degree that had me busy with assignments all the time. I would always prioritize these school assignments.

Not (starting) this week: I prioritized thinking about what I COULD DO different instead of going to the woods to build a fortress with my sister. Instead, I talked with her. I talked with my mom who just a couple days ago began her phrase with "I am not racist but ...". I engaged in sharing information and resources for education on social media, confronted friends who would rather go to a picnic than to the BLM protest, and went to the protest with them. I had many conversations, and I thought about what I could do in the future. Most importantly, I mended the mindset of "I will be active when I have the perfect knowledge." Because that moment will never come. I am focusing on doing the most I can now.

I am for example planning ways for more accessible education with my friends, to try provide more of the eye-opening theories I have learned at the university for others to read
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On the right is one prototype of a concept that I want to develop further, to prevent distraction from phones when reading. This would essentially work similarly to a live broadcast of a mukbang but, instead of eating, with people uniting to read via Instagram live.

So the mending gesture would in itself be this re-occurringly broadcasted video in a virtual space for people to slow down and read. Also for myself, as I find it hard to find time to read apart from the reading I do for school.

I will develop this and other ideas over the summer, to figure out better ways of anti-racist work and building awareness and knowledge for myself and others.

Thank you so much for the practice! Wish it was in real life of course, but next time then. Have a nice summer and see you in the fall latest!