I’ve been thinking about starting a newsletter for a while now (as I’m sure you, your friends, your mom, and everyone else has). But I never could get around to a clear “why?” Why open a corner on the internet where I am obliged to write with some semblance of regularity? Why write more, for free, in my spare time when writing is already my day job?1 I do not dream of labor! Also, the sheer ego to need or create another space to share my thoughts with the masses (lol, my 6 closest friends) is a tiny bit embarrassing.
Also, what would it be about? My ~job~ is to write about politics for semi-obscure journals, write (hopefully, not obscure) books, and teach grads and undergrads about Black politics and Black feminism. I have enough to do! And, though capitalism is breathing down all of our necks and I fundamentally believe in a world where we do not have to work to meet our basic needs…I really like what I do and I find it fulfilling.
So what’s the “why” I’ve settled upon? What is the reason, as sister Cardi demands, that I’m embracing the 2010 blogger in me and taking a stab at a long-form (weekly? bi-weekly? once in a blue moon? TBD) newsletter?
I’ve come up with a couple of things. And none of them are good market reasons, like, I see a gap in the newsletter space and I simply must fill it. Anything you’d read here you could probably read elsewhere, maybe from a better or more interesting writer. But, alas, here I am on a Sunday morning, skipping run club, and typing furiously on Substack. Here’s why.
A want of connection. A few months back, I realized that I missed reading long-form, personal, not ad-centric writing online. I wanted to read thoughtful pieces that reflect upon the human condition. And Twitter just doesn’t cut it for me (or anyone?). It feels less communicative and much more dumpster fire-y than an actual space for connection. So I started reading substacks (like this one and this one and this one) with thoughtful writers reflecting upon themselves and the world, and I found that this can be such a warm and introspective corner of the Internet. I want to be a part of cultivating that. So I hope this can become a space, without pretense, where we create a thinking community and people write back to me as I write to them.
I need to practice my writing. To be good at anything requires practice and I want to be a great writer. It is funny to admit that. Maybe part of the impetus here is that time is ticking (omg I’m turning 30 soon) and I can’t believe I haven’t written anything remotely close to Beloved yet (though something tells me I’ll always be chasing Morrison). Plus writing for research is such a long slog where you write ad nauseum on a very narrow topic. What if I want to write about biking in Long Beach or a movie I saw or a book I read? What if I want to experiment with form or language? This can be a space for writing without bounds, without expectation.
Related to the last reason, I think this could provide a chance to practice vulnerability in my writing. Research (mine, at least) is also not exactly the space to work out deeply personal reflections and queries. I promise not to get too navel gaze-y (yikes), but I feel this could be another space to access more parts of myself (and hopefully all of us).
I’ve said to myself, “Well, if you are going to start writing in this manner, why not pursue a formal or legacy publication to make it worthwhile/ legit?” And I think the reason I’ve settled upon is…this is easier : ) I would love for that to come— to have a regular column somewhere important. But for now, it’s just you and me, Julie and Julia style, chit-chatting about whatever we fancy on part and parcel.
Thanks for reading.
—J
This newsletter will probably remain un-paywalled but feel free to subscribe for not free or to buy me a coffee.