I’ve spent all week convinced the day is one day ahead, and I could have sworn yesterday was Friday. But nope. Maybe I was just looking forward to the weekend, fervently hoping it would appear sooner rather than later.
As always, if you’re enjoying Solidaritas, paid subscriptions are available for US$5/month or much much cheaper at US$40/year. Have a lovely weekend!
-Kate
Read
Naomi Jackson writes about giving birth as a Black woman in the United States:
American women are more likely to die in childbirth than women in the rest of the developed world, and black women are three to four times more likely to die than white women, regardless of income or education. In New York City, black women are nearly twelve times as likely as white women to die during childbirth or in the postpartum months. We have higher rates of infertility, fibroids, preeclampsia and postpartum health problems. I read testimonies from Beyoncé, Serena Williams, Tatyana Ali, and Allyson Felix, all of whom had traumatic birth experiences, including preeclampsia, pulmonary embolisms, and emergency C-sections. If a doctor doubted Serena Williams when she recognized the symptoms of blood clots, which she had experienced before, how would a black woman without the protection of celebrity fare?
Farmworkers in California are continuing to work in the fields despite horrific air quality due to huge wildfires.
Travelfish’s Stuart McDonald on rethinking tourism, the future of travel, budget vs luxury travel, and travel bubbles in Southeast Asia:
There is no relationship whatsoever between the “quality” of a tourist and what they spend. The quality is what they bring to a place, the non–monetary exchanges during the trip, and what they take home.
What do I mean by “non–monetary exchanges”? I mean the societal and cultural interchange and learning. The learning about each others’ cultures and ways of life. These are intangible in a monetary sense, but nevertheless priceless. This is the stuff that stays with you for a lifetime. This is, by far, the biggest long–term pay–off in travel.
Young Indonesian journalist Randy Mulyanto continues to impress. He wrote for SCMP about Chinese-Indonesians helping guide the future of Indonesia.
Tiffany Tsao wrote movingly about discovering some uncomfortable personal family history when she found an old photograph of her grandfather with then-Indonesian President Suharto.
A short piece on when your country is an environmental case study.
Watch and listen to
The Indonesian short film that has gone viral, Tilik. It’s ostensibly a 30 minute story about a group of women who ride into town on the back of a truck to visit their sub-district head who is sick in hospital, but it’s actually about fake news, the internet, and how not everything is as simple as some would have you believe. It’s in Javanese with embedded Indonesian subtitles, but you can access English subtitles if you need through the closed captions option. Get in soon - it’s already been watched 16 million times on YouTube! Very impressive for an Indonesian short film.
7am spoke to former Greens leader Bob Brown about proposed federal legislation that would hand power over environmental regulations to state governments. Brown takes an historical look at the issue and how it all began with John Howard.
A discussion on how to avoid emotional burnout while staying engaged with climate change.
Cook
I love nyonya-style chicken and potato curry. We used this recipe last night and it was almost spot on. I’m going to add some shrimp paste into the curry paste next time and I reckon that’ll resolve the umami issue.