#437: Three Ways To Love Black

Also: A profile of Harlem, a class on conservatism, and an exposé on emotional labor

Happy Thursday, Loyal Readers. Thank you for being here.

Part of why I do this newsletter is to find articles for us to read from a wide range of publications. Don’t get me wrong: There’s nothing bad about The Atlantic or The Washington Post. But we already read those. What you’ve told me over the years is that you appreciate the articles I select from lesser-known sources.

So here goes: Today’s issue includes pieces from Black Life Everywhere, The Ringer, Boston Magazine, and Aeon. Choose from articles exploring:

• three ways to look at Black love

• the fight to save Harlem from the “maw of gentrification”

• what happens when you offer a class on conservative thought at a liberal school

• a new way (at least for me) to think about emotional labor

For all you completionists (I know you’re out there!), you get extra points if you carve out a whole hour and read all four articles. Tell me if you do!

🙋🏾‍♀️ 🙋🏽 🙋🏽‍♀️ It is time to say hi! (Please do.)

You know what? We’ve been doing this newsletter a bazillion years (aka 9), and we’ve never once had a roll call where everyone quickly says hi.

Can we do that now? I’d like it.

✏️ Say hi and share anything. But if you’re shy, here are 3 ideas:

• What’s your name? Where are you located?

• Why did you subscribe to Article Club in the first place?

• What are topics you love to read about? writers you love?

I look forward to hearing from you. All you need to do is click the button below.

⭐️ Thank you for saying hi! Now let’s get to this week’s selections.

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1️⃣ Three Ways To Love Black

Benji Hart is an interdisciplinary artist, author, and educator whose work centers Black radicalism, queer liberation, and prison abolition. In this piece, they offer three everyday vignettes, along with commentary, that explore and illuminate the category of Black love. They write:

What does it mean to commit to loving Black people when no one else will — sometimes not even other Black people? What does it mean to insist on being loved, when the world has done its best to render you unloveable? What does it mean to love Black people enough to count yourself among them, to take on the responsibility for healing yourself as an act of protection for those in your care? What are the ways in which that depth of healing can only be found in the love of other Black people?

By Benji Hart • Black Life Everywhere • 8 min

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2️⃣ ‘The Sin Is Greed’

I don’t know New York at all. But I understand what Lex Pryor is saying when he writes that there’s now a Whole Foods at the corner of West 125th Street and Lenox Avenue. There’s also a CVS under a Marshalls, and a Starbucks; a Chipotle and a Wingstop and a Wells Fargo — right where Billie Holliday used to sing.

How much of gentrification, Mr. Pryor asks, is about race in America, versus how we accumulate capital? “There is no dividing line,” says Claudette Brady, executive director of Save Harlem Now! “Everybody says America’s greatest sin is slavery. Slavery is not a sin. The sin is greed.”

This well-written article delves into the complex history and transformation of Harlem, from its roots as Muscoota, Lenape land, to its evolution into a Black American mecca. I appreciate how Mr. Pryor profiles Harlem through historical accounts, personal reflections, and the current battle to preserve its grandeur.

By Lex Pryor • The Ringer • 24 mins

Ayka and Tuba are ALL EARS awaiting the next Article Club discussion on April 28. Big thanks to loyal reader Sele for this wonderful photo.

3️⃣ A Conservative Thought Experiment At A Liberal School

Eitan Hersh teaches political science at Tufts University in Massachusetts. A few years back, he had an idea: What if he challenged his mostly liberal students to a course on American conservative thought? A right-of-center scholar himself, Prof. Hersh fretted that liberal professors in New England outnumber their conservative counterparts 28 to 1. He worried about groupthink and the coddling of young people from the potential positive impact of free speech and divergent thought. This is the story of Prof. Hersh’s class this past semester. For the most part, students appreciated the opportunity to test out ideas without fear of incendiary backlash. And then came October 7.

By Rachel Slade • Boston Magazine • 20 mins

4️⃣ Emotional Labor: It’s Dirty Work

I used to think the term “emotional labor” referred to the work that people (mostly women) perform to support the emotional needs of others (mostly men). But in this informative piece, clinical arts therapist Susanna Crossman goes to the origin of the term, citing sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild’s 1979 definition. Emotional labor is “the management of feeling to create a publicly observable facial and bodily display.” In other words, it’s the work we do to process the gap between what we’re presenting to the world and what we’re feeling inside. In hospitals, where Ms. Crossman works, emotional labor is gendered. And like schools, hospitals do not afford workers the time and space to regulate their emotions. Yes, we’re told to “take a break” and “practice self-care.” But do so, of course, on our own, on our own time.

By Susanna Crossman • Aeon • 15 min

Thank you for reading this week’s issue. Hope you liked it. 😀

To our 10 new subscribers — including Kimberly, Arlo, Melissa, Cristina, John, Annie, Lucia, Ismail, and Jack — I hope you find the newsletter a solid addition to your email inbox. Welcome to Article Club! Please make yourself at home.

Lately I’ve been asking subscribers what they like most about Article Club. Loyal reader Nicki said, “It’s the community.” I agree: You all are a kind, thoughtful group of people. But Nicki got me thinking that we might just getting started. (Hence the roll call request above.) Yes, we have the monthly discussions, and yes, we have the quarterly HHHs. But what’s next? For all of you Article Club Enneagram 5s, 6s, and 7s out there, this is your time to share your thoughts on how we can deepen our reading community. I’d love to hear your ideas.

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