On this day, 23 November 1913, Margarita Ortega, a Mexican schoolteacher, sharpshooter and anarchist was executed by the government of Victoriana Huerta. Two years earlier, Margarita and her daughter left her partner saying “I love you; but I also love those who suffer, and for them I fight and risk my life. I don’t want to see more men and women giving their effort, their health, their intelligence, their future to make the bourgeoisie rich. I don’t want there to be men who order around other men any more”. They threw themselves into organising and fighting in the turbulent events of the Mexican revolution. After her arrest four days earlier she was tortured but refused to name any for comrades, shouting “Cowards! Tear my skin to pieces, break my bones, drink all of my blood, and I will never denounce one of my friends”.
More info in this short biography: https://libcom.org/history/articles/-1914-margarita-ortegahttps://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1272542342930913/?type=3
Since the main organizer of the previous festivities has migrated to Mastodon pretty much exclusively, ya’girl is gonna go ahead and get started on the Tumblr side of 2020′s Solarpunk Action Week. Mark your calendars for March 8th thru 14th!
“But Lyudmila,” you say, “why in the entire hell are you talking about March in November?” – Well, it’s never too early start learning and planning.
What is Solarpunk?
Solarpunk is a movement in speculative fiction, art, fashion and activism that seeks to answer and embody the question “what does a sustainable civilization look like, and how can we get there?” The aesthetics of solarpunk merge the practical with the beautiful, the well-designed with the green and wild, the bright and colorful with the earthy and solid. Solarpunk can be utopian, just optimistic, or concerned with the struggles en route to a better world — but never dystopian. As our world roils with calamity, we need solutions, not warnings. Solutions to live comfortably without fossil fuels, to equitably manage scarcity and share abundance, to be kinder to each other and to the planet we share. At once a vision of the future, a thoughtful provocation, and an achievable lifestyle.”
And what is Solarpunk Action Week?
Solarpunk Action Week is a week dedicated to taking and spreading actions–complex or simple, big or small–to build our communities, practice our skills, and make the world just a little bit better. Make a Tumblr post about whatever action(s) you take and tag me in or use the #SolarpunkActionWeek tag, and I’ll reblog them here and archive them over on @the-last-girl-scout. No doubt many other blogs will be doing likewise!
What can I do?
Oh, so many things! No, really, one of the reasons I’m making this post so far in advance is that the sheer number of possibilities can be pretty overwhelming. What you do is up to you! but for instructions and inspiration, you should check out the Sunbeam City wiki, and I’ve spent the past year archiving how-to and educational posts over on @the-last-girl-scout (check out the #solarpunk [obvs], #gardening, #diy, #organizing, and #afa tags specifically), and you should also go ahead and follow the laundry list of blogs I’m gonna @ at the bottom of this post b/c they are all very good, and make sure and check the notes for anyone/anything I may have forgotten!
You could start a garden, flyer/sticker your neighborhood, share food w/ your pals and the neighborhood, do some self-education, learn how to make something instead of buying it, overthrow capitalism … the possibilities are endless!
Get out there and invent the future, space cadets.
1. Mix three parts coarse ground coffee beans to one part clean crushed eggshells
2. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil
3. Remove pot from heat source, let sit for about a minute. Add grounds to pot and pour 1 cup of cold water over them.
4. Let steep for 1-2 minutes and serve.
The eggshells force more grounds to the bottom of the pot (improving texture) and raise the solution’s pH (making it less bitter, improving taste). The cold water likewise forces the grounds to sink.
There’s a very steep learning curve to this process and it’s very easy to fuck it up, but it’s worth the effort. Doing it wrong yields coffee that goes down like sand and tastes like battery acid, but getting it right gives you coffee with a delicious mild flavor and a smooth, almost creamy texture.
This blog is mostly so I can vent my feelings and share my interests. Other than that, I am nothing special.
If you don't like Left Wing political thought and philosophy, all things related to horror, the supernatural, the grotesque, guns or the strange, then get the fuck out. I just warned you.
