Hello dollies. What a couple of weeks, right?

I have done quite a bit of hand-wringing in my various social media feeds, and I find myself out of words in this more long-form space. So instead of blathering on, I will suggest a few follows to you readers. I learned about some of these people in my many, many (too many?) years of post-secondary education. Some I was pointed to more recently. If you don’t already know them, allow me the pleasure of introducing you to:

Kimberle Crenshaw, @sandylocks on Twitter. A lawyer and law professor, she coined the term intersectionality, which began as an exploration of black women’s unique struggle for equality due to the intersection of race and gender. In other words, often solutions proposed to problems of racism benefit black males, and solutions proposed to problems of sexism predominantly benefit white females, leaving black women out of both conversations. The concept has expanded to include the intersection of other vulnerable traits, but Crenshaw continues to use her powerful position to make sure we do not leave Black women out of the conversation.

April Ryan, @AprilDRyan on Twitter. She’s been a White House correspondent since 1997 (the only Black female correspondent since the Clinton administration), and though she is famously maligned by Donald Trump she was well-respected by George W. Bush. (Look here for a friendly exchange where Bush buys her a cup of coffee and she thanks him, with some friendly sparring.)

Maria Taylor, @MariaTaylor on Twitter. We’ve been watching her ESPN reporting on College Game Day every fall Saturday morning for years, and she was formerly a star basketball player. She is, as they say, Having None Of It. It’s a scary thing to be a Black woman in a predominantly male career, and she’s put up with a lot over time, and I’m impressed by her willingness to use her platform to elevate important issues.

Karen Attiah, @KarenAttiah on Twitter. She is a Fulbright winner and editor at the Washington Post, and she has been shining a light on police brutality in her feed. It’s hard to read, so go in only if you’re feeling strong and ready, but she has amplified unprovoked attacks by police on protestors of all races, ages, and genders, and noted multiple times that police do NOT just commit violence upon Black men (although Black men and women are the predominant target, she elevates all videos of police brutality, regardless of the victim’s personal traits).

Jessica Yellin, @jessicayellin on Instagram. Jessica is a freelance reporter and former White House Correspondent who now publishes news reports under her own News Not Noise moniker. In the Information Age, our attention is everything, and that means absolute garbage is covered with just as much (and often more) frenzy than real news since it garners clicks. (Think Kardashian/Jenner sagas, vs. the Iraq War). Jessica wades through the firehose of information and pulls out the Need to Know – and I trust her editorial judgment.

Barnor Hesse, @barnor_hesse on Twitter. This is a new follow for me, but he’s an Associate Professor of Political Science at Northwestern, and you don’t get that job for being a slacker. He posts far less frequently and uplifts stories that I haven’t seen in a million other places. And he is, in a word (ok two words), Damn Smart.

Author/Poet Clint Smith, @ClintSmithIII on Twitter. He posts a lot about being the father of young black children, and anxiety about how they are cute now but quickly, before they are fully matured, they will be seen as a threat. His posts tend to be more tender, and he might be an easier follow for folks new to the issues, or interested in learning more in a gentle way. I’ll leave you with one of his poems below, published a year ago but it resonates today. Consider giving these folks a follow – not just now, during unrest, but when things settle down. They have enriched my life and given me exposure to some exquisite beauty that I would not otherwise have seen. I hope they can do the same for you!

When people say,“we have made it through worse before”

— Clint Smith

all I hear is the wind slapping against the gravestones
of those who did not make it, those who did not
survive to see the confetti fall from the sky, those who

did not live to watch the parade roll down the street.
I have grown accustomed to a lifetime of aphorisms
meant to assuage my fears, pithy sayings meant to

convey that everything ends up fine in the end. There is no
solace in rearranging language to make a different word
tell the same lie. Sometimes the moral arc of the universe

does not bend in a direction that will comfort us.
Sometimes it bends in ways we don’t expect & there are
people who fall off in the process. Please, dear reader,

do not say I am hopeless, I believe there is a better future
to fight for, I simply accept the possibility that I may not
live to see it. I have grown weary of telling myself lies

that I might one day begin to believe. We are not all left
standing after the war has ended. Some of us have
become ghosts by the time the dust has settled.