april 2026, adult braces and Black panthers

This month, because of a funny series of events, I spent half an hour or so with Fred Hampton, Jr.

Fred Hampton was the deputy chairman of the national Black Panther Party and a major advocate for equal rights, even founding the Rainbow Coalition. He was also one of the many fatalities of the Panther Party when he was drugged and then killed by Chicago police during a raid on his home. He was killed, alongside Mark Clark (another Panther), while asleep in bed with his pregnant girlfriend. She was 8.5 months pregnant, soon to give birth to Fred's son, Fred Hampton, Jr.

The way it all came together is less interesting than the fact that I sat at my local bar, bought Fred Hampton's son two (non-alcoholic!) ginger beers, and talked to him about his life, my life, my dad, his dad, and the organizing and activism work he does. He invited me, along with my brothers, to the Hampton House at the end of August.

And then I quietly went home and barely talked to anyone about it. Thank you to my neighbor Tendai and to the new Black Panther Park in Skyway for making a dream I didn't even know I had come true.

The additional aspect of this I haven't explored is that Fred Hampton, Jr., wanted to hear about my dad and my experience as a Black person. He called the Black Panthers my ancestors, which is exactly how I feel, but a sentiment I have a hard time expressing, as a white-presenting Black woman with a white-ass mom. Maybe I'll explore this in my memoirs one day.

Here's what I read in April. It was a lot!

[books i read]

Daughters Healing From Family Mobbing: Stories and Approaches to Recover from Shunning, Aggression, and Family Violence by Stephanie A. Sellers, PHD (2023) | Quick summary: Stories about and methods for recovering from shunning, aggression, and violence from your own family.
This book didn't really resonate with me, and I ended up skimming toward the end, which, though I read a lot, I don't usually do. Though the concept of "family mobbing" is more intense than my particular flavor of childhood trauma, I did have many abandonment dreams after reading this. Fun!
[nonfiction, trauma, written by an advocate and writer, medium-length read]

Building a Life Worth Living: A Memoir by Marsha M. Linehan (2020) | Quick summary: A memoir about the journey from suicidal teenager to developer of DBT-therapy.
This is one of the best books I've ever read in my life, and as someone who is actively studying social work, a better lesson in therapy and social work than many of my classes have provided me. Funnily enough, Dr. Linehan teaches at the University of Washington, where I am currently enrolled, earning my MSW! I told my boyfriend I was going to email her about how impactful her book has been on me, but I haven't made it that far yet. Maybe I'll do it right after I publish this.
[nonfiction, memoir, therapy, written by a professor of psychology, psychiatry, and behavioral sciences, longer read]

Adult Braces: Driving Myself Sane by Lindy West (2026) | Quick summary: Writer Lindy West's road-trip journey across the country while contemplating the acceptance of her polyamorous marriage.
Well, hell. I want to write a whole post about this book, but a) the discourse has died, and b) I have insider information that isn't appropriate for me to share widely. What I can say is that this is a really shitty book. It's written inconsistently, so it's hard to follow. West writes using chapters of prose and chapters of transcription of her voice notes while on the road, and the writing itself is wildly inconsistent. Every time I felt like anytime West had something eloquent and worthwhile to say, she ruined it by following it up with what reads like a text I'd send my best friends. Because of the discourse around this book, I did read it through a harsher lens, but ultimately, if you're going to condescend to your readers for not knowing how to read your writing...write better? Nothing you have heard recently about Lindy West is her readers' problem. It's her problem.
[nonfiction, memoir, written by an american writer and comedian, medium-length read]

[books i heard]

Revolutionary Suicide by Huey P. Newton (1973) | Quick summary: The memoir of Huey P. Newton, a founding Black Panther Party member.
This has obviously been on my reading list forever, but a few months ago, I researched some of the mammoth memoirs on my list to see if any of them have audiobooks that were worth listening to. This obviously wasn't read by Huey P. Newton himself, but the narrator was lovely, and I often forgot it wasn't Newton himself, which is what I'm looking for in an audiobook. Besides the production, which was great, the content itself is deeply significant to me. And because, as I explained in the beginning of the bookletter, I spent time with Fred Hampton, Jr. this month, it was even more apt that I'd been reading this. In fact, Fred and I talked about this book at length. He said it's required reading for everyone in his life.
[nonfiction, autobiography, written by a Black american revolutionary and political activist, long listen, read by C.T. Hayes]

Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America by Beth Macy (2025) | Quick summary: An exploration of the political change in a family and in a town.
I fucking loved Dopesick and think Beth Macy is a fantastic writer. I should probably read more from her, but years after Dopesick, I hopped right into this sort of memoir by her instead. In Paper Girl, Macy explores what feels like the decline of her hometown, Urbana, Ohio. She connects her tense familial relationships to the nation's broader issues of poverty and political division, which is not only interesting but relatable. (Not for me personally, but for many, many people since 2016.)
[nonfiction, memoir, written by a white american journalist and non-fiction writer, medium-length listen, read by the author]

The Mother of Black Hollywood: A Memoir by Jenifer Lewis (2017) | Quick summary: The actress Jenifer Lewis's memoir.
There was some Threads thread(?) about good celebrity memoirs and someone mentioned Jenifer Lewis and that was news to me! With no hold on the audiobook at the library, I probably finished this in two days. Lewis's voice is fucking iconic and has been soothing me since childhood. Her story/ies are amazing, and though I had no idea there'd be so much fucking, I loved it through and through.
[nonfiction, memoir, written by a Black american actress and singer, medium-length listen, read by the author]

Matilda by Roald Dahl (1988) | Quick summary: Powerful, magical Matilda loves to read, and her family loves to not nurture her.
I've been doing a cute thing lately of falling asleep to audiobook versions of my favorite childhood books. It certainly doesn't hurt that the edition of Matilda that I listened to all throughout April, as I fell asleep, was narrated by Kate Winslet! I think I'm going to keep doing this. Basically, I spent all of April listening to this as I fell asleep, which means relistening to the same bits over and over, but isn't that what childhood books are all about?
[fiction, children's classic, written by a white british author, poet, and screenwriter, shorter listen, read by Kate Winslet]

How to Lose Your Mother: A Daughter's Memoir by Molly Jong-Fast (2025) | Quick summary: A memoir about the daughter of a famous mother.
When I said earlier that I'd been emotional this month, I believe Molly Jong-Fast is one of the reasons why. Her incredible memoir about her famous mother stirred up so many intense emotions in me. My mom isn't famous, but she is beloved, and a lot of my life has been spent yearning for a maternal connection, just as Molly's has. What a fucking raw and beautiful and honest book. I'm sad all over again, just writing this. Also, I fucking love the sound of Jong-Fast's voice, and found her narration to be gorgeous.
[nonfiction, memoir, written by a white american journalist, novelist, and political commentator, longer listen, read by the author]

More: A Memoir of Open Marriage by Molly Roden Winter (2024) | Quick summary: As the title suggests, a memoir about opening your marriage.
Before you get suspicious, I am not opening my marriage. Not only because I don't have a marriage, but because I'm not at all interested in having sex or being romantically linked to anyone but the one person I am. That's not a judgment call, but as an internalizer, a studier, a social worker, and someone well educated in mental health, I can tell when someone believes in polyamory, non-monogamy, and/or open marriages and when someone doesn't. After Adult Braces, I heard that Molly Roden Winter's memoir was The One To Read. And it is! It's tough and honest and vulnerable. There are times she wants the marriage open, and times she doesn't. There are honest and good and healthy conversations with her husband, and there are honest and bad and unhealthy conversations with her husband. This is a memoir about an open marriage wherein both married participants were on board. It makes it all the more interesting when you aren't trying to convince your readers that your husband isn't a piece of shit and no, really, you're happy!

[what I recommend]

• If you exist on this planet: Building a Life Worth Living
• If you care about history: Revolutionary Suicide
• If you have kids and/or want to revisit your inner child: Matilda
• If your mother wound aches: How to Lose Your Mother

Time is moving so rapidly that I want to throw up. As my best friend said the other day, she wants to marinate in time. I wish we were able to do that. I'm working on being mindful and not thinking about what I have to do next. So right now, I'm enjoying a cup of coffee as I edit this bookletter, and I'm not thinking about a damn thing else.

Thanks for reading. Love you bye.

"If you think thin people are better than fat people, then FUCK YOU. I hate you, and you deserve nothing." Adult Braces

“Maybe the difference between a bad childhood and a good childhood is that you never escape a bad childhood. Years later you’re still trying to fix it.” How to Fix Your Mother

“All the reading she had done had given her a view of life that they had never seen.” Matilda

“While life will always be filled with sound and fury, it can be more than a tale signifying nothing.” Revolutionary Suicide