Ep. 60: It's the Most Wonderful Time To Reignite the War on Christmas

EQ: How should we handle holidays in the classroom, are they uniquely special abroad, and what do we have to be thankful for this year?

We review our generally warm feelings about this time of the year, but acknowledge our very Christian upbringings. We delve into why it’s not okay to force Christmas imagery in the classroom even if you are “properly teaching it” or trying to be “exclusive”. We blame Tom Rademacher for restarting the war on Christmas (aka white middle class women) with this tweet:

If you don’t get the reference, check out this article from Snopes on the history of the struggle.

Annie and I reflect on why so many Americans “need” to compare everything to Christmas (Christian) traditions. Go read Stop Calling Hanukah the Jewish Christmas. Finally we toast (pass out hypothetical cookies) to our dear friends and family. We are free with the goal for all the shady folks making the holidays about consumerism and Elf on a Shelf.

Do Your Fudging Homework:

• Hope: Teaching Tolerance series : anti-bias guide to the holidays

• Annie: make your New Years’ Resolution outwardly focused this year and consider what you can do to make the world a better place. List your favorite social justice causes and dedicate extra attention to them this year.

Ep. 36: To All Those Who Deserve Hand-painted Christmas Cookies

Our EQ: Who made 2018 a little brighter and did their part to keep BS at bay?

We’re back with Katy Evans, the Holiday Hero, to distribute hand painted Christmas cookies to a few of the wonderful men, women, and non-binary folxs making the world a better place by fighting stereotypes, white supremacy, social norms, and #beinglessbasic

In the first half of the episode we reminisce about delicious holiday foods and childhood memories. Cookie Trays? Hundred dollar mac and cheese? Hold on to your hats, because this episode is filled with Caucasity. What the hell is rice-mello? Have you ever tried Divinity? Did you know you can smoke your cocktails with an overpriced William & Sonoma Cocktail Smoking Box.

If you’re feeling crafty, make some Reindeer Footprints or gag gifts of reindeer, elf, or snowman poop.  Explore the art of popcorn balls. You can also try your hand at the many many craft projects Hope attempted with medium success like DIY ornaments or Novel Clocks.

Christmas Cookie Distribution

• Axl Rose because he’s using his platform to call out BS. Read more: Axl Rose Hates Trump as much as You Do

• Other hetero white-dudes standing up to white nonsense on social media

• The Blue Wave (read “The Real Metaphor of The Blue Wave”)

• Queer Eye (read “Why the Queer Eye Reboot is One of the Most Important Shows on TV Right Now”)

• Who Shot YA Podcast “A movie podcast that isn’t just a bunch of straight white dudes”

• Keep It (Crooked Media)

• March for Our Lives

• Ellen Pompeo for stepping out to describe what allyship looks like (yo, this conversation is ON POINT).

• White Nonsense Roundup

• Laverne Cox became the first transgender woman to be on the cover of Cosmo

• The New York Times, while bogus in a number of other areas, started a project to publish obituaries of notable women they had historically overlooked, including activists, scientists, and Olympians. Read more: How an Obits Project on Overlooked Women was Born

• Lena Dunham Call Outs

  • Lena Dunham Accused A Woman of Lying

  • F Lena Dunham & the White Feminist Horse She Rode In On

• Ariana Grande’s “Thank u, next”

• Films like Crazy Rich Asians (which has been scrutinized more than any film about rich white people), Love Simon, Black Panther (Read Black Superheroes Matter)

• The Winter Olympics Adam Rippon “On What It Means to ‘Show Every Part of Who You Are’”

• Ava DuVernay became the first black woman to direct a film that grossed more than $100 million at the domestic box office. Read more: The Ava Effect

• The Me Too Movement and the fall of Harvey Weinstein

• Tacoma Against Nazis

• The Mueller investigation and the promise that public officials and their handlers can and will be held accountable for wrongdoing

Guilty Favesies:

Rue Paw’s Drag Race

• Hope: Eshakti & online stores that suck you in via Facebook or Instagram ads

• Annie: Instagram - celebrities, makeup tutorials, and Hiking Bangers

• Katy: Choir Stuff, especially choral music

Do Your Fudging Homework:

• Hope: none from me!

• Annie: ride that positive high from the holiday season and commit to a cause that will make the world a better place in 2019. I’m going to try and do more to support LGBTQ+ youth organizations in and around Tacoma.

• Katy: Speak your gratitude.