Thinking Blogger Award...

I've been feeling icky, frustrated with anger and ready to break something - so hell, why not participate in something nice?

I'm really honoured that Veronica (Nine Pearls) gave me a thinking blogger award. It was totally not expected.

From Veronica's:

Long ago, and far away, people with “personal websites” and “online journals” used to hand out awards left and right. We also joined “rings” and “collabs” and “cliques.” Anything for a link.

Someone named ilker yoldas has resurrected that fine tradition, adding a memey twist. And, I have been tagged by Andrea and Antiprincess for a “Thinking Blogger Award!” And, I get a shiny button, too!

The participation rules are simple:

1) If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2) Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
Optional:
3)Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn’t fit your blog).

So these are my e-sheroes, I want to emphasize I've chosen people not because they just make me 'think' but because they possess integrity and a healthy dose of self-reflexivity - which I think is fundamental to any kind of 'progressive' thought. (Links will be included to some of my personal favorites, we've got all this good writing on the web - we need to recyle it!):

1) Yolanda, the Primary Contradiction - what can I say about this woman to justify how awesome she is? She writes concisely, her writing is accessible, honest and holistic. She's never scared to be open, introspective and forthright, often allowing readers into her heart. Even her most shortest posts are powerful. A taste of her fine-writing:

The Race-Gender Character of Marxists
FIST Statement: Prosecuting an Ideology
Capturing the Power Trinity

2) Zooey, Diaries of an Eccentric Nerd Athabahibiji - Zooey makes learning an adventure (I sound like a sesame street character) and not just because she's an educator but because she asks tough questions! She manages to balance this fine-line between our own internal struggles and how they connect to our lived experiences and our politics. Zooey shows and acknowledges how we as people living in the empire are both the oppressed and the oppressors. Now this is true introspection, bareboned honesty - and did I mention she's a damn fine poet too?

Pedagogical Anxiety 1 and 2.
Racialized Anger

3) DesiItaliana, Pass the Roti - I haven't gotten a chance to read a lot of her writng, but I am confident that I will constantly be challenged by her thought-provoking posts and am already impressed with her introspection!

Why I Never Hung Out With the Indian Club

4) Spotted Ele, The Bipolar View - From just a very 'liberal' understanding of disability - I'm coming to learn more about it from the internet. Partially thanks to bloggers like Spotted Ele. But spotted ele is doing more than that, she often manages to connect how disability/gender/poverty and race come together. Spotted ele, like the other bloggers is self-reflexive.

What Is the Bipolar View Like?
The Twisty Thread and the Response (Not about "Twisty" but about making derogatory mental health references)

5) Sparkle Matrix - A mutli-media anti-sexist extravaganza. Sparkle makes patriarchy bashing fun! From odd objects, funky videos and a category called 'Nice matters' - what's not to love? Sparkle doesn't provide a lot of commentary - instead lets you ponder the sexism in the images/videos/articles that she links to for yourself. She's also repeatedly demonstrated that she is 'willing to admit' she's not always right and if the commenting gets out of hand, she calls it out.

There are tonnes of more people I would have mentioned, but in my limited time on the net, I've found that these bloggers in particular show a high-level of introspection and that's why I mentioned them. As I blog more - and read more blogs, I'll make sure to mention more people in the future.

Honorary award:

Jimmy H. - Thanks for always directing me to relevant articles/comics, showing me the importance of history, demonstrating the importance of reading widely and how it all connects. You are totally fab!