We might still be living in a pandemic, but it’s safe to say that music festivals are officially back in full swing (especially for the fully vaccinated). This past weekend brought the return of Dirtybird records label head Claude VonStroke’s festival-meets-summer-camp event, Dirtybird Campout — held at the Modesto Reservoir Campgrounds in Central California. If you’ve ever been to Central Cali, you’re probably well aware that the summer doesn’t ever really go away, and judging from these photo selects we’ve received of the festivities, that held true for this year’s campout, where people rocked summer-ready attire exclusively.
Dirtybird Campout is essentially a summer camp for adults, and festival-goers were treated to epic tug-o-war matches, dodgeball games, all sorts of different races, a talent show, pie-eating contest, deep house yoga, and just about anything else you can think to do at a summer camp — all soundtracked by some of the most cutting-edge modern dance music with performances by Day Zero, Damian Lazarus, Tiga, Catz ‘N Dogs, and the legendary Detroit techno legend, Carl Craig. The whole event looks like some sort of nightmare version of Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, in the best possible way.
Check out some of the festivities below to escape those cool weather autumn blues.
The track, which teems with energy, was produced by Grammy Award winner Carlos de la Garza, who has worked with the likes of Paramore, Hayley Williams, Cherry Glazerr, and Best Coast. In a statement about her new single, Lahey describes the song’s theme:
“‘Spike The Punch’ is a song about the fun that comes with self-sabotage and reckless abandon. It’s big, it’s loud, it’s fun, it’s its own beast. There are some super sinister tones in there rubbing up against really bright anime style guitar harmonies (guitarmonies, anyone?..) and shout choruses. ‘Spike’ feels like a raucous bookend to navigating these cruelly unpredictable times. Touch wood.”
The visual was directed by Matt Sav and features a performance by Matthew Pope, who goes from sporting a business suit to rocking out in heels and drag. Of the video, Lahey said, “The ‘Spike The Punch’ video is perhaps my favorite video I’ve ever been a part of. I’m incredibly grateful to Matt Sav and his team for pulling this together while I’ve been locked down in Melbourne. Matt and I spoke about how we wanted to capture a sense of freedom, fluidity and fun in this video along with hurtling forward momentum. Matt Pope, the brilliant performer who stars in the video, completely harnesses the direction and puts on a hell of a show. It gives me chills every time I press play.”
Watch Lahey’s “Spike The Punch” video above.
Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Despite its title’s similarity to another hip-hop hit referencing “Ice Baby,” Flo Milli’s new single sounds wildly different from the one most millennials grew up chanting. Instead, it’s an aggressive, boastful track with a thunderous trap beat that aims to establish the Mobile, Alabama native’s growing dominance in the rap game. The song was debuted on the popular performance platform, A COLORS Show, with Flo Milli decked out in a vibrant cyan bodysuit and popping against a magenta background, helping A COLORS Show live up to its name.
Employing a laid-back rapid-fire flow, Milli brags about her newfound success, comparing herself to her detractors and determining that she’s just too big to belong in their conversations. Although she’s not as animated as some prior guests, her chilly demeanor actually works to the song’s advantage, giving the air of someone who remains rock-solid no matter how boisterous the boasts happen to get.
Fans have been looking forward to the Alabama rapper’s return ever since she appeared on this year’s XXL Freshman Class courtesy of the success of her breakout debut mixtape, Ho, Why Is You Here? in 2020. While she followed that up with a strong feature on GoldLink’s “Raindrops,” her overall absence from the spotlight suggested she was focused on finishing a project, which she recently promised would be “versatile.” With the release of a new single, perhaps those fans’ wait will be over in due time.
Watch Flo Milli perform “Ice Baby” on A COLORS Show above.
The flow of new bourbon hitting the market is practically constant right now. Trying to keep up with it all is damn near impossible. That’s true even if you’re in the business (or write about the industry), so don’t feel bad if you get a little overwhelmed. We all do.
New bottles of bourbon aren’t going to stop dropping anytime soon, either. So we’ll keep calling out new drops that we like as fast as we can — while admitting that a few might fall through the cracks. Hopefully, it’ll be rare… but it can happen.
Today, we’re putting a $100 price cap on which bottles we highlight. And that … made this way harder than expected. There’s a lot of great new juice out there at the $100, $150, and $200 price points. We’ll get to those later. For now, let’s focus on some new bourbon that’s tasty and (relatively) affordable. If you dig any of these bottles, hit that price to see if you can get them in your region.
This year’s Remus Repeal Reserve V is a hell of a whiskey. The MGP of Indiana signature bourbon is comprised of nine percent 2005 bourbon with a 21 percent high-rye mash, five percent 2006 bourbon with a very high-rye mash of 36 percent of the sticky grain, 19 percent 2006 bourbon with the same 21 percent high-rye mash, 13 percent 2008 bourbon with that 21 percent rye mash, and 54 percent 2008 bourbon with the 36 percent high-rye mash.
Tasting Notes:
The nose on this is brilliantly fruity with touches of fresh raspberries, strawberries resting in dry straw, candied cherries, freshly peeled mandarins, apple cores and stems, and a touch of caramel malts. That caramel sweetness merges into a fresh honeycomb next to Dr. Brown’s Cream Soda vanilla and pep while the fruit dries out, leaving you with meaty dried figs, dates, and prunes driving the midpalate toward the finish. A touch of candied ginger spices things up as a fruity but dry tobacco leaf rounds out the end with the faintest touch of walnut shells.
Bottom Line:
This is going to be hard to beat in 2021. It’s a refined, deep, and satisfying bourbon that’s so bright and easy-drinking. It’s a real gem.
Paul Sutton is a new bourbon from an old family recipe. I know, we’ve all heard it before. The new whiskey is not a blend of sourced bourbons. The brand took the time to release its contract distilled own-make juice. The bourbon mash bill has a touch of rye in it and it aged for up to five years in medium char barrels.
Tasting Notes:
The nose on this has a distinct barnyard funk tied to wet bales of straw that leads to a salted caramel sweetness with a hint of a pine box full of cherry pits. The taste veers away from most of that towards sweet corn cakes with a touch of vanilla cream and eggnog spice. A Caro syrup-soaked pecan sweetness and nuttiness drive the mid-palate towards a cherry tobacco finish with a hint of dark cacao powder.
Bottom Line:
You can feel the craft in this new bourbon. It’s amazingly easy to sip, has its own vibe, and mixes really well in a cocktail. You can’t ask for much else!
Chicken Cock has some serious bourbon history going back to 1856. It was also the bourbon of the infamous Cotton Club in Harlem during Prohibition. Fun fact, the hooch was smuggled into the club in tin cans that they cracked open tableside.
The juice in this bottle is sourced from Kentucky, but not much else is known as of now.
Tasting Notes:
Granny Smith apples and Red Hots jump out on the nose with a hint of black Necco Wafer, a touch of soft and wet oak, and hints of caramel. The palate leans into the buttery ends of toffee with burnt sugars leading toward dried fruits, fatty nuts, and holiday cake spices. The vanilla arrives late and is tied to the sweeter edges as a light dried tobacco leaf leaves a little heat on the back end.
Bottom Line:
This is a really easy drinking bourbon that feels accessible. It’s a great mixer too and highly recommended for stirring up some cocktails as the year fades away.
This whiskey takes Woodinville’s signature (and much-lauded) five-year-old straight bourbon and gives it a new finishing touch. The juice is finished in Pedro Ximenez sherry casks, making a sort of sibling to our favorite bourbon of 2020, the Port Cask Finish. But while there are similarities between the two, this feels like a step up in many small, tough to define ways.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is a bouquet of dark spices next to dried orange rinds, soft Christmas cake, and a slight floral underpinning that’s more “damp” than “dried out.” The taste embraces the holiday spice matrix with a creamy veneer of dark chocolate oranges, eggnog spice, and a velvety mouthfeel with a hint of orchard fruit and toffee drizzle. The finish is long but doesn’t overstay its welcome. There’s a sense of the woody spices that’s more akin to cinnamon sticks once stirred in hot apple cider, leaving you with a dry note of spicy tobacco.
Bottom Line:
This is a top-ten bourbon of the year, no question. It’s also damn near perfect. No notes!
Barrell puts out a lot of whiskeys every year. We forgive you if you can’t keep up (we barely can!). This edition is a mix of whiskeys finished in pear brandy, Jamaican rum, and Sicilian Amaro casks that are then batched. The juice then goes into the bottle uncut to help highlight the disparate yet similarly cozy flavors given by each of the barrels.
Tasting Notes:
Pear drives the nose with a pear compote or pear butter made with plenty of dark spice and just a hint of dark chocolate and tobacco. The taste is warm but slightly rummy with a clear eggnog note acting as a driving force, leading towards hints of black licorice next to creamy toffee stacked beside hefty chocolate bars filled with nougat and walnuts. A slight black tea bitterness takes over on the end as the nuttiness, spiciness, and sweetness all come together for a big finish with plenty of warmth and boldness.
Bottom Line:
This has been growing on me a lot lately. The smooth nature of the sip with that much fruity depth is beautiful in a glass with a single rock.
This juice is a “field-to-glass” craft whiskey from a state that’d likely be a better spot to age rum than whiskey. The juice starts off with locally sourced corn that local chefs use in their cornbread. That’s supported by flaked rye, rolled oats, malted barley, and heavily roasted wheat alongside a sixth, undisclosed grain. That juice is then aged for two short years before it’s small batched and bottled at a very approachable 80 proof.
Tasting Notes:
That cornmeal comes through on the nose with a sense of candied orange, salted butter, and pancake syrup with a hint of brewer’s yeast. The taste holds onto the corn while that orange sweetens towards a touch of toffee before the mid-palate shifts towards bitter chocolate with a note of spicy black peppercorns. That dry pepper holds as a light dry herbal note lingers on the senses.
Bottom Line:
A lot of people are losing their shit over this new juice from Alabama. It’s easy to see why. This is really refined bourbon for being so new and, well, young.
Stellum Bourbon is the new kid on the block. The juice in that bottle is a cask-strength blend of whiskeys from Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. This whiskey is all about the blending process that Stellum employs to make this special and award-winning bourbon. It’s a delicate balance of mixing great whiskeys to make something better than the individual parts.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is a holiday cake with fatty nuts next to woody spice barks — think anise, clove, and cinnamon — with a nice dose of dried red fruits and honey-dipped over-ripe Granny Smith apples. The palate edges away from the spice towards a powdered sugar sweetness with a hint of dry vanilla. Then a counterpoint bursts onto the scene with a hit of spicy, dried chili pepper flakes next to blackberry pie with a nice dose of cinnamon and nutmeg. The end lingers for just the right amount of time as the spice fades back towards the honeyed sweetness and a final touch of vanilla tobacco buzz lands in the back of the throat.
Bottom Line:
This has become my go-to for cocktails this month. The bottle will be empty soon and I’m definitely going to keep it in rotation. It’s just a killer cocktail base.
Nicole Austin has been killing it with these bottled-in-bond releases from George Dickel. This year’s release is a whiskey that was warehoused in the fall of 2008. Eleven years later, this juice was bottled at 100 proof (as per the law) and sent out to the wide world where it received much adoration.
Tasting Notes:
This bottle exudes a flaky-crusted pecan pie jacked up on maple syrup, sprinkled with dried apple, and flush with rich vanilla. The taste delivers on those promises with a subtle maple syrup sweetness balanced with roasted nuts, more vanilla, and another dose of that earthy/spicy dried fruit — think dried cherry dipped in dark cocoa powder. The end is slow and pointed with spicy apple pies, brown butter richness, and another shot of that vanilla leading towards a hint of charred oak.
Bottom Line:
This is certainly the best bottled-in-bond of the year, so far. It’s one of those whiskeys where you take a sip and then say, “Ah! I get it now.”
American Prairie is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after sourced whiskeys. The whiskey in the bottle is a blend of two to 13-year-old barrels rendered from high-rye, low-rye, and undisclosed source mash bills. The release supports the American Prairie Reserve by highlighting the project and supporting it financially.
Tasting Notes:
This opens with caramel apples next to new leather, vanilla pudding, and sweet buttered corn with a touch of salt. The palate has a nougat svelteness next to creamed corn and Southern biscuits dripping with butter and honey. The mid-palate to finish starts to dry out with vanilla husks and cedar bark but then veers into apple candy.
Bottom Line:
You can never go wrong with the bottles coming out of High West. This is a modern classic that seems to get deeper and more refined with every passing year.
Jimmy Russell hand selects eight to nine-year-old barrels from his warehouses for their individual taste and quality. Those barrels are then cut down ever-so-slightly to 101 proof and bottled with their barrel number and warehouse location.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a roundness to this sip that’s enticing. The nose is a classic mix of bold vanilla, baking spice, oak, and fruity sweetness. That fruit edges towards dark berries with notes of worn leather, aged oakiness, and a sweet and rose-water-forward marzipan nuttiness shining through. The end lasts a while on your palate and in your senses, leaving you warmed up and wanting more.
Bottom Line:
I was lucky enough to pick up the latest release of this back in September, and it was a knockout. It’s bananas that this is a single barrel from one of the hottest shingles in bourbon and it doesn’t cost five, six, or ten times the MSRP… Yet.
As a Drizly affiliate, Uproxx may receive a commission pursuant to certain items on this list.
On Wednesday, Donald Trump announced his new social media network, Truth Social, which seemed to finally capitalize on his long-simmering threat to build his own media company after getting banned from Twitter and Facebook in the aftermath of the January 6 insurrection. However, like all things Trump, Truth Social is already a flaming disaster.
Despite Trump revealing the platform on Wednesday evening, a beta version isn’t supposed to launch until November. However, hackers quickly noticed that the site is already allowing people to sign-up for logins through an unadvertised URL, and soon, the site was flooded with people snatching up tags like @donaldtrump, @realdonaldjtrump, @mikepence, etc. So you can already see the problem there.
After being flooded by trolls, Truth Social is now reportedly offline and has suspended any new accounts made since Trump’s announcement. Via The Daily Dot:
Attempts to sign in returned an error notice that said, “You can no longer use your account, and your profile and other data are no longer accessible. You can still login to request a backup of your data until the data is fully removed, but we will retain some data to prevent you evading the suspension.”
Truth Social is also experiencing another more serious hiccup as news of its imminent launch went wide. Venture capital investors were reportedly surprised to learn that Trump would be personally involved with the new social media company. Given Trump’s history with social media involves sparking an attack on the U.S. Capitol building, there are understandable concerns about their $300 million investment, which is already being mercilessly mocked for going offline.
After a few years away, Adele is back with a new album, 30, on the way and a new single, “Easy On Me,” out and dominating the music landscape now. Aside from the return of Adele the musician, we’re also getting the return of Adele the personality, which is delightful because she’s always a hoot. She’s the latest participant in Vogue‘s “73 Questions” series, and in the new video, she revealed her most prized possession: a piece of used gum, which was chewed once upon a time by Celine Dion.
In the interview, Adele was asked what her proudest possession was, and she transitioned the conversation indoors so she could get it. After answering a few more questions, she presented her interviewer with a small picture frame, which in the middle had a wad of gum stuck to a piece of paper. The paper read, “Celine Dion’s gum,” and had dollar signs surrounding it. Adele revealed it was a gift from James Corden, saying, “James Corden — who’s a friend of mine but also does ‘Carpool Karaoke,’ which I did — he did it with her and knew how much of a fan of her I was, and so he made her spit her gum into a piece of paper and he framed it for me, and it’s my proudest possession!”
Elsewhere in the conversation, she revealed that her dream duet partner is Chris Stapleton. Given that Stapleton collaborates with a lot of folks (Taylor Swift, Jimmy Fallon, HER, and the list goes on) and that Adele is Adele, that seems like an achievable dream.
Earlier this month, HBO shared the first teaser for House of the Dragon. The prequel series looks a lot like Game of Thrones, obviously, what with all the fire, talk of kings and dragons, and Targaryen wigs, but co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik (who directed many of the best episodes of Thrones) made sure it’s not too similar.
“First, it’s very important to pay respects and homage to the original series, which was pretty groundbreaking. We’re standing on the shoulders of that show and we’re only here because of that show,” Sapochnik told the Hollywood Reporter. House of the Dragon will even keep the same color palette as Game of Thrones. That being said:
“We can’t say, ‘Well, when we did Thrones, we did it this way…’ If you start every sentence with that, you’ve lost. This is something else, and should be something else. It’s a different crew, different people, different tone. Hopefully it will be seen as something else. But it will have to earn that – it won’t happen overnight. Hopefully fans will enjoy it for the thing that it is. We’ll be lucky if we ever come close to what the original show was, so we’re just putting our heads down and getting on with it and hoping what we come up with is worthy of having a Game of Thrones title.”
Sapochnik also said that “we were very respectful of what the original show is.” You heard it here first, folks: House of the Dragon will, like Game of Thrones, have dragons. Out of respect.
BOSTON — Grant Williams is smiling. This isn’t exactly shocking, as Williams seems to have a smile permanently glued to his face, but on an early fall day during the NBA’s preseason, the Boston Celtics youngster’s good mood seems to be heightened over the topic of conversation at hand.
Williams, despite only having two years of being a professional basketball player under his belt, earned a leadership role within the National Basketball Players Association earlier in the year. The youngest member of the NBPA’s Executive Committee, Williams, who turns 23 at the end of November, slid into a Vice President role when Portland’s C.J. McCollum ascended to the presidency following Chris Paul’s decision to not seek a third term in the role.
It seemed like a foregone conclusion Williams would, eventually, get a role within the PA’s leadership. Upon getting to the NBA’s Rookie Transition Program, the former University of Tennessee standout and 22nd overall pick in the 2019 Draft was “very, very, let’s just say direct in my intention of saying I want to be involved.” Not long after, at the league’s winter meeting during the All-Star break, he applied for a VP role with the backing of Celtics teammate Jaylen Brown, who also serves on the Executive Committee — Williams lost out on a vote to Kyrie Irving.
“They could tell my energy and passion for it,” Williams says. “For me, it’s always been about trying to grow not just the game of basketball, but to bring our platform to a great use.”
This passion runs deep. Two of Williams’ cousins — Salim Stoudamire and current Celtics assistant Damon Stoudamire — spent time in the league, and he’s aware of how the money that comes from being a professional basketball player can change lives. Williams is a big fan of the PA’s financial literacy program as a result.
He’s also just a believer in what happens when a person takes the time to build relationships. For example, Williams likes to tell rookies that a basketball career is fleeting. The second that you decide to hang up your sneakers, someone is right behind you, ready to take your spot. You can, however, use your time as a player to set yourself up for later in life.
“I feel like the most potential you have in life, right now, is in your NBA career,” Williams says. “And oftentimes, we retire by 35, maybe earlier, 37. So those are the years that you create the most value and create the most lifelong relationships that you need to create. And I’ve always been vocal about using that platform to do that.”
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This approach isn’t just something he takes with players. Williams takes pride in the amount of community service work he does, particularly with causes related to education and how kids can take what they learn and apply it to other things in life — a fairly close to home example, he mentions, is how getting a good grasp on geometry can translate to the basketball court by making it easier to read plays. A big believer in mentorship, Williams teamed up with the Massachusetts-based group MENTOR and has taken six Black high school freshmen under his wing. There are frequent calls that are designed to help guide them towards exploring whatever interest they might have.
“They each are different with what they believe in — whether it’s sport, whether it’s academics,” Williams says. “Just giving them guidance, because I feel like when you’re young, you’re the most impressionable, where you learn your work ethic and your drive, and when you’re able to really put yourself in a position for a better future. It starts when you’re at that age.”
Knowing Paul for his entire life and being teammates for his first two years with Kemba Walker helped hammer home the importance of giving back and mentorship, while playing alongside Brown and Enes Kanter gave him a glimpse at how basketball players can use their status in the game to pursue change off the court — both players, he notes, never hesitate to speak out in the face of injustice. As a third-year player, Williams is still building up relationships around the league, but he does want to motivate guys to advocate for causes they’re passionate about.
“We all have similar interests, and we all have similar goals that make life better, not only for ourselves, but for those around us,” Williams says. “And I always say paying it forward, paying it back, whatever you want to say, is the best way to do those things because it helps make the future brighter.”
When it comes to his work with the PA, Williams is a firm believer in the strength that the union has as a collective. The competitive nature that basketball players have exists between the lines, of course, but when they are operating as one big 450 person organization, the power that they wield can make incredible things happen.
Yes, when the Celtics are playing host to the Los Angeles Lakers, the rivalry that has come to define the game over the years is going to be as competitive as ever. Off the court, though, Williams knows more harm than good would come if those tensions lingered. He compares it to the 1990s when Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley would battle and then go play golf. While their matchups would pit two of the best players in the world against one another, oftentimes in hotly-contested games, they understood the value of having a relationship off the court, because, as Williams says, “no one else understands the position that we’re in” as NBA players.
Williams is entering the PA as the league and the union approach an important moment: the negotiation of a new collective bargaining agreement. The current CBA is set to expire at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, although both sides can agree to opt out one year earlier. As an added twist, while McCollum is the PA’s newly-elected President, Tamika Tremaglio is slated to take over for longtime Executive Director Michele Roberts at the end of this year.
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All of this is happening after what Williams calls “probably the most unique [two] years in the league’s history” due to the COVID-19 pandemic, players heading down to the Orlando Bubble, and the growing commitment to social justice that sprung out of players causing the league to come to a stop after a police officer in Wisconsin shot Jacob Blake. That last thing, in particular, was instructive for Williams, a then-rookie who saw first-hand the power that exists in the hands of players when they operate as a collective.
“I think that’s really what shifted the change, as well as seeing the dynamics,” Williams says. “For me, it’s always been about shifting the power balance and making it more of a whole rather than a top-to-bottom hierarchy. So, like I said, rookies have just as much of a voice as a veteran does. And that’s something that, as time has gone on, players have been more open to, especially as the talent has gotten better as years have gone on. Guys aren’t normally like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, there’s not normally a few of those guys on the single team. There’s a lot of youth that are really growing together. So, I think that’s the real step that we’re making with the PA, bringing everyone’s voice and making sure that everyone knows that they have a role.”
This sort of egalitarian approach to advocating for basketball players is something Williams takes to heart. On multiple occasions during our conversation, he referenced the fact that there are 450 players in the league, and each and every one of them needs to feel empowered to let their voices be heard as part of the union, whether that’s related to the upcoming CBA, its ongoing commitment to social justice — Williams has been appreciative of the work the recently-formed Social Justice Coalition has done under Executive Director James Cadogan to raise awareness for issues like voting rights and education disparities — or anything else.
He used the phrase “think 450” in reference to how he wants the Players Association to operate, and believes that it’s possible for the organization to take care of superstars while simultaneously fighting for those who are a little farther down the roster.
“You look at what we’re doing with the G League union, with all these steps that we’re taking to not only make sure that the players at the top are doing well, but also the players throughout the league,” Williams says. “As the league grows, not only will the checks — for LeBron, Steph, all those names — get better, but also, for the guys who are the 15th player on the bench, and allows them to create generational wealth for not only themselves, but the communities they’ve been in. So, I feel like that’s the process we’re getting to, especially as the league has grown and expanded as the years have gone on. And I’m happy to see that.”
Of course, Williams has some pretty important work to do away from the PA, as he’s among the options new Celtics coach Ime Udoka can turn to in the frontcourt. It’s been a hectic offseason in Boston — longtime executive Danny Ainge abdicated his post, he was replaced by now-former head coach Brad Stevens, and Udoka took over on the bench. But Williams feels pretty good about it all, because in spite of all this, there’s a major sense of familiarity around the team.
“There’s been a little bit of roster turnover, as well as organizational turnover, but I feel like there’s still a lot of familiar faces,” Williams says. “And it’s something that, looking on it now, we have guys who came back to the team like Al [Horford], familiar with the team, Enes, familiar with the team. And then we have faces that we have prior relationships with. I’ve know Josh [Richardson] since I was in college. So, it’s one of those things where you feel like you can grow, as well as have players who are still around.”
He is of the belief that teams that had lengthy stays in the NBA’s Orlando Bubble were just a little bit off last season, which applied to the Celtics — the squad struggled with COVID en route to a 36-36 campaign, a seventh seed in the Eastern Conference, and a five-game gentleman’s sweep to the Brooklyn Nets in the first round of the postseason. But on the heels of this offseason, he says, it has felt like a “breath of fresh air” has come through Beantown, as guys have come back hungry and ready to compete for the 18th championship in franchise history.
For Williams, the goals are to become a more consistent compliment to Tatum and Brown while getting his body right. As a rookie, he bulked up, as the expectation was he’d play the 5. That changed during his second year in the league, as he slid down to the 4. He’s used this offseason to try to find that right balance between the two, making sure he’s at a place physically where he can do whatever the Celtics ask.
And more broadly, Williams admits he had some struggles during his second year in the league. He thought there were plenty of highs, but on the other side of the coin, there were “not so great moments” where he “tried to do too much.” With a new year on the horizon, Williams sees an opportunity to get things back on track.
“I feel like COVID kind of knocked a lot of people down last year, I could see it with the energy and a lot of the faces,” Williams says. “The breath of fresh air kind of gives new light, and kind of bring brings a smile back to your face.”
In 2016, Amita Swadhin, a child of two immigrant parents from India, founded Mirror Memoirs to help combat rape culture. The national storytelling and organizing project is dedicated to sharing the stories of LGBTQIA+ Black, indigenous people, and people of color who survived child sexual abuse.
“Whether or not you are a survivor, 100% of us are raised in rape culture. It’s the water that we’re swimming in. But just as fish don’t know they are in water, because it’s just the world around them that they’ve always been in, people (and especially those who aren’t survivors) may need some help actually seeing it,” they add.
“Mirror Memoirs attempts to be the dye that helps everyone understand the reality of rape culture.”
Amita built the idea for Mirror Memoirs from a theater project called “Undesirable Elements: Secret Survivors” that featured their story and those of four other survivors in New York City, as well as a documentary film and educational toolkit based on the project.
“Secret Survivors had a cast that was gender, race, and age-diverse in many ways, but we had neglected to include transgender women,” Amita explains. “Our goal was to help all people who want to co-create a world without child sexual abuse understand that the systems historically meant to help survivors find ‘healing’ and ‘justice’ — namely the child welfare system, policing, and prisons — are actually systems that facilitate the rape of children in oppressed communities,” Amita continues. “We all have to explore tools of healing and accountability outside of these systems if we truly want to end all forms of sexual violence and rape culture.”
Amita also wants Mirror Memoirs to be a place of healing for survivors that have historically been ignored or underserved by anti-violence organizations due to transphobia, homophobia, racism, xenophobia, and white supremacy.
Amita Swadhin
“Hearing survivors’ stories is absolutely healing for other survivors, since child sexual abuse is a global pandemic that few people know how to talk about, let alone treat and prevent.”
“Since sexual violence is an isolating event, girded by shame and stigma, understanding that you’re not alone and connecting with other survivors is alchemy, transmuting isolation into intimacy and connection.”
This is something that Amita knows and understands well as a survivor herself.
“My childhood included a lot of violence from my father, including rape and other forms of domestic violence,” says Amita. “Mandated reporting was imposed on me when I was 13 and it was largely unhelpful since the prosecutors threatened to incarcerate my mother for ‘being complicit’ in the violence I experienced, even though she was also abused by my father for years.”
What helped them during this time was having the support of others.
“I’m grateful to have had a loving younger sister and a few really close friends, some of whom were also surviving child sexual abuse, though we didn’t know how to talk about it at the time,” Amita says.
“I’m also a queer, non-binary femme person living with complex post-traumatic stress disorder, and those identities have shaped a lot of my life experiences,” they continue. “I’m really lucky to have an incredible partner and network of friends and family who love me.”
“These realizations put me on the path of my life’s work to end this violence quite early in life,” they said.
Amita wants Mirror Memoirs to help build awareness of just how pervasive rape culture is. “One in four girls and one in six boys will be raped or sexually assaulted by the age of 18,” Amita explains, “and the rates are even higher for vulnerable populations, such as gender non-conforming, disabled, deaf, unhoused, and institutionalized children.” By sharing their stories, they’re hoping to create change.
“Listening to stories is also a powerful way to build empathy, due to the mirror neurons in people’s brains. This is, in part, why the project is called Mirror Memoirs.”
So far, Mirror Memoirs has created an audio archive of BIPOC LGBTQI+ child sexual abuse survivors sharing their stories of survival and resilience that includes stories from 60 survivors across 50 states. This year, they plan to record another 15 stories, specifically of transgender and nonbinary people who survived child sexual abuse in a sport-related setting, with their partner organization, Athlete Ally.
“This endeavor is in response to the more than 100 bills that have been proposed across at least 36 states in 2021 seeking to limit the rights of transgender and non-binary children to play sports and to receive gender-affirming medical care with the support of their parents and doctors,” Amita says.
In 2017, Mirror Memoirs held its first gathering, which was attended by 31 people. Today, the organization is a fiscally sponsored, national nonprofit with two staff members, a board of 10 people, a leadership council of seven people, and 500 members nationally.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, they created a mutual aid fund for the LGBTQIA+ community of color and were able to raise a quarter-million dollars. They received 2,509 applications for assistance, and in the end, they decided to split the money evenly between each applicant.
While they’re still using storytelling as the building block of their work, they’re also engaging in policy and advocacy work, leadership development, and hosting monthly member meetings online.
For their work, Amita is one of Tory’s Burch’s Empowered Women. Their donation will go to Mirror Memoirs to help fund production costs for their new theater project, “Transmutation: A Ceremony,” featuring four Black transgender, intersex, and non-binary women and femmes who live in California.
“I’m grateful to every single child sexual survivor who has ever disclosed their truth to me,” Amita says. “I know another world is possible, and I know survivors will build it, together with all the people who love us.”
To learn more about Tory Burch and Upworthy’s Empowered Women program visit https://www.toryburch.com/empoweredwomen/. Nominate an inspiring woman in your community today!
The experiences we have at school tend to stay with us throughout our lives. It’s an impactful time where small acts of kindness, encouragement, and inspiration go a long way.
Schools, classrooms, and teachers that are welcoming and inclusive support students’ development and help set them up for a positive and engaging path in life.
Here are three of our favorite everyday actions that are spreading kindness on campus in a big way:
Mark Storhaug is a 5th grade teacher at Kingsley Elementary in Los Angeles, who wants to use pickleball to get his students “moving on the playground again after 15 months of being Zombies learning at home.”
Pickleball is a paddle ball sport that mixes elements of badminton, table tennis, and tennis, where two or four players use solid paddles to hit a perforated plastic ball over a net. It’s as simple as that.
Kingsley Elementary is in a low-income neighborhood where outdoor spaces where kids can move around are minimal. Mark’s goal is to get two or three pickleball courts set up in the schoolyard and have kids join in on what’s quickly becoming a national craze. Mark hopes that pickleball will promote movement and teamwork for all his students. He aims to take advantage of the 20-minute physical education time allotted each day to introduce the game to his students.
Help Mark get his students outside, exercising, learning to cooperate, and having fun by donating to his GoFundMe.
According to the WHO around 280 million people worldwide suffer from depression. In the US, 1 in 5 adults experience mental illness and 1 in 20 experience severe mental illness, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Kaiya Bates, who was recently crowned Miss Tri-Cities Outstanding Teen for 2022, is one of those people, and has endured severe anxiety, depression, and selective mutism for most of her life.
Through her GoFundMe, Kaiya aims to use her “knowledge to inspire and help others through their mental health journey and to spread positive and factual awareness.”
She’s put together regulation kits (that she’s used herself) for teachers to use with students who are experiencing stress and anxiety. Each “CALM-ing” kit includes a two-minute timer, fidget toolboxes, storage crates, breathing spheres, art supplies and more.
Kaiya’s GoFundMe goal is to send a kit to every teacher in every school in the Pasco School District in Washington where she lives.
Julie Tarman is a high school Spanish teacher in Sacramento, California, who hopes to raise enough money to create a Spanish language class library.
The school is in a low-income area, and although her students come from Spanish-speaking homes, they need help building their fluency, confidence, and vocabulary through reading Spanish language books that will actually interest them.
Julie believes that creating a library that affirms her students’ cultural heritage will allow them to discover the joy of reading, learn new things about the world, and be supported in their academic futures.
Do YOU have an idea for a fundraiser that could make a difference? Upworthy and GoFundMe are celebrating ideas that make the world a better, kinder place. Visit upworthy.com/kindness to join the largest collaboration for human kindness in history and start your own GoFundMe.
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