DIVERSITY TRAINING WAS required by a job I had a few years ago. It was during the pandemic, so it was over Zoom. The facilitator asked us to go into breakout rooms so that we could talk about the value of "an inclusive environment." The other participants said how important it was to make everyone feel welcome, yada yada yada. But the whole thing felt off to me, weirdly polite. The participants, who mostly identified as white, were being asked to view "diversity" as a responsibility, a box to check.

I wonder if the workshop would have been more effective if the facilitator had included some history about affirmative action, or even Jim Crow laws. Maybe some facts about racist hiring practices? Instead, the language was vague to the point of meaninglessness. "Diversity" in schools and workplaces is not a chapter heading in the employee handbook. It's also known as civil rights, and it's something people died for.

And now we have to put up with "choose love" shit like this.

I have been meaning to write a comic for a while about my experience working for an (extremely mediocre) internet startup. But witnessing Elon Musk get full access to all the government's data—every tech bro's wet dream—was the kick in the butt I needed to finally make this comic.

It's never a bad idea to freeze your credit, just fyi.

Three Things That Kept Me Going This Week

1. "ADHD’s Sobering Life-Expectancy Numbers" in The Atlantic. Despite the depressing title, I found this article heartening. I appreciated the author's openness about her own experience being diagnosed as an adult and feeling unsure at times if the diagnosis was even accurate, a feeling to which I can relate. If you've ever doubted that ADHD was "real," this article is a must-read.
2. "Historic Black church given 'Proud Boys' trademark calls for stand against hate", NPR. I'm hungry for justice these days, and this satisfies.
3. Wridges. Play with the sound on.

This Week in Mushroom News

I enjoyed the most recent edition of Twilight Greenaway's The Window newsletter for many reasons, not least of which was her evocative description of mushroom hunting near San Franciso. Mushrooms, she writes, can teach us not only about "patience but also about refusing to close down to the possibility that things can take a turn for the better just as they can for the worse."

That's it for this week, friends. My freelance assignment got pushed back by two weeks so, barring any unforeseen complications, I'll be seeing you next week. Until then, take care. Keep hounding your congresspeople. Remember that they are accountable to you, and no-one else.

Claire

Thank you for reading! If you like Mushroom Head, please consider leaving me a tip, or share this with a friend. And if you're new here, welcome. Mushroom Head is a comic diary about me, Claire, a middle-aged lady who lives in Oak Park. Previous installments recorded the time I thought I'd ODed on THC and my experience parenting a person with ADHD as a person who has ADHD. There are also occasional forays into the surreal. If you'd like to get in touch with me, please feel free to respond directly to this email. I'm always happy to hear from you! (Also, you might want to put the Mushroom Head email address into your contacts to avoid having it go to your junk folder.) And if someone forwarded this email to you, I hope you will subscribe, because you are welcome here! Unless you are a bot. In that case, boo, please go away.