Whitney Tressel

Throwing some love into your feed! As Mr. Rogers' mama said, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." A highlight of my 2020 was when a ton of you friends and followers came together to donate money directly to me for grocery shopping for our Navajo neighbors as pure, on-the-ground and urgent covid-19 relief. My teacher Alisha made bi-weekly trips to Gallup NM and Navajo Nation (~12 hours roundtrip!) this past Spring & Summer to distribute groceries to elders and families in need, partially fueled by YOUR monetary contributions via my IG Story posts. You are all angels! Together we raised close to $4000 that went directly to my grocery shopping, often with help from a friend (see them in the slides!), and then onto Navajo neighborhood doorsteps. YOU helped so many indigenous peoples through the many 57-hour complete lockdowns (no grocery stores, no gas stations, etc...) and your mobilization for these efforts will forever be treasured. BIG shout out to frequent funders ( x4, x3, x3, and maaaany of you who donated twice!), our top dollar donors (.therapy, , , and some $100 donors too!), and anyone who gave even $1 because that $1 scores staples in bulk. You live in Ohio, New York, DC, New Mexico, Hawaii, England, and Austria, to name a few spots! Wish IG let me tag you all. Much, much, much love for all your generosity and trust.

An invitation:
TL;DR Join me this summer (June 20-Sept 21) watching only movies & shows, reading only books & magazines, and listening to only podcasts & audiobooks by o.n.l.y. folks in the BIPOC community.

A longer story:
This was supposed to be my New Year's resolution, to solely catch up on all the beautiful BIPOC creations out in the world that have not gotten the attention deserved by me & others, and instead I chose a different resolution ("learning how to say no". It's going only kind-of well). As a cisgender white woman educated in the United States, I have lots of catching up to do & other perspectives to learn. Admittedly, the latest necessary unrest around racism has brought my resolution back up to the surface with overdue urgency. What also recently pushed me over the edge was that three books were assigned to me for a psychology course this summer authored by three old white men named Robert. 🙄. There are many wonderful old white men named Robert in my life and I am sure these assigned books will be wonderful as well, and I can't help but acknowledge my bodily response: I felt nauseous and realized I am so tired of the same recurring voices in literature, film, television, and podcasting. Instead of complaining about it, I am doing something about it.

The fine print:
There are no rules here. I made this idea up for myself so I can contribute better to humanity. Don't show me your receipts, I won't show you mine. Just know it's happening and that I would love your virtual company if so moved. Will I be abandoning my mentioned psychology course and the Roberts, no, but I will be making my own choices of what I intake outside of obligations at school and work. Does this mean I don't think white, privileged, seasoned, patriarchal people of the world do not have incredible things to share? No. Does it mean I want to mix things up in a big way to unpack my ignorance and expand my awareness while simultaneously lifting up BIPOC folks? Yes. And you're welcome to join me. This summer as a crash course and beyond. ✊

{BIPOC: Black, Indigenous, People Of Color}

📣 Attention underwater photographers: I am curating a dive guide for National Geographic and would love to consider your incredible photographs. We're visuag featuring around fifty diving destinations, and I am specifically scouting for cover options this weekend. Email me for the creative brief and list of dive sites to guide your ;) deep dive into the archives... whitney(dot)tressel(at)gmail(dot)com {📷: or or ?}