After getting knocked off of my rhythm at the end of January/beginning of February, I’m finally getting myself into gear this month. I’m about to dig into a lot of work, and subsequent to that, I’ve been tracking a few threads of events lately. I’m experimenting with building consistency into my writing to keep myself accountable and disciplined in my writing practice. To that end, here’s an update on what I’m working on:
In January, I started out strong by reading 4 books on the prospect of a second American Civil War in the U.S. and the history of U.S. secessionist movements. I’m just now working on four articles speaking on this subject. They will be up on Secessio Populi throughout this month. In February, I began to read another four books on the Northern Irish Troubles, then in March, another four on the Quebecois sovereignty movement. As of yet, I’ve failed to complete these books. Looking at it from where I’m sitting now, this seems probably for the better. While I still intend to finish these books within the year, I want to move away from the purely pedantic approach to research and study. It’s too slow. And anyway, what’s interesting about political movements or aspirations isn’t their historical narratives or trivial facts. Rather, It is the people involved in advancing the ideas behind them and the emotions which drive these people. So, I intend to make my research process much more social in the coming months.
Where I’m focusing at the moment?
I want to get more Cascadia/Jefferson/Greater Idaho projects done shortly. There have been a lot of obstacles, but I just have to shut up and surmount them. I’m beginning to work on some U.K. separatist movements (I’m starting an essay on Scotland this week). I’ll get some Quebec work up on Secessio Populi soon and will probably take on the daunting challenge of finding an original idea to highlight concerning Ireland. But mainly, what I intend to do in the near future is to engage in more conversations with more people on the subject.
A recent conversation with a Nigerian woman alarmed by my characterization of violence in Southern Nigeria in a recent tweet is instructive. In my tweet, I asked whether Ambazonian violence spilling over the Nigerian border and Biafran separatists distancing themselves from this violence could portend anything like a return to the horrors of “1967.” To be honest, I made this comment without considering the alarm it might cause Nigerians - steeped in historical narratives shaped by their civil war just over a half-century ago. The ensuing conversation was polite, but it’s still a mistake I don’t want to repeat soon.
I suspect that my path forward from here will be exciting and extremely fun.