As-Salaam-Alaikum and good afternoon from New Jersey!
Family, I have another spinal surgery, the most complex procedure I’ve ever had, approaching, and I need to speak plainly about what that means for my life and this work. I need to be able to heal while continuing to provide for my family. And I need to put more support around The North Star before that recovery begins.
If this work matters to you, and you can afford to support it, Click here to become a member. Your membership helps support my livelihood and makes it possible to hire the additional help this publication needs.
There is a person behind these posts.
When you read something I’ve written, you see the finished article. You don’t necessarily see the pain I’m managing while I write it, the medical appointments around it, or the decisions I’m trying to make about another surgery.
I’ve already been through four spinal surgeries. I know that getting to the operating room is only part of what lies ahead. There is also the recovery—and the very practical question of how I keep earning a living while giving my body the time it needs.
I am a writer. I am also a husband and a father. The responsibility to provide for my family does not pause because my spine needs surgery.
Support from everyday people reading these words is part of how I make a living. I want to be honest about that. Your membership is not an abstract gesture of solidarity. It helps me keep doing the work you come here to read.
It also gives me room to speak plainly about powerful people and institutions without making their approval the condition of my livelihood.
Keeping this work online takes work, too.
Alongside the writing and the pain, I am dealing with repeated attempts to break into my online accounts, including my Substack account. Those attempts come day and night.
I won’t pretend I can identify everyone behind them. But I know what losing access would mean: a threat to my ability to reach you and to the work I depend on.
That is part of the pressure behind the scenes. Researching, writing, publishing, protecting the accounts, and managing everything that keeps a publication running all require time and attention. None of it disappears when I need to recover.
I want The North Star to be strong enough to carry on through that.
We are #19 in News. I want us to reach more people.
Right now, The North Star is ranked #19 on Substack’s News list.
I am grateful that we are there. I also want us to climb.
For me, the point of a higher ranking is discovery. Moving up puts our publication closer to the top of a place where readers are looking for voices to follow. It creates another opportunity for somebody who has never heard of us to encounter this work.
The writing about Gaza. The scrutiny of police violence and political power. The insistence that people living under oppression deserve to be heard in their own voices.
Substack’s Top Bestsellers rankings are based on recurring subscription revenue. That means paid memberships contribute to the financial foundation behind our place on that list. There is no guaranteed jump from any individual subscription, but growing our membership gives us a stronger foundation to build from.
If you’ve been reading for free and have been considering joining, Click here to become a paid member today. Help sustain the work—and help us put it in front of more people.
I need to hire help.
I need additional support with the research, editing, publishing, and day-to-day responsibilities that surround the writing.
People who can help check a source, prepare a post, follow up on a detail, and keep things moving when I need to step away.
Memberships and direct contributions toward The North Star help make that possible. They support both my livelihood and the publication’s capacity to bring in additional help. I want to be clear about those purposes because you deserve to understand what you are supporting.
I need to build a publication that can keep serving you even on the days my body demands that I stop.
Reliable membership support makes it easier to plan for that—to make commitments to other people and know there is a foundation beneath those commitments.
Insha’Allah, this surgery will be a step toward relief. As I prepare for it, I am asking this community to help me prepare the work, too.
If you are already a paid member, thank you. You are already helping carry this. If money is tight, please do not put yourself in a difficult position to support me. Reading and sharing matter, and you are welcome here.
But if you can join, I am asking you to do it today.
Click here to join as a monthly, annual, or founding member. Help me provide for my family through this next chapter, hire the support I need, and keep The North Star growing.
Love and appreciate each of you.
Your friend and brother,
Shaun
