A Case Study in Reactions & Regret
A few weeks ago I took a bus downtown to meet some colleagues at a Free Palestine rally. I was looking out the window when we stopped at a corner. Outside, on the sidewalk very close to the curb, a woman snoozed in a wheelchair. Her head bobbed toward her chest as she breathed. Every time her head bobbed, her wheelchair inched closer to the curb. The brake wasn't on. I could see what was about to happen.
Get a Group, Do a Thing
Have you or your friends ever said to each other, "I'm just not sure what to do"? Gather them up and donate your labor together. It doesn't have to take more effort than having people over for dinner or going to see a movie together. Many nonprofits or mutual aid organizations support people most impacted by systemic oppression, but you'll also be able to find groups that work to shift the system itself. Your action…
14 Curated Social Justice Youtube Playlists
I look at Instagram once a day, before bed. I check the stories of people I'm following, then scroll through my feed until something makes me laugh out loud. That's the moment I turn my phone off and go to sleep. It's been hard to keep this routine over the last 4 months, but some comedians are making it easier.
Playing For Liberation: Tools That Prepare & Sustain Us
Many years ago I met a mindfulness teacher/nutritionist/improv artist who shared my love of games. Parlor games, board games, crafty games, running around games, word games. I mentioned that for me, there's nothing like the feeling of joy, exhilaration, and embodiment I experience when I play. She explained, "Games hold our attention. When we play them, we give them our singular focus, like in meditation. The benefits are the same."
Learn From Comedians
I look at Instagram once a day, before bed. I check the stories of people I'm following, then scroll through my feed until something makes me laugh out loud. That's the moment I turn my phone off and go to sleep. It's been hard to keep this routine over the last 4 months, but some comedians are making it easier.
Thwart the Oppression of Palestinians: From Home, Nonviolently
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against "Israeli and international companies that are complicit in violations of Palestinian rights" has been active for almost 20 years. Since the genocidal-level of violence the Israeli government has sustained against Palestinians since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, the BDS movement has gained a lot of ground.
Your action…
Are Courage & Bravery Required to *Do* Something? I’m Not So Sure.
There are two words I often hear in equity-focused, anti-oppression communities: courage and bravery. As in: "We should be more courageous in our conversations with stakeholders", or "I need to be brave and apologize for offending her."I'm not so sure it's that simple.
Jewish Ancestral Healing for Collective Liberation
For most of my life, my claim to be white and Jewish was really squishy: those identities lived on demographic intake forms, and that's about it. As my study of antiracism exposed how systems of supremacy work, I began to see how my own lack of claim to my identities was an effect of those very systems. So I stepped in and took this course.
Bail Out the Bail Outs
Last month month's action was Direct Solidarity, one of two ways longtime author and activist Paul Kivel recommends for people who identify as white to take action against oppression. The other is educating and mobilizing your own people.
Your action…
On The Nose, Indeed
Once again, the resource I'm sharing doesn't focus specifically on anti-racism or racial equity, my purported area of focus for this newsletter. Yet, as I wrote about recently, all oppressions are connected. I have learned so much from the On the Nose podcast produced by Jewish Currents—a magazine I didn't know about before Oct. 7.
Anti-Racist Insights Into What’s Happening in Palestine/Israel (and in me)
When I first heard that Israel declared war on Gaza in response to Hamas' horrific attack on Oct 7, I felt (among other things): concern (for lives lost), frustration (for violence being considered a viable option), and detachment (I don't know a lot about what's going on over there; I don't have a stake in this).
Then the body count grew, the neighborhoods crumbled, the safe zones were bombed. It didn’t take long for my feelings to change.
Educate & Mobilize Your Own People
Last month month's action was Direct Solidarity, one of two ways longtime author and activist Paul Kivel recommends for people who identify as white to take action against oppression. The other is educating and mobilizing your own people.
Your action…
All About Mattering
All lives matter. I believe this, fervently, and regardless of how the phrase has been used by others.
I believed this before the tragedy of what's happening in Palestine/Israel, yet the situation there and what I'm learning about it is heightening my perceptions of mattering, and sensitivity to it.
The Other Narrative - Finding Palestinian voice
Alerted to the fact that I've been exposed to only one narrative, I'm actively seeking to hear the perspective that's been suppressed. The Palestinian perspective.
I recently found Mohammed El-Kurd.
Reverse What’s Dominant
When I'm at the food bank, I'm not in charge. I punch holes in plastic bags, listen to people's stories, bag apples, discuss the oddity of English words, and do what I'm told. My goal: not being in charge, not being in a position of power, not influencing. It's a momentary and deliberate reversal of the relationship of power I'm normally positioned in as an educated, white American woman.
Your action…
The Tender Work: Acknowledging White Responsibility in a Racialized World
I'm seeing a pattern: in myself, with my friends and acquaintances, and in the folks I work with. It goes like this:
- An act of oppression, harm, or inhumanity happens. We want to Do Something about it.
- While we contemplate what that action is, we find ourselves awash in guilt, shame, fear or doubt.
- And then, we end up doing nothing. Except perhaps to feel bad about ourselves.
While I still experience some combination of guilt, shame, fear or doubt regularly, I’ve figured out how to not be paralyzed; how to Do Something anyway.
Solidarity with Palestine: A Reading List From Black Women Radicals
On Sunday, October 12, I listened to an esteemed group of Black feminist writers discuss how they live their mandate for solidarity with Palestine. As I have so often before, I learned so much from these people who have made entire lives of acting on oppression—and who know (deeply, painfully) what it means to fight for the rights of human beings to live fully.
Demand a Ceasefire
First things first: let's leverage everything we have to reach a ceasefire. Signing a petition, joining a march, emailing a representative: these may seem rote, worn, or ineffective...yet momentum is building, globally. Please contribute your heart, time, and attention.
Your action…
20 Years Ago Today I was Diagnosed with Breast Cancer: A Racial Privilege Retrospective
Today, October 1, is the 20th anniversary of my breast cancer diagnosis. On that day, my kiddos were 14-months and 4-years-old. I didn't know then that I'd have to wean my baby so my milk ducts could shrink enough for a mastectomy. I didn't know I'd go through four months of chemotherapy. Or that twenty years later, I'd be a healthy 61-year-old disinclined to wearing what my kids used to call my Foob—my prosthetic false boob.
I also didn't know that I was white…
BIPOC Cancer Support Organizations
I'm heartened to find so many organizations who focus resources, supports, and personalized attention to women of color experiencing breast cancer. Were there this many twenty years ago? I'm guessing not. But I couldn't see what I wasn't looking for.