My Ignorance About Antisemitism
I’ve been an anti-oppression educator for a while now. Turns out the oppression I know least about is antisemitism. Ironic, because I’m Jewish—or as I often claim, more -ish than Jew. This way I describe myself? I’d call it antisemitic. It’s how I distance myself from my cultural heritage, it reflects my longstanding and reflexive turning away from Jewish people, gatherings, and topics. In the very way I’ve been socialized into antiBlack racism—something I know a lot about—I’ve also been socialized to be antisemitic. All of us have.
Office Hours!
Several organizations who I learn from, respect, and follow have begun offering short free or reduced fee Office Hours. I love this model and how it supports human connection and relationality. You're free to show up wherever you're at in your feelings, experiences, or dilemmas as someone committed anti-oppression and liberatory practices. Your action…
Climate Circles - Attending to What Aches
As with many of the atrocities we face today, I find it hard to nestle up to the despair I feel about our natural world and my ability to influence the degradation I see all around. Hard, but also so necessary—and a good practice for any of of the catastrophes we’re experiencing. The Climate Circles held this summer at The Heron’s Nest in West Seattle, supported by the Duwamish Tribe, are an uncomplicated, evocative way into this work.
Join Pramila’s Resistance Lab. Bring Your People.
If you feel unsure of what action to take in this political moment, or isolated in your commitment to do something, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal has created just the event for you. Open for residents of any state (or country), her Resistance Labs are a creative, effective way to get educated, get supported, and get moving. Your action…
Reconciling Two Racialized Moments
There’s a woman who I work with at the food bank, I’ll call her Yvette, who never gets my name right. She just turned 70, a Black woman with kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids. She calls me Mary most often, and also Margaret, Maggie, and once, Marla. I usually start giggling. She’ll pause, say “Damn! Hold on. It’s Martha, isn’t it?”, then giggle with me. It feels like a sweet interaction, even an intimacy between us…
Seattle Liberation Calendar
If you’re in the Seattle area and support the freedom and self-determination of the Palestinian people, you’ll find this resource really helpful. Affectionately known as the Watermelon Calendar, this is a website that features a frequently updated listing of events related to Palestinian liberation. It’s managed by an autonomous group of volunteers (who you’re welcomed to join, alongside the events in the calendar).
Does Speaking Truth to Power Work?
I’ve re-read Scot Nakagawa’s statement a dozen times: speaking truth to authoritarian’s won’t change their behavior, because they thrive on controlling narratives, not facts . Each time, I feel punched in the gut. It’s been weeks. I still feel deflated. I know Scot’s statement has always been the case, so why am I so wracked?
Daily ReDistribution, Part 2
Many of you did the Wealth Reality Check I circulated a couple of weeks ago. I created it as an awareness-raising tool, as I’ve found that questions like Are your bills on autopay?, Do you own property?, and Do you expect inheritance? shake me out of the distorted perceptions I have of my own wealth. Culturally, we’re conditioned to feel that we don’t have enough. Some of us actually don’t. You’re action…
Daily ReDistribution, Part 1
This is an immediate action in two parts: the first focuses on a wealth reality check, and the second (which I’ll share next newsletter) features creative and appropriate daily acts of redistribution - no matter where the reality check lands you. We’re meant to remain pretty oblivious about what wealth is and how it works. Your action…
Yes, Buy Here!
I’ve posted a lot about where and what *not* to buy: not at Chevron, not at Amazon, not from AirBnb, Starbucks, or Target. In response to one recent newsletter, my fabulous friend & colleague Maggie Karshner sent this comment: “I've always thought of boycotting like a diet where you have to cut out all _______. But that doesn't work for diets, so how could it work for anything?” So here’s my YES list to complement all the NOs that come with boycott, sanction, and divestment efforts. Your action…
Come Touch My Heart, Again
I have a very selective group of influencers I follow in Instagram and Substack - I prefer to call them scholars because of the depth of their focus, the acuity of their research, and their ability to communicate. One for whom I feel a thrill of anticipation every time I see he posts is Jupiter Baal. His posts take on a commitment to humanity, an access of language and storytelling, and an ability to frame current events in historical contexts in a manner I find rare, informative, and poignant.
Revolutionary, Subversive, or Performative?
I’ve been thinking a lot about a comment Bruce Ware made on Bad Faith podcast last month, about Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl half-time performance: the performance itself was subversive, while the dancer who broke ranks to run around the field with a Sudanese & Palestinian flag was revolutionary…These terms began organizing themselves in my mind, each as actions taken toward a collective cause.
How to Resist Authoritarianism & Preserve the Possibility of Democracy
Scot Nakagawa’s Anti-Authoritarian Playbook comes to my inbox a couple of times a week, and I read each post. Some posts I’ve especially appreciated:
Streamline Those Calls
It’s a hassle, and it feels like a drop in the ocean, but calling your representatives is an important action that can have a concrete impact—especially when we all do it. The 5Calls app streamlines what I want to focus on with topics to choose from, scripts to use (or modify), and contact info for my congresspeople. Your action…
Martha & Leticia Play Around
A video chat between Martha and Dr. Leticia Nieto about that it means to play for liberation, in anticipation of their upcoming workshop on Saturday, March 22, 9:30am-12:30pm Pacific.
Playing For Liberation: Some Ways I Manage Overwhelm
I want to pay attention to what is happening in our world—particularly in this moment of Trump-driven events, executive orders, and entitlements—but they come too quickly, there's too many of them, they blur and overlap and overwhelm. Big feelings are healthy. They’re also unwieldy space hogs, and they’re not going away anytime soon. So here are two things I've found to help me sustain myself through this moment that's longer than a moment:
Conflict is One of Your Most Valuable resources
My esteemed colleague, friend, accountability partner, and co-facilitator James Boutin is offering the world an amazing resource: a substantial, multifaceted Generative Conflict Starter Kit. It’s available to all of us for free.
The Cyber Cleanse: Take Back Your Digital Footprint
We all know data about our personal lives is plucked, gleaned, and pocketed every day from our technological lives. The Opt Out Project has created a day-by-day cleanse to help us “live a modern, digitally connected, twenty-first century life online without Big Tech.” Your action…
Until All of us are Free
Ijeoma Iluo has undertaken a year-long project bridging several of my interests: particularly understanding how anti-Blackness serves as the foundation for so many other marginalizations, and how liberating any one type of oppression helps free all of us.
Keep Those Cards & Letters (& EMAILS & Phone CallS) coming
Like sorting your recycling, yard waste and garbage, emailing your representative, emailing your congressperson, signing yet another petition may feel tedious, time-consuming, and ultimately not that effective. Don't let it stop you! Many organizers have come up with ways to make it super easy to prompt you with links, scripts, and reminders. It's a little action against a big system—but there are a lot of us. Your action…