Office Hours!
TANGIBLE ACTION Martha Hurwitz TANGIBLE ACTION Martha Hurwitz

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…

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Climate Circles - Attending to What Aches
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE Martha Hurwitz RECOMMENDED RESOURCE Martha Hurwitz

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.

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Reconciling Two Racialized Moments
WRITING & REFLECTIONS Martha Hurwitz WRITING & REFLECTIONS Martha Hurwitz

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…

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Seattle Liberation Calendar
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE Martha Hurwitz RECOMMENDED RESOURCE Martha Hurwitz

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).

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Does Speaking Truth to Power Work?
WRITING & REFLECTIONS Martha Hurwitz WRITING & REFLECTIONS Martha Hurwitz

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?

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Daily ReDistribution, Part 2
TANGIBLE ACTION Martha Hurwitz TANGIBLE ACTION Martha Hurwitz

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…

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Daily ReDistribution, Part 1
TANGIBLE ACTION Martha Hurwitz TANGIBLE ACTION Martha Hurwitz

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…

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Yes, Buy Here!
TANGIBLE ACTION Martha Hurwitz TANGIBLE ACTION Martha Hurwitz

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…

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Come Touch My Heart, Again
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE Martha Hurwitz RECOMMENDED RESOURCE Martha Hurwitz

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.

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Revolutionary, Subversive, or Performative?
WRITING & REFLECTIONS Martha Hurwitz WRITING & REFLECTIONS Martha Hurwitz

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.

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How to Resist Authoritarianism & Preserve the Possibility of Democracy
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE Martha Hurwitz RECOMMENDED RESOURCE Martha Hurwitz

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:

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Streamline Those Calls
TANGIBLE ACTION Martha Hurwitz TANGIBLE ACTION Martha Hurwitz

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…

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Playing For Liberation: Some Ways I Manage Overwhelm
WRITING & REFLECTIONS Martha Hurwitz WRITING & REFLECTIONS Martha Hurwitz

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:

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Until All of us are Free
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE Martha Hurwitz RECOMMENDED RESOURCE Martha Hurwitz

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. 

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Keep Those Cards & Letters (& EMAILS & Phone CallS) coming
ANTI-RACISM ACTIONS Martha Hurwitz ANTI-RACISM ACTIONS Martha Hurwitz

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…

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My Devotion to Democracy, Questioned
WRITING & REFLECTIONS Martha Hurwitz WRITING & REFLECTIONS Martha Hurwitz

My Devotion to Democracy, Questioned

I've been eagerly waiting for 2042—have you? That's the year we were told, back in 2008, that the U.S. would become a "majority minority" country—meaning people racialized as white would be less than 50% of the American population for the first time since the country's founding. Which means more democrats, right? It’s called democratic destiny and I totally bought into it.

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