Writing—which you do *really* well here—is a great thing to do. What do I do? I remind myself every single day that writing is a radical act of resistance. There’s so much we *can* do, but if you have the skillset to form thoughts and ideas into words and sentences, that is a rare gift and a needed contribution. Sincerely, this post made me feel less lonely. Thank you for writing it.
There is nothing we can do on an individual level that will change anything. It has to be collective action, even if that means small numbers. Writing can absolutely be part of collective action, but think about how. Think about how our cultural beliefs limit action. We need direct action, direct confrontation and to broaden the tactics. Protests alone isn’t enough. We have to force their hands with leverage… or as Frederick Douglass said, with “blows.” Punch back. And so our writing needs to embrace tactics that are necessary to address this level of messed up politics in the world.
The collective effort is essential, that I know. If you have an example of the kind of writing you are referring to please link. I'd appreciate it. Thanks
The good news is there are many examples for us to follow. A contemporary example which comes to mind is Andreas Malm’s book. Keep in mind the title isn’t what the book is about, really. It is an overview of what really happened in the most important social movements of the recent past and how those histories have been obscured from us. Like Nelson Mandela, Ghandi and Dr. Martin Luther King are raised as heroes of non-violence when each of these movements relied heavily on radical militant flanks. Mandela himself was the leader of an armed militant resistance.
I follow 2 leftist Facebook pages, one is trying to organize a general strike and the other is trying to organize a consumer/buy nothing strike. The best thing we can personally do in these hate filled times is to be kind and caring. Love is truly the answer 💕 Help your neighbors, the homeless people, your friends, your family. Practice random acts of kindness. Speak out against racism and bigotry.
Yes yes yes! Beautifully put, as you do. I have many thoughts on this. We need to chat irl.
Basically I have hope. I’m not ready to formulate it in words on a public forum (yet). There is a reason for the headless babies and it’s to see them and look deep and hard into yourself (like you’re doing!) and start talking to that wounded inner child with the new parental voice that you embody. Change is happening across the globe and all of the awful things are being brought to the surface intentionally to painfully birth the new world if we can manage to create it within our own hearts first. Love to you. Call me!
I too am afraid I will one day just accept all this as a status quo. And I am still trying to process how so many people already got there so quickly. I have no answers, but I will not turn my eyes away or accept this as what it is.
I think we're trained to in this country. I think of most well-known pictures from previous wars, how being exposed to them at an early age made them a fact, not a horror. And now they are reframed past being 'history.'
Sadly I think it's not just the US but in many places. I once had an argument with a French friend who considers himself progressive and said BLM did not apply to his country because black people who were there came voluntarily (his wife, who's from my home country, wholeheartedly agreed). I keep thinking about their comments to this day, because that can only come from the exact reframing you mentioned-- brutal French colonialism was just past "history" to learn in a classroom, not a horror we continue to live in. I did not ask him about what he thinks of Palestine, but I think I know his answer already. Maybe this is how humans cope when they face grave institutional injustice they can't easily "fix" with donating, voting, etc. Or maybe they think these issues don't post a direct threat to them, and thus they can ignore (privilege is hell of a drug).
Writing—which you do *really* well here—is a great thing to do. What do I do? I remind myself every single day that writing is a radical act of resistance. There’s so much we *can* do, but if you have the skillset to form thoughts and ideas into words and sentences, that is a rare gift and a needed contribution. Sincerely, this post made me feel less lonely. Thank you for writing it.
I haven’t been able to encapsulate how I’ve been feeling lately, but you just did it, cogent and unflinching. Thanks for sharing this.
There is nothing we can do on an individual level that will change anything. It has to be collective action, even if that means small numbers. Writing can absolutely be part of collective action, but think about how. Think about how our cultural beliefs limit action. We need direct action, direct confrontation and to broaden the tactics. Protests alone isn’t enough. We have to force their hands with leverage… or as Frederick Douglass said, with “blows.” Punch back. And so our writing needs to embrace tactics that are necessary to address this level of messed up politics in the world.
The collective effort is essential, that I know. If you have an example of the kind of writing you are referring to please link. I'd appreciate it. Thanks
Or check out this list I assembled… I call it a revolutionary library.
https://open.substack.com/pub/collapsecurriculum/p/a-revolutionary-library?r=8pc4d&utm_medium=ios
Thank you
The good news is there are many examples for us to follow. A contemporary example which comes to mind is Andreas Malm’s book. Keep in mind the title isn’t what the book is about, really. It is an overview of what really happened in the most important social movements of the recent past and how those histories have been obscured from us. Like Nelson Mandela, Ghandi and Dr. Martin Luther King are raised as heroes of non-violence when each of these movements relied heavily on radical militant flanks. Mandela himself was the leader of an armed militant resistance.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Blow_Up_a_Pipeline
I follow 2 leftist Facebook pages, one is trying to organize a general strike and the other is trying to organize a consumer/buy nothing strike. The best thing we can personally do in these hate filled times is to be kind and caring. Love is truly the answer 💕 Help your neighbors, the homeless people, your friends, your family. Practice random acts of kindness. Speak out against racism and bigotry.
Yes yes yes! Beautifully put, as you do. I have many thoughts on this. We need to chat irl.
Basically I have hope. I’m not ready to formulate it in words on a public forum (yet). There is a reason for the headless babies and it’s to see them and look deep and hard into yourself (like you’re doing!) and start talking to that wounded inner child with the new parental voice that you embody. Change is happening across the globe and all of the awful things are being brought to the surface intentionally to painfully birth the new world if we can manage to create it within our own hearts first. Love to you. Call me!
I too am afraid I will one day just accept all this as a status quo. And I am still trying to process how so many people already got there so quickly. I have no answers, but I will not turn my eyes away or accept this as what it is.
I think we're trained to in this country. I think of most well-known pictures from previous wars, how being exposed to them at an early age made them a fact, not a horror. And now they are reframed past being 'history.'
Sadly I think it's not just the US but in many places. I once had an argument with a French friend who considers himself progressive and said BLM did not apply to his country because black people who were there came voluntarily (his wife, who's from my home country, wholeheartedly agreed). I keep thinking about their comments to this day, because that can only come from the exact reframing you mentioned-- brutal French colonialism was just past "history" to learn in a classroom, not a horror we continue to live in. I did not ask him about what he thinks of Palestine, but I think I know his answer already. Maybe this is how humans cope when they face grave institutional injustice they can't easily "fix" with donating, voting, etc. Or maybe they think these issues don't post a direct threat to them, and thus they can ignore (privilege is hell of a drug).
Any advice for actions, for what you do, is welcome in the comments. Please don’t make me regret using the word “welcome.”
just keep writing and share you perception of, "what justice is" , far and wide.
a very provocative article . BRAVO!
" Victims never say that time heals all wounds. The wounds just change."
yes and yes !