Build Your Abolitionist Capacity
Mariame Kaba and Andrea Ritchey are esteemed elders in the world of abolition, who launched an organization called Interrupting Criminalization (IC) about five years ago. Their work has been prolific, including research, reports, zines, podcasts, convenings, webinars, books, and much more. The overall focus: ending criminalization, policing, and punishment. Check out the curriculum they’re offering.
Figure Out *What You Do*
Here's a helpful framework I've used when I want evaluate what anti-oppression or liberatory actions I'm taking, or want to do more, or be more effective. Choose one oppression you feel most riled about, or spread a few interests across the four categories below. Your action:
Vulnerability Math: A Constant Calculation
My one night in a hospital, appendectomy included, came to $35,000. My share came to $6000. I felt really pouty about this; outraged, actually, and definitely deserving of financial assistance. As I filled out the hospital's aid application though, a few minutes of vulnerability math tempered my sense of entitlement. Over 60 + Jewish + a cancer survivor + female = a really low vulnerability to oppression score.
Well, That Explains It: The Set-Up of settler Colonialism
Settler colonialism is nothing if not this hoarding, and racism is an integral part of its ecology. This article “The Set-Up’ of Settler Colonialism” by political educator David Dean has given me a deeper understanding of what settler colonialism is, what purpose it serves, and how racism is both a tool and a by-product. I really appreciated how he drew parallels between three versions of settler colonialism: here in the U.S., in Ireland, and in Palestine.
Check Your App: Conscionable Purchases
I want to spend my money in ways that further the work I put into human rights, not obstruct it. I'm a tiny player in a huge system...but there are a lot of us. Here are a couple of apps we can use to make conscionable choices. Your action:
Stewarding Social Justice: A Thing I Didn’t Know I was Doing
The term 'social justice steward' is new to me, and I'm intrigued. It sounds more appealing than 'social justice warrior', a term that to me evokes a picture of someone so dedicated to a movement that their commitment becomes a detriment to their well-being (physically, emotionally) and relationships (family, others in their movement). While warrior evokes a combative posture, steward makes me think of the tenderness I felt when raising my kids, or about the three very small trees I recently planted.
Get a Kid With Medical Needs Out of Gaza
I have a friend in Seattle who created an organization that is working to get people out of Gaza. So far, she and her group Donkeysaddle Projects have evacuated over 100 individuals and set them up with critical basic needs like housing or medical care for at least several months. Your action:
Calling in the Inimitable Loretta J. Ross
In January, I took an 8-session course with Loretta J. Ross. Being a facilitator myself, I have very high standards for other facilitators—Loretta and her team met them all, even virtually, even with 300 participants. Those of you who've come to a workshop, retreat, caucus, or circle of mine since then have definitely tasted her influence.
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…