Grounding in the midst of uncertainty, grief, and empire
I’m a digital organizer because I believe that the stories we share online have the power to grow power, to spread information, and to connect people across the world in service of liberation. And at the same time, I don’t believe that we were ever meant - or that we’ll ever be able - to hold the volume of knowledge and suffering that many of us are now exposed to on a daily basis. I don’t believe that any of us were born able to make sense of the violence live-streamed to our phones, and to put our phones back into our pockets and turn back to the jobs that we rely on for housing and healthcare.
Of course we are impacted and changed, as we watch babies starve, babies buried under rubble, babies without their limbs. Of course we can imagine how it feels to burn when we bear witness to the bombs dropped, or to Aaron Bushnell’s courageous last moments - as Palestinians facing U.S. funded genocide have asked us to do.
This is completely overwhelming - and sometimes, when we are overwhelmed, we turn on each other, instead of towards each other: Who described the tragedy in the best, smartest way? Who reacted first, and who mourned best? Whose grief is the most pure?
These questions can feel urgent, but they’re a distraction. They deny us the fullness and complexity of our humanity, and turn solidarity and grief into a performance. They send us spiraling into competition and perfectionism, and they push us further away from ourselves, from each other, and from actually doing anything.
After navigating tragedy and politics online and in media over the past several years, these are the questions I ask to steady myself in the midst of uncertainty, grief, and empire:
Stay grounded in what you know to be true. Ask yourself, “What can I be sure of?”
In this moment, some of my answers are: “All life is precious,” “Children deserve to be safe - in their homes, in their schools, everywhere,” and, “There are ways for each of us to defend life.”
Be discerning with the media and stories you consume. You don’t have to read every article. You can stop in the middle of reading. Ask yourself, “Does this serve liberation?”
This doesn’t mean, “Does this make me comfortable?” or even, “is this the most correct?” Instead, it means, “Does this support my ability to act with compassion and integrity? Does it strengthen my clarity and resilience?”
Know and recognize the characteristics of white supremacy culture. Ask yourself, “Who benefits from this story?”
Some symptoms of white supremacy culture that I’ve noticed recently are: right to comfort, the belief in “one right way,” either / or thinking, and perfectionism.
White supremacy culture keeps us spinning in cycles of competition, distrust, and inaction. I try to confront it by stating some of my intentions and beliefs, like: “I will not look away from pain, and we will support each other through discomfort,” “There are many paths to liberation, and no one way to build a new world,” “I am secure enough in my beliefs to be curious about yours,” and “I choose love and action over perfection.”
Let me know: What are your intentions? How do you honor your grief? How does it feel to welcome a mistake? What stories have you abandoned in pursuit of liberation?
What I’m reading this week:
“My name is Aaron Bushnell. I am an active-duty member of the United States Air Force, and I will no longer be complicit in genocide. I’m about to engage in an extreme act of protest. But compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers, it’s not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal. Free Palestine!” We Must Resist Any Erasure of Why Aaron Bushnell’s Young Life Came to an End by Kelly Hayes
“In mourning Nex, I think about how much trans and Native youth have stacked against them. From higher rates of depression to a greater potential for homelessness, these young people are struggling to survive their own lives. They also live in the crosshairs of a fascist political party that seeks to exclude them from public life, and prevent the expression or recognition of their true identities.” Our Mourning for Nex Benedict Calls Us to Action Against Transphobia and Fascism by Kelly Hayes
“Our tax dollars are paying for this genocide. The government says we have no money for public education, for fixing our roads, for infrastructure, for the unhoused, no money for universal healthcare. But we have billions to spend on military aid for Israel.” More than half of organized labor in the US is part of a union that has called for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.
“we are the ones we have been waiting for” June Jordan wrote ‘Poem for South African Women’ in “commemoration of the 40,000 women and children who, August 9, 1956, presented themselves in bodily protest against the “dompass” in the capital of apartheid”.
Our collective tendencies towards conflict in the face of tragedy are symptomatic of white supremacy culture - and they’re also straight out of the CIA’s handbook for disrupting organizations and movements 👀