How mad are you?
are you mad enough to slow down and get organized?
I pissed someone off in my community. They, rightly so, are angry with the genocide in Palestine. Yes, I believe Israel is conducting a genocide. Yes, I equally believe the violence and harm Hamas has caused is also wrong. But I’m not constantly posting about Palestine on social media. This person posts constantly about Palestine, and from what I can tell, that’s all they do. So, I got really angry about the level of shame-to-action strategy they seemed to be using.
Perhaps they are doing more. Perhaps they are participating in actions, donating money, and writing letters to their elected officials. But that’s not what I saw. I saw angry rants about the horror that is taking place and the uneven news reporting. Yes, raising awareness is essential, but I have found that it doesn’t move hearts and souls. So, I got really angry that this person seemed to be shaming me for their perception of my perceived inaction while also not understanding or embracing how real change is made.
Where do you sit in this? Last week, I asked you to live active anti-racist lives. Did you feel a sense of guilt, shame, or other negative emotions? Part of my trigger is a piece of guilt that I’m not doing enough. But it’s so easy to go down that road. Can I do more? Absolutely. Should I feel bad? How helpful is the shame feeling towards actually solving the crisis that is happening?
Here are some things I have learned this year. I suspected these things, but I didn’t really know. Power is organized people and organized money. And, I was agitated JUST THIS WEEK that we MUST add organized ideas. If you have organized people and organized money, but they aren’t aligned on the idea of what to do, you’re not going anywhere.
So, I observe this person posting on social media, not writing their email list, not doing a call to action to join an organization, and I don’t see organized people or money. I see a singular focus, but it’s not with others. Sure, it’s sharing others’ content, but no clear coalition or collaboration exists.
And, you know, one of the times I saw that? Back in February 2003, when we marched against the war in Iraq. We came out. We had our signs. We stood shoulder to shoulder. We were organized people for one day. President Bush didn’t change his stance. Iraq was invaded, and Middle East challenges still abound. 20 years later.
This Vox article gives a decent overview of the history of Palestine in the last 100 years. The problem is patriarchy. The problem is colonization. The problem is the idea that one group of people deserves something that belongs to another.
The problem is equity, and our world isn’t equitable. We have a lot of shit going on in our world right now—a lot of inequity. What’s going on in Palestine is awful, and it’s not the only thing. I wrote it about recently. There are over 100 conflicts in the world. There are challenges domestically and internationally. And they are all connected.
I focus on domestic issues, specifically related to women - child care. That’s my chosen path right now, where I want to make an impact. These issues are related. When you work to be anti-racist and anti-sexist, you don’t stop at one issue because you are pulling on the thread. You are one pebble in our world’s ocean; the ripples matter. And, while I believe we cannot be silent anymore, there are other ways than performative posts on social media.
I haven’t found an extraordinary petition or organization to donate to yet. But I do have a guide for seeking quality information. Take a look at that here. And think critically as you research where you will act next because we must act. We must act together. And, we will figure out this mess, together.
(I just saw I can have a poll. So, let’s do it.)
But, what will you do about it?