View this post on the web at [link removed]

Thanks for subscribing to WELLREAD. For the last 6+ years we’ve been providing folks with the need to know (NTK) news, calls to actions and resources for how to stay engaged and resourced along the way. But now, we’ve added an option to “upgrade to paid” to help sustain our work. While we will never put our content behind a pay wall, we depend on the support of our community to keep us going. 💛
I yield this week’s note to Michelle Alexander’s courageous speech “We must speak”. [ [link removed] ]
“When antisemitism and Islamophobia slip in through the back door of supposedly progressive spaces. When Palestinian children in refugee camps are bombed and killed. When schools and hospitals and entire neighborhoods are laid waste. We must speak. When international law is treated like a naïve suggestion, we must speak.
Yes, it may be difficult. Yes, we will make mistakes. We are human. And yes, we may be afraid.
But we must speak.
Countless lives and the liberation of all of us depend upon us breaking our silences.
What’s ultimately required, I think, in these times is not only activism or politics but also deeply personal spiritual work. As Grace Lee Boggs once said, “These are the times to grow our souls.”
All of us have a conscience that whispers to us, sometimes in the dark. The mandates of conscience that arise within each of us arise not out of loyalty to abstract principles or doctrines but from a place of deep knowing — a deep knowing that we owe something to each other as human beings, that we belong to each other, and that our freedom and liberation depend on one another. If I do not stand and speak when the bombs are raining down on you, then who will speak up for me, for my loved ones, when the tables are turned? As James Baldwin wrote to Angela Davis more than 50 years ago when she sat in a jail cell, “For, if they take you in the morning, they will be coming for us that night.”
Please speak up. Take care. Look out for each other. Keep going.
Kerri (she/her)
Art by @JezzChung
NTK (need to know)
Caring for ourselves as political warfare. protests and actions can give us the highest highs and the most gut wrenching terrors or deepest disappointments. in the midst of wildly inspiring actions and protests happening worldwide, there is increasing racialized violence and the urgency of trying to grab this moment, the feeling of pressing up against our edges.
26 ways to be in the struggle, beyond the streets. People seek justice and support liberation in an array of ways, yet their bodies, their spirits, and their lives may not allow them to be in the streets.
A vigil for Palestine. From Arab organizer Nadine Naber to Rabbi Brant Rosen and Palestinian poet and organizer Rasha Abdulhadi, hear these voices, contemplate their words, and consider what this moment demands of us all. .
The punishment of Rep Rashida Tlaib and the message that sends to Palestinian Americans. The censure of Tlaib reverberated among a minority community that feels ignored, and confirmed their worst fears — that their opinions are not important and their lives do not matter.
Rethinking agency and accountability in the Middle East through the more-than-human. Liberalism – an Enlightenment era concept that took off from the assumption that humans are central to how the world works. That humans are free. And that this freedom is computationally resolved within a realm of rights and privileges, capably held by the highest form of human sociality, the state.
Solidarity
When answering the question “what can I do?”, it can feel overwhelming when there is so much need. But I’m keeping the focus on continuing to pressure the US government to 1)call for an immediate ceasefire (including a refusal to send additional funding and weapons to the Israel military) and 2) immediate humanitarian aid entry. Here are four super easy ways to take action:
Email your reps: auto-email [ [link removed] ]: Auto generating resource (no address/phone required)
5-Calls app: [ [link removed] ]Connects you with your rep and provides an easy script when calling.
Action toolkit: [ [link removed] ] Resources for calling congress, texting friends, leveraging social media, finding a protest near you.
Text message for call link: text CEASEFIRE to 51905
Ceasefire [ [link removed] ]CTA: Everything you need to call, tweet, march, phone bank, amplify.
Digging Deeper
I’ve had many moments over the last few weeks where I have wondered “what’s the point?", “is any of this even doing anything?”. Anyone resonate? But as an organizer I know two things to be true: 1) I am not alone in this 2) every little action matters and aggregates to build a movement. So sharing these Ten Affirmations For Activists (@devthepinapple) which is helping me get by and keep going (Also see “ways to redirect apathy [ [link removed] ]” by Jezz Chung).
My voice matters in the fight for change.
Every small step i take contributes to a larger movement.
I am empowered by my passion for justice and equality.
My actions inspire others to join the cause.
I am resilient in the face of challenges and setbacks.
Together we have the power to build a better world.
I embrace learning and growing through my activism.
I am. catalyst for positive change in my community.
My commitment to this cause is source of strength.
I believe in the power of unity to overcome obstacles.
Art by @devthepinapple
Nourishment
Hala Alyan reminds us “we owe people our endurance”. And that is exactly what we explored at our Practices for Care & Endurance gathering this past Monday. Led and inspired by healers and activists including adrienne maree brown, Hala Alyan, Spenta Kandawalla, Adaku Utah, Noor, Sepideh Moafi and Layla Feghali we explored how to sustain our solidarity for the long haul.
Missed the call? No worries. You can sign up to get the replay HERE. [ [link removed] ]And stay tuned for more on building a movement of sustainable solidarity.
We-ness
May we return to each other.
Art by @samiraidroos
Thanks for subscribing to WELLREAD. For the last six years we’ve been providing folks with the need to know (NTK) news, calls to actions and resources for how to stay engaged and resourced along the way. But now, we’ve added an option to “upgrade to paid” to help sustain our work. While we will never put our content behind a pay wall, we depend on the support of our community to keep us going. 💛
WELLREAD is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
WELLREAD is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Unsubscribe [link removed]?