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Each week, I write about injustice. There are always too many to mention, especially these days. But it feels important to acknowledge the harm, to say their name, to mourn the loss, to take action.
This week, I find myself overwhelmed by the deep disparities and injustices that continue to be exposed by this virus. I find myself enraged by the political malpractice of our leadership in choosing over and over again to put profits over people’s lives. I find myself heartbroken by the brutal and unnecessary lynching of Ahmaud Arbery.
There is no handbook for how to navigate this moment. There is simply how we show up for ourselves and one another. Roshi Joan Halifax reminds us:
“A world without empathy is a world that is dead to others—and if we are dead to others, we are dead to ourselves. The sharing of another’s pain can take us past the narrow canyon of selfish disregard, and even cruelty, and into the larger, more expansive landscape of wisdom and compassion.”
When we choose to fully feel the pain of this moment, we choose each other and, only then, can we fight for the future that we all deserve.
Kerri (she/her)
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“Workers are not essential. We are sacrificial”. With a mortality rate substantially higher than that of first responders, New York’s MTA workers are at the epicenter of the epicenter. Who’s going to bail them out? [click to tweet]
Blackness is a pre-existing condition. Kimberle Crenshaw on racial disaster capitalism and how we’ve failed to learn from past emergency mobilizations. Must read. [click to tweet]
As 26 million Americans lose their jobs, the billionaire class has added $308 billion to its wealth. How America’s rich has turned a pandemic into profit (I’m looking at you Jeff Bezos). [click to tweet]
How do we mourn mass death in a pandemic? Judith Butler on how to think about vulnerability and mourning during COVID-19 as a political act. [click to tweet]
Visions of a future beyond capitalism. 35+ Revolutionary Films to Watch While Under Quarantine. Watch party anyone? [click to tweet]
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Taking care of each other benefits all of us. That is the spirit of mutuality - it affirms that our liberation and wellbeing are bound. And it’s why engaging in community care and mutual aid is the medicine of this moment. Here’s how you can show up:
You are Essential: Our friends at Revolve Impact are raising funds to help combat food insecurity, housing instability, and barriers to access encountered by the elderly, disabled, immunocompromised and deeply marginalized. GIVE here.
Support Survivors: Donate to Free Form’s safety fund for survivors of domestic violence. GIVE here.
Heal the Healers: Help us support underestimated wellness leaders impacted by the pandemic through the Reclamation Ventures Relief Fund. GIVE here.
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This piece by Judith Butler has given me all the feels. It talks about how vulnerability and grief are a radical political act. She says “vulnerability is not just the condition of being potentially harmed by another. It names the porous and interdependent character of our bodily and social lives.” And it left me reflecting on when we will wake up to our interdependence? How many have to die before we value humanity above everything else? Who do we need to be together to change the future? But perhaps this new sense of who WE are is already emerging - found in the nooks and crannies of our interactions; made real by community care and mutual aid; expressed in brief moments of joy and grief; building and accumulating through small acts of service. Arundhati Roy says “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”
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This week’s full moon in Scorpio is bringing big feelings. Be gentle with yourself. Here’s your full wisdom forecast from Chani Nicholas.
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