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OK, bad news first…(stay with me, good news is coming)
Things are going to get worse before they get better. At the end of December, unemployment dries up and eviction moratoriums end. That means people are going to suffer in unprecedented ways in the coming months. And of course, many more will die to this virus. Trump or no Trump, we’re going to have to show up in real and radical ways to ensure that people’s basic needs are met.
And while it is tempting to want to get back to “normal” when Biden takes office, we must not forget that normal gave us Trump. Normal gave us record inequality. Normal gave us police brutality against black and brown bodies. Normal gave us climate change and coronavirus. We deserve more than normal.
And here’s the good news…
We have permission to imagine a new way of being - one that is rooted in radical love, pleasure and collective care. We the people have demonstrated - both in the streets and in the voting booths - that a majority of us value a politics of care that takes care of all of us. That there is, in fact, enough to go around and we can create the conditions where everyone has what they need to thrive on their terms. We can dream into reality the future that we all deserve. And we are.
Kerri (she/her)
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Fatigued by the coronavirus and Trump, the idea of going back to normal is seductive – we must guard against it. Normal gave us Trump. [click to tweet]
The QAnon conspiracy is fake, but the harm it's doing to child welfare groups is real. And the people who spread QAnon bullshit actually HURT the real organizations who fight every day to protect children from abuse. Please stop. [click to tweet]
Relationships are hard, even when we are not in the midst of a global pandemic. This Is What Happens to Couples Under Stress: An Interview with Esther Perel [click to tweet]
Is American Healing Even Possible? In an extended interview, the Reverend William J. Barber II explains why healing the soul of the nation will take more than returning to “normal.” [click to tweet]
'Hunger like they've never seen it before': US food banks struggle as 1 in 6 families with children don't have enough to eat. [click to tweet]
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Over 26 million went hungry over the Thanksgiving holiday and it is expected that many more could experience food insecurity in the next few months.
In this season of giving and equity, it feels important to acknowledge that we are not all impacted by systems of injustice and inequality in the same ways - that we need different things, especially now. And so we’re doing our part today to help fight hunger in America and build a more healthy and sustainable food system. To show our appreciation for how our community on Patreon has shown up for us over the last few months, we’re showing up for those who need it most. So instead of asking on #GivingTuesday, we are actually giving by making a donation on behalf of each our our supporters on @Patreon to the following organizations who are working on the front lines of hunger and imagining a world where everyone can thrive:
Heal Food Alliance: HEAL is a national multi-sector, multi-racial coalition of 55 organizations working together to build a movement to transform our food and farm systems from the current extractive economic model towards community control, care for the land, local economies, meaningful labor, and healthful communities nationwide, while supporting the sovereignty of all living beings.
Urban Tilth: Urban Tilth hires and trains local residents to cultivate agriculture in west Contra Costa County to help our community build a more sustainable, healthy, and just food system.
Thank you to our supporters for having our backs this year. We intend to pay it forward.
Art by @imperfectfoods
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This fall, we found ourselves in the midst of a pivotal election, a global pandemic, economic collapse, escalating action to end the war on Black life and more. Holding so much at once - even the victories - can be straining and overstimulating to our bodies and spirits. Our friends at Faith Matters Network hosted an essential series called How to Get Through: collective resilience in a world on fire. It featured an amazing line-up of movement leaders and was designed to prepare social justice movements to weave healing and care into our lives and work before, during and after crises and big “movement moments” like this one.
The first conversation (featured on this week’s CTZN Podcast) with Sidney Morgan, adrienne maree brown, Prentis Hemphill and Micky Scottbey Jones is about how we actually do the work of being human together - flawed and all, mistakes, conflict and pain included. How do we survive these times? How do we navigate conflict? How do we live into accountability? How do we take care of each other along the way. It is essential medicine for this moment. Check it out.
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How do we speak the truth to ourselves until we cannot speak anything else, to ourselves, to others, to power? How do we imagine the world that we all deserve?
adrienne maree brown and Sonya Renee Taylor are both fascinated with how we heal, love and reclaim our right to be liberated from the inside out. Join these two powerhouse visionary thinkers to dream together on the next steps in collective healing. Who knows, something new might even be birthed!
December 5th, 7p EST, Justice pricing, Register here!
*Closed Captioning + ASL + Spanish Interpretation will be provided*
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