Do we hate our children?

I’ve taken the last two weeks off. Partly because of the launch of American Detox. Partly because I can’t seem to shake this idea that we, in America, don’t give a shit about our children or our future. Why else would it be possible for people to be murdered, then buried and forgotten with little conviction to prevent it from happening again in the future.

It will happen again, of course. In 2012 we lost 20 children at Sandy Hook and since then we have experienced 3500 school shootings, 311,000 children have witnessed gun violence and over 34,500 children have been killed. And yet we are still debating common sense gun control that most certainly would have saved countless lives (note: a bipartisan gun control bill is expected to (finally) be signed into law this week which will help but does not go far enough).

The answer and action to a system that does not care for us, is that we must care for us. And not just in how we advocate for a politics of care, but in how we practice everyday care - in how we show up (outside the state) to protect our neighbors, repair for present and past harms and create the conditions where everyone has what they need to thrive.

Kerri (she/her)

Art by @mythsooka

1. How do you raise kids in a country that seems to hate them? It’s a terrifying time to have kids in America. It doesn’t have to be this way. [click to tweet]

2. A ‘moral fusion coalition’ of Blacks and poor whites won deep political and economic reforms in the First Reconstruction—from the 14th and 15th Amendments to public education. Learning from reconstruction. [click to tweet]

3. Reproductive justice advocates say that challenging stigma, centering equity, and demonstrating unconditional kindness are vital to providing inclusive care. How to really support people who have abortions. [click to tweet]

4. There is a long, ironic, and mostly unhappy history of the very wealthy trying to do good. But brute-force philanthro-capitalism only enables the destruction of nature and the erosion of democracy. [click to tweet]

5. A bigger picture gives our ancestors their full humanity. How the “myth of progress” inherited in the West emerged as a defensive, Eurocentric response to Indigenous critiques. [click to tweet]

It’s becoming more difficult to discern right action during these complex times. The needs are just too many. But given how much hangs in the balance with SCOTUS, I think its helpful to put some focus there:

DECISIONS: There are thirteen cases yet to be announced this term that will likely not only change the political landscape but change our lives as we know it. Decisions on Abortion (Dobbs vs Jackson Women’s Health Organization that will likely over turn Roe and significantly limit reproductive rights), Gun Control (New York State Rifle & Pistol Association vs Bruen which will determine whether states can regulate an individual’s ability to carry a gun outside the home), Environmental Protection (West Virginia vs EPA is about the federal government’s ability to create environmental regulations to combat climate change), Immigration (Biden v Texas which will rule over the “Remain in Mexico” policy that detains asylum-seekers in Mexico).

EXPAND THE COURT: With a 6-3 Republican majority, SCOTUS is proving far too biased in favor of special interest and political agendas. The solution? Expand the court. Demand Justice is calling for the following reforms to restore balance:

1. Depoliticize SCOTUS by creating term limits for justices

2. Create a binding code of #ethics for justices

3. Improve access to justice and diversity by adding judges to the lower courts

4. Demand that Congress end the filibuster, pass the Judiciary Act and protect Roe.

   1. Call Congress.

   2. Sign the petition.

   3. Meet with your representatives.

Image by @demandjustice_

The pressure to perform activism is real in our social media reality. Especially given the avalanche of issues we are facing. But trying to be perfect or good doesn’t create change. It just keeps us stuck and small. Here’s an excerpt from American Detox on the lie of perfectionism:

“Perfectionism is a lie intended not just to keep us struggling in shame and scarcity, but to keep us complicit in upholding systems of exploitation and extraction. Everything that we allow when we don’t feel that we are enough not only harms us personally, but contributes to the cycle of oppression that is threatening our collective survival. Shame is political. Not only does it fuel the all-American obsession with being perfect, skinny, productive and well, but it is the driving force behind a system that thrives on controlling bodies to keep people performing their roles in the dynamic systems of oppression. Healing is taking an honest look at the role we play in our own suffering and the suffering of others. Whether we like it or not, there is no escape from these systems, there is no perfect way of being, no pure lifestyle that allows us to transcend the toxicity of our culture. The world is a fucked-up mess, and no amount of purity and perfectionism is going to fix it.”

The perfect activist doesn’t exist. It is a myth that keeps us reaching beyond ourselves and each other. Instead of doing more good, we should be trying to do less harm (read Winner Takes All by Anand Ghiradaradas), repair relationships and build systems and structures that affirm all life.

Art from @atmos

This is for anyone who isn’t ok today. Thank you Resonance Network.

CTZNWELL is community powered and crowd-sourced. That’s how we keep it real. Please consider joining us on Patreon for as little as $2/month so that we can keep doing the work of creating content that matters for CTZNs who care.