Do Not Give Away Your Humanity

Hi Friends,

The onslaught of painful news seems to have an endless capacity for bloodshed, violence, and fear. Many prevailing narratives tell us that the other people are evil, depraved, immoral, beyond redemption, that their hate should be met with hate. We are told that we are the good ones, we are the only ones who can save the world, the country, the neighborhood, and that we are few.

Some may experience my perspective as naive, sun-washed idealism, completely out of touch with the harsh realities facing so many, detached from the truth, living in a dream. I acknowledge that I experience many privileges that make my perspective limited and perhaps that give me the ability to see beyond the negative. I also think that more of this perspective is needed, not to pretend that a different reality exists today, but to imagine ourselves into something that has never existed before.

New Mexico has just announced free universal child care statewide. That didn't exist before. Seatbelts in cars didn't exist until they did. Vaccines didn't exist until they did. Almost everything we experience today that has made our quality of life better didn't exist a generation or two ago. That's recent history! We've been creating the world we want to live in all this time.

Yes, conditions have deteriorated and many more are suffering than were suffering even six months ago. And yes, there are significant systemic challenges that we face and need to address, and these have been here for hundreds of years. Sometimes I read something that makes the challenges we face feel insurmountable, impossible, beyond comprehension. And then I see how limited the author's vision is, how black and white and this or that the world seems to them. I know that this world is full of nuance, full of greys, and you know it too if you think about it.

I can hold in my hands both my condemnation of a person's hateful views and their right to live. I can hold in my hands both my horror at a child's violent actions towards other children and my compassion for the harm and hurt in that child's life that led to those actions. I can hold in my hands both my demands for an end to genocide in Gaza and my commitment to fighting antisemitism. Many things can be true at the same time. People are complex and messy and make mistakes and have the opportunity to heal and to repair. Each one of us deserves to live a life free of perfection, to be human. I don't care who they are or what they have done - no one should ever be murdered.

When we respond to violence or hate with the same, the world gets darker, loses more light. A downward spiral into chaos is not inevitable. Each of us has so many opportunities on a daily basis to pull ourselves and our fellow humans towards love, towards hope, towards peaceful action in defense of humanity. Do not willingly give away your humanity by imagining that more hate will create the world we want to live in.

Anand Giridharadas points out that we are in this moment for a reason: "When the society feels to so many like a giant conspiracy not to help them, not to see their pain and fix their problems, when that feeling festers day after hour, decade after year, something curdles in the blood. A sense of being cosmically uncared for spreads. A sense that no one is coming, that you are on your own." AND, this is an opportunity to show that we can care for each other, we are not alone, and we can create something better, for all of us.

Let the good things filter into your consciousness:
Some distinct American character traits are also our strengths. For example, our country inherently resists authoritarianism (we still need to do the work) because of a "deep inner nature that has stood through time: the chaotic, colorful spontaneity of the American soul. We don’t march shoulder to shoulder. We shimmy." Nonviolent protest can undermine authoritarianism. Consider de-escalation training to keep you and others safe when participating in protests - the skills you gain can help in any tense situation.

Here's a reminder of how fantasy stories can inspire us and be instructive for resisting authoritarianism. "Fantasy stories — and history — remind us: Turning points rarely feel like turning points. They don’t come with clarity or consensus. They come with hesitation. They come when people stop waiting for the right moment and start acting anyway."

Some amazing people are sharing their light with the world, like Valarie Kaur and her incredible messages of love and resistance: "But you cannot make us hate you. You do not have that power." (She's traveling again! See if she's in your area.) Kazu Haga and his exploration of fierce vulnerability: "this understanding that injustice and things like state violence are not political issues as much as they are manifestations of a collective trauma. In the same way that if I have unhealed trauma, unintegrated trauma in my body I will oftentimes lash out and hurt other people or hurt myself. The same thing happens with nonprofit organizations, with communities, with nation states."

The Reverend William Barber and the Poor People's Campaign endure. Mariame Kaba shares uplifting stories about people being their better selves and encourages us not to become callous. Loretta J. Ross, in a recent newsletter update, reminds us that "Hope allows for the unknown future to occur instead of the one I fear. Our enemies know of our power even if we don’t believe in it ourselves. That’s why they work so hard to suppress us." Kristen Corning Bedford writes about considering our roles in upholding harmful systems as a way to change those systems. "The pattern in the script is the key to the solution: systems change when enough people upholding the systems change." Rebecca Solnit calls attention to all of the wonderful actions happening around the country.

Organizations are showing their bravery and creativity like independent news outlets like Prism are calling out US imperialism and its impact on our freedoms. Members of the military are preparing to resist illegal orders in the face of the politicization of the military by the administration. Waging NonViolence advocates for healing for everyone harmed by violence, including the perpetrators of violence. "It harms communities who live under constant surveillance, suspicion and grief. It harms people in moments of crisis — those facing poverty, addiction and mental illness — who are met with force instead of compassion. And it harms officers who, in absorbing the contradictions of their role, often lose touch with their own humanity."

Latin American LGBTQ+ archives are preserving history and resisting oppression. New Jersey's Break the Bonds campaign inspires further efforts to divest from Israel. Comrades Education is running their "Fundamentals of Antiracism" course starting October 5. Long-running groups in Southern California continue their peace patrols in their communities to help keep each other safe. No Kings is happening again on October 18. Also check out One Million Rising (recordings of previous trainings can be found there as well).

The fight is not over. Do not give in to fear or hate. Do not give away your humanity.

Emily
Listen. Amplify. Follow. In Solidarity.