Here’s what I imagine the keyboard warriors pushing the “rage is justified” and “property damage is not violence” narrative believe about the LA riots in ’92: They believe that the 63 people who died and the nearly 2500 people injured were all batoned by police in riot gear or the National Guard. They believe that…
When you read a piece of advice about attending a protest from a seasoned peace advocate that rubs you the wrong way or doesn’t reflect your perspective, it’s because they’re expressing their lived experience. It’s not about you. They will probably be thankful when you share your advice, based on your lived experience. They didn’t…
To the many brave voices calling out Peter Coyote’s advice regarding peaceful demonstration tactics as representative of an entitled, race- and class-based, and performative nod to respectability politics: I hear you, and I recognize this perspective. I would challenge that perspective as confusing symbology with strategy. I see it as being based on a false…
It’s not that kindness is a moral imperative because it’s convenient. Kindness is a moral imperative because unkindness done to one turns that one’s grandchildren into monsters who will return that unkindness a thousandfold. Even if the unkindness being done to Palestinians were to stop today, with all of the trauma that has been inflicted…
Understanding human cognitive bias, and the psychophysical mechanisms that compartmentalize our experience so that we can navigate in a world of endless variation, let us recognize that the rainbow is not actually made up of discrete bands of color – that is an illusion created by our senses. As comforting as it may be to…
If one recognizes the Palestinian people as equally human to oneself, one will experience no moral dilemma as one simultaneously condemns their slaughter, starvation, and displacement; and desires that Hamas-held hostages be released. On the other hand, if one finds oneself making statements which include clauses such as “sad, but,” or “you’re ignoring the hostages”…
continue reading Asking for an end to violence needs no qualification
Extreme wealth is not compatible with democracy. The ultrarich are cushioned from fluctuations in the political landscape that can have life-or-death consequences for regular people. Even if a billionaire lost their job and got hit by a truck tomorrow, they would be able to afford healthcare, send their kids to college, and provide safe living…
continue reading Extreme wealth is not compatible with democracy
Woody Guthrie was a DJ. He used the power of the social media of his time to spread the message of anti-fascism and pro-democracy. Pete Seeger had a television show. He used the power of social media to highlight outspoken advocates for social justice in song. Nina Simone used her platform to expose the abuses…
