On Moving Forward When Hope Feels Hard

Shades of Anger, October 29, 2024

Author

Rebecca Steckle
October 29, 2024

October 29, 2024

Good morning. Remember that every day is a good day to take action in support of Palestinian liberation.

LEARN. Hope is hard, at least for some of us. The last weeks have been continued levels of depravity. There are no real words. Today, we recognize all the feelings. If you are feeling grief / sadness, read this post from Hashim Y.A. (@hashim.y.a on Instagram). Read these words from Alessandra Olanow (@aolanow on Instagram). And then those from Saul Williams and Dr. Autumn BlackDeer.

"CVS Pharmacy 08/18/2024 7:15 AM --Sometimes grief finds you in the checkout line between the gum and gossip magazines. It doesn't care that it's been five years or that people are waiting. It just shows up reminding you that love doesn't have an expiration date. --- Grief: the price we pay for love. Thank you! Come Again!

A poem printed on a receipt talking about the way grief shows up unexpectedly. Alt text embedded.

"I'd be more careful about banking on the martyrdom of Palestinian resistance. When authorities killed that dude from Nazareth they believed they had crushed his whole movement - Now we count time from the year of his birth."

Tweet from Saul Williams (@Saul Williams). Background is dark blue with white text. Alt text embedded.

Get your fcking ass up and organize. It seems like nobody wants to participate in a revolution these days."

Tweet from Dr. BlackDeer (@DrBlackDeer). Alt text embedded.

NOTICE. What do you notice in your body as you move through these different words / posts?

ACT. Get organized. Find a way (locally or globally) to take meaningful action. Need a place to start, join the “Online Workshop - Secrets of a Successful Organiser: Workers in Palestine” here. The goal of this workshop series include “strengthening organising skills to build real and lasting support for Palestine in our workplaces and unions. Sessions will provide practical tools and real-world examples to help us organise to win.”

SHARE. Forward this to five people who might need to move through these feelings to get into action.

ASK. What other kinds of actions do you want to take but need more information about to start? Please reply to this email (or, if you are reading this online, leave a comment below) to let us know.*

In solidarity for Palestinian liberation,

Rebecca Steckle, on behalf of the Shades of Anger collective

Click here to read online or listen to the audio version of this post:

*You can also continue the conversation with us in the Speaking Up Network, a private social media platform co-created by Animah Kosai, one of the leaders of Shades of Anger.

Shades of Anger was created by a global collective of women to raise awareness and inspire action to free Palestine. We chose the name of our collective to honor the poem, “Shades of Anger,” by Palestinian-Canadian poet Rafeef Ziadah. We also believe in liberation for Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, and all places where systems of oppression are causing immense suffering and crushing the life out humans. We are led by women of the Global Majority/BIPOC. Shades of Anger is for everyone who wants to act for liberation and you can learn more about it here.

Alt text: On the top half is a grey background with black text that reads "Shades of Anger 'Palestinians do not know the word impossible' - Fatima Bernawi, So why should we?" On the bottom half are three photos. The first is a photo of an adult with short greyy hair holding the hand of a young child, who is holding up a Palestinian flag high in their other hand, while standing on a hill overlooking a field of people and cars. The second is a black and white photo of a person with a long ponytail, holding a kuffiyeh and chanting at a protest. The last is a person wearing a kuffiyeh around their head, and a black and red dress, looking at the camera while holding up a Palestinian flag and a peace sign.

Alt text is embedded in image

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