questions for reflection

on the one year anniversary of Al-Aqsa Flood and a year of "Israeli" genocide of Palestinians

read The Cradle article here

today, like most days, my heart is full of rage, grief, love, and devastation. the intensity of my emotional turbulence has made it difficult for me to offer any of my own generative reflections. however, my mind and heart are filled with questions for us - for you, for me, for all the beloved comrades who have allowed themselves to be transformed by our choice to bear witness to: (1) the actions of a genocidal zio ethnostate/colonial project and members/enactors of the imperial core who will stop at nothing to fund, defend, and participate in the active extermination of our beloved sibs; and (2) the valorous actions of the Resistance.

allowing ourselves to be changed and transformed by our witnessing is an incredibly important part of liberatory praxis. recognizing and sensing the edges of imperial, colonial, and white supremacist indoctrination requires a combination of will, awareness, practice, fortitude, connection, and community. and despite the dizzying rage and fury that burns in my heart, boils my blood, i have been so heartened by our individual and collective growth. exercising greater agency and autonomy over our minds, our hearts, and our actions helps us to move in ways that are rooted in our principles.

so, here are my questions to give us even greater agency over our own liberatory growth.

questions for reflection 

• what parts of you changed and transformed the most in service of liberatory praxis? what parts of you have remained the same? why did those parts remain the same? what do you need in order to begin transforming those static parts of yourself?

• in what ways have you been brave, and what was required for you to exercise this courage? what words of affirmation can you offer to yourself for being brave? how can you inspire your present self to continue practicing courage?

• how has your brain/thinking shifted in the last year? what indoctrinations have you been able to begin untethering from? how do you know the shift has taken root? how can you offer support to those who continue to be caged by imperialist and colonial indoctrination?

• in what ways have you actively externalized your principles and politics? in what ways have they remained internalized, not yet materialized? what do you need in order to translate your internal principles and politics into transformed action?

• what new actions and activities did you try in the last year in service of your values? how have you evaluated your relationship to these actions and activities? what worked, what didn’t work? what is it about the context of those actions and activities that made it work (or not)?

• what did you learn about the type of everyday shifts you have to make in order to center your principles on a daily basis? what changed about your everyday life? what didn’t? what justifications / excuses have you relied on to remain unchanged?

• how have you made attempts to build connection during this time, to rely on others, to be relied on by others? what has been scariest about these types of connections? what has been most affirming?

• how have you navigated conflict related to your externalized principles and politics? in what ways are you challenging yourself to relate differently to the experience of conflict in service of your principles and values?

• in what ways have other forms of oppression (eg. anti-Blackness, ableism) shown up in your advocacy for a free and liberated Palestine? what work do you need to do in order to account for this, and to change those parts of yourself?

• where are you at greatest risk of becoming complacent? how can you rely on other people to ensure you don’t remain static in your relationship to liberatory praxis?

• what does rest and recovery look like when you are needed? how can you center your care in ways that keep you connected rather than disconnected?

• what tools do you need to more deeply embody your principles and politics?

i will eventually build this out more and turn it into a downloadable/shareable workbook. but for now, the questions will live here.

also, please remember to participate in resource mobilization. of course it is important to bear witness to and to share the horrifying and morally bankrupt actions of the imperial core. but our beloved and precious sibs have material needs that we can fulfill. you can creatively participate in mobilizing resources for GFM survival campaigns (like the raffle/giveaway i organized). you can pool money with your comrades and make contributions to campaigns or buy/donate eSIMs.

AND. remember to celebrate the wins and achievements of the Resistance!