No one is free until we are all free
My heart and mind and entire body really is heavy from the past few days of news about the horrifying attacks in Israel, the impacts, and the ripple effect of shock, grief and trauma even for those not directly impacted.
It feels out of my lane yet also very relevant to the work I do.
For now I am reading, listening, learning, and engaging in conversation where I can.
Here’s what I know: anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and anti-Arabism are all pillars of white supremacy. If destroying one pillar depends on fortifying another, white supremacy prevails.
If the liberation of one group is dependent on the oppression of another, it’s not a liberation I can condone, nor would I define it as true liberation.
No one is free until we are all free.
White supremacy has always thrived by pitting one oppressed group against another as a deliberate, carefully constructed and intentional strategy.
This is not about a “both sides” argument that relies on false equivalency.
Because what I can’t help but be uneasy about is how white supremacy is often the “side” that becomes invisible or at least less visible, specifically, in this instance, British imperialism and US colonialism.
Everything has context, including terrorism. Understanding the context isn’t the same as condoning terrorism.
And I am clear that Hamas does not represent all Palestinian people, as the Israeli government does not represent all Israeli or Jewish people, nor does the US government represent all Americans.
I am aware of how much I don’t know. I’ve spent much of the past few days reading from various sources, knowing that I am only scratching the surface.
From what I know right now, I stand with Israel’s right to exist, and with the Palestinian right to freedom, recognizing that each of these positions have involved centuries of violence.
I am devastated by the violence that will continue to result from believing it can or should only be one or the other.
I’m also clear on the long history of violence and terrorism committed by the US and British governments (and the Chinese government from which my father’s family fled, if you want to throw that in there) just to name a few that have most impacted me. I do not condone any of it, yet know that it is pretty impossible for any of us to not be complicit.
Again, no one is free until we are all free.
To all who are terrified, grieving, fearful for yourselves and loved ones, your people, your country, the world, are feeling the impact of intergenerational trauma activated, are having sleepless nights, feel abandoned, betrayed, exhausted… l see you. ❤️
Banner photo by Maksim Shutov on Unsplash
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