Dear community, beloveds, and changemakers:
Every day we are inundated with news of genocides, state-sanctioned violence, the stripping of our bodily autonomy, and extreme violations of our basic human rights.
I am exhausted, we are overwhelmed, and this is by design.
Weaponizing mass disinformation, government and allied corporations-sponsored manipulation and propaganda, disinformation campaigns, targeted attacks, censorship, suppression, fear mongering, and state-sanctioned violence are tactics as old as time. In the digital age it seems scarier. With critical thinking and literacy at all time lows it seems like almost anyone with the right tools can weaponize their platform to brainwash, shape minds, and push people further down the rabbit hole.
Using war to distract from the Epstein files; calling COVID-19 the china-virus; pushing “lifestyle” trends down our throats that support the patriarchy; confusing and harming individuals looking for information on sexual and reproductive health care with false clinics; abuses of power and active genocides; new policies, layoffs, and defunding every single day; ICE’s violence, concentration camps, and innumerable violations… all of this is to overwhelm our brains and bodies.
Trying to stay on top of current events and all of the current human atrocities, is like trying to reach dry land when your whole body is tied to a slowly sinking boulder. And there are so many of us. Each of us trying to stay alive, support others, take care while bearing witness to violence upon violence. We feel alone, isolated, and scared.
They want you to forget that if we organize, come together instead of isolating ourselves, work collaboratively that we can not just push through but push back.
Even when it doesn’t feel like it, we do hold the power to create a liberatory future for all of us. In order to do this, we must take care of ourselves and each other. We each need space to rest, regroup, support, and drive action. And when we follow a framework of collective care it ensures there are always boots on the ground, folks working behind the scenes, carers and mediators and guides. Because we work in a fluid environment where we adapt and support one another so each of us can do the work and rest and take care.
Self-care, community care, and care for the collective are critical for our fight for liberation.
Support for collective care can include: individual practices such as reflections, journaling, gentle movement, and breathwork. It can be researching what your local community has to offer in terms of events and organizations driving action. One way to identify ways to stay connected and support your local community and yourself can be through resource mapping.
If you’d like to learn more, the Center for Constitutional Rights x Into the Treehouse are presenting a three-part course, including one co-lead by our founder and Afeni Evans. Learn more here.
Narrative Unbound 