The social construction of collective memory is not carried out in a vacuum; it involves constant struggle. Other, often more powerful, groups are working at their interpretations of the past. But the interpretation of the powerful is not guaranteed in advance. Even in the midst of authoritarian repression, the hegemony of the official interpretation of the past is never assured.

Bill Rolston, “¡Hasta La Victoria!: Murals and Resistance in Santiago, Chile”

Murals are thus not simply ‘folk art,’ but an essential element of the mobilisation and politicisation of the community. They become simultaneously expressions and creators of solidarity. They speak a live and relevant message to and for the communities in which they are painted. They air past and present grievances and articulate visions for the future; they celebrate the achievements and criticise the shortcomings of the community; and they come out of a strong sense of identity, while at the same time serving to mobilise solidarity. They are a vital part of the soul of these communities, which enables them to continue to function and grow in the face of inequality, neoliberalism, marginalisation, and repression.

Bill Rolston, “¡Hasta La Victoria!: Murals and Resistance in Santiago, Chile”

Ma: Gotta fight the system!

Mi: My new favorite catchphrase

Mi: Like Pokémon

It wasn’t just the constant fighting and the difficult relationship with my stepfather that I was avoiding. It was our inability to talk about it. As a culturally Japanese household, we were not good at addressing conflict, and we didn’t have the skills to have the difficult discussions about what was hurting us. I wouldn’t learn about the concept of “negative peace,” the absence of open tension at the expense of real peace and harmony, until years later. I didn’t realize at that time how hurt and broken I was, but I was a mess. Sometimes the original pain of something doesn’t hurt nearly as much as the ways in which that pain goes unacknowledged. Having to bury it and not being able to give words to it can exacerbate it, and having our pain feel invalidated can be one of the most hurtful things we can experience.

Excerpt From: Kazu Haga. “Healing Resistance.”

Looking back, I can’t imagine what it must take to tell your own children that you have only a few months to live. I don’t remember him shedding a single tear—his stoicism a character trait revered in Japanese culture. Stoic. Honorable. Controlled. It wouldn’t be until decades later that I would come to see the repression of emotion as an act of violence we perform against ourselves and see all of the ways that internal forms of violence can manifest.

Excerpt From: Kazu Haga. “Healing Resistance.”

Think of it as a license to learn.

Marion, in response to my anxieties/imposter syndrome as I approach the end of my program

Poverty and homelessness are systemic forms of violence. The trauma of young children who experience these forms of violence may manifest later in their lives as violence that they may perpetuate on others. This violence may manifest as individual acts, but they are a result of the larger forms of systemic violence they had to endure. Poverty didn’t just happen for no reason, and it is not perpetuated because people are lazy. Systemic violence can have a different impact than isolated incidents of interpersonal violence. The nature of systemic violence is that it can feel inescapable and omnipresent. It repeats over and over and over again, day after day after day. If you are homeless, you are reminded of that every single day. If you live in an impoverished neighborhood, you witness violence every single day. If you are from a marginalized community, you are reminded that you are an “other” constantly. If you live in a war-torn country, your trauma is being triggered all the time. The impact of that constant, repeated exposure to violence impacts not only your body but your soul. Civil rights leader Andrew Young once said, “You can get hit by a baseball bat playing baseball, but segregation destroys the inside of your mind and your soul. And it doesn’t heal that easily.” When your mind or soul is destroyed, you are much more likely to harm yourself or lash out and hurt another person. As we will continue to talk about throughout this book, the institutions that govern our lives have a much deeper impact than we realize. It is impossible to consider peace, justice, and nonviolence without an intimate understanding of the way in which our institutions perpetuate violence and a deep commitment to undoing harm on the systemic level.

Excerpt From: Kazu Haga “Healing Resistance.”

My favorite scene from Gentefied episode, “Women’s Work”

The causes for the destruction of Earth through global capitalism are explained as arising from addiction, greed, materialism. “Realists” ironically who may point to the necessities of human survival, may try to justify this form of global capitalism, yet they fail to see the destruction unleashed on a life support system which we all depend on. As all actions have an equal and opposite reactions, for all of the numbers of humans who have been fed, housed and clothed and driven in gas cars through our feasting on Earth, this many may in the near future suffer or die of hunger, poverty, exposure and disease. The long standing spiritual disciplines found in traditional original (indigenous) societies as the Lenape are clear in their intention to maintain reciprocity with Earth. We are not divorced of natural laws, how could we be?

The Lenape Center: A New Year’s Message about Peace, for pressenza, International Press Agency

This week I really feel like I’ve been returning to my authentic self, and it’s so nice. Embracing myself in this self partnership and experiencing grad school together has been such a bonding experience. Once I got a little grounded in the partnership, I was able to open up and really appreciate the love and support that is offered to me by my community, here and I’m California. Now that I’ve moved, I feel like my life is being held by so many more relationships. This realization really nourishes my soul 🌱

Gentrification is an unfair process, stemming from the beginning of white migration into urban areas, by which people who are less privileged, long-standing residents of communities are forced out of their neighborhoods while new people reap the benefits. This is a systematic selection of neighborhoods previously neglected by institutional power and government for the benefit of the more privileged. Gentrification is reinforced by inequitable housing policies, such as red-lining, redistricting, block-busting, and rezoning to uphold white supremacy. Too often political motives do not prioritize long standing residents who may live in targeted communities, including people living in rent stabilized/controlled homes and lack of access to resources. Gentrification results in displacement of families and communities, and a lack of access to affordable housing increasing the number of people relying on the shelter system. Gentrification is often marketed with a colonialist rhetoric, such as “cleaning up the streets,” or “revitalizing a neighborhood” while simultaneously appropriating the cultures of those who are being displaced. Traditionally, opportunistic players will prey on long-standing resident by using unscrupulous tactics to “buy out” homeowners and renters at under market value. Gentrification has historically disproportionately impacted marginalized communities, including communities of color, low-income communities, and other oppressed communities.

Definition of Gentrification, Columbia School of Social Work Contemporary Social Issues Class with Professor Deborah Lolai

A mother’s story about her experience with the child welfare system. I recently observed family court, and it was painful to see how casually things were facilitated. In an intimate and traumatic moment where a judge is ruling whether parents of color can stay with their children or not, people had side conversations and lawyers would stand up to interrupt others. Everyone I saw that day who had to defend themselves were people of color. It is so fucked up. 

clueless but optimistic!

In our Creation stories the origin of strawberries is important. Skywoman’s beautiful daughter, whom she carried in her womb from Skyworld, grew on the good green earth, loving and loved by all other beings. But tragedy befell her when she died giving birth to her twins, Flint and Sapling. Heartbroken, Skywoman buried her beloved daughter in the earth. Her final gifts, our most revered plants, grew from her body. The strawberry arose from her heart. In Potawatomi, the strawberry is the ode min, the heart berry. We recognize them as the leaders of the berries, the first to bear fruit.

Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants

”Survival is damn hard. Each of us has traversed a gauntlet of traumas, shames, and fears to be where we are today, whatever that is. Each day we wake to a planet full of social, political, and economic obstructions that siphon our energy and diminish our sense of self. Consequently, tapping into this natural intelligence often feels nearly impossible. Humans unfortunately make being human exceptionally hard for each other, but I assure you, the work we have done or will do is not about acquiring some way of being that we currently lack. The work is to crumble the barriers of injustice and shame leveled against us so that we might access what we have always been, because we will, if unobstructed, inevitably grow into the purpose for which we were created: our own unique version of that oak tree.”

Sonya Renee Taylor, The Body is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love

Processing my internship

M: Every time I talk to a client, I just want to give them what they want. A lot of times it's like I want to jump in and protect them. But when I think about what they want in the long run, or what they need to be safe, I often have to give them the opposite of what they want in that moment. I have to be the boundary.

J: Yeah. That's like 90% of this job.