breaking the silence
on my mind
“in order for me to write poetry that isn’t political,
i must listen to the birds
and in order to hear the birds,
the warplanes must be silent.”
— Marwan Makhoul
i am writing this email from the comfort of my bedroom, with the privileged quiet hum of a ceiling fan and soft blankets cushioning my body. i have traveled and called many places home over the year, most recently oakland which was originally just a summer stay and has since extended to a longer exploratory experience. and in this time, across the world, my heart has been leaping between multiple homes that are being destroyed and lives that are needlessly being extinguished from gaza to sudan to the congo.
in some ways, the energy feels different this time. that our media literacy is perhaps finally improving, including our ability to question the status quo of our political and economic alliances and our contributions to violence and inequality, mobilize grassroots power in rapid solidarity actions, reach out to policymakers, and understand the meaning of concepts like occupation, apartheid, boycotts, blockade, and decolonization (even as those words are actively silenced by some social media platforms and in schools and universities.)
as you gather this week with family and friends (if you have the time and opportunity), i invite you to consider the ways in which you have or have not been silent and choose one action you can take that uses your voice and/or yields space for others to share theirs.
sending you all a big warm hug through this heaviness!
what i’m noting
Why Must Palestinians Audition for Your Empathy? | “To earn compassion for their dead, Palestinians must first prove their innocence. The real problem with condemnation is the quiet, sly tenor of the questions that accompany it: Palestinians are presumed violent — and deserving of violence — until proved otherwise.”
5Calls - super easy, quick way to call your Congressmembers to support a a ceasefire (and any other topic of interest)
Voices from Gaza: Plestia Alaqad, Hind Khoudary, and Motaz Aziza
Voices from/on Sudan: Yassmin Abdel-Magied, Yousra Elbagir, and Bsonblast
Saffana’s LearnCopywritingNow TikToks on the words that allow us to witness genocide
The Pulitzer-Prize winning opera, Omar - got to see this stunning opera (also my first ever opera) earlier this month in SF
Ten Percent Happier: Rick Rubin on Creativity, Habits, Self-Doubt, Intuition
Thanks for reading! If you like this newsletter, you can click the “heart” at the top of this post on Substack, share it on social media or forward to a friend. Remember, you can always hit reply to this email if you want to share what you’re noting or just say hi.
— Nesima