Let Your Grief Fuel You

Abeja Rise Substack no.06

Hi friends. I’m coming to you with a heavy grief that I’m sure many of us are experiencing. Bearing witness to a genocide has a heavy toll on us all, whether we realize it now or will in the future. I’m going to talk to you using your grief to fuel you but first I want to share some resources to support Palestinians.

And a note: In my last Substack, I used the term “pro-Israel,” and I want to clarify my usage of that term and offer an apology to any liberation-centered Israeli people. As a radical leftist, I am against border states, colonization, and oppression in all of its forms. So for me, to be pro-Israel means to be complicit in the genocide of Palestinians, the apartheid of Palestine over centuries, and to be pro-Israeli government and pro-military industrial complex. For me, to reject the actions of the Israeli government and the IDF is not an act of anti-semitism. To call for a Free Palestine is to center Indigenous people and call for collective liberation, for an end to colonization, and for peace amongst Muslims, Jews, Christians, and anyone else.

Also, I am 100% open to being called-in around this further. I am committed to listening and learning and modeling from a care-centered and liberation-centered approach. There is no perfectionism in this work and I will keep growing and encouraging others to do the same.

Here are some current resources to support Palestinians.

• Palestinians, including care workers and journalists, do not have stable Internet. One way to help with this is to get e-sim cards to Palestinians. The steps to make this happen are in the image below. If you need another way to access this information, please let me know.

• Get on Etsy and search for “keffiyeh” - find shop listings that state getting funds directly to Palestine. These listings will say this either in the title of the listing or the description of the listing. Many of these shops are run by Arabs in the UK with family in the Middle East. They can get $$$ to Palestinians through Egypt.

• Here is a list of U.S. corporations complicit in military attacks on Gaza. Here is a more thorough list of international corporations complicit in military attacks or occupational efforts in Gaza. Use this knowledge to make liberation-centered decisions with your money. If you don’t know where to start, boycott Starbucks, Disney, and McDonalds - they will try to offer you deep discounts the more pressure we put on them. Stay true to your values and the boycott.

• Write letters to the editors of your local publications. Demand public support for Palestine. Many larger news publications rely on local publications for their letters to editors so start local. Here is a helpful resource on writing a letter to an editor.

I want to call us in around overwhelm or exhaustion around these efforts. That’s real. Rest, regulate, and then keep moving. We cannot afford to give up hope or to look away. If you are feeling “boycott fatigue,” I encourage you to find the part of you that wants to align your financial privilege with your values. If you need alternatives to any corporation that you want to boycott, Google! Or ask me and I will try to help.

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Let Your Grief Fuel You

I have talked about my experience with grief before. I can tell you that I was stuck, for over a decade, with complicated grief. I can tell you that the individualistic mental health care I had access to likely prolonged my ability to move forward. I can tell you that the ways I had learned to conceptualize grief were so limited and at times, detrimental to my progress around that grief.

Some of you may relate to this. I’m sorry. 💗I know some of us might find ourselves here today. Some of us might have new loss, PTSD, collective grief, and so much heaviness.

I promise you, we are not meant to stay stuck with our grief. We are meant to dance with it, to say hello and thank you to it, to walk with it, to cry with it. We are meant to experience LIFE alongside our GRIEF.

So when I say, “Let your grief fuel you,” this is what I mean:

Let your grief fuel you to:

Center joy.
Be inspired.
Do hard things.
Mingle with discomfort.
Keep exploring and learning.
Align with what really matters to you.
Remember your life force in connection with LIFE itself.

Grief is a powerful tool and agent for change. Grief reminds us of loss, of pain, and of love. When I asked you What Kind of Ancestor Do You Want to Be, I asked you to use this question to fuel your actions for the rest of your life. Your grief, our grief, grief itself, can help carry you forward in alignment with what matters to you.

I know so many of us are tired. But so many others of us are dying in violent unnecessary ways. They do not have the privilege to be tired, to do not have the privilege to not fight for their lives. We can join them. Together, we keep each other safe. Together, we keep each other strong. Together, we take care of each other.

Use your grief to diversify the care labor that we all collectively need. Do you need inspiration? Check out the Social Change Ecosystem Map by Deepa Iyer.

buildingmovementproject

A post shared by @buildingmovementproject

❓ Out of these 10 roles, which one/s do you fit into the best?
❓ Which roles are currently needed and unfulfilled in local and worldwide social change movements?

The sweet spot is the place where you will be of the most impactful service while still honoring your capacity. That said, I encourage you to get real with your capacity and how you currently use your energy.

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Awhile back, I posted a reel on Instagram about how to be an ethical consumer with spirituality tools and objects. You can watch it here:

abejarise

A post shared by @abejarise

And yesterday, my interview with Katya Quezada on her podcast, Cipota Colocha Says, dropped! We discuss “the spirituality boom, cultural appropriation of certain practices, herbs, and the exploitation of such. From creating spiritual retreats to the lack of ethics and the language of urgency some may use in order to get you to buy a product.” If you are inspired by my reel about ethical consumption in spirituality, dive deeper with this podcast episode. Please listen, share it and talk about it.

Thank you for supporting Latina/e wisdom! Follow Cipota Colocha Says on Instagram.

Here are some cool things.

• 8 Free printable posters for protest and non-commercial use in solidarity with Palestine. Artwork is by artist and musician, Aria Serpa.

• Check out the work of Poor Magazine, including their incredible library of art and media. Support their work by buying publications or donating.

• “Queering grief means showing up in all our messy glory,” by Zena Sharman, features a world imagined where we can feel abundantly supported in our grief. Featuring quotes from queer folks, including Tasha Fierce of Liberated Transitions.

• Tōjisha-kenkyū, Japan’s Radical Alternative to Psychiatric Diagnosis published on Aeon, is an inspiring way to reimagine “mental illness.” The movement is part of the disability justice movement in Japan.

• A collection of Grief and Loss Resources compiled by Aida Manduley, LICSW. I really love how many of the resources are organized by different experiences of loss.

• I know Halloween is “over,” but it’s forever Halloween in my heart. So here is a list of 10 Latine Horror Recommendations from Latina Media Co. Let me know if you have seen any of them or end up watching any.

Thank you for sharing space with me. I appreciate you.

💗 Jen Venegas