29 Comments
deletedOct 4
Comment deleted
Expand full comment

For those unfamiliar: https://readsettlers.org/

Expand full comment

i'm curious -- have you checked out @badschoolbadschool on instagram? i feel like you both have a lot of similar ideas in regards to bringing down the "wall". i would consider you both some of my internet professors at the moment. every post gives me so much to chew on. thank you so much, as always.

Expand full comment
author

i have not! thank you for the recommendation

Expand full comment

Loveee their ideas always, second this shoutout!!

Expand full comment

Yes they are fantastic!

Expand full comment

here just to echo this!! bad school and ismatu are incredible public educators who leave us with homework questions more than direct answers, and i personally appreciate tf out of that

Expand full comment

I loved reading this. You articulate so well what many of us are feeling

Expand full comment

i’ve been feeling so crazy about these exact things recently, and it’s heartening to know i’m crazy in good company 💜

Expand full comment

I was able to read through this whole essay! Reading non-fiction has been super hard for my attention span in the last few years, but I've been making an effort after finding your work. Being able to really Read is a joy I had forgotten, thank you for bringing it back to me.

Expand full comment

Thank you for this essay! Always love to read your thoughts. I’m rethinking my ideas of “peace” as you had mentioned in your essay.

Expand full comment

You're words are so sincere and true they hit to the core of me every single time. I have so many questions and you have been instrumental over the past years in helping me answer them, forever thankful xx praying over you all the time.

Expand full comment

“all manner of sweet things that at first glance might feel bitter.” What glorious poetry. It’s truly a pleasure to read your words. In addition, another powerful essay that opens my mind and helps me to keep working through this life and all its questions - that offers questions I didn’t know I could or should ask. Thank you!

Expand full comment

This is such a word!!! What you said about this not being a time of incremental gains. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I find them to be very grounding.

Expand full comment

And with today’s words I weep a little more hope into the world. And use it to fuel more action. Thank you.

Expand full comment

This is so needed, your timing is perfect. Thank you.

Expand full comment
Oct 5Liked by ismatu gwendolyn

I remember Jackson spending a lot of time on that book advocating for insurrection & revolutionary guerrilla warfare. Those aren't abstract ideas, there are entire bodies of work dedicated to analyzing how such struggles are begun & won, plenty of it produced by Palestinians. If people agree that that's what needs to be done, there's not much left but to get with those you trust who've come to similar conclusions & get to work…& for remote/online communication & coordination, I would strongly suggest moving away from posting on corporate platforms with your government names & photos of yourself attached.

Expand full comment

The clarity of this piece is unparalleled. Too many great points to highlight individually. Basically I feel I agree 100%. Incredible writing.

Expand full comment

Oh Ismatu...it’s like you’re IN my brain. Thank you for this, as always.

Expand full comment

This is what I’m having so much struggle with. There is action and there is a real battle call and cry here, it’s just so often as if I am speaking in a complete other language to people who are seeking to simply survive through this. Of course we all want to survive and live to see the better world we all feel screaming out from our bones to be birthed into the air- but it is something that must be labored and birthed and we cannot do it alone.

Thank you, as always for speaking and writing. May we move forward with action.

Expand full comment

The truth hurts because it inconveniences me. Ismatu packs lifetimes of truth in her words. I think if we're lucky, Kamala will win. And I know the painful truth of how pathetic that is, because she's part of the system, and therefore the corrupt system lives on. I won't see the end of colonialsim and systemic racism in my lifetime.

Expand full comment